You would probably ask where this country lies. It lies on the sunny side of the Alps. Have a look. Slovenia has a shape of a chicken.
These are our flag, called three-colour, called trobojnica is very interesting. After March Revolution, 1848, German colours became black-red-yellow, dated in 1815. The Slovenians called it ‘frankfurterica’, after German town Frankfurt am Mein. The Germans used it in Slovenia, too. Immediately after that the Slovenians wanted to have their own flag, white-blue-red. King Ferdinand I allowed officially these colours for the Slovenian flag in 1836. October 11, 1848 we got our flag. The colours have symbolic meaning: WHITE – love, snow; BLUE – sky, sea; RED –fighting for freedom, blood. They have two sources: Firstly, it is tzar Russia which The Slavic people usually asked for help in the past, and secondly, it is French republican flag, known to the Slovenians from Illyrian Provinces, 1809-1813 in Napoleon time. After the World War I, 1918, our flag had the coat-of-arms in the middle (The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians). After World War II, on January 17, 1947 the coat-of-arms was replaced by the red star, and after June 26, 1991 the star was replaced by new Slovenian coat-of-arms, which was placed on the left of the flag. Our coat-of-arms has the symbols: mountain Triglav, 2864m, the sea and three yellow six-pointed stars. Our anthem is Dr. France Prešeren's The Toast. France Prešeren's was the greatest of our poets (1800 – 1949), ZDRAVLJICA – THE TOAST, became our national anthem in 1991. It was written in 1844, edited in 1848 in Kranjska Čbelca (Carniola Bee), after March Revolution in Vienna. Its music was written by Stanko Premrl (1880 – 1965). We sing the 1st and the 7th stanza. It is written in the shape of a wine glass. Have a look.
The Toast
The vintage, friends, is over, And here sweet wine makes, once again, Sad eyes and hearts recover, Puts fire into every vein. Drowns dull care Everywhere And summons hope out of despair.
To whom with acclamation And song shall we our first toast give? God save our land and nation And all Slovenes where'er they live, Who own the same Blood and name, And who one glorious Mother claim.
Our country has also two flower symbols: a lime/a linden leaf and a red carnation.
Magazines throughout the world wrote about Slovenia in the 1980s as if they discovered a new world. They felt sympathy towards a new country in the neighbourhood of Austria, Italy, Hungary and Croatia.
Late eighties and early nineties were filled with fear. This was the peak of Slovenian history: four centuries after Protestant clerics with Primož Trubar wrote the first Slovenian books in 1550, with Jurij Dalmatin's translation of The Bible in 1584, and first Grammar book, the Slovenians got their own State. It happened on June 24, 1991 when they got their independence.
GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES
We are what we are. Slovenia is not only one of the youngest it is also one of the smallest European countries. With two million of inhabitants it is situated on the southern side of the Julian Alps, south of Austria, at the most northern part of the Adriatic Sea on the west, where it borders with Italy, flat and open towards Hungary in the east and on the south there is Croatia. Here run routes from north to south and from west to east. It hasalready been on the diplomatic maps, tourists come and visit us, especially after we joined the NATO March 3, 2004, European Union on May 1, 2004 and euro January 1, 2007.
There are several regions: The Coastal Region – 42 km of the sea coast in the extreme north of The Adriatic Sea in the Gulf of Trieste. There are very old salt pans (soline) – in the delta of the river Dragonja. There is a natural habitat for some plants and animals. Here are some important towns as Koper, Portorož, Izola, Piran – a Middle Ages town and port, with narrow streets. In all the towns there is a lot of tourism.
Kras - the Karst - Eastwards from the sea there is hilly landscape of limestone. This is a special landscape, created by the dissolving of limestone. There are interesting karst phenomena (kraški pojavi). Number of Slovene names, like 'polje', have been adopted into international usage. Almost half of the country is limestone. There have been more than 6000 caves discovered, three deeper than 1000 m. Only a few are opened for tourism. The oldest tourist cave, and perhaps in the world, is Vilenica near Divača. It has been opened in the first half of the 17th century. The most interesting are Škocjan caves, inscribed on the UNESCO list of the world and natural heritage since 1986. There runs the river Reka into Škocjan caves, and there is the largest underground canyon in the world, 2.5 km long and 130 m high. Taborska jama and Jama Pekel are also very interesting to visit.
