Ljubljana Daily Photo

AWAY

2006-06-16T17:27:00.000+02:00

I'm going back to England tomorrow for a few weeks, so won't be updating the site for a little while.
Will be back on around July 15th.
So, until then.............

RedBull evil bastards

2006-06-12T13:03:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was a Sunday, and if there's one thing that I like to do on a Sunday, it's spend the morning sleeping. Not least of all because my Saturday night didn't finish until about 5 in the morning!
So, imagine my anger and annoyance when I was woken at 10 o'clock to the buiding-shaking sound of loud cheesy disco music.
"What the fkucing hell is going on???"

It was the guys from RedBull hosting their annual SoapBox racing parade-thingy up on castle hill. Castle Hill is just outside my window!
So, I spent the whole day listening to the annoying bloke on the loudspeaker and the hundreds of people who had come from all around to enjoy the day in the sun. Did they not know that there was football on the telly????

It finished up around 8pm, and i was a happy man again.

I could't be arsed to take a stroll over there, as I was more interested in the world cup. But I did take a few pictures from my kitchen window. Here you go, above.

Football time

2006-06-09T10:55:00.000+02:00

I'm guessing that most of you know what today is.
And love it or hate it, football is going to take centre stage for the next month. Here at ljubljanadailyphoto things will be no different!
Hopefully there will be times when I'm sober enough to even switch on the computer to update the page, time will tell!
This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago when you will remember that I told you about the game my team played in the ex-national stadium.
This is the view from just inside the players' tunnel, around 2 hours before kick-off.

COME ON ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tourist information building

2006-06-08T11:01:00.000+02:00

Here is a building that I have discovered hasn't changed a bit probably in over 100 years. How did I discover this? Old postcards.
This building sits on one of the corners of 'three bridges' and is now home to the Ljubljana Tourist Board.

It looks exactly the same today as it does in any old black and white picture, and really makes you appreciate the city a little bit more. I don't even know why, it just does!

Bookshop

2006-06-06T10:55:00.000+02:00

I'm currently involved in a bit of business that I hope will be quite profitable. Say no more ;-)
One of the things that this 'work' involves is taking a large amount of photos of many different establishments in the city.
Today I'll share one of these photos with you. It was taken inside a decent bookshop here in the city, Knjigarna Vale Novak. This is the place to go for all your literary needs, and offers a huge selection of English-language books on virtually every subject.

Another balloon

2006-06-05T09:47:00.000+02:00

Yesterday evening from my kitchen window I spotted this balloon flying above the centre of town.

Castle and Fransiscan Church view

2006-06-04T11:16:00.000+02:00

This picture is taken from one of the main streets in the city, Slovenska Cesta. It shows the castle sitting up on her hill, and also in the forefront you see the pinky colour of the Fransiscan Church in Prešeren's Square.

Interesting house

2006-06-01T09:48:00.000+02:00

Went for a walk and found this interesting-looking house sitting next to the Finish embassy. Thought I'd share it with you.

Rain rain bloody rain

2006-05-31T12:21:00.000+02:00

One thing that I am sick of hearing from Slovenians is 'Oh, you are from England. You must be used to the rain then.' or 'It's always raining in England.'
True, maybe in my home town of Brighton we get the odd shower, but nowhere near as much as foreigners are led to believe. What makes it even more annoying is that it actually rains more here in Ljubljana than it does at home.
It finally stopped raining here last night after about 48 hours of constant downpour. This wasn't your average rainfall, this was a monsoon.
It meant that I couldn't get out with the camera. So I took this shot from my balcony of the low, low clouds just above the trees. Actually, they weren't as low as they looked, they were in the distance between the mountains, but it looked quite good from here.
Also, don't be fooled by the picture, they are definitely clouds, and not smoke.
Quite a boring picture, I know. But it's all I've got!

