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Slovenia
In Your Pocket
- Ankaran
- Bistrica ob Sotli
- Bled
- Bohinj
- Bovec
- Brda
- Brežice
- Celje
- Dežela Celjska
- Dežela Celjska (Slovenian)
- Dobrna
- EDEN Slovenia
- Idrija
- Izola
- Kolpa River
- Koper
- Kostanjevica
- Kranjska Gora
- Krško
- Laško
- Lipica
- Ljubljana
- Maribor
- Piran
- Planica
- Portorož
- Posavje
- Postojna
- Radeče
- Radovljica
- Sevnica
- Škofja Loka
- Slovenian Alps
- Slovenian Wine
- Soča Valley
- Solčavsko
- Tolmin
- Velenje
- Velenje (Slo)
- Vipava
Features
- Best Casinos in Slovenia 2013
- Best Slovenian Ski & Spa Resorts
- Celica: Ljubljana's prison-turned Hostel
- Famous Slovenes: Žižek
- Gorenje
- Lipica and The White Horses
- Slovenian Humour
- Slovenian Weather
- Slovenian wines continue to gain popularity abroad
- The Legend of Peter Klepec
- The Top 10 Most Romantic Restaurants in Ljubljana 2013
- Top 5 Slovenian Souvenirs
- Traffic penalties increased in Slovenia
- Velenje Coal Mine
- Where is Slovenia?
- Why Slovenia? Part I
- Why Slovenia? Part II
- Why Slovenia? Part III
- Wine tasting in Brda
Links
More features:
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The Legend of Peter Klepec
The story of Peter Klepec is one of the most widely known folktales in Slovenia. Likely originating sometime in the 16th or 17th century, it was passed down orally from generation to generation until finally taking written form many years later.... -
Why Slovenia? Part II
Last time, I discussed why cobblestone, socialism, advertising and Rog's Pony bicycles all help to make Slovenia a better place to live than America.... -
Top 5 Slovenian Souvenirs
SchnappsIt may say more about us than anything else, but Slovenian schnapps is our gift of choice when visiting friends and family abroad.... -
Best Casinos in Slovenia 2013
Las Vegas or Macau it is not, but thanks in large part to the comparatively restrictive gambling laws in neighbouring countries Slovenia has indeed become something of a regional hub for casinos and gaming salons, most of which are not uncoincidentally located in the parts of the country nearest to Italy and Austria.... -
Lipica and The White Horses
Set in the beautiful and mysterious Karst region, where several lakes appear and disappear seasonally, Lipica Stud Farm is one of the most famous in the world.... -
Why Slovenia? Part III
After my first two columns people generally seemed surprised that I'd been able to come up with so many reasons why an American would want to live in Slovenia, but I assure you that we've barely scratched the surface.... -
Traffic penalties increased in Slovenia
Although the number of road deaths in Slovenia decreased dramatically after stiffer fines for traffic violations and drink driving were introduced in 2008, the penalties were again raised as of 1 July 2011.... -
Where is Slovenia?
So where is Slovenia? With only one game remaining during the group stage of the 2010 World Cup a popular answer to this question (here in Ljubljana at least) was 'At the top of Group C!' Another popular answer was provided by a bit on Late Night with David Letterman in the US - which was quick to gain viral status on YouTube (although will likely not find its way into any official tourism campaigns any time soon).... -
The Top 10 Most Romantic Restaurants in Ljubljana 2013
Valentine's Day is fast approaching once again, and although some may brush it off as yet another American capitalism driven perversion of sacred Catholic tradition, its roots as a romantic holiday actually date back to a fellow called Geoffrey Chaucer, aka the author of the Canterbury Tales and the father of English literature.... -
Gorenje
Slovenia often sits high on 'per capita' lists of bio-diversity, olympic medal hourdes, and car ownership, but the industrious small country can boast various successes on the world business stage.... -
Velenje Coal Mine
It's no exaggeration to say that modern Velenje in large part owes its existence to its coal mine, which has been continually operating since the 19th century and still produces some four million tons of coal annually - which is primarily used at the nearby Šoštanj power plant to supply around 1/3 of Slovenia's energy needs.... -
Best Slovenian Ski & Spa Resorts
If city centres across Slovenia seem a bit empty during the winter season, that's because an inordinate number of Slovenes choose to spend their snowy days and nights at one of the tiny nation's countless ski resorts or almost equally numerous spa centres.... -
Why Slovenia? Part I
When a Slovene meets a foreigner the first question they usually ask is the standard, 'Where are you from?' - which is understandable.... -
Famous Slovenes: Žižek
With his only serious competition coming from an overweight alcoholic who floats down rivers, it's fairly safe to say that Slavoj Žižek is by far the most widely-known Slovene living today - which is no small feat given that his chosen profession is philosophy....
Famous Slovenes: Žižek
With his only serious competition coming from an overweight alcoholic who floats down rivers, it's fairly safe to say that Slavoj Žižek is by far the most widely-known Slovene living today - which is no small feat given that his chosen profession is philosophy. In recent years he's grown into something of an internationally recognisable cult figure, due perhaps as much to his eccentric appearance (some, namely us, have pointed out that he bears an uncanny resemblance to Falkor the luckdragon from The Neverending Story) and excitable personality as his ontological analysis of the Lacanian Real or widely published musings on contemporary culture.
Born in Ljubljana in 1949 to middle class parents from opposite sides of the country - his father was a civil servant from Prekmurje while his mother's family came from Brda along the Italian border - Žižek spent most of his childhood on the coast in Portorož. He enrolled at the University of Ljubljana in 1967, and later studied under several prominent Lacanian psychoanalysts at the University of Paris VIII before receiving his Doctorate of Arts in Philosophy back in Slovenia.
Born in Ljubljana in 1949 to middle class parents from opposite sides of the country - his father was a civil servant from Prekmurje while his mother's family came from Brda along the Italian border - Žižek spent most of his childhood on the coast in Portorož. He enrolled at the University of Ljubljana in 1967, and later studied under several prominent Lacanian psychoanalysts at the University of Paris VIII before receiving his Doctorate of Arts in Philosophy back in Slovenia.
After graduating, Žižek began frequenting circles of dissident intellectuals in Yugoslavia and wrote for several alternative magazines before becoming an assistant researcher with the promise of tenure at the University of Ljubljana. However, when the political climate took a turn for the Marxist in 1973 he was dismissed and spent the remainder of the decade completing military service in the Yugoslav army followed by a lengthy stretch of unemployment.
In 1979, Žižek returned to academia when he was hired as a researcher at the Institute of Sociology in Ljubljana. As democracy protests began picking up strength in the late 1980s he left the communist party and eventually ran for the Presidency of Slovenia as the candidate of the Liberal Democracy Party (which is currently a minority member of the governing coalition). This period also saw Žižek publish his first work in English, The Sublime Object of Ideology, which brought him international recognition as a social theorist and laid the groundwork for his reputation as a confrontational intellectual.
Over the next decade and a half he published more than two dozen books and countless articles, acquiring almost rock star status amongst certain cirlces, culminating in a well-received (although little seen) documentary about him called Zizek! in 2005, followed by The Pervert's Guide to Cinema the next year. Žižek currently holds the title of visiting professor at several prestigious European and American universities, and is still senior researcher at the Institute of Sociology in Ljubljana.