CHAPTER 28
During my time working in Ljubljana I met a guy named Stiven. He’s also a foreigner in Ljubljana, coming from Macedonia. We soon became friends because we had a lot of stuff in common. One of the things we had in common is the love of nature and wandering around mountains and forests.
Soon we decide to take Žućko on a small morning runaway. Destination? Šmarna gora (Šmarno hill). It’s a popular weekend destination for people living in Ljubljana and it’s one of the places he go to often. Early morning we were already on the go.
It will be an easy hike, or that’s what I thought but it was not all that easy. Šmarna gora is pretty steep and you soon realize it’s not a walk through the park. Nevertheless, Žućko was parked in the nearby forest and we were already grasping to the top.
I’ve never seen that much people during any of my hikes. As it was just a city park, people with children climbing up or going down all around us. If I had to choose one downside of this trip it would definitely be the amount of people. Nevertheless the hike was refreshing after all the time spent at work.
After around 45 minutes we were already at the top. We were tired but it was worth it. The view is overwhelming. You don’t actually realize the size of the mountain until you climb it all the way to the top and look back down. And the best thing about the top is that you have a lot of deck chairs to use! For free!
After the break we bought ourselves a nice cup of home made tea from the hill. It’s always nice to try the local food and drinks and I promise I’ll do it more often. The tea was absolutely delicious!
Tea was gone and we were back in exploration mode. There is also a small castle and the church at the hill. Šmarna gora was inhabited even in Roman times so it has a lot of history to tell. There are also a lot of legends about the hill and the castle. One of them, during the times of Turkish invasions, goes like this:
Turks decided to take the castle with the church, which protected people and their possessions. They decided to win the battle before noon, otherwise they will simply turn around and return to Turkey. This was heard by St.Marry who appeared to the people in the church and told them about Turkish intentions. People then decided to ring the bell half an hour earlier and the Turks, thinking it was already noon, turned around and left. In the memory of this event, the bell still rings half an hour before noon.
On our way back we decided to take another route. It’s name is ‘Partizanska pot’ which means ‘Partisan path’. That path is more narrow, steeper and almost empty. It’s a good thing we decided to take that path for going down and not climbing up because it’s just too steep!
But the nature is just overwhelming. It looks more like a mysterious rain-forest then a small hill forest.
When we finally got back to the bottom of the hill we decided to take another stop on a small fishpond. We didn’t have time for a nicely grilled fish by the pond this time, but I sure hope to try it once.
One of the best things to see after a long day of hiking is yellow color emerging from the bushes. Žućko always awaits us, whether we are tired or rested, happy or sad. He’s always here. And while I’m writing this he’s sick. Problems with gear clutch reemerged again after almost a year. In two weeks I hope he’ll be repaired and healthy again, but I will keep you posted.
And at the end of this story, here is a little shout out for Stiven, a guy who made this trip possible, and officially the first male person to travel with Žućko (except Zulu). Thank you! See you on some other roads!
And yes, I promise you to bring Lana back as soon as possible. She’s exploring Europe at the moment with the girls from Chasing The Tale. Hit them up to see what’s all that about.
And another thing, I hope we’ll manage to bring you better experience on this blog (especially for the Croatian followers) by making this blogs bilingual. Will keep you posted.
Until then,
explore more.
Žućko, Filip, Lana & Zulu.
25.6.2019.