All together now - "L-UB-LI-NA"

Slovenia is really a hidden gem. I must admit I didn’t even know the name of the capital until I got here (and as Ms Aitken knows, I pride myself on my capitals). Ljubljana, with a silent j, is beautiful. A river runs through the middle of the city, currently being used as a temporary art gallery.



And at the top is a very picturesque castle with views back down on the city centre. Yet another photo of me, taken by me. Please note the travellers mullet - it's very big in Europe.



I’ve come in the middle of two very different cultural events – the Slovenia v Northern Ireland Soccer match and the 14th Annual City of Women festival. Strangely many of the members of the Northern Ireland team, look like the participants at the festival. Wanting to do something off the usual tourist trail, I decided to attend one of the lectures being run by the artists taking part.

I noted down some of the terms so you’d have a sense of the crowd:

“crisis of agency” – this is about the confusion we feel not knowing what to do about a problem

“colony collapse disorder” – this is apparently a problem with bees. I nodded like everyone else in the room. Buying honey from bees whose colony hasn’t collapsed must be like buying fair trade coffee. Everyone is doing it now.

“Service aesthetic” – I’m not sure what this actually means and I’m pretty sure no one else did either.

There was also a designer there who had created a collection based on carnivorous plants that you could zip yourself entirely into.. although the model had a little bit of trouble getting out. Perhaps that was her identifying with the plight of a fly stuck in a venus fly trap. Hard to say. I wish I’d taken some photos to really capture the moment but I was trying to look all intellectual.

Back on the tourist trail, this morning I did a walking tour of Ljubljana. Most hilarious was Alan the tour guide who was carrying the same bag as my mum.



The hostel I’m staying at is one of the main reasons I came here. It’s an old prison which has been converted into accommodation. It’s by far the coolest place I’ve stayed in while travelling but the ‘cool’ tag carries with it a bit of attitude from staff. Perhaps it’s because I don’t have the obligatory dreadlocks like most of the other occupants.

I have two more objections – the first night I was put in a room with a snoring backpacker who shock the walls and talked in his sleep in Spanish. I HATE SNORERS. I can’t emphasise this enough. Secondly, there is a very annoying English couple in the bar fighting while I’m typing. I’m not going to lose sleep over this one but I just want them to piss off.



Only in Europe are politicians personal lives any interesting. This is a cartoon mocking the Slovenian Prime Minister for being engaged to a doctor 25 year younger than him. Can you imagine Kevin and Therese in the same situation?!