Teen spirit and Ljubljana..

Last few days in Ljubljana and the sun has now come out and weather lovely. One of the wonders here is the Post Office – they actually provide a service and they still look like post offices, not toy shops or stationers… They are open from 8.00am to 7.00pm – yes, incredible! And when I was in there it wasn’t jammed packed with people; the staff were very helpful and even stuck the stamps on for you and whisked away the cards into the post bag….admittedly, there seemed a lot of account keeping involved in purchasing three stamps at a total cost of just over two euros…still, it was nice to relive a proper post office experience.

On the most perfect day so far my professor here and his wife took me out to Bled – possibly the most beautiful place in Slovenia and certainly breath-takingly lovely. The Alps in the background, a clear green/blue lake, an island with a monastery and church, beautiful woods and trees – it was all fabulous. We walked around the lake – a gentle, three hour stroll – and checked out the Villa Bled – a top notch hotel (was the King - not Elvis! - then Tito’s summer holiday spot)…I reckon this is the place to stay – it’s just great…about $500 night but for a couple of days on that special occasion….check it out http://www.vila-bled.com/ I should be paid for this! Was also very quiet on the day I was there though apparently heaving at the weekend – and you can see why.

On the way home stopped at a traditional restaurant and had a good meal – similar to Turkish in many ways…though noticed foal on the menu…hmm….and it’s not cheap either for you horse lovers!! Another thing, what is it with their word without vowels, or not in the right place…there’s heaps of them...how do you pronounce something that starts vklj, or the place called zdhivo ?? Dunno… I had enough trouble getting to grips with hello and thanks! But it doesn’t really matter – everyone speaks great English.

After this touristy stuff went to the Central Technical Library and spent an afternoon there – a very impressive, incredibly busy university library bang in the centre of town. An interesting discussion re their library software – they developed and maintain their own collection management system – finding commercial software with Slovenian interface not easy…so they did their own and it looks good. Though maintaining it is an issue.

No doubt for the less aware you are pondering the Teen Spirit reference...well, some closing trivia re Ljubljana – Nirvana played their last ever concert here – Kurt Cobain went home and killed himself shortly after apparently…they worry this creates a bad impression of the place – was it so bad he had to shoot himself??! It isn’t – it’s great and I’m looking forward to another visit…

The pace quickens

Well, it still hasn’t stopped raining…how come it was perfect in Manchester and so wet here…the world certainly is changing…
I’m now safely ensconced in Uni accommodation and … it’s better than the hotel. I was expecting pretty standard student/college rooms but in fact I’m in rather attractive old house that has been converted for visiting academics. A smallish room – but bathroom and kitchenette as well and about a 20 minute walk to the faculty – would be quite nice if it was sunny! University of Ljubljana is big – 60,000 + students in a town of only 270,000 people – so students everywhere. And about 65 undergraduate full-timers in the LIS school – is good to see crowds of students. Their English is good though they are a bit shy about asking questions and I have done three lectures so far – another three to go. They are 90 mins each (no break!) and on the whole they have gone well … I assume… as it’s a bit hard to tell with everyone being so polite. They are all young and very few blokes – even less than we have… though interestingly, the faculty is about half and half.

Watched the Man United/Chelsea match on a big screen here with a few of the guys – lots of beer and crisps…just like England! And was a good match too… Got back to my accommodation about midnight and found someone had kindly locked the front gate to the grounds which caused me some degree of perturbation (as Jeeves might say – have been reading PG Wodehouse a bit lately). Fortunately, having drunk enough to be confident but not uncoordinated, I managed to scale the fence and get to my front door…not easy, but finally got in OK. Though was a bit concerned that maybe someone would have seen me and the local police would shortly be on their way…but my concerns were unfounded… I am still here!

Have now finished lectures and in the afternoon I had a personalised tour of the National Library. It’s great – an imposing building with fabulous art deco designed furniture inside – a lot of care (and money) went into it. It is rather imposing though – if you weren’t confident you might feel a bit put off going inside. Afterwards had a couple of drinks by the river – the sun had finally come out – and it was very pleasant. Though it didn’t last – rained again yesterday and I cancelled my tour of the city. Will try again….also internet connection out in my accommodation – a bit irritating as have been relying on that for news etc – with only Slovenian or German language TV available in my flat it ain’t that informative or entertaining!

