After arriving yesterday evening, today we spent most of the day visiting the city centre of Ljubljana. It was about a 10 minute drive from our hotel to the parking at Kongresni (Congress) Square, where parking was €1.50 per hour for the first 3 hours, then €2.40 per hour after that. On the way we had our first driving incident of the trip, when someone drove into the back of us at a junction! It was only a very minor shunt at low speed, with only a very small mark on the car. As a result, we agreed to just let it go, and it was hard to do anything else with such a friendly Slovenian speaking perfect English on the side of the dual carriageway. This probably won't be the only mark the car gets on the trip, so we might as well start somewhere.

Once out the car, we were less than 2 minutes walk from the pedestrianised central area of Ljubljana. Apparently this area has been pedestrianised for a few years now, and it certainly made the city feel very peaceful and safe. After a few more minutes , we found ourselves at the Preseren Square where a lot of tourists were gathering for a free walking tour of the city. This was a great coincidence as we have done these kind of tours in other cities in the past, but had forgotten to research one before arriving here. We quickly signed up to see how well it would go with a baby and a dog in tow for the first time. The tour ended up lasting about two hours, and we really enjoyed learning about the history of Slovenia and Ljubljana, and going around the main sights with the guide Tina 2 (she made it clear there is another Tina at the company). Summer wasn't on her best behaviour (see below), but Lucy napped in the buggy until right at the very end when she woke up and we got her out to the delight of some of the group.

Highlights of the tour included learning about the city's many bridges, how it suffers devastating earthquakes every couple of hundred years (most of the centre was rebuilt after the last big one in 1985), and how Slovenians never even dreamt of having their own country, and are extremely grateful to have one now. The city is also one of the safest in the world, and renowned for its green credentials, winning the greenest city award a few years ago. Today also confirmed to us how friendly Slovenians are, and they also seem extremely relaxed, strolling happily around the city.

After lunch at the most famous Slovenian sausage restaurant in the city, Klobasarna, we got in the car and drove onwards to Croatia. We decided to skip Zagreb since we have been before, and instead found a cabin for rent in the forested hills about halfway between Zagreb and the Croatian border. It is fairly basic but has everything we need, including a huge garden for Summer to run around in!

Tomorrow onwards out of the EU and on to Bosnia and the country's second city, Banja Luka.