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It was a small touch but it spoke of care and creativity. Downstairs in the basement they had uncovered ancient walls and Roman roads, and there were slide shows explaining in pictures the various eras of development of the city. 
We are very excited about going to France, and in particular about meeting the Primat family and staying with them for two weeks. After that we had planned another month in France. This morning was a bit of a non-event for us. Keith did the washing and published blog pages. For ages I struggled with all the accommodation sites on the Internet and it seemed that it was a bit late to find something that we could afford and if we did, it was not available. I had given up looking for ones that we would like. The one email I had sent received a negative reply. At last we decided to try for the ‘room in Bayonne’ so we wrote asking for details and availability. I was overwhelmed by a great sense that my dream of not moving on all the time and of being able to get to know people, to study French, to walk and talk, talk, talk in French, had gone down the drain. Keith suggested that we contact everyone we knew in France and ask them if they knew of somewhere, or if they could send us the email details of local estate agents. So we did.
It was with a sense of duty that we set out to make use of the day. Our rubbish lunch of crisps and biscuits was eaten on the run probably, with some nectarines from the open market improving the minus mark we were scoring for good nutrition. Unfortunately, as we walked through the streets, the beautiful sights before our eyes did little to relieve my sense of gloom about accommodation. Keith was trying to make the most of the situation – usually my role – but it only made me feel worse. Even a browse of the jewellery stalls was a flop, with indecision a symptom of malaise. At last we arrived at the City Museum and the soothing rhythms of the information notes. Something of interest to engage my mind did the trick to lift me out of my feelings of apathy and bring me back to life. It had the opposite effect on Keith, who, after a short time, felt that he was falling asleep on his feet. This reflected on the hot sleeping conditions of the night before and not on the museum, but he headed back for a nap and I stayed to enjoy it all. I had a great time and stayed until the last moment before closing. I am not sure that a visit to a museum will catch on as an antidote to feeling down but it certainly worked for me. By room two I was myself again and thinking that something good and interesting was bound to turn up.
The museum is housed in an old palace, which was built over the site of two previous buildings. The design which is the motif for the museum, is beautiful and it gave me real pleasure to see that it had even been used for the door handles.
It was with a sense of duty that we set out to make use of the day. Our rubbish lunch of crisps and biscuits was eaten on the run probably, with some nectarines from the open market improving the minus mark we were scoring for good nutrition. Unfortunately, as we walked through the streets, the beautiful sights before our eyes did little to relieve my sense of gloom about accommodation. Keith was trying to make the most of the situation – usually my role – but it only made me feel worse. Even a browse of the jewellery stalls was a flop, with indecision a symptom of malaise. At last we arrived at the City Museum and the soothing rhythms of the information notes. Something of interest to engage my mind did the trick to lift me out of my feelings of apathy and bring me back to life. It had the opposite effect on Keith, who, after a short time, felt that he was falling asleep on his feet. This reflected on the hot sleeping conditions of the night before and not on the museum, but he headed back for a nap and I stayed to enjoy it all. I had a great time and stayed until the last moment before closing. I am not sure that a visit to a museum will catch on as an antidote to feeling down but it certainly worked for me. By room two I was myself again and thinking that something good and interesting was bound to turn up.
The museum is housed in an old palace, which was built over the site of two previous buildings. The design which is the motif for the museum, is beautiful and it gave me real pleasure to see that it had even been used for the door handles.
It was a small touch but it spoke of care and creativity. Downstairs in the basement they had uncovered ancient walls and Roman roads, and there were slide shows explaining in pictures the various eras of development of the city. Originally, more than 5000 years ago, the settlement had been one of pile-dwellers, who lived in houses raised on wooden poles above the swampy marshes. One of the piles was displayed in an air-free plastic capsule and looked as if it was saturated with water. Later the area was lived in by Illyrians and Celts and, from the 1st to the 5th Centuries, the Roman settlement here was called Emona. A time of unrest, with people invading often, followed and finally Attila the Hun marched in and destroyed the town. A colony of Slavs was formed in the 6th Century and the first feudal rule began around 1000 AD, with Ljubljana as its centre. The Hapsburgs took over in 1335, and the Slovene territory was defined. In the 16th Century Ljubljana was a Catholic area but there was a wave of new thinking which resulted in Protestantism being introduced. Many famous Protestants, including Primoz Trubar, questioned the Catholic Church’s teaching and practices and many believed that there was no need for an intermediary in a person’s relationship with God. 