Finally did a tour of the city which was interesting – lots of history. During the tour, a thought suddenly struck me which hadn't occurred to me before – and I doubt, dear reader, if it has ever caused you concern either. That is the preponderance of soaring gothic architecture in churches in the northern countries – England, Germany, France – and their complete absence it seems from Italy and as it appears, Slovenia. This erudite question popped into my head while in an Italianate renaissance style church in Lube (as it’s known to its friends) – which is all roundish – arches, and curvy bits (my knowledge of architecture is a bit limited) – with no soaring spires at all. St Peters in Rome is the same… so I mentioned it to the guide. Alas, no obvious answer it seems – there was an earthquake here in 15 something that destroyed 95% of the town…so everything had to be built from scratch again..so if there was a gothic masterpiece before – it’s long gone. But it is an interesting question …. Something to ponder…

Also took the funicular up to the castle – its on a big hill overlooking the town (walked down!). A bit odd what they’ve done to the castle in trying to make it a tourist spot and also preserve its integrity. It sort of works but we would probably think too much modernizing has been done to it. Downstairs they had an exhibition – lots of quite nice exhibition panels describing medieval life (I assume) but all in Slovenian. The only English in a book tied to the first panel – odd, since 90% of the visitors would not be native speakers I wouldn’t think. And they’ve gone to all this trouble to create great art work with the panels and lots of info…hmmm - everywhere else English is rampant!

Someone was getting married in the castle courtyard - fair 'nuff - but what is it with the piano accoprdion and this country - it does seem to be the national instrument - but at your wedding?? Surely that's taking nationalism just a little too far!

Sunday – managed not to rain but still overcast and cool. Sorted myself on the public transport – it’s cheap and good – and off into the countryside and to Postojna Caves – the second largest complex in Europe if you didn’t know. You take a train into the heart of them and walk from there – the train runs through tunnels about one inch higher than me and the driver obviously loves his job – drove like a complete maniac – as fast as he could – was truly scary. I can’t believe more people haven’t been scalped – if I had a Bob Hawke head of hair I would have been in trouble…sadly(?) I don’t! The caves are caves – think I might have done my life share of caves – they are pretty much the same – stalacmites/tites etc (how do you remember – tites come down), giant halls, lots of water and pretty chilly. Still, was pleased I’d done it and also mastered the public transport system (though truth be told is simple here as everyone speaks good English). Have also finished my literary book I bought in Manchester – Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood – loved it and will leave it here for the next visitor. Finished Melvyn Bragg’s Credo a while ago – it just went on and on and to be honest was a bit of a chore. And from a secondhand bookshop in town bought Geraldine Brooks’ March – which, with an omnibus slection of Stephen Fry writings from The Listener et al should tide me over till I get home.

Foreign parts

Up at another unholy hour – 4.15am – though by the time I left for the airport, was already getting light. So the shortest flight I’ve done on this trip – Manchester to Gatwick – and the only one on BA and surprise, surprise….my bag doesn’t make it with me. Not really a surprise, Manchester airport was heaving with people and not enough staff on anywhere..I had to jump the check in q else I’d still be there and the security was way over the top.
So I make it to Gatwick and spend ages filling out forms re bag – which ends up taking a trip to Zurich before reuniting with me in Ljubljana the next day! Not a major prob but c’mon BA – this is getting a habit!
Ljubljana is surprisingly (I thought) small. Easy to get round – I hired a bike for the day and saw it all. It is very bike friendly – lots of bike paths etc and fairly flat for most of it. The usual medieval type square and lots of cobblestones – dodgy on the bike. And of course it decided to rain just after I took off – so did get pretty wet – but could’ve been worse. Checked out Slovenian impressionists exhibition at the Nat Gallery – just like everyone else’s impressionists! But they also had a great display of book art – covers and illustrations – from turn of the 20th century – lots of art deco designs and with their script quite unique – really good. Also did the national museum and learnt a bit about Slovenian history.
Surprising lot of church bells too - not too early, and definately not like Italy but along those lines..
Lectures start tomorrow – so preparing for that. Had a quick look at the Uni – very 19th century and attractive and bang in the middle of town – a bit different to CSU!!

