The HF walks programme allows Wednesday to be a day off from the official walking. So one may choose to perhaps recuperate in the hotel pool, explore lazily the local area or partake in any excursions which may be organised by the leaders. In our case the choice on offer was to Lake Bled or Ljubljana and we chose the latter. A coach drive of about an hour and a half saw us entering a somewhat dreary area of the city, the road being lined first by light industrial premises, then by blocks of unattractive flats. The coach and bus station turned out to be exactly in front of the railway station which we entered in search of toilets and were most impressed by its palatial booking hall. From Platform 1 we noticed the unusual way of reaching the more distant platforms : one just stepped down and hopped across the tracks! Seemingly no other method had been provided.We crossed the moderately busy main road and entered Miklosiceva street passing this remarkable building shown to the left, on our way to the Franciscan church in the mistaken belief that it was the cathedral. On leaving the interior of that highly decorated edifice we found ourselves to be in the centre of the tourist area, namely the Three Bridges Square. This is a most pleasant traffic free zone, and crossing the first bridge, before long were confronted by this elaborate and most unusual bronze door of the cathedral. However, It is not at all ancient having been installed to celebrate a comparatively recent visit from the previous pope.
After thoroughly examining the inside of the impressively decorated cathedral, we wandered on to the very extensive fruit market. So many stalls all selling identical produce! The Ljubljanians must be a healthy lot, a view reinforced by the many slim & pretty young women we noticed everywhere. Indeed we do not recall seeing a single obese woman at all during our time in Slovenia, nor many men either, a refreshing change from our home streets.
Passing the Town Hall we entered an area known as Old Ljubljana where it seems every effort is made not to modernise it, for example as we passed we saw the street surface being repaired with stone setts, just as would be done in some of our own ancient towns. A very steep hill took us up to the entrance of the castle where we enjoyed the use of the thoughtfully provided cafe. The castle may be old but it does not seem it from its central courtyard, and one of its present uses is as a venue for weddings, and indeed , one was in progress as we sat there.
We entered the castle and watched a film depicting the history of the place. We toured round a few ancient rooms, encountering tableaux such as this one of a couple attired for their wedding in traditional dress. Next we ascended the interesting duplex iron spiral staircase and duly emerged at the top of the castle's square tower, and were then standing at the highest point of the city, with a superb three hundred and sixty degree panoramic view. The mountainous northwest area of the country was quite obvious.
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