Birthday party in a hunting lodge

Usually I don't write much about different parties but this time I'll make an exception.


Last weekend M. and I were invited to a birthday party. It was a party like any other, with drinking, eating and socializing on the schedule. The only thing that was a bit out of ordinary was the location.


The event happened in a hunting lodge near the town of Cerknica (Slovenia). The building is situated in the middle of a forest, with a forest road leading to it.

It was freezing cold. Fortunately there was lots of chopped firewood waiting to be burned. In spite of the cold we had a great time. I dare to say our present helped at least a bit.

The first part of the present was a bottle of Absinthe Supreme to keep us warm. It is made by a former coworker of mine and also sold on the internet (check out the link).


The second present was a band. A real brass band of eight eager musicians, one of which is my younger brother (he plays the tuba). They are called Kar Češ Brass Band and play all sorts of music. Mostly they are inspired by Balkan and New Orleans street jazz rhythms. They rocked the place!

You can see them in action on the three photos above. I might even post a movie of them playing at this party in one of the following posts.

Well, actually I don't know about that. After all, this is a photo blog...
What do you think?

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Ski performance - Civetta 2008

Every time I went skiing to Dolomites I have posted my ski performance stats from the official Dolomiti Superski site.

I can't see why should it be any different this time.


However there is one inaccuracy in that summary. Something is missing in the "Present season until yesterday" item. It's the 145 kilometers of slopes we did in December in Trevalli that's missing. You can check out that report here.

On the list of slopes we did this year there is also Gran Risa. This is the place of Alta Badia FIS Alpine Ski World Cup giant slalom race.


5+1 ski ticket allows you to go anywhere you want inside the wast Dolomiti Superski area for a day. This year we visited La Villa for the first time.

I must say Gran Risa slope is really something. It is quite steep but you can find many steeper slopes in the neighborhood. The combination of the steepness and length of this slope is what's really impressive. It just goes on and on...
If you do it in one piece and relatively fast I am sure you too will feel the pressure in your eardrums building up and your thighs should be burning quite nicely when you reach the end (that's if you're not the Terminator). Apart from that a sweaty drop or two should also come dripping from under your helmet.

It is something you should definitely try. Only then you can start to understand what those World Cup participants are doing on daily basis.

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Elan S10

For as long as I can remember I have been using Elan skis. I guess it's because Elan is a Slovenian trademark and they are also making really good skis.
They are working on innovations all the time for others to copy afterwards. They say Elan was the first company to introduce carve approach. Now everybody is doing it.


Skis of my choice for the last couple of seasons have been Elan S10 Fusion.
Even though it wasn't cheap I am very satisfied with the purchase. With them I can easily enjoy throughout a whole day of skiing without getting my legs too tired.

Despite of that I think next time I'll choose just a bit stiffer model. Stiffer skis make you work harder but at the same time offer better grip on hard and icy surfaces.

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