Zivjo!
I'm getting behind on my blog, but last weekend, the country of Slovenia celebrated Pust (pronounced Pooost), a holiday to scare winter away and welcome spring. The oldest city in Slovenia, Ptuj (pronounced pit-tooowie), puts on a huge parade which has become Slovenia's biggest cultural event. Everyone dresses up in costumes and, like I said in my previous blog post, everyone eats krofi.
So to celebrate Pust, I went to Ptuj with Zvonko's family to watch the famous parade. Ptuj actually dates back to the Stone age and was settled by the Celts by the late Iron Age.
The Ptuj Town Hall
Oh look, a nun drinking wine.
And smoking cigarettes!
And the kurents arrive! These beasts, who wear sheepskin and masks, are named after the Kurent, or a mythological creature believed to have the power to chase away winter and usher in spring. They wear huge bells around their waists which they shake to make loud clanging noises. There were 600 kurents!
Check them out in action.
Lovers.
Poor old ladies carrying their men.
Me with some kurents.
Fun time.
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