Rapid testing of Slovenia
The idea to visit the Republic of Slovenia for a few days has been in my imagination for a long time. She was held back only by the lack of direct flights from Ukraine and quarantine restrictions over the past year and a half. 30.06. 2021 Ryanair announced promotional prices (from 9.99 €) for Kyiv-Vienna-Kyiv flights until 31.08. To be honest, I didn’t think about Slovenia especially seriously at that time, because then this country was still closed for tourist trips by citizens of non-EU countries. 15.07. 2021 The Council of Slovenia announced the permission to visit Slovenia by citizens of Ukraine, including for the purpose of tourism. The most favorable dates for travel were August 21-24. Starting to learn logistical issues. According to the laws of "crime", Ryanair flew from Kyiv to Vienna all days of the week, except for Saturday, and on 21.08 it was just Saturday.
WizzAir also did not fit (only Monday and Thursday), UIA canceled its flights to Vienna until better hours (perhaps simply unable to withstand competition in this direction), there was still Austrian Airlines, but the price for its only daily flight was inhumane for such a short trip . (4500+ UAH), in addition, a rather late arrival (16:40) made it problematic to get to Slovenia at the same time, since the only available Flixbus flight left for Ljubljana only at 21:40 with an arrival after midnight. However, a return ticket Vienna-Kyiv is still bought (23.19 There are approximately 30 days before departure, with the possibility of cancellation and refund to the bonus account for the following trips no later than 7 days before the flight).
Starting to look closely at the Kyiv-Pula summer charters, flying on Saturdays as well. Of course, Flixbus also went from Pula to Ljubljana.
The price for this charter also started from unsharp levels (4200+ UAH), but approximately 3 weeks before the flight it gradually decreased and 4-5 days before the departure it was 2700-2900 UAH. The situation changed at 02:08 when Austrian Airlines added on some dates, including 21:08 a morning flight with a departure at 06:55. Tickets for my date sold out in 3 days. I managed to purchase 2266 UAH. I bought it on the Lufgang website, since it was possible to set the hryvnia currency there, the Austrian only has a dollar, moreover, at a not very favorable exchange rate at that time. There were no problems with Flixbus Vienna-Ljubljana tickets, as there were still funds in the bonus account from the previous year. It was more difficult with the return flight Ljubljana-Vienna, because it went at night and did not dock in time with my return flight. I had to study the website of the Austrian Railways (www. oebb. at).
I found two logistics options for the same price: with a transfer at the high-mountainous Austrian railway station Villach (only 7 minutes) and in Maribor, another size of Slovenia (33 minutes). By choosing another option, because, in my opinion, was less risky. In addition, 39 minutes after the departure of the train Maribor - Vienna, Flixbus also departed from the station square on the same route. If I knew that force majeure can occur where you don’t expect it at all...
So, having completed a full working day before the holiday on August 20, according to the trolleybus-metro-aeroexpress scheme, it arrived at Boryspil airport around midnight. It was super-soundingly busy in terminal D at this late hour, because between 01:00 and 05:00, as many as 6 (! ) charter flights to Turkey of different airlines flew away, not counting one more regular Turkish Airways flight.
Boarding on my flight was opened unusually early - at 04:20, at the check-in desk they immediately demanded a negative PCR test (of course, I had one), although I was assured on my calls to the Austrian Consulate that for transit through Austria ( no more than 24 hours) the test is not needed, the airline's CC had no information about this at all. The “check-innitsa” studied my test for a long time and carefully (done on the morning of August 20, on the way from home to work), registered for the flight, noting that the antigen test would not fit here. Although in general, theoretically, I don’t have to go to the counter, because I checked in online the day before, 42 hours before departure, and received a boarding pass in the mail in the form of a gigantic QR code. Interestingly, if I immediately went to the control with manual stroking, would they let me through? No one demanded a PCR test on the control...
The flight, as I mentioned, was operated by Austrian Airlines.
According to the requirements of the state of Austria, entry into the country was possible, including in the presence of masks of the FFP2 standard. A box of masks of the specified standard stood at the beginning of the aircraft cabin (in a small technical room between the cockpit and the cabin, everyone could take masks in unlimited quantities for free.
