Travel By Jury

Of several legends, the one I prefer has it that Jason and his Argonauts after finding the Golden Fleece broke their boat down into pieces and were carrying it overland on a shortcut back to Greece when they arrived at a huge lake and surrounding marsh formed by the Ljubljanica River. The marsh was home to a mighty dragon and Jason slew the beast, thereby allowing a great city called Ljubljana to be built. Today Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia, a beautiful little country situated in the Julienne Alps and bordered by Italy, Croatia, the Adriatic Sea, and Hungary. Ljubljana has been heavily influenced culturally throughout its history by its conquerors, including the Romans, the Germans, and the Slavs. But, since the collapse of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, Slovene independance has given rise to a cosmpolitan city worthy of a visit. The city boasts of a national theater and opera house, a beautiful castle turned museum and home to some great philharmonic concerts, world class restaurants, 104 types of pizza, a major European university, several ancient Roman archaelogical sites, art galleries galore, and shops full of quaint and curious notions. There are roughly 300,000 people in the city and over 30,000 of them are university students. This helps generate a vibrant intellectual and night life, which often intermingle. What do I mean by that? Well, consider one of my favorite spots, Casa de Papa (House of Papa). During WWI, Ernest Hemingway drove an ambulance for the Italian army. He was badly wounded in the Soca Valley just outside Ljubljana and spent time recuperating in the city. Anyone who is aware of the Hemingway mythology knows what that means – drinking, carousing, writing, screwing, drinking, etc. He became quite famous in this central European outpost. Casa de Papa’s is a nightclub dedicated to his memory and full of very rare Hemingway photos and memorabilia. The owner, who invited me there to read poetry, is a man named Arthur. Arthur is a cross between Tom Green and Don Rickles in attitude and Michael Bolton and Michael Jackson in appearance and fashion sense. He acts as emcee to a once-a-week program of poetry and intellectual conversation that runs the gamut from Platonic philospophy to Camus absurdism. There is disco dancing, a fine fusion restaurant upstairs, and a bartender who can mix any drink you care to name. One caveat…if you are a short American male, as I am, be prepared for the urinals in the men’s room. They are built for giant slavs. I had to stand on my tiptoes…

Juror #3, Jim McGarrah

Filed under: Eastern Europe, Europe | Tagged: 104 types of pizza, Adriatic Sea, Argonauts, Camus absurdism, Casa de Papa, castle, European university, Golden Fleece, Hemmingway, Jim McGarrah, juror #3, Ljubjana, Ljubjanica River, museum, nightclub, opera house, philharmonic concerts, Platonic philosophy, poetry, restaurants, short urinals, Slovene Independence, Slovenia, Soca Valley, theater, Yugoslavia | Leave a Comment »