Tales from the Man who would be King

Rex Jaeschke's Personal Blog

Signs of Life: Part 14

© 2018 Rex Jaeschke. All rights reserved.

From time to time during my travels, I come across signs that I find interesting for one reason or another. Sometimes, they contain clever writing, are humorous, or remind me of some place or event. Here are some from trips to Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy.

 

From Fažana, Croatia, jumping-off point by ferry to the island complex of former Yugoslavia's President, Marshal Josip Broz Tito.

Who knew such a competition existed!

 

One of them there squat toilets.

 

From Pula, Croatia.

Basically, "No fun allowed at this waterfront".

 

I "discovered" naïve art in a museum in Zagreb. Then in Rovinj, I saw all kinds of galleries selling it.

 

According to Wikipedia, "An atelier … the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts." It was a new word for me.

I saw many of them in Rovinj.

 

From a construction site during a day trip to Venice by ferry from Croatia.

"Pedestrians keep left!". Interestingly, in the bad-old days, left-handed people were considered devils, and the Latin word sinistro (left) became the English sinister.

 

On the door of a compartment on the ferry from Croatia to Venice.

I finally decided that it was a stretcher. For the longest time, it looked like the end wall of a public toilet cubicle that just happened to have a human outline on it.

 

I thought this was an usual use of the word lush, which I've only ever used in the context of a garden.

The reflection in the window is just some Aussie/American tourist wearing an Adelaide Crows football cap.

 

On the back of the seat in front of me on a bus going from Croatia to Slovenia. "How satisfied are you with us today?"

Now, you may well ask, "Why is the sign written in German?" Because, the bus company was German—the former German National Railway company, in fact—and was (eventually) going on to Munich, Bavaria. The company serviced that route once each day in each direction.

 

One Hell-of-a-place to eat and drink in the famous Slovenian tourist town of Bled.

 

The good news was the Slovenian sign was also written in English. The bad news was I still had no idea what was downstairs in this castle/museum in Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital.

According to Wikipedia, "A lapidarium is a place where stone (Latin: lapis) monuments and fragments of archaeological interest are exhibited."

 

An innocent-looking sign, except for the interesting spelling of Tuesday.

 

Lo and behold, right there at the base of the castle-on-the-hill in Ljubljana was a "nursery under the castle".

Do all those kids have one or two artificial arms, or am I being too literal?

 

As best as I can tell, the green text says, "No God, no State, no Califate!" Then someone added, "And no correct grammar either!", apparently because one or more of the negated articles doesn't have the right gender.

As to why this graffiti in Slovenia was written in German is a mystery to me.

 

Once I was in Ljubljana, I learned about Metelkova, "a self-proclaimed autonomous neighborhood much like Copenhagen's Freetown Christiania". Having visited the latter, I thought I'd drop by for a visit. It was quite small, and most buildings were painted with interesting street art.

 

Very clever!

 

 

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