Sights of Slovenia

Slovenia is an awesome country. Unfortunately we only had two days there, it promptly jumped onto the “Must Return To” list.

Slovenia was part of the Austrian Empire, after its fall in 1918, the area of Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia. In 1991, Slovenia finally became its own country.

We stayed in the capital city, Ljubljana. An amazing city with a cool, youth vibe. It was buzzing at night with markets, restaurants and clubs throughout the city, mean street art, and beautiful scenery just a bus ride away.

Lake Bohinj

A hostel worker recommended we go to Lake Bohinj, slightly further on the bus (from Lake Bled) but even more beautiful. Lake Bohinj is a lovely lake, settled up in the Slovenian mountains, at the edge of Triglav National Park. It’s surrounded by green fields, mountain houses and a very small amount of tourists.

Lake Bled

Of course there was no way we were missing out on visiting Lake Bled. A picturesque lake with the cute town of Bled on one side and an island with a church on it in the middle of the lake. Lake Bled was awesome, naturally we hired a rowing boat and rowed out to the island.

Ljubljana

Ljubljana, historically, didn’t have a very big population because it’s built on a swamp so the land wasn’t that fertile. However, in the middle ages it was a busy thoroughfare for travellers and armies heading from Western Europe, to Eastern Europe, the Middle East and possibly further. Now it’s a city of about 280,000 with increasing tourism, cheap beer and lovely architecture.

Another reason to love Ljubljana is they love dragons! The coat of arms of the city is a dragon on top of a castle. There are dragons are throughout the city and it feels quite mystical. The legend is that Jason, a Greek hero, and the argonauts came to this area, fought and killed a dragon and then became the first settlers in the Ljubljana area. There are a few other legends too, like thunder and earthquakes are caused by a dragon under the castle.

We were lucky enough to go to Ljubljana in June during the summer festival. Every day in June there were activities and markets in the city. Somehow, without planning it, we were there the day before James’ birthday at the Craft Beer and Burger festival. It couldn’t have worked out better if we tried.

I bloody loved Ljubljana and Slovenia, I can’t wait to go back and explore more of the nature and get amongst some more cheap beers. You don’t have to go to Slovenia with any expectations, because once you get there, it’ll unfold it’s magic for you.