On Saturday, June 3, a good quarter of us members of the Association for Preserving Heritage from Gradež, organized by the Arriva Alpetour agency, took part in a professional excursion to Kočevska and bordering Croatia.

In Ribnica, we listened to guide Kristjan about the history of the castle and visited the Handicraft Center. We learned everything about manufacture of dry goods, peddling and pottery in Kočevsko, and watched live the making of baskets. 

The route then led us under Kostel Castle, where we were shown the former equipment of my grandmother's kitchen and some clothes and handicrafts from my grandmother's chest from the beginning of the last century. The exhibition was prepared by members of the Society of Kostel´s Women Nežica. We were also able to try strong Kostel rakija.

In Petrina, they prepared for us a tasting of organic goat's cheese, Kostel's stomach and local Matt beer. We then drove through Osilnica to Croatia along the border road, where we stopped at the working sawmill Mlinarić and the Žagar mill. In Zamost, we were able to admire the Palčevo šiša museum, the house of the ancestors of the local guide, which is included in the list of Croatian cultural heritage.

We were served a delicious "lunch-supper" in the Falkenau guest house in Kočevje. Enriched with everything we saw and heard, we returned to Gradež. As many as four guides, two members of the Nežica association and young basket maker dedicated themselves to us on the excursion, all of whom did their work flawlessly and perfectly.

There is more in the municipal newspaper Trobla.

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