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Melania Trump's Slovenian Hometown Sells These First Lady-Themed Products
There's wine, honey, chocolate, and cake. No, this isn't a theme park gift shop, a local market, or a store at the airport hawking last-minute gifts to bring home. They're First Lady Melania Trump-themed products sold in Slovenia and her local hometown.
Reuters reported back in January that Melania was helping boost tourism in Slovenia as the country announced its fourth consecutive year of record tourism in the country. Seventeen percent more foreign tourists visited Slovenia in 2017, according to the country's statistics office. The country reported that the number of American tourists increased by 24 percent in November.
Since she became FLOTUS, Melania's home country has been using her image and titles (like "First Lady") to sell products, and having her in the Oval Office has been a boon to the country — and her hometown.
The official website for Slovenia has a special webpage for Sevnica, the town where Melania grew up. Melania-themed tours helped boost its number of visitors by 20,000 since President Trump announced his presidential campaign. "After Melania, things really changed. Now we have tourists from all over the world," Sevnica Mayor Srecko Ocvirk told the Times.
Here's some of the Melania products available for sale in Slovenia.
Making Melania As Sweet As Honey
In Sevnica — Melania's hometown — there's honey for sale in a tourist shop. The label features a smiling photo of the first lady over an American flag and a Slovenian flag.
There's a Cake In Her Honor...
Shortly after the 2016 presidential election, a cake was created in Sevnica in Melania's honor. The cake is called "Melanija."
...And It Looks Delicious
Baker Jelenc Darja holds the "Melanija" cake created for Melania in Sevnica shortly after the presidential election in 2016. The cake is composed of white chocolate mousse with gold decorative ribbons, according to Getty Images.
There's A Wine For The "First Lady" Too
First Lady is a brand registered to KŠTM Sevnica, an organization committed to improving the visibility and knowledge of Sevnica.
The First Lady wine is made from grapes from Mastnak, Kozinc Wines, Kobal Family Winery, and Kerin Winery in Melania's home town of Sevnica. It goes for about $33.
There's A Salami Festival
Salami is also important in Sevnica because of the Sevnica Salami Festival, or "Sevniška salamijada." The festival has been around since 1962, and it takes place annually on March 10. The Sevnica website calls it "the mother of salami festivals." Oh, and only men can attend!
The First Lady brand makes salami bred from local butchers using Krškopoljc pigs and some beef, according to their website. The brand says the recipe is simple: "The recipe is not a secret: salt, pepper, garlic, smoke and … a lot of effort."
And Many, Many, Many Chocolate Options
Any trip to Europe wouldn't be complete without copious amounts of chocolate. First Lady sells apple slices dipped in chocolate, chocolate bars with gold, and pralines.
The apple slices come from "Sevniška voščenka" apples, according to the brand. The story behind this variety of apples dates back to the end of the 19th century.
The pralines combine the Blaufrankisch grapes (the same variety as the wine from above) and dark chocolate, according to the website.
One of the chocolate bars combines dark chocolate, walnuts, and gold leafs in a bar, while the other variety combines dark chocolate and raspberry.
Who Says Luxury Only Extends To Food?
Melania is well known for her high heels in almost all occasions. In Sevnica, there is a line of more comfortable shoes that — like the First Lady brand — only allude to her identity. The slippers are made by Kopitarna Sevnica and are called "The White House."