I prepared in advance by ordering a set of 4 FFP2s at Rozetka for 98 UAH. One was not for sale. Looking ahead, I’ll say that it was FFP2 that was not controlled by anyone. The ratio "normal disposable medical mask / FFP2 mask" for passengers at Vienna Airport was approximately 50:50. As you know, in Austrian Airlines, the corporate colors are red and gray, which are also reflected in the uniforms of the flight attendants: the female flight attendants were dressed in red dresses, red T-shirts, red tights, red shoes, manicures and ribbons in their hair, of course, were also corporate colors.
For some reason, I immediately remembered the song of the same name by the Soviet-American rap singer of Ukrainian origin Bogdan Titomer.
In Vienna, they sat down even for 15 minutes of the scheduled hour. At the border control immediately, along with the passport, presenting a bus ticket and without any questions received a stamp in the passport. Further it was more interesting. A few days after the announcement of entry for Ukrainians, Slovenia removed from its profile website the list of Ukrainian laboratories, the tests in which were recognized as valid for entry into the country. Only EU laboratories remained on the list. Therefore, for entry, I needed a new test (including antigen) made in the EU. In this situation, a test done at Vienna airport would be ideal. Such an opportunity, of course, was (still for people! ).
It turns out that there is a Health Center at Vienna Airport, located immediately behind the NH hotel, where you can get a result for 25 euros and 30 minutes (payment only by card, the result is only in electronic form). If someone wants to have it in printed form, then in the NH hotel they will print it out for you for a symbolic 10 euro cents. Currently left by visiting airport shops BILLA, INTERSPAR (why are regular supermarkets at normal prices only at airports in German speaking countries??? ) and BIPA).
Now it's time to go to the bus station. The path to it is first on S2 to Wien Mitte station, then change to U3 and exit to Erdberg station. I buy tickets from the machine in the tunnel before descending to the platforms (€4.30). Controllers on S2 were.
What was very surprising - just one stop from the airport there is a huge industrial facility, consisting of many pipes and giant tanks, typical for natural gas places, as well as sidings with a large number of gas tankers. Since I had never heard of the presence of gas fields in the suburbs of Vienna, this facility was identified by me as an incineration plant that turns the smoke from the burned waste into gas, which can then be used as fuel.
It took me 40 minutes to get from the airport to the bus station (20 minutes by train, 5 minutes by crossing, 5 minutes by subway, 6 minutes by subway, 4 minutes down from the overpass on which the Erdberg station is located , to the so-called "platforms A, B, C, D, E, F" of the bus station.
The fact is that the central bus station of Vienna is now under reconstruction and the disembarkation / embarkation of passengers takes place right on the street under the overpass near the pillars with the corresponding letters. My bus (Prague - Rijeka) arrived at 13:20, departed at 13:38 (according to the schedule - departure at 13:40). Only 11 passengers per 49-seat cabin and 2 drivers. Bus with Croatian numbers, drivers are also Croatians. The Erdberg district is the industrial outskirts of Vienna, literally next to it (the subsequent metro station) there is a very interesting Gazometry district, where at the end of the 19th century. huge cylindrical brick gas storages were built. Now other ways of storing natural gas are being used, and gas meters have been turned into social and cultural facilities. We even drove past one of them, but did not have time to photograph.
Immediately after Vienna we went to the high-speed autobahn. This flight was not supposed to stop on the territory of Austria, but they still were.
Every hour and a half of driving, drivers stopped for 10 minutes in parking lots during gas stations. I've been riding Flixbass for several years now, but I haven't experienced this style of travel yet. Something reminded bus tours 10-15 years ago. The main target audience in such parking lots are bikers and camper van tourists who travel to the Adriatic coast. I really liked the poster on the tables near the parking lots, calling not to leave food leftovers on the tables, but to throw them into closed trash cans. Since wild boars come to the gas station from the surrounding forests ...
As we approached the border, the motorway went deeper into the Alps, the mountains around became higher and the views more and more pastoral, we drove through the tunnels several times. At the border of these Slovenia, our bus was not stopped at all (that is, my European antigen test was not needed at all).
