We had a very good hotel in Ljubljiana and the three receptionists that we talked to were very friendly and helpful. We took our regular breakfast at Fresco and walked easily to the station. Our reservation on the train was for seats 75 and 77, but we found that there was no seat 77; the numbers went from 71 to 76. Other people had similar problems so there must be a bug in the reservation program.
At the border with Croatia two lots of border police got on the train and stamped our passports out and in. Just like the Mongolian border. The train was on time and the Allegro Hotel was close to the station so we were in our room just after 11am. At noon we set off to see the city, armed with a map and advice provided by the receptionist. The streets are wide with plenty of green space, statues and fountains. Quite nice.
The first gallery we came to advertised a display of works by Auguste Rodin and we paid AUD5 each to enter. The works were on loan from Paris and we would have paid much more to view them there or in Australia. We knew the Thinker, who was actually meant to be Dante contemplating his depiction of Hell. And of course The Kiss, which featured on the advertisement. No photos were allowed in the gallery.
There were sculptures in plaster, bronze and marble. These included a mask of Gustav Mahler which we found to be not as gaunt as the statue we saw yesterday in Ljubljiana. When we visited the Victor Hugo house in Guernsey we learnt about the sculpture Rodin made of his head on a visit there. Today we saw the plaster version. There were paintings and pen drawings by Rodin as well. Half an hour very well spent. The musical Mama Mia has been running in Zagreb, but finished last night.
We sat in the Aida Cafe (1913) in the Town Square and watched the nice blue trams zooming around without exhausts. Hopefully Sydney will not regret going for trams.
We ordered cakes and received ones that were designed in Vienna.
There was a display of Naive Croation Art and traditional dresses at the back of a Souvenir Shop which was well worth seeing. Nicola Tesla was born in this country and Malcolm has just finished reading his biography on the Kindle. He had 700 inventions and led the way into the electronic world of today. They had cups and coasters as souvenirs of his genius.
We saw the front of the magnificent Cathedral built in 1880, which is almost finished being restored. There were samples of the before and after condition.
It received no maintenance in the Communist years. As it is made of sandstone, the decorative details only last about one hundred years.
It received no maintenance in the Communist years. As it is made of sandstone, the decorative details only last about one hundred years.
This clock was on the church when it suffered in an earthquake and stopped for seven hours.
The city has a very neat and sophisticated appearance with many buildings looking like the Maks Fabiani ones we saw pictured yesterday. It was originally two cities on separate hills. Sounds like Buda/Pest. For the bits we missed there was a model of the town to view.
As it was 30C we retreated at 3:15 to our excellent 4 star hotel ($100 per night).
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