Me, Ella and Teta Ana holding a photo of Mum
Teta Marjetka and Stric Ivan
Teta Marjetka, Katya, Ella and Samuel
Srecko, Teta Pepca, Stric Rudi, Ella, Samuel and me
Marko, me, Ella, Samuel, Teta Maria and her husband (whose name escapes me)
Martina, Hannah, Rok, Marjetka, me, Ella, Samuel, Ksenija, Blaz and Luka
The little shrines are everywhere in Slovenia
Beautiful tulips in Teta Marjetka's garden
Ksenija and Ella
Samuel and Ella in front of Teta Marjetka's garden
At Zemono
Zemono
The Hubelj Spring spouting from the mountain 
Hannah and Ella at the drink fountain near the spring
The Hubelj
Caged brown bear
The steep climb from the house in Visnje
33 Visnje
A nice cold beer and freshly squeezed lemonade at the gostilna
View of village of Črni Vrh
Gorgeous tulips in the centre of the road in Ljubljana
Man with tricky sticks in the market
Ksenija with Samuel and Ella in Prešeren Square
Sunday 26 April 2009
On Sunday after meeting up with Tomaž and Ksenija we wandered along the riverside markets in Ljubljana and enjoyed a coffee in Prešeren Square before heading out to Postojnska Jama, one of the largest and most visited caves in the world. The caves were discovered in 1818 and there's 20 km of galleries. We were in an English speaking group which somehow included a gaggle of Japanese tourists who set a cracking pace and we weren't able to dawdle along too much because there was so many people following behind us.
The little shrines are everywhere in Slovenia
Beautiful tulips in Teta Marjetka's garden
Ksenija and Ella
Samuel and Ella in front of Teta Marjetka's garden
At Zemono
Zemono
The Hubelj Spring spouting from the mountain 
Hannah and Ella at the drink fountain near the spring
The Hubelj
Caged brown bear
The steep climb from the house in Visnje
33 Visnje
A nice cold beer and freshly squeezed lemonade at the gostilna
View of village of Črni Vrh
Gorgeous tulips in the centre of the road in Ljubljana
Man with tricky sticks in the market
Ksenija with Samuel and Ella in Prešeren SquareWe arrived in Slovenia mid afternoon. We stopped at a fuel stop, bought a map and paid for the vignette which is required to drive on Slovenia’s toll roads. It’s valid for 6 months. The young guy at the servo came out to the car and put the sticker on our windscreen where it was supposed to go.
Slovenia is a very beautiful country. It is so pretty and green and mountainous and the water in the rivers is the most amazing clear emerald green colour.
The main purpose of our trip was to visit relatives. Both my parents were born and grew up in Slovenia and had 9 brothers and sisters each.
I have to admit I was abit stressed about visiting because of the language barrier and also that I hadn’t seen many of them in 25 years. Some I have never met because my parents migrated to Australia when I was 2 years old.
We had to ask for directions to the place we were staying for 2 nights – at Črni Vrh. We were booked in to a gostilna. The gostilnas are usually owned and run by a family and they serve traditional food that is grown in the region or made locally. Andrew thought the gostilna was great once we finally found it. He likes the personal touch of getting to know the people who run the place and who is cooking your meals.
Thursday 23 April 2009
It was raining when we woke up on Thursday morning to go on our first visit to Teta Ana (my Aunty). Teta Ana is 18 months older than Mum and they were very close when they were growing up.
We found Teta Ana’s house without much problem. We had to drive up and down a few times then we asked someone and they told us where Teta Ana lived.
I met Teta Ana at the door clutching the video camera in my hand. I wanted to film her when she saw me. She was very happy to see us and she thought the kids were beautiful. Samuel and Ella were very quiet during the visit and Teta Ana kept saying they were pridna (which means good).
So now I had to try and converse in Slovensko and talk about my brain going into overdrive. Every time I wanted to say a word I could only think of it in French. Very strange. Little by little we managed to have a bit of a conversation. I phoned Mum during our visit and they had a chat. Teta Ana’s husband Lojze was there and also my cousin Robert. Robert is in a wheelchair after suffering two aneurysms. My aunt cares for him at home. Someone comes in once a week to help. Robert is the same age as Andrew, 43.
