One of the sights of the old town is Dragon Bridge which was built in 1900 and has the honour of being the first concrete bridge in the city, something which might surprise and delight my friend Liam who likes civil engineering things. It was originally named the Jubilee Bridge of Emperor Franz Joseph I (the then Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary) but global politics rather changed after the First World War and it took its current name in 1919.
The Dragon Bridge replaced the Butchers’ Bridge which had been constructed in 1819 but was made of wood and needed some updating. Wood wasn’t strong enough for their new bridge, stone was too expensive and so concrete seemed the best plan, supervised by the architect Professor Josef Melan (1854-1951). Some sources note that the reason the concrete bridge was built here, rather than in Vienna, was that it would cause less fuss here if it fell down. Incidentally, it seems that none of Melan’s bridges collapsed, so he must have known what he was doing.
Here’s a photo from the late nineteenth century of the old Butchers’ Bridge.
The dragon elements were designed by Jurij Zaninović (1874-1946).
Anyway, it’s a rather lovely bridge, but we didn’t linger for too long as Bev commented negatively on the refreshing wind that was blowing down the river….
I might not be able to do DIY or anything useful, but I do consider myself rather good at picking excellent restaurants. Tasked with finding something light, I decided a stodgy food could be turned into a little snack.
Susanna was surprised and delighted by the soft toys everywhere.
Bev thought it looked like me and I think it’s clear that it does, annoyed at excessive frivolity. Susanna asked the waiter if he spoke any English and he replied “I speak English perfectly, I’m American” and aside from the obvious joke there, the service was friendly, conversational and personable throughout. Incidentally, this was also one of the rare occasions where Bev managed to get through a meal without visibly annoying a member of staff, so that must count as something of a milestone.
The menu which is, as expected, quite dumpling focused. Susanna wanted a starter, but it was agreed that we couldn’t be faffing around with that.
The beer was a local lager from Pivovarna Lasko and I’ve had worse, it was clean tasting and didn’t offend me.
Some noodle type salad was brought over, I rather liked the texture of this. I can’t use chopsticks as I’m an idiot, so I had to improvise.
Chilli sauce on the right, I like a bit of spice to add to the meal.
The interior of the restaurant, which was cosy and relatively small. I thought that the temperature was just right, but Bev informed me that it was cold. She’s quite demanding though.
A portion of spring rolls that Steve treated us to, crispy and delicious.
Three of us ordered the Dragon Dumplings, which are pork based, that were the ones recommended by the waiter. The first one arrived and I let Bev have it as she gets grumpy if not fed. Mine then took a long time, but I was placated with free chicken soup, so I was more than happy.
I prefer fried dumplings to steamed dumplings and although these look like the latter, they were fried on the base. I like that textural contrast and these were excellent with a depth of flavour from the meat.
At the end of the meal, we were given some plum wine by the restaurant and this was also rather lovely. The payment process was also made easy for us and we paid individually at the end which the server didn’t seem annoyed about.
This venue didn’t let us down, it was clean, welcoming and slightly quirky. I like it when there’s something a little different about a place and the limited menu worked in their favour. The food met my expectations in terms of the taste, temperature and presentation, with the free soup for my wait being much appreciated. Definitely recommended.
It was suggested by the group that we should perhaps at some point find food and I agreed with that, but after we visited a bar. This seemed like a fair compromise. I noticed that this venue was listed on Untappd, so I thought it was a sensible place to visit for a few apéritifs. Six to be precise.
I thought that this looked really quite lovely, a traditional bar with modern craft beers. There were no tables available so I thought that we might as well sit at the bar to be near the beer.
Bar staff hate doing these and I apologised in advance. The barman, who was very agreeable, admitted they are a nuisance to do, especially as Steve wanted one and then another customer saw it and wanted one as well. I probably wasn’t flavour of the month. Incidentally, note that food is provided with this, so I felt sufficiently well fed.
Anyway, the beers from left to right:
(i) Pale Ale brewed by Zmajska Pivovara – this was a malty, fruity rather lovely little number.
(ii) Pale Ale brewed by Pivovarna Hopsbrew – a very rare cask beer in the country, it was hoppy, light and fluffy.
(iii) Maya : Spontaneous Red/Burgundy Barrel Aged brewed by 22brewing – delightful, this was punchy, tart, plummy and delicious.
(iv) Purple Rain brewed by Clef Brewery – this was a pastry sour with a taste of berries and it was gentle, verging on decadent.
(v) Square Hammer brewed by Nova Runda – this was hazy with a taste of grapefruit, a bit of stonefruit and hoppy.
Susanna had a beer as she’s becoming more cultured, whilst Bev was busy downing a bottle of wine or whatever she was doing.
As I don’t get out much, I was excited to see that I had an Untappd friend (ooooh, friend) who was in the same bar. Unsure of whether he wanted someone introducing themselves, I did anyway. I neglected my group of friends for about half an hour leaving them to their own devices whilst talking to him and I now have a list of bars to visit this weekend.
Whilst we were talking the barman heard me say about Polish beers and he pointed out their collection of Funky Fluid beers, which is the best brewery in Europe as far as I’m concerned. And this bar continued to surprise and delight me by stocking such fine craft beers.
I was rushed with my final beer because the others were getting hungry or something. I had intended to stay another three hours, so that plan disappeared but I didn’t complain for long. Anyway, this was the ACCOM from Bevog Brewery and it’s an imperial stout, it’s rich, with roasted flavours, toffee, chocolate, coffee and quite decadent.
