To have what we wish for

Con el tiempo supo, además, que había muchas personas que tenían menos de lo que querían y podían cuidar.

Laura y el corazon de las cosas by Lorenzo Silva

I started to learn Spanish language quite some time ago but my progress is very slow. Mostly because I am lazy. I should put more effort into learning, I know. The procrastination doesn’t take me very far and it never will.

Yesterday Ž and I took a short walk along the Ljubljanica river. Celebrating our 11^th anniversary of being together and the promise of a bad weather today brought us to the river banks in the old part of the city. We also spotted a very rare Bahama’s duck there, that had most probably escaped from someone’s pond. I suggested that we have a cup of coffee to round our “trip”, so we stopped in the nearest café, called Krakovc (named after a district called Krakovo). A lovely place, though empty at that time, Spanish music, tapas and Spanish beers. I was surprised, really, as the name of the café would suggest the local offer. Later I heard the waitress speaking Spanish on the phone so I asked her where she came from. Argentina, was her answer, so I had a short chat with her. I could see that her face brightened and a smile showed on her face. I am sure that I made her day. And for sure she made mine a little bit happier. Besides, I have another story to tell. But most of all, I promised myself to take Spanish language a little bit more serious, it won't do me any harm if I try harder. Because then I will have a little bit more of that what I wish to have. 

The best of Europe in 2014

It is good to see Ljubljana among the Lonely Planet's 10 best travel destinations in Europe. :-)

Meeting point

Usually I meet with friends and colleagues at the monument of our famous poet France Prešeren in the city centre.

Lots of people argued in 1905 when this monument was set up because the muse above the poet is half naked. I found out that in recent years the poet became young. Not so far ago he was still old compared to me. Oh, years, how fast you are passing by!

This photo was taken from the triple bridge, the famous bridge in Ljubljana which was constructed by Jože Plečnik, another famous person in Slovenian history. I will show you more of his work in one of my future posts. He had huge plans of destroying a part of the old city and building new houses and other buildings instead of the old ones. I am glad that his plans were stopped otherwise today Ljubljana would look like a modern Roman graveyard. The sign on the bridge says that it was dedicated to an archduke Franc Karel in 1842, when a new bridge was built.

A few centuries ago one of the doors into the city stood on one side of this bridge (it was only one, wooden bridge standing there in that time). Ljubljana used to have a strong wall around it. Actually the city itself was devided into three parts, and each of them was surrounded by a wall. Two towers still stand from that time and also some parts of the walls can be still seen if you know where to look for them.

Also the church you can see on the photo is different from the one that stood there at the beginning. We call it Franciscan church. The building on the right of the church was built by one of the rich Ljubljana’s merchants. On top of it stands a monument of Mercury and at his left foot is a silhouette of the owners head. The white building on the photo is known to the citizens of Ljubljana by the main pharmacy in the city.

So, this is our famous meeting point, well known by everyone in the city and also beyond.

The history of Ljubljana – part 3

If you ever visit Ljubljana (of course, if you don’t live here) do visit the cathedral. And look up.

Those frescoes were painted at the beginning of 18th century by Giulio Quaglio (and allegedly his son; the dome was built much later and painted by Matevž Langus). The photo doesn’t show all their beauty. 300 years ago people from all Europe were coming to see the paintings. And today people from the whole world keep coming to see the frescoes as well as the rest of the cathedral in all its beauty (you can be almost sure to run into a group of Japanese tourists in or around it).

And when you are once there walk around the building. You will be able to find the stones from the Roman graves as well as the copy of the remains (actually it is a copy) of the previous cathedral which stood on that place before 1701.

Actually we can be lucky to have the cathedral as it is, because all sorts of lucky coincidences happened when it was built.

The history of Ljubljana – part 2

So, our walk through the city center continued on Monday, and we visited the National Archive of Slovenia, the Ursuline Church and the library of the Theological seminary.

All of them were impressive but I was really astonished when I walked into the library. All around us were old books, arranged on the shelves by the subject, and above them on the ceiling was a fresco painted by Giulio Quaglio, who also painted the ceiling and some other paintings in the Ljubljana’s cathedral.

The books in the library are old, the youngest was printed in 19th century. There are also some very rare books but their location was not revealed to us because someone might steal them. I spotted the location of the first printed book in Slovenian language but it was missing. It was not stolen, it was just kept in the safe place. Though, we were allowed to flip through the pages of the song-book from 17th century.

The oldest book we had at home was from 1799 but it was obviously thrown away when my grandparents died. A pity. Our next walk was dedicated to the architecture of the 20th century. But more about this in one of my next posts.

