…yeah, not much to say. these are from what i thought was the last snow of the season, but hey… it’s snowing again!
i suppose i should look at it from the bright side - more time for winter sports, right? except… i gave snowboarding a try some weeks ago, and was beaten bad, with bruises to prove it. plus, i’ve developed a mild fear of button lifts…
i’ve been gathering up courage to go back. i mean, i doubt i’ll ever live 30 min from the slopes again, so i should enjoy it, right? right. ok, let’s do this.

škofja loka, one of the oldest settlements in slovenia, has a sad story. so sad in fact that after reading this passage from the lonely planet, we wondered how much of the town would still be there:

In the Middle Ages Škofja Loka developed as a trade centre along the Munich-Klagenfurt-Triste route, doing particularly well in iron, linen and furs. A circular wall with five gates protected by guard towers was built around the town in 1318 to ensure that this success continued.
But it was all for naught. An army of the counts of Celje breached the wall and burned the town to the ground in 1457; two decades later the Turks attacked. Then natural disaster struck: an earthquake in 1511 badly damaged the town, and several great fires at the end of the 17th center reduced most of Skofja Loka’s finest buildings to ashes.

on a cold saturday, škofja loka greeted us with lovely details in every corner, 16-17th century frescos on the houses façades and a castle that overlooks the town on top of a hill. and hot chocolate in a cozy café. :)

we left home saturday last week for going to the market and stumbled on the local carnival event! we were a bit unprepared, but managed to take some photos with the holga. there were people partying in boats on the river, lots of shops selling krofi (like bolas de berlim but filled with chocolate!) and even a parade, with tons of kids dressed up in themes and my favourite part, the kurenti:

Kurenti or Koranti (singular: Kurent or Korant) are figures dressed in sheep skin who go about the town wearing masks, a long red tongue, cow bells, and on the head multi-colored ribbons. The Kurenti from Ptuj and the adjoining villages also wear feathers, while those from the Haloze and Lancova vas wear horns. Organized in groups, Kurents go through town, from house to house, making noise with their bells and wooden sticks, to symbolically scare off evil spirits and the winter. (more on wikipedia)

they’re very loud, jumping around and ringing their heavy cow bells, yet friendly, stopping by to talk to curious kids. it was a real treat to watch, our timing was quite perfect :)

it’s mostly melting now, and the ground is muddy and gross… so let’s look up, shall we? :)

perhaps because of its closeness to italy, ljubljana has quite a number of pizzerias. most of these have a wooden oven in a corner, and the pizzas are done in front of you. i’m not a pizza specialist, but i think they’re quite good!

trta is a cozy little place by the river, in the south side of the city. they have a nice service and biiiig pizzas with good ingredient combinations. we tried the desserts (tiramisu and pears in wine) and they got thumbs up as well! i really like this place, the decoration makes it feel quite homey and it never seems crowded. also, bonus points for having cesária évora playing on the background :)
naturally, there are pictures:







eheh, i couldn’t resist it! :)

i’ve never been to japan, but sometimes when i look at these snowy photos, i imagine what it would be like to stand in the middle of a field of cherry blossom trees. it would be really neat - and probably not so cold… my camera doesn’t like the cold so much, though my fingers and body seem to be adapting to winter rather well - i’m the strange girl who doesn’t need gloves when it’s minus 10 degrees outside… :/

a little h2o and a slight breeze on a cold night, and voilá, the city turns into neverland on a winter day :)