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Last pictures from Slovenia

A few last photos from our time in Ljubljana…

On the hill of Castle Ljubljana

The War Museum in Logatec, Slovenia had exhibits from WWI, WWII and the War for an Independent Slovenia (1991). We took a tour of a submarine, which convinced us that we never want to work in a submarine. The tour guide also explained to us that Slovenians are superior to all the other ethnic groups in the former Yugoslovia… and Italians. Doubtful that the Croats, Bosnians etc. would agree with his assessment

Tour of Škocjan Caves, a UNESCO world heritage site. It has the largest known underground canyon in the world. Photos were not allowed inside the cave. Those below are of the exit and grounds.

 

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Random pictures from Slovenia

 

The river running through Ljubljana was located a block from our apartment.

Our apartment in Ljubljana.

 

The “Cat Cafe” was across the street from our apartment. They served hot chocolate and had eight cats that you could pet. Notice Logan’s actual smile, not her camera smile.

 

That disc spins, and you can run on it. Good idea?

Ethan and Logan at the puppet musuem.

Metelkova – one the larges urban squats in Europe. Students took over the old army barracks after they were abandoned in 1991. The government tried to demolish them in 1993, but caved to student / squatter protest. We visited in the morning and enjoyed the paintings, sculptures and odd structures. We did not have a chance to take photos of the people; it appears they like to sleep in.

 

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Slovenian Cuisine

We loved Ljublajana, but we never really warmed to the local food. They seem to put cottage cheese in more dishes than we had imagined possible. The desserts with cottage cheese were edible, but I didn’t want seconds. I managed to eat the smoked ravioli with cottage cheese, but the only flavors were smoke and cottage cheese.

So every Friday we were anxious to get to the downtown market where restaurants would set up booths to sell local and foreign cuisine. We favored Thai and Mediterranean restaurants, but tried a number of local dishes as well.

Above is a local potato dish that I liked enough to buy twice. It is hard to ruin fried potatoes. Although, Matthew took a bite and spit it out. So I guess he thinks you can mess up potatoes.

Ethan appears scared of the dessert being cooked, but we all enjoyed the end product. The pan started out with liquid but ended up looking like chunks of fried dough. Logan is holding the finished product. She preferred the Nutella topped side over the fruit topped side.

Ljubljana is the European green capital of 2016. Recycle and compost bins are located all over the city. Above is one of the local helpers who sits by the garbage bins to help confused foreigners figure out where to place their trash.

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Happy Birthday Logan!

Logan turned 12 last week. She got an odd assortment of gifts that can be found in our local grocery store and we took her bowling.

And let me just say that I know it is completely inappropriate to talk about myself while I am celebrating the birth of my lovely daughter. But I bowled 5 strikes in a row. Five. In a row.

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Bled

The town of Bled is one of the major attractions in Slovenia and I, like every other tourist in Slovenia, was looking forward to a visit. A scenic church is located on a tiny island in the middle of the lake. Above, a castle is perched on a sheer cliff. And there is even a dessert named for the town!

We hiked up to the castle and around the lake. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. But when all was said and done, we prefer Ljubljana over Bled any day. The surroundings are gorgeous but the town lacks the charm and tranquility of Ljubljana.

Vintgar gorge is located just outside Bled.

 

And I don’t even think he has seen The Karate Kid

Bled Cream Cake. It is in EVERY cafe. Logan liked it despite the different textures and lack of chocolate. I guess I can call that progress?

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It’s raining

It’s raining… a lot. It is raining so much that I took the kids to an illusion museum today. Some of you may have noticed my increase in posts today. Did I mention there has been a lot of rain?

        

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Slovenian cooking class (a.k.a we are really missing Ecuadorian food)

This morning Ethan dramatically walked into the living room and simply yelled, “Cottage cheese! In a dessert!” Let’s just say he was not a big fan of the cooking class I dragged him to last night. And although I thought the “dessert” was okay, the  other food was, well, I guess I would say… okay.

Appetizers: cottage cheese with pumpkin oil, cottage cheese with garlic, cheese with peach jam and some meat spread with pig skin. Sorry for the lack of actual names of these dishes. I have not yet received the email from the cooking instructor with the recipes and I can’t recall the names.

     

Main dish: bulgar with onion, garlic, mixed herbs and my favorite… mushrooms! Some of you know I don’t like mushrooms. I did manage to swallow them. It wasn’t horrible. But even if the dish contained a vegetable I liked, it still would have lacked flavor. Ethan reports the chicken was good, although it had no seasoning except salt.

      

Above is the “dessert”, štruklj, that Ethan was still complaining about this morning. After rolling the dough thin, we filled it with a cottage cheese, sugar and egg mix. We then rolled it into a log, wrapped it in a cotton cloth and boiled it for 20 minutes. Interesting, and again… okay.

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I figured out why I love Ljubljana

Yesterday we went on a free walking tour of Ljubljana. Our guide told us about the history and architecture as we roamed through the central city. The Ljubljanans are very proud of the Slovenian architect, Plečnik (1872-1957). The website for the city explains that “the multitude of his creations in the city, referred to as a whole as “Plečnik’s Ljubljana”, is considered to be one of the 20th century’s most important total works of art.” Our guide simply pointed out that he really liked columns. Per the guide,  “if you see a column in the city, Plecnik designed it”. And there are columns everywhere (except apparently in the photos I took yesterday). 

But it is not the columns that make me love Ljubljana. It is the fact that you can walk forever in the city without running into (or getting run over) by a car. The guide explained that in 2007 the central city was turned into a car free zone. There was chaos at first as everyone tried to figure out how to get from point A to point B, but over the years it created a vibrant, central space that is full of cafes and gathering spots.

The article below shows before and after photos of some of the spaces. It amazes me that the leaders had the guts to do this, and the results are impressive.

Ljubljana – The European Green Capital 2016

Ethan can always be located near the tour guide.

If you look closely, you can see a castle on the hill above the town. There are stories of a dragon living in the hill. Per the guide, the dragon stories can be traced back to the legend of Jason and the Argonauts. The dragon gets blamed for fires, earthquakes (turning over) and thunder (caused by his hunger pangs).