I got a ride yesterday from Belgrade to Zagreb, with some friends. Stayed the night there and caught the early train to Ljubljana. The Croatian border police questioned me about my passport, saying they were concerned about whether the Slovenia border police would give me a hard time.Of course the Slovenians did not bat an eyelid.Maybe the Croatians think England let Ukraine beat them so that they would take second place in the World Cup qualifying group.
It was raining when I got to Ljubljana, but stopped long enough for me to get home. It's quite cold and when I went out for my run this afternoon, I could see that there was snow on the mountains nearby.

I just found out that John Lennon would have been 69 today, if he was still around.
It was a beautiful day in Sarajevo, 25C and I got in a nice run this afternoon. I leave tomorrow morning for Belgrade, where I will be for the weekend.

I am currently in Sarajevo, Bosnia, arriving by bus from Nish, Serbia yesterday. It is quite warm here and I had a nice run from the place where I am staying to the Holiday Inn, which became famous during the war here.
Oh by the way! When I was in Macedonia I accidentally put my Passport in the washing machine. It survived and has got me through 3 borders, but looks a little strange. Fortunately it expires soon, so I will get a new one.

So I have been on the World Harmony Run for the last 2 weeks. It took me into Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia and Bulgaria. The team changed a few times, but we had good members all the way through.After the first few days we had a break in Belgrade. Where I participated in a 6 hour race and ran the last leg of a 12 hour relay, so I got in some good training.
I am now in Nish Serbia, where I had a meeting with the guy who will make a coffee roasting machine for me. I also got to look at an old machine to see what it will look like. Finally things are moving forward.

The 2 days we were in Sarajevo were quite busy. They included a Radio interview, visits to 2 schools and a newspaper interview in the lobby of the tallest building in Bosnia. I also got to go to the observation deck on the 35th floor, from where you can see the whole city.
This morning we left around 6 am to drive back to Belgrade, where we had meetings at 3 schools. I am spending the night in a floating hostel on the river Danube, just as I did on Tuesday. If you are ever in Belgrade check it out, it's called Arkabarka.

I have a few last minute things to take care of, but basically I am ready to go. The train leaves in 3 hours time, well it is supposed to,and we will leave for the station in 2 hours. Will should arrive in Belgrade before midnight and someone will meet us and take us to the hotel where the team is staying. Then there will be an early start on Wednesday morning for the trip to Sarajevo, where we will be for 2 days.

Tomorrow afternoon I will take a train to Belgrade with my friend Milan. We are going to join the World Harmony run. He will be with them for about 5 days, but I will be there for almost 2 weeks.In May I was on the run in Slovenia and Italy. This time I will be going to Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia and Bulgaria. You can check out the website worldharmonyrun.org and get some information on it and see daily reports. If I get a connection and the time I will post something during my trip.

The weekly 2 mile race in Ljubljana is on a 400 meter track. This morning the weather was overcast and quite mild. There were the usual 3 runners and believe it or not, this week I was 2nd. I was working herd to go under 15 minutes, but as I crossed the line the clock rolled over to 15 minutes. Of course this is an improvement and I am happy with it.

Last night there was a basket ball game between Slovenia and Croatia and I could tell from the apartment building across from mine how things were going. Slovenia won by 2 points.

The day was pretty uneventful as it goes.I did go out for a run this afternoon in a light rain and it was very nice.I have noticed that the last couple of days I have had a few minor aches and pains. Not sure if this is because of old age or the change in the weather.

My day started early. Up at 5am than helped making some deliveries. My back was kind of sore, an old problem that bothers me from time to time. It somehow got better as the day went on and I had good energy when I got home this afternoon. I took advantage of the good weather that followed the rain last night and got a nice run in this afternoon.

Had a nice weekend in Maribor, but got back late last night.
It was overcast all day. I went into the city this morning and on the way in I saw someone walking, what looked like a small dog. As I got closer I could see that it was a small black pig. I guess it was a pygmy pig because it was less then 12 inches high. It looked very happy walking along on it's red leash.
When I went out for my run this afternoon I actually put on warm ups, though it is not too cold it was cold enough.

Around this time 8 years ago I was sitting in the departure lounge in Vienna waiting for my flight to New York. Just a routine return home after another trip to Europe. Of course I did not know at the time that this flight would take me 5 days. We were about 3 hours away from New York when we were informed that there had been an attack on the financial district in NY and the airspace over NYC had been closed and there was no space left for us to land in Canada. So we would be returning to Vienna. I will not go into the details of the extraordinary job the airline ( Austrian ) did in taking care of us until my return to New York on September 15, but it was amazing. We flew into an empty JFK airport that afternoon and as I sat in my window seat I could see the plume of smoke rising from lower Manhattan, a very sobering sight. However there was a comfort in being back. Of course we now know that the events of September 11, 2001 have changed the world forever.

I was not able to watch the game, but it seems that England showed just how good they have become under Fabio Capello, when they beat Croatia 5-1 to qualify for the World cup finals in South Africa.Maybe now the fans realize that sometimes we need a foreign coach to bring the best out the English players.