Impressions of the first kilometers of travel in Slovenia.
The country is very agrarian, there are many plantations of sunflowers, apples and grapes (according to rumors, there are olive groves in this area). There were almost no industrial facilities, in contrast to Austria, where we drove past several large industrial enterprises in the Graz region. Once we just drove past a marble quarry
We left for Ljubljana from the north, through the area of new buildings Bezhigrad. Almost at the very beginning - the Central Stadium and the Sports Palace. On st. We get to the Danube to the central bus and railway stations. From the central station to my hotel "B&B Ljubljana Park" is only 800 m. It is better to walk along Kotnikova utca, this is the third street on the left if you stand with your back to the station and count from the monument to General Rudolf Master. The area is old, approximately 1920-1930 (judging by the bas-reliefs characteristic of that time). Immediately from the first minutes I recognize the flavor of the Slovenian language...
"enotno" translates as "pleasant, comfortable. " There are several modern houses with shops and a kindergarten on the ground floor. And here is my hotel:
14 floors, can be seen from anywhere in the Old City, the cost of living is 139 euros / 3 nights, breakfast is an additional 10 euros. By the way, when looking for a hotel, having noticed that in Ljubljana there are very few hotels of an average price category (40-80 € per person), there are many hostels and expensive hotels 80+ in the business center of the city). Its a pleasure hotel. It is Saturday evening in the yard, and on Sundays in Ljubljana all retail outlets are closed, therefore, having learned at the reception the address of a store with an extended work schedule, I go in search of it, to the area opposite the historical center.
The hotel is located on a street with the exotic name of Tabor. Straight down this street.
Among the 2-3 storey buildings, this building stands out:
Somehow, I associated “Tabor” with another human community. But it turns out that “Tabor” can be a sports society:
By the way, about the societies with which we traditionally associate the "camp" - I have not seen Roma in Slovenia. All in all.
In 10 minutes I reach the store (open from Monday to Saturday 3 7 to 21), this is the store of the most widespread and most expensive Mercator chain in the country. Approximate price level: grapes 1.89€/kg, tomatoes 3.20€/kg, cheeses 1.40€/0.2kg, water 0.6€/1.5l, ice cream 0.75€/0.1kg. Many goods made in Croatia. It has its own bakery and cookery. After that, already at dusk because of the streets of Illyriyskaya and Comenius, I reach the historical center.
In my opinion, it starts from Primož a Trubara Street, which will lead to one of the visiting cards of Ljubljana - the Dragon Bridge.
On this street there are many cafes, inexpensive restaurants, including ethnic cuisine, there is a second-hand bookstore and a vinyl records store (if anyone is interested). Trubara Street through the intersection goes to the central square of the city - Preš eren Square, on which the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation is located and directly the monument to Franz Preshern, the national poet of Slovenia, the author of the country's anthem.
Several pedestrian streets lead from the square in different directions, and at one of its corners the square will face the embankment of the Ljubljanica River, namely in the place through which three ancient stone bridges were built.
On the square and bridges on that warm Saturday evening, some kind of city festival was taking place, there were many street musicians, amateur DJs, small “floating bars” floated along the river, in fact, large motor boats, on which a structure with a bar counter was set up and little space for passengers. awning¦
A trampoline was installed on one of the bridges and there was a show (competition? ) of group trampolining:
The embankment offers an immediate view of the Ljubljana Castle, where I will try to get the day after tomorrow:
There are many cafes on both sides of the embankment, tables are only on the street. I returned back by the other side of Ljubljanica, past the famous Colonnade, which also houses restaurants.
Between Trimostye and the City of Dragons there is a modern "glass" bridge, on the railings of which couples in love hang locks as a sign of the inviolability of their love. The keys, of course, are thrown out of the bridge into the water. At the beginning and end of the bridge itself, abstract sculptures are installed in the inherent style of “leak flow” (unknown to the author), in this style of creation I mention the monument to R.
Master and sculpture in Tivoli Park.
