Dr. Filomena

We qualified… yeah! The movie above is more about the audio than the visuals, but you get the picture… err sound… err whatever, we WON!

Way to go, team!

Slovenians & friends rooting for the national team at a Luxembourgish bar last Saturday (photo by dr. fil)

Regardless of what most folks in the US and Australia may think, football (soccer for some) is the world’s most popular sport. Come to think of it, we met several enthusiasts in the US this summer, among them a young kid who’s on his school’s soccer team and never misses an important game on TV.

Tonight, Slovenia will be attempting to qualify for the Football World Cup 2010 in South Africa in a match against Russia. If you’re anywhere near Luxembourg, you’re welcome to come and join a group of Slovenia supporters at the Britannia Pub. Not everyone may end up watching the game very attentively, but our hearts will be in the right place

As I mentioned here, the recital of France Prešeren’s works by the best Slovenian performers is something to behold. It’s most enjoyable in person, but if you can’t be in beautiful Ljubljana on 8 February at noon, the second best thing is watching the event from anywhere in the world online live at:

http://www.radiokaos.info/ 

(Virtually) see you there!

Polde Bibič reciting Slovenia’s national anthem Zdravljica by France Prešeren (the lyrics are worth reading, click the link)
Courtesy of Radio Kaos

On 8 February each year, Slovenians at home and in communities around the world celebrate the Slovenian Cultural Day or Prešeren day as many call it is annually on in Slovenia and among Slovenian communities around the world in celebration of the rich cultural heritage marking Slovenians as a nation with a distinctly recognized identity.

France Prešeren is widely regarded as the greatest Slovenian poet of all times and on this date, the prestigious Prešern Award is presented to deserving persons in the area of culture with a lasting impact on our society.

For me, personally, the most enjoyable part of the day is the recital held on Prešeren Square in the centre of Ljubljana at noon. As I’ve moved to Luxembourg, I am even more thrilled that I can watch it and listen to it live on the internet.

Prešeren’s poetry is about love and peace. Hearing his works presented by the very best Slovenian and guest performers is a treat! So I’d like to invite you to visit http://www.radiokaos.info/ this Sunday at noon and catch glimpse of my beautiful home town and listen to our poetry. You may not understand every word, but you may very well “get” the atmosphere.

Cheers!

PS: If you have a Facebook account, you can keep up with the event here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=48908602146

About the World AIDS Day

“World AIDS Day is observed every year on December 1st. The World Health Organization established World AIDS Day in 1988. World AIDS Day provides governments, national AIDS programs, faith organizations, community organizations, and individuals with an opportunity to raise awareness and focus attention on the global AIDS epidemic.”

Source and further information: US Department of Health & Human Services

Titova pisarna (Hiša cvetja, foto: dr. filomena)

Tisti dan, ki smo ga nekoč tako glasno proslavljali, moji le nekaj let mlajši sodržavljani, ki vihtenje zastavic pomnijo bolj z že malenkost obledelih televizijskih posnetkov kot iz časov, ko so morda še nosili čepicoinrutko, pa ob njegovi omembi le še skomignejo z rameni. Razen tistih, seveda, ki se starih časov sicer ne spomnijo, prepričani pa so, da so bili zlati in se jih po njim toži. Mnja, držijo se pač trafalmadorske modrosti, da se velja spričo neizbežnosti vnaprej določenega zaporedja dogodkov, na katere nihče ne more vplivati, osredotočiti na najlepše, ostale pa enostavno odmisliti.

Kaj smo že proslavljali? Tale praznik ni bil od muh! Drugo zasedanje Antifašističnega sveta narodne osvoboditve Jugoslavije je v Jajcu potekalo 29. novembra 1943. Italija je že kapitulirala, četniška vojska je bila uničena, prihajati je začela prva pomoč zaveznikov, veliki trije pa so se prav takrat v Teheranu odločali, da bodo partizansko vojsko priznali kot edino legitimno vojaško silo na jugoslovanskem ozemlju. Sprejeli so Avnojsko deklaracijo, ki je med drugim AVNOJ razglasila za vrhovni zakonodajni in izvršili organ Jugoslavije, vladi v izgnanstvu odvzeli pooblastila, odredila revizijo vseh dogovorov, ki jih je ta sklenila, ter končno določila, da se bo Jugoslavija gradila na načelu demokracije in federalizma kot državna skupnost enakopravnih narodov.

Stara modrost (pa tudi Pengovsky v svojem odprtem pismu Borutu Pahorju) pravi, da nam poznavanje zgodovine pomaga razumeti sedanjost in v njej delovati. Učite se, učite se in še enkrat učite se! And since all of you are bound to be fluent in English (thanks to Hollywood, no doubt), here’s some more stuff you may want to peruse.

