Happy May Day!

Today is May Day. The mayor of Ljubljana gave a speech (in his trademark Serbian accent - by the way, he was once chairman of Mercator, a chain of shops that are everywhere in this city) and people were given carnations.

We weren't there.

Instead, last night we climbed a hill in Rožna Dolina for the huge pre-May Day celebration. To be honest, I thought it would be a casual, informal affair. That was not the case. After walking up the path in the dark, we came upon a huge crowd gathered around a stage, flanked by kiosks selling grilled meat, beer and cigarettes. Luckily they were offering french fries or I would have starved.

On the stage, there were speeches from union leaders, followed by a massive bonfire burning dangerously close to the local church. For the rest of the evening we hung around drinking and eating and laughing as band played cover songs onstage. It wasn't until midnight or so (I think) until we stumbled down.