Pula, Istria County, Croatia Saturday 29th June: Ljubljana
After a slight sleep in
Off to the castle for to catch the first (9am) funicular ride to the Ljubljana castle with the intention of beating the crowds and having breakfast at the cafe.
However as there were no gluten free options among the delicious cakes (this diet is very boring and annoying for me sometimes ) in the cafe I was limited to sugar-loaded coffee for breakfast .... but that was fine!
The castle itself has an interesting and today is well preserved with displays that describe the history of the castle, the area and Slovenia ..... here’s a bit...(thanks internet).
‘The city's coat-of-arms, which features a green dragon sitting on top of the castle tower, under which the greenery of the castle hill can be seen, has made Ljubljana Castle a hard-to-miss symbol of the city and its most popular attraction. Both the castle and the dragon have an ancient tradition that goes back to the twelfth century, which is when the first references to the medieval town of Ljubljana were recorded. History tells us that, at that time, a small wooden fort was already located on the hill, which was then replaced by a stone building soon afterwards. However, the first explicit mention of the castle itself dates back to the thirteenth century.
The location of the castle, on a steep hill right above the City Hall and the Ljubljanica River, was so prominent that ancient travellers referred to Ljubljana as "the town below the castle". The basis for the symbol used, now widely known, seemed obvious at the time.
The castle's history has always been aligned with the purpose of its function: the first relatively small fortress, whose owners were the Spanheims, a German family, was additionally fortified in the fourteenth century when a new tower was added; the fortress was almost completely torn down in the fifteenth century and replaced with a larger castle. Throughout the following century, the castle was progressively furnished with the majority of the facilities we can admire today. These include a pentagonal tower, St Jurij's chapel, a duke's tower formerly known as Padav (now known as Šance), which is connected to the castle by a separate wall, and the rest of the buildings, of which the most attractive are the Estate Hall and the Palatium, the only premises which served as residences for the nobility.
An even more bitter fate befell the castle after the seventeenth century: the fort was neglected and used to store large quantities of gunpowder, which posed a fatal risk to the town. In the eighteenth century, the castle was to be demolished but Napoleon, who had conquered Ljubljana, saved it from doom.
The castle was then converted into a penitentiary and the only improvement worthy of note during that time was the erection of the present day lookout tower, which was knocked down and replaced as part of the general renovation of the castle in 1980. After the Second World War, several socially disadvantaged families lived in the castle; the neglected grounds deteriorated even further until they became a major disgrace to the city. However, by 1960, this period came to a close when the city authorities decided to undertake a thorough reconstruction of the castle, largely financed by Ljubljana's inhabitants directly’ ... the results of which we saw today!
The views from the tower were magnificent... see pics.
After enjoying the views and history we walked down the steep, but well constructed track and headed back to the apartment to pick up the car and drive to Lake Bled.
Lake Bled is regarded as one of the most picturesque spots to visit in Slovenia. This small lake has ‘all of the ingredients for the perfect getaway…a castle perched high on a hillside, a pretty little island to visit, hiking trails, secluded swimming spots’, and plenty of restaurants, cafes and hotels/accommodation.
After finding a park in what seemed to be a busy town, we walked downhill to the lake and were not disappointed with the scenery - the pics tell it all ... still and clear lake, plenty of fish and ducks to watch, a warm day, no crowded and boating, fishing, swimming areas (not allowed in the main lake) and the views of the church on the island and a castle high above the lake.
The pictures tell the whole story and after taking in the scenery, we returned to Ljubljana for another lovely dinner watching the crowd in the busy precinct.
Sunday 30th June: to Pula
After an enjoyable stay it was time to move on to Pula near the tip of Croatia’s so called istria peninsula. But first a stop at the very impressive Skocjanske Jame caves. These are part of an extensive cave network formed by the Reka River.
In the first part of its course on the limestone, the Rekaflows on the surface, along an approximately four-kilometre-long gorge that ends with a magnificent wall under which it disappears underground. The Reka River blind valley is the largest in Slovenia. In the distant past, probably in the Early Pleistocene, that is a few hundred thousand years ago, the ceiling of the cave collapsed some 200 metres from the sinks; as a result, the collapse dolines Velika dolina (up to 165 metres deep) and Mala dolina (120 metres) were created, separated by a natural bridge, a remnant of the original cave ceiling.
At the bottom of Velika dolina, the Reka River finally disappears underground and resurfaces again thirty-four kilometres away at the springs of the Timava River, not far from the Adriatic coast, and runs on in to Italy.
