LifestyLe | traveL | food & drink | nature

B-ezine

monthly magazine from Big Berry lifestyle resort

B-ezine

The BIG BERRY Lifestyle Resort is Slovenian’s first lifestyle resort, located by the River Kolpa which flows through Primostek, a charming settlement in southeast Slovenia.

www.BigBerry.eu

TravelBeauty of a stunning nature, rich history is what Slovenia offers. Come discover it with us!

PeopleEvery issue we will introduce you to people without whom the BIG BERRY wouldn’t be the same.

Backstage StoriesEvery issue we will introduce you to people without whom the BIG BERRY wouldn’t be the same.

LifestyleOur time in BIG BERRY Lifestyle Resort teaches us several lessons - and we share them with you!

eventsThriving community and memorable events is what we participate in.

DesignExquisite design is inseparable part of BIG BERRY design houses.

PartnersBela krajina is an enchanting region also thanks to our partners whose stories you may read in.

BackSTage STorieS

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Big Berry Lifestyle resort opensIt has been exactly two weeks since we all gathered in our new working place. We were all very excited to finally come and see this place we were ˝promoting˝ for the past few weeks. The BIG BERRY dream team is very colorful and international — made out of Croats, Spanish, German and Vietnamese, and we expect few more nationalities to join us very soon. The working atmosphere is casual, with a lots of interactions and humor.

Our first guests were bloggers — Andreja from Slovenia, Veronika from Czech

Republic, Cristina from the U.S. and Maria from Bulgaria, who is collaborating with us from before.

From the first day on, the pace has been pretty intense, our schedule is full of workshops, wine & beer tastings, visits to the restaurants, etc. Each day we visit one of the three partner restaurants — ̋ Pri starem Pildu˝ in Metlika, ˝Gostilna Müller˝ in Črnomelj and ˝Restaurant Veselič˝ in Podzemelj. “Pri Pildu” offers to us a free choice of food, while the other two create a special daily Big Berry menu containing three

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different meals, of which one is always vegetarian.

At first, we visited Bernarda Kump from “BIBI turizem” in Črnomelj who taught us how to prepare Bela Krajina’s traditional bread (pogača). Hang from Vietnam digged into the dough, although it was her first time. Thanks to Bernarda’s guidance, the pogača turned out to be amazing! This pogača is Bernarda’s version of Belokranjska pogača, and it is so delicious!

Later that day we had an unofficial opening at our reception house. It was the perfect opportunity to get to know each other. The partner’s promo gifts were opened and among them there was champagne with gold leaves. How fancy are we?!

The next day we continued with our schedule and on the top of it was

wine degustation. We went to the winery Malnarič-Nampel in Semič where we were hosted by one of the winemakers — Marko. He showed us the most well-known sorts of the region of Bela krajina, among which were Metliška črnina and Belokranjec, the most beloved wines of the area. We were delighted to have opportunity to wto decide which one we liked the most.

Next thing on our list was the trip to the residence of another partner — Čebelarstvo Veselič in Metlika. They hosted us a warm welcome offering us their homemade honey liquor, and took us on a tour around their bee farm. We learned a lot about process of producing honey and products from it, about good impact of those products to our health and you know what?! We realized that we’re really lucky to have the bees around us!

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On Wednesday we got the invitation to visit Katja Jakljevič, the Queen of Metliška črnina for 2015 so we went to film a short video about her experience as a Queen.

As the week was coming to an end, our group was enlarged by the bloggers Cameron Seagle and Natasha Alden, from the States. They joined us for the traditional bonfire on the river, the day before the Labour day. When we arrived to the “crime scene”, we found out that

Peter, our campsite manager, is the falafel master! There, we gathered with our friends — volunteers from Phillipines, Indonesia and Poland. The next day was time for our own party — the celebration of 1st of May and a barbeque made by our local masterchef Jan. With lot of good energy and friendly atmosphere, we have closed another week. Great job Big Berries!