Scots wa hae... or something like that

Manchester – and despite its reputation as one of the rainier cities in the UK, the weather has been great. Lots more beer drinking and walking in the countryside – a happy combination it seems. Lovely countryside, big hills and bluebell woods – England’s green and pleasant land indeed. A bit of a rude awakening yesterday though when caught the train into Manchester to visit the Ryland’s Library (one of the great private libraries in the UK – now part of Manchester Uni) – which by the way was well worth it. But as well as me, there were something like 70-130,000 (figures differ) other visitors – 90% of them being Rangers supporters from Jake’s hometown – Glasgow. The other 10% being the Russians brave enough to come across for the UEFA football final (Rangers and a St Petersburg team). The Library seemed to be the only place (can’t think why…) that wasn’t full of very loud, halfway to being completely plastered, Scotsmen. The place was jammed pack. Sad to say, Rangers lost 2-0 and Manchester looked like a bomb had hit it – unfortunately, just before the game started, the giant TV screen set up in the middle of town (they were never all going to fit into the ground – you could have got a thousand quid for a ticket apparently) failed and never recovered – not a good thing when this huge crowd were just settling down to watch the match. The ensuing riot has been headlines today and there is going to be an enquiry but I would have though it fairly predictable…(they needed a backup TV at least!!) - and only one Russian stabbed…c’mon Jake – your Glasgow mates getting soft??

I have been involved in less active sports – down the British Legion a couple of nights playing snooker and darts…some of you will know my embarrassing lack of cue and ball skills but this was redeemed somewhat by success at darts. Though that might have had something to do with the amount of beer we had drunk and packets of crisps consumed – it seemed to get a bit silly towards the end. To complete the English experience, we grabbed a kebab (sadly, not a curry) on the way home and watched football on the TV – quite nostalgic really. The next post will be from sunny Slovenia – watch this space!

The Darling Buds of May

Arrived to a rainy, cool Heathrow – surprise, surprise. But more or less since then has been unseasonably warm and sunny – positively hot some days. According to the paper the last few days have been hotter in London than Barcelona or Corfu – and we are proud of it!! Apart from this aberration with the weather, England is as ever – green, busy, traffic appalling, no air conditioning and still a bit expensive. Though the dollar has definately helped improve things there – now it’s only a little bit pricey instead of ridiculous. Have spent the last week with my cousins in Surrey – good to relax and enjoy some home cooking and decent beer. The beer makes up for other failings – though the baked beans are better too for some odd reason – and they do feature prominently on most pub menus! Spent about half a day in what seemed like the world’s largest Tescos – you can get anything – including stupidly cheap clothes such as three quid jeans – I resisted the temptation… The tabloids still as bad as ever and everyone has about 100 TV channels to choose from – doesn’t mean anything better to watch though.

Spent a couple of days in London doing work things – visited the BBC which was very interesting – they have over 400 staff in their archive’s branch! And also OTAB – part of a larger archive of sporting stuff. That was also a good visit but I was an hour late – finding it was very difficult…I thought I knew West London OK but was totally wrong…they didn’t seem too fazed but I was a bit embarrassed!

Spent a day at Wisley – the home of the Royal Horticultural Society – so beautiful gardens, lakes, etc etc. If you like gardening – very popular here – its just brilliant…I’ll stick a couple of pics up later. Am now typing this on the train as I head up to Norfolk for a weekend catching up with old school friends – the inter-city trains are great, if expensive.

OK, an update – spent weekend with ex-school friends who I have known for almost 50 years..and we still get on really well. Got through outrageous amounts of wine and beer and lots of great food – the host is a gourmet cook. Did some touristy stuff – walking and on a boat out to Seal Island – yes, lots of seals checking you out. All-in-all a great, relaxing weekend – esp. as the weather was so good – needed sun screen and hats.. Now in Manchester – more on that later.

