After traveling through Western Europe we turned our gaze eastward and headed into Slovenia. It was easy to see why many people call this place 'Switzerland on a budget' since it has all the beauty of the Swiss Alps but at half the price (or less). Unfortunately we were stuck with cloudy rainy weather which meant that visibility (which is crucial for enjoying the mountain vistas) was in short supply. We wandered the charming streets of the capital city Ljubljana's Old Town with the Ljubljana Castle overlooking it. The centre of the Old Town has the beautiful Franciscan Church of the Annunciation on Preseren Square facing the Triple Bridge over the Ljubljanica River. Just down the river is the Dragon Bridge with four large dragons guarding it. Despite its small size, we found the Old Town delightful to walk through especially at night as we had it almost to ourselves.
The Julian Alps lie just to the north of Ljubljana and we spent a day driving through them. Lake Bled was beautiful except we could not see the mountain backdrop because of the low clouds. They lifted somewhat at Lake Bohinj which gave us gorgeous views especially since the lake was glass calm. The Savica Waterfall was a short hike through a beautiful red leafed forest and then it was time to leave this piece of paradise. Slovenia definitely deserves a return visit especially in the sunshine.
No comments:
Post a Comment