Kebab City, Moscow, Russia

Swarm intelligence. That's what you could call the movements in the overcrowded halls of Moscow underground train. Amazing. On the way to Kebab City my Nokia 9500 would break. The joints of the cover are broken. 50 EUR repair - back in Slovenia. Kebab City is nothing really special, but since it is in the very centre of Moscow, they can charge 50 USD per person for some grilled meat and beers. Our Ukrainian partners (Igor Sichkar and others from SIS) were celebrating their Award they received. Weather deteriorated and it was really freezing. Moscow at its best.

Piazza, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Meeting with Martin Wirtz from Studio Moderna. He likes port. The wine. Particular De la force:
A hazy ruby color with a narrow amber rim. Plums, strawberries, old leather, and spirits on the nose. Well matured palate with soft tannins and balanced acitidy. Elegant fruits give way to a lovely finish that lingers. A great 1977 vintage at a great price. (http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~kosciuch/reviews.htm) But do not worry, we were not drinking this. We had a beer and a radler to go along with Spinach Lasagna and his Ham and Cheese on rucola plate. The place was full as usuall at lunch time during working days. One that follows this Blog, could remember that there already is a post from Piazza in Ljubljana. Back from the days, where this Blog was a small innocent Pizzeria testing Blog. I remember I said to myself that I would not repeat a post from the same place. The Times They Are A-Changin' (bobdylan.com/songs/times.html) This was also a part of the discussion. How fast&furious the change has become. And new stuff. Innovation. I might be slightly influenced by the book that I am reading at the moment: Quantum Investing. In a nutshell: If we (or our fathers and grandfathers for that matter) think we have seen a lot of change and technological breakthroughs in the past 50-100 years (so called golden age), we haven't seen nothing yet. What is upon us in the next couple of decades is astonishing. The rapid pace of change will grow beyond our reach. We will not be able to comprehend it. That point will be called Singularity. Singularity is the center of black holes in universe. One cannot comprehend it nor predict it. Hasta la vista. http://www.quantuminvesting.net/

Mexico 1867, Ljubljana, Slovenia

With Andrej Steklasa from CMT. The menus are pretty hefty. I doubt that any of, otherwise very nice and cosy place, managed to read the whole story in the begining of the menu. The ratio between female and male visitors at the point of our penetration to the place was 8 to 1. Amazing! Immediately after our arrival it changed significantly. The variety of the dishes was. due to late hours, severely cut down. We opted for soup'n'salad. How chick like aint'it? They serve Cactus drink. People speak Slovenian. Tables are reserved. Toilets are ... are. Orange language courses. Product, placement, price, promotion. www.orange-slo.com Soup arrived. It's good, but I have difficulties eating this days. New teeth. All 6 in front. He pretended to enjoy chilli con carne. Right hand tortilla, left hand toilet. Salad looked deee-lecious. We were served some leftovers from Valentines - green hearts. Eating green salad with only 6 front teeth is ... requires skills. One can master it to perfection. Thank you for the dinner, Borut.

Pub Lolek, Warsaw, Poland

A very nice drinking pub. In the summer they open it up and it is three times the size it is in winter. And, yes, there is place nearby called Bolek. The world (or at least Europe) famous Polish cartoon Lolek and Bolek. Open fire, warm and cosy. Live music. The singer was surprised I was taking pictures of the elephant on the wall and not of her and the band. I corrected the mistake. David and I continued with our Zywiec and to justify the existence of this particular Blog post, we had to order some pistacio and peanuts. The singer had a sister and a friend supporting her. At the same table as David and myself were sitting. And as David predicted they soon started talking to us. That's what the Polish girls are like. Pretty open. They were supposedly drawn by our hard, German like language. That's what Poles are thinking of our, Slovenian language. Hard and German like. Anyway, it was nice. The place was not crowded, though it is quite popular. And he would not let me pay this time either. Early morning flight the next day made us leave early. Multilingual. Lolek rules.

