Ljubljana

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Ljubljana wasn't in the blueprints for this trip. We had passed through here whilst on route to Piran and headed down to Triple Bridge for a coffee whilst waiting for our bus. Both of us had been to Ljubljana before whilst racing to 30 countries but it never fails to deliver. Not a party city by reputation it offers a relaxing alternative to the such capital cities around Europe. This in fact would be our only capital visited on this trip and was therefore 'The Trip That Filled In The Gaps'.

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The one difference we noticed here compared with the last week was the heat. It was a stark reminder of how cool the Alps had been to us and we briefly missed that climate. Baking in the afternoon sun in Ljubljana we brainstormed the road ahead are where would we venture next as we headed deeper into the former Yugoslavia. after we agreed on an action plan it was time to head out and discover some more of the Slovenian capital which by the way is home to and eigth of the countries population and is the same size as Nottingham back in the UK.

"...3D glasses, a remote control and some translator headphones..."

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The history museum was chosen as our first port of call and after a while trying to work out the obviously incorrect map we found the museum which had an old tank outside which was used in the declaration of independence where the countries people defied the odds and withstood the onslaught of the Yugoslavian army and officially broke away on my brothers birthday 25th June 1991. Yugoslavia decided to turn its attention on Croatia instead and left Slovenia with its new found freedom, the first of the former Yugoslavian states to have it.

An absorbing history lesson ensued in the museum and we left a few hours later like a sponge at maximum water capacity. I wonder how much would be retained as we drank that same evening. Well, drinks would follow but not before we went up to the castle to have another history lesson and this particular lesson involved 3D glasses, a remote control and some translator headphones. What a pair of idiots we looked with all out gear on...we had to have a pic!

Ljubljana has many small streets and steep roads and paths which lead up to the castle where good views of the city can be seen. The castle offers some cafes and bars there too.

We left behind Ljubljana for another time at headed south for the port of Rijeka where a boat would be setting sail down the Dalmatian coast of Croatia...