The next morning after breakfast (the buffet is very varied - cheese cuts, sausages, ham, sausages, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, pates, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, cheese, bread, two types of sweet rolls, two types of juices , jams (honey, oranges, apples), I go to the railway station. Today I plan to look at the 2 most famous sights of Slovenia - the Constantine Cave and Predjemsky Castle. Choosing an hour at 11:00Paying (34.
90 There is a combined ticket), but when the ticket arrived at the post office, it said that you had to be at the entrance near the cave no later than 30 minutes. Based on this, I built the logistics.
So, the train is at 08:15 and arrives at 09:20 at Permanent. From the station to the Cave, according to reviews, no more than 1.5 km. I'll get there in an hour or so. Tickets have an interesting history.
When you try to buy online - the ticket price is from 5.80 to 7.
30 Yes (depending on whether the train is domestic or international). But when the day before, getting off the bus, I went to the ticket office at the station and asked if there were tickets for the selected train, the cashier named the price 1.40 Yes! Miracles! . The ticket also looked amazing - a plastic card and a receipt. Similarly, on the way back - on the website of the bus company, a ticket directly from the Cave to Ljubljana was offered at a price of 6 €, but when landing at the driver's, it cost 1.30 €. The only bad thing is that this bus will run only 2 times a day.
So, I'm at the train station. When there are unexpectedly many (at least 12), you can get to the remote ones both on horseback with special paths and underpass, but it is at the opposite end of the platform.
Trains in Slovenia are divided into internal:
And international:
Opicina is already Italy.
I'm leaving on the inside.
The composition of the train is short, 2-3 cars, a solid structure, the seats are soft, there are controllers-conductors. Each door has a bottle of disinfectant. For control, the controller requires a plastic card, it is not interested in a receipt. The necessary information has been read, but since there is only 1 trip on the map, is there any point in using it further? Does the passenger-tourist remain in memory? Uneconomical and impractical from an environmental point of view.
Immediately after Ljubljana, the train goes to the mountains, the views are mostly small villages on the slopes, it is problematic to break a garden and a city in the mountains. A lot of old stone bridges:
While there is an hour, I think about Slovenia. In vain it is referred to the Balkan countries. Ethnically, in my subjective opinion, Slovaks are closer to Czechs and Slovaks than Croats and Serbs.
The station is on a slope and you can go down some rather steep steps to the town. On May 1st Street (constantly winding) I try to go to the center, guided by a map printed from the Internet. Sunday morning, the streets are completely deserted. Finally, we reach a large interchange next to the bus station and a large shopping center. Then there is a sharp turn and I see the sign of the Triglav hotel, from which the signs towards the cave already begin. The road is comfortable, with sidewalks on both sides, and benches for the hallway. Most of the houses are old.
I remember this one with old wooden roller shutters, I have not seen such ones here:
And here is the Cave. I did not count the mileage, it took me 40 minutes all the way.
At 10:24 I go to the controller at the entrance, she will see the hour on my ticket, asking me to come in 20-30 minutes.
So, the information about the need to arrive 30 minutes before the session is like some kind of fever. It's time to take a look around. The entrance to the Cave is on a hill, under a mountain range, there are several souvenir shops and cafes nearby, including a self-service. A little further - two buildings of the four-star Jama Hotel. The best souvenir choice is in the store closest to the entrance. In the same place I buy a calendar with views of Slovenia for the next year (6.95 €), I have not seen calendars anywhere else. The river Pivka flows out from under the mountain, which carved the caves near the mudflows. A small water pancake and rowing is built on it:
Across the river there are three large parking lots for tourists - separately for cars, tourist buses and trailers (campers, motorhomes). Tourist buses with numbers in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Germany. Mostly German on campers
My time has come. I enter the cave with a ticket. A free audio guide is provided at the entrance. It is spoken in Slovenian, Italian, English, German, French, Chinese and Russian. Ukrainian is missing : -(. I hope it's temporary. Travel plan: first, the train takes tourists to areas that can be walked, then tourists move at their own pace from one attraction to another at each of the attractions indicated by numbers, a "local guide" is waiting for them ”, that I tell about this part of the cave and the tourists go further.
