Walking Tour Ljubljana

The next day, after breakfast at our hotel, we went to the TI and signed up for a walking tour at 10 am. This was an excellent 2-hour walking tour of the Old Town. Cost is €10 and it included a round-trip funicular ride to the castle. It was SO worth it.

The TI is located to the east of the Ljubljanica River. Looking back across the Triple Bridge, you can see Preseren Square and the Franciscan Church.

Town Hall, highlighted by a clock tower, was the start of the tour.

The tour met inside the Town Hall. The map of 17th century Ljubljana above the well was interesting. Other than a few additional bridges, not much was changed about the old town.

The Fountain of Three Carniolan Rivers is located in the Town Square between the Town Hall and the Cathedral. 

After we left the Town Square, we stopped at a restaurant. We were served a couple of local specialties, all courtesy of the tour. This was klobasa, Slovenian kielbasa, served with mustard and horseradish. I loved this but then again I love kielbasa.

Struklji--dough filled with nuts then boiled. I'm not sure how they kept the roll together to boil it since the dough was so thin. I was not a fan of this. It didn't have much flavor and I didn't like the boiled dough.

Several steps further is the Cathedral. The most interesting parts of the Cathedral are the bronze doors. They were created for Pope John Paul II's visit in 1996.

This side door to the Cathedral is actually on the main street leading to Krekov Square. This showed  3-D images of six 20th century bishops of Ljubljana.

The main door to the Cathedral tells the story of the Slovenes.

At the bottom right of the door, the face of the doors' designer has been rubbed and polished.

The cathedral is dedicated to St. Nicholas, the protector against floods and patron saint of fishermen and boatmen who sell their catch at the nearby market. The interior is Italian Baroque.

After the Cathedral, we came upon Butcher's Bridge. This was at the end of the market hall featuring butchers, hence the name. The bridge had bizarre sculptures by a local artist. These were supposed to be temporary but people loved them so they stayed. I was not a fan. The sculptures, which looked like dripping candles, were disturbing. 

This sculpture showed an emaciated figure.

The bridge was lined with locks.

Some had binkies. Did the lovers need a baby to solidify their love?

Further down the street is the Dragon Bridge, which features the symbol of Ljubljana. This bridge is one of the few notable architecture in Ljubljana not designed by Plecnik. It was designed by Jurij Zaninovic and dedicated to Franz Josef but neither of their names stuck with the bridge.

A lock even found its way on the Dragon Bridge.

We ended the tour in Congress Square with the Ursuline Church of the Holy Trinity.

2016 09 05