Hostel Celica, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Hostel Celica - according to Lonely Planet and Rough Guide one of the hippest places to stay. A must visit when in town.

Tomaž Juvan a.k.a. Juve - Director of Hostel Celica, grew up in Slovenj Gradec, Velenje and Ljubno, EF graduate, worked for BTC board, Collegium, did several trips to Vietnam and almost opened a resort there on Cham Islands, he is also running incoming/outgoing travel businesses Roundabout, Vamos and Transorient. He still insist on not being part of Facebook community, but can be found on Linkedin. He's not yet a co-producer of The 1 Second Film.

Darren Kalef Karjama - Market strategy specialist at BNP Paribas, stems from Toronto, Canada, lived in St.Petersburg, masters degree in Eastern Europe political science at University College London, digs movies, foreign country living, bikes and is reading Tainter's Collapse of complex society. One day he will build Absurdistan. For real.

Džein S - documentaries producer for Zavod Voluntariat, Macedonian roots, raised in Ljubljana without Ljubljana accent, freelancer, worked for Jazzbina, incense stick base station maker, painter, consuming drums, biker, reading Hegel's Aesthetics and will one day rebuild redundancy and revert six sigma.

Slovenia : Algier. We all know how that ended. And it all ended.

Jazz Club Gajo, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Jazz Club Gajo garden at night. Picture is missing the sound. Great sound. It's planned to be moved. It's planned the movement to be resisted.

Gyorgy Racz -Channel Sales Manager at IBM, currently based in Prague, born in Transylvania near Cluj-Napoca (Klausenburg), studied and lived in Budapest then Vienna, first student job as truck driver, worked also for AT&T and Lucent, arden hi-fi audio geek - has Chario equipment, travels a lot, renovated a 1916 villa, has passion for old cars, recently read The World is Flat and will some day learn to fly while renovating many more villas and castles.

Where's the band? Moved already?

Splendid, Nova Gorica, Slovenia

Splendid bar - no label, yet not hard to find in the center of Gorica. Facebook and ZMP driven.

Jaka Bobnar - project manager at Cosylab, based in Cerklje na Gorenjskem, FMF graduate, tested sailing boat models for Seaway, plays classic guitar, travels s lot, publishes his photos at jakabobnar.com, did not participate in Jaz sem Nikon photo craze. Ready Terry Pratchett's Disc World and with more time and money there would be more travel and photos. Click!

Mlejko - milk from the other part of Slovenia. Almost Hungary to almost Italy. Sustainable?

Čepovan - the place with big trees. Hungry trees. Trees with agenda.

Zlato Runo, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Zlato Runo - The one and only Georgian (Gruzijski) restaurant in Slovenia.

Blaž Malenšek - owner and CEO at Espri, based in Novo Mesto, roots in Čermošnjice pri Stopicah (Quantas call center operators can actually process this name), a geek/nerd in a very positive sense with awards from logics contests, EF graduate, on his travel to Cambodia found out that Pol Pot got the idea of "volunteer" work brigades in Yugoslavia and that a boulevard in Phnom Penh is named after Tito - the father of NAM. When he first joined Espri (and before buying it) he had to sort a stack of documents in alphabetical order. Avid Basketball player, about to get PADI AOWD certificate, reading Stoker's Dracula and prefers history books. One day he will buy Grad Hmeljnik and renovate it. And buy Krka basketball club for dessert.

Tasty, authentic, affordable. Recommended.

And if it gets really cold outside, they have some interesting spare coats.

Piknias, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Piknias, on Andreja Bitenca street, just outside of Ljubljana - stretching Bus 7 reach. 6th anniversary of Atol Business Solutions.

Zoran Povh - Lotus Tech Specialist at IBM Slovenia, based in Domžale, grew up in Prlekija, Povh surname is rare and according to their family tree their ancestor Tomas Povh came from France. FRI graduate, worked at Ministry of Transport, SRC and Flopi, avid mountaineer using also Hribi,net, used to be member of AO Železničar, tried all Flight simulators, likes Google Earth Flight Simulator and will one day try something for real. Balloon? Goodness Gracious Me!

