Lifestyle

07 May 2019, 11:51 AM

STA, 6 May 2019 - Slovenian Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec and Massimiliano Fedriga, president of the Italian region Friuli Venezia-Giulia, urged cooperation in efforts to jointly protect the Rebula wine from the cross-border area, as they met in Slovenia's Brda on Monday.

The proposal for the protected designation of origin under the name Rebula Brda - Collio implies establishing an 800-hectare wine-growing area covering Slovenia's Brda as well as Italy's areas of Collio and Colli Orientali, according to the minister.

"Our proposal, which is based on the meetings with Rebula growers, envisages two possible scenarios," Pivec told the press after meeting Fedriga.

The first one is a cross-border designation "Rebula-Ribolla Gialla Brda - Collio", which implies a procedure in line with EU market rules and which would result in a uniform area of Rebula wine and vine production.

The other scenario is registering a collective trademark, which implies registration with the European Union Intellectual Property Office, said Pivec.

She stressed it was possible to pursue one of the two options or both at the same time.

Pivec also announced that by June, a cross-border task force would be set up featuring representatives of Rebula wine growers and politicians.

Pivec also visited Brda in January to discuss with local farmers their efforts to protect Rebula together with Rebula growers on the Italian side of Brda.

The Slovenian winegrowers had launched a debate with their colleagues from the Italian side of Brda to protect Rebula a few years ago.

The reason was Italian farmers also growing this vine in the Padua Valley, where it is easier to grow and where it produces a different taste.

Pivec and Fedriga also discussed today the drafting of documents to have the exceptional terraced landscape rich in historical, cultural and natural heritage placed on UNESCO's world heritage list. It is their view that all procedures should be finalised as soon as possible.

06 May 2019, 18:02 PM

STA, 6 May 2019 - The newspaper Finance writes about the booming property market in Slovenia's capital in Monday's editorial, finding that nothing can hurt the demand or growing property prices.

Under the headline “Ljubljana Realtors in a Hurry”, the paper quotes real estate agents, property developers and individuals selling flats, all of whom report brisk trading.

One of them says that many new apartments will hit the market next year, which could bring down the prices.

"The prices of those flats are mostly not known yet. The price list of one of the projects, aiming for average purchasing power buyers, indicates that a rationally designed apartment will cost between EUR 3,100 and 3,500 per square metre, including the appertaining parking lots and pantry space (...)”

"High-end apartments in best locations will come at much over five grand. The sale of such apartments is not questionable today. At the moment it appears that by the end of the year, the average home price per square metre will exceed last year's average of EUR 2,770.

"The demand, transactions and price growth cannot be hurt either by projections of an economic downturn or by the increased supply that will hit the market next year," writes the paper.

06 May 2019, 14:51 PM

STA, 6 May 2019 - The Slovenian-born foreman of Watergate grand jury, Vladimir Pregelj, died on Saturday, a day before turning 92. The long-serving Library of Congress researcher helped Slovenia immensely during independence efforts.

Pregelj was born in Murska Sobota in 1927 and later moved to Ljubljana. After the Second World War, he came to the US as a refugee in 1945.

After graduating from Saint Joseph's College in Indiana, he served in the US army and then obtained US citizenship. He got a master's degree from the Fordham University in New York.

In 1957, he got a job at the Library of Congress as a specialist for international trade.

As the foreman of Watergate grand jury No. 1, he wrote a letter to US President Richard Nixon on 30 January 1974, summoning him to testify in person before his fellow citizens.

The hearing did not take place, because Nixon resigned in August 1974 after it became clear that the Congress would impeach him.

During Slovenia's independence efforts in the late 1980s, Pregelj helped Slovenian politicians and diplomats get in touch with US congressmen and other influential people in Washington.

Slovenian Foreign Minister Miro Cerar has already expressed his condolences to Pregelj's family. In a tweet on Sunday, he said that Pregelj was an "intellectual and a great Slovenian who helped open congressmen's doors to Slovenian diplomats."

He noted he had met him this February at a Culture Day reception in Washington.

The memorial service is expected to be held at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Catholic church in the United States and in North America.

Pregelj's ashes are later to be buried at the Ljubljana Žale cemetery. But the decision on this will be made by his 72-year-old wife Lea Plut Pregelj.

The Washington Post interviewed Pregelj in mid-April as the foreman of Watergate grand jury. While he was tight-lipped about President Donald Trump, he did say that the information on Russia's interfering with the 2016 US election gathered by special counsel Robert S. Mueller should be made public.

Pregelj told the paper he had been disappointed that justice did not run its course with Nixon, because there had been enough cause for indicting him.