The history of Ljubljana

I joined a group of people who are learning about the history of Ljubljana. On our first meeting we learned about the Emona (Ǽmona), the Roman settlement which once (the next year it will be 2000 years from its first mentioning) stood where Ljubljana stands today.

On our second meeting we took a stroll through the old part of Ljubljana where one part of medieval city once stood (most houses were burned in at least one of the fires because they were made of wood). We also visited the castle.

It was more than 35 years ago when I was standing on the top of its tower when there was still no admission fee to be payed and the castle itself was almost in ruins. It is so different today up there on the hill on which Ljubljana’s castle stands – crowds of tourists visit it daily, there are marriages three times a week, all sorts of events take place every day, several restaurants and bars are opened all day long. Long time ago me and my brother climbed through a hole in the wall into the chapel in which a brick structure was built (it is gone today) and later tried to discover what the castle had to offer. We saw a cannon, one of the wells (which in my opinion stands somewhere else today), signs of the prisoners on the walls…

There are a few more walks still on our schedule; I will tell you more about them in my future posts. I am sure I will learn something new. It is interesting how history changes for us who live in the present – today we know more about the past than ten years ago.

Ljubljana these days

I’ve been taking terrible photos recently. This is the only one of about ten that looks alright. Ljubljana’s castle above the building of the Slovenian philharmony, in front Kongresni trg (the Congress square) named by an important congress which took place in Ljubljana in 1821, less than a decade after French army left it. Lots of important people came to Ljubljana then, including kings and emperors of different European countries.

Before that a monastery stood here (where the trees are) and about 2000 years ago here was a ditch behind a Roman wall (on the edge of this square the northern door of Emona, the Roman city, were standing) and a burial place for Romans. During the II. WW the square was changed into the fields where potatoes and also soy beans (for oil) were grown.

The name of the square was changed many times, depending on this who was leading the country. Now it’s got its first name back and also the splendour that it deserves. Though, it is better not to know how many remains of our past were destroyed for an underground garage below the square…

Ljubljana

No matter how tired I might be, the walk through the old part of Ljubljana always rewards me with some beautiful scenery.

I thought of going on a treasure hunt but after a sleepless night with colleagues I just browsed through a selection of flowers on a market, bought some of them, walked back to the car and drove home.

P.s.: I am having some terrible time with this new Blogger look. I just spend too much time trying to make my blog look nice, uploading photos too many times in a row, adjusting the width... I hope I won't give up.

Trnovo

Sometimes I have a chance to drive back home by bus. Yesterday I hopped on a bicycle first because I wanted to find a hidden cache on my way back home. Trnovo is a part of Ljubljana that is also famous for its church where Slovenian poet France Prešeren fell for a girl who didn't care for him. Or maybe she did, who knows, but her father was surely not impressed by Prešeren's poems dedicated to Julija. There's a bridge near the church that is supposedly the only bridge on which trees grow. I am not sure that this is true today but it was so for many years.

The church is also connected to my life because I was baptized in it. Interesting that my mom can't remember when this was. By the age of 12 I was getting my religious education there. Then one day I resisted and didn't want to go there anymore. I didn't like the nuns, they were too strict and grumpy. I pass by this district almost every day on my way to work and back home. I rarely stop. So, yesterday in the afternoon I found another treasure by the church, and inside the cache was a coin (Hungarian forints) with a flower. Lovely.

One afternoon, part 2

I wanted to write about this yesterday but deleted the text I wrote. Today I won't be quiet because people have to be aware that under the reign of Ljubljana's former mayor (and he will be probably the future one, too) lots of cultural heritage was destroyed. Especially the Roman and medieval remains, as well as a part of 4500 years old remains of the first settlement in Ljubljana.

I keep fingers crossed that the ministry will be able to protect what remained. We don't need more underground parking places in the city center, just a few people will earn lots of money again. But inhabitants of Ljubljana are blindfolded and (will be) guided by a man who hides his real motives (yes, money rules this world) behind a huge smile. It really a pity that people don't care.

Here are a few more photos from my Saturday walk (a woman with a huge camera took a photo of me while I was crossing that bridge; I just wonder where this photo will be published):

This house was built after an earthquake in 1895:

Almost all buildings in that street were torn down because it was not safe anymore to live in them, and the street got straight (it was curbed before). I have no idea what kind of meaning this sign has: or why these heads are above the door (who they present?): Ljubljana's castle from the Shoemakers' bridge:

Perhaps these shoes hanging above the street are connected with the name of the bridge, I haven't found this out.

Ljubljana is full of secrets. Hopefully I will be able to show you more soon ... before they are destroyed by the greedy man.

