Slovenia is a small but sweet country that can seem as a destination for a short period of time. I can imagine that it’s also a country that lot of people drive through to get to their final destination (this happens to Slovakia too). I can prove you that it’s worth stopping and discovering more than just the typical touristy spots. I had the pleasure of discovering the region of Štajerska or Styria (in English). This region is famous for wine and many forests. Well, probably as all the other regions of this country with two million of inhabitants 🙂 As usual, I was in search of something unique or typical, something local that I’ve never seen before to record an unboxing video. Why unboxing? It’s just a “technique” that I use to discover the local stuff. I like local stuff! It makes a place, culture and people to stand out among the rest. So was I lucky enough to find something unique in Slovenia? Of course I was 😉

I really enjoyed making this unboxing video, even though I had some challenges to overcome while filming. First of all there were around 8 people looking at me – and I can get shy – more over, my “typical product” was so warm and heavy, that I had difficulties to breath. Are you curious that what I’m talking about? Here is my video!

The traditional mask that I unboxed in the video is called “KURENT” and it’s from the town called Ptuj. Kurent is a character that appears every year during the most ethnologically significant Slovenian carnival – Kurentovanie (goes on every year in February). Kurent wears a massive sheepskin garment and a chain with huge bells around its waist, resulting in the noise the function of which is to “chase away winter”. The ten-day rite of spring and fertility is most likely connected to Slovene mythology and Slavic paganism. I am myself from another Slavic country – Slovakia – so these old traditions and myths are fascinating for me. Especially when I find people like the Klinc family. They keep the tradition alive by creating and producing kurent masks for the carnival visited by more than 100,000 people every year. Good job!

More typical products from Slovenia
Slovenia has more to offer than just the traditional mask. Although that mask was the coolest of all products I discovered during this trip. Here are some more in case you’ll travel to Slovenia – especially to “Stajerska” region, so you can try it your self:

Grapes and wine! I couldn’t get enough – of grapes 🙂

Wine tasting: Very tasty wine – Ritoznojcan

Local Coca Cola – COCKTA!

This is kurent in it’s all beauty 🙂

Hemp products: Milk, tea, cookies. Yummy

Struklji – traditional dish, with both sweet or salty filling. My version was with cheese and breadcrumb.

I love mushrooms and apparently they have lot of them in Slovenia. You just have to know which one to pick up and eat. Remember not everything that is beautiful is good for you 🙂

Finally, the sparkling wine from Zlati grič winery was yummy. It was just hard to play golf afterwards…

That’s it! I have to go back to Slovenia and to discover more place in this country and taste some more wine 🙂 Thank you all for your warm welcome and lot of happy moments!