Ljubljana's Lights and Legends

May 14, 2018

Ljubljana's Lights and Legends

Christmas Day

We picked up a rental car at Marco Polo International Airport and pointed it northeast toward the Slovenian capital. Ljubljana is a charming city that's actually a lot like a compact Prague. We'd visited it in 2011 on our drive back to Prague from Croatia. But this time we had a reasons beyond the delights of Baroque architecture and Slavic history to draw us back.

This time it was personal.

Christmas at Lila's!

Friends!! This time we were able to visit our dear friend Lila and her family as well as our blasphemous, bombastic New York neighbor Stan (also a dear friend) who was in town for the six weeks between fall and spring semester at Hartwick. As I've mentioned, there's no denying that we are lucky beyond measure to spend sabbatical abroad. But at the holidays it's easy to feel a little homesick when what you want is to be gathered into the warm embrace of friends or family or friends-who-are-like-family.

Stan, us, and Lila's daughters ... almost in descending order of height, by chance

And that's what we got at Lila's place. Stan lives across the street from us back home and his family is like family to us. We typically share Christmas brunch with one or more members of his household. Lila is Stan's colleague and friend; we've enjoyed her company numerous times during her trips to New York. So when the idea was floated to join this lively, fun group over the holidays, we jumped at the chance to make it happen.

It was such a wonderful treat to spend the evening in a welcoming home with these folks, eating, joking, laughing, and laughing some more.

As we bid them goodnight we made plans for a morning meet up and headed off to our rental flat.

The accommodations were just what we needed, enough space but not too dear.

Marko, the owner, was a chatty, personable fellow who was also an artist.

Not sure if this was Marko's wall doodle or if he merely invited others' contributions to the decor.

The flat was done up in late-20th century IKEA with bold accents.

This was definitely an upgrade from our place in Venice, which was plenty spacious but dark, quite dusty around the edges, and had a musty smell. (Which was fine, too, because, you know ... Venice.)

Tuesday, 26 December

Side streets of Old Town

We met up with Lila and Stan in the historic center.

Some whimsical graffiti

Not all winter decorations are Christmas-themed!

And then walked up the hill to Ljubljana Castle.

Artsy doorknobs

In the castle courtyard

Nativity scene

And this guy

Do you believe, Stan?

Walked back down to Old Town.

Where, of course, we had to visit the Dragon Bridge.

According to legend, Jason (the Greek hero of Golden Fleece fame) and his Argonauts ended up near the spring of the Ljubljanica River as they fled the king of the Black Sea. A dragon rose up out the swamp by the encampment. Jason killed it, securing his place in Slovenian history. He was named Ljubljana's first citizen. Posthumously, we presume.

Completed in 1901, the Art Nouveau bridge was originally called The Jubilee Bridge of Emperor Franz Josef I.

In 1919, formality was cast off as (I'm guessing) they bowed to public consensus
and renamed it the Dragon Bridge.

Word on the street is that the dragons' tails twitch when a virgin crosses the bridge.

West of the Dragon Bridge is architect Jože Plečnik's colonnade which houses the Central Market.

Time for snacks!

Back out into the city.

More graffiti

Stopped by a bookstore, where I sprang for a deck of cards, Garrett got The Baltimore Boys,

and Karl picked up a little light reading.

Ben said he was all set.

Slovenian Postcards

Off to lunch.

Our destination: Das Ist Valter restaurant, an award-winning, off-the-tourist-path establishment that celebrates "Yugo-nostalgia." In addition to a meat-and-beer-based menu and strong coffee, patrons can enjoy the 1972 partisan film Valter Brani Sarajevo (Walter Defends Sarajevo) which is run on a loop in the dining room.

Lila placed the order for all of us.

A smorgasbord of Balkan meats and more.

"If you love how real Bosnian food tastes and have a Yugo-nostalgic bone in your body, you'll love our place,"
the Web site promises.

Na zdravje!

The movie's iconic ending has the German general surveying all of Sarajevo from a hill, saying, "Sehen Sie diese Stadt? Das ist Valter!" ("You see that city? That's Walter!")

And Walter would like a pivo.

After our meal, Lila took us to Metelkova Mesto, an old army barracks/compound-cum-artists commune/squat. According to The Guardian, it is "one of the largest, and arguably most successful, urban squats in Europe."

From the article: "Every year Metelkova Mesto hosts more than 1,500 alternative events in its illegally occupied buildings, catering to a wide spectrum of subcultures, from theatre performances and punk concerts to disability workshops and LGBT club nights. Together with the adjacent museum district, owned by the Slovenian Ministry of Culture – its vast courtyard showcasing the more traditional side of local nightlife, with young couples swing-dancing in the evening sun – the former barracks occupies a special place in the nation’s hearts."

It features a lot of cool graffiti.

As well as the occasional political message.

Beware! Queer Feminist Rebellion!

And a request.

Rooftop sculpture

We headed back to the center of town for evening festivities.

Passed the Vurnikova hiša (Vurnik House) along the way.

Approaching Prešeren Square we could see we were in store for something exciting.