One afternoon, part 1

One Saturday afternoon I looked up again walking through the Ljubljana's city center. 13 cranes were flying above the castle hill, and I spotted them while trying to catch some details of the nearest buildings into my camera. It was worth looking up. Flowers: Fruit (pomegranates among others): Usually in these rounded objects (balls, globes) the names of the builders are stored, together with some other information regarding the building itself: Balcony with a flower motive: St. Mary with Jesus (see that ball again on the right of the statue?):

There are so many treasures hidden up there. Compared to the buildings of today one can conclude that people in the past had more sense for beautiful things (at least how I see it). Though, things change over time. They can't stay the same forever because people's minds change over time too. I didn't like lace when I was younger, and look at me now - I make them myself.

Frančišek Lampe

Rajska spomlad.
Sapice z juga pihljajo,
Zimo se snegom končajo;
Solnce gorkejše poljublja
Goro in plan. Poizgublja
Led si in čmernati hlad.
Tla se vzbudé:
Dviga zelenje se živo,
Cvetke rastó ljubeznivo;
Bilkica drobna vspne se,
Više in širje sproste se:
Tukaj se čuda godé.
~ Frančišek Lampe

I had never heard of this man before until I visited an exhibition about women in the 20th century with my mom. On one of the walls were gathered photos of men who supported women in that time and thought that they were equal to men (there were not many). One of them was also Frančišek Lampe, a priest. He died at the age of 41 because of an exhaustion. He worked too much, slept too little. I read one of his books that was available in my library and his short biography. He was an exceptional man. Everyone said that he was kind, but what was most important is that he cared a lot for the Slovenian nation (and Slovenian language as well).

He was an editor of Dom in svet, a catholic publication with which he wanted to educate Slovenian pupils and plain people of that time. He also liked bees. :)

One of the liberal newspapers, at which my grand-granddad was co-editor a few years later, published a short news about his death, and what I was amazed at was the frank statement telling to their readers that they didn't agree with his religious views.

I admire people like Frančišek Lampe was, more so because I know that I am not as capable as they were (or are) and I never will be. Yesterday was his birthday; he was born 153 ago.

A market day

We are lucky these days because sun has been shining from morning until dawn. We needed this blessing from the sky. I needed it. It was a peaceful weekend and I had no plans. On Saturday morning I decided to take a walk through the city center and visit a market. On my way to the marked I was thinking about my ancestors who were living in this city and walking through its streets every day. What were their days like? Today I even can't ask my grandparents about this anymore because they are both gone. When I was younger, still living in their house, we didn't really like each other. They didn't know how to treat kids. Yes, with beating and strict word, this was their way of raising children. Who knows what kind of person my dad would be if he had kind and loving parents? And what kind of person would I be?

I passed the bars (was this one here the last time I was walking down this street?):

I admired the colorful things hanging in front of the shops:

A woman asked her husband when Shrove Tuesday was this year and I answered for him because he had no idea. Across the street I stopped to take a picture of a sign which was telling me that waiters in that bar are smiling (and if I wasn't alone I would probably just walk in and try their apple strudel): I came home with some packages of cereal products (maize, barley and rye):

And finally, on a way back to my car I learned that a woman sharing my name was making curtains with lace:

I still have lots to learn about lace making. I am not able to make such lace yet, as it is in the picture. Though, it looks so simple.

It was a beautiful morning. Most of all, a peaceful one. My body, soul and mind were grateful for such a treat.

Shopping

I like strolling through the city center at night, it is so peaceful there. I like stopping by the windows of the shops and sometimes wonder at the imagination of those who decorate them. It is tempting to buy things that I see but at that time shops are already closed. Besides, what would I do with so many things that I don't need?I watched a video of Chinese toy factories the other day, people working night and day for a salary that can hardly cover their cost of living. I stopped buying Chinese food long time ago. I think I don't need to explain why. Last year I almost didn't eat any garlic because everywhere only the Chinese one was sold. This year I planted my own. I found out that Chinese peanuts have been sold lately in our shops. Its price is almost the same as for the one produced in the USA. I always wonder what we really eat these days. Have you ever asked yourself why children have so many allergies today? Is it food, air or something else?

I won't wrap many presents this year. It is more important that we get together on Christmas evening than to open many presents. We have almost anything we wish to have these days. It is not like it used to be when oranges at Christmas were a treat (we had to drive over the border to buy them).

I like this time of year although it is crowded everywhere. It is St. Lucy's day today. I won't bake Lussekatter but I will plant the seeds of wheat. To make these days a little bit more festive than they already are.

Festive time of year

The lights are on! Ljubljana is lighted again, with galaxies and planets and many other unknown object upon our heads when we stroll through the city streets. My British friend still claims that Ljubljana is just a big village, and my reply is that it is one of the most beautiful villages I have ever been to. And it is so much more pleasant to be there if you are in a good company of a friend.