Monday, August 30, 2010

So this morning I picked up my visa for Belarus and I am now ready to go. We fly on Baltic Air through Riga to Helsinki om Wednesday afternoon. I am not sure if I will have any internet access during the trip, but when I do I will post something. You can check out how I am doing here http://www.worldharmonyrun.org/ .

Thursday, August 26, 2010

I have been in Belgrade now for 2 days, the bus ride was quite pleasant, but the temperature seemed to get hotter and hotter the closer we got to Serbia. I finally got access to the internet so I am now able to make this post.
My 2 WHR team mates and I had a very nice meeting with the consular general for Belarus this morning and will have visa's on Monday. So now I have a few days to relax and there is a possibility that tomorrow I will go on the boat of a friend of mine for a trip around Belgrade, which should be pretty cool.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Today I picked up my visa from the Russian consulate, tomorrow I go by bus to Belgrade where I will get a visa for Belarus and in 11 days time I fly with 2 friends to Finland where we will join the final leg of this years World Harmony Run. Starting in Finland we go to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus. Before entering Russia via Smolensk and finish in Moscow late September. It should be quite an adventure. Not sure if I will have much internet access, but when I do I will try to post something.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

It has been 15 years since my mother was killed by an intruder in her home.It is quite a long time but at this time we can easily see how strongly how our loved ones remain in our hearts.
Yesterday I spent around 4 hours at the Russian embassy in Ljubljana applying for a visa for an up coming trip there. A few hours after returning home I got a message that one of my Uncles had had a stroke and is now in hospital, but quite stable and even making jokes. So life has it's challenges, but we go on.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Yesterday I went to the Russian Embassy here in Ljubljana to apply for a visa, but was a little surprised to find out that I needed to give them a photo. So back again today only to find out that my visit constitutes a Humanitarian visa and needed to say that on the invitation. They were nice enough to call the WHR guys in Moscow and arrange for a new invite to be faxed and told me to come back tomorrow. They were actually quite nice to me, but it seems it is not so easy to get a visa for Russia.

Friday, August 13, 2010


First of all it's Friday the 13th. I need to catch up on a few things. Two days ago August 11th was my sister's birthday, so of course Happy Happy Birthday!!!. She just recently had elbow replacement surgery, so I imagine this one was not quite as happy as previous ones. But I am sure she will ultimately be happy with her unusual present of a much better functioning elbow.
Also on that day 2 friends of mine from Serbia came by on their way back from the English Channel, where one helped and the other successfully swam the English Channel. When I was young and growing up in England it was always magical to me to hear that someone had swum the channel. So it was really nice to hear their story of this great feat.
By the way this Friday the 13th is a rainy one here in Ljubljana.
These are some of the White plums at my place in Croatia, in the photo above.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

So on Saturday morning I got a ride out to the 3rd stage of the Trans- Slovenia Mountain Edition race where my friend was running. There was some tough mountain running and I got to do some of it with him. I also got to stay in the Youth Hostel where the race ended on Saturday night and where the runners and organizers stayed. On Sunday I got to share the running and helping duties with my friend Milan. The last 30Km or so of the final stage was on the same road as last years classic race so it was familiar to me and I liked the downhill section into Koper.

Friday, August 06, 2010

It is amazing to think that this time last week I was at my place in Croatia and it was raining. Here I am now in Ljubljana and once again it is raining. I was really happy to spend some time there even with the rain, but as you can see from this photo it was quite sunny on the Sunday just before I left. In the photo are my neighbours Vajo and Majca who kept me fed during my visit, though I did buy some supplies from the one store in the village. It is nice to think that I am now adding to the economy of the village where my father was from. OK more to come.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

I spent 2 days at my place in Croatia. When I got there it was raining and rained on and off for the first 24 hours I was there. As you can see from this photo I managed to cut down some of the grass and weeds. I eventually removed some of the trees from around the side and back of one end of the old house. It was so nice to sleep in my own house and my neighbours kept me fed by inviting me for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I still have a lot of work to do. I have many white plum trees and gave away many plums during my visit. I had to leave many to be eaten by the birds who seem to love them. It is very peaceful there and the roads are pretty quiet for running on. Over the next few days I will try to post more photo's.