Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and goodbye

Dear readers!

A year and a half ago, I started writing this blog. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw how many people from all over the world read it. This was indeed a pleasant experience for me.

The time has come for me to say good-bye to you all. I thank you for the time that you have spent reading my posts as well as for your comments and nice words. Before I go, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and all the best in 2010.

Yours sincerely,

Petra Vengušt
Hotel Manager
Grand Hotel Toplice

More medals

Another annual competition of Slovene Tourism and F&B workers is behind us. This one was held in Maribor and Grand Hotel Toplice employees have come back with yet another set of medals: Simon gold for culinary exhibition, Miro gold for barman's competition and Renata gold for chambermaid's competition. Our team (Asmir, Tatjana, Nada, Drejče and Klemen) won third place among 14 teams from all over Slovenia, winning gold for food and silver for service.

Photos are attached and I must say I am extremely happy and proud of them all. Imagine sending 8 people to competition and they come back with 5 gold medals and 3 silver medals! Well done indeed!

Golden Honey

This weekend Grand Hotel Toplice is hosting a very special exhibition. In the Lake Saloon you can see several unique products called Golden Honey. Gold was added to natural honey and poured into hand made crystal vessels, decorated with precious and semi-precious stones and golden ornaments. Every set is unique made by several Slovene artists and designers.

Lake Saloon is a perfect setting for them as you can see on the photos. This is a true feast for the eyes.

The Painting

Our guests are very special people, and one of them is even more special. Mrs. Norma Hathaway, our regular guest from Great Britain is an artist in her free time and this year she has finished a wonderful painting of Grand Hotel Toplice which she donated to Asmir. Here is a photo of her with Mr. Hathaway and Asmir and on the wall behind them you can see her beautiful painting. Next time when you come to Grand Hotel Toplice on your way to Grand Restaurant, make sure that you stop and look at it. You will be amazed by all the details Mrs. Hathaway has drawn. It is clearly a work of art made by love and appreciation.

I often say how proud I am of my staff. This is a time to say that I am also proud that we have such accomplished guests as Mrs. Hathaway.

Basketball players and hotels

There are several sports that I enjoy watching on TV and basketball is one of them. European Championship 2009 in Poland is taking place right now and Slovenian team is already in the semi-final. Why I am talking about basketball? Because basketball players are notoriously tall and usually have large problems fitting into standard beds. Did you ever consider that with the average population height in the world rising, beds will have to be longer, also in hotels? And if the beds are longer, the bed sheets, blankets etc. will also have to be longer. That must be exciting news for furniture and bed linen producers all over the world. On the other side bigger sheets require more water, detergent and energy to be washed which represents jet another burden on the environment. Every coin has two sides, doesn’t it?

Well, good luck to our boys at the semi-final against Serbia today! I wish that they had a good night sleep and that their beds were long enough!

Triglav

Triglav with its 2864m is the highest mountain in Slovenia. The name Triglav meaning “three-headed” probably comes from a Slavic god Triglav. The mountain is such an important simbol for Slovene people that it is depicted also in the Slovene coat of arms.

There is a saying in Slovenia, that you only become a true Slovene once you have climbed mount Triglav. Well I am very proud and happy to announce that this week I have done just that. I climbed to the summit of Triglav and the whole trip up and down took me two days. I know that this information has nothing to do with the hotel, but I fell that this is such an achievement for me personally that I have to share it with you.

Pletna

Today’s blog I dedicate to Pletna, a wooden boat that has been transporting people to the Island of Bled for at least 800 years. At first it was a ride for pilgrims that wanted to visit the church of St. Mary and in the 12th century the villagers of Mlino had to transport the pilgrims to the island instead of paying local taxes. In the 18th century Empress Maria Theresa of Austria gave the rights to perform the rides to 20 local families. Even now, the right is transferred only within these families usually from a father to a son. The attached photo shows Grand Hotel Toplice taken from one of the Pletna boats by our guests Mrs. and Mr. Seely.