Happy 2015 one and all!  We have returned from The Land that Vowels Forgot.  Seriously.  Have you ever seen Slovanian?  Trg is square or pedestrian road, Vrt is garden.  Aside from that Ljubiana is gorgeous.  I'm am slightly in love with the city were it not so damned cold!  On the 31st it was 18 degrees and the lovely and obviously thick-skinned Slovenians were out in force, eating and drinking at all of the outside venues that stay up all winter.  Every bar and restaurant has outside space, the squares are filled with stalls selling drink and sausages and sweets, there are markets all along the riverbanks that are open till all hours.  Ljubiana is crowned, and I use that word literally, by it's castle that sits above the city center covered in mutli-colored lights.  The walking paths up to the castle are all alight, every tree in the parks, every bridge across the river, is awash in lights.  It was like wandering into a fairy tale.  We arrived on the 30th in the evening and I can't say enough about how lovely that first sight was.  But it really was flippin' cold!  I have adjusted much too quickly to Italian mild winters.  When we went out for New Years Eve I wore tights and leggings under my jeans, an undershirt, long-sleeved shirt, 2 wool sweaters under my wool coat and I was still a mite chilly.  Grace, who now lives in skin-tight pants, couldn't bend her legs after squeezing into tights and leggings first.  She walked like Frankenstein.  We saw all of the center in the 2 days we were there.  It's a small city of about 300 thousand with a wild ride through history.  At one time or another, everyone owned a piece of it.  There is still a strong connection to communism from their days of being part of Yugoslavia but the city seems very Austrian in architecture.  The restaurants are wonderful, heavily influenced by Italian cuisine, and most everyone speaks English, German or Italian.  I highly recommend a visit! (but maybe in the summer...)  more later!  xxoo me

view along the river Ljubijanica

fireworks over the castle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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