Pregelj's wife said her husband had always been very secretive about his work on the Nixon case and that he only talked about his time on the Watergate panel four years after their wedding in 1980.

06 May 2019, 13:00 PM

Business

Azer News has the view from Azerbaijan on closer links with Slovenia, in a story called “Slovenia offers its Koper port to Azerbaijani companies.”

Culture

e-flux previewed the 33rd Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts, which opens 7 June, in a story simply titled “The International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC)”, the name of hte venue where the show will take place.

Eurovision is coming, and with it increased interest in Slovenia’s entry, Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl. The duo were in Tel Aviv rehearsing, as reported, with videos, in ESC Today's "It’s Slovenia’s turn for rehearsal".

Food & Drink

Fortune looks at wine from “Eastern Europe”, with Slovenia featured alongside Georgia and Hungary, in “These Eastern European Countries Are Home to Some of the Most Dynamic Winemakers Right Now”.

Politics

Violeta Tomic, the European Left candidate for European Commission President, gave an interview to Euro News: “’With neo-liberal capitalism you cannot change climate goals,' says EU top job hopeful Tomic”. In a second article, the same organisation has another interview with Tomic, including a video, with the title "EU is 'built on anti-fascism' not Christian values, says EU top job hopeful Violeta Tomic"

Travel

The UK's Guardian took a trip to Bohinj for mountains, flowers and Ana Roš, in "Meadow larks: orchids and alpine views in Slovenia".

National Geographic continued its recent series on the country with “Here is Europe's most sustainable country in 20 pictures”

Outlook India visits Bled and Ljubljana in “Live Out Your Childhood Dreams In Slovenia”

The new Julian Alps Hiking Trail got covered on Travel + Leisure, in “This Gorgeous New 186-mile Trail Takes Hikers Through the Best of the Alps”

04 May 2019, 16:36 PM

May 4, 2019

In 1980 Josip Broz Tito died at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana at the age of 88 due to a gangrene-induced infection. His death meant the beginning of the end of Yugoslavia, which began entangling itself into rising nationalisms combined with a crumbling economy.

Josip Broz was born on May 8, 1892 to a Slovenian mother and Croatian father in Kumrovec, Croatia, near the Slovenian border. He completed only four years of primary school, and in 1907 his father wanted him to emigrate to the United States of America. Young Broz, however, decided to attend a three-year locksmith apprenticeship, which he managed to pay for by himself. In 1910 he then first looked for work in Ljubljana, then Trieste (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), and eventually even worked for Škoda and Mercedes-Benz.

During WWI he was wounded and spent most of it as a prisoner of war in Russia. On his return home, now no longer part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but the Kingdom of Yugoslavia instead, he continued his career of a factory worker, but this time he also joined the communists and organised unions and strikes at his workplace. Increasing trouble with the authorities, which eventually banned any kind of communist activity, as well as with his employers, eventually pushed his work to become increasingly political and clandestine. Thus between the years 1928-1934 Josip Broz spent a lot of time in jail, where he met some communists who persuaded to become even more radical.

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Josip Broz and Moša Pijade jail photo; Broz was chosen to maintain the prison’s electrical system and had chosen Pijade as his assistant, both gaining access to all prisoners
 

Once he was out, his rapid climb in the Comintern (Communist International) began. At about this time he also started to use his penname Tito, which soon became his most recognisable title. How he managed to survive all of the Stalin’s internal purges, which began in 1936, remains a mystery. In 1937 he became acting general secretary of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, a position formally ratified by Comintern in 1939.

In about 1936 he developed his concept of brotherhood among the Yugoslav nations, denouncing nationalism and embracing the idea of a common fight against Nazism and fascism.

During WWII Tito and his partisan army managed to liberate Yugoslavia with very limited Soviet assistance, which contributed a great deal to Tito’s independence from Stalin, which was finalised in 1948 when the Russian leader kicked Yugoslavia out of Informbiro and started another round of political purges against Titoists, while Stalinists were being purged in Yugoslavia.

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Ivan Ribar and Josip Broz, 1943
 

Tito enjoyed huge popular support at home, which allowed him to build a new country. At the top of Yugoslavia he placed himself and his close friends, while independence from Stalin in 1948 allowed him to re-establish diplomatic relations with the Western Bloc, and accept American economic and financial aid, which helped to rebuild the country in the 1950. This assumption of a neutral position in the Cold War, eventually brought about the Non-aligned Movement while allowing some ideological unorthodoxy – such as the 1963 reforms, which relaxed restrictions on private enterprise, freedom of religion, and changed the name of the country from the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In 1967 Yugoslavia also opened its borders to visa-free travel for international visitors.