Aha, ne smemo pozabiti, da je bil Josip Broz (za prijatelje tovariše Tito) takrat imenovan za maršala. Slovenski spletni viri navajajo, da je naziv predlagal Moša Pijade (ki je, mimogrede, tri tedne pred tem sodeloval pri ustanovitvi tiskovne agencije Tanjug in ji dal ime), srbski pa, da je bil pobudnik ideje Josip Vidmar.

Nekaj spominkov v Hiši cvetja. Če nimaš bralne lupe, klikni za povečavo.
(foto dr. filomena)

Who ever said there was no night life in Luxembourg? Ever since I arrived here, possibilities to spend an evening at an interesting place and/or event in good company have been plentiful. One of such occasions was undoubtedly last Saturday’s “Museum Night”. Which, incidentally, partly clashed with another all-important event, the Luxembourg vs. Israel football match. Since some of my new friends had a vested interest in the event, they set out to the museums a bit later on. I especially missed my new pal Tom!

photo by M & R

The eight annual event organised by the association of “d’stater muséeën” drew a crowd of 16,000 night owls or 30% more than the previous year into the six participating museums, which opened their doors widely from 6 pm until 1 am for a one-in-all ticket of €12 or €6 and supplemented their regular exhibitions with additional programmes such as live music, dance performances, films, small-scale theatre productions and made sure nobody went hungry. Or thirsty for that matter. One of the museums offered wine tasting as a side activity.

To be quite honest, I expected an event such as this to be free of charge just as my beloved Ljubljana’s Museum Night is, but at least the workshops for kids did not require ticket purchase.

Each of the museums has its own “that little extra” to offer, but personally, I was most taken by the work of Philippe Jacq in the Luxembourg Casino (yes, the casino in question does double as an art gallery on a full-time basis). Jacq’s installation was part of the “Best of Robert Schuman”exhibition representing the nominees for the most prestigious award of the “Grande Région” that has been given by the cities of Luxembourg, Trier, Metz and Saarbrücken since 1991.

The feelings inspired by the mixture of grossness of stuffed chickens straight (or not) from Psycho, a fine sense of humour and an evident knack for making connections between pop culture and political affairs cannot really be translated into words very easily. But I can offer a few random shots to begin with.

Here’s to many happy returns for the Museum Night in Luxembourg! This town oozes awareness of the importance of art and culture. Even after passing the title of the European Capital of Culture on to Liverpool, Stavanger and Sandnes. Incidentally, something tells me I’ll be visiting Vilnius in 2009! Right, Monika and Indre?

just one of the jewellery shops in the old part of Skopje (photo: dr. filomena)

Just like in 2007 when the topic was the Environment (see post here), this blog will today play a tiny role, no more than a cameo appearance in a world-wide blogging event, the Blog Action Day. This time around, the topic is Poverty. 

In view of the current economic situation around the world, I am sure that fellow bloggers and bloggerettes will have much to write about and inspiration can be found on every step of the way to work. If one is lucky enough to have a paying job, of course.

With that in mind, I leave it to them to shed light on the various hot topics, among them perhaps the pressing issues driving an increasing number of previously middle-class people across the poverty threshold in the West, and to argue which US Presidential candidate would do a better job at pushing his country’s economy back in gear.

In Slovenia, the newly elected National Assembly convened its first session today. May the MPs new and not-so-new not forget too soon the platform they ran on, those who put them where they are this morning and who they ultimately answer to. Many of their constituents are living on the verge of poverty.

What I would like to mention here is that there are various types of poverty and one of them has to be the poverty of the mind. Poverty of the mind, the heart and culture that allows people to communicate and act without giving much thought to the impact their words and actions will have on those at the receiving end. 

Away with poverty! Of all sorts… 

Wish you all a wonderful day.

A rather international group (what else, this *is* Luxembourg! represented: England, France, Finland, Lithuania, Malta and Slovenia) of new friends decided to join in on the local fun in Veianen (Luxembourgish for the town otherwise known as Vianden), which incidentally celebrates its 700 years of existance in 2008. Coming from Slovenia (no, not Slovakia) myself, allow me to appreciate the beauty of a language spoken by no more than some 300,000 people.

above: Eldoradio’s nutcracking contest

My first thought upon arrival was that these things are the same anywhere you go. Adriaan, this is the Lux version of Bohinj’s cow ball minus the cows and plus the nuts. And nuts there were! I did expect to see walnut liquer (nothing beats the walnut brandy made by the Amazons and good old Franc, though!) and saw countless supplies of “Nëssdrëpp” and the sweeter “Nësslikör”, even the apparently recent yet popular addition of the white “Nëss-Crème-Likör”. Just as expected were walnut cookies and cakes (Nësskouch), but I would not have thought of “Nësspâté”, “Nëssbrutt”, “Nësstoort”, “Nësseeken” or  “Nëss-Raclette”. Feel free to guess what these are. Should be easy enough. Of and the walnut wine tasted and smelled deliciously interesting even if not very wine-like.

