Day 2 - Welcome to Ljubljana!

 Sunday 3/27. Paris to Ljubljana

Between the time change and the big dinner, I woke up for a while after midnight. But back to sleep, until 7:30.  The view from our window was beautiful. Sunrise over the rooftops of Paris!

Then we got up and spent a pleasant hour strolling Le Quartier Latin. We started out in Luxembourg Gardens. No crowds and nice lighting.

La Sorbonne in the Distance, in the early morning light. A pleasant walk!

Saint-Sulpice Church. It sure wasn't this empty last time we were here.

Another empty street in the Latin Quarter. All this walking is making me hungry!

Back to our hotel for a nice breakfast. Then a shower and off to the airport. We again had the cheap fare on the RER, because of the initiative to reduce pollution (we had bought a second pair of tickets yesterday). And we managed to find a fairly direct train that only made a few stops.

Found business class check-in and checked our two rollaboard cases for convenience. We were through security fairly quickly at 2F. We had time to explore the fairly new AF lounge at 2F which was very nice, but crowded. 

Off to our gate and we were ready to board. Of course it was a bus ride to the plane.

Boarded on time, and wheels up at 1309. Shrimp for lunch with champagne and wine too!

Beautiful views of the Alps as we flew over Austria and Italy. Here is a shot near the border between Austria and Slovenia.

Touched down at 14:40. Luggage was not too slow, and we met our A&K guide. From the airport, a leisurely drive to our hotel, about 25 minutes. There's a big EU delegation here so security is tight, and some of the roads are closed in front of the hotel. 

While we checked in, our guide made us a dinner reservation for tonight. Apparently it's restaurant week so some places are serving special 3-course menus. Sounds delicious!

We set out to explore Ljubljana. Just down the street from our hotel, the Triple Bridge. It's hard to get a picture that shows all three bridges though. The two side bridges are hidden here because they're at an angle.

We have never been here in person but we've done some virtual walks through the city before. So we knew that we had to go see the Dragon Bridge.

You couldn't ask for a nicer day for sightseeing!

Close up of one of the four dragons guarding the bridge. 

Back towards the Triple Bridge and on the opposite bank, the Franciscan Church.

We walked in the opposite direction. The view looking back was just as good.

Like everywhere else in Europe, there was a Roman settlement here. This statue is in front of what was the wall of the Roman City of Emona.

Back down to the river. Ljubljana Castle sat high above us. We should visit there tomorrow! I hope that this beautiful weather holds.

Time to head back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We had a reservation at a restaurant on the southern edge of town. It would be a 15-minute walk from our hotel. 

We got ready for dinner and set out for an evening stroll along the river. The castle looked even nicer in the evening light.

Manna Restaurant was right where we had it marked on Google Maps, and they had our table waiting. As it was restaurant week, the choices were a fish menu or a meat menu. We went for the meat! Luckily Chris can use her fluency in Ukrainian to read a decent amount of other Slavic languages, so she figured out most of the menu before I could type it into Google Translate.

The first course was hazelnut puree along with homemade butter and roasted garlic, served on delicious bread. 

Then we feasted on smoked slices of duck breast served with čemaž (wild garlic), apricot jelly, and ponzu sauce.

The third course was a pork terrine. It was made from a specific Slovenian breed of heirloom pork, the Krškopolje pig. And served with asparagus salad and citrus chutney. Very good.

The main course was more pork. This was pork cheeks served with confit potatoes, dandelion greens, and kohlrabi. Tender and flavorful. The bitterness in the dandelion greens contrasted well with the fatty pork.

We enjoyed it all with a Slovenian red blend. No dessert after all of that delicious food. We were glad that there was some walking to do, so we could burn a few calories!

Now the nighttime riverside walk back to the hotel. Luckily, there were beautiful vantage points along the river, where the lighting made for great pictures. This is the Cobbler's Bridge.

The Franciscan Church and the Triple Bridge. Or at least one of the three. The reflections in the river were fantastic. Lots of photo stops along the way.

A nice surprise awaited us back in the room. I guess we are having dessert after all! Even though my birthday was yesterday, we'll happily celebrate again.