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1 Pogača making2 Lunch at Restaurant Veselič

3 Beekepers in Metlika 4 Barefoot hiking

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Barefoot BondingNew week has brought us new tasks and new challenges. We started with an intense 2 day Photoshop course held by Sanjin, IT expert from Rijeka, who taught us a lot about the photo editing, which will be extremely useful for our marketing business. In between we visited the Bela krajina museum in Metlika and Vizir brewery in Lokve, where we were given a warm welcome by the owner Denis Imširovič, who introduced their variety of beers — made completely from natural ingredients and without preservatives. The beers range from classic ones like lager and dark beer to the ones made from buckwheat, chestnut and ginger. All we can say — delicious!

During the same week we hosted a presentation of hemp products from the Kmetija Kočevar — they produce healthy products like flour, oil and liquor. Did you know that you can make almost everything from hemp? From healthy food products to clothes and car materials. Well, now you know.

On Friday we had another workshop hosted by Domača obrt Cvitkovič. This time it was about learning how to paint the eggs in a traditional way. Some of us turned out to be really creative, and eggs which are called “pisanice” looked pretty amazing in the end. Also, the host Nada, introduced us to the world

of linen fabrication which is their main activity. Afterwards it was time for some food — we explored Izletniška kmetija Zupančič, in Jelševnik where the host Rihard prepared the fresh grilled trout fish for us.

Sunday was a day to finally use the good weather to the maximum so we headed out to Srednji Radenci for 21th Traditional international walk along the southernmost Slovenian footpath, where we took a 10 km barefoot walk in the beautiful scenery of South Slovenia and ended up in the village party, eating the bean stew and dancing with the locals. Perfect ending of the great week!

All in all, it was a really good start for all of us. We are still getting to know each other, trying to combine all of our working methods and ideas, but we feel the great potential. Every day is a new challenge and new opportunity to learn something and to make a progress. So far, we can honestly say that it’s really good to be the part of BIG BERRY!

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Bela krajina museum in metlika

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Painting the eggs in a traditional way

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Time to get serious!This week started energetically with the video editing workshop held in our camp by Ivan Mušinović and Daniel Marković, IT experts from Rijeka. It was really interesting and especially useful for our future work. They helped us to make the video about the Malnarič wine cellar and pogača making in Veselič restaurant in Podzemelj. In the end we got an invitation for a teambuilding weekend in Rijeka, Croatia, which means our collaboration will be extended because these 2 days with those guys were not enough!

This week we said goodbye to our couple from The World Pursuit, who continued their journey in lovely Croatia. But, our group enlarged because we had few newcomers — Natasha from Russia, who joined our marketing team, the bloggers Craig and Gemma from Scotland and the professional photographers Zdravko Šelih and Marjan Laznik, from Fotomedia, who took great shots of us and our blooming resort. While they were here we took them to organic oil tasting, a wine game in Veselič restaurant held by Andreja, and the

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bloggers had the opportunity to make their own pizza in ˝Pri Starem Pildu˝.

Unexpectedly, the Two Scots turned out to be better wine experts than our two Croatian girls. But, that wasn’t their only strength - they nailed the pizza making as well! Check out Marjan’s photo album on Facebook, he took some great shots of this week’s events.

On Friday we had the raspberry wine presentation with Danilo Pavlovič, who later on joined us for an international dinner, our new tradition. This time it was the Croatian girls’ turn. Even though their taste buds are a bit rusty when it comes to wine, they made an awesome Balkan dinner — stuffed paprika! And trust us, it wasn’t easy making dinner for 12 people, one of which was a vegetarian, whose paprika was prepared with soya.

Although our vegetarian Pero wasn’t ready to abandon his tasty veggie plate, we kidnapped him and drove to Črnomelj. There, we attended a metal concert which turned out to be a bit dull, so we headed to Piccollo and eventually back to our beloved BIG BERRY, where we continued the party.

The next day we hosted our partner Gregor Simonič, who treated us with his amazing sparkling wine Semiška penina. We were truly pleased to have such an exquisite product to be presented in our resort. After that lovely afternoon we got together with

our bosses to experience how a serious business meeting really looks like. We even got a present from Hosekra — a big white/blackboard which turned out to be really useful, as you can see…

During the meeting we were forced to split into two groups of three. Even though we weren’t very enthusiastic about the idea, it turned out to be pretty effective. After the big meeting we closed up our working week with watching the Eurovision Song Contest and playing charades — just a relaxing ending of busy week.

