In the family history you can read how Nives’ grandfather and grandmother left Žaga for the Netherlands in the last century. They had thought that one day they would return to their homeland, but as time passed they came to regard the Netherlands as their new homeland and they died there in 1996 resp. 2009 after a rich and lovingly life. They had ensured to give their children a good life in the Netherlands and above all the love for their homeland; they passed on the Slovenian language, the music and authentic recipes to their children and grandchildren and even the partners in-law were enchanted by the special feeling of ‘Love for Slovenia’. So, from day 1 Michael was in love with everything that had to do with Slovenia and in particular the region of the Soča valley and the village of Žaga.
Not surprisingly, when we had a baby son in 2013, he was named after Grandma Pepa’s oldest brother Lojz, who ran the local café-restaurant Pri Mostu in Žaga for many years. Lojz was baptized in 2014 in Srpenica, the neighboring village of Žaga, in the same little church where Pepa and Franci got married 75 years earlier.
Lojz also grew up with Slovenian language and culture and Slovenia is undeniably in his blood. Singing and dancing to the typical Slovenian Oberkrainer music of Slavko Avsenik, spending time with his Slovenian family, adventurous mountain hikes with his uncles Ivo and Lennart and old-fashioned strolling through the Žaga meadows with local children.
When our family celebrated Anita and Piet’s 50th wedding anniversary together with the Slovenian family at the Klanc in Žaga in 2018, a little further down the road a dilapidated house, Žaga 99 on the Mutnca, appeared to be for sale. We knew immediately: this would be our dream house! On a beautiful spot with wonderful views and opposite the spot, where once our family history started, the house in which grandma Pepa grew up (that house is no longer there, since it was demolished after the severe earthquakes in 1976). The first big hurdle was to get the house on sale and subsequently to purchase it under the auctioneer’s hammer; this became reality on November 8, 2019. What followed was nothing more or less than an episode of the popular Dutch television program “Ik vertrek”: starting with lots of good spirits and enthusiasm months of ups and downs followed, building setbacks, sleepless nights, corona, but also many moments of joy and pleasure during our trips to Žaga. In the summer of 2021 our dream house Hiša Lojz was ready to welcome the first guests to come and enjoy the beautiful surroundings and hospitality of the Soča valley as much as we do!
