Lake Bled in the Middle of Winter

The bus dropped us off in a place that seems like the middle of a residential neighborhood. Fortunately, the tourist information is only a few steps away. As a fanatic of castles, I immediately asked the girl sitting behind the counter at the tourist information office how to get up to the castle that is literally hanging on the side of a cliff. She advised us that there is a route for cars and it would be way too far for us to walk. Then she suggested an alternative. And what an alternative it was! We literally climbed up the castle on our hands and feet on slippery ice and knee deep snow. On the way down, we took the car route and realized that it does not take long at all! Not to mention it was an easy stroll back down. If I had any energy left from that earlier climb, I would've charged back to that tourist information office and let the clerk have a piece of my mind.

The climb up to the castle

Horse Meat: To eat or not to eat?

Horses have played an important role throughout history. During the turbulent periods, many wars and battles were fought on horse back. During peaceful times, horses were used for transportation and leisure. Horses were hunted by the indigenous people of Argentina and Chile after they were introduced by the conquistadors during the age of exploration. Mongolians have a long history of utilizing mare's milk as a beverage as well as making alcoholic beverages and cheeses out of it. Even Napoleon's army was said to have eaten the meat of horses that died in battle. But times have changed. We now see horses as friends, as pets, as an animal with a soul; we humanized them. Horses now live in ranches and are better groomed and maintained than most household pets. Their status have been elevated to healers as "Equine Therapy" became increasingly popular in helping individuals with emotional and psychological issues.

Sitting at a fairly touristy restaurant in Ljubljana, Slovenia, clutching on to the above precedents, my husband and I stared at the menu listing "horse steak" for a long time. The menu lists the size of the meal and the price, so you know how much money you've wasted if you don't like eating it, but It doesn't tell you what it will taste like or how it will affect your conscious after consuming it. Another 10 minutes of small talk went by between the two of us, the whole while avoiding the subject of horse meat, I guess we were both waiting for the other to give in and make a decision. Finally, my husband can take no more of my beating around the bushes.