Art & culture

In the very core of the city on Trubarjeva cesta Hiša eksperimentov (House of experiments) is situated. It is one of the first European science centers based on the rule: Do it yourself. It promotes science and learning it through doing it. Experiments are made on the basis, that everyone can touch them, smell them, use them, practically experiment with them.

They cover different subjects: from physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, geography, anthropology, nuclear, computer sciences and others. During the week only school groups can visit them. On weekends the House of experiments becomes crowded with people, especially on rainy days many families visit it. Best time to visit it is at five o’clock, when science shows on different topics are presented.

Every year in the last week of May they organize festival of science called Sciencetival which is present on the street all across the center of Ljubljana.

I work here and it is really a magic experience. Being surrounded with young people gives me strength, confidence and shows that science is fun.

Casa Slovenija is a new souvenir shop on renovated Kongresni trg square. You will notice it has a Slovenian flag hanging above the entrance door and “ciza” – a traditional carriage decorated with flowers or pumpkins or whatever is growing in that season. It’s right next to Cvetličarna Emporia Flowershop (check the Cvetličarna Emporia article).

What makes it different from the rest of the shops is that it’s made as an old Slovenian house. When you enter the shop you enter past centuries. In the middle there is a ceramic stove which was common around Slovenia and even I have a warm memory about my grandmothers’. Next is an imitation of a “black kitchen” where many sausages used to be smoked and the place is fully decorated with old furniture.

You should drop by this shop for three reasons. To see it, to buy hand made Slovenian arts & crafts which are hard to find elsewhere and to get a shot of blueberry liqueur – our traditional welcome drink.

“Stara elektrarna” literally means and is an old power station. It is a technical monument and as such protected. It was built approximately hundred years ago and has worked till after second world war. In eighties and nineties the building was discovered by artists and since then it attracts all sorts of performers.

I usually go here a few times a year when they are hosting some – usually quite crazy – shows. It can vary from modern dance to theatre and other kinds of scene performing. Sometimes they organize artistic or technical (that concern scene performing: scenery, lights…) workshops, lectures, round-table discussions and similar. Rarely you can get into a nice party but if you happen to be invited on one, don’t say no. Their biggest happening there is Festival “Mladi levi” at the end of August.

The main hall has a spacious stage to which you get after beautiful entrance hall which is preserved as a museum. Here you can see part of a big chimney, turbine and some measuring tools that were used in the power plant.

What used to be a tiny bookstore called Azil (Asylum,) is now a bookshop café that combines two bookstores and a café. Azil has a bookstore sister called Beletrina next door and a café inside and outside this place. Novi trg or New Square is surrounded with beautiful baroque palaces, so visiting this place will also give you a possibility to see one of the palaces from the inside.

Azil is run by the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, so what you can mostly get there is academic literature on humanistic and sociological sciences in Slovene, English, French and Russian. The atmosphere here is truly cozy and you can almost smell all the knowledge that the shelves store.

There’s a really good English language selection on philosophy. You can also find books on cultural studies and anthropology, arts, history, gender studies and even comic books. Check out for books by Slavoj Žižek, the most prominent and notorious Slovenian philosopher of all times! Azil is also a bookcrossing zone, so you might even find some free books or leave your own behind.

The restaurant is decorated with a traditional Turkish decor; throw rugs, seats, various cultural artefacts and even the staff themselves wear traditional garb.

Besides offering meat and vegetarian dishes, they host belly dancing performances, sometimes a fortune-teller and even culinary delights with explanations. This typically takes place in the evening. As it should be, one also has an opportunity to smoke some Narghilé – the famous Turkish pipe.

During the day, until 15:00, a three course lunch is served for only € 7. It is not uncommon to smell Turkish-style coffee wafting out of the typical Slovenian home, however in the bars and cafes it is typically espresso that is served. Perhaps this is why Yildiz Han is so liked by locals here in Ljubljana. Here can you get what we call Turkish coffee.

The best is to sit outside in the summer garden, which is already operating.