ptuj

another day trip. this time to the oldest city in slovenia, ptuj. (pronounced patoy) another worry if the sun will come out or not. you aren’t too fond of playing the “will it rain today or not” game.

this is not too promising. but it’s still absolutely stunning for a person who misses seeing large tracts of land with no buildings or wires.

you’re dropped off at the farmer’s market. as usual, you browse with hungry eyes.

but you love flour too much… so you end up buying a pastry from a bakery. this time it is orehov zavitek, another rolled-with-walnuts pastry.

and you climb up for a castle… again. unavoidable in slovenia. but like it because it always gives you nice views form being up so high. and! the rain is holding.

former castle, currently a museum. and a nice one at that.

it has lots of windows. as usual, you play with how the light is entering the building.

you just like the color pink. and florals. and details.

you also like things that spiral, things made of paper, and things made of wood.

tiles. ceilings. arches. walls. columns. you study all these fun details.

no real reason why this is here except that you like the colors. hope that’s okay.

quick peek outside, the clouds have changed but there isn’t a sign of rain!

so you quickly walk down before it might start raining.

and then it magically becomes clear and you get to hang out with some intense blues! and take note of the color of that building. and the color of the shrub (?) in front of it. it’ll come back later…

lunch break.

!

is your only reaction. it is that good. you aren’t good at writing about food (after all, you’ll just use words like delicious, warm, perfect, etc). but hopefully the photos speak for themselves.

!

again, for dessert. warm roasted figs. stuffed with walnuts. in a sweet wine sauce. with rosemary ice cream. with an intense chocolate truffle.

!

!

!

life is good.

did you pay attention earlier when you were told to take note? did you notice the yellows and pinks? you realize you keep seeing this color combination over and over.

and once you realize it, you see it everywhere.

and then you begin a new game for exploring cities in slovenia: find all the pink and yellow combinations!

time to go back. you take the train back, but as you’re waiting for it, you notice that the meaning of life is there. perfect.

and you made it the whole day with no rain, although it seemed like it was going to happen any moment.

you are indeed the luckiest visitor to slovenia ever. because the sister of your host surprises you and makes gibanica, the most famous of the slovenian desserts. layers of cheese, apples, phyllo dough, walnuts, poppy seeds, rum, butter…..

just to reiterate: when pastries are good, life is good.