Krinolina, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Krinolina - tucked away in the cellar of a mighty business building, which used to be HQ of once mighty Iskra group. Decent food, though more on the quantity/speed side of the spectrum, interior decorator tried, but not very hard. One day somebody will improve all that. So far they have no entries in the web guest book. What's a web guest book?

Lidija Dragišić - owner&director at Studio360, born and raised in Novo Mesto with Bela krajina roots, architecture graduate, industrial design masters, worked for Ofis, Sadar+Vuga and D&K before launching her own studio, briefly lived and worked in Vienna, among others worked on awarded rotating storage system, private business club, and Sončna Aleja projects, used to make her own clothes, likes Slovenian designer clothes and fashion was a runner up at her study decision, likes TED talks, has a daughter and lately reads a lot of fairy tales with favourite being Lila Prap and Loes Riphagen. One day she devote most of her energy into raising aesthetic awareness on new levels in Slovenia and changing the landscape on the go. Not unlike what Jamie Oliver is doing with culinary awareness.

Okrepčevalnica Stegne, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Okrepčevalnica Stegne - operated by Murić Esad, "A cheapie where any meal is truly hearty. :)" as commented by one of Foursquare check-in-ers. 

M.Z. - investor and private fund manager, co-founder of Finera and recently (with TS) co-founder and partner at Depoziti.si the first savings deposits coupon discount player in the region, recently moved back to his home hood Šiška, while he also lived in Belgrade for a while, has one kid, expecting another very soon, likes fishing, especially big time tuna, likes good food, many times in good company with Boki and even if he did not have to work for earnings purpose, he would still do the investment game, particularly in factoring area. Speeding up the flow of money is his cup of tea. And there's plenty of fish in that sea to be caught.

Frenk, not the best coffee in town. Unlike Franck.

Big game, big time. Tuna galore.

Gostilna Štorklja, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Gostilna Štorklja - European, Chinese, fusion. Close to maternity ward, hence the name. Popular with students. Good location, good food, recommended.

Maja Bresjanac - Teacher and Scientist at Faculty of Medicine in Ljubljana, born in Čačak, parents architects moved to Celje and later Ljubljana, where she quickly adapted, picks dialects on the go, her father had five brothers and all had only sons, Bresjanac name origin linked to village Bresje in Kosovo and an alleged dispute between a particular head of Stojanović family and a particular Turkish agha over a beautiful daughter a long, long time ago, she recently gave a talk at TEDxLjubljana, neuroscience is her field of work, play and joy, wanted to be neurosurgeon, but being a female is still too big of an obstacle in male dominated neurosurgeons fortress, research proved somewhat easier in that regard, but with lots of room for improvement, used to practice fencing, tapestry, Irish dance and Argentinian tango, now hiking, biking and kayaking, some of it with her daughter, is slowly reading through Opium, totally recommends Gödel, Escher, Bach and will one day - through initiatives like  Sinapsa - raise Slovenian brain awareness and neuroscientific   community even further. For the benefit of the society at large.

Next in line. A good chew.

Burja, Portorož, Slovenia

Burja - excursion and dinner party boat in Piran bay in Slovenia. Well known for years to all convention goers in Bernardin - this time for DSI2012.  Try it at least once, but don't expect too much. Fish, wine and wind. And usually good company.

Andrej Grobler - born in Kranj, Austro-Hungarian roots with many unrelated Groblers in Netherland and South Africa, worked for IBM in student years, electrical engineer and economics post graduate, once AEGEE, now LesAnciens member - which links him to his present Russian wife,  worked for Zavarovalnica Triglav, Steklarna Hrastnik, Abanka Vipa and now Crea Plus, scout, traveller, on 9/11 could not go to Hawaii so he ended up in Bali, 2 kids, recently read The Book of Negroes and Hribci and will one day teach unprivileged Slovenes to catch proverbial fish while running his bed&breakfast in Hawaii. With real fish. 

Andrej Guštin - born in Koper, family roots from Slovenian surroundings of Trieste, physics graduate as there were no entrance exams, economics post graduate, subtle discouragement by professor plunged him into world of finance, worked for Abanka, Zaslon, Hermes Softlab, Crea and now Crea plus/pro, proud owner of RV, loves scuba, fishing and badminton, recommends Peter Florjančič's Skok v Smetano and Jacques Cousteau's Silent World, 2 kids, wil lone day run a diving center, have more with less and maybe run a marathon.

