piran café

Borrowing from Andrew Sullivan’s ‘View From Your Window’, today’s daily pic is just a quick snap out of the home office window where the first snow in the area can be seen in the hills just east of Ljubljana.

Another shot of Slovenia’s Central Bank, more specifically its telamones, taken on Saturday while waiting for Bill Clinton. Another shot of the bank and more about the building here.

Ljubljana 0170, originally uploaded by pirano.

Over a couple glasses of wine this afternoon, Bill Clinton chastised me for my rather lame efforts with my LJ Pic of the Day chore, so I promised that I’d resume the project with an image of him.

The former US President popped into Ljubljana today to say hi, and to collect a reported €100,000 ($147,318) for a 45-minute lecture. (As a point of comparison, George W. Bush hit the lecture circuit at home last week, an event for which organizers charged $19, but not per person. That was the ticket price per office.)

I didn’t see and haven’t read much about his lecture, but among the more memorable quips was in reference to the ongoing Adriatic boundary dispute between Slovenia and Croatia. Paraphrasing from a Radio SLO report:  “The current dispute won’t matter much in 50 years if we allow the sea levels to continue to rise.”

This was Clinton’s second visit to Slovenia, and while his stroll around town turned a few heads and attracted a few waves, the crowd didn’t quite compare with the one that turned out for Queen Elizabeth’s after-tea walkabout here last October.

Clinton in SLO 02, originally uploaded by pirano.

200 meters to go: Caroline Cheptanui Kilel on the way to a race record at Sunday’s Ljubljana Marathon, where she clocked 2:25:24, the 14th fastest performance in the world this year.

There’s another handful of other shots from the marathon here.

Caroline Cheptanui, originally uploaded by pirano.

We’ve had some nice early evening colors over the past few weeks. This was taken eight days ago, looking towards the south.

Ljubljana 0166, originally uploaded by pirano.

We’ll try to kick-start this daily chore again with this, spotted near Kinoklub Vič a few weeks ago. I’m delighted to note that the square on which it’s located is still called Trg mladinskih delovnih brigad, or Youth Workers Brigades Square. Recently renovated and reopened over the summer. [map] [now showing (scroll down)]

Nice gun!

Ljubljana 0168, originally uploaded by pirano.

Is there a better way to restart the LJ Pic of the Day project –as well as re-open the café– than with this, a promise that unparalleled pleasures of the mind, body, spirit and soul lie in wait just around the corner? I think not.

This was taken yesterday, near an entrance to Cankarjev Dom, Ljubljana’s (and Slovenia’s) premiere cultural center [home][eng].

About a year ago, LJ Pic of the Day reached a record 38 straight daily posts. With the typically busy summer now fading to memory, surpassing that with this daily chore is the immediate goal.

For the LJ Pic of the Day Archive, go here. If you feel a Ljubljana image overdose is in order, go here.

Ljubljana 0163, originally uploaded by pirano.

Did you miss me?

Resuming the pic-a-day quest with this shot of castle hill taken very early in the morning late last month when I decided that the notion of going to sleep really was overrated.

Ljubljana 0161, originally uploaded by pirano.

This was rejected for a tourist brochure. The Ljubljanica, from the Fish Market Restaurant, 27-May-2009.

I’ve been listening to violins much of the day, so thought this appropriate, a gentleman jamming away near some of the Sunday morning flea market stalls a few weeks ago.

The weekly flea market is usually a pleasure to browse. Plenty of Yugoslav and Tito memorabilia, but there’s a nice selection of better antiques from time to time as well. Much of the stuff is over-priced, but do bargain.  Located mostly on the east bank (castle hill side) of the Ljublanica, but has been regularly spilling spilling over to the other side via the Cobbler’s Bridge. Every Sunday, beginning at 8. Dealers begin packing up around 2.

Ljubljana 0161, originally uploaded by pirano.

There was an entertaining piece on Ljubljana in yesterday’s Washington Post Travel section. At more than 2000 words, ‘Ljubljana: Too Cool to Get Hot‘ is a breezy read, quite positive overall, and makes the city quite welcoming indeed.

I did find this a bit bothersome:

Thus would Ljubljana, which had somehow survived the Romans, Napoleon, the Soviets and more…

When, precisely, did Ljubljana “survive” the Soviets? This irksome and patently false link to the former Yugoslavia under Soviet control keeps popping up in places where it really shouldn’t.  Washington Post editors, if not staff reporters, really should know better. In the bigger scheme of things, this ain’t ancient history.  [Here's another recent example from the LA Times.]