Bravo in Slovenian

2006-05-30T10:09:00.000+02:00

Bravo is a German magazine that is read here in Slovenia by a big number of early-teenage girls. Basically it's the usual crap that girls of the same age are reading all over the world.
Well, now it will be read here by even more as finally it is being published not just in the original German language, but also in Slovenian.
Here is a billboard exclaiming that fact. The sentence at the top of the billboard reads; 'Finally also in Slovenian!'

Sunday market

2006-05-29T10:20:00.000+02:00

Every Sunday morning along one of the banks of the river, there takes place a huge market.
Not your usual clothes or food market, this market specialises in mostly memorabilia from the Communist days, offering millitary badges, hats, weapons, etc.
You can also find lots of old postcards of the area, and also many religious items (mostly pictures of the Virgin Mary.)
The market is definitely worth a visit, as you never know what bargain you might find. Also, it's very interesting, you can learn a lot about the history of the place witha visit here.
I was passing by yesterday but not stopping in, but I did have time to take this picture from the 'entrance' to the market.

Brass band on Čopova street

2006-05-28T09:59:00.000+02:00

There I am just walking down the street, wondering what to take a picture of for the website, when I hear an extremely loud noise coming toward me, extremely loud!
I look up and see this brass band making it's way up the street. Problem solved.

Mystery hat in hedge

2006-05-27T11:31:00.000+02:00

Walking home from work yesterday, I saw something that made me say to myself; 'that's a DailyPhoto opportunity if ever I saw one.'
I don't know where it came from, who put it there, why it was put there, or when it was put there, but somehow this hat had come to find itself seated on the head of a hedge.

balloon from living-room window

2006-05-26T11:49:00.000+02:00

I was swamped under with work all day yesterday and so was unable to get out with the camera. I did manage to take one picture though, from my living-room window. It was early evening and I spotted this hot-air balloon up in the clouds. Thought that it looked quite nice though with the trees underneath.
Anyway, that's all I've got for you today.

A half-decent view

2006-05-25T10:42:00.000+02:00

I'm fortunate enough that one of the pathways leading up to castle hill starts practically right at the door of my block. Even more fortunate, it's not one of the routes used by tourists, meaning that it's nearly always peaceful.
On your way up this path, it's possible to branch off a bit and find yourself in a small field that offers a nice view of the part of the city that I live in.
So, because I'm such a nice guy, for those of you who can't get to that field for yourself, I'll share the view with you now.
To the right of the picture you see the church that wakes me up early every Sunday morning with the incessant ringing of bells. In the background you can see the snow-capped Alps.
And over to the left off the picture you are going in the direction of the centre of town.

Strong working man

2006-05-24T13:41:00.000+02:00

Let's not forget that for almost half a century Slovenia was a part of communist Yugoslavia.
Still today we see remiders of those ideals all over the place.

Contemplating life in Prešeren Square

2006-05-23T10:54:00.000+02:00

I was out again capturing some of the locals going about their daily routines yesterday, and these two took my attention.
The bearded one on the left made me smile, maybe because of the contrast between old and modern, as in the beard and cross mixed with the Nike trainers.
As for the guy on the right, who knows? Could be a tourist, could be a local just taking a break, could be waiting for someone.
Thanks to the zoom on my camera I was able to get these 2 shots without disturbing them, they didn't even feel the need to pose as they were completely unaware.

Big footballing day

2006-05-22T12:30:00.000+02:00

I haven't mentioned before, but one of the things that I do here in Slovenia is play football. Not at an exceptionally high level, actually it's the 4th division of the national league.
At the end of last season two of the country's top teams, actually the only two first division teams from the capital, were relegated down into our league as a punishment for financial irregularities.
One of these two teams is NK Olimpija. A team that just 3 years ago held Liverpool to a 1-1 draw here in the UEFA Cup. A team that played Champions' League football against AC Milan. A team that was one of the big boys of the Yugoslavian league back in those days.
This team would be playing against us now, in the league.
Their stadium was, until just a year ago when the venue for big matches got moved, the national stadium.
Just a couple of years ago France came to this stadium for a World Cup qualifier.
It's the holy ground of Slovenian football.