Today is my niece's birthday so of course I want to say Happy Birthday to Shell.
The weather here is becoming quite mixed these days and I notice that when I go out for my run in the evening I am not sweating as much as I did.It has been more than 3 weeks now since I missed a day so I am quite happy that I think I am getting some consistency and it feels like I have good form.
In about 2 weeks time I will be going on the World Harmony Run, which is a relay run to promoted World Harmony. I will be in Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Bulgaria. So my current training will help me a lot I think.
Oh! And England can qualify for the 2010 World Cup if they beat Croatia at Wembley tonight.

Yesterday I saw 2 different T shirts that kind of had the same message. One said Good boys go to Heaven, Bad boys go to Amsterdam. The other said Good girls go to Heaven, Bad girls go to London.
This morning it actually felt cold and one can feel the change in seasons coming.
I also went to the British Embassy yesterday here in Ljubljana to ask them some questions I have about getting National insurance number. It was suggested that maybe my Social security number from the US may be Ok to use. I have to check at the ESS office to be sure. We will see.

It's funny how you go away for a couple of weeks at this time of the year and when you get back, you start to notice that the days are getting shorter. This is mainly noticeable in the mornings when I wake up. The Sun is no longer coming in through my window while I sit and meditate.
Yesterday it was inventory time at the store where I help out sometimes. It was actually a fun time.
I came home to watch the England v Slovenia friendly football game, which England won 2-1. Though England controlled the game, they had trouble scoring. Slovenia only had one shot on goal, from which they scored late in the game.
My friend Abichal ran a 6 day race in Sweden, which finished yesterday. He placed 9th with a total of 501 km Another friend Sarah Barnett won the women's race with 713.9 km.

Due to circumstances beyond my control I got to be late last night. All through the day it seemed like I was still asleep. I did get through the day doing some work and after a short nap on returning home, went out for a run.
After more than 30 years of living in America I have discovered that I do not remember my National insurance number for the UK and now I need it for my new life in Slovenia and a few other things. So begins the long journey of acquiring this information. It's not easy to change your life after many years.But I am having fun.

Well it seems that in less than 24 hours after arriving back I have developed a head cold.It mainly consists of a runny nose at this point, but I woke up after about 3 hours of sleep and it is not letting me get anymore. I hope to nap a little later and then run. I do have to work today, so it would help to get a little more rest.

My flight from New York was delayed an extra 30 minutes, because when they did the head count we apparently had 1 too many people on board. They finally decided that they were counting a baby who was not ticketed. Even so, because of a strong wind we still arrived 10 minutes early in Zurich. I had a 4 hour stop in Zurich, which went by quite quickly and again my flight to Ljubljana arrived early. After settling in I went for a short run, then made pasta for dinner. Around 9:30 I was checking up on e mails and stuff on my computer and next thing I know I am waking up on the couch at 10. So I decided it was time to go to bed. I only managed to sleep until 3am so I got up, but dozed off again about 6 am.

There has been quite a lot of rain the last 24 hours and and it has become quite cold for August in New York. This morning it was still raining lightly as we ran the weekly 2 mile race, just 4 days after the marathon. I usually try to run under 16 minutes in these races when I have run a long race just before. So I was happy with my 15:47 especially since I felt quite strong at the end and sprinted the last 200 meters passing a couple of runners before the finish line.

It's one of those rainy days in New York, when you just want to stay home and sleep or at most watch the rain fall outside. I did manage to get a run in early, during a break in the rain.Since I am leaving in a couple of days I actually have a lot to do. So I kind of spent the morning going around trying to find some people I needed to give things to., Since I had a problem with my vegetarian meal on the flight coming, I had to call the airline and confirm that things are ok this time.

It seems my payment for running the Marathon yesterday is a sore left hamstring this morning. I did go out and run a few K's as is normal for me and it made it feel better. Today is going to be another warm one, but it is supposed to be much cooler for the next few days after that. It is hard to believe that I will be back in Slovenia in 5 days time.

I probably have a lot of excuses as to why I ran a 5:07 marathon today, but none of them really matter. I ran it and I still feel pretty good at the end of it.The weather was quite cool to start with and although it got quite hot in the Sun, there was a nice breeze on the first half of the course and that helped a lot. Anyway it's another marathon under my belt.

This afternoon I met an old friend from California who is in New York for a few days and he said I looked like I had aged backwards. Which of course meant that I look younger and that my living in Slovenia is probably the reason. Sometimes we are not conscious of the fact that it is quite stressful in the place you are living in. Plus I think that I am actually happier being back in Europe, though I very much enjoyed my 31 years in New York.

I ran the Saturday morning 2 mile race. It had rained quite heavily during the night and was still raining lightly when the race got underway. There was quite a big field of runners and I firmly planted myself in the middle of them. My time was 15:34 which was in fact 4 seconds faster my race in Ljubljana 2 weeks ago so not too bad. I do of course have a marathon to run in 4 days so it was a nice workout.
Cooler after the rain, but still humid.

This morning it is much cooler, but once I went out for my run I realized that the humidity is quite high, I think that will change as the day goes on. I think I need to adjust to the humidity before the marathon on Tuesday. I got a sample of the coffee that I may be importing from Colombia last night and also talked with someone about maybe getting coffee and speciality teas from Guatemala. So slowly slowly I am making some progress with my business

Yes it is hot and humid here in New York and I must say I did not miss this one bit. I brought my American cell phone with me, but for some reason it will not charge and my battery is now low, so I have to figure something out.Maybe it's unhappy that I took it to Europe ha ha.
Anyway I have a marathon to run in 5 days time and adjusting back to the New York weather is the main priority right now.

