This former summer residence of the Kings of Spain is now open to public as a museum which surely owes its fame to the splendid gardens surrounding it. Not that I think the palace’s interior isn’t majestic enough (all the contrary: how could I possibly not admire the stunning baroque furniture and paintings?!); I guess I have always preferred to admire the palaces, castles etc. from the outside.

The luxurious golden ornamented furniture, jewels and gigantic tapestries are definitely beautiful things for the eye, however what I enjoyed the most was our stroll in the gardens, with all the trees, bushes and birds chirping, along with the numerous statues and fountains (inoperative, unfortunately) telling a story from distant past – I hope you’ll enjoy the photos!

Related posts:

1. Summer holidays
2. Laguardia
3. Medieval town of Burgos

Related posts:

1. Summer day
2. Summer drinks: fruit water
3. Summer drinks: Spiced rooibos sangría

UMAG

PIRAN

Related posts:

1. My guide to Piran
2. A brief Vienna getaway
3. Summer holidays

Chamois fillet in mushroom sauce with cranberry marmalade and potato croquettes

We’ve been invited to a restaurant located at the foot of the Kamnik Alps that specializes in game meat. I had only tried game once before (wild boar in Portugal), so I was looking forward again to order something rather exotic to my palate. My dish of choice was chamois fillet (rupicapra rupicapra balcanica; goat-antelope species, they can be found all over the Alps and in many other parts of the world).

The meat was tender, not chewy at all as well as without that strong game-y flavor I’d been anticipating. Served with a so-called “hunter’s sauce” (containing several types of mushrooms, swimming in creamy, velvety goodness), cranberry marmalade (our cranberries are rather small as they grow wild in the nature, they are of the size of peppercorns) and potato croquettes – it truly made a meal to remember.

Juanpi wanted to try wild boar to compare it to the one we had had in Portugal, however it had been temporarily out of the menu, so he opted for turkey in green pepper sauce instead. To my surprise, the rest of folks ordered the common dishes that they cook and eat every week in their homes. Which made me *the only* one of the group to have ordered a specialty. On one hand I even felt bad for a while because almost everyone else had a typical (and the cheapest) Sunday Slovene menu consisting in beef soup, Wiener Schnitzel, potato fries and mixed salad (a standard meal (with slight changes every now and then) for a Slovene to order when eating outside). But on the other hand I was like, *why* invite to a specialized restaurant and then, indifferently, order a daily menu.
I’m definitely not trying to be snobbish here – I’m just asking myself what is the purpose. I know a lot of people who do it. Is it simply the habit? Playing safe? Hmmm.

Our tomato "house"; tomato plants are those to the right, and to the left there are pepper plants

Food issues aside, it’s been a beautiful summer day here in Ljubljana. Tomorrow I’m visiting my hometown to check on the garden, specially the tomatoes I transplanted a couple of weeks ago. I’m also taking another 8 tomato plants which are now big enough to be transplanted – it’s going to be a busy day.

Have a good week, everyone!

Related posts:

1. Spring lunch
2. Life on my window sill
3. Tomate frito revisited

* * * * *

These Pecorino and paprika twists make a great snack on their own, but I can also imagine pairing them with this yummy avocado spread I made a while ago (or I should better call it a “dip”), or for example with prosciutto crudo (wrapping the twists) or why not even serving them with a plate of delicious soup/cream/stew? I hope I gave you some ideas – and now, if you don’t mind, let’s head for the recipe (it’s super simple to prepare!).

PECORINO ROMANO AND PAPRIKA TWISTS
(adapted from this recipe)
*makes about 40*

Ingredients:
300g all-purpose flour (or use white spelt flour, like I do)
a pinch of salt
40g finely grated Pecorino Romano
160ml water
a good splash of good quality olive oil
flour, to dust
1 egg yolk + 1 Tbsp milk, to brush
(sweet) paprika, to sprinkle (or try cayenne pepper for spicy twists)

Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven at 190ºC and line a baking tray(s) with baking paper.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, salt and cheese. Add water and oil and using a small dough cutter (or as suggested in the original recipe, a round-bladed knife) mix everything until the mixture just comes together.
3. Shape the dough into a disc, turn onto a clean, lightly floured working surface and knead for 5 minutes (until smooth). Then shape into a disc (again), wrap in plastic (or like me, place back in a bowl and cover with a lid) and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4. With a rolling pin dusted with flour, roll out the pastry (about 3mm thick) into a square or rectangle and cut into 1.5cm-wide and 12cm-long strips. Twist them gently and place on the prepared baking tray(s). In a small bowl or cup, whisk together the egg yolk and milk and brush the twists with it. Sprinkle with paprika and bake for 15 minutes (I had to cover the tray with aluminum foil after 5 minutes of baking).
5. Remove the golden brown twists from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes (if you can so long, that is). Try not to eat too many at once (they keep well stored in an air-tight container).