Well, this past Thursday was our turn to play in this stadium against this team.
Unfortunately for me, I injured my knee just a week before playing in a tournament, so I was unable to play a whole match this time around. Although, I was brought on with 10 minutes to go, just for the experience. It was something else!

I won't bore you with the details of the match, we lost of course. But one funny story.
Olimpija is well-known for their support (hooligan) element, The Green Dragons.
Despite their team playing in the 4th league, these guys still turn up for every game to sing and support their team throughout. This day was no exception.
They were being their usual boisterous selves, when one of the fireworks that they let off came straight onto the pitch and hit one of their players on the leg. He was ok in the end, despite being down on the ground for about 5 minutes. Ridiculous. I loved every minute.

Here is a picture of the Green Dragons on the day.

My place of work

2006-05-21T11:26:00.000+02:00

It's Sunday and I don't have any graffiti for you.
Instead I will show you the building that I have to work in every day. It's an internationally-known language school, but I won't mention the name simply because I'm not too fond of my bosses so don't want to give them any free advertising.

schools out!

2006-05-20T11:00:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was a loud one in Ljubljana. All that could be heard throughout the day was the constant, annoying, infuriating, make-you-wanna-kill-someone, blowing of whistles.
This was the last week of school for the kids doing their final year, and so to keep in with a recent tradition, that meant all of the leavers from both Ljubljana and Maribor gathered here in the city, all decked out in orange t-shirts, to attempt to break the Guinness world record for the most people dancing, or something like that, to be honest I don't know exactly what.
Anyway, the record was successfully broken in the morning, but then for the rest of the day, the whole day, these orange people walked around the city centre blowing whistles. Why? Who knows!!!
In the evening they all gathered for a huge outside disco, whistles still being blown at full pelt, and all I can say is I'm glad I don't have the misfortune of having to live too close to that party location!
Anyway, I don't wanna put just a downer on the day. Slovenia has one of the toughest education systems in the world, and these kids have worked hard to get through it all. So letting them have a day to let their hair down and annoy the rest of the city I guess is fair enough.

Mary in the woods

2006-05-19T11:29:00.000+02:00

Was taking a walk yesterday and decided to take a route that I haven't taken before through some woods towards the castle. It wasn't even a real path as such, not somewhere where you would expect to find anyone or anything other than trees. Then I came across this, right in the middle of nowhere. A shrine to the virgin Mary, complete with fresh flowers and cards.

back of the bus

2006-05-18T11:27:00.000+02:00

Today's picture was inspired by www.brightondailyphoto.blogspot.com who a couple of weeks back posted a view from the back of a Brighton Bus.
Actually, forget what I said about this picture being inspired by that post, the truth is I've completely ripped off his idea!

Who cares? Hopefully he'll take credit from the fact that his idea is being reproduced, and that I've given him a shout out.
Once again; Cheers Brighton Daily Photo!

So, this is the view that you wil have if you ever find yourself sitting on the back seat of a Ljubljana bus at around 6.30 in the evening.

Town hall

2006-05-17T08:25:00.000+02:00

In the centre of Staro Mesto, or the old town, sits the town hall. This is how it looked yesterday at around 7.30am (no different from any other time really!)

what's cooking?

2006-05-16T11:10:00.000+02:00

This little bloke's job is to stand outside a restaurant in the old town, grin at the passers-by, and to tell everyone what the special of the day is.
Nice work if you can get it, especially at this time of year!

Rainbow

2006-05-12T10:27:00.000+02:00

This was actually two days ago, a rainbow covered the whole of Ljubljana for a little while in the late afternoon. So I grabbed the camera and here you go.
The block of flats in the picture is actually where I live, very socialist looking, I know!

p.s. I'm off to Prague for a football tournament for the weekend, so won't be updating again until Monday.

