Horse Meat?

Monday, Aug. 1, 2016--Ljubljana

The forecast was for a 90% chance of rain today, but it was cloudy and dry when we got up.  A check of radar showed rain above us and below us, but not here.  We headed out.

We first had to take care of business.  We went to the train station and bought tickets to get us to Maribor on Wednesday.  Then we explored the area north of the train station--a newer section of the city with apartments, the convention center, and suburban shops.  We stopped at Lid'l, a supermarket chain, for Wes to buy his cola and dark chocolate that he has a daily dependency on.

After dropping off those items at the hotel, we headed to town.  It was about 12:30.  We had just begun exploring the market area when it started sprinkling.  We headed back to the hotel getting here just before the rain started.  Unbelievably, the rain only lasted about 3 hours.  After that, it remained mostly cloudy but the radar images showed that everything was then to the east of us.

When we went back out, we wore light jackets.  The temperature had dropped to 68 F (20 C) with a breeze.  It was quite a change from the previous few days.   We headed back out to investigate areas we had researched while waiting for the rain to pass.  We explored several older sections of town:

Vegova ulica--An old street lined by walls from the ancient Roman city of Emona that has a Roman Tower at the end of it.

Trnovo--A village that has now become part of the city.  It started as an area where vegetables were raised for selling at the market.  Still today, they raise vegetables and bring them to the market even if it is part of the city.

Roman Gates--Two old Roman gates to Emona that still exist and another section of old Roman walls along with a short section of old Roman sewer that still exists. 

Gornji Trg--A very old street that was one of the entrance roads to the old walled city several hundred years ago.

Stari Trg--A square that is one of the oldest in the city but not as frequently visited by tourists as many others.  It has a very local feel to it.

By then, it was almost 20:00, so we returned to the area of our hotel and bought burgers at the same place where we bought the cheese and meat pastries two nights ago.  We had seen them make a burger for someone that night and thought it looked good.  We aren't sure, but it may have been made with horse meat.  The reason for thinking that is due to their being another very popular place in town called Hot Horse that apparently uses horse meat for their burgers.  It may be the traditional meat here for burgers.

After eating, we tried to explore an alternative area of town called Metelkova mesto and known for its night life, arts, etc.  We think we found it, but, if so, it is rather dead on Monday nights.  We probably should have gone there over the weekend.

A Pleasant Find with a Good Memory:  I wrote a few days ago about going to the only gate to the city and finding it did not seem the same as when I was here before.  While wandering along the old Roman walls today, I found the spot I remembered.  When I came here in 1982, I went to the tourist office to reserve a room in the home of a local resident.  The young man who served me there told me that his best friend was leaving for the army that night and that they were going out together at 18:00 and then put him on the bus at 20:30.  He asked if I would like to join them.  I returned to the office when it closed, and we met his friend.  They took me to an outdoor cafe just beside the "old walls of the city at one of the old entrance gates."  There, we talked and drank slivovitz.  Like everyone here today, we were enjoying the outdoor beauty and ambiance of this city.  It was a great evening.  When we explored the old Roman walls/gates tonight, I recognized the spot.  I hadn't realized there had been two cities here and that it was the walls/gate of the old Roman one rather than the walls and gate that remain of the present one.  It was a pleasant surprise to realize the place was still here and I could find it.  Today, however, there is no outdoor cafe where we were then.  It is just a landscaped area now, since most cafes are now on the old streets or along the banks of the river.