I love this song. I couldn't find an original video on youtube, but this concert video isn't that bad. Although there's a dude shouting something at the start and some people just don't know how to sing along. ;-) Enjoy.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Thunderstorms of the season
As many of you probably know, North of Slovenia was hit hard by a severe thunderstorm last Sunday, 17th July. The speed of the wind reached over 100 km/h in some places. Countless houses lost their roof, crops were decimated by hail, many basements were flooded. In many ways it was the strongest storm on record in here, but luckily there were no casualties, just record material damage.
Slovenia rainfall radar animation
Even though because of its location Slovenia is prone to strong thunderstorms it seems that lately they are just becoming stronger and last longer. There are even reports that village Gozd above Kamnik was hit by a twister during the storm- which is really rare weather phenomenon in this part of the world. All connected to the global warming? It's hard to prove, but with disasters like this it's hard not to believe so.
My tip for everyone- on next elections- wherever they happen- choose candidates and parties which promise better and greener public transport.... In the meantime if you are traveling in Europe, check this page for weather annoyances.
Slovenia rainfall radar animation
Even though because of its location Slovenia is prone to strong thunderstorms it seems that lately they are just becoming stronger and last longer. There are even reports that village Gozd above Kamnik was hit by a twister during the storm- which is really rare weather phenomenon in this part of the world. All connected to the global warming? It's hard to prove, but with disasters like this it's hard not to believe so.
My tip for everyone- on next elections- wherever they happen- choose candidates and parties which promise better and greener public transport.... In the meantime if you are traveling in Europe, check this page for weather annoyances.
Monday, July 14, 2008
O'zapft is!
4 basic steps for tapping a beer cask:
1. One person positions tap at the marked position. Other person prepares a hammer.
2. Pipe is hammered into position.
3. Extra care is taken not to get splashed with beer (often unsuccessfully).
4. Beer is ready to be served!!!
* third person is there to have a first glass :-)
** no animals were hurt while preparing this manual
*** yes it was delicious ;-)
**** in case you are wondering about the title- it's the opening lines after tapping first cask at the Oktoberfest festival
1. One person positions tap at the marked position. Other person prepares a hammer.
2. Pipe is hammered into position.
3. Extra care is taken not to get splashed with beer (often unsuccessfully).
4. Beer is ready to be served!!!
* third person is there to have a first glass :-)
** no animals were hurt while preparing this manual
*** yes it was delicious ;-)
**** in case you are wondering about the title- it's the opening lines after tapping first cask at the Oktoberfest festival
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Just to set the personal record
... and write two blog entries in a day, I give you a picture of Ljubljana after a big summer storm few days ago. I love the colors of the sky after storms- this time it was a bit to late to get to many colors, but it was still nice. Compare it with this one, and this one taken from the same location.
Being a tourist in Prague
It's not raining any more. Actually it stopped pretty much as soon as I wrote my last post on this blog. Knowing my limitations I won't take credit for this sunny spell, but just in case someone would want to need service on this field let me know, I won't put the price to high. Of course I can't guarantee it'll work. ;-)
Astronomical clock at the old town square
Anyways. Prague... Actually I think I should start at the beginning. We were talking for quite some time to do a weekend in Prague at the end of the June. One of the major limitations for me was due to the fact, that train ride from Ljubljana takes 10 hours. So, I was actually relieved when I found out that low-cost air carrier Sky Europe is flying to Prague from Trieste. We purchased our tickets while there was still promotion for incredibly cheap 75 €. Except for the fact that windshield on my car partially broke one day before the trip (Murhpy & his laws of course) nothing to exciting happened on our way to Trieste airport. It was the first time for me to cross the border without the border check. Could you imagine doing that some 30 years ago? Schengen rules.
The flight was rather uneventful, but at least we had some nice turbulency on the descent to the Prague airport (joy for Alenka, and horror for Gorazd- his first flight).