There is Postojnska jama, first opened to tourism in 1819 and its attendance has continually grown since then, attracting visitors from all over the world. It is visited by 800,000 tourists every year. Although the Postojnska jama is in the first place a show cave, it is very important from the scientific point of view, regarding the investigations of the history of cave sciences. Valvasor was the pioneer of natural sciences investigations in the Postojnska jama already in 1689. In this cave lives the Olm – Proteus anguinus – the symbol of Sovenian science. The proteus grows up to 30 cm. Proteus is an amphibian with a tail breathing with lungs and with gills, which for the sake of saving energy does not transform. Its body is covered with slimy, human coloured skin. That is why it is in Slovenian called “človeška ribica” (human fish). Animals and plants which live only in one territory are called endemits. It has been protected since 1922. It was discovered in 1831 or rediscovered (Proteus in 1797) and thus the Postojnska jama is often called the cradle of speleo-biology – famous for more than 700 years, where a small underground open train takes you through it. .
There is also Cerknica Lake – Karst disappearing lake. It was studied at the end of the 17th century by our nobleman and social historian Janez Vajkard Valvasor, who was in 1689 accepted to the Royal Society in London because of this study and copper engravings of Cerknica Lake. There is a lake half of the year in which you can fish, and in winter you can skate on the frozen surface. It starts disappearing in spring and becomes polje – field - where farmers cut hay and graze their cattle.
The Alps – are powerful glacial formation of limestone on the north of the country. The highest peak is Triglav – 2864 m – our symbol. A wide area around, with the famous Seven Triglav Lakes, was declared a national park in 1981. There is Planica where the ski jumps and a new sport discipline began. You can see the peaks of Julian Alps covered with snow.
There are very nice lakes – Bled and Bohinj, and nice valleys of the rivers Sava Dolinka and Sava Bohinjka. On the western edge of the Alps there is the Soča valley, the clearest turquase–blue river, convenient for fishing and rafting. The Soča trout lives in it, which you can see on our euro coin.
You can be taken over Lake Bled in a ‘pletnja’ boat – rowing boat to the island. They organize weddings at Bled. The young couple is taken by ‘pletnja’ to the church on the island. Divers are ready on the shore and in the lake itself, and girls with lights and lanterns accompany the performance in three ‘pletnja’ boats. Two ‘pletnja’ boats are filled with lights to be set adrift on the lake. The divers will swim beneath the surface of the lake. When they resurface the Lip Bled octet sings another song to mark the end of the event. People in the boats set the lights on the lake.
A legend says: The "wishing bell" in St Mary church on the island was cast in 1534 by Franziskus Patavinus in Padua, Italy. At that time in Bled castle there lived an inconsolable young widow. Her husband had been killed by bandits who threw his body in the lake. In his memory she collected all her silver and gold and sent it to be cast as a bell for the chapel on the island. But it never reached the island. A terrible storm sank the bell and the boat beneath the waves of the lake. The ringing from the depths can be sometimes heard in a clear night. After this tragedy, the heartbroken widow sold all her possessions and gave the money to pay for a new church on the island. She went to a nunnery in Rome, where she lived in sorrow till her death. After she died, the pope consecrated a new bell and sent it to the island of Bled. Whoever rings that bell and tells the Lady of the Lake their wish, will have their wish come true. Many people come and ring the bell.
Štajerska and Prekmurje in the East – The landscape changes into a hilly countryside and then it opens into the Panonnian Plain. There are a lot of vineyards, fields and forests by the Drava and Mura rivers. There are towns Maribor, Celje, Murska Sobota. There are very nice spas Podčetrtek, Radenci, Moravske Toplice (Terme 3000).
Dolenjska and Bela and Suha krajina on the south – are very green, hilly and full of vineyards and fields. There are rivers the Krka and the Kolpa. There are also many tourist camps and spas, among them Čateške and Dolenjske Toplice.
HISTORY
Probably we will never exactly know what has remained of the first inhabitants on our territory: Norcii, Illyricii, Venetii, the Celts and Romans, when they were overwhelmed by the Slavs during the migration of nations after 500 A.D. Around 200,000 people lived here three times bigger than today Slovenia. In order to defend themselves from the Avars and Bavarians they united around 620 A.D. into a Slav Principality of Karantania, centred near Celovec(Klagenfurt)– Todays Austrian Karinthia. In 745 they were Christianized. They lived independently under Slav Prince Kocelj till 874. They had Slavic language and Slavic script. It was drowned by the Germans.
