Friday, April 25, 2008

Piranske Soline

I am getting ready for my upcoming trip to Ljubljana, which I continually hear good things about. It will be a quiet couple days to myself, enjoying the Renaissance, Baroque, and Art Nouveau ambiance. I'm also very excited to visit Piranske Soline, which is supposed to be a renowned salt shop. The salt is gathered by hand using the same technique they used in the 14th century. It makes me wish I was going to be closer to the Adriadic and able to do it myself. They say,

“Only sea, sun, wind and the hand of the salter are involved in this procedure.”
There's something so romantic and simple about that for me. I love things that technology is unable to replace or replicate that require human hands and take time to create. You can read more about the park where the salt is harvested here.

Sometimes I find it funny how certain aspects of my life seem to crop up time and time again... like salt. I give tours to Salzburg, which is a city that made it's riches from salt. The word salt is derived from the Latin word 'salerium', from which salary comes from, since salt was white gold of it's time and often how people were paid. It continues to pay me!

I am also going to enjoy the Piranske Soline salt flower and dark chocolate bar. That alone is worth the trip for me. They even have a line of body products called 'Lepa Veda', which is the title of a France Prešeren poem about a young woman who goes to live abroad only to miss home. The more I learn the happier I am to be going... it's definitely kismet.

I'm already so impressed with Ljubljana and I haven't even been yet. And I'm sure that my salted coconut oatmeal chip cookies will be even more delicious while enjoy them and think of my trip to Slovenia.

(photo courtesy of Ljubljana Tourism)

1 comment:

JoernandAllison said...

I am so excited for you! Can't wait to hear all about it when you get back :) And of course, I am dying to hear all about the salt!