I’m afraid I haven’t any glorious sunny hiking trips to write about this week because, as had been forecast, a mammoth storm arrived on Tuesday night bringing the temperatures crashing down and even though the rain only lasted a short while, the sheer amount that fell in such a short time – a record amount for October – caused landslides, floods and millions of euros worth of damage. It’s been dry again since then but the low cloud has meant that temperatures have struggled to get into double figures and I for one am freeeeezing already! It wouldn’t be so bad if the temperatures were to come down gradually, so one has time to adjust, but going from 20 degrees to 5 degrees, literally overnight, is a bit extreme and I’m a wimp when it comes to the cold! People often (jokingly) tell me I need to eat more, especially zaseka, a kind of lard with minced pork, which is eaten spread on bread and which is perfect for adding a layer of warmth for the winter! Alas, I don’t like it so I’ll have to find other ways to keep warm; answers on a postcard to……

Thank goodness I had such a lovely hike to Srednji vrh last week (see last week’s blog) as this week it certainly wouldn’t have been possible as it is now covered in snow as Tuesday’s storm also brought the first snow of the season in the mountains, and quite a bit too as you can see from these photos of the Karavanke mountains (below) taken on Wednesday; the morning after the night before! In the picture on the right, you can just about make out the mountain hut, Presernova koca, on the top of Stol, the highest peak in the Karavanke range.

In last week’s blog I mentioned that I was going to be presenting at an International Tourism and Hospitality Conference that was taking place in Ljubljana. Well, I did, and I’m pleased to report that it went well (at least I think so!). I presented a little about blogging in general and then some of the facts and figures related to my blog in particular. As another measure of its success, an article was written about my blog in last week’s Gorenjski glas newspaper. I especially like the part where the reporter referred to my ‘beautiful, fluent, and very correct Slovene’ – albeit it with an English accent! http://www.gorenjskiglas.si/article/20141020/C/141029987/1082/1039/z-blogom-navdusila-celo-havajce-

As regular readers know, in the absence of hikes, trips etc. my mind usually turns to my other great love; food. So, this week I thought I’d write a little about some of the Slovene specialities which have a specially protected status and which visitors should keep an eye out for on their travels through the country to have a chance to tasting these genuine Slovene products.

Cheese: Nanoški sir (Nanos cheese), Sir Tolminc (Tolminc cheese from Tolmin), Bovški sir (Bovec cheese), Mohant sir (Mohant cheese, a semi-soft cheese from the Bohinj area which has a particularly distinctive taste and smell i.e. it smells like the smelliest socks you’ve ever known!)

Honey: Kraški med (Karst honey), Slovenski med (Slovenian honey), Kočevjski gozdni med (Kočevje forest honey)

Meat: Kraški pršut (Karst prosciuttio), Zgornjesavinjski želodec (Upper-Savinja stomach), Kraški zašink (a Karst meat product made from neck of pork), Prleška tunka (smoked pork), Sebreljski želodec (stuffed pork stomach), Kranjska klobasa (Carniolan sausage), Kraška panceta (Karst pancetta)

Other specialities include: Prekmurska gibanica (Prekmurje cake), Idrijski žlikrofi (Idrija dumplings), Belokranjska pogača (Bela Krajina bread), Štajersko-prekmursko bučno olje (Styrian-Prekmurje pumpkin-seed oil), Ekstra deviško oljčno olje Slovenske Istre (Extra virgin olive oil from Slovene Istra)

Talking of food, my tastebuds are already tingling at the thought of this year’s Taste Radol’ca (Okusi Radol’ca) opening event, taking place this Thursday. The event begins at 4pm in the old town centre with a fair and presentation of local dishes and products, then the opening event dinner will take place at Lectar Inn at 6pm; a 5-course dinner prepared by the chefs from all the participating restaurants. Then, for the whole month of November, each of the participating restaurants will have a special Taste Radol’ca menu prepared using the local ingredients. There will even be adjovi krapi (filled buckwheat flour pockets – read more here https://adeleinslovenia.wordpress.com/2014/10/07/traditional-slovene-food-struklji-and-krapi/) on the menu which, as I wrote about 2 weeks ago, are seldom found on menus these days so this will be the perfect opportunity to try them. Below you can see one of the chefs at Lectar Inn preparing them. They look a bit more professional than the ones I made, however, as they say ‘it’s the taste that counts’!!!

© AdeleinSlovenia 2014