Besides wandering the town, there was not really anything specific that we wanted to do in Ljubliana, so we decided that taking another walking food tour with a local would be a great use of our time, and well, it was. Inka met us and two Australian girls currently living in London at a local fountain and then took us to four different restaurants followed by coffee at a cafe and then ice cream. We ate a tuna pate on toast, warm cucumber soup, sausage, grilled zucchini with pumpkin seeds, squid stuffed with cottage cheese, pasta with truffles and the most tender gnocchi I had ever tasted. The food was truly remarkable, and I loved the wide variety. To top it off, we went to a gelato bistro with unique, local flavors that were all made in house. I had parmesan gelato and pumpkin seed oil gelato, and would not have guessed how much I would have enjoyed them both! Sure, parmesan ice cream sounds odd, but think about it... you like cheese, right? And you like ice cream, right? Yep, delicious.
The food was divine, but what I enjoyed even more was the company. Speaking to the locals to truly learn about a place is one of the perks of traveling, one of the best ways to learn about a place. Inka had grown up in Slovenia, was proud of her country, and teaches at the high school that teaches about tourism. She was honest, open and eager to tell us about her country. Her first explanation of the regions may have been the most helpful. Slovenia is sort of shaped like a chicken. Sure, it takes just a tad of imagination to see it, but when you do, it makes sense. From then on, she was able to explain, "this food comes from the head of the chicken," or "this wine comes from the back foot of the chicken." We learned that each region uses a particular oil for salads, such as pumpkin seed oil, grape seed oil or sunflower seed oil. She described Slovenia as a “spoon” country, saying that they always had to have a soup and/or hearty stew with their meals. It is apparently a social faux pas to serve a Sunday meal, or a wedding feast without hot beef and noodle soup, no matter the temperature outside. Just as a meal would be a disaster if there were no bread, and oh, how delicious the breads have been! Many Slovenian meals are heavy - gravy, meat, potato and breads. The people here, though, are also incredibly hearty - mountain climbers, farmers, etc., and well, a salad just doesn’t give you the energy needed to complete these difficult tasks.
I loved learning from Inka about the everyday life of Slovenians. The country is very small, about the side of Massachusetts, and as such, locals can be in a whole new country in a very short drive. Because of this, they refuse to commute long distances to work. The argument seems to be that if you can be in another country in an hour, why in heaven’s name would you drive an hour to work? Love it! A common tease about Slovenians is that they learn to ski before they can walk. What did I tell you? Hearty people! About 70% of the holidays they take are by the sea, and the rest are hiking and camping. They love to be outside, and aside from torrential rain or bitter cold, they will frequently join their friends for a coffee outside at a cafe. Inka talked with a bit of sadness about changes in the country, and how she felt that focus over the last few years had turned to productivity rather than family and time for self. For years, she said the twenty four hour day was divided into eight hours of work, eight for sleep and eight for free time, but she said that businesses and companies are beginning to expect more and working hours are now longer than school hours which makes picking up kids from school and family time a true struggle. We talked about healthcare, politics, education and even maternity leave. I’m always fascinated to hear how other countries operate and remind myself that we can all learn from one another.
The rest of our time in Ljubljana was spent wandering around the colorful pedestrian part of downtown which straddles the river. Merchants set up tables of treasures and creations along the river and in open market stalls. Locals sat sipping coffee and chatting. Tourists struggled to get the perfect photo with the statue and church at the intersection of the three bridges. And then, there was the bubble man. I do not know his story at all, but what I know is he is living life well and spreading joy. From a block away, we watched bubbles, lots of bubbles, rise up and amongst the buildings. We love bubbles. Mom spent a whole lot of time trying to capture bubbles in photographs, and Dad spent a lot of time perfecting his blowing techniques to help her. We had spent so much time watching bubbles, that we even noticed patterns in the colors they gave off and how that pattern repeated before they burst. This young man, with a homemade bubble wand and bucket of soap, had a sign that simply said, "money for traveling around Europe." He had drawn a crowd the way street performers in Central Park do, only his youngest audience members were active participants. Somehow, bubbles break all sorts of barriers, so that young, old, male, female, and from all different continents watched in wonder, amazement and smiles as small children giggled in anticipation of popping a bubble.
We took a funicular to the castle hill and meandered around the castle grounds, overlooking the city and watching as a storm approached the city. The castle, although charming, was fairly recent, and so missed much of the old world charm that holds such importance in a castle. We snuck under a tent on the pedestrian mall for some local pizza (how we could fit anything else in our stomachs, I'm still baffled), before going to the airport and picking up my travel partner extraordinaire, Jessica!
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