Related posts:

1. Spring lunch
2. Trusted cookie recipes (II)
3. Orchard photos, and a tasty recipe

“Do you still keep our tomato seeds?” Juanpi asked me at the beginning of April. “Er…” I raised my eyebrow at his question. Of course I had still been keeping the seeds of our “tomateitors” (as Juanpi would name the incredible tomato seeds from Spanish La Rioja we planted back in 2006) – however, I had to think for a moment where they could have been. One can not just store the seeds in the kitchen cupboard, you see.

“What do you want them for?” I asked him, not even thinking of planting a 4 year-old seed. What a shame that we hadn’t planted them before… I always have to smile when thinking of the garden I converted into a real green “jungle” – with tomato plants as tall as myself occupying more than 3/4 of the garden beds – what a year that was! I learned so much about tomatoes and gardening at that time!
After moving to Ljubljana, I would have to give up the idea of planting the seeds collected from the best-looking tomatoes, because I simply couldn’t manage going to my hometown so often in order to tend the garden… 

“I want to give them a try”, Juanpi said to me. I wasn’t much of a believer at first, but gave him the seeds anyways and he placed some of them on a small plate on a thin layer of cotton. He then covered them with a small amount of soil and watered it up, placed the plate on the kitchen window sill and waited patiently.

By day 5 we could see the first sprouts – I could simply not believe my eyes!! Seeds that have been dormant for 4 long years would still sprout, how great is that! We felt as happy as two kids, observing how the little green miracles would grow taller and stronger each day. The plate soon got to small and the sprouts were crying for a bigger pot. They all survived the 1st transplantation, and then the 2nd one this past Friday. I hope they grow strong enough soon so that I can plant them in the garden!

We feel so proud of these Riojan tomato plants, hooray for them – they are real fighters!

Related posts:

1. April garden
2. Autumn mood
3. Tomate frito revisited

I’ve been always keen on nature. I would spend my school holidays in a small village, at my grandparents’ week-end house and though there were no kids of my age to play with, I would enjoy my time there very much – by learning and observing plants and birds, entertaining the goldfish in the backyard pond as well as the chickens in the hen-house. I would give names to every single one of them and bring them feed. Oh I miss them, those carefree days of my childhood!

This past weekend I’ve been visiting a village in northeastern Slovenia, it was so incredibly warm and sunny – a perfect day for taking photos. Here are some impressions I brought with me…

Apple tree

Violet

Dandelion

Jostaberry plant

Aronia plant

Lamb’s Ear

Left: lemon balm, right: apple tree

Forget-me-not

Related posts:

1. Arboretum
2. August images
3. Postcard from lake Zbilje

It’s become a habit of mine to take a walk in the countryside at the beginning of each season, together with my faithful companion, the photo camera. I enjoy capturing these unique moments of nature’s awakening, and if you do, too – you’re invited to a little photo walk with me. Variety of colors – assured!

It’s that time of year when we go out to pick the first spring greens, dandelion, growing wild as weeds almost everywhere, be it in the middle of a town or across the countryside.  I can’t imagine the springtime without a large bowl of dandelion salad or other dishes – lately I’ve been adding these greens to my egg omelettes – you got to try this! I don’t ever buy dandelion, although the market place stalls are bursting with it these days. It’s best to pick it yourself as it should be consumed within first day or two at most. Sometimes it can be a bit tricky to separate it from the grass. Take a look at the next photo and try to spot it!

With this hazelnut tree photo we’re concluding our spring walk – hope you’ve enjoyed it! I’m wishing you all a beautiful Springtime!

Related posts:

1. Countryside impressions
2. Dandelion revisited
3. Spring lunch

Related posts:

1. A spring walk
2. Countryside impressions
3. Summer day

No related posts.

This New Year's Eve, we substituted our 12 grapes with 12 strawberry tree fruits (that made a long trip all the way from Spain) or madroños, as they are called in Spanish - the fruit smells just like anise, however it bears no resemblance to this aroma once you bite into it - but it's tasty anyway! Happy New Year to everyone!

Related posts:

1. Happy Easter!
2. Happy St. Nicholas Day
3. Persimmon

The good side of mild weather: we don’t have to buy salad because we can still pick it from the garden! Right now the garden beds are full of lamb’s lettuce and radicchio, two of the very durable winter-type salads that survive even very cold winters. Usually they begin sprouting with the first warmer days as early as February.

