Penzion Tavčar, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Penzion Tavčar - long tradition, image set up accordingly. Recommended to visit every couple of years. It will still be there. First time is also a good time. Despite a rather long wait. Wait. Wait.

Zoran Trojar - CEO of Sonce.net, managing companies and projects, recently in digital marketing, stems from Rovte where Bavarians had a significant influence, brought his family name down here, too, worked for and with Mladinska Knjiga, Mladina, Delo, Agencija 41, NRB and DMS, among others, passion for sailboats ceded first place to even more zen-ish golf and yoga, read Pluton by Regovec and will ... reflect. Globally.

Gurman, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Gurman - part of the Momo grill empire. Worth indulging at every location of theirs. Including this one.

Uroš Zajec - event and memorable experiences guru through his PRO FIT agency, grew up in backstage with dad being a film director, intentionally does not read much, but The Book of Nothing (pun +1), family first, events passionately close second, photography among them, extensive coverage in Kongres magazine, will one day connect cognitive surplus of people with their potential, also through events. 1+1=pick your number.

Summer time terrace. Un-packed.

Olimeja, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Olimeja - housed in a glass office building with nice interior setting expectations rather high, when visiting for the first time, it's pretty intensive to wrap one's head around the procedure, yet nicely compensated by nice blonde staff members. Go for a ride.

Matjaž Kovačič - market development lead at Atol, grew up in Maribor, lives in Prebačevo, not related to NKBM same-namer, PEF graduate, worked for Ernst&Young and Energetika.net, was among the first to document Eviews in Slovenian for his thesis, serious valley ball player, has a small kid and another coming soon, loves creating and moderating social communities, read Atol's Bible Keith Eades' New Solution Selling, has difficulties reading fiction and will one day help upgrade sales systems globally. At large.

Feniks, Komenda, Slovenia

Feniks - rather remote in PC Komenda, yet gratifies the visit with very nice ambient and great pizzas. They tried once with giro pizza slow food style. If you don't have to hurry to the airport, you might wanna stop here ...  

Teja Zupančič - marketing lady at Interexport with a very common Slovenian surname, grew up in Štepanjc, now lives in Trzin, FDV grasuate, worked also for Smart Com, danced hip-hop at Kazina, also under Miha Krušič watch, did Zumba under Viktorija Mazzini and sometimes Salsa by Buba of Domen's wife and will soon do Pilates, read Rachel Caine's Glass Houses series and did not like a recent Stephen King's book and will one day devote herself to design and create great works for those that cannot afford it.

Rdeče jabolko, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Rdeče jabolko - a decent chinese restaurant, serving SRC and Halcom regulars. Stop by, when having meetings with some of IT powerhouses in vicinity. 

Klemen Klinar - Head of sales at Halcom, the e-banking company, grew up in Žirovnica, EF masters, worked for SRC and Printec, likes Scotland, about to get his 3rd child, read Sun Tzu's Art of War, will one day be big in tutoring and coaching kids, like he does and knows best for sales teams. Art of tutoring.

Raubar, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Raubar - a very nice restaurant with tradition in Bežigrad. Recommended, for quick discussions or long business lunches. 

Gorazd Buh - consultant at his Biplus company, not directly related to Neisha Buh, Radovljica Alumni, worked for and with Finance, Dnevnik, Delo, Directa, has 2 kids, kick started running career, wants to paly a lot more football, was Ermin Šiljak's schoolfriend, is huge Barca fan and is about to become more and more satisfied with the way things are turning out. Zenifying. 

Julči, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Julči - famous for the mega pizza Da te kap - usually ordered in - but one can also enjoy it at their location.

Aleš Štempihar - IIBA Slovenia president and Askit CEO, born and raised in Kranj, organizer of Advanced Business Approaches conference, likes things to be done good and maintains a positive ITtitude. Universal.

Mongolia BBQ Vič, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Mongolia BBQ - the first one, not the second one. They have parking issue, otherwise it is known what to expect. Chinese-Sushi-Mongolian BBQ mix. All you can eat.

Domen Prašnikar - PwC consultant, Zasavje origins, not related to Janez Prašnikar, Maharishi and IEDC graduate, loves skiing and dancing, runs Buba salsa club with his wife, worked also for SKB and Delo, will re-join Toastmasters, has a small baby and will one day devote himself to photography, dance and opening the space. Quite figuratively.

