The End

Oh, i've had the loveliest of days today, topped off by a lovely meal and a glass of wine. Eating out by yourself is an art, and I think I've perfected it.  Or i just don't care what people think any more. The one thing that most people say when I say I'm travelling solo is 'oh, I couldn't go to a restaurant by myself'. Yes you could. It's character building. So there I was in TaBar, looking at the menu, thinking, oh my, some i can read but this is going to be ordering blind' when the konobar asked if i needed some help

- and simply flipped the menu over to the English version...

But let me tell you what was on today's tourism menu - at 8:30 I met a group of travellers and we set off to Predjama Castle. This, dear readers, is what I came to Ljubljana to see - it was featured in a 1950's travelogue book that Josh and Frank found in a second hand book store, chronicling the travels of a couple through Jugoslavia. Pred (in front of) Jama (cave). A castle set into the rock face of a cave.

Yesterday I mentioned Erasmus in relation to escaping from Ljubljana Castle (LC)- well, he was sort of a debonair and handsome medieval Robin Hood

who lived in Predjama. Having escaped from LC he hightailed it to his own castle. He was pursued but Predjama was seemingly impenetrable. His pursuers thought that they could wait him out - food and water being the basics of life. but they didn't realise that there were secret tunnels which allowed him to obtain fresh food, and indeed, he threw this fact in their faces, literally, by pelting his pursuers with fresh cherries etc.  The siege went on for more than a year!

There is always a weak link though - and this turned out to be Erasmus' manservant who was open to being bribed, and told the waiting pursuers that he would light a candle when Erasmus was in his privvy - and as Erasmus sat in his privvy attending to his own business, a cannon ball pelted the little room and killed Erasmus - see, I told you, a shitty ending!

He is buried in the little church of Mater Dolorosa - and his beloved girlfriend planted a Linden tree which has developed a hole in the trunk from the tears she cried.... we're talking 1484 here, so the tree isn't doing too badly, despite the tears.

I did think the church was divine though (I've told you, I'm a sucker for churches..)

Oh, and I'm doing an expose' on The Bikes of Ljubljana. This is my sort of town, everyone is on bikes, gorgeous bikes, colourful bikes (and no helmets). Here are a few to whet your appetite.