Thanks to some connections we’ve made with one of our local students, Felipe Prenz, we made a special trip to northern Slovenia today to perform some music as part of a grand opening event. The location was the hamlet of Kamna Gorica, near the city of Bled. This beautiful mountain town mostly lives in a valley, but on one of the mountain sides is a beautiful baroque church and an old building that was being opened to the public today as a museum.

The town of Kamna Gorica in northern Slovenia (note the snow-capped mountains in the background)

The beautiful church of the Holy Trinity in Kamna Gorica.

We made the two hour drive in three vans, arriving just in time to hear the last part of mass and to witness one of the truly strange and shocking things we’ve ever experienced–listen to the beautiful church bells, and be prepared for the sudden interruption of a canon!

The leading cause of death in Kamna Gorica is heart attack, caused by the sudden explosion of canons.

After touring the new museum and meeting some of the local dignitaries (including Cecilia, Felipe’s mother), we headed to the local restaurant for a hearty lunch of soup and bread. On the way back to Duino, some of us needed a coffee. This was the nicest rest stop food I’ve seen–one option was a soup bar, which offered three soups and a several toppings.

You can’t find food like this on the NJ Turnpike.