It has been an interesting few days for me here in New York. After being away for over 3 months I have come back as a visitor. I do not have a place to live here anymore, so I am staying in a temporary residence that is not far from where I used to live. Of course things are a lot easier since I am familiar with my surroundings.I do however have a different perspective on things now, but it is good to see old friends I do not miss living here

I have been helping my friend Aleksander Arsic on the Trans Slovenia run, he finished 3rd overall. Got back in the evening from Piran where it finished and had to pack for New York. When I have a chance I will write something about the race, but you can check it out on the race site at transslovenia.si. I am now in the airport waiting for an early morning flight to Paris and then New York. Feeling kind of nervous and excited at the same time.

A friend of mine from Belgrade has just arrived. He has come here to run the first Tans Slovenia run. Which will start on Wednesday morning. It is a stage race that will cover 397km in 5 days. I had originally planned to run the race myself, but will now try to help him.
Although it is the first time this race has taken place there will be around 28 runners, with the majority coming from Slovenia, but others coming from as far away as Australia.
I will try to post updates during, or at least a report after the race is over.

I had no internet for a couple of days.
This morning I ran my first 2 mile race in Slovenia. I had not run a 2 mile race since the morning that I left New York. So I was not exactly in race shape. I this kind of situation I usually try to run under 16 minutes.
The race was on a 400 meter red tartan track and there were on 4 runners and my time was 15 minutes 38 seconds. I am happy with that.

In the afternoon I went with a friend to lake Bled and we swam. The water was nice and later we ate Kremsnita, which is a very nice local cake.

It was quite a busy day for me. First I had to run even though I had some kidney pain. I think that I am fighting an infection, but nothing serious. Well I did run for 30+ minutes and it felt good, I think my legs are stronger after going up Mount Triglav a little more than 2 weeks ago.

Later I went shopping for a few more items for my get together. Then it was time to make the pancakes or as they call them here Palacinke. I made half of them filled with Chocolate and half with Apricot jam. I thought they tasted pretty good and 2 of my friends said they tasted good. So there you go.

I bought some nice carnations and picked some wild flowers to compliment them.

Well the thunderstorms came last night and we had some pretty heavy rain this morning. I did get to do some work this morning, but this afternoon has been kind of lazy.

I am going to make pancakes for a weekly get together I go to and will be going out to buy the ingredients and do some early prep'. They will be filled with either chocolate sauce or jam. We will see how it goes, I did not make them for a long time.

A friend of mine in Ljubljana says that it always rains when I come back from Croatia. Well I arrived on the morning train and as I walked out if the station it started to rain. It was only a light shower, but...

I did not get to do everything I wanted in Croatia, but it seems it is holiday season there and it is not so easy to meet with people and there is a lot of traffic on the roads.

I did get in a nice 40 minute run on Saturday afternoon in Jarun, though it was pretty hot and the Sun was strong. I went out early on Sunday morning and ran for 1 hour.

I will be going to Croatia this afternoon, it is just a few hours away by train. First I will go to Zagreb and then plan to go by bus to Karlovac where I have family and some friends. I would like to go see my place in Donje Dubrave, but we will have to see what happens.

3 years ago today I posted a video on Youtube called What a Monster, showing a caterpillar I had found on the street crawling on my hand. Well this video just reached 500,000 views. When I first put it up there I think it had 150 views in the first 3 days, on the 4th daz it suddenly started to get around 1000 an hour. It did eventually slow down, but still seems quite popular, especially with kids in their teens and twentys. Who knew!

The keyboards on computers here have all the English letters, but are set up in a different way. The y and z are switched around. As a result when I am typing fast I write strangely and I post without noticing until later.The weather continues to be nice, if somewhat warm. It kind of reminds me of New York without the humidity. Some of my friends in New York have been asking me how things are going and I think that I am finally finding my way around on my own, which I guess is a big step. Mainly I have to get used to the slower pace here.

I went into the Berlitz Language place here in Ljubljana to inquire about Slovenian classes and they said they only have for individuals and they cost €40. The class is 40 minutes long, so €1 per minute.So I loaded a software programme I bought in New York, for $20 into mu laptop and now I am learning.
I quickly learned a couple of phrases and everyone thinks it's great.
The days here are quite hot, but this week the nights have been cool, so good sleeping weather


This was what I looked at while hiking up to Triglav
Will post a view of the mountain later.

On Saturday I took an early , 6 am bus to Bled where some friends are vacationing for about 10 days. The ride is only about 1 hour 20 minutes. It had rained for about 45 minutes but stopped just before I left to walk to the bus. When I got there it was beautiful. I ran around the lake with my friend Pedja and then had kremsnita for breakfast, this is a very tasty sweet desert.In the afternoon we all went to Bohin another lake and actually hiked up to Slap Savica or Waterfall Savica which I visited back in 1996.After dinner I caught the last bus back, which was at 8.30 and was home by just after 10.After a pretty lazy day on Sunday I am ready to start the new week.Oh yeah it seem the guz I want to get my coffee raosting machine from is on vacation, so have to wait a little longer.