Through these approaches Tito gained enormous diplomatic respect, which was also reflected at his funeral which took place in Belgrade on May 8, 1980. Politicians from 120 of the 154 UN member states attended his funeral, including Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, Prince Philip and Margaret Thatcher of the UK, US Vice President Walter Mondale, the Belgian King Baudouin I, Swedish King Karl XVI Gustaf, Indira Gandhi of India, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Kim Il Sung of North Korea, and so on.

Josip Broz was also quite a good entertainer and a bit of a womaniser in his private life. He married three times, and made many friends, among men as well, not just with women.

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Tito hosting the Prime Minister of Burma
 
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Tito and Sophia Loren

As there’s often more than one story on certain details of his life, Tito has been the inspiration for many conspiracy theories. One of the wildest speculates that Tito’s spoken language didn’t correspond to how he should sound given where he came from, and in addition that he should have been missing one finger. The story then proceeds to the conclusion that the original Josip Broz was probably switched with a Russian spy while he was prisoner of war there during WWI.

Similarly crazy was the recent story of Tito being secretly a devoted Catholic, which is why he chose Ljubljana and not (Christian Orthodox) Belgrade as the right place to die – in his last hour he supposedly asked for a priest, which is what the secret service tried to hide from us, even by causing an “accident” in which the priest died, silencing him forever.

But perhaps the truth is much simpler. The University Clinical Centre in Ljubljana, with its main building freshly built in 1977, was just the best hospital in the country at the time, and “the best” is where you’d expect to find a dictator.

04 May 2019, 12:58 PM

If you're not in town for the week of this guide (6 - 12 May, 2019) then you can see all the editions here, and if there's event you want to promote in a future edition of What's on in Ljubljana please get in touch with me at flanner(at)total-slovenia-news.com or try and find me on Facebook.

Jump to listings

UPDATE: Due to weather concerns, the Brina Ljubljana Gin Festival, planned for Saturday, has been rescheduled for 1 June.

The big event of the week comes on Saturday, with the annual Walk Along the Wire, in which hikers and runners will follow some (or all) of the 35-km path around Ljubljana that traces the barbed wire fence set up by the Italians during WW2 to keep the city cut off from the rest of Slovenia. You can learn more in our post from last year, while the Facebook page is here.

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Wednesday evening, for the whole of May, you can take English improv classes with the team behind IGLU Theatre – learn more here.

Thursday, 17:00, there’s a curious event, a workshop open to women only and hosted by the artist Charlotte Jarvis an called Making Female Semen, with an open to all public presentation at 19:00, both held at the Galerija Kapelica / Kapelica Gallery. Details, in English and Slovene, here.

Thursday also sees an opening (18:00) for perhaps the best photographer of Ljubljana, a guy who always finds beauty in unexpected places, Igor Andjelić of the Gallery Minimal. This will be at Kavarna Sosteka (here. Later that evening,

© Igor Andjelić

Elsewhere in town there’s the Mini-Maker Fair, a “conglomerate of scientific, entrepreneurial, educational and craft operations” for children and teens that - the website is Facebook page has all the details, in Slovene and English.

Sunday Tivoli Park sees an all day (10:00 to 18:00) event for families, Čarobni dan, or Magical Day, with workshops, games and music. Best of all? Entrance is free. Details Contents

Cinemas and films

You can read about all the cinemas in town here, while a selection of what’s playing this week is below, and note that kids' movies tend to be shown in dubbed versions, while non-English language movies for older viewers will have Slovenian subtitles.Parents should also pay attention to Kinobalon, which is Kinodvor's regular weekend series of film screenings and events for children, from babies on up, with special parent/child events, "first time in a cinema" screenings, and babysitting. Learn more about it here, and see the current schedule here.Kinodvor –This is an arts cinema, not far from the train station, that shows new features as well as hosting the occassional festival.

Kinoteka – And not far from Kinodvor you can find this revival cinema, which shows art house classics along with some deep dives in the archives.

Kino Bežigrad - A relatively small theatre, but one which usually has the biggest of the new releases.

Kolosej -The multiplex out at BTC City Mall shows all the big movies, with well over a dozen titles on the schedule, although note that there are far more movies than screens, so some of the older ones mayonly be playing once or twice a week.

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Clubbing

Compared to some European capitals it can seem that nightlife in Ljubljana ends rather early, especially along the river, but there are still bars that stay open late and clubs were you can dance until dawn, and perhaps the best place to stumble across something interesting is the legendary Metelkova. Be aware it's a grungy kind of place and not for all tastes, but also that there's considerable variety to found within the various clubs there, from death metal to electropop, gay cabaret to art noise. You can read "the rules" of the place here. And if you're curious about how the place started then read our story, and look at some pictures, about last year's 25th anniversary.