Samuel and Ella said that Mum and Teta Ana were like twins. Their mannerisms, speech and facial expressions are very similar. It was like being in the room with Mum. Teta Ana made polenta for lunch which the kids love when Mum makes it. They eat it with plain yoghurt which the kids don’t like and Stric Lojze thought it was strange that the kids didn’t eat yoghurt with their polenta.
All my rellies are very self-sufficient. They grow their own vegetables and fruit. One uncle has a vineyard and grows enough grapes to make 1000 litres of wine, others make schnapps from different fruit they grow. They keep pigs to fatten up for meat for the year and some have chickens to supply fresh eggs.
Friday 24 April 2009
Mum's youngest sister, Teta Marjetka lives at Budanje. When we arrived Tomaž (my cousin) and Ksenija (his wife) were there and they both speak english so we were able to have a decent conversation. Teta Marjetka had made a beautiful lunch. Samuel was impressed when they were explaining that everything was home made – the cheese, the clobasi (sausage), the bread, the wine, the olives and that was just the nibblies.
Lunch was homemade chicken soup with fresh homemade noodles, wild asparagus risotto (asparagus grown near Ksenija’s place), roast chicken pieces and then salads (cucumber salad, tomato/capsicum, lettuce). Then fresh fruit salad and cream. Lots of wine in between and juice for the kids. It was delicious.
My cousin Blaž and his wife Martina were there too. They have three children and live nearby in a house they’ve just built. Tomaž and Ksenija live above Teta Marjetka’s house in a new part of the house they’ve added on. Considering the age of some of the villages, most of the houses we visited were modern and very attractive. The children often continue living in the family home even once they are married and have children of their own mainly because it's so expensive to buy land and build a house.
After lunch Teta Marjetka and Ksenija took us to Visnje which is Mum’s family home which we believe has been in the family for 9 generations. It’s very old. No-one lives there anymore except for the cows who have a room downstairs. Strič Ivan (Mum’s brother) has lived there all his life until he built a new house just up the hill abit.
Visnje is not a big house. I asked Teta Marjetka where everyone fitted. I don’t know where 9 children would have slept. She shrugged and said she didn’t know. Actually there was 10 children I found out because there was another baby in between Teta Ana and Teta Pepca who died aged 6 months.
Thank goodness for Ksenija being there to translate. Otherwise the experience would not have been as good.
Saturday 25 April 2009
We returned to Budanje on Saturday morning and we sat down for lunch virtually straightaway. Have I mentioned that we never stopped eating the whole time?
In the afternoon we went for a drive up a mountain to see a brown bear which is kept in a cage. It was great to see a bear in real life but I'm always sad about animals in cages. Animals aren't meant to live in cages are they? They had a couple of baby goats there too which the kids had fun feeding.
Slovenia is a very beautiful country. It is so pretty and green and mountainous and the water in the rivers is the most amazing clear emerald green colour.
The main purpose of our trip was to visit relatives. Both my parents were born and grew up in Slovenia and had 9 brothers and sisters each.
I have to admit I was abit stressed about visiting because of the language barrier and also that I hadn’t seen many of them in 25 years. Some I have never met because my parents migrated to Australia when I was 2 years old.
We had to ask for directions to the place we were staying for 2 nights – at Črni Vrh. We were booked in to a gostilna. The gostilnas are usually owned and run by a family and they serve traditional food that is grown in the region or made locally. Andrew thought the gostilna was great once we finally found it. He likes the personal touch of getting to know the people who run the place and who is cooking your meals.
Thursday 23 April 2009
It was raining when we woke up on Thursday morning to go on our first visit to Teta Ana (my Aunty). Teta Ana is 18 months older than Mum and they were very close when they were growing up.
We found Teta Ana’s house without much problem. We had to drive up and down a few times then we asked someone and they told us where Teta Ana lived.
I met Teta Ana at the door clutching the video camera in my hand. I wanted to film her when she saw me. She was very happy to see us and she thought the kids were beautiful. Samuel and Ella were very quiet during the visit and Teta Ana kept saying they were pridna (which means good).