Why does Laško always go first?

Travanjska, Zagreb, Croatia

Travanjska (Aprilian), Aco's private residence. Inter beating Bayern. Write The Future, Paint the Past. HD.

Primož Hvala - Founder and partner at HSConsulting, lecturer at Cotrugli, based in Ljubljana, roots in Postojna and Ajdovščina, worked for Klinični Center, Formitas, Finance before going "incorporated". Runs marathons without special preparation, it's been a while since his scouting career, has two daughters and will one day go around the world - walking.

Romeo y Julieta - celebrating rare, yet special occasions.

Dabuda, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Dabuda, popular Asian place in the middle of Ljubljana, already featured on this blog in company of Shappa king Rok, still going on strong. Family biker's attachment.

Lennert De Waal - WebSphere Infrastructure Tiger Team member at IBM, based in Amsterdam, used to live in Zeist and Amstelveen, finished 7 years of Medical school, but did not pursue due to slow evolution of object and subject in this mastery direction, worked for KLM and CapGemini, is building his own high end audio equipment, loves his 2 years old daughter, recently read Singularity is Near, currently The World Without Us and will one day found Grameen for Europe. There are unserved Europeans out there.

Matija Krajnc - WebSphere Technical Specialist at IBM in Ljubljana, grew up in Malečnik, east of Maribor, worked at SRC before joining IBM troops, fond of getting to know people, recently read Eco's The Name of The Rose, hunter, will one day go back to following biological non-deterministic paths and rediscovering nature-sourced wisdom. Green on!

The original Turkish (served) coffee. Right next door at the (best) neighbor.

Vodenica Mulino, Skopje, Macedonia

Vodenica Mulino - very popular Italian-ish place in Skopje. Many times there's intensive discussion about IBM Software.

Darko Damjanski - IBM Software Sales Manager for Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania, Skopje native, served Yugoslav Army JNA in Vrhnika, worked for Ministry of Interior and is now working hand in hand with Toni's INet to develop software channel in the region. Avid mountain climber, has been many times on 2764m Korab and this year is planning to go on top of 100 higher Triglav. Welcome!

Delicoius Vodenica's sweet: Rasturana palacinka (shredded pancake).

LUKOIL, Straza, Macedonia

LUKOIL station in Straza, half way from Ohrid to Skopje. No ordinary stop, no ordinary journey, no ordinary crew.

Aldin Celovic - Sales Manager at AirABA in Sarajevo, Hercegovian origin, born in Priboj, Serbia, grew up in Sarajevo, for a while lived and worked in Portoroz and Ljubljana, worked for Institut Mihajlo Pupin (when Slovenia was changing from 6 to 7 digits fix phone system) and for Trimo in their Sarajevo office. Avid cinema goer, is just finishing Cotrugli EMBA used to play football until he damaged both knees, recently read Dan Brown and will one day work with UNDP on project like Bosnian Pyramid.

Hotel Granit, Ohrid, Macedonia

Hotel Granit - it looks like this in peak season, not in May. Fortunately or unfortunately. Was nice anyway, though distance to Ohrid downtown is not very appealing.

Vukosava Crnjanski Sabovic - founder and CEO of NGO LiNet, the engine behindIstinomer.rs -the truth gauge in politics, a noble idea well worth funding. Interviewed by Milena, related to Milos Crnjanski, a poet of the expressionist wing of Serbian modernism, switched MAS for FON, has 1 year old child, just finishing Cotrugli EMBA and temporarily defuses on long walks with her dog.

Dragan Bogavac - not the (slightly more) famous Montenegrin footballer, but a serious tennis player working in pharmaceutical wholesale business, born and raised in Belgrade, used to work for Pharmaciens Sans Frontier, little less known brethren of MSF, has 6 year old son being trained by Vukasin Visnjevac, is reading Welches' Winning, is finishing Cotrugli EMBA and will one day devote himself to education and coaching in personal development direction. Zen.

Whatever it is meant to mean, don't do it. Hotel Granit staff. (Meant to mean?)

Cosa Nostra, Ohrid, Macedonia

Cosa Nostra pizzeria - nice place, great location - old town Ohrid.

