Beekeeping! Today we drove to Radovljica to see the Museum of Apiculture (beekeeping). It may sound like an odd choice, but it was fascinating! Honey is an important crop in Slovenia and it is used in many dishes and desserts. Honey schnapps seems to be the national drink!
The museum traced the development of beekeeping and displayed old tools, hives, and other equipment. In addition to the agricultural aspect of beekeeping, the front panels of the hives became an important part of Slovenian folk art. When Baroque art flourished in Slovenia, paintings started to appear on the front panels of the hives (boxes.)
At first, the scenes were mostly religious, but then they started to depict stories or give a humorous comment on aspects of everyday life. The museum had over 600 hive fronts and one of the more famous pictures is of the devil sharpening a woman’s tongue. That’s a pretty good sense of humor for the late 1700’s.
We leave the mountains tomorrow and drive to the capital city, Ljubljana.
Today, I'm thinking about Jill and Jake. "Happy 2nd Anniversary!!"
Wow, excellent blog and photos! These look like they could/should be postcards. Sounds like you are having a terrific time. Looking forward to seeing more pix at the Bayt Reunion. Here's to continued safe travels and give a hello to John from us.
ReplyDeleteKim and Tony
Your pictures are BEAUTIFUL and your blog entries are so informative!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had the opportunity to take this trip.
Looking forward to hearing more when you arrive home.