Dr Bob goes to Washington

I rather foolishly had a flight organised to Washington...in hindsight going by train would have been easier and probably cheaper. Dulles airport is a real hike out of DC proper – the shuttle bus cost $50 and took ages to get me in. Still, it was an uneventful trip though the traffic in Washington pretty busy even though was a Sunday. I was staying about three blocks from the Whitehouse so a pretty good spot though mainly a business district – not too much night life after everything closed down. Had the first day, Monday, as a tourist and despite the rain and being quite cold, I got onto the Metro – very good – big, clean, not that crowded – and headed off to the Library of Congress. It’s opposite the Capitol and all the major government institutions and is rightly impressive – magnificent buildings – looked great and lots going on. Of course the camera decided to pick that moment to have a flat battery so no actual pics of the place. Close by LC is the Folger Shakespeare Library – one the great resources for studying 17th Century European culture with – strangely enough – an emphasis on the Bard. They had quite a good exhibition about 17th century life in England but oddly, nothing at all (except early editions of his plays) about Shakespeare. If you didn’t know much about him before you went there you certainly wouldn’t have gained a lot of knowledge here…odd. It was a large, quiet, libraryish type space where most people would have felt it incumbent to be quiet...but not this young woman who sat on a seat the entire time I was there (maybe 30 mins) conducting two phone calls on her mobile. And she was obviously mad…one bit I caught was how she was currently on a prayer and fast vigil for a week because of something…didn’t learn what…maybe penance for being irritating in public. Americans can be very different sometimes – she made no effort to keep her voice down at all.

Then walked up the road – Museum Mile – past the major museums as time was pressing and plumped for the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. It was t’riffic. Packed with people (a rainy Monday afternoon) and it’s free – couldn’t believe it. Exhibitions wonderful – including a V2 for my War Memorial readers. Lots of other rockets and missiles, aircraft and lunar module/space stuff. Sadly, camera battery still flat…. The really big stuff is held in another facility in Virginia – about an hour away – more on this later. Walked back to the hotel – a solid walk but a nice cool evening, rain clearing and a good way to see the city.

My big day – and sunny though still cold. Walked down to Avis and picked up the rental car – with GPS of course – I am so sold on these. And set course for the Library of Congress’ new a/v preservation facility at Culpeper in Virginia. About a 90 minute drive and didn’t get lost once! It is all very new and stand alone in the countryside and not well signed either. It is fantastic – should be at a cost of $150m plus – just for the building and I think about $80m for fit out was mentioned. Designed for 160 staff, only about 60 there so far as it is all just starting up. Had a fantastic tour round and discussions with Mike Mashon, the head of moving image (note they are still happily using MAVIS!)…have written up the report and lots of photos. They were justifiably proud of the place and happy to show it off. Their vaults were interesting – with 120 million feet of nitrate! And cold store is below freezing… All very state of the art with impressive digital workstations… well worth the trip.

On my way back to DC called in at the Smithsonian for big things which, as I got there late, I had to whiz through. Again, free, wow, and they have things like Concorde, a real Space Shuttle, a Stealth Plane etc in a huge aircraft hanger setup…even a real control tower you can go up and see what is happening at Dulles airport next door. This time camera working! Talk about boys toys… Caught in the Washington rush hour on way home and had to pay a penalty on hire car – but worth it… Washington is full of one way streets as well which without a GPS would make it very difficult. Had dinner at a pub supposedly frequented by Washington Post journos but no juicy gossip came my way.

Final day and out early. To the White House – well about 400 mtrs is as close as you can get – the security is full on and you can’t get within cooee by car. Then a walk down the Mall past all the War Memorials – like a massive Anzac Parade I suppose – to the Lincoln Memorial – pretty impressive. Train to George Mason University – I’d never heard of him either but apparently a rich Virginian along the lines of his more illustrious namesake, Washington. Was met by a really nice guy who is part of the Digital History project and one of the two prime movers behind the 9/11 Archive. This is a purely virtual archive, created ‘by the people’ a good example of Web 2.0 in action with over 120,000 items in it. All in my report! They were really nice and it is a great example of what can be done. They have made the software platform available to anyone and are pushing it with local libraries etc to create their own local or subject based archive – a bit like the thing we did for 2WG in Wagga. Thus they had also created a Hurricane Katrina one as well..the way of the future.

Had to be up at 4.30am to leave Washington – I hate that! But the flight to the UK was great – United have almost (not quite) redeemed themselves. Plane was about one third full so had seats to ourselves and there was actually quite decent leg room. I was glad I didn’t take up the option they offered me at check in of paying $89 more for an exit aisle seat..I thought long and hard and if it had been to Oz I would have done but is only 8 hours to the UK so decided no. And as the plane so empty, I moved I into one anyway with zero fuss! The downside – we left at 9.00am local time and hardly had we got in the air – I kid you not, before 10.00am, they brought round lunch. Beef and mash potatoes etc – weird. And then nothing till five minutes from England. Plus you had to pay for alcohol – not that I was in the mood at 10.00am! I am seriously gonna give them some much needed feedback on their website. Why are they so stupid??