Marko Marković - AT Kearney consultant turning into CIO at Banca Intesa in Serbia. Growing up in Sremska Mitrovica, Strumica and Belgrade - following family following father following army job. Used to work for GDS, cherishes his son and friends, is not answering phone over weekends, just finishing Cotrugli EMBA and is reading The Bank Credit Analysis Handbook. One day he will develop his writting talent to its full potential, read tons of books and maybe tolerate authority.

Balkanski špijun - legendary Yugoslav movie. Featured on TV in Macedonia. Today.

Trpejca, Ohrid, Macedonia

Trpejca, pleasant fish-village on Ohrid lake. With the right company, comes the real warm Balkan feeling.

Diana Dimitrova - Finance and Admin manager at Melexis, automotive electronics system producer. used to work for Elite (now Strauss), PWC and AIG. Only recently jumped into LinkedIn, Facebook and Skype, has two kids and her 11 years old daughter has a new boyfriend. She loves mountain climbing, just finishing Cotrugli EMBA and is reading One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey. One day she might climb Mt.Everest. And relax.

Humble, domestic cheerleader and fish-snatcher.

Hotel Istra, Sv.Andrija, Rovinj, Croatia

Beautiful Sv.Andrija (St.Andrew) island near Rovinj, hosting nice Hotel Istra, one of the pearls on Maistra necklace in Istria, Croatia.

Zoran Puljić - Director at Mozaik community development foundation in Bosnia. Born and raised in Sarajevo, where he also lives now with his Catalan wife and 3 kids. Serbian father, Croatian mother, he fought and was wounded in Bosnian war, moves to Germany, worked and lived in Schwarzwald. Upon return worked for OSCE and USAID, was educated at London Metropolitan and is now finishing Cotrugli EMBA. He's a DIY master, travels a lot and is reading Edwards' Future Positive. Passion is my foundation and foundation is my passion. Great person to be around.

At TEDxLjubljana one week after. "If you don't plan to do sports, consult your doctor or pharmacist!" Great provocation by Urban Praprotnik.

Staropramen Potrefena Husa, Prague, Czech Republic

A tasty alien served in Staropramen Potrefena Husa. The place is very famous, very good and very crowded. All sorts of species.

Jamie Knowles - Rational Cloud Market Manager at IBM. Originally from Warwick, but spending a lot of time in Prague lately. Studied at Imperial College in London where he was president of Jazz and Rock Society, where also Brian May and Freddy Mercury played. Still plays guitar, used to work for Popkin Software and Telelogic before acquired into IBM. Reading The Mountain is Young and will one day go back to female body sculpting. Full time. Full stop.

ČMSS is a good deal. For some. All You Can Eat.

U Prince, Prague, Czech Republic

Hotel with a superb view terrace on top. U Prince. UNESCO heritage protection.

Milcho Angelov - Tivoli Automation Sales Leader for IBM CEE. Born and raised in Sofia, currently based in Prague and used to live/work in Dubai. CIS - Commonwealth of (In?)dependent States, Middle East and Central-Asia-stan used to be his work sandbox. He was in Marriot hotel in Islamabad when there was a terrorist bomb blast in 2007. Worked for ASI Company and Aircom with Matthew Walker. Big on skiing and fishing - used to have a fishing boat - and is reading a book about Toilet lid war. One day he's gonna spend a lot of time on his even bigger fishing boat - oh, thee fish behold and beware the Bulgarian "Forrest Gump".

Death row? The Green mile? Given up without a fight? Definitely not protected by UNESCO.

Staromestske namesti, Prague, Czech Republic

THE Staromestske square. Tourists, tourists, tourists. And you don't even need to find a place to sit down to have a drink.

Arden Agopyan - WebSphere Application Infrastructure Tech lead for IBM's CEEMEA region. Armenian origin, bred in Istanbul, French high school, French college, Turkish Tech Blog ardenagopyan.com. Does aggressive inline skating (yes, that's the expression), reads Michael Crichton and used to be Techno DJ. Still going out a lot and will one day have a big boat and travel the world. Tech(no) style.

iNerd alert! One of them is Arden's.