, so the ideal outfit is an autumn jacket that can be hidden in a backpack. due to a certain microclimate in the cave itself.
Trains look like this:
A self-guided tour of the cave with an audio guide took me about 2 hours.
Having taken more than 100 photos (some with a flash, some not, although there were signs banning photos with a flash, but most tourists still used it).
Here I will post only the most iconic (in my opinion):
1. Golgotha (the highest point of the Cave above sea level. It is no secret that there is a difference in elevation throughout the Cave, the tourist trail leads up and then down). It contains the largest stalactides:
2. White Hall (stalactides are unrealistically white due to impurities in the rock):
3. Pink Hall (similarly, due to impurities):
4. Curtain:
5. Column and Diamond:
6. Organ:
The Russian bridge (built by soldiers of the Russian army captured in the First World War):
Almost at the end of the exposition, there is a monitor showing the life of the only living creatures capable of living in such natural conditions - proteas, which look like small white lizards. Photographing them is strictly prohibited. There is a souvenir shop where, in particular, you can buy a postcard and a postage stamp (the postage stamp was invented in Slovenia) and put it in the mailbox there.
The tour left an unforgettable impression.
It's lunch time itself, so I decided to try the 3 most advertised dishes of the Slovene cuisine in the surrounding catering establishments: "Kranjska sausage" and "cream rubber".
Unfortunately, all of the above establishments were more like fast foods and only the second course was on the menu.
Cream Gum is a refrigerated apple-flavored cake. The price, taking into account the touristic nature of the place, is 4.50 €. In Ljubljana, probably cheaper, but not specifically looking:
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Next, I take a free shuttle bus to Predjemsky Castle. The bus stops near the Jama Hotel, the stop is marked with the corresponding column and benches under the awning. When boarding, they check the availability of a ticket to the Castle. The distance is 9 km, the bus overcomes it in 15-20 minutes. Walking is absolutely unrealistic, not so much because of the distance, but because of the lack of sidewalks and pedestrian zones. Immediately behind the road, either rocks / pits, or courtyards of private houses begin.
Predjama Grad is also a tourist city, parking for buses and a parking lot for cars (among the latter at the sight and with Ukrainian license plates (AR - Transcarpathia)).
There are no hotels and souvenirs, only cafes and restaurants.
"Open, Owl, the Bear has come. " Even two:
Not far from the female, a part of the glade was occupied by restorers in historical costumes, who are forging and riveting something. But, nevertheless, they made a catapult:
It is not clear where to shoot from it. Probably just made for paid photos. And the castle itself looks like this:
Its peculiarity is that it is built in the rock, and part of its walls is actually rock.
An audio guide is also given at the entrance. The castle is also cold. The steps are carved out of stones, authentic in medieval times, very high.
I won't retell the story of the capture of the Castle, I'll only remember that it was not without betrayal and a catapult.
Several medieval interiors:
Hall of medieval weapons:
View from the castle tower:
Medieval drawbridge across the moat:
An hour and a half to the castle is enough.
Then on the shuttle back to Pecher. Before the bus left for Ljubljana, I still had an hour and a half left, which I spent just enjoying the clean mountain air and views.
The bus goes from the Constantine Cave to Ljubljana, which also takes about 1 hour. It goes through the mountains, along, in some places, a very serpentine-shaped track. Sometimes visits villages and small towns.
In Ljubljana around 20 pm. Unlike Saturday, the center is completely empty and quiet.
Only near the University on the big stage is a rehearsal of some theater festival. Tasted local ice cream by weight (prices from 1.40E to 2.50E), choosing the largest, in my opinion, not trivial (not some kind of mango, fig or rose, but plum with cognac. As it turned out, nothing special).
Plans for the next day: exploring the city center and testing Ljubljana shopping in two shopping malls far from the center: "BTC" and "CITY-center".
Both of them can be reached from the central railway station by buses 27 and 12 respectively. The bus fare system in Ljubljana is not very convenient for tourists: the driver does not sell tickets, tickets are written to the card, which can be bought at newsstands and gas stations. When boarding the bus, the card must be validated at the validator near the driver. Where to return the used card before leaving Ljubljana is unknown.
