Tom`s travels: Maribor, Ljubljana,& Bled (8-10/01/2018)

After catching the bus from Graz we reached Maribor in Slovenia about an hour later. We had booked a room at a place called Anna House, and after the destination headed there to check in and drop our luggage. After the check in we were hungry as it was quite late however most places were closed so we decided to eat some food we had brought with us. After that, we went for a walk around the town despite the cold and foggy weather. We passed by the castle, more of a large palace, built during the 15th century and now holding the regional museum. right in front of it opens up the Grajski Trg, a triangularly shaped square with a column with St Florian standing at its center. We then walked through another square, Glavni Trg, and reached the Glavni most, one of the bridges spanning the Drava river. It was decorated with pretty street lights in the fashion of Christmas trees. From there we descended at river level and admired the Synagogue from the 14th century, one of the oldest in Europe. We were then quite tired so headed back to the accommodation to rest up for the next day. In the morning, after breakfast we headed out, the weather not having gotten better. We first visited the Cathedral, which stood right in front of our accommodation, built in the Gothic style with several Baroque additions including the bell tower. Then we again passed through Glavni Trg, this time admiring it by daylight. At its northern end stands the Renaissance town hall, from which supposedly Hitler addressed the local German population during his visit in 1941. In front, it and at the center of the square stands the pretty Plague Column, built during the 17th century to commemorate the stop of the plague epidemic that hit the city in 1680. From the square, we walked down towards the river and encountered a 16th-century house which holds attached to its southern side a vine which is considered to be the world's oldest being around for 400 years. We walked up to Glavni most once more and admired the view of the old town from the other side of the Drava river. After that, we walked back through the old town and the Grajski Trg and reached the train station where we took a train to Ljubljana.
The journey took a while, winding through hills and along small rivers and towns. After reaching Slovenia's capital we headed to our accommodation which was located a bit outside the city center. After checking in and leaving our luggage we headed out again and walked back to the center. It had started to rain, something which would follow us throughout the whole time in the city, and this meant drenched clothes and blurry pictures. We entered the old part of town by crossing the so-called Dragon bridge, built at the beginning of the 20th century under Austro-Hungarian rule. After crossing Vodnik square we entered the Cathedral, originally built as a gothic church it is now fully Baroque. As we entered, the interior was really dark and badly lit up and as the sun had set we could not see much of the decorations and paintings. Not much further we reached Mestni Trg, or Town square, where the town hall stands to the south. At the square's center is a replica of a famous fountain, now kept in the national gallery, the Robba fountain. This Baroque monument was made in 1751 by the Italian architect Robba and is one of the main landmarks of the city. Walking along the street lined with beautiful old buildings, Mestni Trg became Stari Trg which had the Hercules fountain at its center dating from the 17th century. We then crossed the Ljubljanica river and walked along the riverside admiring the historic buildings with the castle above the hill in the background. The riverside walk ended at Preseren Square one of the central squares of the city, where the Tromostovje or Triple bridge is located as well as the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation, which had a nice Baroque interior. We then decided to visit the National Gallery which holds some interesting paintings including those of international and local artists. As mentioned earlier the original of the Robba fountain is also located inside the museum. After the visit, we decided to have dinner at a place called Sarajevo 84 which made a mix of Balkan food. I had Cevapcici while Ania had borek. We were then quite tired so we headed to our accommodation where we went to sleep early. The following morning we decided to head to the bus station and take a bus to the famous Lake Bled. The lake is of mixed glacial and tectonic origin and is famous for containing an island with a monastery at its center. Furthermore, the clear water and the surrounding alpine landscape make it an ideal location for tourism. After getting off the bus we decided to walk the entirety of the lake's perimeter. We started the walk by rounding the castle located on top of a hill giving us a nice view of the lake and then descending back down at water level. As we reached the western part of the lake we met some really hungry ducks which followed us around quacking out loud. Then we decided to climb the nearby hill which provided us with an incredible and picture-perfect view of the lake, monastery island, castle and mountains in the background. Back down from the hill we then completed the circuit of the lake and got back into the town of Bled, after hanging there for a bit we then took the bus back to Ljubljana. After arriving we walked through the old town and chose a small restaurant to have dinner, Second Violin. The dishes were huge and the prices were cheap, and I had a really tasty goulash soup. After dinner, we took another stroll and finally headed back to our accommodation to sleep.