Category: Ljubljana
Cossack-dancing Chinese-Slovenian Pre-teens
Today’s LJ Pic of the Day is from another neighborhood Chinese restaurant, Halo Shaolin, which is almost directly across the street from the main train and bus station. Is there anything that screams ‘EAT HERE’ more than a bald pre-pubescent boy wielding an impaled roasted chicken while doing a Cossack dance?
No, I didn’t think so.
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Project USA Update
USA, as we all know, stands for Uninspired Socialist Architecture, the working title of a photo project I’ve been toying with for the past few months.
There’s no shortage of USA, constructed in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, here in Ljubljana, so plenty of fodder to play with to piece together a collection drab enough to suit the subject matter. This, the 36th (!) straight LJ Pic of the Day, was snapped during the tail end of an early evening bike ride. Thoughts?
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James Joyce Slept Here
At Ljubljana’s train station. Once. For one night. And he got this monument to memorialize the chilly October evening in 1904 he spent in the Slovenian capital. I’ve slept in lots of places –train stations, too– and have yet to receive a plaque.
This was dedicated on Bloomsday 2003, so Joyce’s accidental night in Ljubljana did take nearly 99 years to be properly remembered. And another nine before becoming an LJ Pic of the Day. So I guess I’ll be a bit more patient for my monuments.
By the way – he and his wife were on their way to Trieste where he spent much of the next decade and where he wrote The Dubliners and Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. The snap below is his statue on the Canal Grande. I like how his spectacles meld with his eyes.
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These snaps are also this week’s contribution for Travel Photo Thursday (#TPThursday on twitter) hosted by Nancie on her website, Budget Travelers Sandbox. When you have few minutes to browse, check out Nancie’s photos and those of others who take part. You’ll see some great photos and visit some wonderful places. The direct link this week is here.
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High End Cognac Shopping in Ljubljana
These bottles of high end cognac have been in the wine and spirits section of Maximarket for months –maybe even years, I’m losing track of time– and they still look just as out of place now as they did on the day they were put there. At least they’re dusted on occasion.
The highest ticket item is this Louis XIII Remy Martin, at €1991.20. For that price the pedestal should look less Barbie-like. Below is the Camus Cuvee, a close runner-up at €1969.00. (Sorry, I didn’t jot down further details about the bottle).
If you still can’t get over the absurdity of today’s LJ PIcs of the Day and are on a tighter budget, they’ve also got a bottle of Hennesy Richard (€1758.90) and Martell d’Or, at €1145.50 in stock. Is anyone else wondering if the beverage manager who ordered these still has her job?
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Unrelated: If you’re in Ljubljana Wednesday (25th), stop by the Dvornibar WIne Bar for their bi-weekly promo tastings. Up this week are sparkling wines from Silveri. Directions on the website (http://www.dvornibar.net/).
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T is for Trees
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__________________
If you haven’t guessed,
T is for Trees as I try to regroup for the final week
of the Blogging From A to Z Challenge 2012.
Check out more participants here.
My explanation for this is here.
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Most of these trees are in Ljubljana, which makes them, collectively, the 32nd straight LJ Pic of the Day.
Hey! Join me on Twitter.
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Every Day is Earth Day (LJ Pic of the Day)
Just a reminder.
I haven’t been in high orbit yet so no snapshots of the planet in the archives. But I do have this, taken from a plane a few weeks ago, of the hills to the southeast of Ljubljana. Close enough to town to count as the 31st (!) straight LJ Pic of the Day.
Enjoy and skip the Earth Day sales at the mall today, ok? Thanks.
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Got Milk? (LJ Pic of the Day)
A milk vending machine at the central market. Available 24/7. Raw and unskimmed. 1 euro a liter.
This is the 30th (!) straight LJ Pic of the Day. I smell a record in very the near future. 
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Rain, Drunks and an Underpass With a View (LJ Pic of the Day)
This was taken this afternoon from a pedestrian underpass facing Kongresni Trg (Congress Square) and castle hill. Local drunks like to spend a large part of their days here where they’re both shielded from the elements and have a captive audience from which to beg. And it’s got a decent view.
A few minutes later the skies opened to unleash a pleasant shower of hail. I was putting my camera away as a man approached, sporting a toothless smile. His approach was modest but firm. “Can you spare two euros?
“What do you need it for?”
“I could lie to you but I won’t,” he said. “I’d like to get a bottle of wine.”
I appreciated his honesty and dropped a couple euro coins in the grimy palm of his dirty outstretched hand. It is the weekend after all.
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Woman in White With Sickle (LJ Pic of the Day)
I posted pics of a murals on a building in Cherbourg, France, earlier today, so have stuck with the theme for the LJ Pic of the Day.
This building is on Cesta Dolomitskega Odreda on the western edge of Ljubljana. There’s something very sexy about a woman with a sickle in her hand. Does anyone know anything about the building or the artwork?
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Massive General Strike in Slovenia Today (LJ Pics of the Day)
There was a massive public sector general strike in Slovenia today, the largest in the country’s history, organized by labor unions to protest austerity measures proposed by the center-right government.
According to union leaders more than 80,000 participated (some estimates reach as high as 100,000), with several thousand marching in Ljubljana and other cities and towns. I didn’t make it to the main demonstration held late this morning, but managed to catch these day care workers at the demonstration’s tail end.
The government lead by Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who took office just two months ago, is planning a wage cut of more than seven percent in the public sector, hoping to reduce the deficit from 6.4 percent of GDP last year to 3.5 percent this year. Unions don’t like the idea of public workers bearing the brunt of the burden through wage cuts.
For a concise and balanced background, check out this post on Sleeping with Pengovsky, my No. 1 source for all things political in Slovenia.
More pics of this morning’s demonstration in Ljubljana via Radio Kaos and local photographer Andrej Trcek.
