sLOVEnians travel

A small town worth visiting for 3 reasons:

• Lace
• local food »žlikrofi«
• mercury

First: Lace

Idrija is famous for its lace-making tradition and it´s the place where the most beautiful lace in the country is made. You can visit a lace museum (which is actually a lace-making-school) or you go to the Gewerkenegg castle in the middle of the town, where a part of the Municipal Museum is dedicated to lace. There you can see the special bobbin lace and a huge tablecloth (5000 hours work) which belonged to Tito’s wife.
Secret hint: we asked the receptionist at the entrance for a good restaurant, where we could try local food. They recommended »Gostilna pri Škafarju« in the centre of the town and we got 2 coupons for a free dessert. Try to ask, maybe you’re lucky as we were.

Second: Žlikrofi

We like free stuff (who doesn’t?), so we went to that restaurant and ordered žlikrofi. This is like handmade ravioli filled with potato filling and it comes with different sauces (we ordered 1x with mushrooms and 1x with goulash). It was delicious! Then we got also the free dessert – a biscuit like cake with chive inside. Yes, funny combination, but tasty.

Third: Mercury

You can visit a very interesting and authentic mine museum and even enter one of the oldest mines in Europe. It’s called “Anthony Shaft” and was built in 1500. First you get to see a short film about the mine, its impact on Idrija and everyday life of a miner. Then you get green overcoats and helmets and you are ready for entering. “Srečno” (Good luck) is written above the entrance, which is a traditional miner greeting. You get to see real mercury, on display are working conditions, old machines, you’ll visit an underground chapel and look out for the mine dwarf Perkmandlc.

Bonus sight:

Divje jezero (Wild Lake)

If you travel from Ljubljana to Idrija, don’t miss Divlje jezero (Wild lake), with its green waters. It is the spring of the shortest river in Slovenia, Jezernica. It has been explored to depths up to 160 metres, but unorganised diving is forbidden. It has many underground caves and it’s the most northern environment where the famous Proteus lives.