Safety Tips in Ljubljana

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Beware: Slovenian portions are massive.

The food is fantastic (with Italian, Austrian and Slavic influences), very good quality and very reasonably-priced. But you will almost certainly be amazed by the amount on your plate, so be prepared!

The pizza in the photo cost 5 euros (mushroom and artichoke). It is a small pizza. It really is a small pizza: it says that on the menu! The half-litre beer glass is acting as a scale.

The salds (2009) cost 7 euros in the centre of Ljubljana, in a riverside cafe/bar.

Both, by the way, were delicious.

Once in Ljubljana, beware of the "Ljubljana Bug". This "harmful little animal" can bite you and contaminate for the rest of your life, so, be careful (lol). And not to mention if you are “unlucky” to meet the great people from the city as I did, then, you will want to go back to Ljubljana time and again!

PS: This tip is dedicated to the “evil” inhabitants of Ljubljana, lol!

The only unpleasantness we encountered in Lubljana came interestingly enough from the waiters. All in all they were a surly lot. I guess they take their restaurants seriously. We made the mistake of only drinking wine in one place--without ordering food. I guess that is a serious offense as we were berated by the waiter because his establishment was clearly not a bar or pub. At another place, our campanion had the temerity to ask if they served pizza. A tonguelashing ensued about how this establishment was a center of fine dining and not some pub or bistro (actually the food was not that good at this place.)

So be on the watch for the surly waiters or they will get you too.

I only saw two beggars in Ljubljana (outside the main Post Office). They were of the 'kneel quietly and pray' type, and local people were giving them money. I thought that indicated a great lack of cynicism, and I envy the Slovenian nation that lack, and its demonstration of human kindness.

I don't think it can be much fun to be a beggar anywhere, particularly in European cities. I can't bring myself to believe that beggars beg because they are too idle to find work; I think they beg because they have to, for whatver reason (it was suggested to me that these beggars were Albanians).

Ljubljana is an incredibly safe and civilised city; maybe visitors to it should deal with the beggars (and the occasional busker) in a civilised way?

If you decide to climb to the castle make sure you're fit and able to do it! I chose to climb via the track from Vodnik Square called Studentovska Ulica which is very steep and is also unpaved and has hardly any steps. It is a very steep climb indeed and I passed a family who were pushing a pram up it as well! At least there are some seats at the top so you can take a rest.

While walking around you will notice cycle lanes painted on pavements on many streets.

BEWARE - the cyclists take these very seriously and expect pedestrians to keep off. If you are going to cross one, check for approaching cyclists coming up behind you.

Remember - they are travelling quite fast and make no noise!

Avoid this restaurant - it is unreasonable expensive! The waiter won't tell you the price of the wine. You just get a menu when you ask for it. It's probably the most expensive restaurant in Ljubljana.

Nobel Burek. I had read about burek in many eastern European pages on VT and just knew I'd have to try one. I met up with local VTer Vasja at the downtown Kratochwill location for some beers one night and a few turned into many though he had a lot of work to do on his thesis the next day. We talked for hours about hiking in Patogonia as that was where he was headed and I'd done some hiking there a few years ago. He likewise filled me in on the wonderful opportunities in his native Slovenia. Talk makes you thirsty, and beers eventually make you hungry. He explained that the best thing at that late hour was a burek and he knew the best place in town, not too far away. Off we went and soon I was faced with a choice of sirov (cheese) or mesni (meat). He said there was no choice, that cheese was the best. Who was I to argue with a local so I got one as well. For 350 SIT ($1.40), I wasn't expecting anything big but I was presented with a huge slab of what seemed like filo dough filled with ricotta-like cheese, and just dripping of grease. We walked off, chowing down on the sloppy late night snack, as I'd done countless times in my hometown with pizza and a good buddy after a night out on the town. Some things may be different from place to place, but some things are all the same. Days later, I tried the meat one for lunch and Vasja was right, the cheese one was in a class of its own.