Apparently, the stronger liquer  of 30% alcohol content is perfect for use with sparkling wine. A  nëss royal, so to speak? A bottle is waiting in the cupboard to put the recommendation to a test.

Vianden is a picturesque village where every other house seems to be either a guesthouse or a restaurant. With the possible exception of the castle, which dominates the area. Once upon a time, one of these houses hosted Victor Hugo as well.

The castle, which was completely restored in 1977 is well worth a visit.

What is it that all these OctoberFest type festivals around Europe have in common? Fun-loving Europeans!

And their friends from other parts of Europe.

And possibly cappuccinos? Nah… more fun-loving people!

Lo and behold,  Nëssdrëpp, Nësslikör, Nësskouch and Nëss-Crème-Likör.

And more of the above.

Crepes are always a crowd-pleaser. And do somehow seem local.

Which was more difficult to imagine in the above case of what was advertised as “home-made paella”.

Now waffles, on the other hand, were a different matter altogether.

Nothing beats a strong orator voice in attracting customers, eh?

Gosh, the chesnut stand made me think of and miss the best town in the world.

The local band. Gotta love the outfits. Not so much the music, possibly.

As the day progressed, people were getting exceedingly… cheerful? This lady was chucking walnuts at us just out of the goodness of her heart, as inspired by the walnut wine. Thanks!

Kiddo, I so know what you’re thinking…

No, that’s not the way adults should be behaving. But cut them some slack, it’s the nut festival afterall.

Pretty of what?

I think we decided to leave just in time.

Cheers!

After last year’s success at the night-time race around Lake Bled (see the Cream Cake Night Run at Lake Bled entry) organized by the “Knights” (“Vitezi dobrega teka” translates to either the Knights of Good Running or to the Knights of Bon Appetit), they put on a repeat performance last Saturday night. Once again, it was a 10 km race around the lake at 10 pm.

The event was a huge success in terms of organisation. This time around, runners wore microchips to keep accurate records. Results were published online almost in real time. Club members were located at the right places to direct the runners and warn them of any potential problem spots. I may not have the problem, but some slightly taller people have to watch their heads running underneath slanted rocks. Water was being handed to runners at two spots along the route. The goody bag was even heavier than last year and I saw some were sincerely enthusiastic about the tiny lamps attached to headbands, for example.

Some things change and others always stay the same. So while my sister was not as slim this year as she was for the first run (compare to the photo from last year’s blog entry), she walked around the lake and I’m sure she’ll run the track again next year. And while last year, Pengovsky was at the Rolling Stones concert in Belgrade, I spotted his Radio Kaos T-Shirt at the finish line this time around. Bravo!

Many things did not change, however. Lake Bled is still a gorgeous setting for a race, the tourists sitting in the restaurants and taking a stroll were giving us all boosts of energy by cheering us along. We heard Slovenian, English, American, German, Croatian, Italian, French, Slovak and Russian languages at the least! Thanks, you guys! And it wasn’t just the public that was international. Quite a few runners were, as well. In fact, the second place among women went to a lady from Newcastle!

above: that’s me running backwards to give sis a shot at well, taking a shot

T-shirts were a hoot once more. They read “A jih uhka 10 u en noč?” (“Can ya do 10 in One Nite?” in Gorenjska dialect). And the most important bit – the exceptional Cream Cake that was served to everyone who finished the race. Again, forks were handed out in the place of medals and again, the cream cakes seemed to work like magic as Sunday morning really was easy.

I am now a proud owner of two pierced-handle fork medals. And with the way “Vitezi” are keeping it up, I can’t wait to add next year’s to the collection!

This year was a bit special, I must admit, as the race was held  on what would have been my Mother’s birthday. So it was extra special to be there in the company of all the people I feel the closest to.

Some photos from the event: Nočna 10ka

And while we wait for the third “10 at 10″ event, many of us are planning to run around the other Slovenian Alpine lake, Lake Bohinj in August. Details on the 11th Race around Lake Bohinj on 9 August can be found: here.