At least at the bus station and railway station, the card cannot be returned: -(. The path to them lies through new residential areas:
Some houses on the ground floor have barns (cellars):
So I visited BTC first. Stretching is not comfortable.
It occupies a vast territory on which a dozen hangars have been built, somewhat reminiscent of a large language market. At the end of which there are more or less interesting stores: C&A, LiDL, EuroSpin, etc.
In the "CITY-center", on the contrary, all the shops (except "Hofer") are located in the same building: Primark, H&M, Deichmann, CCC, etc. Around lunchtime, after shopping, I returned to the hotel. It's time for lunch. For lunch, we decided to try the Kranskaya sausage. The place, with the greatest probability, is the central market on V. Vodnik Square. But because of the morning rain, the market was closed for about 15 hours (or perhaps it didn’t open at all that day? ).
Therefore, I decided to try this specialist in one of the cafes in Kolonada. It cost 6.80Є + 1.30 There is wine:
The next plan is to climb the funiculars to the castle "Lyuban Grad". The funicular station is located right on the square V.
Vodnik (by the way, the name of this historical person is translated from Slovenian as “guide, guide, what to lead. ” I don’t know, maybe this is a pseudonym). But on the way to the funicular at the sight of such devices.
As it turned out, these are vending machines for milk, medicines and (attention! ) chicken eggs in trays!
How it works (on the example of a milk vending machine): first you buy a container for milk in the vending machine (0.3E plastic, 1.0E glass), then you choose how much milk you need (0.1l - 0.1Є), put down the coins and press the "confirm" button ".
The machine only accepts coins and does not give change. On the very square in front of the funicular there is a theater:
Travel cost: OW 2.20Є, RT 4Є.
As you probably guessed, the Castle is located on a mountain, and a car tunnel has been laid in the mountain under the castle, which goes out from the other side of the cliff to another area of the city. The street leading from the Dragon Bridge to the tunnel is called Kopitarzheva.
It is interesting that the most famous Slovenian hockey player (the owner of the Stanley Cup) is Anzej Kopitarj.
It is possible that it is named after him. Local residents could not confirm this.
The funicular ride (and in fact it is an elevator with transparent walls takes up to 5 minutes and now I'm on the walls of the Castle. The views of the city (mainly the modern part) are very good:
There are several museums in the Castle. There are private modern outbuildings:
But there are also historical artifacts:
There is also an exhibition of wines:
Admission is free, destination unknown.
I already went down on foot, to be honest, I don’t advise, the road is not equipped, without a fence. Next I go to st. Cyril and Methodius (parallel to the embankment).
It turns out that Ukrainian and Slovenian also have common words:
There are a lot of souvenir shops on this street, the largest selection is at the first one on the right side (if you go to St. Nicholas Cathedral).
Here you can try "Crane sausage" at the lowest prices (from 5.90€):
St. Nicholas Cathedral:
I gradually reach the Town Hall Square:
Then, through Trimostovye I go out to Presherna Square. There is a monument to the poet on it.
Further, my path passes by the House of Hauptmann along Wolfova (Wolf? ) Street, along which I reach the Congress Square.
Here, the main building of the University of Ljubljana rises monumentally, surrounded on all sides by busts of significant Slovenian figures of science and technology, one way or another connected with it:
Very close to the Philharmonic Hall:
After that, I continue my walk along the street.
Gosposka and on Vehova, which leads to it, I admire the extraordinary beauty of the facade of the building of the Academy of Arts:
Then at a right angle I turn onto Grigorciceva ulica, my next goal is the Government Quarter. On the way - a passable intersection with a wide and very busy street Slovenska cesta.
Very strange style, in Kyiv there are similar ones built in the 1980s.
Soon the Government Quarter begins, which is interesting, in front of it is usually a school.
Again, I turn at a right angle and go out onto Preserna Avenue (Presernova cesta). The area is very peculiar - one side of the street is occupied by monumental buildings, the other - small 2-3-storey stone cottages (but both are definitely XIX century). A whole block is occupied by the residence of the President of Slovenia:
After two blocks, on the other side on the left is a building with huge flags of Slovenia, the EU and NATO in the courtyard.