Božidar - DJ events aren't too common here, but when they happen they often have a big name.

Channel Zero – DJs shows here include regular dub nights as well as electronic music.

Gala Hala – Another Metelkova venue, you can sometimes hear bhangra and Bollywood here, but more often funk, hip hop, breakbeat and so on.

Klub Cirkus – The more commercial end of clubland, and a venue that aims to serve the student party scene. Expect house, anthems, and bangers.

Klub K4 – The home of techno, old and new, along with various other electronic genres,

Orto Bar80s and 90s throwback nights can often be found here, along with rock-based DJ sets.

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Live music

Balassi Institute – Free Hungarian music, when available, from the Hungarian cultural institute just a short walk downriver from Dragon Bridge.

Cankerjev dom – The main arts venue in the country hosts classical, opera jazz, folk and occassinally pop.

CvetličarnaRegional pop and rock concerts can be found here.

Channel Zero – This Metelkova venue sees live shows from punk and rock bands, as well as others.

Gala Hala – Another Metelkova venue with indie bands of various styles.

Kino Šiška – One of the top live venues in the city, with a varied programme that include indie, rock, pop, experimental, hip hop, and so on.

Klub Gromka – Live music is often metal, from sludge to stoner, death to thrash, while punk bands also appear, as do others.

Križanke – The venue that hosts the Ljubljana Festival often has classical music, and some rock, in the open air.

Ljubljana CastleJazz, funk and pop every Friday night.

Pinelina dnevna soba – LIve music is rare here, but it does happen.

Slovenska filharmonijaClassical music in the centre of town.

SNG Opera and Ballet - As the name suggests, here you'll find the best of opera and ballet in the country.

Španski borci - While dance is more common here, they also have some contemporary and experimental music shows.

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Theatre and dance

Cankerjev dom- The main arts venue in the country always has something of interest going on.

Gledališče IGLU - IGLU Theatre – Saturday night this group is usually putting on an English improv show somewhere in town, but it’s generally promoted after this is written, so check the Facebook before putting on your shoes.

Kino Šiška – One of the top live venues in the city also hosts some dance performance, often of the more experimental variety.

Mini Teater Ljubljana –The English schedule of varied performances, for adults and children, for the month is here.

Ljubljana Puppet Theatre - Puppetry has a long and noble tradition in Slovenia, and you can see performances for children and adults (including non-puppet shows) drawing from the Theatre's rich repetoire as well as new productons.

SNG Opera and Ballet - As the name suggests, here you'll find the best of opera and ballet in the country.

Španski borci - The home ofcontemporary dance(and the EnKnapGroup) in Slovenia.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 070 325 522.

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Harm reduction and drug testing

Drogart is an organization that aims to minimise harm on the party scene, and offers drug-testing services and reports on their webpage. It’s in Slovene, but you can Google translate it or work things out yourself, and our story on the group is here.You can find the latest warnings on fake drugs and high strength pills and powders (in Slovene) here. However, be aware that all the usual drugs are illegal in Slovenia.CBD is legal, though, and our retailer of choice can be found on Trubarjeva cesta - read more about Sena Flora here.

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Things to do with children

You can find our Top 12 list of things to do with kids in Ljubljana here. If want to read more about the philosophy behind the wonderful House of Experiments look here, while our trip to the Museum of Illusions is documented here, and there’s always riverside walks, pizza and ice cream. With regard to the latter, take a look at our guide to six places that serve good ice cream in winter, and thus are serious about the dessert.

Mini Teater Ljubljana – The season sees a lot of puppet performances for children, in Slovene, at this theatre not far from Križanke. The English schedule for the month is here.

Ljubljana Puppet Theatre - The puppet theatre near the Central Market and next to the Castle funicular has a full programme or shows, for children and adults, with the schedule here.

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LGBT+ Ljubljana

If you want to learn more about Ljubljana Pride, then take a look at our interview with its president here. If you're looking for more general links on "gay Slovenia", including a history of the scene and various projects, then you can find that here, while our stories about the community can be found here.

Klub Monokel – Thislesbian barin Metelkova is open every Friday, although sometimes there are other events

Klub Tiffany –And the gay bar next door is also open on Fridays, while every Monday until June 2019 there'stangoat 18:00. Other things coulds also be planned, so click on the name to find out.

Pritličje – This seems to be the only "always open" LGBT-friendly cafe / bar / events space in town, and perhaps the country, so it's a good thing it's such a good one, open from morning to night, and with fliers and posters letting you know what's happening outside the narrow confines of, say, a general interest online what's on... guide.