1 BIG BERRY Dream Team 2 & 3 Dairy products from from

the Farm of Anthony Štruclja

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delicious pogača

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Let’s hit the road!Although it was Monday, we started our week in pretty good mood because we knew that we have a “business trip” on schedule on Thursday, followed by Vinska Vigred during the weekend. Also, it was the first day to try the separation into 2 groups, as the big boss Boštjan requested. That meant that we are going to work on different projects and not be spending all of our time together. First it was time for 2nd group (Hang, Anja and Vita) to head to Semič, to the cellar where Semiška penina is being produced. We were greeted by Gregor Simonič, who explained to us

the process of making sparkling wine and offered us some sparkling wine made exclusively from honey, without any grapes used in the process.

In the meanwhile, 1st group (Natasha, Kristina and Alberto) went to Veselič, because our lovely host Andreja had a birthday. After the lunch and birthday cookies at Veselič, we split up again. Group no.2 went to Kmetija Pavlovič to make a contest in strawberry picking. Although everybody did their best, there was no chance to win against little Gaja Pavlovič, she’s just a pro!

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That was about the time when our girls finally realised we are missing some trash music party. And how could we resist that when we already have disco lights installed?! Although there were only a couple of us up for it, we managed to warm up the dance floor and surf through most of the 80’s and 90’s.

Soon it finally came Thursday and time for our trip! We woke up early and headed to the packaging unit of Berryshka, our partner which will bring exclusive artisan chocolates and liqueurs to our guests. After that we headed out to the public kitchen, more

specifically kitchen for the people in need, called Zavod pod Strehco, who offer people generous meals for a small price.

We had free afternoon to explore Ljubljana so we headed up to the Castle, made some great shoots of the city, and later on enjoyed some craft beer in the company of Andreja from the blog Adventurous journeys. Also, she took us for some photoshooting on the tree,

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which happened to be Berto’s favourite in whole Ljubljana, so of course our photos turned out perfect! After the exhausting modelling we headed to Metelkova to feel the piece of Ljubljana’s rich alternative culture scene.

We finished the day by having a rich dinner in Gostilna Lectar, in Radovljica, where the finest of Slovenian cuisine is served in traditional interior and folk costumes. Their pumpkin soup is to die for, as well as the cold appetizer serving homemade pate and cream cheese. After the generous dinner we headed next door to Vidič hostel, where the seven of us had rented an apartment. It was time for early sleep because the next day we had even more demanding schedule.

Friday started with working breakfast at the hostel, after which we headed to have a meeting and a tour in Senčila Bled factory, our partner who provides BIG BERRY with blinds and shades for our mobile houses, giving them the final touch. The last meeting of our trip was scheduled in Bled Culture Institute, to arrange the collaboration with the Institute, because we consider Bled to be one of the prettiest jewels in whole Slovenia. We treated ourselves with the lunch in Gostilna Murka, while our event manager Ana prepared herself for the Slovenia Business Run, which took place later in the afternoon (check out the video on the link). Group 2 went with her for the support, while the

others went to Bled Castle and made awesome shots of the area. Ana and her team finished in the 6th place in the mixed category! We were all very proud of her and celebrated her score with the toast, several times, when we arrived to 34th Vinska Vigred later that evening. It is the biggest happening in Metlika throughout the year, being the biggest wine festival in Slovenia in general. We attended the crowning of the new queen of “Metliška črnina”, visited BIG BERRY’s local partners, attended Belokranjska pogača workshop, and of course, enjoyed great wines and local food of Bela krajina.

The week finished with us finally trying out the Jacuzzi, a generous gift from our partner — local company Kolpa San, while enjoying few drops of verified sparkling wine from another partner — Semiška penina. Busy week has finished with great pleasure, and we think we have deserved it!

