A certain little munchkin I adore happens to love dinosaurs, so for Easter here in Slovenia, I went on a hunt for dinosaur eggs!

I actually had a lot of fun!  I made friends with two cute children about four or five years of age – we spoke different languages (yes, I do realise they are only just beginning to grasp theirs!), but still we had a blast – and their mother, who I think was relieved for the break as she also had a wee baby in a stroller) thought the whole thing very amusing…

…all in all, a truly glorious day!

~ Bella

I needed to just go for a drive to no where in particular to blow the cobwebs out…  I figured when I was ready to come home, my trusty iPhone would tell me the way…

Look closely and one can see someone fishing…

~ Bella

One day it’s snowing… and the next….

Oh, but first, they couldn’t get my luggage out of the door of the hotel……

…and I had rented a manual estate vehicle, but there was a glitch in their system, so they upgraded me!

This is where I’m headed… the mountains of Slovenia…

One day it’s snowing, and the next day this!

Lake Jasna

…and then only a 30 minute drive to…

Lake Bled

Then to check into my new hotel…

My ‘office’ for the next seven weeks…

~ Bella

This is perhaps one of Slovenia’s best kept secrets.  Even the receptionist at the hotel didn’t know that there was a railway museum in Ljubljana…

…and it was WONDERFUL!  I spent a couple of hours wandering around.  Much of the outdoor exhibits weren’t available due to reconstruction work, but everything else was fabulous – and I was the only one there!

This is what greets one upon entering the building (actually, reminds me of the Kennesaw Civil War Museum in the States where ‘The General’ steam engine is housed, and looms large upon entering the area where it is displayed).

 

~ Bella

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Oh, goody – more stairs!  This time down to the chapel…

…and now entering the penitentiary…

…and off to the puppetry museum!

…before finally (after finding a fast way down the stairs – don’t ask..!) making it back to the funicular station…

…and headed to a cafe for something to eat for a late lunch…

Na zdcravje!  (that’s cheers in Slovenian!)

~ Bella

As I went downstairs, headed for a day of exploring the castle, I was confronted with soooooo many police, security, secret service…..  I later found out that all the European heads of state are staying in my hotel for a conference on Russia among other items.  I had to continually show my identification, and the photo I took in the lobby of all the commotion, I was asked to delete.

Out on the pavement, however, photos were apparently fair game…

I took the funicular railway up to Castle Hill…

There were so many stairs – and in most places no handrails!  Me thinks Slovenians are part mountain goat…

 

Much of the castle is now an art installation, a couple of shops, restaurants, cafes, and a puppetry museum!  (more on that later…)

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The trash situation is fascinating – everything is sorted for recycling – the residents and retailers etc have a card for the bins – they load it up, close the lid, the trash magically disappears, then they go through the entire process again until they have disposed of all their trash!  The huge underground waste bins are emptied once per week.

If you recall on my cruise I was the only one?  Well, this is what a normal cruise looks like – they are waiting to board…  I feel very blessed indeed!

Yes, I know – diet is out the window today…

These are the food delivery service people…  There are multiple companies that operate throughout the city…

…and just what a girl needs – a very cute waiter!

…and the following day a different pace…  a leisurely lunch in a very elegant cafe…

Bliss!

After a relaxing time in the pool, it was time to head to the canal for lunch and then a cruise along the river…

…and what lunch beside the canal would be complete without a serenade!

I was the only one on board!  Normally there are whole groups, but this day, this cruise, it was aaaaaallllll mine!  This is the captain – who had a wealth of knowledge about all of Slovenia and Croatia.  Fascinating fellow.

If I have my bridges straight, this is Shoemaker Bridge – named as such because there used to be a law that if you were on the mainland you had to pay taxes – so the shoemakers moved onto the middle of the bridge over what was then a river!

 

The reason that some of the buildings are only two windows wide and others three or more – from the medieval period until I think the 1700s, one was only permitted to have a building two windows wide – the wider ones were subject to huge taxes and were reserved for the wealthy of the city.

This terraced area is known as the Beach…  It is beautiful!

This little critter (I saw seven of them during the entire cruise!) is the European beaver (Castor fiber) and is an indigenous species in Slovenia!

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The markets were amazing!  They are open every day except Sunday.

That’s Ljubljana Castle in the background – that’s for another day… stay tuned…

I love it here!

My day started with feeling very empowered as I went grocery shopping!  Here is an example – Slovenian looks nothing like English so couldn’t really navigate effectively, but I managed… oh, this is a piece of BBQ chicken…

…then off to explore the city centre – that is all pedestrian, along with kavalirs, that are golf cart type vehicles that operate like free taxis…

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