Ruska Pravljica, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Ruska Pravljica - supposed-to-be-Russian restaurant. Interior only. Serves mostly POP TV employees, where it is conveniently located. Stuff friendly to guests, but tend to mistreat wine - our was left open, not chilled. Maybe that's the Russian way.


Anej Mehadzic (Mehadžič) - student, entrepreneur (passion and profession) and currently the voice behind avtocenter.si that he co-founded. Avtocenter.si services are crowd sourcing mileage info in cooperation with poraba.com as well as giving accurate ownership info of your car. He recently re-discovered his Sarajevo family ties via MSN/Live Messenger. He knows now who Peter Thiel is, reads Blue Ocean Strategy and a book on persuasion. And persuade he will. Watch out. For opportunities.


Georgian wine. An unnecessary adventurous step into the land of weird wine. Without darkness, there's no light. I opt for short black-outs.

Šaran, Zemun, Beograd, Serbia

Šaran - a nice restaurant in Zemun part of Belgrade, known by the transplant-locals (Gregor) for good fish dishes. Live music and waiter attitude when you complicate over wine - are both included in price. Recommended.


Gregor Irt - representative of ZZI in Belgrade, resembling a computer genius. Grew up in Slovenia, now lives in Belgrade with wife Sladjana and their two kids. Studied at FMF and later switched to graduate at FRI. Worked also for Ixtlan and usually gets down to the very basics of all the technologies he chooses to pursue. Java and web being some of the strongest points, lately he hacked a Facebook application - getting dangerously close to the renown Kaminsky DNS hack. Does a lot of re-reading, recently Hesse's Steppenwolf. An intriguing person to know and hang around with.


Fish broth - full of taste and full of fish bones. It's a give and take.


A fridge-turned-shelf in Supermarket - one of the coolest new places in Belgrade. Undefinable. Explained by Nadlanu.com and City Magazine.

Playa, BTC, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Playa - "... fancy bar inside of BTC center gained notoriety for being co-owned by one of Slovenia's better pop stars, Jan Plestenjak." as described by the newly released Ljubljana edition of InYourPocket (IYP). Niko was/is the major force behind IYP Ljubljana.


Mojca Gabrovsek (Gabrovšek) - founder and manager of Buši, the high end baby retailer. Grew up in Trzin and currently lives in Selo pri Ihanu - not the very best of names - she already suggested a change. Ph.D in genetics and later two sons, who eventually turned her career from science into retail - for now. Loves to read autobiographies - such as by Felix Dennis - and the current one is by Erazem Pintar. She was recently among the 6 finalists of Cotrugli Executive MBA Scholarship contest and if she would ever get fed up of creating successful companies, she would channel her energy into developing and protecting sustainable habitat for animals like corals and turtles. Somewhere down the road she will probably also write one - autobiography that is.

Mediterran, Košice, Slovakia

Mediterran - a really nice restaurant in the old part of Košice. Recommended. Great ambient and impressive selection of wines. Košice - mesto, ktore to vie.


(Maroš) Maros Vrabel - Software Channel Representative at IBM Slovakia. Born in Bratislava and grew up among other places also in Lybia, Poland and Hungary. EUBA graduate, and also worked for FirstData. Member of Slovak Free Diving Team, recently Flattened the World and is now Processing Kafka. Processes all around us.


Richard Sufliarsky - WebSphere Technical Specialist at IBM Slovakia. Raised in Krivan (the village, not the mountain), where dogs go in the hut only at -23 Celsius :) STUBA graduate, worked at Gratex, at Soitron for HP and ViaSec. Used to ride heavy street bikes, has two daugthers and also recently Flattened the World. Rising interest in Forex trading and when the promises of Forex will come true, he will devote his energy into flat design and reconstruction and sea water desalinization - among other goodies for humanity. Refreshing.


With Mediterran interior you can instantly forget about snow and Slovak winter outside ...

Roxly, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Roxly - recently renovated place, used to be known as Triglav. And they made it a great place indeed. Hard-Rock-Cafe-ish. Thumbs up! It rocks your ... lunch.


Maja Lenarcic (Lenarčič) - founder of Lanius (named after the bird), consulting in EU Funds Application processes. Grew up in Mengeš and Podgrad, EF graduate, PF postgraduate (still an open chapter) and about to get the licence at SIR. Worked for KPMG and Ilirika DZU. Nature, animals, mountains and good wine, can make her day. If she would have Warren Buffet signing her checks, she would teach people catch fish in form of a business angel. In the mean time she listens to Wine stories in CD.


Ah ... memories of Medana ... This time it was Kristančič. Similar best.

