And back again in a new car

We had a wonderful time meeting with the young missionaries serving in Ljubljana, and then, yesterday we met with the Celje companionship.  We were already staying in Celje, and our appointment with them was for 4:30, so we had a nice lie-in and cleaned up the apartment where we'd stayed.  Of course that counts as an inspection, too.  We separated the useful stuff left in the apartment from the useless, and put the useless into bags to be dumped.  I had a nice shower using the repaired shower-head.  Liz re-arranged things and filled the trash bags.
    When it came time to go over to the apartment where the young missionaries are staying, we decided to walk.  It was a lovely afternoon, if a bit warm.  We walked through an interesting square along the way.  It has big round domes scattered around and a statue of a guy on a bicycle with an old-fashioned camera hanging around his neck.  I've seen pictures of this statue somewhere.

Just past the statue and the round domes there is an old palace that is now a museum and it has an ancient trebuche!

Now, there's something you don't see every day!  And, Yes, it's not all that ancient, but it is large enough to be impressive, and it is built the way the ancients really built them.  It is big enough to throw a fairly heavy stone through a wall, or a diseased body over a wall.
    The last apartment to inspect is the biggest apartment in the mission after the Mission Home.  Two young elders are staying in it.  It has 2 baths, two enormous living rooms, an office with three desks, an immense master bedroom, and a large kitchen with an attached eating room.  The entrance is via a porch that is enclosed and could count as another living room except that it is only wide enough for storage cabinets, but not for furniture.  The whole place is furnished with antiques, including lamps with old-fashioned, cloth-covered shades festooned with tassels and lace.  There is a coffee table with amazing burl-wood slices laid out so they look like a kaleidoscope.  Every room has chandeliers with crystals and/or fancy scroll work.  There is a key-wound clock with pendulum.  It was formerly inhabited by a senior couple, and he was the mission doctor.  They loved the place, but he wanted a recliner so they bought one.  I want one, too, so we took it back to Maribor with us (with the doctor's blessing.)  It also had one of several sewing machines the mission bought a few years ago for a special project.  The one there is rumored to need repair, but it is so much nicer than the one we have now that we will get it running and Liz will use it for her projects.
    The young elders who live in that apartment are neat-nicks, so the place was appropriately neat and tidy.  We took them to eat at a great burger place nearby.  We have ONLY eaten burgers here when we've gone out to eat with someone else who picked the place.  The local food is amazingly good, albeit meat-heavy, and we've enjoyed it whenever we decide to dine out.  In fact, I ordered lamb chops while the others had burgers, and the chops were fantastic.
  The "Centar", or main square,in Celje has several flower pillars that were awesome.

Sadly, the color in this photo is not sufficient to convey the dramatic effect of the real thing.

     The tower is made of circular pans like the ones used to display nails in hardware stores before the big-box stores drove most of them out of business.  The begonias are in pots that fit in the compartments in the pans.

A personal note.  I lost a fair amount of weight before we came and got my belly down to a better size.  While here, I haven't gained weight, but when I was down with my bad knee, I converted muscle to fat, and the big belly is back.
    Also, most men here carry a man-purse.  I find it a nice change to not have my pockets bulging with wallet, passport, change, face masks, junk, and keys, including the enormous automobile-key-fobs we are saddled with these days.

We picked up a new car while in Ljubljana.  It was amazingly simple.  We showed up, gave them the keys to the old car, signed a single sheet of paper, and drove the new car away.  Why is it easier to get a new car than to change the tires on the old one?  I didn't even have to show ID, other than the badge on my chest.  It is a mystery!
    The new car drives like a new car.   We had to hurry from Celje to Ljubljana for church Sunday morning and were nearly late.  So Liz drove at 150!  No worries, this is Europe and lots of people drive fast, although the default speed limit (which is rarely posted) is 130.  Of course, the speed is KPH instead of MPH, and we were only going 93 mph.  Liz says it was the fastest she has ever driven.  Not me.  130 kph is about 80 mph, so even the default speed limit is pretty fast.  Especially, it is fast for a little Hyundai I30.
    We had worried that the new car might not have a back-up camera.  For some reason, almost all the cars in the mission did not have that option.  And senior citizens were driving them around in very tight places!  Crazy.  The missionary rule is that when backing up, the driver's companion has to get out and direct the driver back.  I have never asked my companion to do that, and neither has she, but junior missionaries are required to.  Fortunately, we had one of the few cars with a backup camera before, so we were delighted that the new one does, too.  It also beeps if you get close to hitting something.  That is nice, but several places, including the Celje senior apartment, have parking places in old buildings with carriage houses converted to parking.  When I drove into the senior apartment parking I had the two young missionaries stand at the two front corners to guide me in, and the car beeped the whole time because the carriage door was only very slightly wider than the car.  I had less than a half inch to spare on each side.  I had to fold the side mirrors in to get through.  We were a bit jealous of that apartment until I had to drive into the parking area.  Now, I am glad to be here with a nice, wide parking spot, even if it is a half mile away from the apartment.