I very much liked it here, this is a proper bar where the service was knowledgeable, engaging and friendly. The prices were very reasonable and I liked the range of beer styles that were available. The beer selection is excellent and as it’s my first time in the country, just about all of the breweries were new to me. It was great to meet an Untappd friend in person and I left with a list of breweries to try as well as bars to visit. I’ve made clear to the others that I want to go to them all, but they probably think I’m joking.
The Flixbus sweeping into Ljubljana means just one thing, it’s the arrival of Steve, Susanna and Bev. Slightly world-weary from the day since they were up at about midnight to get here, but they’ve safely arrived.
Just ready for the arrival of Susanna, Bev and Steve, the authorities are rushing up the erection of the Christmas tree and putting decorations on it. It’s a kind gesture of the city and it’s also quite a big tree. But, this all means that it’s near to the big event itself, namely Christmas markets which is a concept that I haven’t really ever engaged with.
Great news, they were safely on the bus which rushed them into Trieste. Note that instead of living in the moment and looking out of the window at the beautiful view, they’re glued to their phones. The older generation……
Look at the excitement where there’s food involved. Steve and I are much more interested in the environment we’re in, but the thought of a croissant and Susanna and Bev are totally distracted. Mind you, it’s got them off their phones temporarily.
Very festive….
Their coach from Trieste to Ljubljana is in two hours, so they have potential to explore the city a little in that time….. We’re all going back there on Monday, so hopefully they’re taking the time to recce a nice restaurant for my birthday.
There is a huge amount of posting necessary to explain how I’ve got from Cardiff for birthday weekend one to Ljubljana for birthday weekend two. It involved a trip to Luton, then a flight to Rome, a train to Orte, a train to Rimini, a train to Bologna, a train to Venice, a train to Trieste and a coach to Ljubljana. But, more on that another time (but hopefully this week) as I have a lot to post about.
Because, I need to switch to more immediate posting from this weekend as Bev (her face neatly blurred from Steve’s photo), Susanna and Steve are flying into Trieste this morning. They then get the same coach service that I got yesterday evening to get to Ljubljana for around 15:30 today. They’ve had a slight delay at Trieste Airport due to the new EU entry system, but they’re through and I think they’re currently on a bus to Trieste.
I, on the other hand, have had breakfast at the hotel and am waiting patiently for the others to arrive into the city. It’s a little cold at the moment, but it’s not quite cold enough to snow, so all is well. Susanna likes hot weather so she’ll likely be slightly put out about the temperature here, but she’s not demanding like Bev so won’t complain for long.
I’m now having lunch at this nice little cafe I’ve found in the centre of Ljubljana called McDonald’s. Bev won’t eat at McDonald’s due to her chicken McNuggets addiction, so I have to visit this now before she arrives.
I’m expecting history, beer, gossip and adventure from this weekend….. What could possibly go wrong?
It was the end of the evening and we decided to get an Uber home. Richard used his Uber account to book the taxi, although he’s not very competent at these younger person’s apps and so he got a bit muddled up where to stand, so we ended up standing in a pedestrianised street.
The biggest crisis though is that Richard has a very poor Uber rating. Liam and I have 5 star ratings from drivers, whereas Ross doesn’t use such technology. I am a naturally courteous passenger, giving consideration to the needs of the driver, which is why I obtain very high ratings. Richard has a much lower rating, but it’s not for me to comment why.
After we found a driver to accept Richard’s low score on the app, we were on the way back to the hotel. The driver was fortunate that he was setting some passengers down in the exact place he was picking us up, although I suspect it’s more likely he suggested that they got out at that spot for his convenience. Either way, everyone looked happy.
I commented to the driver about Richard’s predicament and as Richard promised to tip him, I’m fairly confident that he secured a 5 star rating on this journey. I was glad to be of assistance, but I don’t need any praise for that.
To cover myself legally, can I note that Richard is contacting Uber’s customer service support to contest his rating. He denies any allegations that he is anything other than the perfect customer and he notes that he always tips generously.
Our final stop of the evening was the Cardiff Arms, a venue clearly designed more for younger people given the volume of the music playing. There was a friendly welcome from the doorman though and I was eyeing up the outside seating area as being more peaceful, which is where we ultimately sat.
Although the venue has been designed to look like a late Victorian pub, it is only a couple of years old and has taken the place of a Chinese restaurant which was here before. This whole area has been really smartened up over the last couple of years, I hadn’t realised until looking at relatively recent views on Google Streetview.
The beer selection wasn’t entirely decadent, but there were a couple of interesting keg options there. There are sometimes real ales available here, but it’s usually primarily keg.
I went for the Cwtch from Tiny Rebel, a very decent red ale. The temperature outside was moderate (so my friend Susanna would have considered it as freezing) and it was all rather pleasant.
I have to give the venue opposite credit for their Christmas decorations. It would be wrong of me to gossip here about Ubergate, so I’ll note that in a separate post.
The online reviews of this venue are broadly positive for drinks, but it seems that they might be struggling a little with the food. It’s going to be a challenge for them given the number of food options in Cardiff, but maybe it’ll all settle down.
Anyway, it was a bit loud for me now that I’ve reached the age of 30, but the team members were all friendly, it was clean and provided us with a suitable space to think back about the highlights of the weekend so far.
