Alkohol! / Ne Toci, Peter

Alkohol! (Ljubljana) - Slovenia  2019

Ne Toci, Peter (Ljubljana) - Slovenia  2019

Top photo says, as translated by our food tour guide: "No great conversation ever happened over a glass of water."

Not sure about "Ne Toci, Peter," as seen on a beer coaster. Yes, it's a film. But it's also some sort of slogan . . . and I can't figure out the context or meaning.

Equestrian Park - 1

Flowers, Buildings, Clouds (Lipica) - Slovenia  2019

Road & Trees (Lipica) - Slovenia  2019

Seen in Lipica's equestrian park.

Slovenia Countryside

Colja Winery - Slovenia  2019

Olives - Slovenia  2019

After our stay at Hisa Franko we wanted to visit the equestrian center at Lipica. We picked a scenic route for the drive there, through vinyards and wineries.

When I pulled over to the side of the road for a photo of Colja Winery I noticed some olive trees growing nearby. Upon closer inspection I discovered olive fruit fly damage! So, not just a problem in California, alas.

Staro Selo Morning - 2

Road, Mt. Krn - Slovenia  2019

Trees, Mist - Slovenia  2019

Very picturesque. There are hiking trails up to the top of Mt. Krn.

Staro Selo Morning - 1

Staircase, Vines (Staro Selo) - Slovenia  2019

Church (Staro Selo) - Slovenia  2019

The morning was nice and sunny. Our walk was a little early, so no people in the photos.

I didn't apply any perspective correction in the bottom photo for some reason.

Monday Eurasian Magpie Blogging

Eurasian Magpie - Slovenia  2019

"The Eurasian magpie is one of the most intelligent birds, and it is believed to be one of the most intelligent of all non-human animals." -Wikipedia

Seen hopping around on the grass in Lipica. If I had known that it was so smart, I would have asked it for directions to Ljubljana.

Staro Selo Night

Night Walk (Staro Selo) - Slovenia  2019

Night Building (Staro Selo) - Slovenia  2019

Hisa Franko is adjacent to Staro Selo. After our dinner we took a short walk through the dark streets of the small town.

Sign (Staro Selo) - Slovenia  2019

Dinner at Hisa Franko - 2

Roebuck: Horseradish "Cheese", Horseradish Triple Cream, Pine Cone, Nasturium (Hisa Franko) - Slovenia  2019

Parsnip, Apple, Walnut and Pork Crackling Dumpling Glazed with Pork Fat (Hisa Franko) - Slovenia  2019

More on the second photo's items: Smoked pork creme brulee, sun dried plums, horseradish.
The drink was apple juice with whiskey and smoke-infused ice.

All photos taken with an iPhone 7 Plus.

By the way, the chef, Ana Ros, has been featured on Netflix.

Table (Hisa Franko) - Slovenia  2019

Dinner at Hisa Franko - 1

Lamb Brain & Preserved Cranberry Bigne (Hisa Franko) - Slovenia  2019

Natasa Duric - Spelt Sour Bread with Molasses, Cultured Butter with  Bee Pollen (Hisa Franko) - Slovenia  2019

The dining area was light, airy and modern. There were windows on two sides and a fireplace at one end. When we walked in there were already two large groups there, but we weren’t the latest arrivals.
Mike had a glass of sparkling wine to start, then a pour of sauvigon blanc, with a last serving of pinot noir. All wines produced in Slovenia.

The menu was organized as finger bites, table bites and sweet bites. Eighteen courses in all! Some of the more interesting ones:

- potato baked in salt-hay crust, with fermented cheese and smoked chocolate.
- lamb brain and preserved cranberry beignet.
- pulled lamb and crab wrap, lamb broth, egg yolk filled with anchovy cream.
- trout fried in corn with porcini buttermilk, salad of wild flowers and porcinis
- Kobariski Strukelj: parsnip, apple, walnut and pork crackling dumpling glazed with pork fat.
- Smoked pork creme brulee, sundried plums, horseradish.

We had organized our trip around this event, and we ultimately felt that the effort was certainly worth while. A very special meal indeed!

Hisa Franko

Hisa Franko Courtyard - Slovenia  2019

Hisa Franko Hallway - Slovenia  2019

Our arrival at Hisa Franko. Nice pleasant courtyard. We went to our upstairs room and did a little freshen-up, changed clothes and got down to the dining area.

Kobarid

Bar (Kobarid) - Slovenia  2019

Kobarid - Slovenia  2019

The GPS ended up taking us to Hisa Franko’s mailing address, in the middle of Kobarid. Alas, a) the middle of Kobarid had been shut down for a mountain bike event, and b) we were nowhere near the restaurant. This was at 4:45 PM. Luckily Hali was able to phone Hisa Franko, and Dan, an employee, agreed to drive over and guide us back. Wow. We arrived at 4:55 PM.

