Rainy Day Sunday

I have been having a combination of bad hotel connections and a Microsoft issue with my laptop so now wil try to catch up.  For the third time in two days I have had to re-register my Windows Key ID.  So I will backtrack now to the cold, rainy, soggy last day of our first tour!  Outdoor pictures will not be very good but you saw most of the local pictures already as well as the beautiful Lake Bled area.  One rainy day for this whole central base trip is not bad.  But it was cold!  45 F at noon!

Rita, Vicki, Connie, and Rich, Elva and I are always gathered early for tours.  City Hotel in Ljubljana was very nice.

We took a ten a.m. boat cruise on the Ljubljanca River.  We will go anywhere in any weather for a sip of sparkling wine!  We has a beautiful wooden boat and the only wood boat on the river.  This was the 'guide.'  He and the Captain were very good.

The sports club rows on the river.

Perfect weather for ducks, as they say.

The Butcher's Bridge, near the open market, is exactly what it says.  Butcher's used to set up their stalls here.

The church actually looks better from the river because you can't see al the construction like in the photo from the first day.

The boat took the river's name.  As I mentioned before I don't have access to all the pronunciation marks but the dragon's tale is acting as one so the C is soft and the word ends as sounding like 'saaa.'

The Dragon Bridge is called the Mother-in-Law bridge by locals.  They love their in-law jokes!

Everyone except Vicki went on to the castle.  She had gone yesterday when we all went to Lake Bled.  Today she stayed back to pack for her flight home to Kentucky Colonel land!

This spun silver dragon met us at the castle entrance.

The castle experience that we chose was quite interesting but much of it was outside in the drenching rain!  The costumed presenters though di da great job under the circumstances and did not skimp on telling their story.  Of the six parts, two were interior.  The other four were done under  cover rather than precisely where they would normally be.  I think this was more to protect the somewhat elaborate costumes than us!  Lara, the guide leading us, used her umbrella but managed to get almost as wet as we did!

 

 Our Roman soldier met us at the well which was oddly outside the castle walls.  But an artificial hill had been built to protect it from those who might besiege the castle  The 'goddess' was there and the interplay was well done.

 

St. George slew the dragon to save the town and the last virgin, only one had remained!

You might notice that the entrance is high above the ground. That is because the artificial hill reached that height but is gone now.

Not really easy to discern here but this was about a ten foot deep pit that would have had these iron gratings over the top.  This was a jail cell for the common townsfolk.  They were lowered on a rope until their sentence was served and fended for themselves.  Not sure how as it was just a hole in the ground.

Rudolph of Habsburg took control of the castle in 1278 although it was first constructed in sometime in the 11th century high above the existing town.  Castle of Ljubljana

As often happens, he had the money for the castle because she had a large dowry.  She was not real happy with him!  Arranged marriage.

This demonstrated that the original castle was more brick but in later years got a new coat of stone.  No one was sure when.

 


We met this young lady who spent 10 months in the nobility penitentiary and all she did was tell a friend, while in the open marketplace, that she thought the mayor was an 'ass!' They could go out occasionally into the courtyard to walk around which was like heaven.  But the worst thing was that the meals in the jail repeated.  Every Wednesday and Saturday was barley soup that was really just watery broth.  Corn meal served on Thursday.  The longest sentence served here was 10 years.  That is ten years of twice a week barley soup!  No thanks!

Here we have a soldier of Napolean's Army telling how they bravely took the castle and used it for their headquarters.

He generously allowed the nuns to stay and tend to the wounded soldiers.  They even allowed the good sisters to teach the Slovene language to the military men.

She Tsk Tsked a lot and told the 'true story!'  The art int he background has nothing to do with the castle.  We were in the Pentagonal Tower. It is used for exhibitions just as the courtyard hosts festivals and outdoor movies.

 

The Mayor, not the ancient one who was an ass,  told us how he saved the castle and turned it into a wonderful place to have visits and host diplomats.  Meanwhile a 'scribe' would write your name in Calligraphy for a 5 Euro price.

We met the Mayor in the Chapel of St. George which was beautifully decorated.  Note though that it is not saints you see here but Coats of Arms.

I thought the pews were very interesting and different.  And there were heating vents in the floor so I stood on one to try to warm up a little.

There were several museums included in our 10,50 Euro ticket so I visited four of them.  One was the puppetry museum as this part of the world loves puppets as we have found out all along the way. 

 

 

One museum had a tiny model of every castle in Romania and pretty much it seemed like every town had at least one. 

Another museum had all kinds of armor and this interest interactive piece! 

The note says you can try on the chain mail shirt but it will be itchy and may cut you!

 The most interesting thing was a copy of the famed Dance with Death in the hall of the National Museum.  The original fresco is in the Hrastovlje Church and was done in 1490.  This copy, however, is also done in a fresco style and is complete but I believe on a slightly smaller scale.  Danse Macabre

The message is clear.  From baby to old age, no matter your calling or no matter you wealth, Death is the final partner.

We were done! Mission accomplished so to speak so we took the Funicular down to the city and made our way back to the hotel to try to dry out and warm up before setting out again for a Farewell dinner.

I did stop long enough outside the puppetry theater to take a picture of the dribbling Kangaroo.  When you pushed the plunger in his paw a stream dribbled out of his mouth.  Cute!

Marketers still tried to sell their goods.  The berries looked delicious but we leave in the morning.  And five Euros for a basket of blueberries seems a lot!

We crossed the famed Triple Bridge which was designed by the pride of the city, Architect Joze Plecnik, so that carts and traffic could dross in the middle and pedestrians on the sides.

 

The quilt-like sidewalk pattern was fascinating as we walked to our typical Slovenian restaurant for a typical Slovene dinner of Flying Chicken.  The name is a 'joke' by the waiters.  It was fried chicken!  The wine was good, the food delicious and plentiful and the entertainment was especially for us.  I am sorry this site is picky about videos so I will try to add just a snippet.

This guy was very good but the host never credited him although he provided perfect musical accompaniment to all the festivities.  It was kind of like being at a Chicago wedding!

Delicius and of course our welcoming brandy!

The costumes represented different regions and differing classes of wealth.

 

The  petticoats and pantaloons were all authentic as were these costumes.  Really pretty.  This woman was a person of probably middle class wealth.  Her outfit had a colorful embroidered sash to hold the keys to all they owned.

 

Sorry, again, no luck with the video of the lively dancing.
But here is a link to typical Slovenian dancing.

Flying Chicken and mashed potatoes with pork in mustard sauce on the side!

 The dancing took place while we ate but before the dessert we played the hat game.  Hats were passed from head to head until someone dropped one or they all ended up on one person's head!  You might have played this at Scouts or a children's party. 

Margaret, who is short, and Jim made it to the end but then Jim won!

Our host was welcoming and very good and we determined he was about 6'7" tall!

A quick, wet walk back to the hotel, hugs and farewells all around and Eastern Europe Part One come to an end.