I was supposed to be going to Croatia today and then go to my place in the country, but things fell through and I think I will go next week instead. There is a chance that I will go to Bled instead. It is a beautiful lake resort that I have been to before. If it all works out I will visit with some friends there. It turns out that the place where I can sometimes use internet near my place is called GDS and not hte ministry of commerce.I am now near the river in the city and there is a Mariachi band plying for tourists nearby. Ljubljana is really colourful in the summer season

I have discovered that there is free internet at the Ministry of commerce, which is just 5 minutes walk from where I am staying in Ljubljana. You can even use their computers in the lobby if you want. It has been quite hot here the last few days and the Sun is also strong. I have recovered from my trip to Triglav. I have a feeling that my legs will be very strong after this. I found out that the climb was around 7 km and the elevation was around 1700 meters. So yes it was quite a work out. This weekend I am planning to go see my place in Croatia, I will of course take some photo's and try to post some, check back later.

I have been a little out of touch the last few days. I lost my internet connection, but I have found out that there are WIFI areas around the city that are free. So once again I am back on the air, so to speak.
On Saturday I went with some friends to Bohin, which is a lake in Slovenia and on the river that comes from the lake we went mini rafting. It was a lot of fun and also kinda tiring. We got to spend about 2 hours on the river, with all the equiptment for just €10, which was great.
We stayed in a hostel in Kranks Gora that night and woke up at 4:30 to go to Triglav mountain. That was something special. It took us 4 hours, after a few wrong turns. To reach the moountain house at 2500 meters. I was too tired to go to the summit, which is another 300 meters and after a couple of hours and some pancakes and tea, we went down in 2 hours 50 minutes. I was quite tired and sore when I got home. Neddless to say I slept like a baby.

I am going hiking in the mountains this weekend, so yesterday I went to a place called Giga Sports and got myself a nice pair of hiking shoes. I left a pair that would have been suitable in New York, but they are no good to me there. I found a nice comfortable pair and they cost me €35, they were on sale. It is that time of the year. I will be walking around in them for the next few days so that hopefully I will not have problems with them while walking up mountains.

Last Sunday I was in Split Croatia and ran 1 1/2 hours. During the week I was in Maribor and had runs of 1 hour and 45 minutes. Then I gave a workshop on Meditation in Ptuj, Friday night and Saturday morning, a small group, but it went well. Made it back to Ljubljana tired and happy and slept long.
The weather is so nice and I went out with my friend Milan and we ran through some country trails and by the river Sava. Finding some nice wild plums on the way back, I added them to my muesli.

Raining when I got up this morning, but stopped just before my run. I go to Ptuj this afternoon to do a Meditation workshop. I was supposed to do a telephone interview this morning, but they did not call, so it did not happen. They asked me if they could interview me and set the time. That's just the way it is. I like it here in Maribor, maybe it's the river that makes the difference,

It's raining again now, by the way.

I have moved to the not=rth of Slovenia for the rest of the week. Spending about 3 1/2 days in Maribor and 2 1/2 in Ptuj. It has rained a lot so far but I am making the best of it.
There is a music festival going on here and each night there are many acts performing around the city and mostly near the river side. For me it is a mix of work and recreation.

This is my 1301 st post.

For some years I have wanted to visit Split in Croatia. Well this weekend I finally made it.
Some friends picked me up at around 3 am on Saturday and we were swimming in the Adriatic at 9:30. Then we spent the day sightseeing. It was hot, 33C, but we had a great time. It has also been quite a few years since I got a chance to swim in the Adriatic and I was able to do this both Saturday and Sunday. I really enjoyed my time there and have been invited by a new friend to go visit again. Which I will of course do.
Oh by the way! I did get to run for about 1 1/2 hours in a nice park, with some trails.

On Friday I went to Zagreb. It was kind of a last minute thing. We had rain on and off all the way there. It was not raining when I got there, but just as I walked to my friends car near the train station, it started. Very quickly there was a torrential downpour, it kind of reminded me of New York. When it finally stopped it was quite nice and a few of us went to a place in the city to eat cake.

On Saturday I ran to Jarun from where I am staying and there was a Triathlon about to happen, it was the Zagreb Open. I watched the swimming part and the first loop of the cycling, then ran back home.

I was supposed to run a 14k race this morning near Zagreb, but there was a problem with my ride. So I ran for 45 minutes in Jarun. Then I watched my friend swim in a 1500 meter race. Then Ice cream in the city before I caught my train back to Ljubljana.

Woke up to another rainy day, which it seems may continue for another 5 days. There are momentary pauses and a few seconds of sunshine.
Went to the bank here in Ljubljana and opened an account, which is quite easy now that I have a tax number. Then I went to work for a few hours. On the way home I pass by quite a few galleries and I noticed that there is a Robert Maplethorpe exhibit at the National Gallery, maybe if I get a chance I will go and check it out.

Well things are finally starting to move along. After a few false starts I have finally got a tax number here in Slovenia. This is required for me to open a bank account and such. It was a rainy day and did not seem too promising in the beginning, but as the day went on, things started to sort themselves out. In the afternoon I got a call from my potential coffee supplier and he is going to send me a sample to check out, which is great news. He is actually an Englishman I knew and lost contact with a few years ago and is now living in Colombia.
Despite the rain I got a nice run in this afternoon and I am now relaxing before having dinner and watching some U21 European Championship football. I watched England draw 1-1 with Germany last night and hope to watch Serbia play Sweden tonight.

