Category Archives: Zabreznica

Gostilna Knafel: Dine with the stars…in Žirovnica!

Posted in Adele in Slovenia, Beekeeping in Slovenia, Food, France Prešeren, ifeelsLOVEnia, Karavanke, Prešernova hiša, Restaurants, Slovenia, Slovenia blog, Slovenian culture, Slovenian honey, Visit Žirovnica, Zabreznica, Žirovnica by

Through the years, the Žirovnica area has been home to numerous of Slovenia’s most well known talents. Of this, the most well known are the ‘famous five’ – Anton Janša, France Prešeren, Fran Saleški Finžgar, Janez Jalen and Matija Čop.

You can ‘meet’ these five by visiting their birth houses and also see bust statues of them outside the Žirovnica primary school at the Alley of Famous Men, which is part of the Žirovnica Path of Cultural Heritage.

The Karavanke mountains form a backdrop to the villages and hamlets that form the Municipality of Žirovnica, and, on one of the first truly warm and sunny spring days this year, yesterday it was at last, after the long, bleak winter, time to get out exploring again- hooray!

 

Then it was time to ‘dine with the stars‘ at the Gostilna Knafel restaurant, which is in close proximity to the Alley of Famous Men, where you can enjoy a hearty meal in the company of Žirovnica’s famous men! Depending where you choose to sit in the restaurant, you can ‘dine’ with one of them, or rather in the knowledge they are watching over you as you eat!

France Prešeren (1800-1849), Slovenia’s most famous poet.

And read some of their words of wisdom…

Anton Janša – Slovenia’s greatest beekeeper and the pioneer of modern apiculture.

Not far from Gostilna Knafel you can also visit Anton Jansa’s apiary, which was reconstructed in 2017.

There’s a kid’s corner, where Fran Saležki Finžgar keeps a watchful eye!

The team at Gostilna Knafel strive to offer traditional Slovenian dishes such as buckwheat krapi (similar to ravioli) filled with curd cheese topped with pork crackling,

Take a peek into the kitchen and you can even see krapi being freshly made! The before…

And the after…

One of my favourite Slovenian foods is štruklji, so I was spoilt for choice with homemade savoury štruklji (a light dough filled and rolled like a swiss roll) with a porcini mushroom sauce.

As well as sweet buckwheat štruklji with curd cheese, honey and walnuts.

There is also a full a-la-carte menu, daily malice (light lunches from Mon-Fri), and pizzas – something for every taste!

The Visit Žirovnica website has more information about Gostilna Knafel and the other food and beverage outlets in the Žirovnica area, which I am looking forward to getting more acquainted with – and tasting too, of course!

© Adele in Slovenia

Visit Žirovnica: The Sunny Path to St. Lawrence

Posted in Adele in Slovenia, adeleinslovenia, Beekeeping, Beekeeping in Slovenia, France Prešeren, ifeelsLOVEnia, Julian Alps, Karavanke, Prešernova hiša, Slovenia, Slovenia blog, Slovenian honey, Vrba, Zabreznica, Žirovnica by

Welcome to my first blog of 2018 and my first one about a new destination that I will be highlighting this year – Žirovnica! The area has a wealth of natural and cultural attractions, about which I will be endeavouring to write as much as possible in my regular blog posts.

Though not so well known among visitors to Slovenia, pretty much every Slovene knows, and has visited, Žirovnica; specifically to Vrba, to visit the birth house of one of Slovenia’s most famous men and greatest poet, France Prešeren (1800-1849).

At this time of year, when the days are short and sunlight is at a premium, I like to take a walk on the aptly-named Sunny Path (Sonča pot) from Žirovnica to St. Lawrence’s church (sv. Lovrenc).

You can join the path and reach the church from several places. I like to park in Žirovnica then take the path that leads towards the steps that go up towards the distinctive water surge tank. Don’t go up the steps but just to the right the path, though not marked, is easily visible as it traverses the grassy meadows above the villages of Žirovnica.

As the name suggests, on a sunny day the path is bathed in sunlight throughout the day and also offers fantastic views over the wide Radovljica plains and towards the high mountains of the Julian Alps.

You pass a small shrine then continue on the slightly undulating terrain.

On reaching a small wooden cabin a flight of steps lead up towards St. Lawrence’s church which is nestled into the slopes above the hamlet of Zabreznica.

Although usually locked, you can take a peek into the church through the windows of the main entrance door, and with a bit of nifty camera/phone angling, get a great view of the church’s ornate interior which is adorned by the Stations of the Cross.

Other than its particularly unique and serene location and wonderful panoramic views, a particular feature of the church is its presbytery which has painted pictures of the flowers that are found in the area surrounding the church.

On the outside wall there is an unusual mosaic of St. Christopher.

A church was first built here during the time of the Turkish invasions, but was later abandoned in 1821 when a new parish church was built in the village of Breznica. In the 1990s volunteers built a new church on the foundations of the original one.

There are plenty of well-positioned benches for soaking up the rays and enjoying the view!

Even on a slightly hazy winter’s day, the views are pretty good, I’m sure you’ll agree!

You can choose to return along the sunny path, or take the path that descends steeply and directly down from the church through the forest. On reaching the bottom you can walk back through the hamlets of Breznica and Zabreznica to return to the start.

Find out more about the Sunny Path and other similar walking and hiking paths in the Zirovnica area here – http://visitzirovnica.si/en/

© Adele in Slovenia