Back home:

I went to London and Ljubljana last week and got back Monday. It was a very good trip. I'm lazy and my keyboard sucks, but here are some brief points:

Highlights:
1. The Daily Show is on CNN in Slovenia. I asked a German guy and a Kiwi how much of it they could understand and the answer was about half. Jokes about Mormons and with punchline Jiffylubistan were no good even to the native English speaker.
2. Old Town, Ljubljana, which was as beautiful as advertised.
3. The Skopfja Loka town museum, in the old castle. Considering how small the town is, the museum was really good. Lots of great local interest and some stuff from farther afield.
4. St Nicholas' Cathedral in Ljubljana. Beautiful pictures that remind you how many Slovenians used to make their living from the sea and how dangerous it was.
5. The outdoor market in Ljubljana. 4 delicious giant (Tarocco) blood oranges for about $0.50 US.
6. Cvicek (pronounced tswee-check-- the second c has a hat over it)- a kind of very inexpensive and very drinkable Slovene wine. Food wine only.

Lowlights:
1. Still no good Hungarian bread. Seriously, anyone who's been to a Budapest grocery store knows what I'm talking about. It's these chewy rolls that melt in your mouth and turn into some sort of goo and are easily the best bread in the world. However, it appears to be totally unavailable outside of Hungary. I've tried Vienna, Romania, Prague, Bratislava, and now Slovenia as well as more conventional places to no avail.
2. The fast food restaurant that served a dish called "Horseburger." And the little sign on the store with a picture of a horse on it. When I got closer I learned that the store was a butcher shop.
3. The fact that no one believed that I was a native English speaker. Seriously, more than once people would assume that I spoke only rudimentary traveller's English. I mean, it's good not to look American overseas, but do I really look that confused all the time?
4. Not getting to do much of the hike in Skopfja Loka because of the ice.