Holiday lights in Ljubljana are not your typical Christmas display.

Designed by artist Zmago Modic, they feature images representing the "infinite expanses of the universe" as well as the "microcosms invisible to the naked eye."

A crowd was gathering in the town square, awaiting the evening's big event: the arrival of Dedek Mraz (Grandfather Frost) and his band of woodland friends.

We stopped by a market stall for mulled wine and hot cocoa before staking our spot.

They make some thick hot cocoa in these parts.

Grandfather Frost emerged during the communist era when religious celebrations like St. Nicholas Day and Christmas became suspect. He arrives in Old Town by procession in the evenings leading up to New Year's Eve, which is the night when he distributes gifts. (Because holidays like Christmas and days named for saints are non-starters when you're living under an atheist regime.)

Grandfather Frost

And his companions

Wednesday, 27 December

The next day we had the morning to entertain ourselves.

Cutest trash receptacle in Ljubljana

Karl and I deposited the boys at the local cat café (every big town's got one here).

And this one was very clear about the rules of engagement with their cats.

Karl and I headed off to the home of Jože Plečnik, the architect responsible for designing many iconic structures and buildings in Ljubljana as well as a few major sites in Prague.

We saw an exhibit on a retrospective look at his work in various cities, both completed as well as unrealized projects.

Plečnik lived in Prague from 1911 to 1920, so he witnessed the dawn of the new nation-state of Czechoslovakia. President Tomáš Masaryk commissioned his friend Plečnik to be chief architect in the redesign of Prague Castle. One of the ideas Plečnik did not see to fruition was a rerouting of Chotkova street near the eastern edge of the castle from Chotkovy Sady down to Pod Bruskou street (at the current site of Malostranská metro stop).

Above is a model of the proposed design. Prague-folks, imagine Tram 22 or 18 coming down over that colonnade, looping around and emerging through one of those arches. It seems cool to me, but Karl noted that with all the trouble Prague has been having with its bridges of late, perhaps it's just as well the street does a switchback.

For his contributions to the fledgling nation, Plečnik posthumously received the Czech distinguished state award last year on 28 October (the holiday celebrating the founding of the Czecho-Slovak statehood).

"The Czech Republic awards Prof. Jože Plečnik, in memory of his extraordinary merits for the development of democracy, humanity and human rights, the Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Order, First Class."

Learning more about his life, philosophy, and aesthetic gave us a deeper appreciation of Plečnik's works in Ljubljana and Prague. As you'd hope it would.

Headed back over to the cat café to grab the boys and scritch a cat or two.

Alas the free ones (that is, those not in people's laps) were sleeping. No scritches allowed.

The Fountain of Three Carniolan Rivers (F. Robba, 1751) with St. Nicholas Cathedral in the background.

I'm going to include a few throwback pictures that I took during our trip to Ljubljana in May 2011. I never did write a blogpost about our time in Slovenia (which we loved!!), so why not incorporate some documentation now.

One of the bronze sculpted doors of St. Nicholas, created for the occasion of Pope St. John Paul's visit in 1996
when he came to celebrate 1250 years of Christianity in Slovenia. (From 2011)

Quick lunch downtown

Prešeren Square in the day time

It isn't terribly clear in the above picture, but this shot is across the Triple Bridge, another Plečnik design.

This shows it better. (Found on Pinterest! Source here.)

A view from the castle down to Prešeren Square, taken in 2011.

Street-side view of Plečnik's colonnaded market. The man liked colonnades.

Holiday lights! These would be of the microcosms-invisible-to-the-naked-eye variety.

As would these: just a little chromosomal display.

Stan urged us to check out another one of Plečnik's major works, so we met up with Lila and him at the National and University Library.

The window designs are meant to look like book covers, open to the inside.

Pegasus doorknobs guide visitors to the realm of knowledge.

Tours of the reading room are limited and must be arranged in advance, so we had to leave that to our imagination (or to pictures in Google image). Instead we got some gelato and went to the Museum of Illusions.

Which was actually really fun. 😀

A few of us ended up at a rave.

All those puzzles/spinning tunnels/magic eyes/dance rooms make a body hungry!

Dinner at Pizzeria Foculus

And finally, per the recommendation of Lila's kids, we ended up at the Ziferblat.

What's a Ziferblat, you ask? You could click on the link to find out, or just know that it's something between a café and a club.

Your time of arrival is noted by the host, who issues a clock with your group's number on it.

Then you're welcome to help yourself to snacks (fruit or bread/toast with butter, jam, Nutella, maybe some biscuits) and beverages (tea, coffee, water, lemonade),

Prepping our table's tea orders.

find your corner to settle in to chat, study, play a board game ... whatever.

A little Uno-action at our table.

When you're done, head back to the host and simply pay for the time you spent. Drinks and snacks are part of the offering. Loved this concept!

It was a super way to wrap up our time with Lila and Stan, our wonderful friends and guides. The next morning we packed up, drove back to Marco Polo, and flew home to Prague.

Much love and thanks to Lila and Stan! Our time in Ljubljana was delightful!

More pics, for those who are inclined ~