Counting the sheep in the hay

Spend the night at a farm surrounded by the most famous Slovenian pear trees

Discover how it feels to sleep in a luxurious hay and straw bed (with insect protection), just a few steps away from the famous Williams pears.

Your experience will start with a heartfelt welcome in the štübl (parlour). The young master, Bojan Fibras, will greet you with warm words, hearty jokes, and a spread of delicious home-made snacks, accompanied by Williams pear brandy and the famous pear juice. Yes, famous. The Firbas farm is known for its amazing home-made pear juice, made from the Williams pears growing around the house and the hayloft.

This is also where your hay apartment is located: in the wooden hayloft above the stables.

The Firbas farm

But the pears are not the only jewel of the Firbas homestead and menu. Here you can feel the heartbeat of a life among farm animals and greenery, enjoy the countryside aesthetics and the beauty of the hand-crafted items, and see the care shown to the plants and the animals. You can learn how the garden and the fields are organised to grow the ingredients for delicious home-made dishes, enjoy the wooden glamping houses with a private pool, hand-crafted buckets for outdoors bathing, and explore grandpa’s cartwright workshop museum. You can enjoy the aroma of herbs in the herb garden and make friends with the animals.

The farm is located in the North-East of Slovenia, in Slovenske gorice. This region, near the Austrian and Croatian borders, is famous for its gently rounded hills that create the perfect conditions for numerous vineyards. The visitors say that the Firbas family are kind, positive, entertaining people, fully committed to their farm. Their homestead was awarded the labels, “A tourist farm suitable for families with children” and “A biker-friendly tourist farm”.

Fresh and homemade

Dinner is always homemade and incredibly tasty, cooked by the mother of the family herself. As is traditional for Slovenian meals, Marjana prepares three courses: first comes soup, followed by the main course with a salad, and finally a dessert. All the dishes are freshly made from ingredients from the farm garden, orchard, and stables. Slovenians love their soups, and a typical family eats a number of different seasonal soups throughout the year. In this regard, the Firbas family is completely typical. The same goes for the salad, which is always fresh and seasonal. As for dessert, a frequent choice is a layered cake made with filo pastry and cottage cheese, called Firbasova gibanica. This is a variation of the more famous prleška gibanica from the Prlekija region, but with a local twist. As you know, Slovenia is a very diverse country in many ways, including gastronomy, which is reflected in its 24 gastronomic regions.

The Firbas farm, which is also a member of the European network, Houses of Tradition, has received several Specialties of Slovenian Farms Awards. You will be treated to the award-winning regional sour soup with buckwheat žganci and crackling, pork sausages, blood sausages, roasts and dumplings, to name just a few.

Bathing under the stars and sleeping in the hayloft

Dinner is followed by an evening bath under the stars. Yes, you read that right, you will bathe in a wooden bucket, under the light of the countless stars that shine much brighter than in the cities. You can light the fire to warm your bathwater, and then just relax and enjoy.

All that is left to do at the end of the day is to climb up into the hayloft to your hay apartment with a private bathroom and balcony, and enjoy a good night’s sleep in a completely natural yet luxurious bed made from hay and dried grass, that have been woven into straw mats and stacks. The comfortable hay bed is also well-protected from insects.

When was the last time you collected fresh eggs for breakfast?

Mornings on a farm start with feeding the animals and collecting freshly laid eggs, an activity the visitors are invited to participate in. Children never say no to an invitation like that, and adults like to join in as well, since most of them have never collected fresh eggs for their breakfast before. Then the decadent farm breakfast is prepared in front of the guests to make it more interesting. In addition to the just-collected eggs, breakfast is made from home-grown ingredients, since the Firbas homestead produces around 90% of all the ingredients the family uses, from fruit and vegetables, eggs and meat, to wine, juices, brandies, and everything else.

The story of the most famous Slovenian pear

Your stay at the Firbas family will be marked by the pear from the minute you arrive ‒ Remember the warm welcome with pear juice and brandy? ‒ to the moment you leave the village of Cogetinci. In between, you will quench your thirst with pear juice, have a small glass of pear brandy to keep you healthy, treat your sweet tooth to dried pear, have some pear jam for breakfast, or some pear ice-cream for dessert. You might also find some pear compote put in front of you at the table or various pear cakes, and innovative pear combinations may appear in any dish.

After enjoying the delicious treats, it’s time for some fun activities, such as a ride on a wooden cart pulled by a legendary old-timer, the 1955 Steyr tractor. For a more active relaxation, you can hop on an electric bike and explore the surroundings. You can visit the nearby museum dedicated to Janez Puh, an inventor, factory owner, and a man ahead of his time, who made the first modern bicycles in the world. The reconstructed Šafarsko settlement, from the Copper Age, also invites your curiosity. And before you go home, don’t forget to stop at the štübl where you can buy homemade products and souvenirs to keep the flavours and memories of the Firbas farm with you for a bit longer.

Take a break from the everyday hustle and enjoy the relaxing simplicity of farm life, the warmth of an open fire, the authenticity of flavors, and the sweet smelling dreams in the hay bed. The perfect combination of authentic rural life and modern comforts.