Tourism

2006-05-11T10:45:00.000+02:00

When I first moved to Ljubljana it was quite popular with Italian tourists in the summer, and also Austrians, but it was a place that wasn't very well-known in other countries, including England. Ljubljana? Where's that?
But then something great happened for the tourist industry here; Easyjet started cheap flight London-Ljubljana. The rest as they say is history.
It is now impossible to walk down the street without bumping into groups of pale-skinned or sun-burned people pointing at maps and arguing with eachother in English about which turning it was that actually got them lost.
Of course this has also led to lots more touristy gift-shops and stalls popping up all over the place.
I took this picture yesterday, as you can see this place offers the usual postcards, but also t-shirts, hats, bags, and a whole host of other stuff if you venture inside.

So hungry you could eat a horse??

2006-05-10T08:40:00.000+02:00

For me, one of the best things about living in Ljubljana is what is in the above picture.
This big, hungry-looking queue of people are waiting to be served with something heavily frowned upon by most English people. Horse Burger.
That's right, a burger made from horse meat.
I gotta tell you, despite my reluctance when I first came to Slovenia to try this local favourite, it's actually the best burger I've ever found anywhere.
The company that brings these burgers to us is called 'Hot Horse' and so far they have 3 outlets, all of which are always busy, no matter what time of the day or night it is.
Whether you are against it morally or see no problem with eating a horse, there is no denying the fact that it's both tasty and popular.
Mmmmmmm

Fransiscan Church

2006-05-09T10:45:00.000+02:00

I took this one yesterday afternoon when walking home from work. Usually it's difficult to get a good shot of this in sunny daylight hours due to the huge amount of people usually standing around the square, blocking any clear shots. But yesterday I saw my chance and I took it!
This is probably the most recognisable church in the city, it's the Fransiscan one situated at the head of Prešernov trg (Prešeren's square.)

young love

2006-05-08T11:04:00.000+02:00

It's always the same; First the sun comes out, quickly followed by the hand-in-hand lovers. They're all over the place.
So, If you've recently broken up with a partner and aren't quite over it yet, or if you're one of those people feeling bitter or miserable to be single, then do not, I repeat, DO NOT come to Ljubljana in the Spring/Summer, it will only make things worse! :-)
These two were snapped yesterday in Tivoli Park.

2006-05-07T08:25:00.000+02:00

I know it's Sunday, but unfortunately I don't have any graffiti for you today, instead, since it's the religious day of the week I'm bringing you something appropriate.
Although officially a Roman Catholic country, Slovenians, especially those living in the cities are very non-religious. This doesn't mean that there is any shortage of churches though, there is even a cathedral in the old part of Ljubljana.
This picture above is of one of the doors to the cathedral.
Enjoy your Sunday.

2006-05-06T10:31:00.000+02:00

When I moved here just over two years ago, one of the things that I noticed straight away was that there were no street beggars, or people sleeping doorways. After growing up in Brighton, and then living a year in Rome, this made a refreshing change to me, although I did wonder when they would arrive.
That time has come. Every day for about 6 months now, the population of beggars has been increasing, and now with the sun being out, more and more are popping up all around the centre.
The locals aren't very friendly to these people, (which in my opinion is actually a good thing because you don't want to encourage them), mainly because they aren't Slovenian and don't even speak Slovenian, they're not even Balkan people (who usually the Slovenes would show some sympathy to), but they are gypsies, or to use the proper name, Roma.
I will be honest here, I think it is a shame that such a beautiful, picturesque city centre has been hijacked by this community of pests, and the Police should be stronger in this situation. It's not god enough just to come and tell them to move along, they'll be back 5 minutes later, and they'll have 2 friends with them!
I snapped this woman yesterday afternoon standing on one of the main streets right in the centre of town. The sign reads; Hungry on the street, Please help.

2006-05-05T08:24:00.000+02:00

Oh to be old and not have to worry any more about the 9-5 daily grind.
Caught these two wise old-timers just sitting in Tivoli, watching the world go by, reflecting on times of old no doubt.
One day that will be you and your friend, some of you sooner than others! You know who you are.

