Ljubljana residents gathered before the statue of national poet France Prešeren today to hear a recitation of his poetry. Slovenia’s Culture Day, February 8, marks the date of the Romantic poet’s death in 1849.
Slovenia’s Culture Day
Slovenia celebrated Culture Day, a national holiday, Friday. Ljubljana’s museums offered free admission to mark the occasion. The National Museum, which was packed with families visiting a hands-on nature exhibit, even welcomed guests with bowls of candy and juicy Clementines. Learning is sweet.
Green Slovenia
Slovenia ranked 15th worldwide on the 2008 Environmental Performance Index, a list of countries rated on environmental indicators and policy by a team from Yale and Columbia universities.
Switzerland topped the list of 149 countries; Niger’s ranking was the worst. Slovenia ranked lower than its neighbor Austria (6th), but higher than the rest of the countries that border it: Italy (24th), Hungary (23th), and Croatia (20th). The United States ranked 39th.
The index “ranked 149 countries on 25 indicators tracked across six established policy categories: environmental health, air pollution, water resources, biodiversity and habitat, productive natural resources, and climate change,” the study said.
How Slovenia’s Score Breaks Down
Filed under environment, Slovenia
Ljubljana’s Toško Čelo Hill
View from the balcony at the Pri Bitenc restaurant on 1,820-foot Toško Čelo.
The view, plus the hearty lunch (at right, ričet, a stew of barley, vegetables, and sausages), homemade grape juice and flancat (Slovenia’s answer to elephant ears) makes Pri Bitenc worth the hike.
Slovenia Without Borders
THE guard booth at an Italian border crossing sat empty yesterday. Slovenia is now almost without border checks: Last month it joined the Schengen Zone, a 24-country free-travel area. Land border posts with Austria, Italy, and Hungary are now unmanned; air passengers from member countries can travel passport-free beginning March 30. Passports (or for locals, ID cards) are still needed for travel between Slovenia and Croatia.
Lampposts in Ljubljana’s Tivoli Park
Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik designed these lampposts for the Tivoli Park promenade in 1931. Of the sixteen now standing, some are restored originals, while others are reproductions. The National Museum of Slovenia has one of the originals, and plans to display it at its new Metelkova extension, due to open this spring.
Filed under architecture, history, Ljubljana, restoration, Slovenia, travel
