Christmas 2025 saw us on an Adventure – Andrea’s friend was working at a 3-star Michelin restaurant in Slovenia, Hiša Franko, and we had the opportunity to join her for a dinner and some adventuring. We jumped at the chance, hopping a flight into Northern Italy before the drive out into Slovenia itself… with a few exciting adventures along the way.


Wednesday, 24-December-2025

One of the exceptionally cool parts about dating someone from another culture is getting to experience that culture first-hand, the day-to-day little bits that you wouldn’t really get from a book, or from a few hours of talking with a person.

On the other hand – Christmas dinner!

Bulgarian Christmas dinners are definitely something that I could technically learn about online, or in a book… but let’s be very real here – experiencing them firsthand is MUCH better. Especially when there’s two incredible (one heavily award-decorated) chefs cooking it up!

Now, let’s see what we have on the menu…
– Cermi – Cabbage leaves, stuffed with rice and herbs.
– Pitka – Fancy Christmas bread, wrapped in string, with a coin and a dogwood twig in it for us to find for good luck! A coin for wealth, and a sprig for health!
– Tikvenik – Banitsa, but with pumpkin and nuts.
– Fermented cabbage salad – exactly as it sounds.
– Ochaf – A dried fruit salad, served cooled in a delicious fruit juice as a dessert.
– An adorable puppy named Oreha (walnut) who was a little bit barky, but a lot bit adorable!