Ljubljana. It's a mouthful, but a tasty one. Slovenia's capital is just a 3ish hour journey from Zagreb, and it's one of Europe's smallest capitals with a population about the size of Lincoln, for you Nebraska folks reading this. Its historic central district is ridiculously small - like a small town or a big village. What it lacks in size, though, it makes up for in character. Ljubljana feels like Salzburg, Austria with a bit of Balkan flair. It's got lovely, Hapsburg buildings, beautiful baroque churches, pedestrianized streets and squares, and a big castle on the hill overlooking it all. It also has zesty Balkan-influenced cuisine, cafes and street performers playing gypsy-like music on every street corner, and prices that are far cheaper than neighboring Austria.
After getting to our hostel, I was feeling restless, wanted to see the city, and I hadn't done much physical activity at all over the course of the day, so I went for a short jog along the river that loops around the historic center. It was a very easy, flat run, only four miles, too short for the pain in my heel to kick in (that takes about 6 miles).
After running and eating, we went to a bar to watch the first match of the World Cup - Brazil vs Croatia. We were just unlucky (or lucky?) enough to leave Croatia just before they played in the World Cup. I'm sure the atmosphere in Zagreb would have been wild, but we were rooting for Brazil, and seeing as Brazil won, maybe Zagreb wouldn't have been the safest place to be! Anyway, the bar we picked had a big outdoor TV and the crowd was fairly evenly split between Brazil and Croatia-supporters. The beer was good too. Slovenia only has two major domestic beers - Lasko and Union. Lasko tastes like Bud Light. Union is delicious. Get Union.
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| Dragon on the Dragon Bridge |
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