Ljubljana

Ljubljana is a very pleasant capital. It's a compact city, fittingly for a country as small as Slovenia, but its city centre is very charming. The centre of the city is built on both banks of the River Ljubljanica and is entirely pedestrianised, so the many shops, restaurants and bars that fill the capital's cobbled streets spill out invitingly for the many people strolling through.

According to my tour guide, Ljubljana is Europe's greenest capital, which I can certainly believe (though I think Vaduz may give it a run for its money, or Dublin on Paddy's Day!) To my mind, this is what all major European cities should aspire to - attractive pedestrianised streets, lined with greenery, filled with "third places" for friends and family to gather and socialise. It also has a castle on top of a hill overlooking the city, which is always a welcome bonus!

I went on two tours while I was here. The first focused on the main sites of the city, including the main square (Prešernov trg), the many bridges that cross the Ljubljanica, and the University. The University was notable not only for being Melania Trump's Alma mater, but also for being the site of both the birth and death of Slovenian communism, which was the focus of the second tour.

Despite having been the capital of the wealthiest state in Yugoslavia, Ljubljana contains barely any remnants of the communist regime. It only really has one vast, bleak, brutalist square dominated by soul crushing plain towers, located in front of the parliament building. A huge digital clock overlooks this square, a monument to the obliteration of form in favour of function. This Republic (formerly Revolution) Square is located in front of Slovenia's parliament building, and is a totally empty void in an otherwise bustling city.

Despite the general lack of communist monuments, the tour gave an interesting insight into Josep Tito's relatively softer form of communism than some of the other former Eastern Bloc countries I've visited. Yugoslavia permitted foreign travel to both East and West, was officially non-aligned during the Cold War, and generally favoured a decentralised model rather than the Soviet Union's centralised preference. As a result, both my tour guides described the Tito dictatorship as "soft communism", a bit like a left-wing variant of Spain's "dictablanda".

In 1991, Slovenia won independence democratically and without any notable violence, unlike its fellow Yugoslav states. This was the first time in over 1,000 years that Slovenian speakers had their own country, having previously been an Austrian dominion for about a millennium.

While Ljubljana has its quiet charm, it is nevertheless a small city. Despite this, it's still by far the largest city in Slovenia, since so many Slovenians live in the countryside. Despite its small size, Slovenia contains many different environments, including mountain ranges, coastal plains, and dense forests. It's this rural wealth that offers the most to tourists visiting this country, and so tomorrow, to finish off my holiday, I look forward to visiting this country's most iconic rural gem.Leggi altro