I ran for almost 1 hour this morning in Ljubljana and it was a mix of outskirts of the city and almost countryside.. I feel like I am running at a comfortable pace and my form feels good. I have a slight problem with an old back injury, but I can live with that. Where is your friendly neighbourhood Chiropractor when you need him. Anyway I will sort that out.

Yesterday I met with Zvonko and Zrdavko Jakovic, they are 2 guys who share my last name and live about 30 minutes drive from here. We had a nice chat over coffee and it seems that our history may go all the way back to a village in Bosnia, more to follow.

Over the last couple of winters I have run in Flushing Meadow Park and out to Shea Stadium and the new Citi field Stadium. I would take photo's of the progression of the new stadium and the end of the old stadium. Well one of my photo's of the new stadium has been selected to be included in the 7th and latest edition of the Schmap city guide. It can be see at the following link;

http://www.schmap.com/newyork/activities_activities/#r=none&mapview=Map&tab=Places&p=356459&topleft=40.82303,-74.0250

Pretty cool uh!

On Friday I went to Croatia, to try and do the final paperwork for my farm. It was not as easy as I thought it would be. My cousin told me it would not be easy. There was a lot of going from one department to another and after 3 hours it seemed we were almost finished. I must mention that a friend from Zagreb came with me and acted as translator and explain-er. Then we found a problem and I was advised to talk to a local lawyer. The initial problem was to do with the plan of the land, it was not clear and it needed to be made clear, or there may be problems in the future. When it looked like that was sorted, the lawyer found a mistake in the contract which could cause it to be rejected by the county office. She said that and amendment could be drawn up that would correct this and I would have to come back today and sign it and have it notarized.This was done this morning and now it is being sent to my Aunt to sign and get notarized.
My lawyer will then submit all the papers and the county will tell me how much I have to pay them in taxes. All of this cost me around 400 Euro, which is more than I would have liked, but that's the bureaucratic system for you.

For the last 2 weeks or so the skin on the bottom of my feet has been peeling of . This is normal for me after a multi day race. It is like the old skin of the race is changing into a new one.
On Monday I did my longest run for a few weeks and the next day was shorter, but then I started running longer each day and also running with more pace. I am feeling as though my form is good again, actually I thought my from was good on the Harmony run, but it's hard to tell when you are carrying a torch. Anyway I am happy with my running.

My friend Milan asked me if I wanted to go play snooker, I have not played in quite a few years, but I said yes. When we got to the place, they only had pool tables, so we decided to play pool. It was quickly evident that I was out of practice, but as the morning went on I got a little better and actually won a game, though there is a question of if I did it fairly. Anyway we had a lot of fun. I hope we can find a place that has snooker.
I have now worked out about 4 running routes and I am enjoying running on the streets of Ljubljana.
I just want to mention my friend Amanda Stickel, who I met at the US 50k Nationals, where she was 3rd. Since then she has improved her 5k, 10k and half marathon times, so maybe the toughness of the 50k race made her stronger, when she eventually recovered.

The tree known in the US and UK as Lyme or Tillia, is know as Lipa here in the former Yugoslavia. This month the month of June is when they are in flower and in fact in Croatia they call the month Lipanj after the tree that is flowering then. They also have a month called Listopad, which means falling leaves and that month is October. It all kind of makes sense does it not.

I got a ride with 2 friends from Rijeka to Zagreb on Wednesday. I planned only to stay until Thursday afternoon, but ended up staying until this morning. I got to meet with some old friends and make some arrangements to go to Dubrave and Ogulin in the next few weeks, to take care of the final paperwork concerning the farm.
I am now back in Ljubljana, where the weather is quite nice and hope to enjoy the weekend.

I forgot to mention that since my first experience with the raw food diet, I have not been drinking coffee except when I visit family in the former Yugoslavia. It is such a social thing here that it would be an insult not to accept a coffee from a member of my family. I do noticed though that when I drink coffee my digestive system seems to tighten up.
I bought a Slovenian sim card last week and a friend gave me an old phone, but it needed a new battery. Well I got one this morning in Rijeka and I think a lot cheaper than in Slovenia.
@ of my friends were supposed to be coming to Rijeka today and we were supposed to have lunch together, but it is 3 :30 in the afternoon and I have not heard from them and cannot seem to make contact. They said that I could get a ride from them to Zagreb today, but it looks like I will stay another night and take the bus tomorrow.

I had breakfast with my aunt this morning and when I am in her apartment it always reminds me of 30 plus years ago when I first came to Rijeka.
In January I signed the pre contract for the farm and today we signed the full contract and got it notarized.
I have visited Rijeka quite a few times and it has become quite familiar to me.

I was in Germany over the weekend. Part work, part vacation, well sort of. It seems that I have found someone in Serbia who can make a coffee roasting machine for me, cheaper than the commercial ones and to my specs.
In a few hours I will take the train to Croatia where I will hopefully take care of some of the final details with my property.
So the last few days, my first real week in Slovenia have been quite fruitful. I am off to a pretty good start

I have finished my stint on the World Harmony run and can finally start to settle in Slovenia. I am actually working a few hours a day for my friend's shop and have found some new contacts for the coffee business. It looks like I will probably go to Croatia for a few days next week to take care of a few things with the farm there. It has been really hot and I even heard of some heat related deaths in Croatia. We had some rain here and this cooled things down a little, for now. I just realized that I am repeating myself a little. Still getting used to a slower pace.

