My European Exposure: Slovenia: Day 1

Next up on our Christmas adventure was the country of Slovenia. We made a lunch time pit stop in the relatively small capitol city of Ljubljana. The symbol of the city is the Ljubljana Dragon. There are many legends and myths surrounding the dragon, but the most historically believable account is that the dragon came to represent the city as a result of the legend of Saint George, the patron of the chapel in the Ljubljana Castle. Today the dragon can be seen atop the castle and on the Dragon Bridge, which is where we encountered it.

We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day to walk through the city beside the Ljubljanica River.

Eventually we came to Preseren Square, the site of the city's Christmas market where a few of the food booths were still set up after the holidays. After enjoying lunch outside in the square, we made our way into the Fransiscan Church of the Annunciation which was built between 1646 and 1660.

We could easily have spent the rest of the day exploring this beautiful city, but we knew we still had a bit of a drive ahead of us, and we probably needed to reach our destination before dark. While maybe not high on many people's list of places to see, the beautiful city of Ljubljana definitely warrants a visit.

Leaving Ljubljana, we drove north toward Lake Bled where we had a reservation at a working farm that also doubled as a hotel. It was very rustic, but very comfortable, and we enjoyed an amazing meal there that night. Their menu was quite basic, and Don and I could not pass up the opportunity to order a plate of plain old beans and sausage. It was very similar to red beans and rice, but without the rice. I can't believe I didn't take a picture of these incredible beans, but you'll just have to trust me when I say they were scrumptuous! After dinner we headed down to Lake Bled itself in hopes that the area around the lake would still be lit up from Christmas, and it was!