Another driving weekend.

If I hadn’t let the cat out of the bag with Saturday’s revelation as to where we were going,  I could have posted this picture and tossed out a challenge for anyone with enough beer knowledge to guess where we were on the weekend.  It’s a no-brainer really,  for anyone who has been around these parts.  The thing that got my attention,  is the writing down at the bottom of the can: “Traditionally brewed with love since 1825”.


Made me chuckle.


Cooking “with love” can be whatever you want it to be I suppose,  but we tend to use it to mean doing those little extra things to make the meal more enjoyable,   like making sure there are no surprises like unwanted gristle on the chicken breasts.  That kind of thing.
Not quite sure what’s involved when making beer “with love”,  but it’s good beer,  so I guess they’re going something right.




We got everything sorted out and got underway some time after eleven on Saturday morning,  which also meant getting a phone call from the cousin before we were out of the parking garage,  since Travelling Companion has this slight issue with making follow up phone calls to say if in fact we are going to arrive and when.  It adds to the mystery of the whole experience I’m sure,  but some folks actually need to know when to expect you.  Thankfully there are cell phones,  so that issue was dealt with in short order.  That meant we got into Sava some time around four p.m.,  partly due to wanting to stop first for some flowers here in Vienna for the grave site,  and then stopping on the way for some Slovenian wine.  We’re never sure which stores will be open on a Sunday,  so there was no way I wanted to miss that chance.  Not sure what it is about Slovenian wine,  but I’ve not yet had one I didn’t like.  Can’t say that about the Italian varieties.  Some of the stuff they were the most proud of was utter plonk,  but we won’t get off on that whole Italian vrs. Slovenian wine topic. 
This of course,  is where the beer came in,  since we were staying over night,  that meant that Bob could actually have one,  or more….
I’m forever being offered something to drink when I’m in Slovenia,  and I’m sure the folks there must think I’m some sort of tee-totaler,  since I choose not to have any alcohol and then get behind the wheel.

Hey,  call me crazy.

I’m pretty sure we’ve seen evidence of this behaviour on the roads there,  and the whole idea is a little bit scary,  since I’ve seen plenty of people think nothing of stopping at a road side restaurant for a beer or three and then jumping in their vehicle and heading off.    Plus, if you saw some of the back roads there,  you’d be even more amazed that anyone would want to tackle any of them in any other state other than being stone cold sober.  I know I sure had to have my wits about me at all times.



Before relaxing too much though after getting there,  I made sure I tackled a little job that I had been eyeing from one of our previous visits.   I just had to make sure to take along a caulking gun,  along with some caulking,  to deal with a loose threshold.   Simple enough really,  even though I’m never overly keen on being on my hands and knees.  Never occurred to me to take a picture of course.    This was also something that is best accomplished without the consumption of too much alcohol.   I find the results seem to be a little more predictable that way?

A little later on,  after dinner,  we thought we’d take our flowers up to the grave site where the brother of our hostess had been laid to rest.  Well,  the urn containing his ashes I suppose, since he had been cremated.   It was raining a little,  but we figured we had better get this sorted out before it got too late, and decided to go anyway.   Ever tried lighting a candle under an umbrella in the pounding rain?   Man,  that was fun!     Unlike North American culture,  Europeans,  and Slovenians in particular,  take great pain to look after the grave sites of their loved ones.   This means a pretty much continuous stream of flowers,  along with candles that seem to always be burning. 



If you look carefully at this cemetery photo,  you can see the red candles.   They’re in these little weatherproof containers and will burn for days and days.

You can also see a couple here (below).  The thing is though,  they don’t go on top of the site itself,  since there’s a chance of them getting a little messy.  The one you see at the top of the picture in the middle there,  is electric,  and isn’t going to leak any oil or wax or what have you.
Best to keep the granite as clean as possible.

Those last two pictures were taken in Žužemberk,   which was the place we went to visit on Sunday. 

That’s going to be for tomorrow’s missive I’m afraid,  so you’ll just have to surf on back.

For our Canadian friends,  I hope you enjoy the holiday.



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