Dr. Filomena

Ljubljana Lights

Every now and then it really feels good to simply take a walk. If you happen to be in a great town like Ljubljana, even better for you! So after just another fun-filled day at work (BTW, the website is being refurbished completely by a great angelically devilish team as we speak) and an uplifting cup of coffee with my beloved sister, I decided to take a stroll downtown that had just been lit up with a zillion colourful lights and extras, a cheerful reminder of the shopping season that spreads love and wrapping paper all around us.

Exhibition at Mestni muzej

So as not to succumb to the shopping spree completely (whoops, one does require a certain type of paper for that purpose… or plastique plastic), a visit to the museums seemed in order. The artefacts above were excavated at the site of the museum, from the Roman period when this city went by the name of Emona.

Copper Age; style truly is timeless, eh?

Mestni muzej (City Museum) has interesting exhibitions year-round and one of the amazing rooms, at least to me, is the one featuring some of the objects found in the Ljubljana area going all the way back to the period of the so-called pile dwellings (mostišča) at Ljubljana marshes during the late stone age and the copper age (4,500 – 1,800 B.C.), such as the one pictured above.

The many faces of Ljubljana

One does tend to discover many interesting bits and pieces… and people at museums, but one’s uncle is rarely among them. My eye caught a familiar pace and when the monk on the wall projection turned around and gave me that big all-knowing smile, my jaw dropped so low I had to struggle to pick it up. I wasn’t sure if it was just my eyes playing games with my brains on account of the delicious mulled wine I’d just consumed at one of the stands at the Three Bridges as part of the December tradition… Confirmed with a follow-up phone call, yep, that’s my uncle up there, featuring as one of the “many faces of Ljubljana” through the ages. Also re-confirmed, he never really was a monk. Phew.

The new exhibition at the School Museum

Desperately in need of some enlightenment, I swiftly entered not the school, but the next best thing. The Slovenian School Museum where a new exhibition was just presented. With lots of wine available, but in view of the as yet unconfirmed sighting of uncle at the other museum, I decided to pass on that particular temptation. The exhibition “The Teacher in a New Social Reality between 1945 and 1963” makes for an interesting addition to the regular pieces.

We build schools, we build knowledge, we build socialism
(replace with an -ism of your choice any time)

One inscription that stuck was that “any system, anywhere, always wants to claim the society’s children”. Kids, you’re all we’ve got, guys!

Hey, it was time to get some more fresh air.

The festive Three Bridges

What better way to finish a day than to hang out with interesting people. I think the guy in whose honour admission to museums was free of charge yesterday would have approved. Especially if he’d had a chance to share a glass of wine with us. Mulled or otherwise.

Fetalij, the star blogger

Fetalij showing off (ok, so I sorta forced him to) with his own image in the very first printed blogger publication in Slovenia, Blogorola. Grayscale photo per his request 😉

Happy birthday, Dr. Fig!

A couple of weeks ago, a friend came all the way from far far away Krško and as he happens to be a blogger (Buba, I have a bad cold myself right now 🙁 ), one keystroke led to another and the “drink” developed into a very enjoyable evening in the company of bright, imaginative, literate, fun-loving young bloggers. Among them, all three newly elected SiOL’s house bloggers. I bow to you, oh majesties. Whoops, the popular vote thing, right… I bow to you, oh blogger celebrities: Fetalij, Irena and Chef; as well as Pi.Roman, Kandela, Mojca, Deus.X.Mashina, Nina, Barbara and last but not least, the infamous Sex.

How could I not love this town? Ljubljana rules! On the way to the bar…

No shortage of drinks… even if the waiter was far more incompetent than good old Manuel. Basil should fix things by the next time.

How’s it hanging?

Wild Ride

High Five

In addition to the cool and very different if slightly spooky environment, a good reason to pay a visit to Pr’Skelet is the 2-4-1 policy 😉

Afterwards, we moved to the Cutty Sark just off the Three Bridges to say hi to another Ljubljana resident blogger, Pengovsky who DJd at the place that night.

Take your eyes off that striped sweater right now!!!

Gotta love those smiling faces!