Lamb's lettuce

One of the outer leaves of radicchio

Winter salads are thicker and bitter – and that’s my favorite type of salad. Some people don’t like them, but… how can you possibly resist such a colorful vitamin bowl??

I ate this bowl of radicchio for dinner tonight

Related posts:

1. April garden
2. Garden: update
3. In the garden, and Pecorino Romano & paprika twists recipe

After the outstanding lunch and tour in an incredible wine museum, Juanpi’s parents suggested a visit to a nearby village in la Rioja Alavesa, bordering region between La Rioja and Basque country. As soon as we arrived there, I understood why they wanted us to see it – it is so very beautiful!

Autumnal colors of Laguardia's surroundings

Laguardia, as this village is called, was found in early 10th century to “stand guard” (as its name suggests) over the Kingdom of Navarra‘s southwestern flank (today, Navarra is an autonomous community in Northern Spain, bordering with Basque country, La Rioja and Aragón). The village’s center is enclosed by walls and was built in 13th century. It must be a special feeling to live there, I said to myself when walking along the narrow streets, capturing my impressions with the photo camera. It was as if the time inside the walls went different way. One could almost feel the history of the place. A curious feeling, indeed! I better let the photos speak for me.

"Peace to those who arrive, health to those who dwell, happiness to those who leave" - the "motto" that awaits you at the entrance of the old village. Better than "Slovenija - VINJETA", at least

The entrance to the village's old center

There's something charming about these old streets

You're reminded at every step that this is a wine region

Love the door detail

An old clock at one of the small squares

The Basque flag (ikurriña) with the shield and the T-shirt of Athletic club de Bilbao (football club of Bilbao, city in Basque country) - and an Irish tavern (?!?)

Around la Rioja you will see red peppers drying outside almost everywhere

Narrow streets

An interesting outdoor exhibition of peculiar sculptures and no, you can't take them with you!

Hotel in Laguardia, Castillo de Collado

I hope you enjoyed this “mini tour” of the little village of Laguardia! Here is where our Spanish trip comes to an end – it was not easy to say good-bye to Spain again, however we’re already looking forward to next time. There’s still so much left to see… and savor! Thanks for reading.

Related posts:

1. Burgos view, and a day in La Rioja
2. Medieval town of Burgos
3. Back

Now that I’ve shown you the old part of Burgos, and a bit of the town’s architecture, I want to share with you some of the images taken from the view platform above the cathedral, a must-stop for a visitor of Burgos.

Burgos castle (photo source: Expo Castilla)

Just above the cathedral of Burgos, there are ruins of a castle, built all the way back in 9th century as a defense against the Moors. The castle was destructed in 1813 by the army of Napoleon and what you can see there today, is merely a remaining wall of what once used to be a great fortress. Unfortunately we couldn’t enter the castle, since the visits in the cold part of year must be previously arranged. Protected by coniferous woods, the castle spot provides an awesome view of the town of Burgos, as you can see in the following photos:

At the view platform

The view platform offers a half-circle display of the major sightseeing points of Burgos. Here you can see the cathedral on a display - and the real one in the background

Spain is the world's third biggest producer of wind power - if you look carefully, you will see a wind farm in the background of the photo

A compass at the view platform

*  *  *  *  *

La Rioja is the east-neighbor region of Burgos. I’ve been there once before and totally fell in love with the landscape. Probably because it resembles a bit the environment I grew up in, with lots of green everywhere (Castilla y León is green too but not as much as La Rioja. I still long to visit Asturias and Galicia, the greenest parts of Spain.)

The view of Riojan landscape from the car - vineyards everywhere

So, one day of our short stay in Burgos, we made a trip to the north-west of La Rioja, to a village called Briones – home to Dinastía Vivanco, a renowned Riojan dynasty of wine makers who have built the Museum of the culture of wine, an incredible collection of everything wine-related – this museum is home to permanent and temporary exhibitions (located next to the bodega and covering 9000sqm of space), where one can learn about origins of wine, from the beginning of wine-making more than 10 000 years ago, the tools used throughout history, the different techniques applied in the process, learning to define wine’s character, and about instruments and materials used in the maturing  of wine and bottling process… Not to mention the huge collection of corkscrews (3000 pieces!) from all around the world. The Museum is simply stunning, I’ve never seen something similar in my life. There’s also a restaurant and a shop inside the Museum. Absolutely worth the visit if you ever find yourself in La Rioja. Unfortunately, photo cameras were not permitted inside the building, so I only have these photos for you that were taken outside:

The visit at the Museum made us hungry, so we drove off to a nearby village Haro to try some regional specialties in a restaurant with long tradition, known specially for their cordero asado (roasted leg of lamb).

