We went to the
Mercury Museum this morning. We learned that in order to extract mercury, mercuric
sulfide is heated with oxygen. Mercury precipitates while the sulfur oxide vaporizes.
My kids were amazed when they saw that an iron ball does not sink in mercury
because the latter has higher density. We also learned that the average age of
a miner was 50 years because of the dust in their lungs, and because of radon
and mercury poisoning. For this reason, some of their wives would marry twice
or thrice. To avoid man-made earthquakes, the debris and the sand that had been
dug were reused to refill the holes the miners had made. The strange thing we noticed
was that filth from the washrooms was carried out by those who had been punished
that day or a bottle of rum was given to anyone willing to carry it out.
Our lunch was in a farm called Naš Raj near the town of Idrija. We had
sweet walnuts with a plate of cheese as appetizers. This type of walnut takes
two years to prepare. It was green in color like olives. We also had noodle
beef soup, salad made of produce from their garden, grilled trout, potatoes mixed
with cheese, a delicious creamy cabbage covered with a crust of pie and a tray
of beans covered with bread crumbs. The dessert was apple pie.
We then walked through a nearby valley and saw a small waterfall. We
were lucky to see two deer.
Addresses
Tourist Mercury Mine
Arkova ulica 43, Idrija 5280 Slovenia
Naš Raj Restaurant
Gorenja Trebuša 95, 5280 Idrija, Slovenia
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