Cerje

Cerje, Kras.

Goce

Kraj Goce na Krasu.

Oldtimers in Ljubljana

Oldtimers on Stritarjeva street

Barcolana - a view of a passersby

Look closer and you will see - Barcolana from a different point of view.

Fall in Istria and the Koštabona village

Istrian landscape is colored in red by a ruj bush in Fall. It looks really wonderful especially in the afternoon when the sun sets down.



A scenery in Hrastovlje.


Koštabona village. A small village, known for its elipse shape tloris (shape of the tree - the main street is like a trunk of a tree and other streets spread from it like branches).


There are three churces in the village - at the beginning Church of St. Kozma and Damjan, at the end Church of St. Andreas and in the middle church of Deacon Elio.

View from above


A closer view of Koštabona


On the streets of Koštabona

Hrastovlje, New Kempinski Palace hotel

As a little girl I once saw a picture of the "Dance of Death" - a scene of medieval frescoes from the church in village Hrastovlje - which shows people dancing with skeletons before the grave. I really disliked the scene and I thought to myself "why would anybody be impressed with this and want to see it in person"?.

But well, times change and since Slovenia is little, there came a time to see his terrifying picture.

The main goal of the trip to Slovenian Istria was actually the new Kempinski Palace hotel, where guided tours were held on the Sunday afternoon. Palace hotel which was built in 1910 was reopened after being closed for almost 20 years and is now the most luxurious hotel in Slovenia. Unfortunately too many people streamed the Portorož and Palace hotel with the same goal so we didn't make it inside.

Back to the Hrastovlje and the "Dance of death". The interior of the church is rather small but all the walls inside are decorated with frescoes. That was most surprising for me since I though the church is bigger and only parts of church are decorated. As I read there is not a more thoroughly painted church in Slovenia. The second most surprising was the fact that this "Dance of death" is not so scary after all. Huh ...


The entrance fee for the church interior is 2 EUR and for that you get a short but informative audio tour. There you find out that: The church of the Holy Trinity was painted by Janez of Kastva. The painting originated in 15th century, probably with the help of several collaborators. They were hidden under several layers of plaster for a long time and rediscovered in 1949 by Jože Pohlen. Afterwards they were carefully restored but you can see f.e parts of frescoes missing because windows were build over them.
There are many different scenes in the church. The scene from the creation of the world in the main nave, full-figured images of the Apostles in niches in the apse and the Holy Trinity which is centrally positioned in the apse. There are numerous frescoes with saints and prophets. Among the most interesting are those with genre scenes of farm work symbolizing the 12 months.
On the south wall the most famous scene of medieval frescoes in Slovenia is painted: 7 meters long Dance of Death. The rare scene shows people coupled with skeletons, walking in procession toward the grave. 11 characters of different social classes in their typical clothing are represented: from a baby, beggar to the king and the pope. The frescoes show that before Death we are all the same, no matter what are social class is. Probably this originates from a French legend where the three death would meet three living and say to them:

What you are, we were,
what we are - you will be
and nor health or pride neither power
don't have any value in the time of death.

Baza 20 - WWII

Baza 20
Originally uploaded by Crt Ahlin

The first hut of Baza 20 was populated on 17th April 1943. By the Fall of 1944 more than 140 people resided in 26 huts. Baza 20 was used by members of the Executive Committee of the Liberation Front, Supreme Council of the Liberation Front, Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovenia, Anti-Fascist Council of the National Liberation of Yugoslavia and others.

Due to extreme security measures, Baza 20 was never discovered by the Axis.

The hut on the photo belonged to the guards.

Sunny Sunday

Although it often rains this summer in Ljubljana, we did manage to catch one sunny day on Sunday. Though we couldn't fully escape from the rain since Ljubljana has its own weather area in the summer. This is an interesting project (by Zmago Modic) where in the middle of Prešernov square is a water installation where you can cool down underneath.





Ljubljana used to be a bit boring during the summer but this year there are many interesting things on offer. And the majority of them are free! Beside the free rain you can also:

- Ride with an old bike (called Velocipede) (if you have the guts - look at the third picture!)







- Rent a canoe for 1 hour (yes also for free), by the Ljubljanica river (organizer is Biosfera, they rent canoes from 15 till 20 during the week, during the weekend and holidays between 11 and 20, till September).



- Get your free Slovenia times and other tourist information on the street from the Ljubljana's postman



- Listen to a really great free music on the streets of Ljubljana (unfortunately I don't know the bands name, but they really did make a great atmosphere). And although the light wasn't very good for photographing (as Črt told me) I did manage to make some interesting photos from the street performance.

The Old Vine of Maribor

What is the one thing that definitely sets Maribor apart from any other city? It is the vine that grows by the river Drava, which flows through the city. It is the oldest existing noble vine on the planet, growing for more than 400 years over the façade of a building from the 16th century.


Not only is it growing, it still bears grapes that are gathered at the Old Vine Festival every year (the festival takes place at the begining of October). A few hundred bottles are filled with Žametna Črnina wine and given as gifts of the city protocol. Among others, Pope John Paul II, the Japanese Emperor Akihito and American President Bill Clinton have received them as gifts.
The vine is ritually pruned in spring and scions from it are presented as gifts to other cities around the world.