Stojan Košti - Prlekija roots from the only Košti family in Slovenia, born and raised in Ljubljana, FOV post graduate in three stages, had a restaurant and is now in IT at Temida, mountain climber, karate fighter, acrobat skier and avid sailor, recently read One Day, and will one (other) day sail in Carribean and then some. Like Tomaz Pelko on his Heron right now.

Boccaccio Dravlje, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Boccaccio - picestavracija (pizzestaurant). Two locations, both very nice places. Recommended. Whole grain pizza dough included.

Andrej Šolinc - owner and sales manager at Klaro, grew up in Tržič, known as a big pizza buyer as the whole company would buy/deliver on his name from Hallo Pinki, started FRI, switched to FOV, worked for Didacta and Infos, has a 1 year old kid, is a big pizza lover and a regular at Azur, where they always order Radičeva pizza with draft Erdinger beer, also wine aficionado, co-organizer of Slovenian Wine Festival, just bought new kitchen and will go from zero to chef, Rotary and BNI member, reads a lot - recently Propad civilizacij and A Storm of Swords, started running - influenced by Wega blog who recently bough a pair of On Cloudrunners. One day he will teach in school, while still be involved in sales and business development and wood related business will not be far.

Disclaimer: it was another of those intense debates, so the photo at the place did not happen and I had to steal it from his FB profile :) 

Oštirna, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Oštirna - a nice place near Gospodarsko Razstavišče Exhibition and Convention Centre. Serving also business lunch regulars from Slovenijales office building, majority owned by Zavarovalnica Triglav, the biggest insurance company in Slovenia, which has new website, done by Klika, which was recently bought by Sportradar and where Matjaž Pečan and Aleš Rosina work, who are also members of TEDxLjubljana team, where Miro might appear some time in the future.

Miro Lozej - DBA at Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, studied math and felt non linear systems topic was not covered enough, knows the importance of Joel Barker's paradigm shifts, recommends the book Chaos, is very much interested in chaos non linear systems theory and is convinced we should raise awareness about it significantly, to decrease entropy and paradoxically instil more predictability and rationality. One day he will lead the efforts to put significant emphasis on quality chaos education in schools, so that we will one day better understand know what's happening around us and what to do about it.

Tindouf airport, Tindouf, Algeria

Tindouf airport - military influenced town, small airport, slightly confusing staff, but not more than usually Arabic. Waiting is imperative.

Isabelle Mayoult - freelance journalist, lives in Beirut, family of peasants turned into teachers as 3rd republic emerged, great-great-grandfather change name to Mayault, political science graduate at Science Po Lille, worked also for Mediapart, works with Rick Roels, was on trip to Sahara for Sahrawi story and social issues in general, runs Mashallah News covering Arab world, reading Don Quijote and writing short stories, such as We are not a grain of dust, as she was hanging out with Algerian friends in her childhood. One day she will install 50% of women to power on all levels and see what happens. Let's wait and see. 

Tourette syndrome is something Isabelle does not have. Period.

Smara Refugee Camp, Tindouf, Algeria

Smara - one of the Sahrawi refugee camps with troubled history and no bright outlook at the moment. Hosting Sahara Marathon for 12 years in a row already. A great experience. No infrastructure, but full of kindness and great people. Totally recommended. Run, desert and humility.

Martin Costa - retired teacher and advertiser, Wild Track agency owner and representative of human rights observation in Western Sahara, living in Buenos Aires, born and raised in San Isidro, grandmother from Germany, family came from Greece in 1774, university teacher for 20 years - history of ideas and philosophy, worked for Lautrec agency (now Euro RSCG), also 1 year in Sao Paolo, Brazil, 2 grown up kids, did/does squash, kayak, mountain bike, running - just finished 21km Sahara Marathon, reading Utopia by Thomas Moore, not religious, but close to Hinduism thinking and practice, travels a lot, was 4 times in India, will one day leave Argentina and a hotel in Ranthambore, biggest tiger reserve. Roarr for many more years!

Sand, camels and smiles. Not much else.

Guliver, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Guliver - an old, traditional, very well known place. Great food, somewhat one-needs-to-get-used-to place. Worth a try. They respond to email reservations very quickly :)

Malainin Mohamed - Polisario Front representative to the Balkans, Saharawi native, studied at Complutense in Madrid, joined Polisario in 1975, went back to Western Sahara via France and Algier to help in liberation efforts, worked for SaharaLibre newspaper and radio, worked in Brussels as BeneLux Polisario representative and in Athens for Greece/Cyprus/Malta and later in Mexico SADR Embassy, has two kids back home in Western Sahara and hopes he will one day be unemployed in the sense that there will one day be no more need to fight for SADR freedom and recognition. That day is coming.

