The inaugural Shrovetide Carnival (Pust) Dance took place on Saturday in Radovljica and I was fortunate to be invited. The theme of the dance was ‘Sanitising Slovene Banks’ – bringing a lighthearted note to the otherwise serious problem of the financial crisis and trying to restore the hole in the Slovene banking sector. Since fancy dress was obligatory, and in keeping with the financial theme, I decided to go as Mickey Mouse’s new friend ‘Money Mouse‘!

Guests were greeted in the lobby of the Radovljica Mansion, photographed on the red carpet and given the 10,000 euro banknote, which was specially printed for the event. After an aperitif, ‘Money Mouse’ together with the various nuns, cats, nurses, policemen, lynx (in a nod to the one which is still on the run from Ljubljana Zoo following the destruction caused by the recent ice storm) and others, made their way up to the Baroque Hall where the evening’s entertainment began.

It was impressive to see the efforts everyone had gone to with their costumes and a fun evening was had by all. There was live music, provided by the band Medik and delicious food, provided by the 7 restaurants involved in the Taste Rado’ca project (see http://wp.me/p3005k-8s) ably assisted by students from the Radovljica School of Hospitality and Tourism. Such was the deliciousness of the food, ‘Money Mouse’ rather overindulged but still managed a shuffle and a wiggle of the tail on the dance floor! Let’s hope this event becomes another staple on the Radol’ca Events Calendar.

 Earlier in the day the annual Shrovetide Carnival Parade (Pustni sprevod) travelled through Radovljica and even the rain showers didn’t dampen the spirits. The parade was awash with colour as the floats and accompanying costumed participants, with a special tribute to the successful Slovene winter Olympians, proceeded through the town ending in Linhart Square in the old town centre.

As of this week ‘Adele in Slovenia‘ now has its own Facebook page too. Having avoided it thus far, I finally succumbed, or rather was persuaded, in order that I am able to post news and information in between my weekly blogs. You can find a ‘Like’ box towards the bottom right-hand corner of this page, so be sure to ‘Like’ it, if you want access to more news and regular updates. More pictures from this week’s carnival events can also be found on Pinterest.

Earlier in the week the Slovenian Forestry Institute issued the first official estimates of the damage caused by the recent ice storm and it made sombre reading. Up to 660 hectares of forest will require clearing and 7 million cubic metres of wood will have to be cut, twice as much as initially thought. Some 2 million seedlings will be required for replanting and there is now a drive to hire foresters, several hundred are needed. When driving and walking around, there is visible evidence of the destruction but I was particularly shocked and saddened this week, when I went for a walk around Lake Bled, for the first time since the storm, as the path had been closed since. A part of the path was still closed to allow foresters to clear the most affected area, under Bled Castle, which now appears almost barren. Elsewhere entire trees lie in the lake but the great clean-up is already underway and in general the damage is somewhat localised with paths at lower altitudes, where deciduous trees are dominant, being particularly affected.

I have slowly been discovering where is and isn’t safe to walk as many of the paths still remain closed and impassable. There were a couple of days of glorious winter sunshine during the past week and I managed hikes to both the Roblek Mountain Hut (1672m) and the Hut on Dobrča (1478m). It is interesting to note that Roblek, part of the imposing Begunščica mountain, is part of the Karavanke range, the mountains that form the border between Slovenia and Austria in this part of the country, whilst neighbouring Dobrča is actually part of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps. The former was without problem whilst the latter, beginning from Slatna, involved a little negotiating of fallen trees to begin with, but was ok once some height had been gained.

© AdeleinSlovenia 2014