Category Archives: Food

Slovenia’s only preserved moat tunnel

Posted in Food, Radovljica, Restaurants, Slovenia by

The old town of Radovljica is home to Slovenia’s only preserved moat tunnel which runs under the entrance to the historic old town centre. It was renovated, and partly built-over, some years back, and is well-illuminated, meaning you can walk through it at any time as part of a visit to the old town centre. I’m rather lucky as I live just minutes from the old town and can therefore walk through it every day – and I do!

Radoljice1HDR

The history of the town dates back to the thirteenth century, whilst during the 15th-16th centuries, in addition to the moat, Radovljica had as many as 16 defence towers.

The old town has many notable buildings, many of them with frescoes, such as Vidic House, seen below, which now houses a café and youth hostel.

Radovljica SLO 2011

If you would like to learn more about Radovljica’s historic past then you can join a FREE guided tour every Tuesday at 10am, which begins from the Tourist Information Centre at the entrance to the old town. More information here – http://www.radolca.si/en/guided-tour-of-radovljica/

AUTUMN 2015 RESTAURANT WEEK

The bi-annual event Restaurant Week (Teden restavracij) sees some of the best restaurants throughout Slovenia offering special set menus for just 15 euros per person. It has become hugely popular with the limited places at many restaurants selling out very quickly, hence prior booking is essential.

This autumn Restaurant Week will take place from 16-25th October and includes no less than three – yes 3 – of Radol’ca’s restaurants. Since it’s not easy to get accepted, due to the stringent conditions to be met, that’s proof positive of the great restaurants we have here in Radol’ca – all of which I, of course, have tried!

There is more information available on the official website (link below), however, it is only available in Slovene and therefore I have below also included links to my reviews of the individuals restaurants where you can also find more information – http://tedenrestavracij.si/

Kunstelj Inn in Radovljica – known for its wonderful views and great home-cooked, seasonal and local food – http://wp.me/p3005k-ev

1

Vila Podvin in Mošnje – where one of Slovenia’s best chefs, Uroš Štefelin, creates masterpieces on a plate – http://wp.me/p3005k-ai

Vila_Podvin_Jost_Gantar_MALA (59)

Restaurant Lambergh in Dvorska vas – Chef Grega Rozman heads up the kitchen at this luxury country hotel and adjoining chateau – http://wp.me/p3005k-db

Dvorec (11)

© AdeleinSlovenia 2015

The New Triglav National Park Centre and a Froggy Tale!

Posted in Bohinj, Festivals in Slovenia, Food, Slovenia, Taste Radol'ca, Theme paths, Triglav National Park by

Triglav National Park is Slovenia’s only national park, covers an area of 880 square kilometres and has 3 information centres including the newly-built and recently opened centre in the village of Stara Fužina, near Bohinj lake, which I visited for the first time last week.

Downstairs the centre, which is open 10am-3pm on weekdays and 10am-5pm at weekends, has a permanent exhibition, information and exhibits about the park, and a small area selling local products.

CIMG9740

However, its the upstairs viewing room that makes this place so special. The saying ‘a room with a view’ is certainly apt for this, and no photo-shopping is required. They have managed to capture the views and the essence of Bohinj lake and the surrounding mountains perfectly with the full-depth windows, relaxing hanging chairs and selection of magazines.

CIMG9750

The only thing missing was a nice cup of tea with which to be able to sit and marvel at the views!

CIMG9756

Whilst in the area I paid a visit to another of my favourite haunts, Čokohram, in the tiny village of Česnjica, near Bohinj lake. I wrote extensively about this in a previous blog – http://bit.ly/1iq7MR4 – however, this time there was an added reason for my visit, apart from the obvious reason of gorging myself with chocolate and cake.

Inside the tiny building the walls have been hand-painted with several pictures of frogs and, on a previous visit, the owner, Alenka, had begun to tell me about the reason for this and her plans for the future. So, I wanted to find out more, as I’m always one for listening to an interesting local story.

CIMG9708

Though, in fact, I won’t give too much away yet as Alenka has plans to create a ‘frog-based’ theme path that will lead from Bohinj lake to Čokohram in Česnjica – and you can be sure I’ll be writing about that as soon as the plan is realised.

In the meantime I’ll share some photos I took of the delicious things on offer, as each time I visit there is something new. This time I noticed new chocolate liqueur, home-baked chocolate cookies, and cake pops. Nothing escapes me!

CIMG9706           CIMG9703

I also worked on persuading Alenka to be a part of next year’s Radovljica Chocolate Festival, which has become THE unmissable chocolate event in Slovenia and the date of next year’s festival has already been announced – 15-17th April 2016.

