Ljubljana has been such a good surprise. It’s not a real hot spot for American tourists, so we weren’t sure what to expect, but it’s been an absolute delight. The main part of the city went pedestrian about 12 years ago and now the city is filled with open squares, cafes, trees, and families. It’s a joy to walk around and see everything.

Look at the amazing Christmas decorations! The stars create a galaxy!

Like most people, Garett and I are huge fans of walkable cities. It makes it so much easier for us to get around and get the feel of a place. Even if you don’t like walking, they have free taxis here to take you around the old town.

The city is also beautiful. It has a castle, like many medieval cities. We took this picture from a building that’s just called “Skyscraper.” It only has 13 floors, but the terrace at the top has some good views of the city and the castle.

The hoarfrost on the trees is pretty cool here.

Here are a couple views of the city from its castle. The river here is called the Ljublanica — the “lil’ Ljubljana.”

We are staying with a wonderful host here, Anastasiia. She has a sweet birdie named Piki. Here are Garett and I with him. I am actually taking a selfie; Piki waited very patiently on my head while I got out the camera, tried to stabilize my hands, etc.

Ljubljana is called the “Dragon City” and thus has a “Dragon Bridge.”

It’s kind of crazy how many cities and countries identify with dragons. I mean, dragons are imaginary, right? Maybe it’s the legacy of Saint George the Dragon-Slayer? Or the world-ending dragon in the book of Revelation? Or maybe they are just super cool.

This picture was taken in the castle, which, like all proper castles, had a resident dragon. The Castle Lair was being renovated, so we didn’t get to see it, but I took a #dragonselfie because #iamthedragon.

Curiously, there was a puppet museum in the castle. When we went in, we were told that Slovenian fairy tales are very dark, so they produce extra creepy puppets and puppet shows. The first recorded Slovenian puppet show was called “Dead Man in a Red Coat.”

Puppetry was also used by the Slovene Partisans to resist the Nazis!

When Slovenia split from Yugoslavia in 1991, Pope John Paul was one of the first to recognize the new country, so he gets a place on the door to their cathedral. The door is pretty cool–it has all of Slovenian history on it from the Romans on up. By the by, the Romans had a town here called Emona until the 4th or 5th century. The tree near the bottom is the linden tree, a symbol of Slovenia.

You can see where the artist signed his name at the bottom–it’s the little face. People touch his nose for good luck.

The inside of the cathedral. Pretty standard.

A picture of the exhibit “Faces of Ljubljana” that we thought was cool. I like how they arranged all these works of art as though in a frame and it was fun to walk around and read about each of them.

So…this is it. We’ve been out for over 6 months and are about to return to the States for a couple months. I don’t think I’ll be posting in the States, but I will take it back up when we return in mid-March. Thank you so much for reading!