‘Mom, what is adultery?’

by tanyatravels, posted in Europe, Europe with kids, Ljubljana, Slovenia

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The email from the woman in the tour office at Ljubljana Castle in Slovenia struck me as slightly strange.

I told her I’d like to go on a tour called “Behind Bars” with my husband and kids so we could learn about the castle’s history as a penitentiary.

She said that would be fine, “but I hope it wouldn’t be too rough for your sons.”

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I didn’t think much of it, really. I figured my 10- and 11-year old boys would love seeing the castle’s dungeons. And, if anything, hearing stories about lives of prisoners might provide some kind of lesson about how they should behave.

The tour is a performance where actors play the roles of prisoners punished for crimes ranging from manslaughter to witchcraft. It’s well-done and really gives you a sense of what happened to reformers, soldiers and civilians, the rich and the poor, freethinkers and the politically problematic.

witchcraft

I just didn’t expect that my youngest son’s commentary would entertain the whole crowd. Two other English-speaking couples joined us on the tour, and they were all ears when the tour guide explained the scene we would encounter next: the disgrace of a woman whose adultery earned her public shaming in the Wolves’ Hole, where she was taken by a monk.

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“Mom, what is adultery?” my son asked (loudly) during a lull in the guide’s narrative.

The couple beside me, grandparents from Pennsylvania, turned to hear my response.

“It’s when people are married and one of them cheats,” I said, “Like if a wife has an affair with a neighbor.”

“Does it have to be a neighbor?” my son said.

By this time, I had as much of an audience as the tour guide. During the course of the hour, I also explained “treason” and “prostitution” to my attentive fifth-grader.

Maybe this is what the woman in the tour office meant by “rough.” It definitely wasn’t what I expected. It was better. Sure, we could have chosen a classic guided tour or stuck with the audio guide at the mighty medieval fortress in Slovenia’s capital city. But it wouldn’t have been nearly as memorable.

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38 thoughts on “‘Mom, what is adultery?’”

    1. The boys wore their Harley shirts and Penn State hoodies. That’s how we struck up a conversation with the Pennsylvania couple 🙂

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  13. I think it’s good to just tell your kids the truth. My 4 year old asked how we have babies, I told her they come out your vagina, she said ok and walked off lol. Guess it was a good enough answer!

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  18. What a fun post! And I love it that your son is curious and that you are unafraid of his questions. My mama was like that and what a great gift that was and still is!

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  19. Tanya – have checked in on your blog a couple of times and I’ll be back. Such great stuff! So excited for you and your family on this big adventure. – Betsy Zelek

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