Tivoli park

I’ll admit, after 3 weeks on the road I’m starting to wear out a little. I jump on the train out of Zagreb and after a bit of a tussle to get a seat I dose off. When I wake up I find myself in a fairytale. Green fields with lush corn grows along the side of the river running beside the train track we’re on. Mountains close us in, with quaint churches perched on the peaks. Hawks soar and dive across the fields. We’re in Slovenia and my goodness is it gorgeous. Slovenia is one of the greenest countries in Europe with forest covering over 50% of the country and it shows.

As we get closer to the capital city, the spell wears off momentarily until I find myself right in the city centre, face to face with a large stone dragon and staring at a castle above. It’s straight out of a Disney movie.

Ljubljana, nicknamed ‘the City of Dragons’ due to it’s dragon symbol which was used to evoke strength and courage while fighting off the Turks, is an enchanting little city. They’ve embraced the fairytale image as shops sell all sorts of tourist wares adorned with dragons and castles and for some reason, ladybirds.

I meet with Nina, born and bred in Ljubljana, she’s a cheery, warm, and bubbly Spanish professor at the local university. She wears blue mascara and a pink, yellow and blue patterned dress which is almost as bright as her personality. I can’t quite shake the feeling that she’d be the ideal person to announce Slovenia’s points in Eurovision… she tells us Slovenia is the only country in the world with ‘love’ in the name and then recounts stories of the county’s poet laureate, and the architect who is credited with shaping the city.

Unlike Zagreb which was bombed during WW2, during the 90s and has then had to contend with numerous earthquakes, Ljubljana has survived without a scratch. Even during the country’s 10 day war of independence, the city was never bombed directly although the nearby airport was. It’s left Ljubljana unblemished, with beautiful buildings intact and nowadays it’s rather easy to get lost in it’s spell.Baca selengkapnya