Sneg!

Snow!

Happy Sunday everyone!

This morning we woke up to snow in Ljubljana! It's a beautiful Winter Wonderland!
This kind of weather just makes me want to stay in, listen to christmas music, drink some tea, and do some yoga! Last night was also daylight savings time so now I am only 5 hours ahead with Detroit! Kevin is away all day he has a game in Graz, Austria and the girls were all planning to road trip there but we couldn't find tickets the game is sold out and the weather wouldn't be ideal to travel in anyways! We have a busy week of hockey ahead the boys have 3 games this week! Kevin has had 3 goals and 1 assist is the 5 games he has played for Olimpija so far! Wishing Kevin and the guys luck tonight!!

Next Monday we take off for 3 days in Barcelona! Which I am sooo excited about! Hope it will be warm enough to go to the beach!

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween Weekend! Ciao!

Slovenian Word of the Day:
Bela meaning White

PEACE & LOVE,
Kevin & Amanda

Ljubljanski Grad!

Ljubljana Castle!

Kevin and I went up to see the castle on his day off on Monday! There was a beautiful view of the city from the top!

The castle is open any day of the year! You can climb Castle Hill from the very centre of Ljubljana by the panoramic funicular railway! The Castle is a medieval fortress with a new attractive image and is one of the most visited tourist points in all of Slovenia!

History
The area of the present castle has been settled continuously since 1200 BC.
-1112 till 1125, The oldest mention of Ljubljana Castle is inscribed on a parchment sheet Nomina defunctorum (names of the dead), which is kept by the Udine Cathedral Archive. 
-1144, Ljubljana Castle was mentioned as a property and the seat of the Carinthian dukes of the House of Spanheim. 
-1335, it became property of the House of Habsburg. 
-15th century, it was almost completely demolished and rebuilt with a complete wall and towers at the entrance, where a drawbridge was placed. A chapel was also built at that time. 
-16th and 17th centuries, other objects were gradually built. The castle's purpose was to defend the empire against Ottoman invasion as well as peasant revolt.
-17th and 18th centuries, the castle became an arsenal and a military hospital. It was damaged during the Napoleonic period and, once back in the Austrian Empire, became a prison, which it remained until 1905, resuming that function during World War II. 
-Between the 18th and 19th centuries, The castle's Outlook Tower dates to 1848; this was inhabited by a guard whose duty it was to fire cannons warning the city in case of fire or announcing important visitors or events. Because it was not a home of a ruler or another important noble person and because a fortification in the area was no longer required, the castle started to lose its importance. The maintenance costs were too high so the castle began to crumble. 
-19th century, the castle was redesigned partially as a prison and partially as a military stronghold, making it less popular among the citizens. Several famous people were jailed in the castle, including the Italian revolutionary Silvio Pellico, the Hungarian Prime Minister Lajos Batthyanyand the Slovene author Ivan Cankar.
-1905, the castle was bought by Municipality of Ljubljana, on the explicit wish of the mayor, Ivan Hribar, who planned to establish a city museum in it. The plan was however not carried out. Instead, the city decided to settle poor families into it.
-End of the 1960s, the long and extensive renovation works started. The whole renovation took more than 35 years.
-1990s, the use of the castle as a place for weddings and cultural events began.
-2006, The Ljubljana Castle funicular, a funicular railway to the top of Castle Hill, was built and brought to service on 28 December 2006.

View from the park of the Castle!

Funicular railway to the top of Castle Hill

The Courtyard

Chapel we found exploring the fortress.

Started climbing to the top of the tower

Key hole! The city of Ljubljana from above.

Found a painting exhibit for the artist Gani Llalloshi the series was called Nostalgie. The exhibit  is there until January 6, 2013.

This one was Kevin's favorite!

This one was my favorite!

Climbing to the top of the tower!

View of the fortress from the top!

Views of the city!

Was a bit hazy but the pictures look like a dream!

Italy to the West!

Mountains in the distance!

The city center!

The park! Where I took the picture of the castle in the distance!

To the North!

To the east!

Waiting to go back down!

Ciao!

Slovenian Word of the Day:
Hrib meaning Hill

PEACE & LOVE,
Kevin & Amanda

Banana Bread!

Foodie Fridays!
Sorry I have missed a few Fridays Kevin and I have been very busy moving and settling into our new home in Slovenia! We couldn't be happier!

Banana Bread is one of Kevin's and my favorites!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 1 Hour

Ingredients:
3-4 ripe bananas
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (175 C)
2. Mix melted butter and bananas in large bowl
3. Mix in sugar, egg, and vanilla extract
4. Mix in baking soda, salt, and flour
5. Butter a 4x8 or 3x9 bread pan
6. Bake 1 hour
7. Allow time to cool on rack

Enjoy this bread is delicious!

Slovenian Word of the Day:
Kruh meaning Bread

PEACE & LOVE,
Kevin & Amanda

Počutijo kot Doma!

Feel at Home!

Being back in this part of Europe, I feel like I'm at home again! At least my European Home! Last year we lived in Italy about 1 hour 30 minutes from where we are now. And I must say I have grown to love this part of the world!

Pictures of our new home we just got yesterday!

We live in the top part of this home! Our landlord lives below us and is super nice and helpful!

So excited when I got the keys!

Balcony

We enjoyed some pizza on the balcony from Luigi's located right down the street when we first arrived! Very good pizza! Reminded me of Italy!

Our balcony views!

Feels like 90 with the sun beating down on the balcony!

Laundry day!

Living Room

My favorite part! Love the cathedral ceilings!

Kitchen

Brand new everything!

Touch stove top!

New oven!

Bonus! It has a dishwasher! The first apartment Kevin and I have gotten in Europe with a dishwasher!

Bathroom

Nice shower! Not just a tub like we had last year in Italy! 

A lot of the apartments have these heaters on the walls in the bathroom! They are great for drying towels and clothes. Although its not our only source of heat since our apartment is floor heated which is so amazing! Most apartments in Slovenia are not allowed to turn on there heat at all till November there is some kind of law! So we have been freezing at night until we came here!

Bedroom

Kevin took his pillow with him on the bus and we are still waiting for a duvet filler for our duvet cover!

Armoires

Look up! My favorite part of our room is the skylight! Now I can stargaze from bed! :)

Spare Bedroom

Empty room right now! Nice Skylight in here too!

Foyer

Lots of storage is always nice!

Armoir in our stairwell for our coats and shoes! also a full size mirror!

Views of tonights sunset!

Picture from the Balcony! The mountains in the horizon! Italy to the west!

Slovenian Word of the Day:

Stanovanje meaning Apartment (theres no pronunciation for slovenian on google translate) :(

PEACE & LOVE,
Kevin & Amanda