Lizzie and I decided to sleep in just a bit today since we had woken up so early the day before. At breakfast we also took some time to chat with some of the other hostel folks. There was one guy from Texas taking a 2 week independent vacation to Europe while on Winter break from UTexas, another girl from Jersey heading back to the US after a semester abroad, a guy from Germany who has a month long internship in Ljubljana, and then Lizzie and I. We traded travel stories and experiences as well as hints for places to go. I was reminded how small of a world it really is and was even more inspired to continue travels in the future!!
We were headed to the Contemporary Art Museum and the Ethnographic Museum today, but decided we wanted to go there via the center and Dragon Bridge. What a GREAT choice! We walked to the center and were able to take some more beautiful photos. St. Francis Church was also open for people to come inside; little did we know what was in store inside! Not only was it another beautiful church with amazing paintings and architecture, there was also a large Nativity scene at the front. Today was Orthodox Christmas, so it was a perfect day for us to have gone. This nativity was at least 15 feet across and probably 10 feet deep. It was not only the Inn with Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus, but it was like the whole countryside. It was so detailed and I will never forget it.
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| Morning view of the river |
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| River view in the other direction |
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| St. Francis church |
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| one portion of the Nativity scene |
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| Tripple Bridge and the castle |
Leaving the church and heading to the Dragon Bridge, but found a very worthwhile detour! Across the triple bridge (yes three pedestrian bridges all going in the same direction) was a market! There were wonderful hand-made treasures that I had trouble passing up!! As we journeyed onward there was also a market with fresh foods. We found a man and woman making spelt, a type of bread. They were selling it with different toppings. Lizzie and I being the foodies that we are, we decided to share one with cheese, onion, and bacon- OH MY WORD! It was mouthwateringly good! We also got to eat it along the river with quite the view!
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| The market |
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| Spelt makers |
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| The Spelt Lizzie and I shared |
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| Our view while we ate |
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| Our view while we ate |
It was the dragon bridge next! This bridge is a bridge for both pedestrians and vehicles. On each side and end of the bridge are big Dragons and each light pole is also decorated. The legend is that a dragon was slayed and in commemoration of this the bridge was built.
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| Dragon Bridge |
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| Dragon Bridge |
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| Light posts on Dragon Bridge |
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Looking down the river on Dragon Bridge
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From the bridge we walked on to the Ethnographic and Contemporary Art Museums. On our way we walked by a hotel. Now that it is day 5 here I think I can share an observation. Most of the tourists in Slovenia are Italian. One could say this is because Italy is right to the west, but there were considerably more people from Italy than Austria or Hungry that also border Slovenia. It was interesting to see. Most of the Slovenians also speak Italian or German and English. It is a country with 2 million people so learning another language helps them function in the global community. This is something that I wish we had more experience with in the US. Living where I do, I haven’t had to know another language, in fact the language I learned in high school I never used again and therefore lost the knowledge. This is a big difference between Europe (the parts I have seen) and the US. A difference that I wish was not so obvious personally.
But back to our next stop- the Ethnographic Museum. This was a 3 floor museum that a person could EASILY spend the whole day in. Slovenia has put so much time and effort into their museums and they are so worth the time and energy to go to them. On the first floor there was a exhibition on a tribe indigenous to the Amazon in Venezuela. The entire exhibit was floor to ceiling with pictures, artifacts, and videos compiled by 3 individuals who made it their life’s work to learn about this very unique group of people. The 2nd floor was the journey of a person from their life to their death… it looked at what makes people individuals, what creates identity. The exhibit also explored what creates family what makes us different and similar than our ancestors. It was a very thought provoking exhibit. The 3rd floor was the exploration of people from all around the world- clothing, agriculture, hunting/fishing and went then into the indigenous people of every continent. I was thoroughly impressed with the entire museum.
From there it was to the contemporary art museum. It too was amazing! There were works from the 19th century but as the museum’s mission stated, contemporary doesn’t just mean the years the artist lived or when the work was created but rather that the thought process and final piece was contemporary for the time or situation.
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| A great door we saw on our walk from place to place |
Our plan had been to make it to one more museum before the end of the day, but with the time it was we changed our plan… it was food and H&M clothing store! Although it was not a museum, we had a lot of fun! We had to get back to the hostel to drop off our bags so we could get back to our evening plans- THE BALLET! It was a performance of The Nutcracker and A Christmas Carole in one! At first I was a bit skeptical of how the choreographer was going to pull it off because I love the Nutcracker. It was good though! All the music was from the Nutcracker, but it was Scrooge that was dreaming, and Clara was in the dream. I love the ballet and it was so wonderful getting to see a performance in Slovenia!
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| Theater where the ballet was preformed |
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| Theater where the Ballet was preformed |
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| Inside the theater |
After the ballet it was to a traditional Slovenian dinner. It was a tiny restaurant but very cozy with hospitable people. I ordered chicken with mushroom sauce and cottage cheese rolls (pasta cooked and rolled with cottage cheese on the inside). It was a delicious dinner and a great end to a wonderful evening!
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| Walking to dinner- the center of Ljubljana |
Lesson: We can seek out cultural experiences even if they are not presented to us in an obvious way.
hey this is leah johnson!!!!
ReplyDeletelol that looks nasty by the way but i bet the it tasted good
i hope you are having a good time up there
we miss you here love leah