About Clunegapyears

Travelling around Europe with James in our motorhome. And now solo, with friends

160-161: Hairy Hairpins?!

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Clunegapyears

160 – Sunday 27th Sept 2015: How many Hairpins and Porsche???

Best laid intentions and all that …. we planned to get the bus up to Tre Cime and do a big walk, BUT both of us slept badly (it only takes one to sleep badly and inadvertently, the other does too!) and J really could not stray too far from the facilities …. Today then became a Driving Day. But what a drive!!!

We took the Dolomites Road through the Passo di Fassa and must have done 4 major passes with amazing views, such as:

And the hair pins .. the major bends are numbered and one descent had 34, however they only number the extreme ones. Our brakes were hot and stinky (not J, his problem had settled fortunately!)

Our journey was very slow by necessity.

Porsche – we reckon at least 40 passed us going in the opposite direction. The dealers in Italy are onto a really good thing! And in equal number – cyclist both going up and down … they must be able to crack walnuts with their thighs!

Managed just to capture cyclist, no chance of the Porches!

We noticed the scenery become more mellow as we moved West. Canazei is a major ski resort and the mural painter must be fully employed:

We had planned to stay in a town called Bolzano, but the free parking was next to a train station and there seemed to be some ‘characters’ lurking. We ended up on a really lovely free parking about 12 km out of Bolzano. It meant we did not have a wander into the old town, but how many Duomos can one see and we plan to see Trento properly.

161 – Monday 28th Sept 2015: Pyramids and Porsches

A run for us both and then Pilates for K (slowly getting better at it). A housekeeping session with laundry and hoovering. We took the scenic route again down to near Cembra – 4 Porsches in under 15 mins, but a slow day for them as most of the drivers must be at work trying to pay for them!

We stopped at the Pirimidi di Segonzano.It was quite a steep climb up, but well worth seeing these remarkable natural phenomena. The stones in the soil prevent normal erosion, but apparently earth quakes, a flood etc mean that there are many, many less than 100 years ago.

Apples everywhere and being harvested. Interestingly, the grapes are mostly not yet being harvested, but they were in Slovenia. Roadside stalls selling apples and honey, so we had to stop and bag a bag of apples. EUR4 for 6 kilos! And they are delicious … nothing like the starchy soft fruit we get at home. But we will be eating them for a long time (if we can keep them without going rotten), as J counted 48 apples!

159: Sheer Drop Dolomites

Posted on September 26, 2015 by Clunegapyears

159: Lake walk and Jeep ride up … to snow, views and wow factor

K ran around the lake; J just giving his calf another day to make sure no twinge. Again, another lovely place to run.

Can’t beat running around a lake

We had decided last night to stay put for two nights to max the area … we had thought about driving back across Cortina to the 5 Torri, but a lack of sostas / parking that side of Cortina made it all seem a bit like hard work. We were running short of wine; I know in Italy … Piss Poor Planning!! So we started the day with a walk around the lake. In reverse for K, so it seemed more unfamiliar! Found a Spar with EXPENSIVE wine, so just bought one bottle. J, ever polite, attempted 3 Buon Girno’s and each time the staff ignored him – in fact they were inattentive and rude. After all the Slovinian charm we have experienced, J (really, normally is politeness itself) was move to say “Grazie nice people.”

Our two night parking. Stars out again last night.

Homemade leek, potato and blue cheese soup and then we bought tickets for the Jeep ride up to Monte Piana. It is an ex-military road and you can only get to the top by Jeep. As we ascended it was very apparent why. Narrow. Tarmac falling away. Hairpins. Various gasps on the journey: K awed as the scenery unfolded. J as he shut eyes, clenched buttocks and hoped he did not drop a Dolomite!

20 minute walk to the 360 views of the mountains. Simply stunning. Then walk onto several crosses and memorials to the fallen Italian and Austrians on this front of WW1. 14,000 soldiers died up here: some to the battles but a most due to a snow storm. We saw many, many trenches in the rocks, gun emplacements and barbed wire … so much evidence of the war not in a clinical museum environment . We walked along part of the Italian line and crossed the Austrian … so close. Such a beautiful place and tinged with such woeful echoes.

