Dr. Filomena

Some graffitis embellish buildings, others are no more than vandalism. This one in Ljubljana is a bit of a word play. In Slovenian, “bi?” means “would you?”.

Would you?

Even if Slovenia may seem like a tiny target, the salsa craze far from missed it. In fact, I have it from a reliable source that the sensual dance has had its group of devotees for nine years now. I’ve only had a couple of lessons in good old Lux, but will join these guys as soon as I’ve learned enough not to break my (or partner’s) legs.

Sunshine is the resident blogger authority on the subject 🙂

Photo above taken yesterday at the weekly Sunday salsa party at Kodeljevo Castle.

Boris works for Slovenia Times and the Ljubljana Tourist Board. An original and certainly eye-catching way of advertising a newspaper and what this country has to offer to visitors. There are more foreign tourists than locals in the streets downtown during summer weekends, which undoubtedly makes this picturesque part of the city the right spot for Boris and his tricycle to do their job.

Read the full story here. And when you see the postman with a top hat, riding a curious old-fashioned device you’d normally have come across some 150 years ago, have him give you Slovenian Tourist Board information brochures and a free copy of the Slovenia Times.

Ljubljana, the name of Slovenia’s capital, comes very close to the Slovene word for ‘beloved’, i.e. ljubljena.

Especially in summertime, noting beats having a nice dinner by the river in the ‘old downtown’ and taking a walk with a friend or that special someone. Add one of the summer festival events for good measure and you’re good to go.

You’ve got to love this town.

This photo is dedicated to Morska
~hugs from dr. filomena~

This large Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio machaon) has several bits of its beautiful wings missing. The decor has already served its purpose by deceiving predators into attacking the wrong part of the insect.

Love of photography seems to run in our family. Here is a photo my “Aunt Vida” took of a burning tree during one of Etna’s moments of mischief. Vida has lived in Catania for the past 60+ years. More from her coming soon.

Hey, buddy, my eyes are down here!

r-e-s-p-e-c-t

I C U

Inspired by another blogger’s account of his day, I wrote a recap of one of mine. This is Sunday, 22 July 2007. Not too dull a day. Can imagine what Adriaan’s comment will be. (Click the links to view photos.)

00h – Went out on the town. Met a group of old college mates celebrating a birthday, and ran into a couple of Brits-turned-nearly-Slovene, one of whom I’ve known for 9 years. Yikes, time flies! Almost claimed a mojito a certain sombody owes me, but the otherwise lovely Cutty Sark with enjoyable music had run out of spearmint. The improvized cocktail was Ok since the company was good 😉 With the birthday party girls, found a place to dance that wasn’t completely desolate and even had a lovely view of the city from the terrace. Belgrade native confirmed his home town being alcohol+party.

7h – Damn that bio clock that won’t sleep even on weekends! Off to Šmarna gora we go. Got a bit of sun and fresh air. This is where Ian would probably love to go (think flying). Took some photos of butterflies. And of a golden retriever (Hera) who wouldn’t let me take more butterfly pics unless she had some attention first.

10h – What does one do on a hot day? I had it from a reliable source that one goes to hell. Pekel (literally translated as “hell”) is a gorge near Borovnica south-west of Ljubljana. Rambling alert! I had never been to Borovnica before, which is not very nice since one of my grandmothers was born at its railway station. Don’t worry, this is not as dramatic as it seems. Her father was the railwayman in charge of the Borovnica station and they lived there. Literally. Just a few days ago, she was telling me how her father used to take her on rounds checking the arches of the famous Borovnica viaduct when she was three or four years old, before they moved. At the time the second largest railway viaduct in Europe was built in 1856 on the Südbahn or Southern Railway, the first railway line linking Vienna to Trieste and was considered one of the most imposing bridge structures the world had ever seen. It was destroyed by Allied air raid during the World War II. Today only one surviving pier shows where it once stood.

With a stream and a set of five waterfalls, the narrow and steep Pekel gorge protected by a mysterious, dark forest, provides the welcome freshness even on the hottest of summer days. I took more photos of butterflies, ants, insects I don’t yet know the name of and… a freshwater crayfish! This was so exciting! I had hurt my finger climbing (this is not a sprehod, P! ) up one of the metal ladders (think finger caught between metal and rock, not nice) and was chilling the pain in the water, had camera ready for a tiny butterfly and out from under the rock crawls this guy.

13h – Off to a village in Vipavska dolina to visit family. As this includes (my other) grandmother, pass on the recommended trout at Pekel this time around (where there is a grandmother, there is food… lots of food). Spent time with her sister from Sicily, a real character. We have lots in common. I will share a letter she’d been given over 60 years ago, called “Ticket to Heaven”. And a photo she took of a tree being destroyed by lava during one of Etna’s mischiefs.

17h – Knight Tournament at Predjama Castle. A colourful event with attention paid to detail in many respects. Reinactment of battles of days gone by along with the trades of that time represented by craftsmen selling everything from food to clay pots and fur. Observing the more or less elaborate yet undoubtedly effective tools and methods humans once used to kill one another left me slightly less than enthused, but the scenery and costumes were beautiful. And horses are always a nice sight.

21h – The latest Harry Potter came to town, ergo I took my cousin to see it. The book has been my traditional end-of-school-year gift to him and seeing the movie is a must. This one is LONG.

00h – Home sweet home. Thinking finger still hurts, but the photos of the crayfish were worth it 🙂
And here is another favourite: Can you see the damselfly grin as he caught his lunch?

damselfly’s happy meal

Carpe Diem

No time to really write, so today, I’ll just post another photo. Being in the real estate business, I come across all types of properties, but the ones on our portfolio lately are so nice they make me go oooh and aaah. If you were a client, I’d be talking investment opportunity, appreciation, rental return. But actually, all I want is some sympathy 🙂 When I win the lottery, this will be my party place.

Photo I took with my Nikki:
Sunset in Ljubljana Penthouse

(click to enlarge)

Drool with me… 🙂