Greetings from Ljubljana, Slovenia - a fairy tale town, with narrow cobbled streets, a bustling marketplace and cute 19th century buildings that look like delicious cakes in shades of pastel pink and mint green. A sinister castle looms on the hill. And there's a dragon.
Actually there are four of them: classic scaly monsters with jagged teeth and clawed toes, adorning a bridge that spans the river. Jason and the Argonauts fame slew one of their brethren not far from here. The dragon is also the emblem of the city, the Eiffel Tower of Ljubljana. A large version made entirely of balloons sat beside the stage at the Epica Awards, which I came here to attend. It struck me that cities need trademark monuments to summarize their brand appeal. London has Big Ben (in movies, the words "London, England", followed by a red bus crossing Westminster Bridge and the Clock Tower bonging in the distance); New York the Empire State Building; Barcelona the Sagrada Familia, Rome the Colosseum... and so on. Each one sums up the appeal of the destination, whether it's suave, grandiose, quirky or freighted with history. Which may be coincidence - but is it going too far to suggest that cities which lack architectural logos are forced to build them; hence the Burj Al Arab in Dubai and the Guggenheim in Bilbao? Without a focal point for our imaginations, we don't know where in the world we are.