When you enter this restaurant, you find yourself in front of the big oven, where all the lamb legs are being roasted right in front of you. The kind cook allowed me to take some photos of the place:

Most of the dishes at “Terete” are served in rustic clay pots which gives an even more delicious look to already very tasty food. The place was completely packed with people even if it was a workday. No wonder, with all the plates they serve! Check it for yourself:

Pochas - butter bean stew with chorizo. Juanpi can not forget it, so good it was

Menestra de verduras - vegetable "minestra" (=a soup) which was nothing alike the Italian one as I know it: this one had almost no liquid, the vegetables were fried (mushrooms, roasted red peppers, artichokes, beans...). Very tasty but quite filling for a starter

Cordero asado - roasted leg of lamb, the star dish of the house

Pimientos rellenos de setas - mushroom and bechamel stuffed roasted red peppers in red pepper sauce

Pimientos rellenos de ternera - roasted red peppers, stuffed with minced veal: both plates of stuffed peppers were excellent. La Rioja is well known for its roasted peppers with a stronger, smoky flavor

The food was, of course, flushed down with a bottle of local drink. This was one of the best restaurant lunches I’ve had in a long time (says a person with rather demanding palate) and I hope to return there one day.

Our day in La Rioja did not end with lunch – off we went to visit another lovely village on the border between La Rioja and Basque country…

(continues)

Related posts:

1. Medieval town of Burgos
2. Laguardia
3. Back

Arlanzón river runs all the way along the core of the town of Burgos

I couldn't resist taking photos of these lovely ducks

Beautiful park by the river, perfect for a Sunday stroll

Arco de Santa María is one of the most symbolic monuments of Burgos. In the main six niches there are the statues of Nuño Rasura and Laín Calvo (the judges of Castile),  the counts Diego Rodriguez Porcelos (the founder of Burgos) and Fernán González (the first independent count of Castile), El Cid (Spanish hero) and Carlos I (Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Duke of Burgundy and Lord of Netherlands among others).  Above these niches there is a statue of St. Mary, city’s patron saint. For a close-up photo of this portal, check the Wikipedia page.

Arco de Santa María, the old town's portal: built in 14th and remodeled in 16th century

On the other side of the portal you are greeted by the enormous early Gothic-style cathedral, declared a World Heritage site. Richly ornamented, this cathedral was being built from 13th to 15th century, and is located in a corner, surrounded by two natural walls. Due to the multilevel terrain, which made the construction difficult, the cathedral’s exterior lies in several levels as well. In 1919 it became the burial place of El Cid and his wife Doña Jimena.

Cathedral Our lady of Burgos

On of the entrances to Cathedral

This little train can comfortably take you to the main sightseeing points in town

Burgos forms a part of Camino de Santiago, a major Christian pilgrimage route leading to Santiago de Compostela. On the photo below you can see a monument to the pilgrims. The scallop shell is a traditional symbol of Santiago (St. James) and is therefore very popular among pilgrims. These shells can be seen all over the old part of Burgos (carved into the facades of buildings as well as sold as a souvenirs in shops).

A statue of a pilgrim

Souvenir shop selling pilgrim's staves with shells of St. James

Souvenirs you are most likely to buy in Burgos include all sorts of things medieval

As the walk leads us past the cathedral into one of a many lovely pedestrian street, you will find shop by shop loaded with delicious local products: different types of legumes, vegetables, wines, liquors and cheeses. Let’s take a peep at some of them:

Local products of Burgos in a shop window display

Red beans

Wines, liquors and cheeses

A perfect present for medieval fans (I'm having hard times imagining the air transport of this particular piece though!)

Nope, this one is not a souvenir. Not sure of his purpose in the middle of medieval town, either

Bota bags, Spanish wine (or any other liquids) containers, traditionally made of leather (modern ones tend to have a latex liner though)

A restaurant in the old part of town, offering specialties of the region: lentils, lamb and suckling pig

After filling our bags with souvenirs and local products, we approach Plaza Mayor – the main square of Burgos (located east of the cathedral). This is the place of many social and political gatherings as well as meet up and starting points. I like to come to this square because of one book shop – I just adore books! These are a few images of the square:

Plaza mayor and its vivid colors - with a statue of Carlos III

Plaza mayor - town hall (the white building)

Buildings of Plaza mayor, from close

Buildings of plaza mayor - apartments

And as our walk is approaching the end, let me show you some fascinating images of the apartment buildings in pedestrian streets in the very center – I loved their vivid colors, they really made my day!

I hope you enjoyed this little walk through old part of Burgos, come visit later on for more images from our trip to Burgos and its surroundings.

Related posts:

1. Burgos view, and a day in La Rioja
2. 2000 kilometres away
3. Back