Dad, this was another ‘pinch me moment’

Jeep ride back down, saw J sliding across the bench seat away from the sheer cliffs, much to the amusement of our driver and the Austrians we shared with. K slightly flattered as she was told her German very good – seriously!!! (I think Europeans sadly are impressed when any UK person can speak another language) and the driver even tested her French, and then as we left, he said ‘Caoi Bella”.

BBQ and the Tre Cime BIG walk tomorrow. Heating on … September only … but it is snowy!!!!

157-158: Dolomites Discovered and SNOW!!!

Posted on September 26, 2015 by Clunegapyears

157 – Thursday 24th Sept 2015: Departing and Driving to the Dolomites

Our drinking buddies had mentioned the Dolomites and K remembered Nicky used to climb here and both she and Bron had described them as stunning. It seemed a sensible route to travel through Italy and onto the Lakes. It took a while to leave Slovenia … like it had some kind of hold on us. We had all Chardonnay’s services to do, a big shop, including a bike seat cover as K’s punctured gel saddle kept sticking to her bum, diesel and the LPG took a while as well as the pump needed re-setting – patient garage attendant.

Eventually we crossed a border point on a small road: tiny, one bend and we were through. No questions about migrants / refugees here. By this time Sally was showing 8.30 pm as arrival at Cortina, so we bit the financial bullet and paid £8.80 in motorway tolls. Ian (drinking buddy) had said he thought the Cortina Sosta (motorhome parking) had shut so we stayed a a superb FREE one just south of Cortina, and arrived in time for drinks! Managed to dry out the awning too from the previous day’s downpour.

Free sorta, with views and awning drying 🙂

158 – Friday 25th Sept 2015: Cortina and Cable Car

Slowish start and delayed by the chat to a lovely Aussie couple, who had bought a 30 yr old van in Britain and were doing a year in Europe. They were only 21 and 23 and so much more together than we ever where at anything near this age.

Arrived in Cortina and found somewhere to park; had to pay! Cortina is very posh! Saw a LOT of very expensive cars.

Not one Porsche but two! Must have seen about a dozen.

Cortina is nestled in the middle of some of the most stunning mountain scenery.

Looking for the TIC and J enquired in one of the posh frocks shops and the lovely lady even rang to find out which office was open still at midday. We passed lots more designer shops and yes, Bron, shoe shops, but managed to not dive inside! Helpful TIC: the lake we wanted to walk up to was shut due to snow, suggested another lake with a sosta, suggested a cable car and chair lift to get views and a walk … oops .. J allergic to chair lifts, so she suggested another mountain with only a cable car!

Pix can do the talking and it was hard to identify which ones to include in the blog. Passo Falzarego and the Lagazuoi Cable Car.

Chardonnay’s bottom and already snow and views.

Setting off in the cable car

Getting higher and J now in the centre of the cable car checking his shoe laces!

Can you actually see the car park down there?

Ireland cap 🙂

154-156: Coastal Slovenia

Posted on September 23, 2015 by Clunegapyears

154 – Monday 21st Sept 2015: Dodgy Drive to the Coast by K

We rarely have rubbish driving days but this was one of them. We ended up doing a few U turns, resetting Sally the Sat Nav several times and had to scramble up a cobbled and narrow street – just made it! All we were trying to do was to hug the Slovine coast down towards Piran … not much to ask, surely? The positives: slight detour into Italy so free texts and a call to K’s mother (interspersed with traffic and direction discussions!) and some lovely views of the azure sea … eventually!

Drove through the Slovine coastal towns. Kopper is the largest and is a massive port – my 2001 guide book says it is also used largely by Austria. So many fields of news cars.

We arrived at a campsite just south of Piran .. pretty rubbish online reviews, but there are not many around. Facilities near us are dirty but is is quiet and it has a washing machine …. so in went the LOT: bed linen, towels etc. And the wind warmly blew so all dry by morning 🙂

We needed some more cash, so cycled into the Portoroz to find the TIC, and ATM and an ice cream … in that order!