1 Zavod pod Strehco, providing meals for a small price

2 & 3 Visiting Ljubljana4 Vinska Vigred wine festival

5 Chocolates and liqueurs Berryshka

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PeoPLe

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It’s the motivating voice of Janko Guštin that the BIG BERRY team is waking up to every morning. Honestly, sometimes it is difficult to leave the warm and cozy bed, but as soon as we see Janko smiling at us we are ready! Janko, from our partner Muay Thai Gym Direct, comes to the camp every other morning to get us moving...rope skipping, shadow boxing, muscle strengthening and stretching...he knows how to wake us up. Every time he does not come to the camp we go to the gym where Janko prepares us for weight lifting with Daniel, another Gym Direct Coach.

But Janko, or should we say McJanko, is so much more for Metlika

Janko guštinthan a fitness coach. He was the first one to offer hamburgers at Vinska Vigred, the local wine festival, and is known as McJanko around here ever since. At this year’s Vinska Vigred he had his premiere as the mascot which he performed great! What a surprise for BIG BERRY when the Vinska Vigred mascot greeted us with a loud “HEY, BIG BERRY!”...

Metlika would not be the same without McJanko...and BIG BERRY neither!

kontra! Jače! Dodirni mi

kolena! Bam bam bam!

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She is a true cinephile which also allowed her to write her thesis on perception of cultures and nationalities across EU. Kristina is finishing her Media Culture MA studies at Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek in Croatia. which she loves endlessly.

Meeting new people from across different cultures is something that Kristina has always been interested in. BIG BERRY gives her the chance to improve her skills in marketing and PR but also opportunity to reconnect with her roots in the serenity of a beautiful nature.

Morning cigarette with a black coffee and jazz music playing in the background is the embodiment of a perfect morning for her. Active physical life, reading short stories from Croatian author Krešimir Pintarić, and traveling to distant undiscovered corners of Europe are on top of her to do list.

kriSTina Točka Birovljević

kontra! Jače! Dodirni mi

kolena! Bam bam bam!

DeSign

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Big Berry is a new mobile home concept that meets the highest standards of contemporary design and comfort. these mobile homes are primarily intended for equipping campsites, resorts, creative hotels and for individual users as leisure-time dwellings.

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Big Berry is a dynamic accommodation concept that perfectly combines the need to live in harmony with nature and the comfort of the modern home.

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TraveL

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gradac castle

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Spring of the river krupa

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ParTnerS

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kočevar Family Hemp Farm

Three years ago the Kočevar family started to produce hemp liqueur exclusively for family and friends. By now they produce  hemp oil, hemp flour, different kinds of liqueur and natural juices to sell them on markets. All their products are homemade and without any supplements. The Kočevars desire to raise people’s awareness about the benefits of industrial hemp.

HemP TeaAlso beneficial for the organism. For one cup of tea you should use approximately 1 g of dried hemp. Boil water, mix it with hemp and leave it for 5-6 minutes to rest, then strain and sweeten to taste. It is recommended to drink 1 cup before bedtime for a peaceful dream.

1 Hemp oil and flour2 Poštjan Kočevar presenting

hemp products

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HemP oiLComposed mainly of unsaturated fatty acids and contains B complex and E vitamins, which have a positive influence for the consumer. It contains the ideal ratio of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids for the human organism as well as GLA fatty acid, which in nature is found only in the hemp oil and the human body. 2 teaspoons per day are sufficient for all the needs of the human organism for these fatty acids. Consuming hemp oil has many benefits for our body, for example renew damaged skin, regulate cholesterol and blood pressure and solve insomnia problems.

HemP FLourObtained from the residue after pressing the hemp, which was used for the hemp oil. The flour contains over 37% of vegetable protein, more than 20% carbohydrate and 10% of fatty acids while being gluten-free. Hemp flour can replace up to 20% of wheat flour in meals. It is mostly used for baking but also to thicken sauces and vegetables or in addition to yogurt and cereal. It is especially recommended for physically active individuals, e.g. active athletes.

We at Big Berry encourage natural products which is why you personally will be able to try the benefits of the hemp products during your stay.

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malnarič WineryLocated on a scenic hill in Semič municipality, surrounded by beautiful vineyards, Malnarič winery is one of the oldest and biggest winery in the Bela Krajina region. Started centuries ago, the winery has been owned and operated by the Malnarič family through many generations. In 1992, the family started producing bottled wine. Soon in the same year, they won their first wine champion.

