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The blog of a travelling psychiatrist and football lover. Who happens to be a halfway decent photographer. Takes a cynical view of the world

Archive for the tag “street art”

Ljubljana – the most beautiful city in Europe


Ljubljana is the capital city of Slovenia and is a city with the river Ljubljanica running through the city centre giving an intense backdrop to the many restaurants and cafes that line the river banks.IMG_0176

The city has a population of around 300,oo and that excludes the many dragons lining bridges and other areas. The dragon is the symbol of Slovenia.

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It is an attractive lattice of cobbled streets, arched alleys and fine cultural monuments, many of which were bequeathed to the city by Jože Plečnik (1872–1957), Slovenia’s most celebrated urban planner including the  brilliantly conceived Triple bridge.

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There are plentiful museums as one might expect from a capital city but the real enjoyment comes from simply walking the streets and seeing this city first-hand. Oddly the castle which gives an almost fairy tale backdrop to the city is about the only average feature of the city . 

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Many of the streets are cobblestone and lined with street art. Small bakers and other artisans sell their wares.

IMG_0188The bars and restaurants are plentiful and provide ample choice, although maybe pizza is the commonest type of cuisine.

IMG_0331Never also forget the amazing street art that is everywhere.

FullSizeRender-3You can sit literally in the river and eat and drink in various bars and restaurants

FullSizeRenderWhen nighttime comes there is often entertainment in Pleseren Square.

Street Art in Malta. Who killed Daphne? Daphne Caruana Galizia. Assassinated by car bomb


I am always curious as to the motives for street art . But in this case who is Daphne? Is she real? A TV character? A quick search through google reveals the answer. Daphne Caruana Galizia, a Maltese journalist who was assassinated October 16th. Daphne Anne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese journalist, writer, and anti-corruption activist, who reported on political events in Malta. This street art was a random scrawl on a wall near the seafront. FE226E2D-28B9-4B99-91C9-D46448487D4C

Wikipedia and others report her journalism as “In particular, she focused on investigative reporting into government corruption, nepotism, patronage, allegations of money laundering links between Malta’s onlinegambling industry and organised crime”.

On 16 October 2017, Caruana Galizia died in a car bomb attack close to her home, attracting widespread local and international reactions.

In Dec 2017 three men were arrested in connection with her murder and 45 journalists have established The Daphne Project to conclude her investigation.

This story will continue to run. In May 2018 two laptop and three hard drives were handed over to German police by her family. The original belief that her laptop was destroyed by the car bomb was wrong as that laptop had not been used for two years. The family had refused to hand these over previously to the Maltese authorities.

A shrine to her of flowers and candles has been regularly destroyed and replaced. 

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Seemingly meaningless Graffiti. Any ideas what it means?


Whilst traveling one comes across a lot of graffiti. Some of it great, some pure art, some vandalism and some of it simply strange.

I have no idea what these sets of graffiti mean. One was painted on a park bench and the other on a metal container .

Slovenia Is A Country To Visit Soon


Slovenia is less than 2.5 hours away whether you fly to Ljubljana or Zagreb. Zagreb has more flights and Ljubljana airport is nearer of course, however it means an unfortunate visitation to Stansted. 00003250

The drive from Zagreb is around 90 minutes and is painless, but one needs to remember to stop at a services and purchase the Vignette, a kind of road tax that can be bought weekly up to annually. tolls.eu/slovenia

A weekly Vignette is 15 euros. The country is essentially unspoiled and will not remain so for much longer, indeed only the lack of direct flights to Ljubljana exerts some control over this.  Visiting in May, the hotels are all full in the centre and some advance booking is essential. 00003124

For anyone who has travelled Europe , Ljubljana can be described as a cross between Prague and Amsterdam, without the crowds. There is a river through the city alongside most of the eating and drinking goes on. Food and drink is cheap and there is a certain Italian flavour to many of the restaurants, which are surprisingly cheap. A few curious things emerge like giving customers apples, we found them on the table in cafes and bars and also in our hotel. There are some building works going on in central Ljubljana but this does not really impact anyone visiting.  Anyone from UK will be surprised at the cheapness of franks in the bars and also the great service from the bar staff. 0000312700003128

Hiring a car is also cheap and means that in around an hour one can reach any of the borders with  Italy, Hungary, Austria and Croatia. Slovenia also has a very small stretch of beach. Drive down any motorway, which are dual carriageways as we know them, and there are plentiful signs to castles and other amazing places. The Lippizaner horses can be seen, Predjama castle is a must and Lakes Bled ( a little touristy) and Bohinj need to be seen. A 30 minute boat ride on Lake Bohinj in an electric boat that is 62 years old is worth doing.

There are many different walks one can do, around lakes or just through countryside. 00003245

This is a country to visit for a long weekend or even a week. Walking through the city is easy and anyone wanting 10,000 steps a day will find it surprisingly easy.0000327100003272000032700000326700003266 And I have not even mentioned  the amazing street art in  Metalkova in Ljubljana.

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Did I mention the street art?

 

 

 

 

Berlin in Autumn. Is it worth a visit?


Berlin is a fascinating city with history and architecture to rival any city in the world. The question is given the high prices is it worth a visit in the autumn?

Unfortunately the greatness of the place and the short days with darkness coming from 4.30 pm meant I would not be positive in spending money to come here.

The city was wet and muddy meaning that walking through Tiergarten was not a pleasure . Queues everywhere to get into any historical building and few smiles to be seen. Prices were also expensive. In a small cafe not in a popular area a cheeseburger cost 10€ and a large Americano coffee 5.90€.

In a lesson for other cities though there were few cars to be seen in the city centre.

On the positive side a good transportation system and decent if wet and muddy pedestrian walkways.

Would I return again in autumn? Definitely not. Cities like Riga and Prague offer far more for far less at this time of year .

The street art is not too shabby though tucked away in small side streets.

Cardiff Street Art. The Dragon Roars


One of the best aspects of street art is the surprise to find it where least expected. A quick nighttime walk around Cardiff was enlightened by finding some dragon street art next to the Millenium Stadium. Sadly only I phone photos in the dark but quite amazing still the same.

Street Art In Craiova Romania. Very Many Different Types


Who are the artists, and who are the subjects in the photos? An artist called A Tonila has painted many of the electrical boxes. 0000225000002258000022560000222300002245000023090000231100002308000023000000229700002274

Street Art in Brentford 


My Favourite Australian Street Art. Take a look


Street Art in Craiova Romania


Craiova, Romania’s 6th largest city and capital of Dolj County, is situated near the east bank of the river Jiu in central Oltenia. The population of 300,000 makes it the same size as Iceland. It lies around 145 miles from Bucharest.

There are many things to see and do in Craiova however the street art does not mentioned in any of the official  websites.

Here are a few examples of what can be found downtown in craiova.

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Electrical boxes are all beautifiully painted. 

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Ends of terraced buildings are perfect places to paint street art

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