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Ice skating at millennium park
Each year when the skating rink at Millennium Park in Chicago opens it's a signal of the upcoming holiday season. Located in the heart of downtown Chicago, the rink is a place to hang with friends or have a special date.
From Slovenia to the U.S.A.
On July 16th I moved from my European home for the past year, Ljubljana, Slovenia, back to the U.S. This is that journey. I made the move with four other teammates who I spent nearly every moment with for the past year. And on this day we had to say goodbye. This move represents how life can be one thing one day and something totally different the next. That being so, you never can shake the way the past has shaped you.
Pust
Pust is a Slovene Holiday. It marks the beginning of the Lenten season like Mardi Gras, involves masks and costumes like Halloween, but it's primary purpose is to scare Winter away and bring the warm weather of the Spring!
10 Places to Eat: Ljubljana
Upon returning to Ljubljana, Slovenia in September I found out that my favorite restaurant in the city, Abecedarium, had been closed. So after being in the city for 5 months I've compiled a list of some of my new favorites. The list includes a pizzeria, cafés and tradition food from the region and food from another culture. If you ever come to visit Ljubljana now you have 10 places to visit.
Christmas in Slovenia
Christmas in Slovenia was definitely a change this year. Not being surrounded by family was a big departure from a normal Christmas for all the team, but that didn't stop us from having a great time. We started the with breakfast in our PJ's followed by our Secret Santa gift exchange. We had a big meal with tons of food. I made my mom's Banana Pudding. Then we all hit the city center where the lights shone bright!
Light Up Ljubljana
Every year in Ljubljana Slovenes and foreigners flood the city center (Prešernov Trg.) to see the black night sky be transformed into a beautiful and sparkling Winter Wonderland. At 5 p.m. when the lighting ceremony begins one can hardly move because so many people are there to watch. Of course the ones with the best seats are the children small enough to rest on the shoulders of their parents. At Christmastime the center also has many Christmas booths selling holiday specialties and traditional Slovenian culinary favorites. It's not only the city center that is transformed, though. Throughout the entire central part of the city there are giant trees and light displays!
From St. Louis to Slovenia
After months of preparation and nearly a year since I first came, I get the chance to return to Slovenia. The journey, though, took a little longer than expected.
With the delay of two of our STINT teammates, the rest of the team and I spent a beautiful, and jet-lagged, day in Munich, Germany!