A Slovenian Night To Remember

The past two weeks, I’ve talked about Lake Bled Slovenia and what to do just outside of the beautiful lake. Well,we intended on having a fun evening in Radovljica, Slovenia just a short, three and a half miles outside of Bled after our trip to Lake Bohinj but decided to go earlier in the day to explore the quaint little village itself. And we are so glad we did! Its Old Town is one of the best-preserved town structures in Slovenia with houses dating from 15th and 16th century. This picturesque little village surprised us with a wide selection of authentically preserved architecture, unique museums, galleries and other attractions.

The town of Radovljica was first mentioned as a market town in 1333 but didn’t become a prominent place for business until the 15th century. Also, around that time, the town was incorporated into the Austrian lands of the Habsburg Monarchy. As a result, you can see the heavy Austro-Hungarian influence in the beautiful architecture in Old Town. Surrounding the old town is the remains of its medieval defense system with the only remaining town moat in Slovenia – the defense system is evidence that the town was valuable and needed protection at one point in history.

We enjoyed walking about the charming Old Town center square and admiring the incredibly well-restored buildings. The most impressive I think was the Śivic House which is a gorgeous example of an entirely preserved gothic-renaissance building from the 16th century. There are restored rooms on the inside to tour and a gallery to visit with rotating exhibitions. I just loved looking at the beautiful preserved features on the outside.

Probably the cutest little museum (and most tasty) I have ever seen was here – The Gingerbread Museum – that’s right, Gingerbread! It’s a pastry shop dedicated to the decorative handmade gingerbread that is so famous in this region. I had fun watching the staff here practicing the Slovenian art of lectarstvo -- the making, shaping, and decorating of honey dough into shapes. Radovljica is especially famous for creating heart-shaped dough. What was crazy to me was that they’ve been using the same method to make and shape this dough since 1822. Talk about tried and true! The shapes last for years as decorative pieces and are a true work of art – you just have to resist the temptation to eat it…or not!

I mentioned in one of my previous blogs that Slovenia is famous for high quality honey. It is still produced inside the museum here dedicated exclusively to the history of beekeeping in Slovenia. The Beekeeping Museum displays Slovenia's rich beekeeping tradition, an important agricultural activity in the 18th and 19th centuries. Some of the interesting exhibits are traditional beehives and beekeeping tools, as well as the life and work of local beekeepers. It’s located on the first floor of The Radovljica Mansion, a beautifully renovated manor with a Baroque hall, where concerts, receptions, weddings and other events are held.

It seems that every quaint town in Slovenia has a beautiful old church and Radovljica did not disappoint with its Gothic church of St Peter at the end of Old Town Square. There are also sculptures inside the church to see from the early 18th century. Plus, if you keep walking through the square, past the church, you will find lovely viewpoints that overlook the valley and the magnificent Julian Alps that dominate the backdrop.

Of course, there are other wonderful shops, museums, and galleries to explore – like the Pharmacy Museum, but we needed to get to our ultimate destination and highlight of our trip to the village: A traditional Slovenian evening.

The festivities took place at a family-owned restaurant called Gostilna Kunstelj (established in 1873 and operated by the same family for generations). We started our evening in the wine cellar with a nice wine tasting and Slovenian appetizers. My favorite was a delicious dish called Kranjska Klobasa, a sausage wrapped in dough – my mouth waters just looking at the picture! We were entertained with dancing and accordion music -- Did you know the modern form of the musical instrument originated here?

After that, we went upstairs for a full dinner that offered great food and more entertainment. The performers explained the traditional Slovenian costumes and the customs which gave a nice touch and appreciation to what we were watching. After dinner, we were invited to play native games, my favorite was a sort of musical chairs but using hats and passing them back and forth (they later switched it to tossing a broom) – it was hilarious. Then we watched more dancing and were even invited to participate ourselves – I never knew the polka could be so much fun!

So, this day/night turned to be one of those unexpected surprises and actually a major highlight of our adventures in the Balkans. Our experience in Slovenia was taken to another level by becoming truly involved in the culture. We were happy to have another evening similar to this one later on in this trip in Croatia – stay tuned for a future blog post on that.

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