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Showing posts from March, 2013

Seasonal signage

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We were in Zagreb, Croatia, on Thursday and Friday, celebrating our fifteenth wedding anniversary. Wandering through Trg bana Jelačića – the city's central square in a similar way to what Trafalgar Square is to London – when we spied a seasonal sign. Perched above a mobile phone ad encouraging us to “Embrace life” and a white goods' ad claiming its products are “The smart choice for 280 million users worldwide” was a digital billboard of Jesus*. “Happy Easter” it said. “The Lord Jesus Christ, Victor over death and Satan”. It was the contrast between style of the artwork, admittedly not to my taste, and the uncompromising statement that made me snap this photo. I thought for all its reputation as a edgy cultural capital I couldn't see this message playing well in London. But then I checked online and discovered Trafalgar Square hosted a full-scale Passion play this year. Somehow that discovery was more reassuring than finding any number of unnecessary chocolate eggs!

A new playground!

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Yesterday we enjoyed exploring a “new” playground - Ski centar "Raduša" . We'd been intrigued by the pictures on Facebook and the reality didn't disappoint. I had been looking for one sunny day of snowboarding this season and we finally got it! As ski centres in Bosnia and Herzegovina go this must be one of the newest; according to an article on a Croatian ski website it's only in its third year of operating. From our perspective it makes an appealing alternative to some of the more established resorts. I know people look for different things in their winter sports experiences. For some the a près-ski activities are more important than the slopes. At Raduša the a près-ski activity is driving home! It's not a resort in that sense, but what it offers is access to unspoilt countryside. There's no loud music, no corporate sponsorship banners, just a mountain top covered with snow, a few well placed lifts and some nicely groomed runs. All that and a decent

A year ago today

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On the 5 th March 2012 I took my newly purchased first snowboard up our nearest mountain for its first run out on snow. Why do I remember this? Well, partly, it was one of those moments I never imagined that would happen; such moments have a habit of sticking in the memory. Yes, I was excited, and that could be part of it, but the more prosaic explanation is that as I sat on the snow, strapping my boots into the bindings, I noticed the board length: 153cm. To English eyes that was clearly code for 1 st used on the 5 th of the 3 rd . I knew then I wouldn't forget the date. Whatever I did that day it's certain it was not epic snowboarding. I had hunted around Youtube trying to find tutorial videos that made sense. Good ones seemed few and far between. I tried to remember what I'd watched and practise things in some kind of logical order. Fast forward ten months and I was on a slope in Sarajevo getting logical, structured instruction. I'd like to say that in a few d

You win some

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On Saturday Jajce's Lavovi (Lions) bit back at the BiH Floorball League tournament in Tuzla. At least they did in the first game they played. The last time the Lavovi played Gladijator from Prijedor the game was a 4-4 draw. This time we won by a surprisingly comfortable 6-2 margin. Anyone who read our post about the first tournament will probably have noticed the kit change since then. Out go the 70s-style short-shorts of the hand-me-down outfits and in comes a freshly purchased strip with the team badge on the front and “Floorball Club Lavovi Jajce” in big text on the back between the shoulder blades. Sadly new kit and the feel-good factor of getting a first tournament win wasn't enough to guarantee a result in our second game of the day. I never played enough competitive sport in the UK to speak authoritatively on cultural differences but I was surprised that on a day when the lowest scoring game featured six goals our team's faces clearly showed they thoug