January 3rd, 2008Ljubljana in Slovenia Photos
Ljubljana in Slovenia :: Photo Gallery
Europa Travel 2007
Photos taken during my European Road Trip
About my Trip to Ljubljana ::
Ljubljana or Lubiana in Slovenia was the great surprise of our trip. Like most people, we barely had even heard of Slovenia and its capital so we did not know what to expect. We found this very peaceful, calm and interesting city. The inhabitants were very nice and many were very happy to help us out with translations and directions. More than any of the other 8 countries we visited! Slovenian’s speak English.
Only 2 million people live in Slovenia and speak the language. The city is not very famous and does not receive many tourists which might explain why the population still enjoy visitors and act very nicely towards them. Saturday morning we saw a healthy beaver in the river in the city center, building it’s house/dam. We slept in a Youth Hostel called Alibi Hostel. I got very friendly with the girl at the lobby but her name was so complicated i cannot remember!
Slovenia is one of the first Eastern European countries to change their currency to the EURO. They are just getting used to it since they’ve only had the EURO for one year. Same as in the other EURO countries, their purchasing power has slipped because of the new currency.
About Ljubljana, Slovenian Capital from Wikipedia ::
Ljubljana is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. The city of Lubiana is the cultural, scientific, economic, political and administrative center of Slovenia. It is situated in central Slovenia, between the Alps and the Mediterranean. The city is divided into several quarters, formerly municipalities, the main ones being Šiška, Bežigrad, Vic, Moste, and Center, which also correspond to the main electoral constituencies of the city.
Linguists disagree as to where the name Ljubljana comes from. A close similarity to the Slovene word “ljubljena,” or “beloved,” is generally thought to be coincidental. Although the name could have evolved from the Latin term for a flooding river, alluviana, some believe the source of the present-day name is Laburus, a deity from old Slavic mythology and supposed patron of the original settlement. Other linguists reconstruct an earlier Lablana, rejecting both a Latin or Slavic source, but without settling on an etymology.
Laibach, the German name for the city, derives from Laibach (and also possibly Laubach), meaning “a lukewarm brook” in German; lai (“tepid”) + bach (“brook”). Its Italian name Lubiana is a hybrid rendering of the Latin and German versions. These names are important for historical reasons.
The use of the German name was discouraged in Slovenia after 1918 and became especially controversial during the Second World War, when the Nazis tried to implement a violent Germanization policy in most parts of German-occupied Slovenia. Nowadays most Germans use the term Ljubljana. On the other hand, Laibach is still widely used especially in Austria and southern Germany, as well as by the German embassy in Ljubljana.
Lubiana Links :: Ljubljana Tourism :: Information Ljubljana :: Travel Guide Ljubljana
Image Gallery of the City of Ljubljana in Slovenia ::
Ljubljana, also known as Laibach, its German name, is the capital of Slovenia.