Holyrood park, Edinburgh, Scotland

Holyrood park - the picnic landmark beneath Arthur's seat.

 Ramy Nassar - TEDxWaterloo organizer and community evangelist, grew up in Toronto with Egyptian and German roots, Guelph graduate, computer engineer, worked for RIM, runs a photography company and real estate and consulting business, likes cycling, does yoga, read Bryson's History of nearly everything and will one day devote himself to photography and art with enough to give away.

Robo- bird in the sky - seagull yet to attack.

Hotel Sheraton, Edinburgh, Scottland

Sheraton Edinburgh - assured by brand name, great place for flawless reception parties and nice memories. Grand.

 Ellen Cheng - TEDxFactory798 curator, moved to Beijing from Chongqing, works at Krypton 36Kr on start-up education and enablement, worked in India on China-India relations and with TED Fellow Joey Ellis on ocean protection, reads Monocle magazine and Shirky's Cognitive Surplus and will one day create her own foundation that will eradicate corruption in an instance. With a ba(n)g. 

 Gaurav Gupta - TEDxKnowledgeCity organizer and Skillment director, born in Delhi, moved to Bangalore and London and destined to end up in Edinburgh, CPA graduate, worked at Kaupthing, now trains engineers to be employable in construction, trying to understand how brain works, read Origins, the pre birth book and will one day shift the mindset of majority to more positive thinking around lasting contentment being actually achievable and within grasp. Origins of happiness.

Marco Tempest offering a glimpse behind his magic.

Ghillie Dhu, Edinburgh, Scottland

Ghillie Dhu - fascinating place, inside-out, a must check when in Edinburgh. Unlikely not to be recommended.

Sylvain Zimmer - TEDxParis team member and Joshfire co-founder, moved from Metz to Grenoble, studied applied math, met his wife, moved to Paris, started opening ears at Jamendo, plays several instruments in a band with no name, read Google's In the Plex story and will one day fund and find solution to exploit e=mc2 via x-prize like competition. Mass-ive.

Official TED shoes. Go well with the bag.

Was Milton given freedom to decide whether he agrees or not? :)

Cafe Andaluz, Edinburgh, Scotland

Cafe Andaluz - authentic Spanish Tapas restaurant with a twist, also in the men's room. Recommended.

Ivana Korom - TEDxNoviSad organizer, born and raised in Novi Sad in Serbia, lived briefly in Malta, psychology graduate, tried private practice at  Imaginarium, one of the most active TED Talk translators, second only to Anwar The Translator King, is co-producer of SuperIDEJA.com, is reading signed copy of Shultze's Being wrong, will one day make sure that public kitchens will work also on New Year's Day around the world and make low income incubators an expected reality. SuperIvana.com

Houssem Aoudi - curator at TEDxCarthage as Carthage is the old name of Tunis, Djerba born and raised, studied at Sousse, moved around to Lybia, Algier and back to Tunis, was making websites, earned marketing degree, worked at event agency, Apple Premium Reseller, as advertiser in digital marketing, is organizing Barcamps, concerts, festivals, reads book about hackers, loves to take photos, will one day create university like campus with theater with art and TED like content and TED Clubs in all towns and will have TED subscription for life - for all. Worth spreading.

Ahmad Coucha - co-founder of TEDxCairo, born and raised in Cairo, with engineering degree at ASU, about to leave Siemens, pursuing Masters in behavioural economics, likes sitting at the pool in country club, reading The Age of Deception by Elbaradei, and will one day make TED Prize wishes come true, including his own. The Age of Spreading Ideas.

Gates Foundation in the role of a great host. Cheers!

Novotel Edinburgh Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland

Novotel Edinburgh Centre - a decent hotel, with walking distance to major Edinburgh sites and a good breakfast including haggis.