We entered the huge ‘quiet’ - no longer active but impressive, then the ‘murmuring ‘ cave with the river pounding at the bottom of an enormous gorge. This bit got the blood racing (I was mildly terrified) with the depth of the formation, spray and the river noise - all shared in a guided tour, well managed by the park given the huge number of visitors today!
No pics were allowed (thank goodness, with the modern obsession for photos we would still be there!) but I have included one from the web. This was a very worthwhile stop, despite the huge number of stairs in the cave on extremely well constructed paths.
Then back on the highway and a lunch stop at the delightful Slovenian town of Koper - a mix of a commercial port, very old town and seaside holiday destination. Kopar is the fifth largest city in Slovenia (25,000). Located in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres (3.1 miles) south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Trieste, Koper is the largest coastal city in the country. With a unique ecology and biodiversity, it is considered an important national natural resource. It is the oldest recorded urban settlement in Slovenia and its port is the major contributor to the economy. With only one percent of Slovenia having a coastline, the influence on tourism is important, including with some 65 cruise ship arrivals March - December.
My pics record the highlights including a lovely old town, large church and tower, lots of boats, swimming area close to the port, cruise ship and a friendly parking inspector who let me off a 40 euro fine with a warning, for parking in a resident only area!
Then on to Pula, with instructions from our hostess (who had to go to Zagreb in the afternoon) to meet her non-English speaking father in a car park two streets up from the apartment, parked the car and followed him down the hill and along cobbled streets to Apartment Rosa, which was several fights up! After a quick familiarisation tour the father left us to take a closer look at the interesting apartment with plenty of space (sleeps 6) amend mod cons.
After unpacking we set out to walk along the waterfront and find a restaurant, which wasn’t particularly successful as Pula’s waterfront consisted of a huge walled off naval base, what looked like a ship wrecking yard and vast marinas.
However a slight deviation past a very old church and tower led us to a good restaurant that included a gluten-free knowledge waiter and a lovely meal. After dinner it was ice cream time, which included a good view of the Pula amphitheatre, Pula’s equivalent to the Colosseum. This amphitheatre is one of the best preserved Roman amphitheatres - the 6th largest world wide.
Wandering back to the apartment we discovered that we has missed taking Pula’s old town’s busy street, which was full of people, shops and restaurants. In the large square in front of the Temple of Augustus (the oldest preserved building in Croatia, built during the rein of the roman emperor Augustus), there was an orchestra playing a mix of classical and contemporary music
So we abandoned the walk back temporarily, ordered drinks at a well positioned table and sat back to enjoy the music till the orchestra packed up and left!
Needless to say sleep wasn’t far away!
Monday 1 July: in Pula
The day dawned warm and with clear blue skies so after a lazy start we opted for the Pula City Tour hop on - hop off bus, which was similar to the Zagreb one with limited services. The commentary was quite good and after the initial part close to the city, we took time out when it reached a prominent headland with resort style hotels (and areas for the public to spend time at the beach) and a large fort that has been converted to an aquarium that plays a key part in a turtle conservation program.
After a coffee overlooking the water there was time for a walk around the headland before the bus returned and we completed the loop.
Hopping off adjacent to the auditorium we took time to enter and marvel at first century engineering and construction (given that in Canberra multi-storey building start to deteriorate within months). The amphitheatre was designed to host gladiatorial contests and seat up to 20,000 spectators - and is made from local limestone. It is still used as the site of mass entertainment for concerts and film festivals.
Next was a large fort structure on top of the hill - Fort Bourgignon - which appeared to be a museum but there was no information about it inside! It did contain a section on the preservation of frescos in Croatia, and an exhibition of fake art!
However, Wikipedia tells me the fortress was built 1862-1866 to protect the main Austrian naval port and was one of the last fortresses built that used inner fortification rings, forming an arc within a radius of 2.5 kilometres (1.6 miles) distance to protect the port.
It is not known when the fortress stopped being used as a fortification, but it was used during Third Italian War of Independence in 1866. Soon afterward, it was considered non-operational, but the damage on the roof shows that it was used during the First World War as an army shelter. In the 1970s, the protective channel was half filled with trash. Ten years later a group of young activists turned the fort into one of the two most popular places for rave parties on the southern Adriatic coast!!
The rest of the day was filled in with lunch in the old town, finding the ruins of a small Roman theatre (crumbling) and the impressive Double Gate, along with some city wall ruins, a bit of shop wandering (and a new holiday hat and supplies for breakfast, dinner and the inevitable ice cream while watching the sun go down over the marina.
Chrissy
2019-07-04
Just stunning!! Love imagining you people watching (a fave holiday pastime of mine too! ) xx