Prekmurje, Slovenia

I'm headed back to Slovenia tomorrow. I will change trains in Vienna and then Miran will pick me up in Maribor. From there it's just a half hour drive to Murska Sobota – the regional capital of Prekmurje.

Prekmurje is in the north east part of the country. The name means "over the River Mura" which separates this region from the rest of Slovenia.

The region is located near both the Austrian and Hungarian borders. There are Hungarian and Roma (Gypsy) communities here but the majority of residents are ethnic Slovenians. Prior to WWII, there was a large Jewish community.

The majority of people here speak Prekmurščina which is a dialect of Slovenian. People here have no problem understanding Slovenian. However, the people in the rest of Slovenia have a really difficult time understanding Prekmurščina.

I believe that the region is best known for Prekmurska gibanica (Prekmurian layer cake). It's a pastry made with layers of poppy seeds, walnuts, raisins, cottage cheese and apples. It sounds super sweet but I'll be sure to give it a try.

If you look at a map, the shape of the country sort of resembles a chicken. Residents consider Prekmurje to be the "head of the chicken" and people in Murska Sobota consider their city to be the chicken's brain. I guess I'll see.