Rainy days mean back-up plans

 3 May 2024

Rain means backup plans.  I slept so soundly, again, that I had no idea it was even raining, but not so bad that I’d want to stay in entirely.  After the same breakfast as yesterday, I slowly made my way out of the hotel, leaving around 10 this morning.  I borrowed a hotel umbrella and headed toward the two churches I saw on the walking tour yesterday.  I paid the small fee to enter both just to see what the insides looked like.  Each was also quiet and empty, and dry, so it was nice to get in out of the rain.

After that I made my way up a street next to the church in Preseren Square and took in the Banksy exhibit going on there.  I’m not a huge fan, but it is always good to see art however I can find it.  It was a good sized exhibit and included a Picasso and a few Warhols (as those who influenced him).

After that I stopped in a supermarket (finally, shops are open!) and picked up some bottled water and a yogurt for lunch.

Around 1:30 I headed back to the hotel because the rain was really coming down and I didn’t want to get me or my sneakers soaked.  I read and wrote my blog and otherwise relaxed. I headed out again around 3:30.  I was going to walk to a couple of other museums further afield but decided instead to take in the Ljubljana City Museum which is about 500 feet down from the hotel.  It was wonderful!  I passed it several times and saw they have an exhibition on about how Ljubljana’s citizens dressed through time, and it was really excellent.  I liked how they offered stories about the wearers of the clothing.  And they did an excellent job with engagement activities for little kids (I wanted to do them too!)

In the basement of the museum there is an archeological exhibit of what was unearthed on the site of the museum that was actually quite interesting too.  A lot of Roman artifacts as well as foundations of previous buildings on the spot of the palace.

After the museum I headed to a nearby wine bar where I asked the bar man if he could put together a few Slovenian wines for me to try.  I had a Buffalo mozzarella with bread and tomatoes as a small plate with them.  By then the rain had really lightened up so I was good walking around a bit.  So I strolled through the Old Town again looking for where to have dinner.  I settled on a place right on the river called Vender.  I had parmesan ravioli with black walnuts and pickled cherries and a slice of apple streusel, along with a glass of orange wine (orange because of the maceration process, not the fruit used).  That was quite tasty.  

Since I’m up early tomorrow for the day tour, I headed back to the hotel by 7:00 to get ready for the trip.  I’m excited to see Lake Bled, Lake Bohinj and Vintgar Gorge tomorrow.  Weather looks to be excellent!