Tripping....

Slovenia was awesome!

it was like being in wonderland with all our favourite friends.

We got all fattened up,

eating at our favourite restaurants and

being cooked amazing meals by friends.

Its nice to be in a place where we 

know if we go in a restaurant its gonna be good food, 

because we've done all the tried and testing in advabce.

travelling around a lot its something you notice,

restaurants are hit and miss,

sometimes its nice to have a place you can go to 

and every thing is gonna be good.

In fact the whole trip was a bit like that....

i definitely feel like Ljubljana is my home away from home

And now....

we are in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands.

Sailing here was not the best of pleasures for me.

i got sick again on the first today,

and although i drugged up on sea sick meds after that and felt physically fine

I spent my birthday bobbing around on the ocean and for me

that was not fun at all....

booooo....

my poor husband doesnt quite get my 

dislike for the bobbing...but he tries.

Flying High....

EEEEEk!

So Captain Tim has some business to do in Slovenia

and i'm tagging along as baggage....eeeek!

More importantly we are going there by airplane...

woohoo...no sailing!

Tim and I definitely have a soft spot in our hearts for Slovenia.

Its a beautiful country

with a lot of friends and great people there.

Of course its also the place we met..... 

Lots of shiny memories..

In fact one of the things that we are quite

excited to do is go to the little pizza restaurant

near where Tim used to live.

We realised the other day that everytime we see 

Bolognaise Pizza on a menu we get very excited

and order it in eager anticipation.

Because we LOVE bolognaise pizza....

But...

EVERYTIME we are disappointed,

because the Bolognaise Pizza 

we have ordered just doesnt live up to the  

memories of the bolognaise pizza from that little pizzeria.

(which we dont even remember the name of!)

We were trying to figure it out the other day,

what was it that made that one so much better?

we hope our memories have not been 

tricking us all this time.

I look forward to seeing friends

and places and memories

and hope to make them more sparkly.

A Fantastic, Fantastic Mister Fox....

Why have i only just got round to seeing the movie Fantastic Mister Fox?
Is it because i've been busy filling my last couple of week here in Ljubljana doing things i'd always thought i'd get round to doing but never did and a few other bonuses that just popped up..

like,
going white water rafting...
having multiple bbq's...
sailing around the coast in fancy boats...
swimming in the ocean...
going to outdoor movies...
sneaking into the fanciest hotel in the country
and using there swimming pool and eating a free buffet....
swimming in a fresh water lake between the mountains...

and generally just catching up with friends...

at any rate,
I loved this movie...
LOVED!

getting out of the city...

The sun came out and i finally

went to Vintagar Groje....

it was divinely beautiful

and it reminded me of this quote...

'we receive our inspiration from the mountains

but receive ourmaturity from the valleys of life'

Winston Churchill

Go Away Nasty Grey Clouds....

I have of late been unconcisously making up a list of exciting summery things to do now that it is Summer time.....

i am all aglow with anticipation.

But the grey clouds seem to have come back and are spoiling my plans....

I guess I'll have to put them on hold until Mister Sun chases them away.

Here a few things on my summer list...

Climb Nanos and fly a Spiderman kite at the top of it

(cause i saw a Spiderman kite in a toy shop the other and secretly coveted it)

Swim in the outdoor pool that i have cycled past
many-a-day for 2 years and never been in but alwas wanted to

Have a barbeque

Go white water rafting....
again something i've talked about and never done...

Go to Vintgar Gore....it looks so pretty

These are just the tip of the iceberg....
Summer this year is going to be so FUN!

The Weight of The World....

I always feel a little bit sorry for these chaps as i walk past them....

mainly because they are holding up the national bank and i think things have gotten a lttle bit tougher for them as of late....

This weekend i'm going to a wedding and a Sailing Regatta...
oh what fun!

Lions and Tigers and Bears...Oh My!.....

My friend decided this weekend that he wanted to go to the zoo. I was dubious. Dont get me wrong i love going to the zoo, in fact i'm sure i go more often now than when i was a kid, but it was snowing very heavily outside and i wasnt dressed quite as warmly as i should be for such an adventure...but nevertheless to the zoo we went.

We were the only people there....

of course there was the occasional animal too....although most of them were smarter than us humans and were inside rather than wandering around in the cold.

(thats a kangaroo in the background)

My favourite exhibt were the eggs...i think its the first time i've seen them in a zoo.

I'm pretty sure Ljubljana has the worst zoo in the world. The very few animals that the have are so old that i'm sure they are going to pop their cloggs any minute....so if u wanna go u should go soon before this happens....

Getting in touch with my inner (ex) Yugoslavian....

I picked up this map in a second hand book store a few weeks ago.
Its an old German tourist map of (now former) Yuogslavia form the '70's.

I love it....

Especially as it shows me where i can go hunt bears and whatnot....

My Slovene friends laugh at me for trying to get in touch with my inner-Balkan.

Personally i think it looks lovely on my wall.

Umbrellas in the snow.....

When i first moved here my Austrian flat mate and i used to find it hilarious that Slovenes whip out there umbrellas when its snowing.

And yet yesterday i found myself returning to my house to retrieve my umbrella to protect me from the heavy snowfall and stop me getting all snowy-wet.....its very practical dont-ya-know.

If only i could pick up their language quite so easily.....

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Lights....

Finally got round to seeing the Christmas Lights and Market in Center Ljubljana. Every year there are new ones which they simply add rather than replacing so there is a large mix of different themes which all clash....i love it!!!
This year seems to be the year of the giant cubes.....

Although a few of them need explaining.....
what does this one look like to you?

If you say and egg with sperm around it you would be right.
When these lights were designed there was a competition and these were chosen as they represented birth and the new year.......

along with that theme is the Giant DNA strand

and yes these are not pretty comets but giant intergalactic sperm

You also wouldnt find any red lights as it reminded them too much of communism,
but this year i see that a few have begun to sneak in!

A Conversation....

So this is a little tid-bit of a conversation that took place today between my American and Slovene friend. It did make me chortle a little bit.....

Slovene - What? Cant you name all the Presidents of the USA?

American - All forty four of them.....No.
Can you name all your Presidents?

Slovene - (very decisively) Yes.
All Three of them.
I can also name all the Presidents of ex-Yugolslavia...
Well....there was only one.


Slovenia is a baby country........