155 – Tuesday 22nd Sept: Bike to Piran and a Magic Moment by J

AM – K ran and J obfuscated (kind of confused alternative skating) – then brekkie and cycling to Pirano (Italiano). Lady in Tourist office said nothing happening in town today….. We walked to see churches and the old town walls, stopped for a glass of vino blanco and back to the town square.

Pretty Piran – Italian influence in architecture

Piran is a member of the association of walled towns. A certain person, naming no names (J) had to come down as uncomfortable with heights. Did he really used to scale the Severn Bridge???

There was a performance of dance and singing by local children – and traditional dancing and singing by a local adult troupe – a honey and food festival – nothing happening in town today??? Magic moments – Pere Como, Amelia?

Bicycled back relaxedly – I almost got lost I was so relaxed….. Drinkies with Lyn and Ian whom we had met at Idrjia – they also have a Bessacarr motorhome: we are not anal – we just belong to a secret society of anal motorhomers….(AM’s !).

156 – Wednesday 23rd Sept: Bike to Salt Flats and Jobs by J

Our dawn arrived at about 9:00 am and we persuaded each other to run! I had only done a slow run since my leg wound… I dragged my poor leg around 5 km in a half reasonable time – K was also quick…. but later a calf muscle twinge for me (an old friend or enemy). Bicycles dragged out and set sail (or salt) for the local sultans, some 4 km away… Very disappointing – poor information and signage, very untypical for our Slovenia experience…. Hey – who’s perfect ?

Don’t ask us any questions about the water irrigation, how often they can harvest salt from a pit etc … cos we weren’t able to find out 😦

Wind driven trip back to van – storm clouds gathering – house work, admin, bike repairs, emails – then the storm struck: tropical rain and thunderstorm! We were rescued by Lyn and Ian – drinkies at 5:30 pm (!) Nice people – like minded – Chardonnay at 7:00 and haute cuisine by K as always…. Now blogging – how’s that for being up to date, people… Tomorrow – to Italia – and some Dolomites, Cortina – especially the Mk 1 1963… nice car….. one went a courting in such a vehicle 100 years ago…

POSTSCRIPT – by K

We have spent just over a month in Slovenia and still feel we have missed things out …. we will definitely be back. Aged Ps – I have kept a lot of tourist info for you ….

We loved it here so much, James has the T shirt to prove it!

152-153: Quick Silver: Idrija Mercury and Lipica Lippizaners

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Clunegapyears

What an amazing weekend 🙂

152- Saturday 19th Sept 2015: Quick Silver – Idrija Mercury Town

A relatively slow start and no a.m. run … we were on top of a steep hill after all! We free wheeled down to the town and went into the TIC, our usual first port of call. Yes, everything open, BUT three smaller museums are satellites of the main museum in the castle and you need to book one of the guides from there to open them up for you. OK, so we re-planned our itinerary. Castle, 3 satellite museums, cycle the Kanal to see the Wild Lake, lunch and the the mercury mine. However, the museum was actually really interesting and we spent longer there than planned so our itinerary became:

Castle Museum: built for the Austro Hungarian administrators and as the mercury store. The museum contained the history of the mine: mining started in 500 and closed only in 1987, when the toxic health effects became too unpalatable. It is the second largest mercury mine in the world (No.1 Being in Spain). Also info on the lace making, the interwar occupation and geology. Given a helpful quick intro and orientation by one the students working there.
Lunch and back to the castle to pick up the student guide. Him on his moped and us trying to keep up on bikes after wine! He was actually excellent and openly answered our inquisitive questions on partizans vs collaborators today, politics, sense of national feeling etc.
Francis Museum of Technology: mercury being such a valuable commodity, the mine was the cutting edge of technology and the machines of late C17 to present are preserved.
Miner’s House: ground floor furnished. Would have housed 3-4 families.
Kamst Wheel: the preserved biggest water wheel in Europe. 14m diameter. It drove the mine water extraction pumps, was erected in 1790 and operated until 1948! Also displayed are some of the above ground engines.
Anthony Mine: 30 min film about how the Mercury was found here and its uses – still used in fluorescent lamps, computer chips etc despite its massive toxicity. Miners started work age 15 and we lucky to make 40! Donned hard hats and jackets and went into the mine. Side shafts showed the different eras of mining: clothing and kit, with sound and dust amplification. The guide explained how shafts were back filled and a new one opened up. As the hill of the mine is so riddled with tunnels, there is a LOT of ground movement and when the mine was closed, they used the probe to establish lightly back filled shafts and then fill them with cement. 12 miners are still employed to maintain the areas open to the public and continue the cement filling.
Cycle to the Wild Lake and back along the narrow canal that fed the Kamst water wheel. The Wild Lake is a natural phenomenon: divers have reached a depth of 160 m below the surface., which as deep as they can physically go to explore the lake. The emerald green surface of the lake is usually idyllic and peaceful, but only a few days of strong rainfall and the water starts spewing out and there is a bubbling dome. It was all calm when we arrived … shame would have liked to see the turbulence.

Back up steep hill to Chardonnay – so steep, we had to push the bikes! When we arrived a quick chat to Lyn and Ian, parked next to us and with such good taste, they have a Bessacarr too!

Iron ball floating in mercury. The mercury has oxidised hence its milky colour. H&S actually kicked in here – the museum covered the dish with glass as ladies kept dipping their hands in and their rings were melting!

So much wood was needed in shaft construction, that the mine had acres of forest. They used to damn the river, store the timber below the damn and let the fast and sudden flow of the released water carry the logs down to the town. These spikes ‘caught’ the logs in the town. It all stopped in 1926 when they flooded the town.

After a few months of Italian ‘ownership’ between World Wars, the populace were ‘Italianised”!

All these lace bobbins …. we’d struggle keeping track of four!

But is was most beautiful. And the women and girls had to make money somehow where the menfolk died so young. There is a lace school now in Idrija.

A map of an Idrijan company’s businesses …. James’ questioning hand …. where has Ireland gone?

Cutting edge of technology restored equipment.

Cutting edge technology – Skoda built

Cutting edge technology – as miners spent so long under ground they were vitamin D deficient and were ‘radiated’ with these lamps … as if the mercury poisoning was not enough!

Typical miner’s house

The Kamst – largest surviving wooden water wheel in Europe

Massive wheel … massive tools! And our lovely student guide.

Liquid lunch!

Idrija – church and top of Francis shaft

.. means good luck, which is what all the miners used to say as they descended to work.

Each miner given a numbered token and told where to work, so if the token did not reappear at the end of the shift, they knew where to look.

All kitted up … but no ‘off to work we go’ for us!

Mercury is found in pure liquid form .. you may just make out two small dots, or as a compound with cinnabar that had to be heated to 600-800 deg C to be turned to gas and then captured.

Compressed air used here

The Wild Lake. It is very small and I could not get a shot to show how steep and high the rock walls are.

Our pitch for two nights and our new neighbours.

Panorama of the view on top of our hill – we had been 98m below our pitch in the mine!

153: Sunday 20th Sept: Quick Silver – Lipizzaners

We arose early to drive to Lipica – the home of the Lipizzaners Stud farm. Under Hapsburg rule, a stud farm was established in 1581 and they have been developing the breed there ever since … with some ups and downs. The wars and Italian rule of the area all caused problems with horses being moved, stud books being held by other countries and lack of investment. The Slovine government sees this as a major part of the country’s heritage and subsidies their work to the tune of 60% and several million on current redevelopment. They now have several hundred horses and cross breed with other Lipizzaners stud farms worldwide.

We did a tour of the stud stables, which was not brilliant – guide spoke fast with a heavy accent and was too full of facts of breeding. We went back to Chard for a rest and lunch, but then the MAIN EVENT started. The annual show. Beautiful sunshine and about 10,000 people watching the dressage etc. Amazing to watch the stallions doing vertical leaps and jumps on their hind legs. But the best part was the guest performer. Lorenzo – a chap from France who is essentially a horse whisperer, who gets his horses to do amazing tricks just by his voice, hand gestures or a gentle flick of his whip. Really stunning!

Another motorhomer told us that we could stay in the Lipica carpark, so we did. J had paid to watch the All Ireland Football Final – Gaelic, that is. So we watched in the Lipca Hotel with free wifi, a splitter, two head sets and a bottle of wine and something to eat. A most excellent day: amazing horse training and the Dubs won! Up the Dubs!