They set about regularising and recording the Slovenian language and translating and printing religious works in Slovenian. They opened a single class Latin school, which offered education to ordinary people. A children’s bible was produced by Sebastijan Krelja in 1566. The Protestants supported the development of ideas of Slovenian nationalism which were reflected in the later works of France Preseren and Ivan Cankar. It was still a time when people worshipped in the way that their ruler decreed, and as the saying went: ‘Which prince, which religion’. In 1599 the Prince who ruled Ljubljana decreed that to be a Burgher in the city you had to be Catholic. The era of the Protestants was over and the Jesuits arrived to assist in the change.
When I joined Alan, Keith had not appeared but soon he found us and we set off to find a venue for a meal. Crossing the three bridges again, we selected an outdoor setting by the river. 
The clouds had gathered and a little light rain began to fall but we decided to stay outside and see what happened. What happened was a sudden and violent storm which lashed the umbrellas and tables and soaked my skirt so we made a dash for a table inside. We had a lovely meal of cabbage rolls in mushroom sauce for me, cheese and vegetable roulade for Keith and seafood pasta for Alan. It was a last supper with Alan, so a little bit sad. We were staying another day and he was off to Salzburg in the morning. We entrusted him with the task of delivering Holly’s present to Joel. (This is a test sentence to see if Holly reads the blog.) It had been a real treat to spend time with Alan and to share experiences.
It was a pleasant surprise to see that the room in Bayonne was available for us, even if only for two weeks and we decided to act and take it. Bayonne is in South West France near the Spanish border. The second two weeks would be our next challenge.
They set about regularising and recording the Slovenian language and translating and printing religious works in Slovenian. They opened a single class Latin school, which offered education to ordinary people. A children’s bible was produced by Sebastijan Krelja in 1566. The Protestants supported the development of ideas of Slovenian nationalism which were reflected in the later works of France Preseren and Ivan Cankar. It was still a time when people worshipped in the way that their ruler decreed, and as the saying went: ‘Which prince, which religion’. In 1599 the Prince who ruled Ljubljana decreed that to be a Burgher in the city you had to be Catholic. The era of the Protestants was over and the Jesuits arrived to assist in the change.The development of scientific, musical and artistic pursuits flourished during the seventeenth century, along with connections to Italy. Connections to France were forced by Napoleon taking over, with a war against Austria which had included Slovenia in its territory. In 1809 Austria had lost a third of its territories. There is a Square de la Republic in Ljubljana where an obelisk stands as a memorial to the French soldiers who lost their lives, with a golden head of Napoleon on one side.
At this stage Slovenia was not a national entity in today’s sense, but part of the Illyrian Province that stretched as far as Dubrovnik in modern day Croatia. In 1813 the French left and the Austrians were back and an Illyrian kingdom was formed. There was no mention of a war for this bit, but it sounds a bit too easy, given the apparent interest in holding on to territory and in trying to grab it.
In 1848 a Slovene Society was formed, with the aim of uniting all nations where Slovenes lived. In 1867 Austria and Hungary signed a treaty which made their countries into a two part monarchy, ignoring the wishes of the Slovene people to be considered as an equal part in a three part monarchy. The Slovenes were in the majority so this decision led to more calls for a national identity, and eventually for local rule by an elected mayor and other concessions. 27% of the Slovene population was killed during the First World War, fighting for Austria-Hungary.
After the war the National Government of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs issued a decree of temporary government in Slovenia. Later, at the Geneva Conference, representatives of that government and of the Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro signed a treaty on the Union of all Yugoslav nations into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Immediately national and social differences surfaced and the expectations of the Slovenes in the new alliance were not met. In 1921 ‘Unitarianism’ was legalised, which meant that Serbs, Croats and Slovenes were to be regarded as tribes living in the Yugoslavian territory, rather than as national groups in a federation, and other groups were not considered even to be tribes. Centralism developed with Serbia taking a dominant position. In 1931 a constitution was forced through which divided Yugaslavia into nine duchies (provinces) that didn’t coincide with national or historical borders. Only one political party was allowed.
In the Second World War, Italy marched on Slovenia and took Ljublijana and the territories to the South, defeating the Yugoslav army. The occupation was a time of great distress and of partisan activity. The display for this section showed a vest made of newspapers sewed together which had kept a partisan warm during the struggles. The Communist party played a leading part in the Liberation Movement which wanted the liberation of the Slovene Nation, with for the Communists, the additional goal of a socialist revolution. The Italians immediately set about imposing their language and culture, but by the end of the war, they ‘concluded their military operations in Slovenia’ in September 1943 and left. Actually they set up concentration camps, shot hostages to intimidate and for revenge, surrounded Ljublijana with barbed wire, minefields and bunkers and controlled all movements.
During the war many people were forcibly driven from some regions and others became refugees, fleeing and hiding. After the war, Slovenia was again part of Yugoslavia and under the Communist Government headed by Marshall Tito, which was effectively a dictatorship.