So my little stint on the World Harmony Run is over. I spent the weekend at Lago di Garda(Lake Garda ) and it was awesome. I got a train from there to Venice, where I got another train to ljubljana, which arrived at just before 2 this morning. I shared the carriage with 2 Californians and 3 Canadians, so I got to talk some. I have been relaxing most of the day, but will now walk into the city and tomorrow I will work a half day I

This morning it was already hot when we started out on our run. I ran about 5k to a school on the outskirts of Milan and the temperature was 27 C. Afterwards I ran another 5k as we continued our run, visiting 3 more schools during the day. The temperature climbed to 33 C. We are having a lot of fun on the run in Italy as we did in Slovenia. We closed the day with a swim in a river out in a small village, then drove back to Milan for the night. We have been lucky to stay in Milan for 2 nights at a friend's appartment.

I have moved on from Slovenia to Italy on the World Harmony Run. We are currently in the north, Milan to be more specific. It is really hot here, the temperature is mostly 30 or 32 C during the day. We have been visiting lots of schools. Last night we stayed in a monestery which was pretty cool. I will be heading back to Slovenia on Sunday I think.

As I have mentioned before I am in Slovenia in the World Harmony Run and today was a very special day. We met with the President of of the Slovenian Parliament and also the President of the country itself. I actually got to shake the President's hand.. We ended the day in a place called postojna, where there are caves and we went on a tour. I was here in 1996 and it was great to visit the caves again. We also got rooms at the Postojna caves hotel.

So I arrived in Slovenia yesterday and immediatly joined the World Harmony Run, which is running through Slovenia for the next week. We finished the day in Ptuj and stayed at the Grand Hotel Primus, which is a spa hotel. Today we visited 4 schools and had a lot of fun with the children. Tonight we are staying at a friends house, we have a team of around 12. Check out the World Harmony Run website.

Basically there are 12 hours to go for my departure from New York. There were thunderstorms early this morning, but hopefully they are now gone and I can get in a run with Utpal. I have to take my modem to the cable company this morning. Today will be spent tying up any loose ends and any that are still loose when it is time to leave will just have to stay that way. Sometimes you just have to let go.

Ran again this morning with Utpal, my penultimate run in New York for a while was quite pleasant. I am just about packed, just a few last minute things to put in my bags tomorrw. The rest of the day was spent sorting out the rest of the things in my room that have to be put in the charity box or thrown out. I also needed to arrange for my cable internet and digital phone to be terminated before I leave. in about 24 hours time I will be at the airport waiting to board my plane and begin a new adventure, stay tuned.

Happily my lower back and hips are feeling a lot better today. I ran early with Utpal. today and tomorrow will be the last times we will run together for a while. It is quite warm, but there has been rain on and off all day. I am very close to the off, so it is getting a little more intense with the packing and sorting of my stuff. Actually I have pretty much packed the stuff I am taking and need to finish packing the few things I will leave here to pick up later. A lot of stuff is going to the charity bins and some to friends. Still a lot to do, but it will get done one way or the other.

My lower back soreness bothered me on and off all night. I did go out for a run and it flet a little better. I also noticed that it got a little better as the day went on. A lot of things going on including talking with my cousin in Europe and organizing some things that need to be done after I get there, with regard to the farm.
I have been finding many things that have sentimental value to me and there is a tinge of sadness when I decide that I cannot take them with me.. Some I will find new homes for others will be gone forever.
I did find time to watch the second Champions League semi final between Chelsea and Barcelona, which ended dramatically as a 1-1 draw, with Barcelona going through.

It is just 4 days now to my departure and once again it is a rainy day. Tuesday it garbage pick up and recycling to there was a lot of stuf to put out. Since it has been decided that the house will be sold to developers, it is not so important to clear the house completely, but I still have a lot to do in the next few days.
This afternoon I had lunch with some friends to whome I said my goodbyes. and this evening there is a dinner planned with a big group of friends. That is the sad part about leaving New York.
My lower back his a little sore today, not sure if it is a reaction to the race.

Well it's my last week in the house and my last week in New York for a while. This week I have to get all my stuff together, so it might get a little crazy. It's been raining on and off all day and seems it will be like that all week. Maybe NYC is sad to see me go I appear to be recovering well from the 6 day race, though I must say I am enjoying my sleep.

Usually I do not sleep so well after running a multiday race. For the length of the race I am training the body to use only short sleep breaks and at regular times. These usually carry over for a few days after the race. However this seems to have changed this time and I am sleeping well. This morning I went out for a run with Utpal and we did about 4 miles, it felt quite good and I am optimistic that my recovery will go well and quite quickly. I will write a report on the race on my running blog iliketorun.blogspot.com .So if you want you can check it out there.

Well I finished the 6 day race, we had some interesting weather. My total miles was about average for me, 270, but I did finish second in the over 50 age group. I will write more about it tomorrow.

I am a little more than 3 1/2 hours away from starting my 6 day race. It is already quite warm out there and will be around 88 F ( 31 C ) this afternoon. I try to stay at home relaxed for as long as I can and will arrive at the race site an hour or so before the start.
I feel pretty good so we will see what the week brings.
I will write up some kind of report when I get back. Wish me luck !

