Celje

Celje is located in the northeast of Slovenia, northeast of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. The city is situated in a region called Styria. For a Frenchman, Celje is a small town, but it is the third biggest city in the country, with 40 000 inhabitants.

History of Celje

Celje is a city with a very rich history. Already in Roman times, Celeia (Latin for Celje) was very populated. You can admire the remains of the Roman city in the museum called “The City under the City.”

It should also be noted that the Counts of Celje lived in this city. Their castle still dominates the city. The castle is now a museum where you can admire the history of the Counts. When you come to Celje, you must also visit the Palace of the Princes, where there is an exhibition dedicated to the Counts of Celje, and you can even see their skulls there.

When you walk around the city you notice, in front of the train station, a statue of a small lady with a suitcase in her hand. She is a famous Slovenian writer and traveler, Alma Karlin, born in 1889. She travelled all over the world, including two years on the islands of Oceania where she collected insects, plants and ethnographic artifacts. She also wrote books, poems and articles. Thanks to her impressive writings, she was nominated for the Nobel Prize. She was multilingual. Her native language was German but she also spoke French, Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit fluently. She died in poverty in her town in 1950.

Slovenian cuisine

There is an old Slovenian quotation that says “love goes through the stomach.” Food therefore plays an important role in our country. Slovenian cuisine is rich and various, but not well known because the country is fairly small and unfamiliar to many.

Our traditional dishes are made from local ingredients, and there are many different variations of each dish.

The quality of our gastronomy has also been recognized by the inspectors of the Michelin Guide.

Today, Slovenia has five restaurants with one Michelin star and one with two stars. The two-star restaurant is named Hiša Franko, a restaurant owned by Ana Roš, who was named the best female chef in the world in 2017.

 Slovenian 5 best-known traditional dishes 

KRANJSKA KLOBASA (Carniolan sausage), usually eaten with bread and mustard

POTICA, a rolled cake with various fillings, for example: stuffing with tarragon, walnuts and poppy seeds.

PREKMURSKA GIBANICA, a dessert filled with cottage cheese, poppy seeds, walnuts and baked apples

KARST PROSCIUTTO, air-dried pork leg, eaten with a glass of “teran,” a well-known Karst red wine.

ŠTRUKLJI, a traditional Slovenian dish of rolled dough with various fillings, are served as a main course or garnish. They are served sweet or savory, baked or boiled.

In Celje you can get a taste of traditional dishes at Francelj’s. If you love meat Stari Pisker is the best place for you. We also have to mention the Europa Hotel, which is famous for its desserts.

Nutrition in Slovenia

In Slovenia, we eat breakfast before going to school, at 6 in the morning. Usually, we eat fruit, bread with Nutella, cereal or yoghurt. We drink water or tea. Often, we also eat typical Slovenian breakfast – bread with butter and honey.

We also have a meal in our school canteen at 10:30. Usually we eat a warm meal, something like meat and rice, pasta, or fish with potatoes. Sometimes, there’s even a dessert.

Our lunch break is one hour long. We also eat after coming home from school, around 3 PM. We like to eat soup, salad, meat and pasta… Usually we don’t eat dessert.

Somewhere between 6 and 8 in the evening, we have dinner. We eat something like a sandwich, a salad or simply just yoghurt.