Serb Orthodox Church

2006-05-04T09:23:00.000+02:00

As you would expect in Slovenia, since it was once a part of Yugoslavia, there is a very large population of persons originating from the other ex-Yugoslav republics, most notably Serbia and Bosnia.
The Bosnian Muslims here as yet have no Mosque to go to, not one in the whole country, because the population of Slovenia has voted against it in the past. Talks still continue though, and it is likely that some time in the future it will exist.
The Serbs who are of the Orthodox denomination do have a church of their own, and this is it in the picture above.
It sits just outside Tivoli Park, and as far as I am aware it is the only one around.
Quite an impressive-looking building, I like it.

100 year-old building

2006-05-03T12:56:00.000+02:00

This building right in the centre of town looks to be in need of some serious renovation. But, show a little understanding. After all, she is 100 years old! (You can see this from the year inscribed into the roof between the two top windows.)
All around the city you will see these beautiful, old buildings. Buildings that were obviously really classy in decades gone by.

Are we still in the city?

2006-05-02T11:15:00.000+02:00

Yesterday the sun came back out. Girlfriend was gonna be on the computer all day studying, nothing was on the telly, and nothing was open because it was a holiday. I decided to see some part of the city that I've never seen before. In the little over two years that I've been here, I had never been to the city's zoo before. In fact, I didn't even know exactly where it was.
I took the bus to the other side of the city, then had to walk for another half an hour (I had been told that the walk would take me 5-10 mins!)
It wasn't a normal walk though, it took me through the forest. I didn't even know we had such a forest with nature walk paths and tracks. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised. The city just seemed to disappear for a short amount of time, I was at one with nature. Well, at one with nature and all the old hikers and joggers.
Eventually I found the zoo, which is part of the forest, giving you 19 hectares, or 4km of sight-seeing paths.
After leaving the zoo I decided I would walk the long distance home, and went in the opposite direction to that which I had come from. So yesterday I did the full circle for the first time.
As always, I had my camera with me, and here are two shots I took in the forest.
The top one is a sign explaining some of the nature that can be found there.

Deadly cyclists

2006-05-01T12:15:00.000+02:00

Throughout Spring and Summer you need to be very careful when walking around town. Why? Because of the hazards caused by speedy cyclists and roller-bladers.
The locals are bad enough, but at least they kind of stick to the unwritten rules when it comes to being careful around pedestrians. Tourists are a different story! All over town there are points like this one in the picture where for a small fee you can rent a bike. All of the bikes look the same, not very attractive or 'cool'. But this uniformity serves a good purpose; when you see when hurtling down the pavement towards you, just stand dead still, make yourself as small and thin as possible, and wait for it to pass! They're lethal otherwise! :-)

Graffiti Sunday

2006-04-30T12:01:00.000+02:00

Keeping in with the recent tradition of DailyPhotos from around the world, I'm gonna make Sunday a graffiti day.
I took this pic 4 days ago when the weather was still nice, but I've been waiting for Sunday to bring it to you.
Up by the castle, it's at least a little bit better than the morons who just go around writing their name on walls, or writing the part of town that they come from.

Burek

2006-04-29T10:39:00.000+02:00

Thanks to the rain all over central Europe, I've changed my plans regarding going on a little break, and instead will stay at home and watch football this weekend. That means that I'm here to update the page too.

Here in Slovenia the most popular street-food or take-away food is something called Burek. It's not actually a Slovenian food, but like in all of the countries over the Balkan area, it has evolved a little bit to the tastes of the local population.
Burek is everywhere here, on every corner of every street there is a Burek place. What is it? It's phillo pastry filled with either minced meat, cheese (like a cottage cheese), or one kind that I believe is only available in Slovenia, a pizza filling (tomato sauce, mushrooms, melted cheese.)
Anyway, if ever you are in one of the ex-Yugoslav countries, it is the law that you must try this local favourite.

