Ljubljana II

Boat cruising the Ljubljanica River through the heart of Ljubljana, Slovenia

And no trip to Slovenia would be complete without a visit to its beautiful, nicely-sized capital city of Ljubljana. This is my second visit to Ljubljana. I can't get enough of the place.

The city straddles the rather tiny Ljubljanica River. You may remember this river from the hit movie "Jason and the Argonauts." This is the point where the river disappears on Jason and Hercules has to carry the boat Argos over dry land. The river really does disappear here. It's because of the karst landscape. It goes underground and re-emerges a few times.

I signed up for a free walking tour, which they have in all the major European cities. (Even Trst!) The tour was scheduled to meet at Preseren Square, right beside Ljubljana's famous Triple Bridge.

The bridge is named the "triple bridge" because it is three distinct bridges alongside each other. Noted Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik (the "c" with the smiley above it is pronounced as a "ch"), who designed much of modern Ljubljana after the disastrous 1895 earthquake levelled the city. His work gives the city as a harmony of design.

This is Preseren Square, Prešernov trg in Slovenian, where the tour began at the base of the statue of who? Who would have a statue in Preseren Square? France Prešeren, the Slovenian national poet.

Another picture of the statue just because.

This is the Hauptmann House:

This is one of the few buildings in the neighborhood that survived the 1895 earthquake. After the earthquake, the owner, Mr. Hauptmann, gussied it up to look like it was in the Viennese Secessionist style.

Let's begin the walking tour, shall we.

This is the Franciscan church, the other building in Prešernov trg that survived the 1895 earthquake.

I don't know what this is.

Modern art. Ljubljana to its credit has very little modern (or, worse yet, post-modern) art. Much to its credit. It's part of what makes this is a wonderful, beautiful city.

This is the Cathedral. It is named for St. Nicholas.

These are the ornate main doors, which tell a story of Slovenian history.

Including the crusades! This was the only available land crossing between the Alps and the Adriatic.

And it is all looked over by Pope John Paul II, who now has been upgraded to Saint John Paul.

Completely changing themes. This is a satyr. He's permanently installed on the boring, plain Mesarski most.

He was supposed to be here temporarily, but he was popular -- who doesn't like a satyr who's been skinned alive by Apollo -- so he's now a permanent resident. Mesarski most, "most" being the Slovenian (and Croatian) word for "bridge," is the bridge in Slovenia where they do that love-lock thing that they now do everywhere. This is otherwise a boring bridge, so why not liven it up with those ugly love-locks?

Here is a small statue of two -- frogs? I'm guessing -- engaged in appropriate behavior -- I think? -- for a love-lock bridge.

And here is another picture of a tour boat floating down the Ljubljanica, away from the spot where the river disappeared on Jason and Hercules had to carry the boat over dry land (handy to have had Hercules on board for the task).

We now come to the Dragon Bridge.

It's got four dragon, two on each end, one on each side of each end. It also has griffins. Or gryphon, if you prefer.

But the dragons are cooler.

Here is a butcher shop in the Plečnik-designed central marketplace. Gee. I wonder what meat they butcher in there.

And now we walk past the Cathedral again.

Nice designs on this side.

Then to City Hall. In front is the Robba Fountain, which was all boxed up when I was here five years ago.

In front of City Hall was guy playing a guitar wearing a plastic deer head. Apparently he has a youtube channel where he plays guitar wearing a deer head. You are on your own finding that one.

At this point in the tour, our tour guide brought out samples of blueberry liqueur and fig liqueur for the group. Both were awesome. The fig liqueur really tasted like fig. The blueberry liqueur of Slovenia is probably the tastiest alcoholic beverage known to man.

The tour ended at Kongresni Trg, Congress Square. Ljubljana Castle is visible high in the background. I went there last time I was in Ljubljana. I was accosted by a dragon. I'm not going back.

After the tour, we walked around some more. This is the Ivan Hribar statue. Yes, THAT Ivan Hribar.

I don't have a clue who Ivan Hribar is.

Soon it was time for the obligatory Union Radler, a shandy-type beer flavored with grapefruit. Yes, they sell grapefruit shandy in the U.S. No, it tastes nothing like a Union Radler. They are not the same.

For dessert, there was gibernica.

And pavlova.

Gibernica is layers of apple, poppy seed, cottage cheese and walnuts. The combination does work. And it tastes very Croatian. Pavlova is a Russian dessert made with meringue cookies, whipped cream and berries.

And that is the end of the trip.

I might stay behind with all of my Slovenian friends. Laku noć.

Trst

Officially, this is called "Fontana del Giovannin del Ponterosso," Giovannin Ponterosso Fountain.
I call it "the Creepy Baby Fountain," because, well, look at those creepy babies.

The Croats and Slovenes call this town "Trst." The rest of the world, including the Italians, calls it "Trieste." Either way, we drove to Trst/Trieste for one reason and one reason only.

To say we've been to Italy.

Italy is now my 30th country that I've visited. I took this picture of the statue honoring Giuseppe Verdi for one reason. To remember where we parked the car. There weren't many parking spaces open in Old Trieste, even if the peak season had passed.

The walking tour was scheduled to start on Piazza Sant'Antonio. This was a church of Sant'Antonio Taumaturgo, St. Anthony the Miracle Worker, or as it is more commonly known, Sant'Antonio Nuovo.