Vlad Fiscutean - TEDxTimisoara organizer, designer by heart, grew up in Reghin, moved to Timisoara a.k.a. Little Vienna and maybe to Big Vienna some day, Tibiscus University Design and Art graduate, worked in radio and TV, is full into sensory branding, influenced by Martin Lindstrom's Brand Sense book, was part of Timisoara bike project, reads a lot in parallel, many times in bathroom and writing stuff on wall tiles with waterproof marker, will one day build schools and get kids together in the room with special, smart and exceptional people of which many were at TEDGlobal 2011, like Vlad himself. Contributing and receiving.

Adah Cipres - TEDxKyungwonU organizer and copy editor at Asian Cultural studies institute, grew up in Valenzuela and Las Pinas, is reading Sam Harris' End of Faith and watching TED Talks, is a translator and will one day put up green and barefoot-college-like schools. And she recently realized there is Chris Anderson and there is Chris Anderson. WireTED.

First row experience at TED. Priceless.

Zero Emission (ZE) electric Renault - brought all the way up to Edinburgh from France, to be test driven. Zero emissionly?

The Caves, Edinburgh, Scotland

The Caves - dungeon-like place, cellar-maze, that gets really interesting once significant ammounts of Dewars start kicking in. Positioning themselves as THE wedding place in Edinburgh. Stone cold or stone durable?

Fabian Lua - change-maker in the making and long term strategic planner for Singapore Airlines, Singapore native with MIT masters in optimization, founded MIT Enterprise Forum in SG, loves running, art galleries and colouring art books for children, read Founders At Work by Jessica Livingston, co-founder of Y Combinator. One day he will focus his energy into people's behaviour change, especially related to healthcare problematic. Long term health optimizer in the making.

Pavitra Chalam - potent film-maker with a reason, grew up in blue mountains of South India then moved to Bangalore and then many more places, passionate story-teller, many of them in form of movies through her production house, skater and middle distance runner, read Ohan Pamuk's Snow, dream come true would make her do even more of what she does on a grander scale. Dream vision would get details.

Karishma Shahani - closed Pune-London-Pune loop, fashion designer, worked for Asos, Jaeger, Selfridges and others in different roles, TEDGlobal attendee, indulges in Bollywood movies and read No Full Stops in India and Life of Pi and will one day successfully run three separate businesses: design/craft workshop, book store with cafe and vertical business from sourcing to garments. Shahani Enterprise latte, please.

JR's InsideOut portraits popping up during nights in Edinburgh ...

National Museum, Edinburgh, Scotland

National Museum of Scotland - besides works of art and other things worth preserving, it hosts also receptions such as opening dinner of TEDGlobal 2011 event. Worth preserving in memory.

Sentayehu Seifu Bedework - TEDxAddis organizer, born and raised in Addis Ababa, moved around, lived in Dublin, Lyon, Nice, also worked in hospital, now mostly for IT companies as a computer science graduate, practices Taekwondo, does not read much, but watches lots of TED Talks and is determined to one day abolish poverty. For good.

Ajit Sharma (with plastic champaign) - grew up in Jaipur, roots in Punjab, has MBA from University of Pune, was active in AIESEC in India, Romania and Poland, worked for DHL and now at AWC Industries, plays guitar, used to have a band, organizes TEDx events, is reading SuperFreakonomics and will one day help kick-start school drop-outs with money, coaching and motivation - not unlike CNN Hero Hill Harper.

Back rows at TED event. Keyboard addicts. Serving eager crowds.

EICC, Edinburgh, Scotland

EICC - hosting TEDGlobal2011, with great Social Space in the lower level and all the best coffee makers gathered in the center to make days longer and heads more open for ideas worth spreading. Amazing joint effort by Coffee Common.

Yasser Masood Khan (with camera) - enjoying and photographing Balasz Havasi performance on TED stage, Indian origin, Dubai born, Doha Carnegie graduated, freelancing in social media and video content, organizer of TEDx events, avid photographer, helping organizing fundraising, is reading Starbucks turnaround experience story and Branson's Srew it and will one day lead the efforts to empower the youth to mop up the mess that previous generations have left them, right the wrongs and be active citizens, starting with schools, making students not full A grade, but full A persons. Future, meet Yasser.

Hubba Bubba - the roaming purple hippo, world traveller, usually takes Jenny 8 Lee with him, does not read, but tweets and will one day go to space. Laika 2.0

Chinese restaurants all over the world following the tradition of not following grammar rules :)