Thousand years the territory was under German influence and oppression. The Slovenians were in constant conflict with the Germans. Protestant Clerics published about 50 books in Sovenian in the second half of the 16th cent. In 1600 they were burned by the Catolics. There were nearly any books printed till the 18th century. – Linhart. The 19th century was filled with the idea of United Slovenia, especially after the March Revolution in 1848. – spring of nations. There were two World Wars in the 20th cent. After the First World War we were a part of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes – The First Yugoslavia. After the Second World War we were in the Second Yugoslavia under the leadership of Tito and the Comunist party. Churchill said in 1945: »Yugoslavia, and with it Slovenia, remained on the eastern side, and in one form or another to a large extent under the control of Moscow.« In 1991 we got our independence. We have had our own place under the sky since then in the Republic of Slovenia.
SLOVENIAN CULTURE AND HANDICRAFT
February is the month of a carnival - pust. There are about 150 traditional masks in Slovenia. Some of them are very famous, like laufers from Cerkno, witches from Cerknica and kurents from Ptuj. They are the symbol of Slovenia as well. You You can see kurents at the carnival in Ptuj. There are many other masks like horses, bears, chickens, but the kurents are the best. Their bells round their waists are so loud! Read the legend about the kurent. Kurent was the old pagan god of buckwheat and wine. During the Flood only three men were rescued. One climbed on the vine up to the kurent. He was saved, so kurent wanted him to return to the Earth. He gave the man some buckwheat and a vine. He had to sow them. So the Slovenians had a lot of black bread and wine. The rememberance day to kurent is a Tuesday in February. It is called PUST (lent – leave meat). In February people started to work in the fields, orchards and vineyards. It was time to get married.
We still say that kurents bring spring and good harvest. Long ago the beginning of the year was in the spring. People put on masks and danced. And the legend also says that if you don't eat a lot during the carnival you will be hungry all the year round year. So people eat and drink a lot till Ash Wednesday begins at midnight. Then they go to church to attend a Mass, and 40 days of lent begins till Easter. It is the time for good food, masks and doughnuts. Here is a recipe for them.
There is no doubt, that they are a Slovenian speciality. We can see them in the all parts of the country, except in Primorska region – near the sea. The hayrack was a symbol of a farmhouse solidity and wealth. At the beginning they were single, but in the 18th and 19th centuries they become double (toplar). It was because of the climate. It often rains in the Alps and the people could not dry grass quickly enough. It dries then under the roof of the hayrack.
There are several types of them: single and double.
TOPLAR (DOUBLE) - It is typical for the Alpine country. Our farmers have been completing it through time, according to its use. They dried hay and corn in them. Toplars used to be near the farmhouses, the single ones were in the meadows and pastures. Later toplars got »an attic«, where they stored maize and tools. They are very rare today. One was given to Prince Charles of England and stays in the gardens of Buckingham Palace in London.
Our bee Kranjska čebela – Carniola bee is also called Apis Meliferia Carnica. It is different from the Italian bee Apis Meliferia Ligustica, which has one more yellow ring at its abdomen. Our bee is also called »sivka – the grey one«, because it is covered with grey hair.
The first bees appeared on the Earth 40 million years ago. They started to live in the families 30 million years ago. Their way of life has not changed since then.
In a normal bee family lives one queen bee, about 1000 drones and maximum 75 000 worker bees. In winter there are no drones, the number of worker bees reduces to 10 000. The queen bee lives for 5 years. The drones live in spring for 21-32 days, in summer for 90 days. Worker bees live for 20-40 days. Winter bees survive up to 140 days and bring up a new generation in spring. The first brotherhood of beekeepers in Slovenia was founded on April 14, 1781. This was the first bee association of beekeepers in the world. The founder was Vovk Franc from Hraše in Gorenjska region. Beekeeping is very popular in Slovenia. You can find articles and pictures of our beekeeper even in BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. In the old times beehives had “beehive panels – panjske končnice” with pictures from Slovenian national art. You can still buy them as a souvenir.