Here is a shot I took yesterday of one of the Burek places. This one is a fairly popular one, in the centre of town, and is just one of a little chain of outlets selling Burek under the name of Slast.

The 'Train'

2006-04-28T10:59:00.000+02:00

Today is no different to yesterday. It's grey, wet, horrible outside. Once again, I was stil foolish enough to go out and find a decent enough shot for you. This time the weather gave me a good opportunity to get a clear shot as it meant that the main square was basically empty, all the tourists hiding away in their hotels. Plus, it was still fairly early in the morning.
This is the 'train.' It runs every day throughout the Spring and Summer, picking up tourists down in Prešernov trg, (Prešeren's Square), then takes them on a nice, slow drive the scenic route up the hill to the castle. Then brings them back down again. A bit like the Grand Old Duke of York!
Anyway, I happened to be strolling through the square just as the 'train' was about to depart, so here is today's shot of Ljubljana for you.

We all know that the 1st of May is a holiday, that's this Monday, but in Slovenia we are also fortunate enough to be given the 2nd free aswell. So, I'll be away for a couple of days, taking a break down in Bosnia, probably returning Monday evening.
So, until then,
greetings from Slovenia

National Pride

2006-04-27T13:56:00.000+02:00

Today is a national holiday in Slovenia, I believe that it's Independence Day actually.
National Holidays mean two things; a) That it will rain all day
b) That every building in town hangs out the national flag in pride.

So, despite the rain, I went out this morning and caught these two images. The first one shows just the national flag, caught in a reflection on the glass tiles of the Grand Union Hotel in the centre of town.
The second shot shows the national flag, European flag, and flag of the city. Also taken in the centre of town, this time on one of the government buildings.

Sex sells

2006-04-26T12:39:00.000+02:00

One thing that Slovenes don't seem to have any worry about whatsoever is the use of the uncensored female anatomy in advertising. I say great!
When you walk down the street, you come face to face with the porno magazines and dvds on sale at the news kiosks, posters on billboards letting you know who is this month's centrefold in Slovenian Playboy, and also videos shown on the advertising Jumbotrons helping you decide which shower-gel to buy, and for those who can't quite make up their mind, there is usually a naked lady sexily scrubbing up in the stuff, just to show you how good it can be!
Once again, I say great!
Kids don't grow up as perverts, hiding their girly pictures under the bed, because there is no shame to it. The naked body is everywhere in Ljubljana!

This advertisement for a show that is coming soon is no exception. This particular picture was taken up near to the castle, where children, the elderly, and everyone else in between can see it.

A new beginning.

2006-04-25T14:23:00.000+02:00

Today is the first day of something that will hopefully go on to last for as long as I do.
I'm an English 22-year old lad, and I've been living in Ljubljana, Slovenia for a little over 2 years now. It's a very liveable city, and there's not a lot of bad to be said about the place.
But, that doesn't mean that I don't sometimes get a little homesick, pining for my hometown of Brighton. When I start feeling like that, I usually find some pics on the net and then just let my mind drift back there for a few minutes. Then, when I've perked up, I get back to the normal life.
This morning was just one of those times, and I came across a blog right here on Blogspot, www.brightondailyphoto.blogspot.com And it made me feel good. It also did something else. It pointed me in the direction of blogs from all over the world offering daily photos of their city. Then I decided; I will give one to the world, showcasing Ljubljana.
So, I grabbed my camera, took a stroll through the heat of the day up to the castle, and took my first couple of pics. I will do this every day from now on. Sometimes I'll give u one pic for the day, sometimes 2, and maybe, just maybe, sometimes 3. Depending on what I've got, and what goes together.
So, check back daily, add me to your favourites, and enjoy the first pic.

This is one of the entrances to the castle. Today, for some unknown reason, this entrance was closed. This turned out to be a good thing, as it meant that I could take a clear shot without all the usual tourists blocking the way.