Viking Ocean’s Mediterranean Odyssey Day 12 of 13

Weather Report

The forecast was for partly cloudy, high of 66F/19C. We had a beautiful day – more sunny than cloudy.

Today’s Plan

We are taking the Viking optional excursion to Slovenia’s capital city, Ljubljana (pronounced loo·blee·aa·nuh). Having the opportunity to visit a country not previously on our list was an unexpected side benefit of “missing” Venice. Slovenia is a former part of the Roman empire, the Hapsburg empire, and Yugoslavia. It joined NATO and the EU in 2004 and stabilized to adopt the Euro in 2007.

Viking Daily

The picture on the front of today’s Viking Daily is of Miramare Castle – which we will visit tomorrow on our way to the airport.

Arriving in Trieste

Normally, this itinerary would have terminated at one of the ports closer to Venice such as Chioggia or Fusina. But I’m rather glad that it was changed to Trieste to give us this opportunity to go to Slovenia.

A gorgeous sunrise greeted us as we approached the harbor at Trieste, Italy, where we will overnight before being kicked off disembarking tomorrow morning.

Historic Ljubljana

• Cost/person: $239
• Viking Difficulty Rating: Moderate
• Duration: 8.5 Hours

---

Experience the charm of Slovenia’s capital city and enjoy a funicular ride en route to visit Ljubljana Castle.

Drive through the picturesque countryside to reach Ljubljana. Upon arrival, meet your guide for a walking tour of the historic city center, with its captivating cluster of Baroque architecture, churches and bridges. See notable sights including the Bishop’s Palace, the Seminary and the elegant Dragon Bridge. Then, climb aboard a funicular for a panoramic ride to the top of Castle Hill, taking in the sweeping views of Ljubljana along the way. At the top, you will find Ljubljana Castle, an 11th-century medieval fortress that appears on the city’s coat of arms. Your guide will accompany you as you explore the castle and its old prison cells. Afterward, savor a typical Slovenian lunch and enjoy some free time before making the journey back to your awaiting ship.

---

We met our tour guide for the day at the bus conveniently parked adjacent to our berth. After waiting for the final members of our tour group to arrive, we finally departed on the 1.5-hour drive to Ljubljana. As we climbed from sea level up the inland hills guarding the coast, we had excellent views overlooking the town and coastline. The border crossing into Slovenia was only about 14-15 kilometers from the port and just like that we were in our 7^th country of this trip!

We had a restroom/snack stop about an hour into the drive which was about an hour and half from when we first met on the pier. So many “international” brands!

It was a picturesque drive just like the description above promised.

As we approached the city center, we had to take a slight detour as the Ljubljana Marathon was finishing up and many roads were blocked for that event. Our bus driver found a spot to let us off for the walk to the castle. To reach the castle above the town, there is a funicular. We had a rather lengthy wait while our guide bought the tickets, then we had to split into two groups to ride up (and later back down). So, more waiting for the second group to arrive at the top. It would be more efficient if there was a way of purchasing the tickets online on the way there, but perhaps there wasn’t a good way to do that for group tickets.

Our guide had given us a lot of information about Slovenia’s history and economy on the way, and now he focused on the history of the castle. Although the area shows sign of occupation since 1200 BC, today’s castle/fortress has medieval origins from the 11^th century AD with many renovations and uses until the mid-late 20^th century. It has been used as a prison, military hospital, and housing for the city’s poor. In 1970, extensive renovations began.

Then it was time for our sit-down lunch at one of the restaurants in the castle complex with traditional Slovenian food. Unfortunately, I didn’t take notes or pictures. The food was good, but the service was rather slow – leading to one of the complaints I’ve seen frequently on these types of excursions – too much time spent at the meal and not enough sight-seeing or free time. We did enjoy talking with the other couples at our table and sharing travel tips and ideas.  

Following lunch, we explored more within the castle walls – a prison cell, the chapel of St. George, and the views of the modern city from the walls. The Kamnik–Savinja and Julian Alps can also be seen in the distance near the Austrian border.

We rode the funicular in two groups again back down to the main city center to begin our walk through the streets which were in the process of clean-up and removal of barriers from the marathon.  

We cut through the central market area near the WOW sign to find the Ljubljanica River and its iconic Dragon Bridge commemorating the 40th anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph I’s reign.

As it was a nice Sunday afternoon, there were lots of people out enjoying the cafes and restaurants along the river as well as many “tour” boats cruising the waterway. There are many bridges, all pedestrian friendly, to allow convenient access back and forth across the river. The love locks below are on Butcher’s Bridge, and the bottom photo is from Fish Bridge.

We crossed back through the central market with its milk dispensing machine to the make our way towards St. Nicholas Cathedral and Town Hall.

We weren’t able to see the interior of St. Nicholas’s Cathedral because a mass was currently underway, but the exterior had stories to tell! The bronze doors are recent additions to the baroque cathedral built in the early 1700s. The side entrance contains depictions of Ljubljana’s bishops from the 20^th century and is called the Ljubljana Door. The main entrance around the corner is the Slovene Door and it commemorates when Pope John Paul visited in 1996 for the 1250-year-anniversary of Christianity in Slovenia .  

Near Town Hall stands the Robba Fountain also known as The Fountain of Three Carniolan Rivers, created by Francisco Robba around 1750. The three river gods depicted represent the Sava, the Ljubljanica, and the Krka rivers.

The town hall was built in the 1480s in the Gothic style. In the early 1700s, the façade was renovated to current Baroque tastes although the interior remained Gothic. There’s a bit of a mystery around the numbering on the clock tower – look carefully at the number on the lower right on the two side that can be seen in the close-up. Typo?

We continued away from this square and entered a small alleyway to view the Fountain of Girl With a Jug and behind her Ljubljana’s oldest house from 1528.

From there we went to Congress Square – apparently the epicenter for the marathon – to view the University, Philharmonic, and Ursuline Church of the Holy Trinity across the way.

Next we visited Prešeren Square, named for Slovenia’s National Poet Frances Prešeren with its many beautiful buildings such as the Neo-Renaissance National Pharmacy building with the statue of Prešeren, the Baroque Franciscan Church, and the Art Nouveau Urbanc Palace.

More Art Nouveau buildings lined Miklošičeva Street including architect Ivan Vurnik’s 1921 tribute to Slovenian heritage.  

We continued towards Miklošičeva Park and Ljubljana’s District Courthouse for our pickup and return to our ship in Trieste.

Final Evening Onboard Viking Vela

The excursion to Ljubljana didn’t arrive back to the ship until around 6:30, so we did a quick refresh and met Keith and Paula at The Restaurant for our final evening meal on Viking Vela. After recapping our day’s events (Keith and Paula stayed in Trieste), we regrettably retired to our cabins to pack for our departure tomorrow.