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Screenshot from Google Maps, showing the location of the Castle vineyard

Ljubljana Castle

The city’s main attraction is said to be the top tourist draw in the country overall, and to my mind it earns a spot near the top just for the history and views. But beyond that the current owners, the City of Ljubljana, have laid out a varied, interesting and enjoyable programme of events, one that rewards regular revisits.

I try and get up there every Saturday morning to clear my head and move my feet on the trails, and never tire of that end of the hill. At the other end, where the Castle sits, there’s a lot more than fresh air on offer. There are guided tours, restaurants, a café, Castle museum, puppet museum, a Watchtower you can climb to the highest point in the city, art shows, dances, live music, movies under the stars, festival days and more – enough to reward multiple trips up the hill through the year. All of these activities and events can be found on the Castle website, while on TSN you can see “25 things to know about Ljubljana Castlehere, and “Ten Ways to Enjoy Ljubljana Castle” here.

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Museums and galleries

Most public galleries and museums are closed on Mondays, although not the National Museum, and - as noted at the start

Cankerjev dom –The 13th Slovenian Biennial of Illustration is here until May 19th, while a free to see show called Subterranean Worlds, showing cave photography, runs until June 16th.

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Plečnik's desk. Photo: JL Flanner

Plečnik’s House is worth a visit if you want to learn more about the architect who gave Ljubljana much of its character, and it's also in a really nice part of town, Trnovo, just a short walk or cycle upriver. Read about our guided tour here.

here.

City Museum – The Museum in French Revolution Square an interesting permanent exhibition on the history of Ljubljana, from prehistoric times to the present day, with many artefacts, models and so on that bring the story alive.You can read about my visit here.

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The Faces of Ljubljana in the City Museum. Photo: JL Flanner

International Centre of Graphic Arts – Starting March 22 and running until May 19 is Photographic Images and Matter: Japanese Prints of the 1970s and Japan, Yugoslavia and the Biennial of Graphic Arts: Documents of Collaboration. One of the images promoting the show is shown below.

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Kosuke Kimura: Present Situation – Existence A, colour and silkscreen, 1971.

MAO – The Museum of Architecture and Design has much of what you'd expect, along with some temporary shows and a good cafe. UntilMay 19 there's Tendencies: Architecture and Urban Planning in Celje, 1955–1985.

Moderna galerija – The main branch of this gallery, to be found near the entrance to Tivoli Park, has a good collection of modern art, as well a nice café in the basement. Opening Thursday, April 25th, 20:00, The Visual Arts in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, 1929–1941, which then runs until September 15th 2019. This offers “an overview of painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, photography, and film from the time the king's dictatorship was set up (6 January 1929) to the beginning of World War II on Yugoslav soil (April 1941)” - you can read more about it here. The museum's Metelkova branch also has a big new show, runing until at least September 2019, an the art of the Non-Aligned Movement, with an example shown below.

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Rafikun Nabi: Poet, 1980, print, 96.5 x 110 cm. Courtesy of the Contemporary Art Center of Montenegro. On display at the Metelova branch of the Moderna galerija

National Gallery – The country’s main gallery has “the best” of what’s on offer from the Middle Ages to non-contemporary modern visual arts, and is in a great location for exploring other areas, just by Tivoli Park and opposite the main branch of the Moderna galerija. You can read about our visit to the room containing sacred art from the Middle Ages here.

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JL Flanner

The real Robba Fountain can be found in the entrance to the National Gallery - the one you see in the Old Town is a genuine fake, as seen below and reported here.

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Photo: JL Flanner

National Museum of Slovenia – There’s plenty to see in the permanent collection here, from Roman times, Egypt and more. Meanwhile, the museum's Metelkova branch, located between one branch of the Moderna galerija and the Ethnographic Museum has some rooms on Church art, furniture and weapons, with the latter including more guns than you'll see anywhere else in town, and quite a thrill if coming from a nation where such objects are not household items.

Natural History Museum – On until the end of June 2019 is Our Little Big Sea, which takes a look at the oceans.

National Museum of Contemporary History - Tucked away in park Tivoli, in addition to his permanent collection will be showingIn Search Of Freedom: 1968-2018 until 16 August.

Slovene Ethnographic Museum – The museum currently has a temporary show on Bees and Beekeeping, on until June 16 2019, as well two permanent exhibitions. One of these is called Between Nature and Culture, and has a great collection of objects from Slovenia and around the world, well worth the trip up to the third floor to see it (as recounted here). From April 18 until October 19 (2019) you can also see a show calledShamanism of the Peoples of Siberia, from the Russian Museum of Ethnography, Saint Petersburg. The place is located near the newer branch of the Moderna galerija and Metelkova. You can read about this fascinating show here.