Visiting Malnarič winery, you are presented with a wide selection of wines from their wine cellars. Malnarič offers red and white wines, with different tastes: dry, semi-sweet and sweet. Malnarič does not only produce high-quality local traditional wines – such as Belokranjec, it also produces world-wide popular wine genres, such as Lemberger, Riesling and Kerner.

The host welcomes the guests, guides them through the cellars and offers samples of their variety of wines.  After tasting, you can purchase the wine you like the most.

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LiFeSTyLe

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Stay healthy with Big BerryBeneFiTS oF raSPBerrieS

Raspberries are one of our favorite berries, they are delicious and very rich in vitamin C, folic acid and anthocyanins.

Detoxify your body and prevent oxidation: A cup of raspberries provides almost the daily needs of vitamin C, which has a powerful antioxidant function neutralizing the negative influence of free radicals, preventing diseases related to degenerative processes, like eye diseases and even cancer. Also, eating raspberries will help to detoxify your body.

Improve your heart health: Raspberries are very rich in anthocyanins, which prevents hypertension and cardiovascular diseases by promoting capillary resistance. This also has an effect in cicatrizing of wounds, and prevents problems of excessive bleeding, such as nosebleed, excessive menstruations and strokes. Also the intake of raspberries in our diet increases our iron absorptive capacity, reducing the symptoms of anemia.

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BeneFiTS oF cHiveSChives are part of the allium family of vegetables and herbs, which includes garlic, scallions, onions and leeks. They are nutrient dense food, meaning that they are high in nutrients like vitamins, minerals and antioxidants while they are very low in calories

Prevent cancer: There are a lot of studies showing chimes prevents cancer, especially colorectal and stomach cancer,due to their high concentration of organosulfur compounds. Also there are that show that men with highest intake of allium vegetables had the lowest risk of prostate cancer.

Sleep better and keep your good mood: The choline in chives is an important nutrient that helps with sleep, muscle movement, learning and memory. Folate, also found in chives, may help

with depression by preventing an excess of homocysteine from forming in the body, which can prevent blood and other nutrients from reaching the brain. Excess homocysteine interferes with the production of the feel-good hormones serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, which regulate not only mood, but also sleep and appetite as well.

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BiPS1. HoW noT To FLiP over WiTH your canoeHonestly? We don’t know. Apparently standing up in the canoe and making wild gestures to the people on the waterfront creates a dysbalance for the canoe and you very likely end up in the water.

2. HoW To Survive SiLenT DayIt seemed impossible at first, but we did it! How? Well, take a group of friends, dare them to stay silent and let the fun begin. Each word will be punished with one body part in Hangman. Whoever ends up with the most body parts, or if you have very talkative friends with clothes including flip-flops, has to clean the house after the next party. Ah, but make sure you paid your last phone bill or recharged your sim-card in order to be able to work or eat or share your funniest thoughts.

3. HoW noT To SToP WiTH your car in THe miDDLe oF THe STreeT.Another one that BIG BERRY has troubles with. Who would have thought going for lunch in Črnomelj could be fast and easy going if your car just stops in the middle of nowhere. Note to ourselves: Check the fuel consumption gauge BEFORE leaving any city that has a gas station close by.

4. HoW noT To DeSTroy anoTHer PerSon’S SungLaSSeSWe all know how much it sucks to not have sunglasses in the summer. It sucks even more if you are responsible for the loss of this accessory because you stepped on it. So beware, do not play the game when you loudly countdown the seconds until the traffic lights turns green and you wildly run into your friends to great them jumping up and down. That’s when sunglasses fall and break.

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5. HoW noT To miSS anyTHing aT Big BerryWell, that’s an easy one: Come here and stay with us. But, if you cannot get enough, like us on Facebook and don’t miss any post anymore…like the one when we pushed the swimming swimming pool in the river…you haven’t seen that one yet, have you?!

STay connecTeD

evenTS

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neighbours from Primostek

enjoyed a dinner at Big Berry.

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on may 27th we had the honor to welcome mr. Wilmer armando Depablos, chargé d’affaires of venezuela, and his colleagues, along with mr. Darko Zevnik, mayor of metlika.

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vinska vigred 2016

Big Berry ParTnerS