“Beehive panels”, painted front parts of former beehives – kranjičev – are one of the greatest Slovenian peculiarities. As a unique phenomenon in the history of Slovenian national art in the country are known only in to some parts of our ethnic territory. This art started in the 18th century and lasted to the beginning of the 20th cent. The pictures on the panels had different decorative motives from decorative to religious, from comic to historical. The innovations in beehives caused this art. More than 600 different motives are preserved, and are painted on at least 50 000 panels. For about 3000 panels are preserved in museums and private collections. The most interesting motives are those that make fun of human weaknesses.
Bobbin lace-making is a unique phenomenon in Slovenia. It has developed most intensively in the Idrija area, although the skill has always been practiced in other parts of the country. Traditionally it was the main or additional source of income. Later it became a product which was to become associated with the area. The first lace-making firms appeared in the late 19th century.
Following a decline in lace making after World War II, there was a revival in the eighties, which continues today. The Idrija lace (idrijska čipka) is regarded as representative of Slovenian heritage and creativity in the field of handicrafts and as such a popular gift for state and promotional purposes. An important and unique aspect of lace making is the education of lace-makers. The Lace-making School in Idrija was established in 1876 and has continued without interruption till the present day. More lace-making schools were opened later and in 1995 the first textbook on lace making was published, Klekljanje (Bobbin Lace-making), the only Slovenian textbook on handicrafts.
The beginning of wooden ware goes far in the past. All the families needed they produced at home: cloth, linen, clothes, tools, furniture and other things. Even The Old Slaves made wooden ware. The most known is wooden ware from Ribnica, south of the capital city of Ljubljana. It was first mentioned in the 14th century, but it is undoubtedly older. What the people produced they took to fairs and sold. In 1492 the people of Ribnica got the Padler Bill, brought out by the emperor Friderik III, with which they got the permission to export linen and wooden ware. After more than 500 hundred years the tradition is still there.
Pottery was beside wooden ware a very important handicraft and trade in the Ribnica valley. There was very good clay. They traded Bela and Suha krajina to Kvarner in Croatia, Istria, Notranjska, Primorska, even to Furlania in Italy. The knowledge of pottery was inherited from generation to generation. To the end of the 19th century it started to decline because of the competition of industrially made pottery whish was much cheaper. The old ovens were also substituted with new cookers. Young people from Ribnica started to move to America before World War I. After the war they started other trades. There are only four potters who still make bowls and other pots. It is really a shame.
It is also a very old handicraft. It started somewhere in the 14th century. They use wax, tallow, steering and paraffin wax. They have different procedures: dipping, rounding, casting, pulling, rolling. This was season work from Easter to St Nicholas. Candles were produced in winter in December and January to the Purification on February 2.
Today all kinds of candles are produced for decoration, Christmas, Confirmations etc.
A special trade is making candles for the cemeteries. We light candles on graves, but they have special shapes and different colours.
In the 19th century it was only a handicraft. Today it is an industry. Hat traders pressed warmed wool and dampened it. They were formed on models of lime wood.
The edges were stretched with a hot iron. They were smoothed with wooden iron and cut. The lininen was sewn in and the hats were decorated.
In straw-hat making they first make plaits and then the hats were sown. It appeared in the 18th century in Domžale near Ljubljana. They found several factories. Small traders only made straw plaits. It was the most developed before the World War I when they made over a million of hats.
Our small country has quite a lot of traditional food. Almost all over the country they bake potica at Easter – it symbolizes Christ’s crown – and at Christmas and perhaps at some other festivities. It can be filled with walnuts, poppy grains, tarragon (pehtran), cracklings (ocvirki), coconut, etc.
Our people also bake all kinds of strudels: cheese, apple, cherry, blackberry…
In the autumn people have koline (pork sausages) just before St Martin. They slay their pigs to make sausages and they prepare meat for the winter. This is a special festivity for the family. The families get together and everybody helps at work. These sausages are made of blood or meat (krvavice, pečenice, kašaste klobase …) They bake them and they are served with sour cabbage or sour turnip and mashed potato or beans or “matevž” – potato and beans mashed together with a bit of garlic and salt.
In Prekmurje region (NE Slovenia) they bake quite a great number of different kinds of bread and especially good is a desert called prekmurska gibanica, filled with walnuts, apples, cheese, cream and poppy grains.
In Štajerska region they make Pohorje omlette, filled with different kinds of fruit, as apricots, peaches and covered with whipped cream. In Idrija they prepare žlikrofi – a kind of canelonni.