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Union is "the Ljubljana beer", but now both it and Laško are owned by Heineken. There are many local brews on offer around town, though, if you want to explore IPAs, stouts, wheatbeers, sours and so on Photo: JL Flanner

Union Experience – The Ljubljana-based brewer has a museum showing the history of the company, with the ticket also including access to part of the factory and a few samples of the product. You can read about our visit here.

Volčji Potok Arboretum - Running until 3 November you can see a large collection of cacti here.

It's not a formal museum, but if you're interested in "Yugo-stalgia" then you'll enjoy a trip to Verba, a small, privately run space that's crammed with objects and pop culture items from the era, and is conveniently located at the start of one of the short walks to the castle. It's also a great place to take pictures, if you leave a donation, and you can read more about it here.

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Verba. Photo: JL Flanner

Alternative Ljubljana isn't a museum or gallery, as such, but instead turns the city streets into a museum and gallery. Learn more about their tours of street art, history and LGBT Ljubljana here.

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Photo: JL Flanner

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Other things to do in Ljubljana

Learn more about Ljubljana with "25 things to know about Slovenia's green city of dragons", or take a look at our guide to spending from four to 48 hours here.

Open Kitchen brings market stalls selling food and drink from some of the best restaurants in town every Friday, from 11am to 11pm, in the square between the cathedral and the river - just follow your nose and the crowds. Read more about it here.

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Photo: Open Kitchen

If you'd like to spend an evening painting with others, then take a look at Design with Wine, which organises painting parties on Trubarjeva cesta,

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If you want to see some antiques, then check out the wonderful Antika Carniola, as discussed here. The man behind it, Jaka Prijatelj, has a fine eye for life on this street, as you can see on his Facebook account.

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Photo: JL Flanner

If you’re in town and want to go jogging or walking in nature, why not take another look at the Castle, with a brief guide to the trails here. If you want something bigger, head to Tivoli Park.

And if you're bored with the Old Town, why not take a walk, cycle or boat ride to nearby Špica and enjoy the riverside life. Learn more about that here.

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Want to stretch and breath? Then check out our list of drop-in yoga classes for tourists, visitors and the uncommitted. If you're heading to the coast, check out our interview with a yoga teacher who offers breakfast sessions there, while if you're staying in town (or nearby) and want to try some "family yoga" then you can learn more about that here and maybe get your kids to calm down a moment or two.

Prefer to have someone else stretch you? The check out the totally legit massages you can get from Sense Wellness - either in one of their spas or in you home, office or hotel. (And - to repeat - these are legit and non-sexual in nature)

There are some golf courses near Ljubljana, but even ones further away are not far, as seen in our list of all the golf courses in Slovenia.

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Photo: maxpixel.net, public domain

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Daytrips

Most of Slovenia is only a few hours from Ljubljana, and you can easily visit Lake Bled, Lipica Stud Farm, Postojna Cave, Predjama Castle, the coast and other locations, while if you'd like to take a photo of from that bench in Bled, then you can learn how to get there here. If you’re looking for something more ambitious, then check out our recent guide to the 17 members of the Association of Historical Towns of Slovenia. We've also written guides on spending from four to 48 hours in Bled and Piran.

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Photo: Google Image Search

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Getting around & miscellaneous

If you want to get a Ljubljana Tourist Card, which gives you travel on the city buses and entry to a lot of attractions, then you can read more about that here, and if you want to use the bike share system, as useful for visitors as it is for residents, then you can learn more by clicking this. Visitors with reduced mobility will be pleased to find that downtown Ljubljana is generally rated as good with regard to accessibility, and that there’s a free, city-sponsored app called Ljubljana by Wheelchair highlighting cafés, attractions and so on with ramps, disabled bathrooms and Eurokey facilities, which you can read about and download here. Manual wheelchair users can also borrow, for free, an attachment that will motorise their equipment, as reported here.

ljubljana by wheelchair attachment ljubljana turizem twitte smallr.png

Screenshot from a Twitter video

If you’re driving into town and don’t know where to part, our guide to how to park in Ljubljana is here.

There aren't many places to eat after midnight, and most of them are by the train station, as reported here.

Want / need cigarettes but the stores have closed? Here's an incomplete list of bars downtown that will satisfy your craving for the demon weed. While if you’re having trouble with the ATMs then here’s a guide to the Slovene you’ll see on screen. If you get a hangover then find out where to get paracetamol (and prescription drugs) in Ljubljana here, while details on emergency birth control can be found here.

Ljubljana is a small and relatively safe city, but if need to contact the police then there’s a special number for foreigners, and that’s 113.

