Šake Šack

New York has many wonderful things that Ljubljana doesn't—downtown movie theaters, a subway system, racial diversity—but one thing the cities have in common is a super-popular burger joint in the park:

Hot Horse is a lot like Shake Shack, but there's a twist. I'll give you a clue: It's called Hot Horse. Yes, that's right. My mouth now tastes like horse. Frankly, I see why beef caught on. Like so many advertisements, the Hot Horse website has an animal cheerfully encouraging you to eat it, and like so many Slovenian websites, its English translation sounds like someone got a little thesaurus-happy. If you click on the mustard, it will tell you that "All the students...nerds, party animals, truants...come to me." They did a pretty good job with "nerds" and "party animals," but someone just couldn't come up with "slackers," so they asked their thesaurus oracle, "Thesaurus Oracle, what do you call a young person who fails to attend class?" And the thesaurus oracle said "a truant!" and that was that. For the second to last paragraph here, they asked, "Thesaurus Oracle, what do you call someone who likes high-culture and wouldn't want to go to an ordinary dive bar?" and the thesaurus oracle said "pretentious!" and so it was written.

I spent most of today reading a journal piece at a snail's pace. Really, watching the people around me was just much more interesting than the law review article in front of me. Maybe I'll finish it tomorrow...maybe. I first read outdoors at beautiful Čajna hiša. The waiters at all of these restaurants seem shockingly reluctant to give you your bill...especially for an outdoor cafe, where they only come out on occasion, and it would be absurdly easy just to walk away. They're just totally unconcerned. I get the impression people sort of know each other here. Several times I've had someone walking down the street come up to the people sitting next to me and talk to them like old friends. I also get the impression there's almost no crime. There were zero murders in 2008, and people just seem generally unconcerned and law-abiding. I wouldn't say it's inappropriate to cross against the light here, but it's definitely appropriate not to cross against the light, which isn't so much the case in New York.

Anyway, after I read at the cafe, I moved to attractive-but-sketchy Miklošičeva Park. I had originally placed it slightly below Tompkins Square Park on the sketch scale, with only one roving bum and one decently-dressed man passed out against a tree. But after the bum pointed to the decently-dressed man to show me that he was holding himself and peeing in a dramatic arc onto the grass, I moved it slightly above Tompkins. Then I left.

I got a Slovenian SIM card for my phone, which came with free ice cream:

I don't really see the connection, either. But I was happy to take the ice cream. Then it was off to Hot Horse. And now I'm at England, the pub next door to my apartment, drinking a larger-than-a-pint glass of Union, the local beer (I walked past the brewery today). It set me back a whopping €2,20, but, sad to say, that's pretty appropriate. It's somewhat, er, Coors-esque. Maybe not that bad, but it's no Guinness. This place closes at 11, so I suppose that's all for tonight, friends. Send me stories of America!