VISITING MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS DURING CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS PART 1

It's been a while since my last blog. Reason for that is very simple. I was in Slovenia for two weeks, visiting my family and friends. And of course spending Christmas and New Year with them. So ... Happy New Year everyone :) 

When I had just moved to Scotland and mum had asked me "When are you planning to come home for a visit?" I had said "Probably sometime in January?. Mum's question was of course rethorical. She expected me to come home during Christmas holidays. Reasons for that were simple: mum has days of work at that time, plus Christmas is a family holiday. I, if I'm honest, hesitated. I wanted to see how Christmad and New Year's Eve look like here. I wanted a new experience, as everything is always the same back home. Not that everything being the same is a problem. Of course it isn't. Another reason why I didn't want to come then is the price of plane tickets. Due to holidays, plane tickets are quite expensive. But anyhow ... Thank God I went home for holidays. I would've liked it in Scotland, I'm sure, but I loved being back home again. And as mum said, Christmas is a family holiday. I would have missed my family too much if I'd stayed here. Plus I must not forget to mention this. The weather was spectacular! It was sunny and quite warm in the first week - around 10°C. The second week was amazing. Snow (we got around 40 - 50 cm of snow) and then it was freezing (the temperature varied between -15 and -5 °C). This is how every winter should be like. Snowy and freezing. Because when it's snowing or when it's freezing, there's no rain and hardly ever any fog. Plus for some reason freezing temperatures make me feel very alive. 

Now to tell you something about my vacation back home. I landed in Trst (Trieste, Italy) on 19th of December at around 17 pm. Mum, sister and Špela were waiting for me. When I saw them, I immediately noticed a huge poster that Špela was holding. Later she told me that many people were glancing towards her way and wondering what was written on the poster. You'll see what was written on the poster in the picture. But to translate it now; it says ... Hi, friend! I missed you so much! (in Scottish dialect).

Špela and me.

After we said hi to each other and stopped hugging, I got a nice sandwich with my favourite salami - Poli, cheese and pickles. Loved it! I've missed Slovenian bread very much. Not to mention how much I missed Poli :) Then it was time to hit the road. Of course I drove. And I loved it so much! Missed driving on the proper side, with gear shift in my right hand, wheel in my left and driving fast on motorway. It was so much fun. To be honest, I needed few minutes to get used to driving my mum's car again, because steering wheel is much much softer to the car I drive in Scotland. But just few minutes, not much :) 

We dropped Špela at her place, where my friend Iztok, Špela's brother, waited for me outside to say hi. Then we drove straight to my grandparents' house. Both grandparents were very happy to see me again after five months. Granny even baked me my favourite dessert called Metin štrukelj (some sort of peppermint pie/bread). Then mum, sister and me went home. Finally I had the time to relax. My whole family, including Uroš, my brother, was in the kitchen/living room area, chatting. It felt like I never even left. It was just so normal. Of course Diva (cat) and Šerif (dog) were with us as well. I was very happy to see our pets again. It's been a while since I last cuddled with them. Šerif however had a little grudge on me. But soon he forgot about it :) When the night came, sister and mum went to sleep, while brother and I spent time together behind the telly, watching Top Gear. We in fact spent most of our nights watching old episodes of Top Gear.

Diva, Šerif and me :)

My first whole day of being back was busy. I went to the hairdresser and then straight to church where choir has rehearsals. Due to upcoming Christmas and Saint Stephen's day (very important holiday for my parish) we had to rehears quite a bit. It was nice to properly sing again. Where I go to church in South Queensferry, and I presume it's more or less the same everywhere else in Scotland and/or UK, everyone sings. They don't have a church choir. And they sing without any notes. This makes it harder for me to learn the songs. I did however learn few :) In the evening, I went to Ljubljana Christmas market with sister, Špela and Iztok. We ran into my cousin whom I didn't see in almost a year. It was fun, Ljubljana does look nice in all those lights.

On Sunday I went to church, then mandatory coffee in coffee place called Stan, then lunch. After lunch sister, mum, Šerif and I went out for a long walk and when we came back we had to get ready for vising grandparents. Aunt with her family was there as well. Was nice to see them all again. Had to answer many questions of course. Kinda got used to it. Everyone that saw me for the first time in five months asked similar questions. In the evening Iztok, sister and me went to the cinema to watch the latest Hunger Games movie. Sister and Iztok waited one month to see this movie. They waited for me to return. Was very nice of them :)

I spent most of Monday at friend's place. Nina recently moved to her boyfriend's place. We talked a lot, ate a lot and most of all had lots of fun. Tuesday and Wednesday were busy getting everything ready for Christmas Eve. We put the decorations on, Christmas tree, nativity scene, cleaned the house etc. This is how our Christmas tree and nativity scene looked like this year:

On Christmas Eve I cooked dinner for my family. I cooked salmon with leek and sour cream. I was nagging mum to buy salmon for a long time now. So finally I got her to buy it, or better yet sister and brother bought it, and I found a recipe. Never cooked this dish before. But I very much liked it. So did the family. More or less :) Then it was time to attend mass. First one that night. After church we gave each other presents. We did Secret Santa. Mum and brother got each other. Brother bought a book for mum. Forgot the name but I remember a movie has been filmed based on this book. Mum bought brother new hiking sticks. And as you probably already know sister and me got each other. Sister got me a very nice jumper that has some things sewed on. Granny sewed that on. Which means my jumper is unique! I also got yearly planner, small mirror with comb, which is very useful. Can store it in my handbag. Then handmade bracelet and a tiny bottle of salt. It is not a normal salt but a special one. That takes the bad air in. Or something like that. My sister would know how to explain it better. Now to tell you what I got for sister. I bought her a watch, eco notebook, four different types of tea, pyjamas and a dress. I must not forget to mention that our budget was 20 euros. Which means I got all that for just 20 euros. I can't remember when was the last time she was so happy opening the presents. She looked like a small child :)

The next few days were spent at church, home and at grandparents' house. I was pretty tired by the end of the Christmas holidays. Of course we went out for long walks every day. Actually I walked and/or hiked a lot during those two weeks of being home. Courtesy of sister and mum. They made me go! Not that I'm complaining. Well just a little bit :) 

This is all for now. I'll tell you more in the next part :) Which will be written later this week.