A lot of different sorts of wine is produced in our country. In Maribor there is over 450-year old vine, called »stara trta«, growing on Lent by the river Drava. In 1998 it got the certificate of the GUINESS BOOK OF RECORDS.
This old vine was nearly forgotten and it was revitalized in 1981. Last 20 years it has grown for about 35-55 kg of grapes called »modra kavščina« (blue kavščina) and is taken care by the city vinedresser.
Aproximately 100 of 2.5 dl bottles are produced every year. The bottles are made by our artist. The city Mayor gets them for protocol purposes. Each bottle has a certificate with a number and the year of production. The originality is assured by the city seal and the city vinedresser. Such a bottle was among the others given to the Pope Janez Pavel II and Bill Clinton, the ex-American president.
Special sorts also grow in Primorska, called zelen – white wineand teran - dark red wine with a lot of tannin. Both vines are autochthon sorts of Slovenia.
There is also a special sort of red dry wine called cviček. This sort grows in Dolenjska region (S Slovenia). It is produced from different white sorts
Slovenia produces red and white wine (dry or sweet) which is barrelled and then bottled and sold. There are also several kinds of sparkling wine/champagne/sect. The wine tasters taste it and the best sorts get prices. There is a wine fair held at Gospodarsko razstavišče in Ljubljana every year.
In winter people drink mulled wine to get warm, especially at Christmas and New Year when we celebrate in the open air. Half a litre of wine and half a litre of water is boiled with some sugar, some cloves, cinnamon and lemon.
The most names of our traditional food cannot be translated into English as you get nonsense. Eg. prekmurska gibanica - over Mura moving cake. In winter people drink mulled wine to get warm, especially at Christmas and New Year when we celebrate in the open air. Half a litre of wine and half a litre of water is boiled with some sugar, some cloves, cinnamon and lemon.
The most names of our traditional food cannot be translated into English as you get nonsense. Eg. prekmurska gibanica - over Mura moving cake.
Vineyards in Radgonske gorice, Moravci Spa, Triglav, Slovenia, Postojna Cave, Piran at the sea, Slovenia in Europe, Bled lake, The flag with the seal, camping at Bohinj and by the river Kolpa in Vinica.
It is the capital of Slovenia with the population of 350,000. The old part of the city is between the Castle Hill – the view in the photo – and the Ljublanica river. Its Baroque churches are among the most beautiful in Central Europe. There is an old castle on the hill an you can have a beautiful view of the city from there. You can even climb on the tower from the 16th century. Young couples are married up on the castle they used to be married in the Town Hall in the old part of the city.
Ljubljana was first mentioned as Leybach in 1144, and then in 1146 as Luwigana. There was lively boat traffic on the Ljubljanica in the past, even a steamboat was sailing from Vrhnika to Ljubljana, landing at Breg. The boats stopped after the railway was built in the middle of the 19th century.
The busiest bridge over the river Ljubljanica is Tromostovje (The Three brisges), Zmajski most (The Dragon Bridge), which is the symbol of the city. There are a lot of interesting buildings built by Jože Plečnik, the Slovenian architect. These are: The Market, Tromostovje, The river banks, The National and University Library (NUK), Žale – the cemetery, Križanke – the summer theatre, Tivoli Park, St Francis Church in Šiška and St Michael on the Marsh – Barje. There are a lot of Secession buildings, as Grand Hotel Union, Slovenian Park in front of the Palace of Justice. In 1938 Ljubljana got its first skyscraper.
There are a lot of galleries, cinemas, theatres, The University – in the photo, with some 16 departments… There are also castles Cekin, Fužine, Kodeljevo, Sela, and so on. There are some very nice squares as Kongresni trg, Prešernov trg, Mestni, Stari and Gornji trg in the old town. Cultural life in the city is plentiful and it gained the title of Cultural Capital of Europe in May 1997. Cultural centre is Cankarjev dom an the new cinema hall – Koloseum with 12 cinema halls.
The city is especially vivid in summer when there are many cafes – kavarne - with their gardens, different music, with candles on the tables, in the old part of the city. They are opened quite long in the evenings and they are full of young people.
Ljubljana is marvellously decorated in December every year. It becomes a magic city worth seeing.
You would probably ask where this country lies. It lies on the sunny side of the Alps. Have a look. Slovenia has a shape of a chicken. 