Na Provinciej, Warsaw, Poland

My last day in Warsaw. I had a plan to meet with my post-graduate schoolfriend from University of Ljubljana. David Bratoz (Bratož) is now working in Warsaw for a Slovenian pharmaceutical company Krka. Running the ever increasing sales here. The discussion is running about running that we do in sales. Day in, day out. He was also unable to spend last year's vacation. Coming directly from 35+ Rio to snowy Warsaw has finnaly gotten to me. I cought a mild cold and therefore I ordered the spiciest pizza - Volcano. Though the place Na Provincije itself did not help very much. Their ceiling ventilators were running at full speed - who knows why they do that in the middle of the winter? My Polish is starting to run and so is my Volcano pizza as I add substantial amount of Tabasco. The first round of Zywiec is also starting to run. Things are running here in Poland. Big market, high growth, a lot of competition. David insisted on covering the bill and offered me opportunity to cover it at the next beer drinking place - Lolek where we were running next. And if you want an express historical walkaround in Warsaw old town - David is a very good choice for that. Sales cycles in pharma are way shorter than in IT Middleware market. A lot more running. And boy was Warsaw ruined during WW II.

Le Meridien, Copacabana, Rio, Brasil

Menu de Chef Dominique Oudin


Tuna fish tartare, red sweet bell pepper and tapenade sauce
***
Red mullet slices, risotto and confit fennel, bouillabaisse style sauce
***
Granite
***
Lamb leg, small haricot "ragout" and confit garlic
***
Marinated pineapple carpaccio with brown sugar and ginger, caramelized pineapple on a skewer and ice cream
***
Mignardises, coffee and tea

Treasure Island, Rio de Janeiro Bay, Brasil

It was a hot day.
There was a ship.
On the see.
There were mulatas. Dancing for us.
There were Pirates.
There was Treasure Island.
On the island was a nice hut.
There was a nice bay and water to cool us.
There was good food.
A lot of very good, tropical food.
Food ...

Jockey Club, Rio, Brasil

The place where horses run.
The place where people bet on those horses.
Money changes hands.
I bet on Hunter Boy and on Norway Boy. They did not win. They did not even come in second.
They wanted to drown us in Capirinhas as we were watching those horses.
In the evening they took us to a very, very nice restaurant.
Unfortunately I forgot the name. It is walking distance from Jockey Club in Rio.
Excellent food.
They have dental floss vending machine on the toilet.
And there are very slow animals outside the restaurant.
They seem like rats, but they are slightly bigger and way cooler.

Colombo, Rio, Brasil

A very nice, classy restaurant where Rio's Jet Set comes to dine&wine.
Prior to that we had a helicopter fligth over Rio, over Copacabana where we are staying and over Corcovado where Jesus' hands must really hurt him by now. He has been holding them apart for quite a while now. Spectacular views.
Food was tipical Brasilian with lots of black beans and stuff made from black beans.
Though meat is the name of the game here, salads are also very fresh and tasty.
Waterfalls of beer and Capirinhas ... they were making an impression on us.
Rio is hot in february. Very hot. The hottest in Sambadrom.

Grill Plancha, Charles De Gaul Airport, Paris

On thursday 2.2. I've flown in from Pakistan.
Lahore - Karachi - Dubai - Vienna - Ljubljana.
Very dense fog over Ljubljana Airport.
We were circling above Ljubljana for almost an hour.
I was almost certain I will miss my next flight to Paris,
but I found out, once we landed, that the plane from Paris did not land in Ljubljana,
but went straight to Zagreb, because of the same fog.
"Our aircraft allows us to land when visibilty is at least 300m, but now it is only 200m" the pilot would explain us. We had fuel for about two more hours.
Since there was no plane to take us to Paris, we were rescheduled for late afternoon flight via Munich. this gave me enough time to go home, take a shower, change some luggage and get to see my daughter's 5th birthday. I love her so much.
Flight from Munich to Paris was also late and it would only give me very short time to catch the flight to Rio. And I would run .. run Forrest, run .. Terminal 2F ... Gate 49 .. Air France Boing 747-200 was at the gate .. but the gate was closed ..."I am sorry monsieur ... here are your vouchers for Hotel and Lunch tommorow ..." Well ... 24 hours in Paris ... hmm.
So here I am having lunch at Grill Plancha at the Airport ...
"Homeless" people wih vouchers come to eat here.
Meals are ... french, but not really. They are just to stuff you.
Cordon bleu, French beans and rice. I'll survive.
My thoughts are already in Rio.