As you probably guessed, this is the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
Right - Republic Square with two "monster houses" :
(in the one on the left - the Central Technical Library of Slovenia, on the right - one of the commercial banks).
Farther away - the Folk Museum of Slovenia (actually - a historical museum):
Then a little deeper - the National Opera, to which a black office box is impudently attached (we managed to pick up the angle. From which the modern extension is minimally visible):
And even further, on the other side of the pedestrian Chankarzheva Street - the National Gallery:
I turn to Chankarzheva. Left - Museum of Modern Art:
The shape of the building is non-standard and probably better matches the content of the museum.
I also wanted to say a few words about contemporary art in Lyuyulian. Perhaps even super modern. After two days of stay, I did not notice graffiti in Ljubljana at all. So, having seen single inscriptions on the walls, but there are no serious works. It turned out that for all "graffiti" (graphomaniacs?
) the city authorities created an art object in an abandoned industrial area on Metelkova Street and turned it into an open-air museum of the same name (Art-center Metelkova):
Chakarzheva Street behind the underpass (under the railway) will pass to the main alley of Tivoli Park.
Tivoli is a huge park that will gradually turn into a suburban forest, the real lungs of Ljubljana. Its dominant feature is the Tivoli Palace, which houses the International Graphic Center of Fine Arts:
The entrance to the museum is guarded by wolves:
(I read somewhere that Slovenia is in first place in Europe in terms of the number of wild wolves per capita).
There is a fountain and a very beautiful flower bed nearby:
The park is so relaxing that you just didn't want to leave it...
I return to the city center the same way.
On both sides of the central alley there are information boards with a variety of information about the country, its achievements and prominent residents.
Since the date of the evening was already approaching, I photographed this culinary map of Slovenia:
Cankarzheva Street along the Opera and the National Gallery to go to the perpendicular Beethoven Street, the last houses along Č ankarž a are chic multi-star hotels built at the beginning of the 20th century, even more precisely - before the First World War (Modern style, in my opinion).
On the corner from Beethoven - probably the only public administrative institution in Ljubljana that operates 24/7 (not counting medical, military and police institutions):
This is the Main Post Office of Ljubljana.
Opposite - the National Bank of Slovenia:
It smoothly transitions (is it a continuation) of one of the city's business cards:
This is a Skyscraper (in Slovenian Nebotycnik).
Only 13 floors, but for its time (built in 1909) it will be the second tallest residential building in Europe. While there are elite boutiques, elite restaurants, and on the last two floors - elite apartments.
On the opposite side, as if in opposition to the old classical National Bank, an irregularly shaped building rises (but no less impressive building of the Hungarian OTP Bank):
Next, I pass to the parallel Brilliantovaya Street.
The name justifies the name from the first house:
Or is it a bas-relief - I don't know, but it's very striking.
And how do you like this "diamond":
The last diamond today is the building of the Supreme Court of Slovenia (the street is still the same):
That's it, enough architectural gems for today. It's already evening, it's time to go back to the hotel. Early departure the next day.
A few more words about shopping in Slovenia. About 5-6 years ago, on one of my trips to neighboring Hungary, I bought blueberry juice in a store (we don’t produce this). Blueberries are spelled "Afonya" in Hungarian. The juice was in a one liter glass bottle. Today in the store "LiDL" I noticed juice, also in a liter glass jar with the inscription "Aronia". When I opened it in the evening, I realized that the taste was not blueberry at all, but very sour and tart. The Internet suggested that "Aronia" from Slovenian is chokeberry (we also do not produce it).
It turns out to be very useful, but consumption in large quantities can lead to a sharp drop in blood pressure. Read labels carefully before buying
The last day of the trip. Breakfast hotels from -6:30 on weekdays and from 07:00 on weekends.
This is just for me as my train to Maribor is at 08:05.