In Prague we stayed in hostel Condor 1. It has a great location- just few hundred meters from old town. The downside for some might be that the night club is in the same street, which basically means there's tons of pesky kids screaming and shouting at 4 o'clock in the morning. Nah, it wasn't that bad. We actually managed to have some decent sleep in there. I'd certainly recommend it, although don't expect to much of the comfort. It's generally clean which at least to me means a lot. And don't expect to check in to soon- there's a pleasant old lady sitting behind a desk which makes sure you are checked-in without a problem, and warns you of all the must-sees and dangers of Prague.
Did I say dangers? Seems so. Virtually everywhere we went there were signs that pickpockets are operating in the area and stuff like that. Even before we were there I heard some horror stories about fake taxis, pickpockets and greedy waiters. We didn't have a bad experience. It might be due to the fact that we knew of those things, there were four of us, we were careful, and we spoke among each other in Slovenian (people hate English in there, mostly because of their infamous stag parties). But at least due to the size of Prague and amount of tourists it's no wonder some of them get robbed. My favorite "warning" though was written on the back of the Praha City Spy map we got at the hostel: "... It seems as though the Russians have taken over St. Wenceslav Square again... (maybe they just never left)... Every now and then they soot at each other. But don't worry they are very good at it & each bullet has a name on it... unless your name happens to be Boris & you are lounging in the bordelo...!...". ;-)
And I didn't believe when they told me I have a big head ;-)
Vltava river
And there are certainly a lot of Russians around Prague. And it seems there are even more of our former fellow countrymen- it seems that virtually every souvenir shop in old town is owned or at least guarded by Serbian or Macedonian. Czech republic, or at least Prague went a long way in multiculturalism. Virtually all sellers on Prague open market were Chinese (eager to haggle over price). Nigerians in navy suits are inviting tourist to join a boat sighting tour. Actually among all these people on the streets of Prague what I missed...
Alenka giving a hand in hope of finding nirvana
... are the real Czech people. I mean- I'm sure there were plenty of them, but in all the crowds of tourists you can't help but get the feeling like Prague was one huge amusement park built for tourists. Don't take me wrong- I absolutely loved the city, had really great time. But perhaps I just expected to meet loads of Švejk-like characters (though the old lady at the hostel gave us a nice welcome). To be fair, the fact that we were traveling as a group didn't help us much about meeting locals, but anyway.
Prague as a whole is a really nice city. There are so many sights you would need a whole week to see them all. It's amazing that the old town is so well preserved, and it even survived the WW2 and 50 years of Soviet-style urbanization. I'd certainly recommend sights that aren't necessary described as prime sights in tour guides- like Vyšehrad castle (with cemetery where many of Czech famous personalities are buried), and Petřín hill, especially the view from Petřínská rozhledna observation tower- it's absolutely stunning.
Cemetery at the Vyšehrad castle
Twisted "dancing" building
As for culinary delights I'd mention just one- PIVO (beer). Czech are famous for their beer, and it's quite obvious why. While we were there we didn't have a bad experience. If I'd have to recommend one, I'd say try the locally- brewed wheat beer at Pivnice u Sadu near the TV tower- it's absolutely delicious, with great fresh taste. Don't judge by the color (it looks a bit like dark banana shake with froth due to the fact that it's not filtered)- it's really good and really fresh. And even if you don't like wheat beers I'm sure you'll find your personal favorite there...
What to say for closure of this unbelievably (at least for me) long blog entry? I'd certainly recommend Prague to everyone. Event though it's really crowded with tourists, it's well worth a visit. Just don't expect real Czech-environment in the city center. You have to search little further.
Astronomical clock at the old town squareAnyways. Prague... Actually I think I should start at the beginning. We were talking for quite some time to do a weekend in Prague at the end of the June. One of the major limitations for me was due to the fact, that train ride from Ljubljana takes 10 hours. So, I was actually relieved when I found out that low-cost air carrier Sky Europe is flying to Prague from Trieste. We purchased our tickets while there was still promotion for incredibly cheap 75 €. Except for the fact that windshield on my car partially broke one day before the trip (Murhpy & his laws of course) nothing to exciting happened on our way to Trieste airport. It was the first time for me to cross the border without the border check. Could you imagine doing that some 30 years ago? Schengen rules.
