Ljubljana, Slovenia

First off, this is a great city.
It is cute and pretty and easyt to get around. It is like Prague, with great street life and wonderful food, but at a fraction of the size. And with great wine, especially the white wines. we loved it the minute we rolled into town, and our hotel was right in the heart of the old city. Which is a pedestrian only zone. No matter. We were able to park nearby (potentially not legally, but it didn't take long) and check in, where the hotel guided us to nearby free public parking. So right off the bat you know you aren't in a big city. The hotel we stayed in was an easy walk to a number of great restaurants (we had our best meal of the whole trip at Tatjana's Tavern) with seafood from the Adriatic, and plenty of sidewalk cafe's to people watch from.

Slovenia's population is only about 2 million, and it's largest town is small as well--less than 300,000. Even smaller than Zagreb. What it lacks in size it makes up for in charm. The city has been continuously inhabited since 2000 BC. Rome arrived in 50 BC, and remains of yet another Roman fortification still exist in Ljubljana--but a bulk of the buildings date to the Venetian period of the late 19th century. The town has been leveled by earthquakes at several points in it's history, hence the medieval feel to a more modern appearing town.

Ljubljana has one particular architect who made a stamp on the city--Ljubljana native Jože Plečnik. he studied in Vienna and worked in Prague brefore returning to his home town in 1921 to work at on the fledgling Ljubljana University (which is a wonderful walk, bustling with students and the general feeling of scholarship--we passed two student tours--one of French-speakinig students and one of Spanish-speaking students--both tours were conducted in English, the language they all shared, so we could even understand what was being pointedout). He was awarded design for numerous buildings throughout the 1920s and 1930s, so he transformed Ljubljana through works such as the impressively massive University Library. He added numerous civic improvements including new bridges, waterfront, banks, and sluices along the Ljubljanica River; new market buildings, kiosks monuments, plazas, and parks.