Tagged: Ljubljana
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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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.
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LJ Pic of the Day
I selected this fairly mundane shot of the National Gallery of Slovenia as the 25th straight Ljubljana Pic of the Day because like several museums I hoped to visit today here in Paris today, it too is closed on Mondays. C’est la vie. (Operating hours and fees are here. Free admission the first Sunday of each month.)
Cheers,
Bob
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A Short Lesson in Standing Out (LJ Pic of the Day)
I’m busy trying to enjoy myself in Normandy at the moment but that doesn’t mean that the Ljubljana Pic of the Day chore has to stop, right?
These two houses on Topniska street really stood out on what was an otherwise somewhat dreary day last week Tuesday, so are certainly deserving of a little bit of love in the internets.
Cheers all, and enjoy!
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LJ Pic of the Day
I’m nowhere near Ljubljana at the moment, but was blessed with bright blue skies most of today in Normandy so this should suffice for the 20th (!) consecutive LJ Pic of the Day.
This was taken late last week on Slovenska Cesta facing east.
Be well!
~Bob
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LJ Pic of the Day
Today’s daily pic is of one of the most photographed objects in the Slovenian capital, the inviting Dragon Bridge over the Ljubljanica River. According to local legend, one or each of the four dragons will wag their tails when a Virgin crosses. To date no waggings have been recorded, adding to Ljubljana’s popularity and allure.
There’s lots of dragons around Ljubljana, a connection said to date back to Jason of Argonauts fame who slayed a dragon here when he founded the city.
Here’s a link to a shot taken underneath the bridge that I posted four years ago that was blogged by Gadling, and below a very quick video of the bridge, the first video footage I shot with my new GoPro. It’s raw and rough, but you get the idea.
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Waiting for a Storm – LJ Pic of the Day
But it never came. I didn’t even get wet.
This mundane scene was taken yesterday in Ljubljana’s Fužine district. The colors weren’t at all what I was hoping for so I spent a few minutes playing with a desaturated version as well. Which do you prefer? Yes. ‘Neither’ is an acceptable answer as well.
(13th LJ Pic of the Day in a row!)
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LJ Pic of the Day
I was stuck inside all of yesterday and will be most of today, so I had to dig a bit for today’s post, the 11th (!) consecutive LJ Pic of the Day.
This snap of castle hill in the old town center was shot exactly one month ago. I really liked the late afternoon colors on this riverfront building. Enjoy!
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Five Snaps in the Ljubljana Moors – Barje part II
Today’s Ljubljana Pics of the Day were actually taken today during a late afternoon bike ride southeast of the city. The pic above is facing north towards the Kamnik Alps. Conditions weren’t ideal for crisp shots, but it gives you a pretty good idea how close portions of the Alps actually are to Ljubljana.
Although it wasn’t part of the plan, I wound up on the easternmost edges of the Ljubljana Moors, or Barje, my first time in this section of Europe’s southernmost wetland. Here too, the birds were buzzing and diving, much less shy then they generally are just a kilometer west of here. (Here’s a longer post on another section of the moors, which includes the Iški Vintgar Gorge, with plenty of additional info and links.)
I stopped briefly in the town of Škofljica to watch this couple, the man leading his horse and plow in one large circles and the woman readying a plot for.. something. As I stood and watched, I imagined them both as gainfully unemployed poets. A smoking skateboarder slowly wheeled by to ruin the moment.
Nearly five months have passed since I last had a cigarette, by far the longest stretch of abstinence in my 28-year career as a smoker. I miss it immensely and am still a bit off-kilter. But I’m also finally starting to feel better.
I’m trying to get out and ride for at least two hours each day; since our winters now last all of two weeks I’ve managed that for the most part, along with a couple significantly longer rides a week. I’m only mentioning this because today, for the first time, I actually felt good during and after a ride.
I was ruminating over just that when a woman driving an Audi 6 and muttering nonsense into her mobile phone came within two meters of killing me when she passed a car in the left lane.
