Street Baskets and Vintage Cars

While walking to and from OI yesterday evening, I noticed that the heart of old Ljubljana was all a buzz, with various platforms and temporary fencing being set up. Hmmmm I wondered, what is going on here this weekend?


This morning I decided to venture down to the market (open every Saturday morning from 9-12) and possibly try my hand at buying some fresh produce right off the local farms. WOW!!! this place is hopping! There are a couple different markets here on weekends. Saturday is devoted to the regular market where the farmers come to sell their wares. There also is an Art Market here on Saturdays until the end of September. This features local talent, which is quite something. I did manage to pick out some fresh veggies and a small posey of flowers for my place, and felt I handled it like a local! Not that any local would start the transaction with "English?", but they do finish it with "Hvala" (thank you in Slovene) which brought me beaming smiles from the vendors!
It was the noise that drew me...... Of course I couldn't understand a word from the chap with the microphone, as he was speaking in Slovene, but he sounded very excited, so I decided to check it out.


To my astonishment I came across a very spirited game of hoops, set up right in the centre of the square. Now the square is made of cobblestones, so I would never have expected to see basketball being played there! Overnight, they had covered the surface with a nice platform, set up the nets and Basketball lives in Slovenia! There were two courts set up, so I hung around an enjoyed the view! GRIN!!
I don't think the nets are as high as they are at the North American games I have attendeded, but the rules seem the same. Finally the announcer switched to a little english, long enough to welcome visitors to Ljubljana and to tell us he hoped we enjoyed celebrating sport in Slovenia, with "Street Baskets"!


Between games I wandered further down the street to find a vintage car show in full swing. My favorite was the beautiful old Ford, which had to be cranked to get it started again when it stopped to let in passengers.


On Sundays the Market changes. It transforms into a flea market, full of antiques. I was out walking this morning, map in hand to find a different route to work, and came back through the flea market. Many things I would love to buy, in particular a beautiful wooden chest, but how on earth would I get it back to Canada? I will have to look into this further. What also caught my attention this morning was a box of old vinyl albums, featuring Hendrix, Prince, Bob Dylan, ZZ Top (who recently played in Vancouver), Bruce Springstiens 'Born in the USA' and even Saturday Night Fever!
The vendor rattled off at my interest, so I quickly turned my backpack around, pointed to the Canadian Flag patch I have on it and said "English, please?" He gave me a blank look, but the younger chap with him smiled and said in perfect english "you like the rock and roll?" Yeah, I smiled, I do!

Well it's 2:00pm here on a lazy Sunday afternoon and I think I will go and take my book, my camera, and a snack down to the river and enjoy the sunshine.