From Now to January......: Thoughts on Ljubljana

Rick and I have been in Ljubljana for 6 days now. We are getting settled, he is going to the office every morning and spending most of the day there. I am learning my way around town, figuring out the bus system, free bike rental scheme, grocery shopping, going on walking tours and using the laundry room. My first impression of Ljubljana is positive. The old part of town is very nice, a river runs through the town, there are lots of squares with restaurants spilling out on the sidewalks. There is a wonderful farmers market that is open 6 days a week. The architecture is interesting in the old part of town. You definitely can see an influence from the Austrian Habsburg Empire and the architect Joze Plecnik. Out of city center you can see the influence from the post WWII days when the country was part of Yugoslavia. I find the people are friendly and helpful, with fairly good English skills, especially people in their 20's and 30's. They want tourist to enjoy their city and they want to make sure you are happy.
Yesterday Rick and I had lunch with his colleague Tanja and her husband, Marko. We were at the restaurant for almost 4 hours talking with them. It was interesting to hear their take on how Slovenia has transformed and the current world affairs. This afternoon we walked to the city center to the market to pick up sauerkraut and sausages. There was a food fair, their version of a food truck rodeo. I had Indian food and Rick had sausages. Then we had a wonderful cake! We stood at a table with a nice couple who live in Ljubljana, she is originally from Croatia and he from Italy.
I will post this quickly with a few photos from my walking tour, apartment and today's market adventure. When Rick returns from the office we will head to Kamnik to meet up with Jerry, Jean, Carol and Don at the chalet. Rick will be able to stay with us over the weekend, but will have to return Monday morning to prepare for his MBA class he will be teaching next week in Vienna and the seminars he will be conducting later this month here at the University of Ljubljana.

Our apartment. I picked up some fleece throws to cover our bed. We are sleeping on top of the duvets for extra padding. The kitchen has one regular and a tiny burner to heat coffee or water. I can make one pot meals! We do have a living room with futon couch, desk and tv. The tv has many station in English, with Slovene subtitles.

City Hall of Ljubljana and "old town" square

Ljubljanica River boat rides

St Nicholas Cathedral

Franciscan Church of the Assumption on Presernov Square

house representing Succession architecture on Presernov square, the story behind the house is funny. There was a major earthquake in 1895 that damaged many buildings. This building was not damaged, but the owners put up scaffolding in order to get money from the govt and painted their building in all of these wonderful designs and patterns.