The flight was rather uneventful, but at least we had some nice turbulency on the descent to the Prague airport (joy for Alenka, and horror for Gorazd- his first flight).
In Prague we stayed in hostel Condor 1. It has a great location- just few hundred meters from old town. The downside for some might be that the night club is in the same street, which basically means there's tons of pesky kids screaming and shouting at 4 o'clock in the morning. Nah, it wasn't that bad. We actually managed to have some decent sleep in there. I'd certainly recommend it, although don't expect to much of the comfort. It's generally clean which at least to me means a lot. And don't expect to check in to soon- there's a pleasant old lady sitting behind a desk which makes sure you are checked-in without a problem, and warns you of all the must-sees and dangers of Prague.
Did I say dangers? Seems so. Virtually everywhere we went there were signs that pickpockets are operating in the area and stuff like that. Even before we were there I heard some horror stories about fake taxis, pickpockets and greedy waiters. We didn't have a bad experience. It might be due to the fact that we knew of those things, there were four of us, we were careful, and we spoke among each other in Slovenian (people hate English in there, mostly because of their infamous stag parties). But at least due to the size of Prague and amount of tourists it's no wonder some of them get robbed. My favorite "warning" though was written on the back of the Praha City Spy map we got at the hostel: "... It seems as though the Russians have taken over St. Wenceslav Square again... (maybe they just never left)... Every now and then they soot at each other. But don't worry they are very good at it & each bullet has a name on it... unless your name happens to be Boris & you are lounging in the bordelo...!...". ;-)
And I didn't believe when they told me I have a big head ;-)
Vltava riverAnd there are certainly a lot of Russians around Prague. And it seems there are even more of our former fellow countrymen- it seems that virtually every souvenir shop in old town is owned or at least guarded by Serbian or Macedonian. Czech republic, or at least Prague went a long way in multiculturalism. Virtually all sellers on Prague open market were Chinese (eager to haggle over price). Nigerians in navy suits are inviting tourist to join a boat sighting tour. Actually among all these people on the streets of Prague what I missed...
Alenka giving a hand in hope of finding nirvana... are the real Czech people. I mean- I'm sure there were plenty of them, but in all the crowds of tourists you can't help but get the feeling like Prague was one huge amusement park built for tourists. Don't take me wrong- I absolutely loved the city, had really great time. But perhaps I just expected to meet loads of Švejk-like characters (though the old lady at the hostel gave us a nice welcome). To be fair, the fact that we were traveling as a group didn't help us much about meeting locals, but anyway.
Prague as a whole is a really nice city. There are so many sights you would need a whole week to see them all. It's amazing that the old town is so well preserved, and it even survived the WW2 and 50 years of Soviet-style urbanization. I'd certainly recommend sights that aren't necessary described as prime sights in tour guides- like Vyšehrad castle (with cemetery where many of Czech famous personalities are buried), and Petřín hill, especially the view from Petřínská rozhledna observation tower- it's absolutely stunning.
Cemetery at the Vyšehrad castle
Twisted "dancing" buildingAs for culinary delights I'd mention just one- PIVO (beer). Czech are famous for their beer, and it's quite obvious why. While we were there we didn't have a bad experience. If I'd have to recommend one, I'd say try the locally- brewed wheat beer at Pivnice u Sadu near the TV tower- it's absolutely delicious, with great fresh taste. Don't judge by the color (it looks a bit like dark banana shake with froth due to the fact that it's not filtered)- it's really good and really fresh. And even if you don't like wheat beers I'm sure you'll find your personal favorite there...
What to say for closure of this unbelievably (at least for me) long blog entry? I'd certainly recommend Prague to everyone. Event though it's really crowded with tourists, it's well worth a visit. Just don't expect real Czech-environment in the city center. You have to search little further.
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