A ljittlje more Ljubljana

Ljubljana is an enjoyable city to visit. Slovenia — the only one of the ex-Yugoslavian republics to be part of the European Union — is a small country of only 2 million or so people, and Ljubljana, its capital, is a comfortably-sized 300,000. There is a small river running through the centre of Ljubljana, and the cobbled streets of the old city are bordered by some lovely old and not so old buildings. There is a castle on the hill overlooking the city, and you can walk up the paths through the trees to the top (only it was a hot July week and even first thing in the morning (which is when I made this journey) it was very muggy) or you can take a little funicular cable-car thingy.

There are lots of restaurants along the river and by the main square, and it was very pleasant to be there in the evening. It’s a place that caters well for tourists without feeling too touristy (actually I suspect the Global Financial Crisis had rather reduced tourist numbers this summer), with good signage and with most hotel and restaurant staff speaking English. There is a sense of Eastern European dourness among the denizens, exacerbated by the strong accent, but there’s also an undercurrent of dry humour: as a non-coffee drinking tee-totaller in a country with a well-regarded wine industry I think I rather bemused the waiter one night because of what I wasn’t having, but he assured me that by the end of the night he would have figured out my vice!

Unfortunately for him, I knew that I’d been eating way too much while travelling, and consequently I’d sworn off desserts for the night.