Next stop - Ljubljana, Slovenia

Despite having been to Northern Italy many times I had never been to Slovenia which after having visited, is crazy. I was very impressed! It is beautiful and has so much variety in landscape. 

While visited a few places, I stayed in the capital - Ljubljana. The historical centre of the city is pedestrian zone which is a lovely concept as a tourist. The main square, Prešeren Square, is where the free tour of the city starts. The say that the tree is planted there to block the statue of the topless women from the view of the church and monastery on the other side.

The Franciscan Church of the Annunciation and until the end of the 18th century, the monastery was the home of Augustine monks. The church was built between 1646 and 1660. Its red colour is symbolic of the Franciscan monastic order.

This is also where the free walking tour starts. Across the street there is an old merchant home for which they tell the story of Ljubljana's Romeo and Juliet.

The tour then heads down the unique bridges of the city starting with Triple Bridge that sends you down the different routes of the city centre.

Then the Butcher's Bridge which hosts love locks, some interesting art installations and see through portions. It was originally named for the butcher stalls in the market buildings adjacent to it.

But probably the most famous is the Dragon Bridge. Built in 1901 as an entrance to the city to protect it and the first reinforced concrete structure of its time in Europe. 

We then headed towards the market which houses local vendors and restaurants today.

Off the market square is the church of St. Nicholas which was originally  a three-nave Roman church whose earliest mention dates back to 1262. It underwent different occupiers, styles and a couple of fires over the years.

And off to another bridge! Cobblers' Bridge, which got its name from when it was wooden covered and housed the city's cobblers. It was built by the architect Jože Plečnik between 1931 and 1932 to connect the Mestni trg and Novi trg squares, two major parts of medieval Ljubljana. 

On the other side of the bridge I took a few shots of the Ljubljana castle which was originally a medieval fortress. They assume it was built in the 11th century. I didn't make it to the castle unfortunately.