At this time tomorrow I will probably be out at the race trying to relax before the start. This is my 26th multiday race I think ( you kind lose count after a while ). After all these years I still get a little nervous, but I know that will all go away once the race starts. The trick is to not use up too much nervous energy. As a veteran of these things people tend to ask me for advice and the best thing I can say is; just relax and enjoy the experience, whatever it brings.

Two weeks from today after a week of recovery I will be heading out to Slovenia and a new adventure. I like to think that my race experiences have given me some ability to deal with new situations as they crop up and that this will help me to adjust to my new life in Europe.

The weather has turned quite warm and it almost feels like summer here in New York. Today is not so warm 65 F ( 19 C), but for the next few days it will be in the 80's and the evening temps will be like the daytime temps from a week ago.
I will take some more of my things out to the race site this afternoon, only 2 more days to go.

Today is St George's Day in England, the national day. It would also have been my father's 83 rd Birthday had he still been alive.
It was also my last day at work, it was pretty uneventful and as the day came to a close my boss said that it was the end of an era. There are just 3 more days before I start my 6 day race and 16 more days before I start my new journey, so things are getting interesting.
I went out to the race this evening for a couple of hours, unlike yesterday when it was rainy, today was dry but windy. I got a chance to talk with a few of my friends out there that are running in the 10 day race and get a feel for the new course changes.

It was on this day in 1978 that my Meditation teacher gave me a new name. It was this new name that gave me a spiritual purpose. So today on the way to work I bought donuts for all the guys, it's like celebrating a birthday.

Last night I went out to the race site to help a friend put up her tent, it also gave me a chance to see how things were out there. Today I took out my sleeping cot to reserve a space in one of the dorms. It is already getting crowded, the 10 day race started today and there are 45 runners. I will probably go out every day for a couple of hours, until I start my race.

As I walked to work this morning with a light rain falling, I realized that these are my last days of work before I run in the 6 day race. Also before I leave for Slovenia.
By the afternoon the rain had stopped and it was just overcast, it feels strange to think that in just a few days I will no longer be working at Victory Factory and my life in New York will be drawing to a close.

When I went out for my run this morning it was overcast and looking like it would rain. I ran an easy couple of miles and on the way back saw Utpal and ran another 3 with him.
I had to run a few errands and then I watched the Boston Marathon on the internet. The women had a very close finish with only one second separating first and second places.
In the afternoon the rain came and it got quite stormy as it went on. I was supposed to help a friend set up their tent out at the race site, but that was changed because of the rain.

Nice cool morning to run and I was on my own today, Utpal went to play golf. With just a week to go to the race I am just running easy miles, but after my 2 mile race yesterday my legs felt a little heavy.
I went for breakfast with some of my Serbian friends and then came back and watched the FA Cup semi final between Man U and Everton, they palyed for 2 hours without scoring and then Everton won 4-2 on Penalties.
Went to see my friend Sadhak perform at Panorama cafe, which is 2 blocks from me. Made some video's and spent the rest of the afternoon up loading them to youtube.

With only about 70 runners at the 2mile race this morning, I was able to run the race. The temperature was 60 F and it was sunny with a light wind. I felt quite comfortable while I was running, though my breathing did feel a little laboured in the second mile. A friend of mine passed me just before the end and was just in front of me, so I raced him to the finish line. My time was 15:32, which I am happy with.

In the orthodox world it is good Friday, in Serbia it is called veliki petak of great Friday. It turned out to be a really nice one here in Queens, New York . A warm Spring day with the temperature climbing up to 70 F.
I have a couple of friends from Slovenia who have been here for a few days and are leaving today and I was able to give them a few items to take back for me. Things that I thought might be safer with them than when I travel in a few weeks.
I am happy with the new shoes I got yesterday and may just get one more pair before the race starts next week.

Such a beautiful day today. All the rain that was around has now gone and there is sunny blue sky above

I stopped by a local sports store on the way home and bought myself a new pair of running shoes. it is just 10 days to the 6 day race and I feel I need one more pair to take with me. It would be nice if the weather was like this during the race, but at this time of the year it can change quickly. One of my running friends from India who is running in the 10 day race, contacted me this morning to say that he is in Jersey city. So he has arrived a week early to acclimatize before the race begins.

The rain continued this morning, but at least the temperature was mild. I woke up with a bit of a stiff neck, which kind of bothered me during the day, but I survived.
At least 3 people that I know got sick with the virus I had, though hopefully they did not get it from me. Neither of them got it as severe as I did.
In Champions League both Arsenal and Man U got through their 1/4 final second legs and will now meet each other in the semi's. So for the second year in a row we are guaranteedan English team in the final.

Oh! and it is tax day here in the US.

This morning it was actually quite mild and as I walked to work there were the sounds and smells of Spring. I think it got just a little bit colder by the afternoon and it started to shower rain.
It has been a while but today our resident chef at work decided to make chilli. It made a pleasant change from our usual fare. I had also consumed a breakfast burrito earlier, so by the afternoon I was a giant gas bag.

The last 2 nights have been quite cold, with temperatures dropping close to freezing.
Utpal and I were out there this morning running 6 miles once again. I felt quite comfortable running and feel physically recovered from my virus.
The rest of the day was a relaxing one for me.
It is Easter Monday in the UK and there were football games in the Championship. Wolves managed an ugly win and the main teams chasing them all drew, so now they are only 2 points away from securing promotion to the Premiership.

