It is cold today. More thick fog when we wake up. The temperature is -7C. I am thankful I grabbed a beanie yesterday.
“And though the coldness I have always felt leaves me, the numbness doesn’t and probably never will.”
Bret Easton Ellis
We head to breakfast. Yesterday, after we had the charcuterie, the waitress informed us we could also order anything we liked off the menu. Anything?
Challenge accepted.
This morning for breakfast we had the charcuterie, selected breads with spreads, granola with yoghurt and seasonal fruits, poached egg with winter vegetables, herb omelette, buckwheat pancakes and I lost track of the coffee.
I also ate two mandarines as fruit is good for health.
“Nothing helps gluttony along so well as eating food you don’t have to pay for yourself”
Margaret Atwood
We head back to the room to read for a few hours while the fogs lift and the shops open. It is 08:30 and Shell declares…
I could go a wine.
Rachelle Griffin
I leave the comment hanging. I am not sure if she is serious. She might be.
Shell has downloaded a book called Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed by Men by Caroline Criado Perez.
I support this reading and look forward to the inevitable discussion, but it is tinged with nervousness. All to often these discussions blur the line between what men have done, are still doing, into me being the sole representative of all men and their crimes against women. Somehow I feel that whoever conducted the studies into car safety based around men resulting in a higher death rate of women, whoever this was, will be replaced by me. It is somehow my fault women are dying in car crashes because of a study I undertook.
Just how many women car crash deaths are you responsible for, Grant?
“the oppressor would not be so strong if he did not have accomplices among the oppressed”
Simone de Beauvoir
Shell has a sewing kit. She has mended a small hole in her merino long sleeve shirt. She is now mending the pocket on my Patagonia R1. Both must be close to ten years old and still have wear in them. I like repairing good quality clothes instead of buying new. There is joy in frugality. I have two pair of shoes I have worn out. My Sorel chucks, which are the only shoes I have here, have had the sole replaced after I wore them through. My brown work shoes came apart at the sole and the kids in my class were shocked that I had them repaired.
“Can anything be so elegant as to have few wants, and to serve them one’s self?”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
We hang about until 11:00 and the fog isn’t budging. Time to head out.
“Before us fog, behind us fog, and beneath us a sunken country.”
Mihály Babits
Fog can keep a cities secrets. Blanket a place until it changes into something different. Not worse, not better, just different. A city in fog doesn’t want you to know it, doesn’t care what you think. A fog makes a city hold its breath.
Ljubljana is a different city draped in white. Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia until 1991. Slovenia was not exactly innocent in the Balkans war. Its leaders made pacts with Slobodan Milošević. It is reasonable to suggest that Slovenia came out of the war in good shape considering the side it happened to be on.
On this grey morning, I am feeling a Socialist vibe.
By 13:00 the fog has cleared and the city is back to life. It was interesting to walk the streets in the cold grey light, but this city has too much colour to be grey. We come across the city library and take the visitor entrance. We are told as visitors we cannot access the library. This does not sit well with me. Books for the elite. Education for those who can afford membership. Visitors cannot even walk in.
“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”
Ray Bradbury
We walk the streets for an hour before grabbing a coffee at Ferdinant and discuss lunch options. We decide on Julija which is only a few hundred meters away. It is packed but we get a seat. It has the feel of going back in time. Shell orders the Golaž. I was about to order the pork knuckle when a waiter moves past and all I can smell is truffle. I order the steak and truffle. We order some house red and the food is delicious. We finish with crème brûlée and apple štrudelj.
“You cannot walk away from crème brûlée”
Rachelle Griffin
Back out into the cold blue day. We walk and talk. At around 15:00 the fog returns. The days are short at the moment, but with the fog, sunshine lasts just a few hours. As we wander the city with no destination and stumble on the best laneway in town. Dingy pubs, adult book shops, art galleries, weed dispensaries and all sorts of unmentionables. Perfect.
“Human cities in particular, each one more or less according to its degree of perfection, surround the life of their inhabitants with poetry. They are images and reflections of the city and the world.”
Simone Weil
We head home and finish the bottle of wine. Time to plan the next leg of our trip. Italy tomorrow, but tonight, I feel like one more journey into the cold night air of Ljubljana. Lining up with the Christmas crowd and eating ćevapi with my fingers that is smothered in mustard and mayonnaise.
It is 18:45 and I have just mentioned my plan to head out for ćevapi. She is shocked that I am still hungry so I pretend I don’t want any because I embarrassed. I lay here wondering if I have eaten my last Slovenian ćevapi.
Italy tomorrow. They probably do decent food over there.
Tonights wine –
2022 Borut Blažic Cabernet Sauvignon (Goriška Brda, Slovenia)
Light and sweet with a great acidic backbone. Easy drinking and perfect for whatever day it is, I am not sure. It is definitely the afternoon.