Dave and his Bike

Day off in the city.

Last night we had a brief conversation on the campsite with John and James (late arrivals), the Scottish gravel bike riders on the north west loop of Slovenia. Shame we won’t cross paths again – good luck gents!

After a kit-check morning in preparation for tomorrow, a coffee in a local café and an early lunch we headed into the city centre by bus. Cheap and efficient.

Ljubljana is a compact capital city. We were about a 20 minute bus ride to the centre (1.30€ for two) and a couple of minutes walk into the historic centre.

The bridges and building architecture are lovely, and overlooked by the castle on the hill. After a half hour of meandering, we found a funicular railway up to the castle and decided the views would be worth it. They were. Not only across the city, but also of the mountains, especially to the north and Austria.

The castle itself was also worth the visit. Despite not paying the entry fee, much of it was accessible for free.

We walked back down into the old town, and did the very English thing of going for a cup of tea in a bar on the riverbank. When I suggested we had a drink, I had something else in mind. Having said that, it was our first cuppa for a couple of weeks, and very good too.

After our heavy drinking session, we found the Dragon Bridge. Very famous. A bit underwhelming.

It was too early to have dinner, so we headed back to the campsite, deciding that a local restaurant would suffice. Jane found one a 20 minute walk away. It was brilliant. Good food, lots of it, an amusing waiter (who took Jane into the kitchens), and very affordable.

We had a platter for two, with pork, chicken and veal. It was huge, and excellent. Local wine accompanied it which was very similar to our local Cahors wines at home. The walk back was ideal after such a feast.

Last night together for a while. Rain forecast for tomorrow. Oh well.