so we did! about a year ago, we drove all the way to ptuj on a mission. i remember it was unbelievably cold and windy, and yet we sticked around through the folklore and performances, warming our hands on steaming mugs of glühwein (one of the best i’d tried so far!) until finally the kurenti came out. i froze my fingers off making a video of the whole thing, and with the move to berlin, never got around to publish it… so here it is now:

quite something, isn’t it? i don’t think carnival will ever be the same without these big guys and their cowbell cacophony!

and of course, we stopped at the famous trojane krofi house that everyone had told us about, and bought a bunch of them for the road!

i don’t think they were the best we’ve had in slovenia, but there were certainly up there in the top 5, and well worth the short detour on the highway! :)

doesn’t it make you want to visit? you should go! :)

when our friends first suggested it on a roadtrip through the slovenian mountains, we couldn’t even imagine how it would be possible. small mozzarella sticks are one thing, but whole slices of cheese? we had our doubts, so we stopped on the first roadside restaurant we could find to correct our ignorance. and of course, they had fried cheese – along with bear goulash and other local specialities.

i think something might have clicked when the first forkful of delicious melted cheese hit our tongues. soft and chewy cheese and crunchy breading… that was a moment when i realised “wow, i could eat this forever and never get bored!” it was so good and irresistible we had it 2 days in a row. :)

yum yum! :D

but meanwhile, how about some loose bits of slovenia to take our minds off this? i know just the thing…

…burek! :D

we were introduced to the deliciousness of burek in slovenia, but later discovered they are popular all throughout the balkans and turkey. it consists of layers of flaky pastry filled with cheese, spinach, meat or apple. although this is probably the most popular street food in slovenia, we’re not big fans of the ones that you can buy on the street, because they are usually soggy with grease… but if you can get frozen ones at any supermarket and do them on your oven, they take 40mins or so in medium/high heat. when the outer shell gets brownish, they should be cooked all the way through. the insides will remain soft and melt in your mouth… and the cheese is a sort of cottage cheese that tastes really good with the pastry.

mham! just looking at these photos is making me really hungry! and given the number of turkish people in berlin, we should be able to feed our addiction from here as well :)

it’s pretty much set in stone at this point: the bags are more or less packed, the bikes have been sold, the vacuum cleaner is gone, and we have the train tickets on the table.

berlin is our next stop! :D

we’re moving on april 1st. we’re excited, we’re nervous, we’re knee-deep in decluttering and packing… and we’re quite sad to leave, yet insanely pleased of our choice of living in slovenia – it’s been a wonderful wonderful year.

so, one of these days we rented a car for the day and drove all the way down to the coastal town of zadar, in croatia, to check it out.

i don’t know if many people would call it impressive, but to me, the simplicity of the concept is what makes it so pleasing and genial. the waves hit the pipes, air rushes out and sounds are produced. you just sit there by the sea and enjoy the sun and the symphony created by the sea and the boats. it’s just… really cool. :)

we only noticed our camera was not charged when we got there, but you can see what it sounds like in many youtube videos like this one:

another item off the list, and another day well spent!

say that slowly, and enjoy the images those three words pop into your head. if you’re picturing an extremely green narrow valley surrounded by big snowy mountains, you’re exactly right.

logarska dolina is picture perfect all year round, and has a little bit of something for everyone: long walks in the valley, lots of waterfalls to see, and also plenty of trails for hiking in the mountains. it’s located in the kamnik-savinja alps, a good 1h30m from ljubljana, but if you can make a day trip and take the time to enjoy it slowly, you won’t regret it.



and the food…! i’ve mentioned it before: wherever you go in slovenia, you can be sure that you’ll find a nice restaurant, a mountain hut or a tourist farm. meet the best mushroom soup we’ve had to date:

we also had štrukli and meat ravioli, but none as impressive as that soup. definitely worth the trip! :)

ok, so we might be a little late for pi day… but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a slice of delicious wholewheat pie on the market today! every saturday, they are handmade in place by a chubby baker, who always attracts big crowds. doesn’t hurt that the pie (with prosciutto or egg) is really good too! :)

20 minutes from ljubljana, krvavec is a ski resort by winter, and a pretty quiet place the rest of the year. on clear days, the views of the karavanke mountains are stunning.
the 8-min gondola ride that will take you up there still works during summer at certain hours, so we decided to take my parents there for some hiking when they came to visit last summer. walking on a ski resort in summer feels a bit like crossing an abandoned town in the desert, nobody in sight and the chairlifts waving eerily in the wind…
that day we walked and walked and walked, and then lost track of the trail and almost had to run downhill to catch the last gondola down :P

the first snowflakes can be seen everywhere, which means spring is just around the corner! :D