2024 Sept 24 Tuesday

Ljubljana

We had some ideas for visiting the National Museum of Contemporary History in Tivoli Park, but no firm agenda beyond that. The weather was rainy in the morning but cleared to give us a beautiful afternoon. Tomorrow we hope to see a few more museums on our final day in Ljubljana.

11:37 am to 5:59 pm. 6.1 miles, 16,807 steps. A warm day despite the morning rain.

Click to view Richard’s Relive video: https://www.relive.cc/view/v7O92eodxL6

Dragon icons are everywhere and sometimes we miss them. Today was a leisurely walk by the river and we found these examples just in front of our apartment.
The city market is held every day but Sunday, so today was the first day we could see it. Locals were doing their grocery shopping and umbrella and raincoat sales were booming.
This exposition is being advertised but we will unfortunately miss it. The Slovenian people have changed their history through protests, and appear to be still involved in speaking out.

Richard really wanted to see the Museum of Contemporary History (WWI to present) so we were off to Tivoli Park to see that. The first floor was an excellent photography exhibition we both enjoyed.

Marjan Ciglic was born in 1924 and spent his life with his camera as his close companion. As a photojournalist, he captured scenes of everyday life as well as important history. His photographic collection boasts over 300,000 photographs and he is also a pioneer in archiving and documenting so his collection is available for viewing. The exhibition is to honor his works in 100 years after his birth.

One of my favorite photographs for the joy: “children delighted to see the first snowflakes” Ljubljana February 1961.

Ciglic’s collection was donated to the museum by his former newspaper, prompting a collaboration column called “Yellowed Photo.” Once a week, a photograph by Ciglic was published in the Dnevnik newspaper, illustrating interesting events from 50 years ago that were reported in the newspaper. The column was popular as many readers had experienced or remembered the times.

Richard particularly liked this story. Married men from Zalog felt oppressed by their wives. The club of “oppressed men” (literally men in slippers) was founded when only 17 men gathered, but 7 years later 240 men set off in 60 cars for an unknown destination. A representative of the local wives attended a meeting and threatened that they would be even stricter with the men, so the group unanimously decided to hold their next meeting in Ljubljana and introduce membership cards. First reported in March 1967; published March 2017.
In a column published in September of 2013, Slovenia was preparing to compete in the European Basketball Championship. A half century before, the Yugoslav basketball team of that time reflected the increasing popularity of basketball with young people. One young man is like a living basket and the other two are throwing the ball.
Heading upstairs, the stair treads foretell the historic times of Slovenia’s recent history. It is impossible for me to do a just explanation, so I will simply say that the museum presented the material in an interesting manner, and I feel ignorant about the struggles of this part of the world.
Slovenia’s national poet, France Preseren, is honored with a statue in one of Ljubljana’s major squares. It was unveiled in 1905 and has extracts from his writing around the base. The square is a meeting point for several major streets, and is home to concerts and events in the summer. It is also close to our road home to our apartment.

8 Responses

  1. I believe I can finally catch up with you. I will retrace your steps tomorrow. I found that staircase very interesting. Why was it in English?

    A common saying must be “Have you seen the latest note and pictures from the Holmans?? Or, since there are two of you it may be ” Holmen?”( Surely that is a juvenile observation you have lived with ever since Jan said “I do.”

    1. Glad you are following us, Dave. The museum had a divided stairway, with one side giving the history on the stair risers in Slovenian, and one side in English. Most descriptive signs were also in both languages. For me, it is hard to recognize anything in Slovenian as it doesn’t resemble any language I know (even briefly). I am always amazed how many people have studied English and are good at it even though I feel completely inadequate in languages.

  2. Love the museum’s photographs of the children., especially the snowflakes photo. I really struggle to piece together and remember this country’s complicated history. Looks like you two are really enjoying this charming town!

    1. I’m glad you also loved the children’s photos. This photojournalist had so much history including some very brutal photos, but I chose to focus on the lighter subjects. The retrospective also talked about his hard life, but how he connected with people through his cheery attitude and humor despite life’s hardships. I admire that part of his personality. Richard is enjoying delving into the history of this region. I am amazed how quickly change has happened, and how often borders, country names, and leadership has changed.

  3. A very unique contemporary history museum. Good choice by Richard. You both have done great research and planning for this trip! You will be coming home with a very filled bucket of memories!
    Dan

    1. The contemporary history museum was a surprise and I loved the photojournalist retrospective. We enjoyed the history review but it was a lot to take in. We have been planning for a long time, but we also have had some surprises that make the trip more memorable. I think that’s why we all like travel.

  4. I am following your adventures. I just went through four days here fairly quickly. Your glimpses of people here and there on roads or byways, trains, and restaurants, give a life to your own story.

    1. Thanks as always for following us. We try to record names and pictures of those with whom we have close contact because we never know whether or not we will see them again. We always enjoy seeing how small the world really is—usually we have some common ground to cover.