First, I checked out the crafts of Slovenia. This is called a "potičnik". It is used to make potica, a traditional Slovene sweet dish. It is made of dough with yeast (a bit similar to bread), that is rolled out and then you put various fillings on it and roll it together again. Walnut filling is traditional, and it's usually made for Christmas and Easter.Do I look like a nice potica? Usually, they're much bigger, this one is meant as a souvenir, but can be used just like a big one, it's made in the same way. Clay, shaped by hand...
And this is a majolika. You put wine in it and then pour it out into glasses. A bit like something called a decanter (so I was told), but not the same... The wine goes into the majolika from the wine barrel directly, and the decanter is a fancy thing.The Slovenes really drink a lot of wine, and make even more, so wine barrels make sense- And the majolikas also, the barrels are heavy.
Of course, it's hand-painted, and a typical souvenir of Kamnik. On this one, there is a drawing of Veronika, a lady from the Small castle of Kamnik (an interesting story is connected with her, but I'm not in the right mood for typing it) and it is also the coat-of-arms of Kamnik.
These majolikas actually come in varius sizes, I've seen some smaller than thimbles, but also ones I could get lost in...
Of course, I couldn't just admire the crafts, I also took a walk and climbed the Small castle (Mali grad) hill, to admire the panorama. The weather wasn't perfect, but I could see the mountains. Aren't they beautiful? I've also seen them in sunny weather also, but didn't have the camera with me to document it.
Of course, I have to mention my two companions on this visit to Slovenia. They are Frankie, a giraffe from the Netherlands, and Barclay, an elephant from Australia. We had much fun together, and here we had our photo taken in front of the Small castle chapel, built in the 12th century. A bit older than we are...We were told it was the only one of its kind in Europe, at least from the Romanesque period - it has two storeys and a crypt!
Tomorrow, I will tell you a bit about my trip to Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital city, and then I'm packing my bags and leaving for Austria.