These are our flag, called three-colour, called trobojnica is very interesting. After March Revolution, 1848, German colours became black-red-yellow, dated in 1815. The Slovenians called it ‘frankfurterica’, after German town Frankfurt am Mein. The Germans used it in Slovenia, too. Immediately after that the Slovenians wanted to have their own flag, white-blue-red. King Ferdinand I allowed officially these colours for the Slovenian flag in 1836. October 11, 1848 we got our flag. 
Our country has also two flower symbols: a lime/a linden leaf and a red carnation. 
There is Postojnska jama, first opened to tourism in 1819 and its attendance has continually grown since then, attracting visitors from all over the world. It is visited by 800,000 tourists every year. Although the Postojnska jama is in the first place a show cave, it is very important from the scientific point of view, regarding the investigations of the history of cave sciences. Valvasor was the pioneer of natural sciences investigations in the Postojnska jama already in 1689. In this cave lives the Olm – Proteus anguinus – the symbol of Sovenian science. The proteus grows up to 30 cm. Proteus is an amphibian with a tail breathing with lungs and with gills, which for the sake of saving energy does not transform. Its body is covered with slimy, human coloured skin. That is why it is in Slovenian called “človeška ribica” (human fish). Animals and plants which live only in one territory are called endemits. It has been protected since 1922. It was discovered in 1831 or rediscovered (
There is also Cerknica Lake – Karst disappearing lake. It was studied at the end of the 17th century by our nobleman and social historian Janez Vajkard Valvasor, who was in 1689 accepted to the Royal Society in London because of this study and copper engravings of Cerknica Lake. There is a lake half of the year in which you can fish, and in winter you can skate on the frozen surface. It starts disappearing in spring and becomes polje – field - where farmers cut hay and graze their cattle.
The Alps – are powerful glacial formation of limestone on the north of the country. The highest peak is Triglav – 2864 m – our symbol. A wide area around, with the famous Seven Triglav Lakes, was declared a national park in 1981. There is Planica where the ski jumps and a new sport discipline began. You can see the peaks of Julian Alps covered with snow. 
There are very nice lakes – Bled and Bohinj, and nice valleys of the rivers Sava Dolinka and Sava Bohinjka. On the western edge of the Alps there is the Soča valley, the clearest turquase–blue river, convenient for fishing and rafting. The Soča trout lives in it, which you can see on our euro coin. 
Štajerska and Prekmurje in the East – The landscape changes into a hilly countryside and then it opens into the Panonnian Plain. There are a lot of vineyards, fields and forests by the Drava and Mura rivers. There are towns Maribor, Celje, Murska Sobota. There are very nice spas Podčetrtek, Radenci, Moravske Toplice (Terme 3000).
Dolenjska and Bela and Suha krajina on the south – are very green, hilly and full of vineyards and fields. There are rivers the Krka and the Kolpa. There are also many tourist camps and spas, among them Čateške and Dolenjske Toplice.
Probably we will never exactly know what has remained of the first inhabitants on our territory: Norcii, Illyricii, Venetii, the Celts and Romans, when they were overwhelmed by the Slavs during the migration of nations after 500 A.D. Around 200,000 people lived here three times bigger than today Slovenia. In order to defend themselves from the Avars and Bavarians they united around 620 A.D. into a Slav Principality of Karantania, centred near Celovec(Klagenfurt)– Todays Austrian Karinthia. In 745 they were Christianized. They lived independently under Slav Prince Kocelj till 874. They had Slavic language and Slavic script. It was drowned by the Germans.
February is the month of a carnival - pust. There are about 150 traditional masks in Slovenia. Some of them are very famous, like laufers from Cerkno, witches from Cerknica and kurents from Ptuj. They are the symbol of Slovenia as well. You You can see kurents at the carnival in Ptuj. There are many other masks like horses, bears, chickens, but the kurents are the best. Their bells round their waists are so loud! 
There is no doubt, that they are a Slovenian speciality. We can see them in the all parts of the country, except in Primorska region – near the sea. The hayrack was a symbol of a farmhouse solidity and wealth. At the beginning they were single, but in the 18th and 19th centuries they become double (toplar). It was because of the climate. It often rains in the Alps and the people could not dry grass quickly enough. It dries then under the roof of the hayrack.