Again we are going through the mountains, enjoying the views of Slovenia, and I just want to compare it with Switzerland, although it is unlikely - the mountains are lower and there are no snow-covered peaks. But there are small mountain lakes and rivers. In Maribor at 09:53 (should be at 09:48 according to the schedule). From the first minute I did not like the Maribor station, something is not the same here. Firstly, the boards above the platforms (which should indicate the direction and hour of the train) are turned off, secondly, all information through the loudspeaker is only in Slovenian, and thirdly, the station employees also do not speak English (in Ljubljana - employees of the English-speaking station).
The train Zagreb - Vienna should depart from Maribor at 10:21, upon arrival at the end (Vienna Main) at 14:02. After one of the announcements, among the crowd of passengers (and most of them were also from the Ljubljana train), a cry of disappointment swept.
It turns out that our train is 40-50 minutes late!
Considering that my flight Vienna-Kyiv was at 05:00 pm, and the train interval between the Vienna railway station and the airport was 30 minutes, plus 20 minutes for the transfer itself, the situation became very serious for me. Starting to seriously think about the Flixbass flight (the same one at 11:00). Only insufficient knowledge of the city of Maribor held me back. Just the night before, having read on the Internet that from 23:08 a strike of train drivers began on the German railways, I thought that its echo had reached quiet Slovenia. Everything turned out to be much easier. One of the groups of passengers unexpectedly reacted to my emphasis.
It turned out that most of them come from Ukraine, and the head of the family has been living in Maribor for a long time. According to him, this train (Zagreb-Vienna, remember) is late every day by 35-45 minutes. The reason is the very long border and customs control on the Croatia-Slovenia border. But never once was he more than 45 minutes late.
After making a suitable approximation, I decided that my chances were working. The train arrived at 10.54. It was a matter of seconds to jump at the wagon. At 10:56 we were already moving. There were surprisingly few empty seats. Class 2 car, which is a compartment for 6 seats. He settled down in a compartment with his new acquaintances. A very interesting young couple: she is Ukrainian from Lviv, but lived for several years in Slovenia, he is a Spaniard from Bilbao. Considering my long-standing passion for the north of Spain in general and the Basque Country in particular, there were plenty of topics for conversation.
And almost four hours of travel swept by unnoticed and allowed a little distraction from the delay of the train. Landscapes outside the windows also sometimes forced to forget about the bad. As a result, the train did not catch up with anything along the way and arrived at the Vienna Main Station (Wien-Hbf) at 14:36. Which way we arrived and from which the nearest train to the airport goes is unknown. Knowing only the hour - 14:40.
Jumping out onto the platform, I almost reflexively looked at the timetable (it is a good tradition of the Austrian and German railways to post the timetable all over the station on each platform).
We arrived on the 5th track (and according to the schedule we should have been on the 9th), and the train to the airport was leaving from the 10th track. We managed to reach the indicated platform in 3 minutes. Everything is great. I understand. At the airport expected at 15.00. Next, a short search for Ryanair check-in counters (169-176 ended up in Terminal 3, and stood in line for half an hour (passengers were checked in for all Ryanair flights at these counters).
There is even time for duty-free, but in Vienna it is expensive. We took off 30 minutes later than the scheduled hour, but were only 10 minutes late. The board was again 100% full, a team of stewards and stewardesses from Malta worked on the flight. From the first minutes it was clear that they were beginners. lotteries.
The carts rolled very slowly and easily, and from both ends of the aircraft at the same time.
Without passing passengers, which caused a crush and passengers expressed their dissatisfaction in different languages.
During the landing approach, we managed to see through the porthole a rather big city in the middle of a forest, which is crossed by a narrow river, then another smaller city, already without a river, and then the airport. After some thought, these cities were identified by me as Chernigov and Brovar. Considering the geographical position of the first one, I had no confidence that we did not fly over the territory of Belarus: -(.
The border is very fast, 80% of the passengers provided vaccination certificates. People like me, under the guidance of a customs officer, installed the VDOMA application. On the morning of the next day, traditionally on the way to work, having passed the test (this time already express for antigen), after 30 minutes I received a negative result.
And after 3 hours - in addition, a message was received about the end of self-isolation.
Now the rest of the journey is over. See you soon, Slovenia!
