Hybrid Slovenia

  
 

The morning we woke up in Ljubljana was chilly and drizzly. Once we realized we hadn't yet withdrawn any Euros to check out of our hostel we set out along the Ljubljanica River through the center of the small city to find a bank. The dragons of Zmajski Most (Dragon Bridge) looked a little less threatening in the cool grey light of the morning. 

  

The architecture throughout the Old Town appeared to me as a graceful mixture of Baroque and Art Nouveau (which here I will assume reflects the Austrian influence brought by centuries of Habsburg rule) along with the Mediterranean red terra cotta roofs and high frequency of Pietas (which I think I can assume reflect Slovenia's position next to Italy at the southern edge of Europe). The stretch of town on our way out to the train station was sprinkled with taller modern glass and concrete buildings, and from the vantage point of the Ljubljana Castle, situated on a high bluff in the center of the city, we could see the  concrete apartment blocks typical of formerly communist countries repeating themselves out in the suburbs.

  

A large number of nuns on the streets was immediately noticeable (I had already counted eight by the time we reached an ATM). A second obvious element of city life here is the number of bicycles flying in all directions. I do see a lot more of those on the streets and sidewalks of Budapest compared with New York, but their ubiquity here jumped out at me (and almost over me a few alarming times).

  

The large market at Vodnikov Trg was filled with everything from bananas and beeswax candles to enormous amounts of flowers. The side streets of the Old Town are filled with expensive, stylish boutiques and outdoor cafes with hip waiters balancing trays of cappuccinos. The grey wet weather, however, seemed to maintain a strict mitteleuropean catholic rule over the city that lasted all day.