At this point the steps in the path of Slovenia became briefer with only a sentence to say that there had been any problems in the 1990s after Slovenia declared independence. I asked the museum attendant and he said that it was not very significant, and only a show of strength by Serbia rather than a serious attack. He said that the invasion had lasted only days and that the fact that there were no Serbs in Slovenia was a crucial factor.
It was interesting to read that since 1800, Slovenia had been part of ten different states, so possibly an attack that does not mark a change of regime could be considered to be insignificant. The French, Austrian, German, Italian, Yugoslav and Slovenian authorities have all ruled. Someone born in 1913 would have seen two emperors, four kings and four presidents of state.
A wander around the streets enabled me to see the surprise on a motorists face when he returned to find that his illegally parked car had had clamps put on it. The remains of the ancient Roman wall now edge a long park and provided a wonderful challenge for a human fly who was making his way along it, clinging to the stones.
In 1848 a Slovene Society was formed, with the aim of uniting all nations where Slovenes lived. In 1867 Austria and Hungary signed a treaty which made their countries into a two part monarchy, ignoring the wishes of the Slovene people to be considered as an equal part in a three part monarchy. The Slovenes were in the majority so this decision led to more calls for a national identity, and eventually for local rule by an elected mayor and other concessions. 27% of the Slovene population was killed during the First World War, fighting for Austria-Hungary.
After the war the National Government of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs issued a decree of temporary government in Slovenia. Later, at the Geneva Conference, representatives of that government and of the Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro signed a treaty on the Union of all Yugoslav nations into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Immediately national and social differences surfaced and the expectations of the Slovenes in the new alliance were not met. In 1921 ‘Unitarianism’ was legalised, which meant that Serbs, Croats and Slovenes were to be regarded as tribes living in the Yugoslavian territory, rather than as national groups in a federation, and other groups were not considered even to be tribes. Centralism developed with Serbia taking a dominant position. In 1931 a constitution was forced through which divided Yugaslavia into nine duchies (provinces) that didn’t coincide with national or historical borders. Only one political party was allowed.
In the Second World War, Italy marched on Slovenia and took Ljublijana and the territories to the South, defeating the Yugoslav army. The occupation was a time of great distress and of partisan activity. The display for this section showed a vest made of newspapers sewed together which had kept a partisan warm during the struggles. The Communist party played a leading part in the Liberation Movement which wanted the liberation of the Slovene Nation, with for the Communists, the additional goal of a socialist revolution. The Italians immediately set about imposing their language and culture, but by the end of the war, they ‘concluded their military operations in Slovenia’ in September 1943 and left. Actually they set up concentration camps, shot hostages to intimidate and for revenge, surrounded Ljublijana with barbed wire, minefields and bunkers and controlled all movements.
During the war many people were forcibly driven from some regions and others became refugees, fleeing and hiding. After the war, Slovenia was again part of Yugoslavia and under the Communist Government headed by Marshall Tito, which was effectively a dictatorship.At this point the steps in the path of Slovenia became briefer with only a sentence to say that there had been any problems in the 1990s after Slovenia declared independence. I asked the museum attendant and he said that it was not very significant, and only a show of strength by Serbia rather than a serious attack. He said that the invasion had lasted only days and that the fact that there were no Serbs in Slovenia was a crucial factor.
It was interesting to read that since 1800, Slovenia had been part of ten different states, so possibly an attack that does not mark a change of regime could be considered to be insignificant. The French, Austrian, German, Italian, Yugoslav and Slovenian authorities have all ruled. Someone born in 1913 would have seen two emperors, four kings and four presidents of state.
A wander around the streets enabled me to see the surprise on a motorists face when he returned to find that his illegally parked car had had clamps put on it. The remains of the ancient Roman wall now edge a long park and provided a wonderful challenge for a human fly who was making his way along it, clinging to the stones.
When I joined Alan, Keith had not appeared but soon he found us and we set off to find a venue for a meal. Crossing the three bridges again, we selected an outdoor setting by the river. The clouds had gathered and a little light rain began to fall but we decided to stay outside and see what happened. What happened was a sudden and violent storm which lashed the umbrellas and tables and soaked my skirt so we made a dash for a table inside. We had a lovely meal of cabbage rolls in mushroom sauce for me, cheese and vegetable roulade for Keith and seafood pasta for Alan. It was a last supper with Alan, so a little bit sad. We were staying another day and he was off to Salzburg in the morning. We entrusted him with the task of delivering Holly’s present to Joel. (This is a test sentence to see if Holly reads the blog.) It had been a real treat to spend time with Alan and to share experiences.It was a pleasant surprise to see that the room in Bayonne was available for us, even if only for two weeks and we decided to act and take it. Bayonne is in South West France near the Spanish border. The second two weeks would be our next challenge.
The dragon on the bridge welcomes the violent thunderstorm.
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