I have to mention the bells of the St. Nicholas Cathedral. They’re loud and constant! From what I can gather, from 6:45am every day they sound every fifteen minutes before the hour and then on the hour. And not just a few little dings and dongs. They go for at least five minutes on each occasion. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining (much), it’s nice to hear that sound rather than the sound of traffic, and car horns and noisy motors but they really do dominate the soundscape in Ljubljana. Standing under them when they commence their hourly religious ritual is quite literally, deafening.
No need for an alarm clock in this part of Ljubljana! Today we visited the Ljubljana Castle. Just as the bells of St. Nicholas dominate the city’s soundscape, the Ljubljana Castle dominates the city’s landscape. Perched high on the hill behind the old town it towers over the city. The first recorded, organised occupation of the site was by the Romans (of course) during the Illyrian and Celtic times. The first record of a castle on the site appeared in the mid-12th century. Having been occupied by the peoples of many different nations over many centuries the castle is comprised of many different architectural styles. The stones used for the fortifications built by the Romans are still evident today. In the 15th century it was almost completely rebuilt as a place from which the continually invading Ottoman Turks could be kept at bay. In later centuries it served as an army barracks, an arsenal and a prison. Eventually it fell into serious disrepair. Late in the 1960’s thirty-five years of renovation began resulting in its transformation into a cultural centre for the city.
And that’s what it remains to this day. Not at all what we expected. We took the new (2006 built) funicular from more or less outside the front door of our apartment up the precipice into the castle grounds. I’m very happy to report that the young girl at the ticket office, just like her “cousin” in Budapest, assumed we were eligible for the Seniors discount of 30%. What a lovely girl! Stepping off the funicular we found ourselves in a very modern “cavern” of steel, glass, rock, wood, strategic lighting, ancient stones and stairs heading off in all directions. We found our way to the Information Centre up in the daylight and picked up our audio guide machines and map. The audio trail consisted of 13 listening posts, all of which were difficult to find. The map of the castle’s courtyard was far from precise, being presented on a plan consisting of 3D drawings that tried to approximate the area we need to be at. On the ground, each “listening post” was not obvious to anyone but the uber-observant, just little, grey circular plaques 100mm in diameter. Hard to spot from anywhere further than 5m away. Anyway, enough whingeing.
The castle is much more about artistic pursuits than history. I guess it’s more like an art gallery and a performance stage set in an historic context. It does trade heavily on the medieval period castle vibe which is great for the kids who are kept thoroughly entertained with knights, fair maidens, court jesters, magic shows, face painting and hunts for mysterious treasures. When our own hunt for the 13 mystery audio listening posts was finally over and I’d completed the obligatory tower climb, we left via the drawbridge and took the winding path back down to the old town. We killed 30 minutes retracing some of yesterday’s steps and discovering some new places ahead of our 2:15pm appointment with Minka and our “free” walking tour of Ljubljana.
Over the next two hours we and ten others made our way through the old town taking in Minka’s history of Ljubljana, stories about its people and its landmarks. Along the way she plied us with small treats from the trolley she wheeled around. At some stops “friends” of hers plied us with local spirits made from honey, blueberry and other ingredients I can’t remember. I got to taste Kerry’s samples as well as mine!! After the walk finished Kerry and I found a cafe that served locally fare (ok, it was one of the one’s Minka pointed out on the walk!) and each had a dish of great big, fat sausages (don’t know what the main ingredient was) served with sour cabbage and mashed potato. While dining we had a good chat with a lovely couple on holiday from the Netherlands, about our age. They had with them their dogs, always a good ice-breaker! The cafe wasn’t far from the apartment so we said our farewells and headed home.
Lots of walking for you two during the past couple of days. Looks like an interesting city.
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