Culinary Radol’ca & a Festival(ful) Weekend

Posted in Beekeeping, Festivals in Slovenia, Food, Mosnje, Taste Radol'ca, Tourism Radol'ca by

As I mentioned in last week’s blog, there were a lot of events going on this past weekend, and I had some difficulty choosing which to attend. In the end I managed to fit in 3 in one day, such is the benefit of living in a small country. The weather also contributed to my decision as when I awoke early on Saturday morning the skies were looking ominously gloomy and so I decided that a day out to the coast to visit the Sweet Istra Festival and to see some sunshine and sea would make a change. It was like mid-summer there, so I certainly achieved what I set out too and I even managed to also squeeze in visiting the Festival of Honey in Lesce, and Mošnje Days in Mošnje.

The Sweet Istra Festival (Sladka istra) takes place in Koper every September, and for lovers of all things sweet i.e. me, it makes a great day out. It’s held right next to the sea in the old town of Koper, home to Slovenia’s only port. There were cakes, chocolates and sweets of all shapes and sizes. Even, as seen below, a giant fish made out of chocolate being sculpted by Blaž Habjan in the Land of Chocolate, where I recognised many of the chocolatiers from Radovljica’s Chocolate Festival.

CIMG9781

There were typical Istran dishes such as this koruzni šmorn – a kind of shredded pancake made from corn flour.

12032945_996659263688503_2117190933919814988_n

On my way back I stopped off at the Festival of Honey at the Beekeeping Centre in Lesce where there were stalls selling honey and beekeeping products, workshops for children, honey drinks, ice-cream and other dishes, and a chance to look around the centre and see the various equipment available for beekeepers for processing wax, bottling etc.

10801627_991196990895822_1626238758914675371_n

I was particularly taken by these cute honey pots!

CIMG9783

My final port of call was to Mošnje where the Mošnje Days event was taking place. There was an open-day at the village museum, locally produced food, stilt walkers, and much merriment. I arrived rather late after my long day out but fortunately there was still a little food left in the pot!

fb7c710c-db5b-48b4-9b5c-b53c6d7ae239

Tourism Radol’ca have produced a new culinary guide to the Radol’ca area which includes details of all the restaurants that are part of Taste Radol’ca, and since the focus is on local food, the guide also include details of local suppliers. Additionally, the chefs have divulged recipes for some of their favourites dishes so you can try making them at home.

okusi%20radolce-naslovnica

Take a look at the brochure here – http://issuu.com/turizemradovljica/docs/kulinaricna_brosura_radolca

Cake and Confessions!

Posted in Adele in Slovenia, adeleinslovenia, Food, ifeelsLOVEnia, Okusi Radol'ce, Radol'ca, Radovljica, Restaurants, Slovenia, Taste Radol'ca, Visit Radol'ca by

First, the confession. I must have the world’s worst sweet tooth! Chocolate, cakes, biscuits, you name it – if it’s sweet it’s got my name written all over it. So, it was with delight that I read last week that Radovljica has now got its own cake and therefore I hastily arranged a tasting.

The idea for Linhart’s cake (Linhartov cukr), as it is known since Radovljica is the birthplace of the first Slovene dramatist and playwright Anton Tomaž Linhart, came about during conversations held in Lectar Inn between its proprietor, Jože, and locals who recalled how in days gone by in Linhart’s era, local school children used to come to Lectar for cake.

And so the idea to try to recreate and revive this tradition was born and Jože and his team at the Lectar Inn set about trialling and testing recipes, based upon traditional recipes, until they were satisfied with the result.

The cake was launched at a special event on St. Valentines Evening and from now on will be available daily, to eat in or take-away, at Lectar Inn.

The cake, which has become a talking point about town, uses only natural ingredients, comprises a light sponge base topped with a moist apple layer, using organic locally grown apples, and finished with a light cream icing. A silhouette of Linhart is then added to the top for decoration and to mark it out as Linhart’s cake. You can see me indulging, or about to indulge, below, with a little drop of (medicinal!) blueberry schnapps!

Radovljiska torta 22 februar 2013 004

The family run Lectar Inn, which is in the centre of the historic old town of Radovljica, has been in operation for over 180 years and is a popular attraction for locals and visitors from all over Slovenia, as well as tourists from far and wide. The waiters and waitresses are dressed in traditional Slovene dress and food is prepared and cooked using traditional methods and recipes. In addition to the restaurant, Lectar also houses a working gingerbread museum and a penzion with 9 rooms. More information about Lectar can be found here – http://www.lectar.com/_en/index.html

It was yet another snowy night when I visited Lectar, so it felt great to be somewhere warm and hospitable, enjoying good food and company and momentarily forgetting about the blizzard outside. It has been another week dominated by snowfall, which I for one, really hope will end soon as it’s about time spring sprung! I’ve managed a couple of walks up to Talež (see my previous blog entitled ‘Sporting Slovenia’) which have involved wading through knee-deep snow – pretty to look at but exhausting – still, helps to burn off all that cake!

© Adele in Slovenia