Sahara Marathon ... soon ...

Gostilna As, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Gostilna As - one of the best and the best known restaurants in Ljubljana down town with recently renovated Aperitiv Bar. A must see and try if you want to be confident in discussing Ljubljana culinary scene. Or for any other reason. Recommended.

Pavel Škerlj - CIO at Vzajemna Insurance company, grew up in Tomaj and while his brother is today a recognized wine maker, he is only wine lover with WSET degree done at Robert Gorjak's Belvin, FRI graduate, worked for NIKA PID/PZU, KD Group and DZS, mountain biker, 3 kids, parallel reader: currently one by Milivojević and one by Ihan, TEDx event goer  introduced by Robert Kržišnik, is practicing Zen - recommends Peace Is Every Step and will one day help make all human communications and relationships more direct and honest. Mizu no kokoro.  

Piramida - Celovška, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Piramida - one of the longest standing pizza places next to Tivoli park in Ljubljana. Friendly service, pizza variety, convenient location and parking.

Marko Bauman - Product Manager at Intera, born in Ptuj, raised in Lovrenc na Dravskem polju, FERI Telco graduate and about to finish MSc there, too, triathlon career fading due to time constraints - little daughter being one of the reasons - now focused on marathons only, about to lunch CRMTrendi blog, wrote about long cycling trips on Nabiciklu.Wordpress, reading Trdobojec about Dejan Zavec by Esad Babačič, avidly following Slovenian sports and Slovenian NBA players in particular and will one day do the real Hawaiian Iron Man while remaining a trusted advisor in CRM field.

Restavracija Lev, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Restavracija Pri Levu - where chef is also a blogger. Nice and quiet ambient. Exclusive emptiness.

Matej Golob Matzele - Executive director at PDP, born in Ptuj, father Jani wrote Prisluhni školjki among other hits, brother Rok fully exploiting musical family roots and taking it to next level, while he departed  into financial and investment side of life though he also played in Pink Panter and Boogie bands, EF  graduate, worked for Bank Austria and Poteza, has a large iTunes music collection, likes watching Top Gear , reads Private Equity Valuation combined with latest Harry Potter and will one day travel the world, while composing music - probably with his daughter who already created her first song in Garageband.

GP Trojane, Trojane, Slovenia

GP Trojane - before the highway was built, this was a must-have-donut-stop on the way to and from Štajerska. Nowadays it calls for a detour. A delicious one, nonetheless.

Marko Raičević - Expert advisor and development team leader at Abanka, about to move on, Grosuplje native, Montenegro father roots, great-great-grandpa was decorated by King Nicholas I, FRI graduate, just about to finish FOV MSc, started at Abanka as Delphi developer, worked also for Hypo Alpe Adria Bank, basketball player and body-pumper, loves early and late seasons at Adriatic sea, reading Lindstrom's Brandwashed, engaged in Ypsilon education project, working to install wind-power on family estate in Montenegro and will one day help people drive ideas to realization by finding finance and connections, while keeping focus on youth and children in need. Youthpreneurship.

M Hotel, Ljubljana, Slovenia

M Hotel - "Five minutes out of the centre on the road to Bled, this fine, modern business class hotel comes with over 150 well appointed rooms, all with cable television, en suite bathrooms, free wireless internet access and 40 extra-length beds for those who need it. Excellent value for what you get, extras include restaurant, summer terrace, car rental and a hairdresser." - by InYourPocket Ljubljana

Mitja Pirc - Manager at A.T. Kearney, Brežice native, MSc at Stockholm School of Economics with active alumni, PhD at Pompeu Fabra Barcelona in consumer behaviour, decision making and pricing mentored by Robin Hogarth, author of Educating Intuition, was briefly in mobile/SMS business, worked for SAS, parallel reader with one of the books open being Maister's Managing The Professional Service Firm, recently attended Lindstrom session in Mons and will one day have one foot in academia, lecturing on behavioural economics like Ariely, Taylor and Khaneman, and one foot in management consulting, not unlike  Shlomo Benartzi, recently appointed CBE at Allianz.