JL Flanner police december 2018.jpg

Photo: JL Flanner

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04 May 2019, 12:12 PM

Keep up with the daily news in Slovenia by checking the morning headlines here

The following schedule was prepared by the STA:

MONDAY, 6 May

        GOING, Austria - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar will pay an informal visit to Tyrol upon an invitation by Austrian counterpart Karin Kneissl; until 7 May.
        LJUBLJANA - The deadline expires for filing candidacies for the post to be vacated at the country's top court in September by Constitutional Court judge Etelka Korpič Horvat.
        POSTOJNA/CERKLJE OB KRKI/MARIBOR... - The annual regional military exercises that will feature members of armies from 25 allied and partner countries will start in Slovenia; until 22 May.
        LJUBLJANA - The STA will host a panel on the key future challenges of vaccination.
        LJUBLJANA - Ljubljana will host the congress of the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases: ESPID; until 11 May.
        MILAN, Italy - Several Slovenian companies will present themselves at the Tuttofood food industry fair; until 9 May.
        LJUBLJANA - The European Parliament Office in Slovenia will organise a panel on books and copyright.

TUESDAY, 7 May
        LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor will hold a reception to mark the anniversary of the 1989 May Declaration, in which a demand for Slovenia's sovereignty was read out at a mass rally in Ljubljana.
        LJUBLJANA - The Employment Service will release registered unemployment figures for April.
        LJUBLJANA - A conference dedicated to construction, planning and the environment; until 8 May.
        LJUBLJANA - A ceremony will mark the 100th anniversary of Ljubljana's Faculty of Medicine.
        LJUBLJANA - The matura secondary school leaving exam will start around the country with an essay in the student's mother tongue, meaning either Slovenian, Italian or Hungarian.

WEDNESDAY, 8 May
        TIRANA, Albania - A summit of the Brdo-Brijuni regional initiative that will be hosted by Slovenian President Borut Pahor and his Croatian and Albanian counterparts Kolinda Grabar Kitarović and Ilir Meta; until 9 May.
        BRDO PRI KRANJU - A ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of Slovenia's EU accession will be attended by Luxembourg PM Xavier Bettel, Slovenian PM Marjan Šarec, Foreign Minister Miro Cerar and Public Administration Minister Rudi Medved.
        LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee will discuss the initiative for a protocol on changes to the Council of Europe's Personal Data Protection Convention.
        LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian-German Chamber of Commerce will present the results of surveys on the economic and investment situation in Central and Eastern Europe.
        LJUBLJANA - The STA will host a panel on severe asthma.
        VENICE, Italy - The Slovenian pavilion will open at the 58th Venice Biennial; until 24 November.

THURSDAY, 9 May
        SIBIU, Romania - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec will attend an informal EU summit.
        LJUBLJANA - German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will start a visit.
        LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Defence Committee will discuss the resolution on the national security strategy.
        LJUBLJANA - Telekom Slovenije is expected to release the business report for the first quarter of 2019.
        LJUBLJANA - Public broadcaster TV Slovenija will organise a debate of representatives of parliamentary parties ahead of the elections to the European Parliament.
        LJUBLJANA - AmCham Slovenija will host the frontrunners of parliamentary parties in the EU election to discuss the EU's challenges in the coming five years.
        LJUBLJANA - A series of events called Walk along the Wire that mark Ljubljana's liberation in WWII will get under way.
        LJUBLJANA - A concert at the Križanke open air theatre will mark the 50th anniversary of Ljubljana's independent radio station Radio Študent.

FRIDAY, 10 May
        LJUBLJANA - The National Electoral Commission (DVK) will announce the official list of candidates for the elections to the European Parliament.
        LJUBLJANA - German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his host Borut Pahor will discuss the EU's future with the students of Ljubljana's Faculty of Social Sciences.
        LJUBLJANA - A parliamentary inquiry commission investigating alleged money laundering at the NKBM bank and alleged illegal financing of the opposition Democrats (SDS) will be in session.

SATURDAY, 11 May
        LJUBLJANA - Hikers and runners will take the 35-kilometre path around Ljubljana tracing WWII barbed wire, on the final day of the Walk along the Wire.
        LJUBLJANA - EU projects and their results will be presented at more than 100 events around Slovenia as part of the EU Project, My Project campaign; until 18 May.

SUNDAY, 12 May
        No major events are scheduled.

04 May 2019, 10:00 AM

Maribor Town Hall was built in 1515, remodeled later in the century, renovated in the mid-19th, and then later returned to its original, 16th century, appearance. Above, and below, are some picture of the place in the 20th century, all public domain and sourced from Wikipedia.

