Tivoli park

Today, I wanted to explore the town of Ljubljana. I have heard some amazing things, but I was still unprepared for how beautiful of a city it was. I came from the Balkans, which is quite impoverished and underdeveloped, but even compared to some cities in Italy, it is cleaner, greener, historical, beautiful, and liveable. I became used to the major cities I stayed in being dirty and filled with rubbish, but given the population density, you come to expect it. However, I don't think I saw even the littlest bit of rubbish lying around, despite being the capital city. It had beautiful greenery that seemed like functional areas of nature that reminded me of Australia. Many capital cities line a few roads with trees and act like it's a green city, but Ljubljana seemed like the first place that dedicated specific areas for natural recreation and relaxation. It has a large population of students, so this may be the reason for it. This doesn't even mention the river that passes through the city, which is beautifully clean and the epicentre for all cultural and social events, making it the heart of the city. It maintains its history being over 1000 years old and has the architecture to reflect this. Or goes all the way back to Greek mythology if you believe in legend. The combination of greenery, old architecture and a well organised city makes it one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and a personal favourite of mine.

I started my long tour of the city by going to the main garden in the city, Tivoli Park. I wouldn't have had enough time in the day to see it all it was so expansive, but i got a good enough glimpse wlaking through the main part. People reading, having classes, chatting and playing sport. It was so wholesome. At the end of the main path into the park lies an art gallery. I did not enter, but it would have been a cool way to round out a day in the gardens. Instead, I headed back toward the city to start my journey through the main town. In hindsight, it would have been the perfect city for a walking tour, but I just ran out of time.

Although I had little plan for the walk, I started by exploring the marketplace that hugs the river. It was bustling with life and energy. The stalls sold some amazing food, from ribs to fruit salads, burgers, crepes, and basically anything else you could want. It all smelt amazing, but it wasn't particularly cheap, and I had to keep an eye on my budget. I did, however, buy a fruit salad and wander around. This was one of my highlights of the day because of how relaxed yet energetic the whole area felt. I then continued on my way to the dragon bridge. This was a main attraction in Ljubljana, but it wasn't all that exciting. It just had some sculptures of dragons on a regular bridge. The dragon is a symbol of the town to represent strength, power, courage, and wisdom.

After this, it was a short walk to Ljubljana castle that overlooks the city. This means a pretty nice but gruelling walk up a hill to reach the entrance. Normally, this wouldn't be too bad, but the heat was something else. The castle was free, and although there were some paid sections, I avoided these and still felt like I got the full experience. A couple of the guys from my hostel warned me that the paid sections aren't really worth it. The castle wasn't big, but it was really cool to walk around as they had a lot of the artefacts from medieval times. But due to its size, I didn't spend a lot of time there before heading home.

On my way home, I stopped by an Irish pub for a drink, mostly because it was nice to sit and watch the world go by, with some really nice views of the river. I then tried my first irish coffee. It was shit. I then headed back to the hostel and laid down in my bed to relax after a big day. I then met an English bloke, and we were chatting for a bit, and he invited me downstairs for a drink with some of the other people from the hostel. I didn't know it, but so kicked off one of the strangest nights of my life.

I hadn't heard anything about Ljubljana nightlife when I arrived in the city, so I was excited to see what was on offer. We headed to an Irish pub for some drinks before going onto a club. I was quite drunk by this point, so I have no idea who got us to the next destination, but it was one of the most unique places I had ever drank. We went just outside the city to a rundown, little gated community of maybe 4 or 5 houses that had become quite derelict. They had been covered in graffiti and had not been maintained for a good few years. We continued in, and they have strange statues and decorations that make it feel very dark and gloomy. The music is also heavy metal Slovenian music, so the whole vibe is incredibly interesting. I included a video as a taster for the music. Each house had slightly different music and a bar, but I have no idea if any of it was legal or what the go was. But despite the dark atmosphere, people were incredibly nice and happy. They loved dancing and got everyone involved it was really fun. Somehow, at no point did I feel unsafe. None of it felt real. It was like one big fever dream or a bad trip.Lue lisää