Once every year, a masked and costumed man makes his way around a small town in Slovenia. He wears sheepskin and cowbells around his waist that announce his dancing presence from a long way off. He is the harbinger of spring and happiness and tasked with chasing away evil (the cold/ winter). This is the kurent, a mythical horned figure, and just one of the fascinating aspects of the beautiful town of Ptuj.
The oldest town in Slovenia, Ptuj is a charming place. It is typically European in that it has a castle on a hill, and a main square and church and cobblestoned streets harking back to Roman times. Ptuj is set by the banks of the Drava River and in a wine-growing region. In Slovenia, it loses out to more popular places like the capital, Ljubljana and Bled. On my first visit there, I realised that small is truly beautiful.