More bloggers, including a *very* famous one 😉

Photo by Pi.Roman

We finished the night with a slight doubt being raised in our minds regarding Fetalij’s sexual preferences, but the doubt has since been successfully dispersed. BTW, way to go, Fetalij! Grandma’s proud of you… 😈

Here’s to many more gatherings such as this one. Thanks for the good time, y’all!

I kid you not.

Source

If you drop by at Mala Galerija, Slovenska cesta 35 in Ljubljana, or at Gallery NOEMA between 15 October and 15 November 2007, you will have the chance to wonder at an exhibition featuring records of the following brave expedition:

“This year on 6 August, atop Mount Triglav, three artists – intermedia artist Janez Janša, director and performer Janez Janša, and visual artist Janez Janša – realized the action Mount Triglav on Mount Triglav.”

Sure sounds like team work!

(Click here for the presentation in Slovenian.)

The project is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, the Municipality of Ljubljana and the European Cultural Foundation.

Go Team!

EDIT: I suppose I might do well to mention that a Janez Janša happens to be Slovenia’s current prime minister and that Mount Triglav (literally: mt. three-heads or the triple-headed mountain) is the highest mountain in the country as well as one of its most prominent symbols, e.g. featured in the coat of arms, which also happens to be included in the national flag.

Reading Pengovsky’s post on the new party, Zares, I remembered having written a post reporting from one of this group’s events at the very start of the blog, before it acquired the whopping two or three readers it boasts now so I thought why not recycle some of the old posts.

Here is one I’d originally posted on 28 June 2007:

For a change of pace from the serial killer night I accompanied my university professor aunt to a debate in Cankarjev dom held by Društvo Zares on the topic of proposed changes in Slovenian legislation pertaining to higher levels of education. Društvo Zares literally translates to the For Real Club and is a group of people planning on forming a political party soon.

I will make no comment other than that I found the group of the present people to make for an interesting combination and that I was most impressed by the representative of the Institutum Studiorum Humanitatis. Oh just one remark, though. Everyone seemed to listen attentively except when the speaker happened to be a student. Humm.

Added note: That’s the new party’s new President Gregor Golobič on the left in the bottom photo.

So many things have been going on lately… but hey, what else is new. I haven’t posted to the blog in a while because I either didn’t have the time to (or rather spent it in another way, say playing squash – yippie!) or being unsure of how to convey my thoughts to you guys.

A week ago I finally got to meet Camille, a fascinating young woman from New York City who’d decided to move to Slovenia… for love. I’d “met” her in the blogging community. Hey, you guys are real flesh and blood! More on that later. Anyway, after having met up with her for lunch and seeing she’s as cool in real life as she is on her blog, I offered to take her out for a night on the town. So last Saturday, we started the evening chatting in my home and finding the right dress etc.. you know, girl stuff… then drove off downtown. My car’s glove compartment is filled with CDs and as Camille is studying Slovene now (go C!!! – you should exchange notes with Adriaan and “the girls”) we opted for Alenka Godec.

After a stop at Cutty Sark to say hello to another blogger, Pengovsky who DJd at the place that night, we made a tour of the most popular places, such as Global. More on that later. On our way up we shared the lift ride with four young bouncer types, one of them lovingly holding on to a large cut of red meat in a plastic bag. What gives? The place being empty, we were instructed to go to Opera Bar first. Lo and behold, there she was. The lady from our choice of CD in the car. Alenka Godec.

An old friend of mine turns out to be the new assistant manager of the place that was just celebrating its third anniversary… above is the photo she took of “Camille and the two Alenkas”. Alenka has an amazing voice and came across as a really nice lady as well.

Afterwards, we returned to Global, where we wished we’d brought along our own DJ from Cutty Sark or, alternatively, that C’d been given a go at it (her brother is a DJ, too!) Still, the music was at least ok – at least at times – so we actually got to dance a little bit. I do believe C had a bit of a culture shock with the way people danced. “Dirty dancing” was not all that dirty in comparison to a few of those couples. Thanks for the good company, C, hope to do that again sometime soon.