This is his plaza:

Piazza Sant'Antonio Nuovo. This is the nearby Serbian Orthodox Church, Tempio serbo-ortodosso della Santissima Trinità e di San Spiridione, or the Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint Spyridon.

Trieste, or Trst, whichever you prefer, has been a cultural crossroads for several hundred years. It is probably the least Italian city in Italy, although, being the only city in Italy I have visited, the most Italian city I've been to. Trieste has had a strong Austrian/Hapsburg influence, and a strong Slavic influence. Trieste was the seaport of Hapsburg Austria.

Piazza Sant'Antonio Nuovo:

This is the so-called "Grand Canal" of Trieste.

Merry-go-rounds aplenty around this part of Trst.

Back to the Grand Canal. It's not very "grand," nor is it much of a "canal."

But there is a statue of James Joyce on the Ponte Rosso, a bridge over the so-called "Grand Canal."

James Joyce lived in Trieste for several years at one point in his life.

Restaurant on a floating dock in the Grand Canal, which is merely a rectangular inlet that goes into the city for a few blocks and then dead ends. Canals, by my definition, go somewhere.

And the bridges over the so-called "Grand Canal" (I promise not to call it "so-called" anymore as I believe I have made my point.) (And repeated my point sufficiently.) (Move on dot org, as the kids would say.)

It looks more impressive in pictures.

Don't get me wrong. The Grand Canal looks nice. It's very photogenic. And, considering that it is a dead end, it is quite impressive that it does not stink.

And it does flow into (or flow from, depending on your perspective) the Adriatic here at the Gulf of Trieste.

There was a surprising amount of pedestrian traffic in Trieste, which was surprising for a couple of reasons.

Tourist (and cruise ship) season have wound down. And this waterfront area is not well-developed with tourist infrastructure, such as the Riva in Split, for example.

A few boats here and there, but not a hyperactive tourist zone.

And there were a few boats in the (let's not call it "so-called") Grand Canal, but I don't know if there were pleasure craft or working boats.

Back to the waterfront. The area off in the background of this picture, behind the crane, in an international no-man's land. It is old, abandoned port area. A newer modern port was built south and east of here.

Our tour guide called it the "second largest section of abandoned land in Europe," after Chernobyl. This was abandoned as Italy and Tito's Yugoslavia forgot to account for it in the international treaties settling the post-WWII re-distribution of land following the defeat of Fascist Italy.

There were people out and about, and there were no parking spaces in the city, but the waterside area was not packed with people seeing and being seen, as one would expect on a warm, mostly sunny, afternoon.

The buildings in Trieste look more Austrian than Italian.

Again, the city is more Hapsburg Austrian than Italian.

But ... moving away from the Austrians ... this is the Greek Orthodox Church, Chiesa Greco Ortodossa di San Nicolò, the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas:

Next we hit the humongous Piazza Unità d'Italia, the center of Trieste.

Government buildings in the past. Government buildings today. If you look closely, you can see figures from Italian history in the side of the building, who were cleverly painted over pictures of royalty from the Austrian Hapsburgs.

Here is a modern sculpture of a giant fish. Why? Do you need a reason?

And this is the Monumento Leonardo Manzi:

Returning our attention to the Governo di Trieste building on the Piazza Unità d'Italia:

And this is the Fontana dei Quattro Continenti.

It could translate to "Fountain of Four Continents." It could translate to something else. You decide.

Here is a statue of an important Hapsburg royal.

Charles VI. This is the Colonna di Carlo VI di Trieste, the Column of Charles VI of Trieste. The statue was done by a republican who was anti-royalty. But he received a commission to do a statue of a royal who he loathed. What to do.

This:

From this angle, it looks like the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI is holding his erect manhood in his hand. That is not an optical illusion. It is intentional.

Speaking of insulting Hapsburgs with statuary. This is ostensibly the sculpted head of an Ottoman Turk.

These "severed head" statues of Ottoman Turks were common throughout Trieste, as a warning to potential Ottoman invaders. Well, this particular "severed head" was done by an anti-royal republican. The ostensible Ottoman severed head pictured above is the spitting image of one Franz Ferdinand, the notorious Archduke Ferdinand, who was assassinated by Princip on the Latin Bridge in downtown Sarajevo 1914, sparking the start of World War I.

He warrants a mocking. Speaking of mocking:

A mock Roman amphitheater. The Teatro Romano di Trieste.

There was a Roman amphitheater on this site. It fell into ruin and was buried in rubble. Only the exterior wall in the back is original.

The rest is being rebuilt by stone found wherever, or by bricks, or by any building material available. It looks real. But it's mock.

Now, after the free walking tour of Trieste -- it was supposed to be an hour but the extremely fast walking guide spent 90 minutes on the tour -- which was very welcome -- it was time for a real Italian supper in real Italy. And what to drink? A Campari soda, of course, which is a carbonated soft drink that tastes just like Campari, the liqueur.

Mmmm. Bitter.

But what was not bitter was the salami pizza.

When you are in Italy, you have to eat pizza. Isn't it the law?

One cool/interesting about the restaurant, other than the deliciously bitter-tasting Campari soda, was the bathroom sink. The water is turned on and off by hot and cold foot pedals under the sink.

You travel and you see things you've never seen before. This is one.

Soon it was dark in Trst.

Comune di Trieste. Trieste City Hall.

And the Grand Canal at night.

Buona Notte, Italia. Arrivederci.