So now I had to try and converse in Slovensko and talk about my brain going into overdrive. Every time I wanted to say a word I could only think of it in French. Very strange. Little by little we managed to have a bit of a conversation. I phoned Mum during our visit and they had a chat. Teta Ana’s husband Lojze was there and also my cousin Robert. Robert is in a wheelchair after suffering two aneurysms. My aunt cares for him at home. Someone comes in once a week to help. Robert is the same age as Andrew, 43.
Samuel and Ella said that Mum and Teta Ana were like twins. Their mannerisms, speech and facial expressions are very similar. It was like being in the room with Mum. Teta Ana made polenta for lunch which the kids love when Mum makes it. They eat it with plain yoghurt which the kids don’t like and Stric Lojze thought it was strange that the kids didn’t eat yoghurt with their polenta.
All my rellies are very self-sufficient. They grow their own vegetables and fruit. One uncle has a vineyard and grows enough grapes to make 1000 litres of wine, others make schnapps from different fruit they grow. They keep pigs to fatten up for meat for the year and some have chickens to supply fresh eggs.
Friday 24 April 2009
Mum's youngest sister, Teta Marjetka lives at Budanje. When we arrived Tomaž (my cousin) and Ksenija (his wife) were there and they both speak english so we were able to have a decent conversation. Teta Marjetka had made a beautiful lunch. Samuel was impressed when they were explaining that everything was home made – the cheese, the clobasi (sausage), the bread, the wine, the olives and that was just the nibblies.
Lunch was homemade chicken soup with fresh homemade noodles, wild asparagus risotto (asparagus grown near Ksenija’s place), roast chicken pieces and then salads (cucumber salad, tomato/capsicum, lettuce). Then fresh fruit salad and cream. Lots of wine in between and juice for the kids. It was delicious.
My cousin Blaž and his wife Martina were there too. They have three children and live nearby in a house they’ve just built. Tomaž and Ksenija live above Teta Marjetka’s house in a new part of the house they’ve added on. Considering the age of some of the villages, most of the houses we visited were modern and very attractive. The children often continue living in the family home even once they are married and have children of their own mainly because it's so expensive to buy land and build a house.
After lunch Teta Marjetka and Ksenija took us to Visnje which is Mum’s family home which we believe has been in the family for 9 generations. It’s very old. No-one lives there anymore except for the cows who have a room downstairs. Strič Ivan (Mum’s brother) has lived there all his life until he built a new house just up the hill abit.
Visnje is not a big house. I asked Teta Marjetka where everyone fitted. I don’t know where 9 children would have slept. She shrugged and said she didn’t know. Actually there was 10 children I found out because there was another baby in between Teta Ana and Teta Pepca who died aged 6 months.
Thank goodness for Ksenija being there to translate. Otherwise the experience would not have been as good.
Saturday 25 April 2009
We returned to Budanje on Saturday morning and we sat down for lunch virtually straightaway. Have I mentioned that we never stopped eating the whole time?
In the afternoon we went for a drive up a mountain to see a brown bear which is kept in a cage. It was great to see a bear in real life but I'm always sad about animals in cages. Animals aren't meant to live in cages are they? They had a couple of baby goats there too which the kids had fun feeding.
Ksenija took us to look at the Hubelj Spring which is in the Vipava Valley. The water comes spouting out of all these holes in the rock from the inside of the mountain. It’s very impressive but after heavy rain it’s even more stunning.
After the Hubelj we went to the village of Zemono to meet more cousins. They live next to the famous Manor House Zemono which was built in 1683 and can be seen from miles around. These days it is used as a wedding hall and also for concerts and exhibitions. There is also an exclusive cave-like restaurant underneath.
Sunday 26 April 2009
On Sunday after meeting up with Tomaž and Ksenija we wandered along the riverside markets in Ljubljana and enjoyed a coffee in Prešeren Square before heading out to Postojnska Jama, one of the largest and most visited caves in the world. The caves were discovered in 1818 and there's 20 km of galleries. We were in an English speaking group which somehow included a gaggle of Japanese tourists who set a cracking pace and we weren't able to dawdle along too much because there was so many people following behind us.
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