Advertisement
After a lovely drive across Italy from Nice, France, we arrived in Slovenia at the Njoki Festival in Ajdovscina. It is a small town, and the address for the festival literally read “center of town.” The festival consisted of an outdoor stage at the foot of an impressive range of mountains and a small campground, where most of the festivalgoers seemed to be staying. We stayed there for two days, one night in a student dorm type facility. The night we arrived was the first night of the festival, and Marky Ramone, drummer of the Ramones, was headlining. He had a young band and singer, and they charged through about 25-30 Ramones classics in a 90-minute set. The next day I spent some time at the pool, which appeared to be the main attraction in town. We were fed an excellent soup after soundcheck called Jota, a traditional dish with cabbage and carrots, and of course, Gnocchi, or Njoki, the small, pillow-like pasta for which the festival is named.
We played a great set around midnight, and although the crowd was less energetic than we’re used to, seemingly too stoned to really get into it, their were a fair amount of
people up front shaking the stage barrier and loving the show. After hanging around for a while we left with Iztok, a very light-hearted and humorous guy that would put us up for two nights at his house in the country.
When we arrived it was very late and we only got a vague idea of our surroundings. In the morning it was astounding - mountains, rolling hills and forest in every direction, with a creek passing through the yard, a garden and beautiful flowers everywhere. There was a wonderful sense of peace on the property. A herd of sheep grazed in the distance. I grabbed a book and a chair and made my way for a flat patch of grass by the creek. I finished the entire book there in two days, all other sound blocked out by the hypnotic sound of water rushing over rocks, the occasional Slovenian bug or butterfly landing on my book or chair and hanging out for a few moments, sometimes longer. I rested my feet in the brisk waters of the creek for a while, and was amazed by the things I saw. Everything was incredibly clear and there was life everywhere. Brightly
colored turquoise dragonflies swooped and darted near me, landing occasionally on a rock or stick and taking off again, dancing in the air around me. Their movements were magical - it was like a real life Pixar moment, the world in Technicolor.
On the first night, BP and I went into town to catch the final game of the Euro Cup soccer tournament, Spain vs. Germany. Iztok had a TV, but we were curious about nightlife in town and wanted to watch the game in a tavern setting. We headed into Vipava, which was much smaller even than Ajdovscina, where the festival was held. We followed directions from Iztok to a small tavern and ice cream parlor where the game was being shown on a few screens. We ordered some ice cream, which was amazingly rich, and then had some beers. The game was excellent. I had gotten behind Spain on our recent trip there, and they dominated much of the game, beating Germany 1-0. Afterwards we walked to a pizza restaurant down the road. They had stopped serving food, but we ordered some drinks and sat talking with some young people. We walked with them to a fireman’s ball
with a live polka-type band on an outdoor stage. We made all sorts of friends and had a really fun time. We somehow made it back to the country guided by angels in the early morning.
The second day was spent relaxing, exploring and reading. Iztok’s girlfriend, Polonca, was there and she and I played a Slovenian version of Connect Four for a while. We ate fresh things from the garden - onions, cucumbers, peppers, etc. It was so incredibly peaceful and nice to not have anywhere to go and no schedule to follow. Iztok made thick dark coffee with home-whipped cream. We drank mountain water from a tap by the creek. In the late afternoon we went into Ajdovscina to check email. We stopped through Vipava on the way back and went to the pizza shop BP and I had visited the night before. The pizza was great, and so cheap - we all ate for three Euros apiece - and afterwards we stopped for ice cream. When we got back to the house, Iztok was preparing a salad from the garden. Although I was stuffed, I had to oblige and the fresh greens were really tasty. After lying
down for a bit I dozed off with ease. Sometime around 1 am Iztok opened our door - BP, Craig and I were sharing a room - and turned on the light and began moving things around to get to a closet in the corner of the room. He emerged with an oblong object wrapped in towels. I was half-asleep, stunned by the light, and had no idea what was going on. He unwrapped the object, a didgeridoo, and began playing! It is a long tube cut from a tree and makes a low, bellowing swirl, an almost unearthly sound. Such odd behavior, and at a really odd time! He was a peculiar, quirky guy, certainly meaning no harm, and although it was very strange it somehow made sense. We all had a laugh about it in the morning, and then we bid our new Slovenian friends goodbye and left for Croatia. It has been an intoxicating, dreamy existence for a few days in the peaceful mountains of Slovenia…
Advertisement
Tot: 0.093s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 8; qc: 55; dbt: 0.0474s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb