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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Sapota a hit?

    16 juin 2019, Slovénie ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    After a fairly solid lunch, we took a short hike up to Slap Sopota. Initially I wondered who Sopota was and what she had done wrong but Larissa laughingly explined that Slap is Slovene for waterfall. (Who said Slavs don't have a sense of humour?) Reminds me of Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains.
    Apparently the mountains surrounding us are riddled with cave systems and are drawing an expanding crowd of adventure tourists. Andre and his gang have been asked by the property owner where they are building a garage if they would clear the entrance to one system that begins in a sinkhole 10m from his backdoor.
    It seems to be common knowledge that illegal hunters gut their kills and leave the offal in bags up in the hills. In this case, as Marco found to his digestive system's detriment when lowered on a rope to inspect the condition of the cave entrance, they had been tossing the bags down the sinkhole, where they not only decomposed but also attracted other animals who then could not escape so contributed more mass to the atmosphere. The guys do not appear to be very keen to take the job.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur
    1

    Snow good

    21 juin 2019, Italie ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Headed North up the Soci river and over the pass to Cave de Predel. The pass was a narrow road with several , even narrower, chicanes created by concrete blockhouses from WWII. And still the 60 seater buses came.
    This trip was to meet up with Adam, Alessandro, Ana, and Vanessa (alphabetic order!) in order to traverse the via ferrata named after, (and paid with a bequest from,) Nonno Augusto and Nonna Elenita Leva.
    Alas the 30* warmth of Slovenia had not reached the Montassio above Sella Nevea and snow blocked the route. Just to assuage any doubt a storm added its water to the message.
    After popping into the Rifugio Alpino G. Di Brazzo and gawping briefly at the Salamander, we
    had lunch instead at the dairy renowned for its cheese and jolly good it was too.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Not Mine

    22 juin 2019, Italie ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    We stayed in the town of Cave del Predel a short distance from Sella Nevea along the valley used troops since Roman times to invade the Central European plains from the coastal area, and vice versa.
    Apparently, a longlong time ago a magician lived in one of the surrounding caves together with his daughter and a stash of loot. The lass was the local beauty queen who loved and was loved by, the handsome prince living in a castle under the summit of Cinque Punte mountains. (We remarked at the 5 digits on the skyline.)
    In those days young lovers ran arm in arm through the meadows, bathed chastely in the waters of the lake, made garlands from dandelions and no doubt kissed each other romantically in the moonlight whilst dreaming of a glorious future together. They did all of those things it is recorded (orally.)
    But the lonely, unkind magician saw this union as an affront to his authority and determined to stop the marriage. Which of course he did, by casting spells that transformed his daughter into Monte Re and the prince into the Predil valley. And so the magician remained alone, filled with hatred but very rich.
    After a few centuries people arrived in the area and started looking around for useful stuff. As soon as they found the treasure however, the magician transformed them into minerals and hid them in the mountain.
    Ever since then, the townsfolk have been excavating tunnels into the mountain trying to locate the hidden treasure, but only coming up with zinc.
    Naturally, anyone who discovers the mysterious hiding place will break the curse and allow the 2 lovers to be re-united in human form. Unfortunately, this does not look like happening soon as the mine closed in 1991 and only tourist visit on a short train ride into the 130 km of tunnels still existing.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Short walk

    24 juin 2019, Italie ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    One afternoon we went for a little hike around the Laghi Di Fusine. For some reason luckily it attracts mainly local people, (ie Austrians, Slovenians and Italians for those countries meet nearby,) so we had a nice little jaunt around the two lakes.
    A highlight was sitting on the cafe's terrace / jetty as the sun set over Mangard mountain with a chilled Spritzer in hand. (Aperol, Prosecco and a little sparkling water)
    A, looking pensive.
    A, looking pensive.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Summit else to talk about

    25 juin 2019, Italie ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    In 1360 a young shepherd bot was grazing his cattle on the verdant grasses of the manga on Mount Lussari. As he idly sucked on a succulent grass stalk he came across an exquisite statue of the Madonna. Sensing a reward, he picked it up and delivered it to the village priest below in Camporosso. The priest, realising that his fortune was made, carefully wrapped it away in the vestry safe, planning a magnificent unveiling to the faithful on Sunday.
    But alas, when he came to retrieve the figurine before mass, the shelf was empty.
    Later, whilst everybody was tut-tutting about the thief in their midst, the shepherd boy found the Madonna in exactly the same place he originally discovered it. So he brought it back to the church with exactly the same result.
    History glides delicately over the number of times this cycle occurred before the penny dropped. Suffice it to say that they eventually realised that she belonged on top of Mount Lussari, so they built a chapel for her there and it has now grown to become A Sanctuary.
    Well, maybe the silver robes were a later embellishment.

    How Judith got in on the act is anyone's guess; but I wouldn't want to argue with her if that is what she desired. ... ... ...And 2 left feet.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Tarry Easty

    26 juin 2019, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Recognise the little leprechaun walking along a street in Tarry Easty? [Finnegans Wake?]
    After dropping Adam at the airport I motored down the coast road past Mad "Emperor of Mexico" Max's Castello Di Miramare, equipped if I remember correctly with a beautiful green marble bath and gold taps, towards Trieste and lunch with cousin Igea (& Vanessa & Alessandro.)

    Whether founded by Japhet son of Noah as some claim, or by the passing Argonaut Tergeste, (one of Jason's buddies,) which seems more likely given its Roman name, Tergeste, it was already a wealthy port in 178 BCE. Travel writers since then have been careful to describe the place as nondescript if they mention it all. Our Jamie, (my Joyce for leading into this,) although living in the place for several years at the conclusion of the Hapsburg dynasty's influence, never wrote about it directly for example. My feeling is that this was done specifically to Keep Tourist Away and Preserve The Purity of the town. Which it has done leaving the older Eastern part of town (near where Igea lives) pretty unscathed and the Western (North of Corso Italia,) redevelopment by order of the Empress Marie Therese is a classical 18th C suburb above the Canale Grande.

    A few tasters including the largest square in Europe facing the sea, Piazza del Unita d'Italia.

    Actually, from a geopolitical point of view, it should be in Slovenia but there you are.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur
    1

    Not very rice

    26 juin 2019, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    The San Sabba Rice Husking Mill, just outside the Trieste city limits, has been retained as a monument to atrocities conducted during WWII.

    The German Army initially commandeered the place to act as a prison for enemy soldiers: Stalag 339. After it was decided to send all allied troops to German camps, they handed it over to the Nazis for a police base.

    The Ukranian SS ran the camp as an interrogation / assassination centre against the Italian / Slovenian / Croatian partisans of whom 2000, ( some say 4-5000,) perished. As well as 25 Jews.

    Many more people were channeled through here before catching a train: degenerates, (physical / mental / political / sexual,) inferior races, (Gypsies, Jews, Slavs.) They did not have to wear a colour coded armband though.

    The reported methods of execution included hanging, shooting, gassing and bludgeoning. There are several matter-of-fact video descriptions By survivors of events that occurred: one, by a Taylor who was forced to spend a year making officers' clothing on the ground floor of the factory, says that he never found blood or stains on the clothes he had to retrieve from the killing chambers. The metal whip or knout tells another story though.
    That the Nazis first tried to use the rice desiccator to terminate lives is probably just propaganda.

    The Germans tried to blow the place up when the allies and Yugoslavs arrived. The rooms used to collect people for execution, individual cells holding up to 6 people at a time, & the 3 story transit block survived. An architect sympathetically design a contrasting, concrete framework
    to show where the furnaces and outer walls stood: a steel sculpture marks the position of the crematorium chimney.

    The most poignant image In my mind is the plaque bearing a metal image and translation of the last letter from a 19 year old partisan to his family. It was found hidden in the prison long after his death.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur
    1

    Light as leaf on Linden Tree

    27 juin 2019, Slovénie ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Since pre-Celtic days the sacred Linden tree has been associated with eternal life, through its association with Kresnik, the sun god. During medieval times every castle, city, town, village, & hamlet had a tree under which business was conducted; for it was impossible to tell a lie whilst seated under the bough of the tree. Even now in Slovenia the Linden or Lime ( lipa in Slovene,) tree has a special judicial prerogative and is the national symbol.

    So it will not surprise you to discover that this particular tree, next to the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, was planted by a young village lass over the grave of her beloved. Girls love a badass and this he, Erasmus, certainly was; the robber Baron of Predjama castle. He met his untimely end after surviving a year long siege of his castle before betrayal by a fed-up - or maybe not so fed up after a year locked up - servant who signalled the enemy gunners with a candle lit in Erasmus' bedroom window which they duly aimed at and blew the room apart.

    Heeding the advice of the lady in the Tourist Information centre I did not pay to see inside the house, or the cave, or the small little museum for the reduced price combo ticket at 45 Euro was a little too steep given the lack of anything substantial to gape at. The 'treasure trove' found buried under the floor of one room comprised a few small silver tumblers and a couple of silver candle-sticks for the glimpse of which I was happy to pay the municipal elections museum 3 Euros. And I got a fascinating explanation of the karst region in Slovenia, its myriad caves and the lifestyles of its inhabitants.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    In the bag

    28 juin 2019, Slovénie ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    A fierce, fire breathing dragon once lived in Postonja caves. Everybody was terrified of it. A brave shepherd called Jacob also lived nearby and was always going on saying things like "if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen" and similar annoying phrases. So it all came to a head one day and the villagers told him that if he was such a smarty pants he could find a way to deal with it. "Go! Quench the flames of the reptile's ardour". And so on.
    "All right," quoth the valiant sheep guardian, "I will."
    So he devised a cunning plan to fill some tasty calf carcasses with quicklime and tempt the dragon to eat them. Cunning because he used someone else's veal rather than his own mutton.
    Sure enough the dragon tossed the lot down and went for a quenching pale afterwards. No sooner had he drunk his fill when he thought, "My that was a good meal - I'm fit to burst." Then he did.
    In gratitude for his amazing victory the townsfolk collected all the bits of dragon skin and created a faux crocadile bag for him. And ever since they have been bag makers in this town.

    However, I am not here for the bag but for another so-called dragon, the Proteus or Olm, symbol of the town.
    I can't face paying 65 Euros for the combo so have handed over 10.9 after queueing 30 minutes at the ticket booths. You know you are in a commercial enterprise when only 3 booths out of 7 are manned and the queue exits the building and lines the street.

    In the caves of S.E. Europe lives the inspiration for both Peter Pan and Gollum. It’s the olm, a blind, cave-dwelling salamander, also called the proteus and the “human fish”, for its pale, pinkish skin. It has spent so long adapting to life in caves that it’s mostly blind, hunting instead with various supersenses including the ability to sense electricity. It never grows up, retaining the red, feathery gills of its larval form even when it becomes sexually mature at sweet sixteen. It stays this way for the rest of its remarkably long life, and it can live past 100 though 50 to 60 seems more normal. It’s essentially blind although its hidden eyes and even parts of its skin can still detect the presence of light. It also has an array of supersenses, including heightened smell and hearing and possibly even the ability to sense electric and magnetic fields.

    The caves here have provided the olm with safe haven for over 20 million years, but pollutants leaching into the caves and the attentions of eager black market collectors have seriously hit the olm population, and it is now vulnerable to extinction.
    The "Vivarium" is an interesting zoo, where samples of cave biota including the olm are kept in tanks in part of the cave system. Visitors can see them under ultra-violet light. I was more impressed by the CaveCricket though: for ruthless appetite they take some beating. First they eat anything they can find in the cave; then when they can't find any other animal they turn cannibal! And then, when all the other crickets have been devoured, they start eating their own limbs.

    Another piece of trivia from the cave. Graffiti have been found dating back hundreds of years although thankfully the practice has ended now. The earliest is dated 1213 & if you want to see it look at a 2 euro coin.
    (So they say, I don't have one to hand.)    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Mercury rising

    28 juin 2019, Slovénie ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    WIth temperatures reaching 35 on the concrete I thought I'd check from where all this extra Mercury was coming.
    On satellite imagery a line from Italy to Croatia can be seen marking the fault where the Adriatic plate has been insinuating itself under the Eurasian one for millennia. Following this trail I entered the Kanomlja valley to Idrija where the oldest rocks in Slavinia - Carboniferous shales that are at least 320 million years old - can be found. Thanks to this rift, when a tax avoider named Schauffer escaped to this valley in 1480 and took up coopering, whilst testing the waterproofness of his tubs one day, discovered one tub markedly heavier than the rest bearing flashes of silvery stuff. Rather shortsightedly he took the mineral to the nearest assay office & lost control over the property as soon as the authorities discovered that it was in fact Mercury, a substance in much demand but in little supply.
    By the end of the 16th C when Gewerkenegg Castle was constructed, the Idrija mine was well on its way to being the 2nd largest in the world, (after Almaden in Spain.) In fact "Gewerkenegg" means mine, for it was built for security rather than defence as it housed the mercury, the administration hq of the mine / town, and of course the manager & his family.
    The Baroque painting in the courtyard was added later & recently touched up.
    I was dying to see the cinnabar, by product of the smelting process, but nothing much was said about it. Briefly, I saw red.
    Showing how commerce trumps even nationalism, the managers made a syndicate with the Spanish and ended up shipping most of it to Spain. Hg has a special affinity for gold you see, and by then Hispanic gold mines in South America were in full swing.
    The EU banned mercury mining in 2011 so the works have closed down leaving about 40 years supply still down there, having produced 107,000 tons over 500 years (13% of the entire world production, enough to make a 20m cube,) and cut an estimated 700 km of tunnel.
    Big business wants to reopen it but for once the locals and the law agree in opposing them. After all, contaminated silt is still finding its way down the Soci river into the Trieste bay.
    The mine also owned 9500 hectares of forest surrounding the town, the town alone needed 30000 cubic metres per annum, and what with pit props and smelters they would have deforested the place long ago where it not for some advanced sustainable harvesting.
    The bubble sculpture is supposed to invoke the feeling of mercury in the ground.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Home, sweet home.

    28 juin 2019, Slovénie ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    A common Slovenian design for well beehaved residents; the Carniolan grey.
    Sometimes mounted on carts for easy relocation, the entries to the so called AZ boxes stacked liked blocks of flats were painted with individual scenes. Not many people can be bothered painting them nowadays but still a common sight in the countryside.
    The middle of this one serves as the keepers office, and the hives can be checked from the inside.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Minors' quarters

    28 juin 2019, Slovénie ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    This house belonged to a miner and is being restored as part of the museum. In it, 3 families lived together with some single blokes allowed to sleep in the attic. Only the owner was allowed to keep animals: goats, pigs, chickens but only 1 cow. There were 2 gardens habitually, vegetable and herbs.
    Part of their wages were paid in grain - shades of the company store.
    Images of the early miners show them in elf hats and smocks. They were obliged to wear them as they had no pockets so that no ore would be mislaid. Given the difficulty of smelting enough ore to make a tiny amount of mercury, and the tightly controlled market, it seems a bit superfluous.but in the end did inspire Disney.
    The matrimonial bed is next to the mass heater. Not exactly king sized but no doubt cosy in the winter.
    From boredom and to get pin money, the ladies used to gather on someone's veranda to make the lace for which Idrija is famous. There is one of the oldest lace schools in town and I saw some work by students, as young as 9, that was pretty impressive. Especially the more artistic multicoloured patterns and even a 3 dimensional lace sculpture (by a boy!)
    A couple of hundred years ago, as indeed today, the State didn't want the proletariat educated above their status in life: they wanted them trained to work. So the mine started the first independent high school in Slovenia, recognising that this would eventually provide them with the skilled engineers they needed. They also funded a theatre, now the oldest in SLO.
    This place is much more interesting than the places most tourist buses go and if I returned I would spend more time in the smelting museum / exhibition and in "Anthony's Main Road", the original entrance. I would expect large things from "Francis' Shaft" of course.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Another old town.

    1 juillet 2019, Slovénie ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    The recorded history of Ptuj starts in the Iron Age but it peaked early, in Roman times, before settling into the role of a market town. As much as one can be, situated on the major invasion route.
    The Grad (castle) was taken over by Renault for the evening that I visited. I didn't stay to see this years new models and there was little else of interest to me.
    The maroon tower, (known as the Town Tower,) is a prominent landmark. There are a collection of recovered stones inside masquerading as a museum.
    The 13th C Dominican Monestary looks very gay all in pink. Probably left over from Mardi Gras.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Trakoscan

    2 juillet 2019, Croatie ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Scored a freebe here: the entrance barriers were opened and unstaffed.
    Turns out that the martial needs of the Grad fizzled out with the passing of the 16th C and from then it was mainly a country house. After a comfortable refit in the mid 18th C, the rooms remain as they were for us to enjoy today. Much like Petworth say, or South Park.
    As you may guess, I was much taken with the library and its indiscrete mass heater. One of the unusual features was their method of stoking. The house was built around a square, central courtyard with balconies at each floor. The servants could use these invisibly to access the rear of the heaters the fire doors of which opened onto a balcony.
    You may wonder why I include a photo of the kitchen range.
    Guess why.

    Hint: ostraches and emus.

    Ans: no flue.
    This is the only case I have ever seen where the pressure of the oven is used to force the smoke down, under the floor and into the chimney.
    Remarkable!.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur
    3113

    Zagreb

    3 juillet 2019, Croatie ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Stopped for a drink with Ana in Zagreb. We had a couple of beers by the Maksimir Park and avoided the welcomed thunderstorm.
    The city has been smashed up so often that there is not a lot left to see. There is Gornji Grad and Donji Grad. Tthe Upper Town, (no parking, no traffic, narrow streets, pavement cafes,) and the Lower Town, (no parking, loads of traffic, wide streets, Baroque office buildings,) with little to distinguish them from a thousand other medieval towns in central Europe.
    Somethings were a little bizarre. For example, one open air cafe was decorated with laundery, white underwear hanging on lines above the clientel, (too dark at night to photo).
    One advantage of starting over is that there are dual lane roads all over the place, as well as trams and buses. So the place, although soulless, makes an efficient working environment. [At least when the the council don't dig up one of the highways without making any provision for redirection or changing traffic light timings, which causes gridlock. I can vouch for that taking 2 hrs for a journey that should have been 10 mins.]
    And one of the other big pluses is that the Medvednica Mountain National Park starts 10 mins North. There are numerous trails starting from Bliznic Park at the bottom of the road up to Sljme, The highest peak, at 1,035 m. Instead of walking the dog in the park, many locals take them for a run up the hill. Or go for a bike ride up the road.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Letting go

    4 juillet 2019, Croatie ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    The Museum of Broken Relationships is an intriguing phenomenon which was unique although I believe that the Americans have copied the idea, (without payment of course.)
    People from all over the world have sent a variety of objects which reminded them of a relationship they had. The first exhibit is a bycycle which a lady had used for 30 odd years and which she callously replaced with a newer model! Not all are love stories, though many are, in fact the most touching are a series of photos of refugees holding momentoes of people with whom they were once in some sort of relationship, family / colleague / fellow children.
    This wavy line struck me as a little different from the others, so I include it and its label for your viewing pleasure.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur
    1

    Resetting history

    4 juillet 2019, Croatie ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    The body of Alojzije Stepinac 1898 - 1960 is displayed in the rather ordinary cathedral. A placard says:
    "Cardinal Archbishop of Zagreb; defender of God's and human rights amid the madness and savagery of WWII; condemned by the communists; martyr of totalitarian regimes."
    And stuffed by the Church for prosperity.
    This is to see the Catholic Church at work massaging history. For a start he wasn't martyred: he died of illness. More important though is his record during the fascist era, when he did little and often nothing to oppose the authorities. Not surprising the Communists, whom he feared more, had little truck with him. And not surprising that a major multi-national rather than confronting its own actions in the face of fascism, chooses to whitewash history from the lowest level upwards. Very clever.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    TB or not TB, that was the question

    4 juillet 2019, Croatie ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    There was a young lad, Milivoj Dežman, who fancied the girl who lived up the street, Ljerka Šram and had dreams of marriage and so on. She agreed to wait for him to finish his medical studies in Graz, whilst she embarked on a theatrical career.
    Alas, on his return he discovered that she was now Mrs, and well on her way to stardom on stage. So he did what anybody would do: he started writing plays for her to perform.
    As one might expect from theatrical types at the turn of the century, Ljerka's hubbie fell into debt and did a runner leaving her behind. So she moved in with Milivoj.
    But a popular and attractive actress cannot be left to enjoy life without drama, and sure enough she soon caught tuberculosis. Poor Milivoj was not to be with his sweetheart for long after all and he spent his time pressurising the authorities to build a sanatorium for TB patients.
    Thus it came to pass that Brestovac Sanatorium was built on the mountain overlooking Zagreb, Mt Medvednica, where the clean, cool air could ease the suffering of people whom the medical profession were unable to help. It opened in May 1909 just in time to lodge Ljerka before her death, in her lover's arms so it is said, in November 1913, aged 39.
    Naturally the story doesn't end there: a good actress doesn't die on stage (which she very nearly did having to abandon her last performance after a violent coughing fit,) and her blood soaked spectre was soon seen roaming the grounds, detering visitors for other patients unfortunately. Even better, she started recruiting other night walkers; forming a proper little army of ghosts rambling around the grounds. And real, dead soldiers who had been buried in the hospital catacombs after WWII joined them as well.
    Nowadays nobody goes there at night and paintballers use it during the day.    En savoir plus

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