Day 6 - August 24, 2026 

Ljubljana – Living the City

Yesterday Ljubljana made an unforgettable first impression.

Today I stopped trying to “see” it.

Instead, I wandered through markets, lingered over coffee, chatted with artisans, floated quietly down the Ljubljanica, explored the castle, discovered more Slovenian food, and simply enjoyed spending the day here.

Somewhere along the way, Ljubljana stopped feeling like a destination and started feeling like a place I could imagine calling home—for a little while.

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Breakfast at Hotel Heritage turned out to be excellent and gave me a relaxed start to the day before heading to the Central Market.

The market was everything I had hoped it would be.

Spreading through both indoor and outdoor spaces, it was full of beautiful produce, artisan crafts, clothing, handmade jewelry and local Slovenian products. It felt authentic—like a place locals genuinely use rather than something created just for tourists.

I also found one of the specialty coffee carts and enjoyed a wonderful flat white while wandering through the stalls.

One of my missions for the morning was to find the artisan who had made my silver ring yesterday.

Success.

I bought another handcrafted silver ring made from deep purple amaranth wood as a birthday gift for a friend, along with two handmade wood-and-resin pendants that immediately reminded me why I enjoy buying from local artisans so much.

I spent quite a while admiring FREYWILLE jewelry as well. The Klimt collection was beautiful, but I decided this wasn’t the right purchase for this trip. Sometimes appreciating beautiful craftsmanship without bringing it home is exactly enough.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was taking the silent electric boat along the Ljubljanica.

Seeing Ljubljana from the river gave me an entirely different perspective. The bridges, cafés, musicians and people strolling along the embankments somehow looked even more charming from the water.

Lunch at Julija was another wonderful discovery.

The slow-cooked veal cheek with truffle purée and vegetables was beautifully prepared and one of my favorite lunches so far on this trip.

Later I rode the funicular to Ljubljana Castle.

The panoramic views from the Viewing Tower were spectacular, and I enjoyed the Virtual Castle presentation, wandering through the courtyards and spending a few surprisingly delightful minutes in the Puppet Museum. Rather than trying to read every historical exhibit, I simply enjoyed the atmosphere and the views over the city.

Dinner before the evening performance was at Marley & Me, where I finally tried one of Slovenia’s traditional specialties—Idrija žlikrofi served with bacon and leek cream sauce.

Absolutely delicious.

Paired with a refreshing Radler, it became another memorable Slovenian meal.

The evening ended with Romeo & Juliet.

The dancers were tremendously talented, the orchestra sounded beautiful and I appreciated the interesting interpretation of the ballet.

At the same time, I learned something about myself.

As much as I admire ballet, I don’t think it’s my favorite performing art. I found myself getting sleepy during the performance and realized that while I’m very glad I experienced it, I’ll probably save future ballet evenings for productions that are truly exceptional—perhaps an Eifman Ballet one day.

Looking back, today wasn’t really about monuments or museums.

It was about conversations with artisans.

Wonderful coffee.

The quiet rhythm of the river.

Traditional Slovenian food.

Browsing independent shops.

Watching everyday life unfold from bridges and cafés.

Today Ljubljana showed me that sometimes the best way to discover a city isn’t by trying to see everything.

It’s by giving yourself enough time to simply live there for a day.

And somewhere between the market, the river and the castle, I caught myself wondering what it would be like if Boris and I came back one day—not for a vacation, but to spend a month or two simply calling Ljubljana home.

That may be the greatest compliment I can give a city.