This weekend we had an excursion to the Štajerska region. Štajerska lies primarily to the east of Ljubljana and its largest city is the ancient provincial capital of Celje, where we began out journey. Traveling by bus we passed by many farms growing hops for beer. Apparently hops is big business in Slovenija and the quality is reportedly very high.
After about a forty-five minute drive we arrived in Celje and headed straight for the castle above the town. The counts of Celje ruled Štajerska for several centuries and at one time their power rivaled that of the up and coming Hapsburgs. The dominion of the counts (later raised to Dukes and then Princes) is memorialized on the Slovene coat of arms in the three stars above the silhouette of Triglav mountain. 
The emblem of the counts was this three star motif. But Celje’s history is much older than that. Celje was first settled by the Romans who named the town Celia. At the castle we were greeted by a woman impersonating Barbara a famous countess of the realm. The view from the castle is impressive but unfortunately the castle in in the middle of renovation and our busy schedule did not permit us to visit the museum.
So it was back onto the but for a trip to the glass factory, … . The factory produces fine (and expensive) glass and leaded crystal. We saw men blowing glass goblets. OSHA would have had a field day. These guys were wearing nothing but shorts and flip flop while they handled the molten glass. Most of them were smoking while they blew the glass and none of them ever put down their cigarettes, no matter what they were doing.
Next on the agenda was lunch at a wine vineyard in … . Until now we had been pretty much your typical annoying tourists, getting on and off a bus, taking in only a cursory look at things. In that way it had been somewhat disappointing since I think most of us were here specifically not to be your stereotypical tourists. We had a typical traditional Štajerska lunch beginning with a delicious mushroom soup, followed by roast pork, potatoes and vegetables. Along with the meal we had refreshing local wine. The restaurant was in the middle of the vineyards and the view was magnificent. This was definitely the best part of the day so far.
After lunch it was off to the thermal springs of … . A bit of a disappointment since the springs are basically a pool that happens to be filled with water that comes from a thermal spring. But it was hot and the swim, was refreshing. (Unfortunately by compact, our mutual vanity precluded any us from taking any pictures.)
Our last stop was the old Carthusian monastery at Ž… . Although it was the first Carthusian monastery located outside of France and was for a time the home of the prior of the order, it has long since been abandoned. (There is a Carthusian monastery that is still functioning in the country and I hope to visit it.)
The monastery is slowly being restored today and the medicinal herbal schnapps that made the monastery famous are stil produced here. We were treated to a tour of the monastery and then a sampling of various schnapps. The monastery is situated in an isolated and steep valley surrounded by forests. It is extremely quiet and peaceful so it is obvious why the monks chose this location. This was the highlight of the trip. I wish I could have stayed here a bit longer.
