June 2021

Experience Count Blagaj’s Land

On Friday afternoon we headed towards Polhov Gradec for a much-needed city break. Only 40 minutes later, we reached our destination, Črni Vrh, a village consisting out of several hills with a few houses on each of the hill. It was green all around, the air was different and the city noise was replaced by the sounds of domestic animals. The kind hosts were already waiting for us. After a short tour around the house, which has a warm and domestic atmosphere, hosts showed us around their property.

Just in front of the house, a pair of alpacas were chilling on the grass. Quite an unusual sight in Slovenia but there they were. They were looking at us with the same dose of curiosity as we were looking at them. In the stable, there were also rabbits, sheep, chicken and a miniature pig. They all seemed like good friends and were obviously used to being excessively photographed and petted.

After a quick recovery in the house, we were ready for the first workshop of the day, making woollen ornaments. A kind host explained to us the whole procedure, from cutting the wool of the sheep to washing it and making it into the material more appropriate for modelling. Then it was time for us to try it. We were playing with a wide choice of colourful wools using a specified needle to make different shapes on a wooden ball. It was a very relaxing activity that woke up our creativity and made us forget about our busy day just a few hours ago.

When our creativity was at the peak we continued with the second workshop that included making a bowl out of a piece of wood. The host’s son skillfully set up the piece on the rotating machine and explained how to use a woodpecker. We dared to try and we were very surprised that it was easier than it looked. As the wood sawdust was flying around the room the wooden block was slowly adopting the shape of a bowl. After a fine finish and applying a layer of eatable oil our bowl was done and it was beautiful. Both of us were extremely proud of what we made with our hands. With a smile on our face but extremely exhausted we fell asleep early that night.

The next day we were fully recharged for our next adventure. The night was so peaceful, nothing could be heard from the outside. We rushed down to the kitchen to prepare the breakfast, domestic quail eggs with homemade bread and jam we got from our host. It was delicious.

We said goodbye to our hosts and continued to the next workshop. It was a bread making workshop in a traditional Slovenian way. A lovely lady Marija welcomed us and offered us liqueur for a good start. Each of us got an apron and it was time to roll up our sleeves. Marija effortlessly took a bag of 10 kilos of flour and placed it into a huge wooden bowl. She added salt, water and activated yeast and it was fun time! It was quite challenging to face 10 kilos of dough but it was so satisfying at the same time. We mixed it every few minutes, but in the meantime we were enjoying a pleasant talk with our host. When the time for baking finally came, Marija showed us how to prepare each loaf of bread and put it into the huge oven encouraging us to try it ourselves. It was fun but quite laborious. An hour later the room filled up with the smell of freshly baked bread and it was time to take them out of the oven. Each weighed around one kilo and looked amazing. Marija neatly packed one loaf for each of us to take home and we said goodbye to her with our hair full of flour but with warm hearts. It was a unique experience we will remember always and recommend it to everyone.

Tamara & Jovana (Croatia&Serbia)

 Photos by: Tamara & Jovana