On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
otmar
One of the reasons for my travels across Europe is my involvement in an EU level cooperation forum. While in this case the chair doesn’t rotate in sync with the EU Council Presidency every 6 months, the EU member state holding the presidency is still supposed to organize a meeting. See also https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/council-eu/presidency-council-eu/
The pandemic threw a spanner into those plans and the meetings that were planned for Croatia, Germany, and Portugal were moved to an online form. This might work for some forums, but in this case, the talks in the breaks and the social events surrounding the official proceedings are just as important as the official agenda. So, I was really happy that we managed to convene again in Slovenia (Ljubljana) in November 2021.
Travelling there was a bit tricky: the train tracks between Vienna, Graz and Ljubljana might be scenic, but they do not offer a quick ride. The distance is too small to make flying a decent option. Going by car was thus the way to go, and we opted for car-pooling: The guy from Slovakia picked me and the Finnish delegate up in Vienna (apparently, flying from Helsinki to Ljubljana was also tricky) and we three then proceeded via Graz and Marburg to the meeting (a 4-hour drive).
I’ve been to Ljubljana before and meanwhile they have reconfigured the old town to a mostly pedestrian area. As Slovenia had been a part of the Austri-Hungarian empire for a long time, the architecture looks very Austrian. If it weren’t for the signs in another language, this feels like home. I didn’t have much time for sightseeing, so here are only a few pictures from a short stroll on the way to the dinner.
This is the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation.
The small, circular hub in front of the church also connects via three bridges to the other side of the Ljubljanica river, where the old castle is located on a hill overlooking the town.
Saint Nicholas’ Cathedral
Mestna občina Ljubljana (City hall)
The flags are actually pretty typical for Europe these days; three flags flying side by side:
* the blue EU flag with the yellow stars
* the national flag (here the Slovenian one, which is just as easily confused with the Slovakian one as their name is. Hint: the Slovenian one shows the mountain Trivlav with his three peaks)
* the flag of the city
In some cases, there is also a state flag (e.g. Styria) in the middle, making it a four level hierarchy of flags.
Scuffletuffle
Beautiful!
bluefoot
Lovely. I’ve never been to Ljubljana though I’ve been to both Graz and Marburg. I’ve been wanting to go back, particularly to Graz. I may have to add Ljubljana to the list.
stinger
Thanks for the cool photos and writeup!
zhena gogolia
Thanks! I’ve been there but have absolutely no memories of it. I think we went to a salt mine or something?
MCat
Thanks for the photos. It looks like a beautiful city.
Mike Mundy
We found Ljubljana to be quite serene in the morning.
We got there via a super cool black rental Mercedes!
Betty
It was interesting hearing about your European connection. Beautiful buildings. That’s good news about creating pedestrian spaces. Which US city is likely to take such a step seriously?
munira
I was there when Tito was still alive and it was still Yugoslavia. I remember Ljubljana being incredibly beautiful but not many details so thanks for the reminder.
ronno2018
great post! thanks!
(also all the historic centers of european cities should be pedestrianized. i was in Rome several months ago and that place would be so much more amazing without all the cars!)