As the penultimate day of the trip began to turn into night, I descended from Petrovo Brdo, full of impressions, hungry and tired, to Baška Grapa. I stopped in Hudajužna, where the local cafeteria promised new stories. The owner of the latter, and the only employee, chatted politely with me, despite her busy schedule.
While talking about my trip, I mentioned to her that I was in a bit of a hurry, as I had to find a suitable natural place to stay before dark, as it was going to rain. "You can sleep at my place, I rent apartments," she tells me. I thanked her and told her that I mostly slept outside, and I didn't have enough cash to pay for it. I had spent my last euros on dinner and the nearest ATM was far, far away. "Money is not important, I don't let you out in this weather," she said laughing, adding that if the weather was bad, she would pay for my train ticket home the next morning. I accepted the invitation, slept on a soft bed and wrote her a thank you note on a piece of paper early the next morning before I left. The rain had stopped by then.
Now, nine years later, I stopped by her again to get her permission to publish this story. She was overwhelmed with indescribable emotions. For the first time in my life, I saw tears of sadness amongst her beautiful laughter. She told me how she had struggled all her life for better conditions in the narrow ravine, owning the only shops in the surrounding villages and, in spite of her dwindling income, providing necessities for the elderly people of the area. Necessities to pay for, time and fuel for thank you very much. "I didn't have the heart to close the shop and leave them alone, because the next shop is far away," she tells me. Her words are backed up by a full-page article from Slovene News, which celebrated the final closure of her shop and the end of an era in this part of the ravine.
She also shared many other memories. Among other things, I learned that she was in a dire financial situation at the time of my first visit, but she still offered me free accommodation and money for the train without saying a word. Even now, the visitors to her apartments are very happy because she often cooks them lunch or dinner when they return tired from the surrounding peaks. There is no restaurant nearby since she closed the cafeteria.
There I met a lady who had little good in her early life, so her greatest desire is to share goodness among people. A lady who always laughs, even when she cries. A lady who puts herself last. A lady with a big heart. Mrs Renata Zver.
Iztok Trampuž
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