Victoria, Zagreb, Croatia

Victoria - a brand new bistro-pizzeria in a brand new office building on Horvatova street in Zagreb. Convenient for quick business lunches. And not much more.


Mirjana Badurina Canak (Čanak) - Software Channel Representative at IBM office in Zagreb. Zagreb native, graduated at PBF, majoring in nutritionism. Worked for Info Sajam, Bang&Olufsen and Megatrend. She is reading Jesper Juul to get advise to even better raise her daughter. Yes, we all love our daughters, how could we not. And Jesper is getting pretty popular these days.

Klinec Homestead, Medana, Slovenia

Domačija (Homestead) Klinec - a great place to spend an evening, enjoy great food and great wine. Recommendation. Plan and reserve in advance.


(Nataša) Natasa Batagelj - Head of law office at SCT. Grew up in Ajdovščina - where the only link to Primorska is the weather :) Her grandfather fought in Spain Civil War. PF graduate, worked also at NLB. Does some drawing and writting, but has not published anything yet. Slowly "swinging" with Eco's Pendulum. Enjoys good food'n'wine and riding on the back of Andrej's Moto Guzzi. One day she will have her own gallery, be engaged in humanitarian activitieas and promoting culture. "If you sit at the river long enough, the right water comes by."


What a view. Barrels full of great wine - to be.


Ferdo Klinec. He can tell you a lot ... about "the days".

Vinoteka Brda, Dobrovo, Slovenia

Vinoteka Brda - a great enotheque located in a white castel, offering guided degustations with a presentation of the Brda wine region. You just have to come here if you are, but remotely interested in good wines.


Andrej Lavric (Lavrič) - director for specific projects at Energoplan. Born and grew up in Novo Mesto and his Lavrič family tree is known and documented for 300 years back. FGG graduate, worked also in tourism, at SCT with an assignment in Bosnia and at KID. A true gourmet, one time Dolenjska skiing champion for SD Rog. Wine, golf and lately also sailing afficionado. Reading in parallel: Natasha's Dance and Marketing Construction Services. Enjoys riding his Moto Guzzi California and in the future he will be sailing half of the time and the other half he will be engaged in eco-construction. Solid windness.


The idea of a selling-promotional centre was supported by the Brda municipality and a big part of Brda's most important winemakers, while the choice of the cellar at Dobrovo castle was self-evident.

Sofra, Zagreb, Croatia

Sofra - a good authentic Bosnian restaurant. Great food, not so great service, but that can also count as authentic. Featured and well graded also on Gastro.hr. Someday there will be no smoking inside. Maybe it will be less authentic, but therefore more pleasant.


Vjenceslav Nadinic (Nadinić) - WebSphere Technical Specialist at IBM office in Zagreb. Had a lot of different jobs prior to IBM, among others also at HRT and Bank Austria (now UniCredit Group). Enjoys visiting military and aviation museums and recently read His Dark Materials, the Trilogy where The Golden Compass came from.


Traditional Turkish coffee with copper set and Rahat Lokum, Turkish Delight. Neatly served in Sofra.

Piano bar, Sheraton, Zagreb, Croatia

Piano bar in Hotel Sheraton in Zagreb. Easy, cool place. Guest-torrent. Occasionally dodgy figures. Convenient. Classy bear'n'peanuts bar. So far, no bombing here ;)


Grzegorz Przybycien - BPTSE program manager for CEEMEA region at IBM office in Krakow, with a tongue-twisting name - what else can you expect from a proper Polish guy :) Originating from Rzeszow, spent half of his childhood in Tripoli, Lybia. AGH graduate, worked for Comarch, Prokom (acquired by Asseco) and DRQ. Loves mountaineering with his wife, practicing tai chi, listens to openculture podcasts, started learning Spanish and recently read a leisure book bought in Tenerife. One day he will have a shipping company, while living somewhere on Mediterranean coast. Ole!


Probably the largest beer selection in Zagreb. In Hopdevil Belgian Pub, just behind Sheraton Hotel in Branimir Centar.


In Hopdevil you can taste oddities like Trappistes Rochefort 8. Different. Drink and support the monestary.

Palačinkarnica Lectarjev Hram, Kamnik, Slovenia

Palačinkarnica Lectarjev hram, a tiny sandwich'n'pancakes place. Recommended if in town. Rainy, cold day. Kamnik center. It used to be a different kind of place with Room 57 - codeword for not-official meetings. Drink agenda.


