Full Circle

So back in the days when I still worked at what is known affectionately at Coma HQ here, my only business trip location was Ljubljana. Even though I had grown up not far from it, I only really got to know the city quite intimately during those 8 days (or was it even more?) I got to spend there. Now with my new-ish job at the Firm I also get to visit Slovenia's capital quite frequently, but have mostly stayed at Plaza Hotel, which is not central. This time, however, I am back at the old "crime scene", i.e. the very same hotel where I stayed back in the year 2000. Back then, it was Holiday Inn and housed the Slovenian Liaison Office of Coma HQ. It has long since been swallowed by its stately next door neighbour, Grand Hotel Union and become "GH Union Business". Unlike Plaza, it is right in the city centre and if you are lucky, you even get a room with AMAZING views. I managed to take a really cool picture on Tuesday night when I arrived:

The rooms are spacious and most have a balcony, but otherwise the hotel isn't that exciting and in fact a bit dated. For me, it mainly has nostalgic value and seeing that round staircase, remembering that the office was in one of the corner rooms takes me back almost 13 years. It's like suddenly smelling a scent that reminds you of your childhood. I almost feel like revisiting my honeymoon destination with my new partner...

 

One thing I also remembered was that Holiday Inn/GH Union Business has a pool. I'm a super-organised traveller and actually deliberated whether to pack my bikini. I then decided against it, reasoning that I wouldn't have time. As it turned out, today's event doesn't start until lunch-time and last night's dinner with colleagues was early so I did the usual and went to H&M to buy a cheap "emergency bikini"... I am definitely not short in swimwear and therefore wanted to spend as little as possible. I settled for a bottoms from some sale rack for €3 and top from the new line for € 12.90. As you might be able to see in the picture, the pink is not exactly the same shade, but as there will be plenty of pale flesh in between when I wear it, that's fine:

I went for a swim last night to complete the walk/swim down memory lane and happy to report that the two pieces that I couldn't be bothered to try on fit perfectly.