Our bee Kranjska čebela – Carniola bee is also called Apis Meliferia Carnica. It is different from the Italian bee Apis Meliferia Ligustica, which has one more yellow ring at its abdomen. Our bee is also called »sivka – the grey one«, because it is covered with grey hair. 
“Beehive panels”, painted front parts of former beehives – kranjičev – are one of the greatest Slovenian peculiarities. As a unique phenomenon in the history of Slovenian national art in the country are known only in to some parts of our ethnic territory. This art started in the 18th century and lasted to the beginning of the 20th cent. The pictures on the panels had different decorative motives from decorative to religious, from comic to historical. The innovations in beehives caused this art. More than 600 different motives are preserved, and are painted on at least 50 000 panels. For about 3000 panels are preserved in museums and private collections. The most interesting motives are those that make fun of human weaknesses.
Bobbin lace-making is a unique phenomenon in Slovenia. It has developed most intensively in the Idrija area, although the skill has always been practiced in other parts of the country. Traditionally it was the main or additional source of income. Later it became a product which was to become associated with the area. The first lace-making firms appeared in the late 19th century. 
The beginning of wooden ware goes far in the past. All the families needed they produced at home: cloth, linen, clothes, tools, furniture and other things. Even The Old Slaves made wooden ware. 
Pottery was beside wooden ware a very important handicraft and trade in the Ribnica valley. There was very good clay. They traded Bela and Suha krajina to Kvarner in Croatia, Istria, Notranjska, Primorska, even to Furlania in Italy. 
It is also a very old handicraft. It started somewhere in the 14th century. They use wax, tallow, steering and paraffin wax. They have different procedures: dipping, rounding, casting, pulling, rolling. This was season work from Easter to St Nicholas. Candles were produced in winter in December and January to the Purification on February 2.
In the 19th century it was only a handicraft. Today it is an industry. Hat traders pressed warmed wool and dampened it. They were formed on models of lime wood.
Our small country has quite a lot of traditional food. Almost all over the country they bake potica at Easter – it symbolizes Christ’s crown – and at Christmas and perhaps at some other festivities. It can be filled with walnuts, poppy grains, tarragon (pehtran), cracklings (ocvirki), coconut, etc.
In the autumn people have koline (pork sausages) just before St Martin. They slay their pigs to make sausages and they prepare meat for the winter. This is a special festivity for the family. The families get together and everybody helps at work. These sausages are made of blood or meat (krvavice, pečenice, kašaste klobase …) They bake them and they are served with sour cabbage or sour turnip and mashed potato or beans or “matevž” – potato and beans mashed together with a bit of garlic and salt.
In Prekmurje region (NE Slovenia) they bake quite a great number of different kinds of bread and especially good is a desert called prekmurska gibanica, filled with walnuts, apples, cheese, cream and poppy grains. 
In Štajerska region they make Pohorje omlette, filled with different kinds of fruit, as apricots, peaches and covered with whipped cream. In Idrija they prepare žlikrofi – a kind of canelonni. 
It is the capital of Slovenia with the population of 350,000. The old part of the city is between the Castle Hill – the view in the photo – and the Ljublanica river. Its Baroque churches are among the most beautiful in Central Europe. There is an old castle on the hill an you can have a beautiful view of the city from there. You can even climb on the tower from the 16th century. Young couples are married up on the castle they used to be married in the Town Hall in the old part of the city.
The busiest bridge over the river Ljubljanica is Tromostovje (The Three brisges), Zmajski most (The Dragon Bridge), which is the symbol of the city. There are a lot of interesting buildings built by Jože Plečnik, the Slovenian architect. These are: The Market, Tromostovje, The river banks, The National and University Library (NUK), Žale – the cemetery, Križanke – the summer theatre, Tivoli Park, St Francis Church in Šiška and St Michael on the Marsh – Barje. There are a lot of Secession buildings, as Grand Hotel Union, Slovenian Park in front of the Palace of Justice. In 1938 Ljubljana got its first skyscraper.
There are a lot of galleries, cinemas, theatres, The University – in the photo, with some 16 departments… There are also castles Cekin, Fužine, Kodeljevo, Sela, and so on. There are some very nice squares as Kongresni trg, Prešernov trg, Mestni, Stari and Gornji trg in the old town. Cultural life in the city is plentiful and it gained the title of Cultural Capital of Europe in May 1997. Cultural centre is Cankarjev dom an the new cinema hall – Koloseum with 12 cinema halls.