Happy Easter to everyone that celebrates this week. It is a bit of a cold one here in New York with strong winds, but there is bright sunshine and blue skies.
There is an annual 12 hour walk going on around a school in my neighbourhood. It started at 7 am this morning. So Utpal and I went to the start and watched them get going, probably 200 walkers. Then we went for a nice run, about 6 miles, which was nice to do after barely being able to run last weekend.
This time in 2 weeks I will be running in the 6 day race. So anything I do now is only helping me to recover from last week and prepare for that.

It is one of those weekends when there are a lot of people in town and over 250 of them come out to the 2 mile race. So I run early and then help out with the organization of this weeks race.One of my friends from the Pacific North West wins the race with a time of 9:42
Later in the day it started to rain and has been doing so for a while. I spent some time with friends, partly talking about my move back to Europe and the new adventures that will bring. A couple of my running friends are already talking about a race in June in Austria, so we will see.

It's Good Friday, well except for those of the Orthodox Christian faith. That will be next Friday.
A nice Spring morning, with a bit of chill in the air. Ran a couple of easy miles and met and talked with a few friends. After breakfast it was home to watch some Good Friday football from England. My team Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Wolves, were playing. I got to watch it on the internet. I was so happy they won 3-0 against Southampton. They remain on top of the Championship and only 4 games away from being promoted to the Premiership.

Last night was the season finale of Life, so one of the things I wanted to do was watch this online. However this got a little delayed when I came across some friends on the way home. I then stopped in to my local eatery and had a veggie steak burger, which was such a treat after being sick earlier in the week.
Then it was time to sit down and watch the show and what a show it was! Probably one of the best season finales I have ever seen. The show is so well written and seems to get better every season. They always manage to leave you wanting more.
Oh yeah! I went out for a run this afternoon the first one in 4 days and it felt good and I now feel stronger

Went to work this morning, though I did feel a little shaky, it did get better as the day went on. It was nice to sit down and have a big bowl of soup for lunch. By the end of the day I was starting to feel tired, so when I got home I crawled into my bed for a couple of hours. Once that was done I decided to go out and get pizza for dinner, when I got there 3 of my friends were actually doing the same thin. For the last few days I have been talking with a very strange voice, or so I was told. Well by this afternoon it got back almost to normal.

For the first time in a while I called in sick to work today. I woke up at my usual time, but realized quickly that I was still a little spacey from my sickness. Working with machinery is not a good thing to do when you feel like that, so I decided to spend another day in recovery.Quite a few of my friends asked how I was, it seems that news of my illness had been shared among them. It's good to know that my friends are concerned about me and happy that I am feeling better.

After 2 days of not being able to sleep for more than 2 hours at a time and sometimes even less, I finally managed to sleep for about 4 hours in one stretch last night. I finally woke up and was feeling a little weak, my digestion has improved and my eating is still not great. When I weighed myself I discovered that I had lost 7.5 lbs over the weekend. This is probably the reason I am feeling weak.I am gradually getting stronger, I know this will take a few days, but I am glad I have finally reached that point.
Part of me wanted to go out for a run this afternoon, but I just took several short walks and found these were quite tiring. Whatever it was has taken it's toll, but as the old saying goes, " If it doesn't kill, it makes you stronger" and so it will be.

After whatever it was that hit me on Friday nigh I am slowly recovering. Food poisoning or stomach flu, whatever it was can take a lot out of you. I have had very little appetite for the last 36 hours and have lost about 3 lbs in weight. I did go out and run 2+ miles this morning, but quickly realized that I was quite weak. I have to build up my strength over the next few days and be happy with any training I can get in.

Went to bed last night with a bit of a sour stomach. Kept waking up and finally around 1am, I had to make a dash fro the bathroom. In the beginning I thought it was just a bad case of diarrhea, but then the vomiting started, This went on and off for about 6 hours, with the occasional nap. I thought that maybe I had food poisoning, but I was also getting hot and cold flashes. So maybe it is a stomach flu.
Needless to say there was no 2 mile race for me this morning. I did manage to get out there with Utpal in the afternoon and run an easy 3 miles. Luckily I have 3 weeks to recover before the 6 day race.

I ordered an external Hard drive from Newegg.com the other day and it arrived last night. I have been wanting to get one for a while, since I will be leaving my desk top in New York for now and taking my laptop with me. I got a Western Digital passport and it's amazing, it's about the size of an i phone and 320gb. It would be nice to get a case for it.
Rain this morning, but got out there and ran. By this afternoon when I went out again it had stopped. feeling a little tired, but I am not sure if it is because of the events earlier in the week, or the increased mileage.

My day started with me seeing a raccoon walking on the street towards me as I walked past the park. It seemed a little surprised to see me and quickly ran into the park and started to climb a tree. It then realized I was not going near it and climbed down and walked off into the park.
The walk home was very pleasant this afternoon, I walked home in shirt sleeves, with my coat over my arm.
For the first time this year I saw the city planting new trees on some of the streets that I walk by to and from work

I got home this afternoon just in time to see the England v Ukraine World Cup qualifier. The final score was 2-1 England, they are undefeated in their group.
After the game I went out for my run and managed to do my 5k loop. I am still not 100% internally, so when I saw Utpal just before I reached home, I had to decline his invitation to go further.
The warm weather of the last few days has meant that some of the Magnolia's are staring the flower. I saw some nice Stelata while out on my run.