Razglednice_Maribora,_ki_jih_je_leta_1903_uredil_dr._Amand_Rak_(050).jpg

1903

Razglednice_Maribora,_ki_jih_je_leta_1903_uredil_dr._Amand_Rak_(275).jpg

1903

Razglednice_Maribora,_ki_jih_je_leta_1903_uredil_dr._Amand_Rak_(353).jpg

1903

Postcard_of_Glavni_trg,_Maribor.jpg

Early 20th century

Postcard_of_Main_Square_(Maribor)_1916 (1).jpg

1916

Postcard_of_Glavni_trg,_Maribor_1916.jpg

1916

Postcard_of_Maribor_square 1928-47.jpg

Mid-20th century

Postcard_of_Maribor_(29).jpg

Mid-20th century

 Razglednica_Maribora_1958.jpg

1958

Glavni_trg_v_Mariboru_junija_1960.jpg

1960

Delavci_se_pripravljajo_na_pleskanje_kandelabrov_javne_razsvetljave_na_Glavnem_trgu_1960.jpg

1960

Razglednica_Maribora_1963.jpg

1963

Postcard_of_Glavni_trg,_Maribor_1968.jpg

1968

Other posts in this series can be found here

03 May 2019, 14:30 PM

STA, 3 May 2019 - The Europe Film Week will start on 4 May, featuring free screenings of 33 contemporary European films in twelve Slovenian cities and running until 13 June.

The screenings will be held all around the country, in Celje, Maribor, Murska Sobota, Nova Gorica, Sežana, Kranj, Novo Mesto, Dolenjske Toplice, Izola, Slovenska Bistrica, Ptuj and Ravne na Koroškem.

Altogether, 23 EU-funded films will be shown at 33 screenings, including the Icelandic-Ukrainian film Woman at War, which has received the Lux prize award of the European Parliament for 2018.

The film, directed by Benedikt Erlingsson, was also the winner of the 29th Ljubljana International Film Festival (Liffe). It presents the story of a determined woman who strives to protect the Icelandic highlands by disrupting the operations of a local aluminium plant.

Woman at War will be shown in Celje, Murska Sobota, Kranj, Sežana, Novo Mesto, Izola and Ptuj.

Nova Gorica and Sežana will hold screenings of the German-French film Transit by Christian Petzold, set in Nazi-occupied France, while film enthusiasts will be able to see the co-production film Cold War by Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski in Novo Mesto and Ptuj.

Erik Poppe's Utoya: July 22, a movie about the 2011 Utoya massacre, will be shown in Izola and Slovenska Bistrica.

The Europe Film Week takes place every year in May, celebrating Europe Day by presenting diverse and quality European films to a wider audience.

The full programme can be seen here

03 May 2019, 13:00 PM

This week saw the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death, with both scholarly and popular interest in the man and his work showing no sign of abating half a millennium after his passing. Among the many articles marking this occasion was one published by RTV Slovenia, in conjunction with a documentary shown by the national broadcaster, which added some local interest to the story of one of the original Renaissance men.

According to Alessandro Vezzosi, an Italian researcher, da Vinci visited the lands that eventually became known as Slovenia in 1500, when Venetians ruled what today is Slovenian Istria, the Posočje region between Bovec and Tolmin, as well as the area of ​​Idrija. He was sent as a military engineer by the Venetian Republic to consider how to prevent an attack by the Turks through the Vipava Valley into the lowlands of northern Italy.

Da Vinci thus devised a plan that would prevent Turkish invasions of the Venetian Republic by using a system of dams and allowing the flooding of certain valleys, as well as designing a movable artillery defensive system in the Posočje region, and sketching a picture of the bridge over the Vipava River.

However, while the Atlantic Codex reveals that da Vinci undoubtedly visited and studied the confluence of the Vipava and Soča rivers, ​​present-day Gorica, and surrounding areas, his plans for the building of a Venetian defensive line remained, like so many of his ideas and inventions, unrealised.

03 May 2019, 10:30 AM

If you want more confidence and spontaneity then why not take a few classes in improvisation and learn how to create opportunities, live in the moment, and play well with others. Thinking on your feet, and in a group, is a skill that translates to far more contexts than a theatre or comedy club, although that’s where you’ll often see the people behind the upcoming IGLU Improv Classes in English.

Held several times a year, the next run of classes begins next week, and will be taught be Sara Šoukal. The first session will take place on Wednesday, 8 May (2019), running from17:30 to 19:30, and will continue at the same time and place each week until the end of the month, with the place being Celovška cesta 150, Ljubljana.

The cost of one class is €20, with a discount price of €60 if you sign up for all four. If you’re interested then please send a message to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at least two days before the first class, at which point you’ll receive more details.

The related Facebook page is here, while you can keep up with IGLU’s frequent improv performances, often in English, here.

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