September 18, 2021
A good night’s sleep allowed me to wake up feeling better than I had in days. The City Hotel was said to put out a great breakfast buffet and whoever said it was quite right. Pretty much anything a hard cycling guy or gal could want and plenty of it, all included with your reservation. From there it was on to meet my traveling companions and TDA tour staff. While we are mostly all seasoned long distance riders there were still things to go over and the mandatory safety chat.
Now fully indoctrinated, I was free to travel about the city-side. Ljubljana is quite old by North American standards with a town of a different name having been established here in Roman times. The name seems to have shown up in the 12th century but it has also been called Laibach by German speakers into fairly recent times. The official language is Slovenian but most folks seemed to understand my English even with my hybrid accent. It is the capital of Slovenia and was once part of Yugoslavia until becoming an independent state in 1991.
The city symbol is the dragon and a legend is told that Jason, of Golden Fleece fame, fought and killed a dragon here on his way back to Greece. Of course all magicians know that rivers have dragons and with the Ljubljanica River flowing through the center that too may be the source of the dragon that fronts their coat of arms.
The city is dominated by a castle on a hill overlooking the city. It can be reached by road, footpath or tramway. The castle has served in the city defences and also as a prison. Royalty and political prisoners alike have all been involuntary guests within its walls. The is a tale that a nobleman named Erasmo Jamski, was imprisoned there for stabbing an army commander. One version has him using the sewage network for is escape. Regardless of his method he was never heard from again but may it was because you could smell him coming.
The city is quite bicycle friendly with bike paths nearly everywhere. Hardly a roadway does not have a portion set aside for this use even some of the more narrow ones in the city center. Bikes are everywhere and you will see all manner of people coming and going about their business on two wheels.
The Three Bridges area is the heart of the tourist district but it appears that many local residents seem to stroll there as well to enjoy the riverside cafes and shops. It is a pleasant place to nurse a beer or a glass of wine and I plan to do one or the other just as soon as I type my last period.