Anyway, a nice read. Check it out.

By the way, again resuming the LJ Pic of the Day chore with this, shot a few days ago at the main central market.

Ljubljana 0160, originally uploaded by pirano.

Rainy few days. Taken from the roof today.

Ljubljana 0156, originally uploaded by pirano.

Quick landscape, late Saturday afternoon, looking south.

Ljubljana 0152, originally uploaded by pirano.

From yesterday’s Cvičkarija festival in Ljubljana, a celebration for Dolenjska’s cviček wine, which was a key ingredient for Martin Strel’s successful swim down the Amazon two years ago. Wine and Earth Day should be synonymous, no?

(The guy wouldn’t get out of the way. My apologies.)

I’ve never been a ‘car guy’ –I drove a Yugo around the hills of southeast Ohio for more than five years– but these will always hold a special place in my heart.

Ljubljana 0119, originally uploaded by pirano.

Restarting (again) this daily chore with this, taken a few weeks ago on an otherwise mostly sunny day.

Ljubljana 0151, originally uploaded by pirano.

Spotted this guy standing guard over a house and barn a few days in the village of Vnanje Gorice, seven kms outside of Ljubljana. Intimidating, no?

Taken a few weeks ago along the Ljubljanica River in the old center.
Translation:
“Please! Bombs are falling”

ljubljana 0141, originally uploaded by pirano.

A military memorabilia seller at the Collecta International Collectors Fair here in Ljubljana. A few more pics from Collecta are here.

seller, originally uploaded by pirano.

Groovy cover, no? Spotted this relic at the Collecta International Collectors Fair on Friday.

Here’s Birth Control singing The Work is Done and here is their cover for the album Hoodoo Man.

The Best of Birth Control, originally uploaded by pirano.

Debate is apparently alive in well on Ljubljana’s walls.

Resuming the LJ Pic of the Day chore –In November, I hit a record 37 days in a row!– with this give and take between a pair of spray paint-armed citizens.

Translation:
“We are all Palestinians.”
To who which someone replied:
“No we’re not.”

Ljubljana 0148, originally uploaded by pirano.

This is the Delavska Zbornica (roughly, Worker’s Assembly Hall), on Miklošičeva. Built in 1928, Vladimir Šubic architect. I’ve always liked the sculptures staring down from the top.

Ljubljana 0118, originally uploaded by pirano.

The holiday lights in the center of Ljubljana, all 52 kilometers of them, were flicked on on Wednesday night, as fitting a way as any to resume the LJ Pic of the Day chore. (By the way, the last streak reached 38 straight. Impressive, no?)

I kind of like this space ship/intergalactic theme happening here. There are several stalls and kiosks set up in the heart of the center, although a quick survey the other night showed that the only item really worth buying is some kuhano vino, or hot spiced wine.

Ljubljana 114, originally uploaded by pirano.

This shot, another of the front of Slovenia’s Parliament, is a fitting one for today, the kick-off of St. Martin’s Day festivities.

St. Martin? From one St. Martin’s Day fiesta a few years ago:

St. Martin –-specifically, St. Martin of Tours–- is the Catholic Church’s patron Saint of wine. Besides wine-growers, he is also said to look after beggars, soldiers and tailors. Quite a quartet to have under your wings. November 11 is an obligatory memorial in the Church, and, just a few months after the traditional grape harvest, a date that nicely corresponds with the year’s first wine releases. What is nouveau in Beaujolais, is simply mlado vino (young wine) here. And the day is set aside specifically with the Pope’s blessing. [More]

Or, if you prefer, a wine outing this weekend is another well-earned excuse to continue celebrating the end of the Bush Era, and the Dawning of the new.

The pic is also among a dozen or so of my personal faves shot in October; there are about a dozen more here, all, for a change, shot at home in Ljubljana.

Previous pic(k)s of the month: [Sep 08] [Aug 08] [July 08] [June 08] [May 08] [March 08] [February 08] [January 08]

Ljubljana 103, originally uploaded by pirano.

As if I need to collect more things.

Obama’s immediate impact on the world economy: I spent about 30 euros today on newspapers I’ll never read, but ones I will keep.

Note to Collectors: I’ve got a decent sized stash of three Slovenian dailies. Get in touch for trades.