Ljubljana Grad (Castle)

Once again, I haven’t written anything, so I’ll tell it in photos.  By the way, Grad (as you know from Leningrad, etc.) means city.  But that’s what they call the castle in this area, and when you realize that there are many houses inside the walls, you realize that it was the city.  Everything else was farmland and suburbs outside the walls.

Medieval Street at the Funicular

We were told that the best way to get to the Grad was to take the funicular, so we walked over to the start.  It’s next to this street that is a curve lined with houses that have been there since the 14th century.  I guess they’re improved inside, but they still look very authentic from the outside.

WWII Bomb Shelter

And set into a wall there was a World War II bomb shelter.  History continues to be made.

We bought tickets for the round trip and for the tower (since the ticket seller told us that we shouldn’t miss it).  By the way, this was on December 25th and the whole world was pretty quiet so the ticket seller stopped to talk with us for a while.  We got into the glass cabin and watched Ljubljana slip away below us.

View from the Funicular going up.

When we got to the top, there was a choice of an elevator or stairs, so of course we took the winding circular stairway.  The first good part was seeing the Grad itself.  The former Duke’s palace has been turned into an elegant coffee shop.  I’d guess the glass is an addition, though.

This used to be the Duke's Palace

Looking from the battlements

When we went out on the battlements, we could see the whole of the Old Town just like a perfect little model below us.

Then we went into the tower.  On ground level there is a wonderful show of the history of the city from Illyrians through Greeks and Romans, to the 19th century.  It was made up of photos of places and cartoons of people–very well done.

We passed the level of the bells.

Then up the stairs–a narrow double-twined circular staircase up and down.  We stopped to look out at each level–oh yes, I noticed (because we felt very uneven as we climbed) that at every 7th step there was a double wide with a window or landing.  After I got that, climbing was much easier.  Finally we reached to top–an open level with the sun shining valiantly through the clouds and the wind blowing enough to chill the bones.  The courtyard of the castle was spread out below us.

Still patches of snow

We looked for our hotel, but it was hidden behind some taller buildings.

The city with the Ljubljanitsa River

It soon got too cold to stay out there so we climbed down the other side of the spiral.  We wanted to see a couple of art exhibits that were listed on the signs and to go to the Castle Store, but we realized that we were actually too hungry to do those things.   So we headed for the restaurant. (We’d stopped for coffee in the restaurant, not realizing there was a coffee shop, and it looked okay.) We didn’t have a reservation, but it was too early for dinner and too late for lunch, so they fitted us in.  The place is gorgeous–stone walls with a wooden ceiling and floor.  Huge globes for lighting.  And

Cozy and crowded with families

toasty warm.  What a dinner it was.  Appetizers provided: whole wheat bread and liver pate and a bowl of meat and crackling.  Then, David had  salami with fresh ground horseradish followed by bean soup with vegetables and barbeque pork. I had  chicken soup (lots of chicken) plus pumpkin croquettes served with smoked cheese.  And a wonderful dark red house wine.  We discussed dessert but not for long.

Then we went off to the Castle Shop, where they had all sorts of handmade local items.  We drooled over a portable creche, but didn’t buy it @$135.

All the figures are flat

All the figures are slipped into slots when the box is open. Then you unship them and close the box and off you go.  Very clever idea, and the figures are wonderfully detailed.  But I’d rather not travel over Christmas again.  We did buy a dragon and a painted beehive door and some postcards, but tried to restrain ourselves.

Then we headed for the Castle Chapel, a small tower at one corner of the courtyard.  I guess it’s dedicated to St George because there he was. Thought it was weird that he was killing a dragon, but maybe they come in good and bad varieties.  Here’s what the label at the door said:

Chapel Info

Killing a dragon????

Everything's artistic here

And then there were the pews.  Hand carved out of walnut.  Shaped.

So then we went to see the galleries where things were designated as art rather than just being so.  The first place we went to (photo lost) was a glass exhibit by Tanya Pak.  It was a dim room with New Age music playing as a huge number of glass boat shapes hanging from invisible threads swayed gently in the breeze.  Very relaxing, though they didn’t provide any chairs and the marble floor was very cold.

Then to a small room that held an almost life-size creche. (There is an exhibit of creches all over the city this Christmas.  We’ve seen them in clay, wood, painting, glass, etc.)

Part of a city-wide exhibit

And then, finally, the most fantastic use of glass I’ve ever seen anywhere.  It’s 20 feet high.  Here’s a bunch of photos and I’ll try to put in a .mov file (QuickTime or it plays in Windows 7) so you can hear the music as well.  But you’ll have to turn your computer on its side because I don’t know how to change the direction of movies.

Rain looking up

Closeup of glass

At ground level

Looking into the rain

Of course the circles are where the raindrops hit the surface of the water.  But you figured that out.

And here’s the Quicktime link to the movie:  WaterSculpture

And I got a program, Hamster, that changes .mov to .avi, so here’s the .avi link: WaterSculpture

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