Tilen Travnik - Project Manager and User Interface specialist at Hal Interactive. His grandparents grew up in USA, he did in Kamnik. Recently graduated at Biotechnical Faculty and is now Environmental Protection postgraduate student. Was involved with SKK, also as president. In his thesis he proved that A simple preparative method for isolation of intact mitochondria from Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast does not work. Recently married, expecting a child, practicing Makoto Kai. Reading A Whole New Mind - getting to know why right-braineers will rule the future. One day he will develop and promote the idea of open-source-like environmental protection activities. Count me in.


Sandwich called Attraction. Name can be very deceiving. Was good though. Company running Lectarjev Hram is called Atrakcija = Attraction. There you go.


Pancake called Inspection. Well worth inspecting it. To the very last sour cherry. Recommended.

Tratoria Hum, Komiža, Vis, Croatia

Kavana Pizzeria "Tratoria" Hum - Somewhat odd place. On waterfront. First place from pier, first place for beer. Good pizza. Weird interior with an interesting installation inside (see picture below). Waitress said it this place used to be an airport. Island humour. Has billiard tables. Laid back. Vis is not definitely Hvar.


Jasmina Bergoc (Bergoč) - Software Group Marketing colleague at IBM Slovenia office. Grew up in Pivka. Finishing FDV. Did not work for Mice, the team building events organization company. Likes mountaineering, loves sea and her golden retriever Brin and recently read Dressed For Death by Donna Leon, which she cannot recommend.


Mark Toplak - Software Support Center Manager for several products - from Tivoli, Websphere and other brands, several operating systems and hardware platforms - at IBM Slovenia office. IBM Slovenia has second level support center for several products from Tivoli and WebSphere brand. Grew up as fourth generation native Ljubljana citizen, now lives in Zapuže, which is not Radovljica. FS graduate, as a student also tested medicines for money. Worked for Intertrade (today S&T), part of which became IBM, went to MZR and returned again to IBM. Working on his MBA degree at Warwick, together with Nadim, Mazen, Predrag and others. Avid skier, sailing skipper, drives BMW 1200ST. Recently read Prišleki by Lojze Kovačič, which he highly recommends.


A puzzling installation inside Hum restaurant. Dijana, the waitress, said it's a sex machine, but that is just one of many interpretations. Islands tend to get lonely off season.


Jastožera, an amazing restaurant in Komiža on Vis. Even worth just to peek inside for a moment.

Lungo Mare, Hvar, Croatia

Lungo Mare. Winners of Fine Bite 2008. We had a fine bite, too. One cannot not recommend it. As many other places here. Hvar. One of the top islands in Croatia. Where policemen are easy and Germans sometimes lose boats.


Bernard Grum - Academic Initiative representative at IBM Slovenia office. Grew up in Ljubljana, now dwells in Pšata. Not related to Slavko Grum. FOV graduate. FOV Research Assistant. Likes the sound of sawing machine - spent 4km of thread for all the curtains in his house. Give such statement, not many men can. Argentinian tango dancer. Two kids. Recently read Coelho's Alchemist and recommends Richard Bach's Seagull. Given excess resources he would try many professions, get knowledge and skills and optimize them to best possible level. Going deep, broad and far. I second that.


Female boss Sana. Beside Lungo Mare they also manage Kroatien.es - Hvar tourist services site.


Evening was lively, wine was aplenty. Nobody hurt, all good luck.

Cafe Riva, Trogir, Croatia

Cafe Riva. Riva = riverfront. One of many, many bars and restaurants on the Trogir riverfront. Great view. Great weather. Off season. Mediocre services. Cold beer. Good times ahead.


(Tomaž) Tomaz Paternoster - recently hired WebSphere Software Services colleague at IBM Slovenia office. Paternoster = "our father". From Breg pri Litiji. Just about to graduate at FRI. Was part of FRI/CREA USA Tour 2008. Worked for Marand. Mountain biker. Preparing for his first 21km Ljubljanski Maraton. Sci-Fi fan. Reading Thimoty Zahn's Star Wars and also recommends The Silmarillion. Plays guitar, taught by Eva Černe's father. Listens to Symphonic Metal music.


Gregor Primc - Cognos software sales colleague at IBM Slovenia office. Grew up in Ljubljana, now lives in Zbilje. FE graduate. EF MBA postgraduate. Worked for SAP and Perspektiva as broker. Mountaineering, tennis. Ran 21km Ljubljanski Maraton in 2007. Has all Kiyosaki books and recently finished David Bach's Start Late, Finish Rich.


Trogir = a small Dubrovnik. Beautiful. Dalmatia. Croatia. We like.


Peko - Slovenian shoemaker. Suggested change in business model: shoes to real estate. Store on waterfront in Trogir.