A day later, I found out about the (probably same one who was nice to us) bouncer at Global beating a young man just a half an hour or so after we’d left the place. He died in hospital on Wednesday. This photo was taken yesterday on site where he lost his life. Such a senseless waste.

On a happier note, yet another blogging friend, buba švabe, came to town from Krško to see us on Friday. The visit turned into a real bloggers’ gettogether with 14 bloggers present, among them all three of SiOL’s new “in-house bloggers” (the top bloggers hosted there per users’ vote who’d been given contracts now), namely Fetalij, Irena and Chef.

Photo by Pi.Roman

It was such a pleasure to meet a bunch of interesting young people in one go, all of whom can think, write and actually have fun in real, offline life. Pi.Roman took a zillion photos before Kandela finally took his toy away, and among his subjects were Mojca, Deus.X.Mashina, Nina, Barbara and last but not least, the infamous Sex. We met up at the Skeleton Bar and then moved on to Cutty Sark. This ‘event’ deserves a separate post someday…

All in all, it’s been quite a week, meeting so many interesting people, among them an incredible number of bloggers. Seeing a vibrant young lady move from one continent to another for love, taking a pic with a local celebrity, partying at a place that effectively became a murder scene a half an hour after we’d left, playing squash, travelling to Slavonski Brod for a day (seeing houses still heavily damaged by the gunfire of a decade ago was slightly surreal), hanging out at an ad hoc bloggers’ meeting where I realized half the people were political science majors, enrolling in the second year of my Political Science MA programme and last but not least, spending a wonderful Sunday in equally wonderful company and enjoying the fact that He Cooked Again.

Stuffed tomatoes for a refreshing dinner snack: fill with the extracted tomato pulp, young cheese, cottage cheese, a bit of olive oil, chopped up fresh basil and salt/pepper to taste. Chill in fridge for half an hour.

Having just had a glass of Los Pagos Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile, all I can say is that I have no idea what the meaning of life is, but what I’m sure of is that we should all do our best to enjoy the ride while it lasts.

My condolences to the family and friends of Goraz Čamernik who died so needlessly at the hands of the club bouncer. May he rest in peace.

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of meeting Raf at the Ahráyeph concert at the Lido in Leuven, Belgium.

What a great guy!
Note: He even mixes a fine daiquiri.

You might at times be able to find him at the Bar 33 in Leuven (Eng. Louvain), the cozy and picturesque capital of Flemish Brabant a short drive from Brussels.

The 33 is part of the longest bar in Belgium, which is composed of roughly 40 bars at the Oude Markt (Old Market). It rolls alternative rock music and while – obviously – serving good beers and other drinks including good whiskey, offers excellent cocktails at friendly prices in an equally friendly environment.

Proud owners of the bar who’d just taken over a month ago. I’ll have to go back just to see what more they’ve done with the place! I’m sure it’ll look great!

EDIT: Here’s a clip from the Ahráyeph concert:

A short video clip from the Cow Ball in Bohinj last weekend.
Enjoy.

A full report from the Cow Ball in Bohinj will follow, but here are a couple of photos to start with.

Some things are bound to change…

…but thankfully, some will always stay the same.

The eight-second video above (I do need to come around to buying a new SD card for Xavi!!!) shows but a glimpse of the fun had by the group of swing enthusiasts at Kodeljevo Castle in Ljubljana.

I’m seriously considering taking a class. The impressively quick feet or delightfully slow squeezes were such joy to look at. I haven’t seen that many people smile at the same time in a long time. The gals and guys meet at Kodeljevo every Tuesday night starting at 9 pm.

Source

All on Board!

Calling all bloggers not to the chu-chu train, but the moo-moo ball. Kravji bal (the Cow Ball) has an impressive tradition and will be held for the 52nd time this year.

At least four bloggers will be present and since the more the merrier applies in this case, regardless of some things being best in twos as discussed at alcessa’s blog (happy anniversary!), why not join in on the fun and come on to Ukanc/Bohinj this coming Sunday? The event begins around 10 am and the organised bits go on until 8 pm. Afterwards, we’ll play it by ear.

Source and more photos of the 2006 Cow Ball.

Be there or be a Kekec!

Ali En – Who’s the real Kekec