Ljubljana

Gordon:  We are spending a couple of nights in our second capital city of this pilgrimage: Ljubljana.  It’s hard not to like, particularly as we are staying in a palace.  No, really, it is an upper suite in a palace built for a count in 1755.  Of course it’s not cheap, but as in all European capitals, nothing is.  In fact, it was only about 50 percent more expensive than a couple of bunks in a hostel.  I don’t know how young people can afford to travel in Europe in the post-Covid era.

Ljubljana has a population of about 280,000, so it is roughly comparable to Greater Victoria.  (The entire country only has about 2.1 M people.)  The historic core is so small you can walk across it in 10 minutes.  But there is a lot of charm packed into that small area.  The Ljubljanica River is only about 25 metres wide, but it is crossed by innumerable bridges and lined with attractive cafes.  This is Europe, so of course the historic district is dominated by a castle on the hill.

Ljubljana has existed as a city since the Roman era, but a series of severe earthquakes have levelled it, so many of the notable buildings are Vienna Succession, from around the turn of the 20th century.  Not at all a bad thing.

We dropped into the pilgrim office adjacent to the Svetnik Jakoba (Santiago) church this morning.  Once again we felt a little like rock stars, with a round of photos with the volunteers at the office, as well as another pilgrim.  Other than the two friends that joined us for a few days in Hungary, Simone was the first pilgrim we have met on this Camino.