Ljubljana

I very much liked Ljubljana. It's a charming small city, with beautiful surroundings, and their environmental focus doesn't hurt either (it won European Green Capital in 2016). 

Unfortunately, I woke up with a cold on my only full day here, and didn't have the energy to do as much as I otherwise could have. But I did rally enough to go out and wander for a few hours in the sunshine. 

 

My hotel was nice enough to provide me with access to a free guided tour and a phone set up to be a virtual tour guide around town, including maps and recommendations. Which is a fantastic thing for your usual traveler, but my response was, "ew, why would I want that?" Instead, I did my standard: look at a guide and map in the morning to come up with a general plan and orient myself geographically. Then leave them behind and see where I end up. Most times I still do what I planned to, but even if I get lost, there's always something to see. 

As usual, when I saw there was gallery focused on Slovenian modern art, I started my day with a walk through it. Nearby was the huge Tivoli park, so I went for a walk there next. 

The park was refreshingly unkempt, with flowers growing in the grass, all around the people lounging in the shade of big trees. It was a huge place, so I only walked part of it, but I still came across a couple statues and a pond with a few ducks paddling around the lily pads. 

Next I took a stroll through the ultra touristy old town, stopping for a few photos along the way. I had recently seen the episode of Travel Man where Richard and Eddie Izzard spent 48 hours in Slovenia, so I knew the trek up to the castle was far inferior to the funicular. There wasn't a lot to see in the castle grounds, but the view was unbeatable. 

After the castle, I could feel a sunburn coming on, despite my SPF-As-High-As-Possible, so I headed back to get something to eat, then to the hotel to crash and watch football. 

This morning I felt much worse with my cold and mostly wanted to stay in bed all day. But I had a flight at 5pm (now delayed) and a hotel without an ability for late checkout, so I had to vacate at noon. Given that I felt too crap to go back out wandering town in the heat, here I sit at the airport, waiting for someone to fly me off to London. 

If I felt better, I would definitely not be in such a hurry to leave.