Hello American !

In the weeks since I returned from America, I have been a bit in the doldrums and very discouraged about my life in Slovenia. This is a tough place to be a foreigner and particularly tough for a former New Yorker, who just spent a three-week vacation having a fabulous time in New York.

Today as I walked down the fair streets of Wheelville in the same spot where I met my best friend over two years ago, I saw two men rolling down the street -- one on a bike and one on a skateboard -- and I called out to the skateboarder, "Where are you from?" He immediately hopped off and told me he was from Germany and told me he was here working on a solar plane project but was, alas, leaving tomorrow. I told him I was from America and was married to a Slovenian. He told me that the head of the plane project was the man who'd sped off on the bike, Eric Raymond, and as he hopped onto his skateboard in pursuit of Mr. Raymond he instructed me to Google "solar plane" and I'd find out everything. I bid this friendly German "Schuss" and walked home. As I neared my house, I saw Mr. Raymond and yelled out "Hello American!" but he kept right on riding. I must say I've had little success with Americans in Europe, but I don't mind. They are forgiven.

So, unperturbed, I followed the friendly German's instructions and discovered the link to this fascinating project where these adventurous Americans are putting together planes that run on solar power. It is happening right here in my neighborhood in Radovljica, and I never even knew. That is somewhat encouraging, and I hope there are more things like this for me to discover, more things like this to ease my discouragement and frustration away...

Read about another blogger's visit to the Solar Flight workshop here)

walking around Radovljica

Once upon a time, I had big plans to become a filmmaker. After a few years of dabbling, I kinda let film go by the wayside.

However, these last few weeks I've been noodling around with video. Here's my latest masterpiece. Maybe this is the start of a comeback? Enjoy!


Walking around Radovljica from Camille Acey on Vimeo.

(if this freezes, watch the lower quality version on Youtube)

crumbling wheelville

images from around town

Snowy Walk

I went on a snowy walk around the hood the other night. Contrast with the sunnier days pictured here.

They Got The Memo

When you type "Radovljica blog" or even just "Radovljica" in Google, my blog pops up pretty fast. So I think the powers-that-be here in Wheelville have finally realized the clout I have when it comes to the international opinion of Radovljica (which I am calling as the next Ljubljana, btw).

So when I complain about the lack of Christmas cheeriness, people get on top of it.

No sooner do I tap out that blog post then I get off the train in Radovljica station, start on my way home, and find this.











It's getting to be one of those "When I Say Jump" kind of arrangements, I think....

O' Radovljica!

I got up early Monday morning and headed to the local train station to head to work. I was a little on edge as I knew I'd have to walk through the terrible grafitti-splashed slightly pee smelling stairwell to get down to the platform. But BOY was I surprised! The train station had been transformed into a lively be-muraled homage to our fair town. Check it out. Big props and respect to everyone who was involved in this -- most especially the person who flipped the Radovljica Wheel Man logo!

Support Your Local Scene

One evening while hanging at my favorite bar in the old town, I managed to stumble a few doors down to Šivčeva Hiša where our neighbor Petra Bole was having an exhibition of her handcrafted jewelry. I didn't have my camera that night but told her I'd come back and snap some images to post here.

Yesterday evening while at the pastry shop across from the gallery, I realized I had my camera so I popped over. It turned out Petra was there finishing up a children's workshop so I got to chat with her a bit, snap her great pieces, and see if there was anything still for sale.


Petra and some future crafty Radovljičanke























Here is an article from the local paper (in Slovenian) about her. I'll let you know when her website is back up.

Visit

We were recently graced with an all-to-brief visit by my new friend Priscilla who lives in Zurich and who I recently met in the Black Women in Europe community. On Friday, I trekked her around my version of Ljubljana and on Sunday, The Captain and I gave her a crash course in basic Gorenjska (this is the Alpine region, where I live). Here are some pics from Sunday.

Sunday Lunch at Wheelville Manor


Images from the Radovljica medieval fair










from a strange art exhibit here in Radovljica. animals made out of tree trunks




Around Gorenjska











some curious goats




this tree is over 600 years old


a young pup under the tree




A little Blejska grmada for the road


Come back soon! :)