Triglavski National Park - Slovenia

Julian Alps - Slovenia  2019

Entrance, Triglavski National Park - Slovenia  2019

Driving through Italy towards Slovenia the two-lane road became narrower with a series of hairpin turns leading up into the mountains, easily navigated by Mike's powerful Mercedes. Finally we reached the border and Triglav National Park. (We managed to stop at a view point for some photos.)

Monday Dog Blogging

Dog on Sidewalk - San Francisco  2019

Dogs in Park - San Francisco  2019

Top photo taken in the Market Street downtown area, the bottom one near Golden Gate Park.

Building Reflections

Window Reflections - San Francisco  2020

Window Reflections - San Francisco  2020

The old highrise window reflections trick.

Ferry Building, San Quentin

Ferry Building, Reflections - San Francisco  2020

San Quentin - Marin County  2020

Photos from a recent trip to San Francisco taking the Larkspur ferry, using a Canon G5XII.

Salesforce Tower

Tree, Salesforce Tower - San Francisco  2020

Salesforce Tower - San Francisco  2019

Photos from last year and this year. We visited the Salesforce Park last August.

San Francisco Residential

Vicente - San Francisco  2019

Vicente - San Francisco  2019

Taken while also shooting sports photos for one of Hanna's soccer games. Shades of Robert Bechtle?

Although I can't get his prices, for sure.

San Francisco, Market St.

Steam - San Francisco  2019

SFPD Motorcycle - San Francisco  2019

My favorite Market Street police shot was taken in 2003.

San Francisco, MIssion District

Folsom Street, Rain - San Francisco  2019

Motohaus - San Francisco  2019

Taken with a Canon G5XII, with some rain getting on the lens.

Monday Cat Blogging

Cat in Garden - Marin County  2019

Neighbor's cat visiting our backyard.

Italy (Google Street View)

Tarvisio Off-Ramp (Google) -Italy

Road towards Slovenia (Google) - Italy

Road towards Slovenia (Google) - Italy

Mike had planned a route that would travel though Austria and then directly into Slovenia, but had somehow overlooked that his route would go through a section of Italy! So we were concerned that we’d have to pay some Italian entry fees and/or tolls. But we didn’t have to worry . . . our route took us off of the main highway at Tarvisio, then wound through a series of highly picturesque Italian towns, cemeteries etc. By then we were starting to be concerned about the time factor (that 5PM reservation); so Mike wasn’t able to stop. No photos of Italy! (Sad face emoji.)

(So, the above photos were gotten from Google's street view.)

Driving through Austria

Der Whopper - Austria  2019

Serways - Austria  2019

Right out of the airport Mike immediately started driving the wrong way, he had to back up and start over again. We wanted to get to Route 12 - and saw the signs showing that Route 12 was to the left. But the car's GPS said to turn right. So we did, alas. Then the Mercedes started to issue contradictory directions, left turn, right turn, U-turn, etc. We ended up stopping in a residential section, then deciding to use the iPhone’s system. Unfortunately we couldn’t figure out how to turn off the car’s system, so we ended up with two dueling GPS ladies talking past each other using very loud voices. Hali finally managed to turn down the volume on the car GPS system, but it wasn’t until much later that she could shut it down.

Once we got on the highway, traffic went smoothly enough, very similar to freeway driving. The views of the Austrian mountains that we could see along the route were very impressive. One interesting thing is that the highways don't switchback over the mountains, like in the US, but instead plunge directly into very long tunnels.

We wanted to have lunch at a European fast food place, but when we took a random off-ramp we were obliged to park at a Burger King. Not bad, actually. The fries were better than in the US!

Rental Car

Mercedes - Slovenia 2019

Airport (Innsbruck) - Austria  2019

After our exquisite breakfast we took a taxi to the airport . . . the taxi driver dropped us off at the wrong place, but we were able to find the correct spot.

Then, the rental car procedure at Sixt. Choice between Mercedes or BMW. I  picked the glamorous black Mercedes. The Sixt employee set the GPS to English and set the destination as Salzburg. (Salzburg was a midpoint destination. Our final destination for the day was Hisa Franko, a world famous restaurant in Staro Selo, Slovenia. We had reservations for 5 PM.)

Mike, Mercedes - Slovenia  2019

Innsbruck Morning View

Morning View (Innsbruck) - Austria  2019

As we were engrossed in the hotel's sumptious buffet I happened to glance outside the window. Whoa! . . . clouds, steeples, mountains, morning light . . .

Naturally I had not brought the Canon to breakfast so I had to rely on my iPhone. Shooting through the window meant that there were reflections in the photo, which I've tried to minimize using Photoshop. As always, click to enlarge.

Penz Hotel Breakfast Buffet

Fruit Selection (Innsbruck) - Austria  2019

Pastries (Innsbruck) - Austria  2019

As I said, our one-night stay in Innsbruck was a very late addition to our trip. After some (extremely) quick research, Hali made a reservation at the Penz Hotel. Centrally located with nice rooms.

What we hadn't expected was the overwhelming magnificence of the breakfast buffet. A veritable cornucopia of goodies unlike anything we've seen before or since.

Jellies (Innsbruck) - Austria  2019