Makalonca, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Makalonca - "After several years hiatus, and several months of renovations, Makalonca reopened in September 2009 with much fanfare - and deservedly so, as it occupies one of the coolest locations in the Ljubljana. Located below street level along the Hribar Quay, it offers a quieter, more relaxed atmosphere than can be found at the strip of bars and cafés on the Ljubljanica's opposite bank (or at least on nights when they forego the electronic music)."  by InYourPocket Ljubljana

Nejc Klopčič - Business development manager at Dassault Systemes, Logatec native now lives in Ljubljana center and likes it a lot, not related to screenwriter Matjaž Klopčič, FS and Cotrugli MBA graduate, as student worked for Tobačna - remembers Marko Raubar, was also swimming instructor and worked for Hella after Toni, newly wed with honey moon in Phuket and Hong Kong, avid fitness goer, cross-country skier and golfer, reading Watkins' The First 90 Days and recently finished Hunger Games and will one day reignite his creative side and develop breathtakingly designed products.

Save the turtles. Phuket style.

Stara Pumpa, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Stara Pumpa - old gas station turned grill joint, online always not to be found, but on Oust.me, recommended, deservingly so. No frills, just grills.

Mitja Mavsar - Head of UX at D.Labs, guest blogger at Delo and passing the knowledge as lecturer at Middlesex's IAM MPM, roots in Ivančna Gorica, lives in Trebnje, FDV graduate, landed his first job inviting potential employers to interviews, a beekeeper and dog walker, all his own, reading Inspired: How To Create Products Customers Love  and will one day, without limitations, pour unlimited amounts of money into interesting tech startups, creating an awesome incubator (like Y Combinator, just better) to find/raise/identify top geniuses, hard-working teams who can form a totally new breed of highly productive world-changing products and would mostly support internet-connected smart devices that will help preserve environment, increase personal happiness and help mankind colonize the universe. Ta-da!

Locavores' delight. Trunk-full of home produce. Commerce ready and tax free.

Vozi Miško, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Vozi Miško - with a strong sense of Yugoslav nostalgia, located in Mercator shopping centre, inspired by Ko to tamo pjeva, 1980 Yugoslav comedy movie. Recommended. Not only for the old times sake.

Herbert Paar - System Engineer and CTO at KidComm and prolific developer, born and raised in Maribor, moved around for work a lot: Vienna, Graz, New York City, Dallas/Fort Worth, finalist at iTime 2011 competition, ran WideLabs kodierschweinchenfarm, worked at apc interactive solutions AG, a Philips joint venture, GlobalComm, Atos Origin and Roche Diagnostics, working on QPortal, golf player, reading Accelerando, a Stross' book on Singularity and will one day deploy a working solution for automated behavior pattern recognition. Just in time for singularity. 

The original Sarajevo coffee serving. With all the details and perks. A must have.

Dobra Hiša, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Dobra Hiša - a recent, very welcome addition to Stegne Business Area in Ljubljana. Stylish, quick serving, no frills. Recommended, especially for busy bees.

Toni Kolenc - business owner and manager at Furnitura, running SalonPohistva.si webshop, born and raised in Ljubljana, Dolenjska roots, FOV graduate, one final thesis away from Masters degree, worked at Genis and 3K-IT, created and sold Si.Toy company, when younger also made some money making decorative olive branches, proud father of two daughters, basketball player, preparing for amateur skiing competition league, reading The Book Of Five Rings, about to finish his new house and will continue to pursue his destiny of serial entrepreneurship. Professional competition.

In some other place, in some other-other time.

Hong Kong 2, Komenda, Slovenia

Hong Kong 2 - pretty big and nice Chinese place in Moste pri Komendi. Can serve big groups, food is very good and if you're going somewhere near there, it's worth a visit. It belongs to a chain of Chinese restaurants run by a same Chinese group.

Matevž Kregar - tech support team member for medical systems at Interexport, born and raised in Ljubljana, recently married, related to Rado Kregar - the architect, graduated IAM MPM in cooperation with Middlesex University, worked at iStore and Telekom, all family members are Apple fans, does not eat fish nor any other sea products, likes to cook, a lot, with her newly wed, recently received original KitchenAid, watches series and cooking shows such as Good Eats on watch-series.eu, does not read, started running in addition to regular Šmarna gora hikes, without limits he would be part of a global UX team making everyday experiences a whole lot better - not just apps. Influenced also by Mitja Mavsar recent lecture in Kiberpipa.