June 13, 2022

We used the city tourist cards in Innsbruck and Salzburg, Austria. Typically, the city tourist card covers all public transportation and city attractions with a choice of 24, 48, and 72 hours. We found those cards convenient and cost-effective, and we highly recommended buying them if you stayed in a place for more than two nights. After arriving in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, we each purchased a 48-hour city tourist card, which included a guided walking tour, free public transportation, and free city museums. This morning, we took the funicular lift up the hill to see the Ljubljana Castle first, a castle complex standing on Castle Hill above downtown Ljubljana. It is a central landmark of the town. From the towers was the spectacular panoramic view of the city. Originally a medieval fortress, it was built in the 11th century and rebuilt and expanded from the 12th century to the early 19th century. As we can see, the castle recently added a lot of modern ingredients, being a little too commercial. For that reason, we didn't appreciate it that much.

After the castle, we joined the city walking tour, and the tour guide took us around New Street, Old Street, and other attractions. Ljubljana is the home of Jože Plečnik, a master of modern minimalist design, where he lived and worked for his last thirty years, leaving countless of his masterpieces in the city, and most of the attractions that the tour guide took us to see were designed by him.

We went to the old town farmers' market to buy some local cherries at noon. There was a water station within the market for drinking water and washing the fruits, which was very helpful for people like us. We could enjoy the fresh fruits right on the spot. We tried Slovenian sausages for lunch at Klobasarna, a small café in the old town. They were delicious. The city tourist card we bought covered the river cruise we took in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day with a blue sky and white clouds, but the temperature was too high. Without the top cover on the boat, we all had a heat stroke feeling towards the end of the cruise. The view along the river was terrific, though. After the cruise, we returned to the apartment for a short nap. Recharged and recovered from the heat exhaustion, we headed to see an alternative culture center, Metelkova Mesto. It was an abandoned army complex and now was a thriving place for a free creative spirit. There was a bar on the campus. No pictures of the people were allowed there. It is not the place we would enjoy, but every big city shall tolerate and permit a free creative spirit place like this, for people with different artistic talents to express themselves and be creative.

Tonight's dinner was salad and our delicious home-style soup, the egg drop soup with tomato and mushroom. After dining out most of the time on this trip, once in a while, we would like to have a simple, comfy supper if possible. After dinner, we walked along the river in the city center and stopped for a cup of coffee and ice cream. Watching the sunset by the river, we enjoyed the most beautiful time in Ljubljana.

欧洲游第二十四天：到了斯洛维尼亚（Slovenia)的首都卢布尔雅那(Ljubljana)之后，买了48小时城市旅游卡，一般来说，旅游卡包括免费参观城市景点和公共交通，有24，48，72小时选择。之前我们在奥地利的Innsbruck 和萨尔茨堡都有用过。这些旅游卡又方便又省钱，大力推荐。先去看了城堡，但不知什么原因，城堡里加了不少现代建筑，有点太商业化，比以前看过的城堡差一些。然后参加了步行游，导游带着我们在新街，老街和其他景点转了一圈。卢布尔雅那是现代极简主义设计大师约热·普莱奇尼克（Jože Plečnik）的故乡，也是他最后三十几年生活和工作的地方，在这座城市里留下无数他的杰作，导游带我们去看的景点大半是他设计的。中午去集市买了点当地的樱桃，在集市里直接洗了吃，很不错。午餐继续品尝斯洛维尼亚香肠。下午坐观光游船，今天气温较高，加上太阳直晒，我们都有点中暑的感觉。坐完游船后，回家睡个午觉后去看了所谓＂艺术中心＂。今晚晚餐是蘑菇番茄鸡蛋汤和色拉，外面的饭吃多了，尤其是肉吃多后来点清淡的，胃感觉特别舒服。这是从同游瑞士二周的朋友那里学来的😀。饭后来到城中心的河边喝上一杯咖啡再来个冰淇淋，看着太阳落山，这个时候的卢布尔雅那最美。