Wednesday 27 February 2008

Boza's Birthday Party

16 February 2008. On Saturday we were invited to Boža birthday party.It was actually her 50th anniversary, but she celebrated it later on. In Slovenia, they have a tradition to celebrate their 50th of birthday by inviting family and friend. They believe at that age they meet Abraham. I really dont know what does it mean.When I asked Grega, he doesnt know either :-)
Anyway, the location was a bit far from the town and more like a farm.Its called 'Kmečkem', a guest house that serve traditional food and you can also participate to help or see how they make the meal. Its a nice place for family reunion. The surrounding view is also beautiful ... you can see hills and forest. As for the meals, they were good and A LOT!!! You should be hungry to be able to eat them all :-D
Not as birthday party in Indonesia, here they usually have it longer. You eat, having a chit-chat, telling jokes, singing and not to mention dancing!! :-) They have different kind of songs, mostly folk songs. I didnt know how to sing it, so i was just trying to enjoy it :-) And as for the dance ... ehm ... firstly i am really not in the mood to do it ... but then Boža's brother asked me to join. And it turned out FUN!! And I enjoyed it!! hehehe ...
Al and all ...we had a good time there. Happy Birthday Boža!!Vse najboljše!!


Learning to ski

9 February 2008. This weekend we went to Rogla for skiing.
Rogla is a well-known Slovenian ski resort, situated at one of the highest points of the Pohorje range (1,517m).
It is in the western reaches of the Pohorje mountain range, in the northeastern region of Slovenia, 40kms from Maribor and 95kms from Llubljana. The surrounding Pohorje countryside is renowned for its natural beauty, with many scattered plateaus, waterfalls, forests and lakes
The resort is ‘upside-down’, with facilities and accommodation on top of the mountain, above the ski slopes, and is in close proximity to Slovenia’s second-largest city, Maribor, and the spa town of Zrece. Rogla is a relaxed, family orientated destination that hosts many ski competitions, and offers a wide range of alternative winter activities.
The spa town of Zrece is only 16kms away, offering thermal pool facilities and a new football and athletic stadium. The town is steeped in culture and history, and flanked by beautiful green forests that are a trademark of the Pohorje area.
There are many possibilities to be active in Rogla. The ski resort offers hiking, tobogganing, horseback riding and indoor swimming, and there are two sports halls and a modern fitness centre providing opportunities for basketball, handball, volleyball, tennis, squash, badminton, martial arts and table tennis. Additionally, the nearby town of Zrece offers thermal spa amenities.
The ski season at Rogla runs from November to April. The resort is most easily accessed by a plane flight to Graz, just over the Austrian border, or to Llubljana, 95kms away, and road transportation the rest of the way.

As for skiing, this is the first experience i ever had so i was really looking forward to it. We were doing Nordic ski. The type of ski that you are walking and running in ice. And its cheaper than Alpine ski. All you need are a pair of nordic ski shoes, a pair of ski and a pair of stick.All together cost around 150 euro. And of course a proper clothes so that you won't be cold. Well i thought it was easy, but NO IT WAS NOT!! It was hard to walk in ice. I had problem with the balance so I kept falling and bumping the ice. Makes my butt hurt, hehehe ... As the beginner i just walked at the track ... slowly and tried to keep my balance, while the others went to the hills and had fun :-D I wonder when i would be able to do it ?!?!?! Otherwise, it was fun and this type of ski is really good for exercise cause all your body is working hard.

Walkie ... walkie to Gore - Kopitnik

8 February 2008. Friday was national holiday in Slovenia, so we decided to go for walking to Gore - Kopitnik, one nearby hill. We went together with father in law - Marko, Boža, Matej, Sonja and his husband. It was also my first time to do some hiking. After 1 and half hours, we finally reached the top which is around 914 m. The view was very beautiful. We can see hills and mountains surrounding, also the villages. We can also see Triglav (the highest mountain in Slovenia) from distance. They said that you are not Slovenian YET until you make it to Triglav.Ufff!!!! I wonder when and how I can do it :-) This one was already tiring for me :-) Then we had to go back. Means another long walk :-D. Very tiring and cold, but it was fresh and at least i got a bit of exercise since i didnt do so much sport here. At least we had a good lunch in Gore restaurant after that, delicious calamari ... eventhough we need to wait for another 1 and half hour cause the restarurant was full :-D

PUST CARNIVAL

5 February 2008. Every year, a small town, Mozirje have a tradition carnival called PUST. Its a carnival that meant to case away the winter. This year they had it on Tuesday, 5th February. Eventhough it was cold outside, i wanted to participate and dressed up. I need to put something warm under so i could still dress up as a pirate and enjoyed the carnival without being cold. And Grega dressed up as a bank robber. Simple ... only with dark clothes and mask around the eyes. When we got there there was clown, princess, old women and men, a peasant, ninja, some animals like frog, cow, horse, etc ... and of course the famous mask KURENT which meant to cast away the winter. The mask designed specifically like a beast with a huge bell around their weist. Then they will ring the bell during the carnival as a symbol to chase away the winter. You can see the video below. Not just from Slovenia, there were also participants from Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria. Something happen when i was recording, a guy from the croatian band grapped me and took me ... he asked me to dance with them, then suddenly pull me up and swing me. And i was afraid to fall and i hold my camera so tight that i didnt realize i am still having it recording. And when we saw the result ... the record turn out like tsunami ... didnt capture anything only it was moving up and down, hahaha .... Well otherwise it was great carnival and we were having fun. Then we stopped by at Borut's house (Grega's cousin) to have some tea cause it was getting cold outside :-). That's cute little boy in picture is Gašper. He is very adorable in sad clown custom :-)