We woke up to a gorgeous day, glad that we saved our castle visit for today. Love the view out our window!
Cutest manhole cover ever. Somehow the dragon looks more cute than fierce!
On our way to the castle, we passed by St. Nicholas' Cathedral, which has been built, destroyed and rebuilt many times since the 1200's:
Huge bronze doors were added in 1996 to celebrate the visit of Pope John Paul II.
Before heading up to the castle, we stopped for a quick bite to eat. We sat outside, and watched when exactly at noon, some figures came out of the clock tower across the street and announced it was noon.
Charlotte's front tooth is hanging by a thread. We kept thinking it would fall out and be taken by the Tooth Mouse, which according the the man who ran our hotel is what takes all teeth lost in Slovenia.
A single funicular built in 2006 takes visitors to the top of Castle Hill. Up we went.
Tom was fascinated by a canon...
with a rifled interior.
We climbed up a spiral staircase to the top of the tower
There's that dragon again...
We tried for a family pic. This was the best of the bunch.
There were lots of places to explore. We found an old cell block. In several periods, the castle was used as a prison. Not so cushy...
The Ljubljana Marshes Wheel (actually a replica). Discovered in 2002, it is over 5000 years old. The oldest wooden wheel ever discovered.
The museum has a fascinating history of Slovenia. If we'd been without kids, we could have really taken some time in it. I can't remember why this phone was included...but I think it's the first rotary phone my kids have ever seen.
A bust of Tito, the man who kept Yugoslavia together in the decades prior to his death.
And now...another total fail on my part as photographer. We took the coolest guided "Time Machine" tour of the castle. A tour guide led our little group around to 6 different spots, where we were met by actors in costume who spoke to us about what life was like in the castle during their time there. It was great, and perfect for the kids. Do I have ANY pictures of the actors? No. :( I think I was too engaged in the whole thing to think about it!
On our first stop, we met a Roman guard and a priestess, living in the area when it was part of the Roman city of Emona. They showed us a well from that time, that was worked over the years using men walking in a wheel. Basically a hamster wheel for people. Our guide told us the men would be blindfolded so as not to get motion sickness. The Roman well was lost for a time, but rediscovered during one of the periods when the castle was a prison...which meant ample labor to keep it running.
Our next stop was outside the castle walls where we met St. George the Dragon Slayer. He told us all about his exploits, and killing the dragon which had taken over the castle.
While "George" was repeating the story in Slovene for the rest of our group, our guide gave us extra information. At this stop he told us two things I didn't know. First, as the castle was rebuilt over the course of time, one thing they used were old headstones. Already cut and ready to go. There's one there on the left edge of the front wall halfway down.
The other thing he told us was that moats are only filled with water in Hollywood movies. The purpose of the moat was to stop a group of attackers from reaching your walls with a battering ram. Just a dry moat accomplishes this by making the attackers lose all momentum and no longer have the right angle to use the ram. Interesting...
The large opening on the tower above was for horses, the smaller one to its left was for people. The drawbridge would have connected there. The triangular window at the top was for archers defending the castle.
Several more stops included a soldier and nun from the Napoleonic period, an Hapsburg Emperor and his wife, and a woman being held as a political prisoner. She had dared insult a politician.
Inside the chapel of St George, which is decorated with some religious symbols, but mostly with crests from wealthy noble families.
Our last presenter was the famous mayor of Ljubljana who managed to buy back the castle in 1905 so it is now owned by the city.
At that point we realized we had spent hours and hours at the castle. It really was the best tour and experience of any castle we've been too. Highly recommend!
Finally some sun! We walked back to the center of town for one last peek before we left for home.
This shows two of the three parts of the Triple Bridge.
Gelato for the road.
And with that we said goodbye to Ljubljana.
And headed for home. Slovenia wasn't even on our radar, and now it's one of our favorite places we've visited. We'll be back!
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