Ljubljana is pronounced Lee-ub-lee-ana, I think

In Slovenia, there are pretty castles and churches to remind you it's Europe.

After Iceland, I was relieved to be back in a civilized climate.

This is lake Bled. If it's not August, you can boat across it or hike around it. But if it's August, which is was for us, you get crowded out by German, Austrian, Italian and Dutch tourists.

So we went back to Ljubljana to enjoy the wine. They have orange wine, which, incredibly, is a secret new kind of wine tasting like no other! We were big fans.

We saw the secret Canadian society's emblem.

And the Door of Six Cardinal Heads, which I found funnier than I was supposed to. Why are only their heads 3D?

Ljubljana has great, inexpensive food.

I recommend the savoury beet ice cream with cheese.

But we didn't try what appears to be an imitation restaurant.

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Viking Time

Here in Iceland, I was still waiting for summer, while Barry was decidedly more comfortable.

To warm up, we went to the Eimverk distillery!

We tasted interesting things like gin smoked in sheep's dung.

We did a thorough job of appreciating the local spirits.

Afterwards, we found this sign quite funny.

We actually stopped at the Ali pork factory just to marvel at the religious insensitivity of the name.

We learned from the Viking museum though, that though a lot of people believe in elves, they are officially Christian.

We learned a lot of other things about Vikings too, some of it violent.

Barry tried to fit in.

But this little kid did it better.

So we tried the hotdogs, which is what Barry came for, and agreed they're the world's best. It must be that Ali pork.

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Desolate landscapes

Iceland is cold, desolate, and largely treeless, covered in lava rocks and blackness.

We saw a geyser (humans shown for scale).

And a waterfall.

But my favourite thing was the lava fields covered in moss.

Your feet sink in like a shag carpet. Mine at confusing angles.

Barry was less keen on this post-Armageddon style landscape at first.

Speaking of desolate, it was 12C and chilly in mid-summer.

We kept warm near the geothermal activity.

But even that is a big haunty-creepy.

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In the Airport with Zombies Cat

I had some time to kill in the Shanghai airport, which is apparently not without hazards.

Indeed, in China the cabbies are encased in plexiglass to avoid assault.

But that's ok, because you can eat delicious duck snacks: necks, feet, tongues and more, dried and bagged to snack on the plane.

You can go to the Acting restaurant and eat this along with some wife cake.

But afterwards, you have to find a working tap. This "facility does not work because of its malfunction".

My favourite airport find was Zombies Cat.

"The zombies cat is a friend of human with positive energy. It can beat all the negative things in the daily and it can protect you from nightmares. We promise that zombies cat is the most loyal friend of you."

Oh, and rare find. In China, a shirt that says "Environmental Protecting"! I think it's meant to be hipster-ironic.

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Elephants, Hockey and Snow White

It's Deepavali time, so we get new elephants in little India!

Barry still claims to be afraid of elephants.

This is some kind of elephant umbrella art, in a back alley with minimal art-appreciating traffic, I'm afraid.

While I got my medicure and panicure, Barry went shopping.

He found a lot of Canadian content.

Sadly the Habs shirt didn't fit.

In kids clothes, there was the sky bus.

There was "I heart the rack",

And "It looks like itsgoing to be a wonderful weekand" USA Sporting.

But the best was Snow White's "I love post man sent you a".

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