142-143: First Cut is the Finest!

Posted on September 11, 2015 by Clunegapyears

142 – Tuesday 8th Sept 2015: Moving North and East from Maribor

We left Horvat vineyard saying farewell to our hostess; the vine expert. I put the parking on the Parkings app that most motorhomes use as the Agritourism book is really badly distributed and advertised. It is the least we can do after such amazing hospitality.

We drove North … with the aim of covering pretty much all of Slovenia … doing it properly! So we headed north to Gornja Radgona, but did not stop … a ski centre in winter and pretty ordinary. Due to vagaries of the border with Austria, we were briefly out of Slovenia which meant we could use our free Roaming with Three. So we parked up at a village:

spoke to K’s daughter and mother
booked Harry Potter Studios visit
booked K’s train ticket for her visit home end October
checked bank accounts still alive and not imploded

and perturbed a local resident who walked all around Chardonnay as if she had landed from space!

Back into Slovenia and back roads to a town called Grad, where we parked at a Church and had lunch. I know it seems irreverent, but in the countryside there really are no lay-bys or parkings. Grad actually means Castle, we saw the sign, but not the item itself. The scenery around here, was very pretty … more peaks and churches.

Grape pickers finishing for the day

Having peaked at Grad, we headed south again and through Moravske Toplice: this is another hot natural springs spa resort with an over priced and very commercial campsite … we kept going to …. Dobrovnik. Not the Croatian one – the Slovenian. The Agritourism book listed a parking here and we wanted to justify the purchase of the book!

This one was actually the car park of a man made lake – Bukovnisko J. Being rural, the car park attendant did not speak English or German (our standby language recently), but a few gestures and mimes and she sold us a ticket for EUR5 and told us to park over the other side of the car park. No one else there, in fact the whole place was not busy, and we did not feel like lepers! Parked up and wandered in to see what there was…. an ice cream later …. and we failed to obtain a free map of the lake and area so we took a phone pic of one of the info boards and wandered around the lake. Peaceful and pleasant enough, once you got past the Hungarian coach load of 90% loud and chatty women. There was a small chapel with a natural spring which is reputed to have healing properties. It really did feel a sanctified place. Sadly a man meditating and a couple on a bench near this – one wonders if they have some sorrow they are looking for help with.

By about 9.00 we had the place to ourselves – totally, other than a few zillion stars.

Our lonely but very peaceful pitch

143 – Wednesday 9th Sept: Vine Cutting Festival

Leisurely start. As we vacated to run around the lake the car park attendant pounced on us to sell us a ticket … we persuaded him that we had bought an over night one already and that we would be on our way in an hour. I know it would only have been another EUR5, but it is the principle of the thing! So we ran, and departed.

We got as far as Lendava, right at the eastern side of Slovenia. Lack of parking in the centre so we hunkered down in the supermarket carpark. K shopped and J washed! we then breakfasted there. Again Chardonnay caught attention being a) a motorhome in the less touristy area b) being British and c) being beautiful, not that I am biased (Chard that is!)!

We had been told that the Sauvignon Blanc around here was supposed to be good and there were cycle wine routes but since the harvest has just started, staff are busy, and we could not easily find the Tourist Information Office anyway! And we’ve bought too much wine already! Or is wine like shoes and handbags in that you can never have enough?

We followed the scenic road to Ljutomer where we lunched in a car park (car park meals seem to be a habit! today!), popped into the TIC in a rather impressive square and had an ice cream, of course.

We have seen these milk dispensers in most towns.

J smitten.

Typical traffic – tractor on tractor.

There are many new houses being built, but most of the old ones have had a re-furb and the choice of rendering colour for the walls is not to UK taste and we have seen this pretty much all over Slovenia.:

We took the smaller road to Jeruzalem and were really pleased we had … little pointy hills with lots of vines. We kept stopping for photos; fortunately the roads are so quiet. Not much at Jeruazalem other than two hotels, a church, a TIC and 40 inhabitants (official figures from the chap at the TIC). From the TIC, we bought:

A ‘I feel SLOVEenia T shirt for J and EUR2 cheeper than in Ljutomer 🙂
A bottle of pumpkin oil. We have eaten local food drizzled with it and have seen them harvested in the fields and left to ripen. Apparently they are pressed for oil in October.
A bottle of local Sauvignon Blanc … we wanted Verus, the vineyard we had drunk at our posh meal, but we could have every grape but Sauv. Bl. by Verus, so we selected a different vineyard to try.

We then set the sat nav for our third Argotourism …. it took us the quick way – in and out of Croatia in 5 mins. We were surprised to have to show Passports on the way out of Sl, and again on the way in. We were also asked, sadly, if we had any Syrian refugees on board.

At our overnight destination there were about 25 people all out front with the men wearing black felt hats and wellie boots. Fortunately the son of the farmer spoke near fluent English and guided us to where we could park and helped us avoid an over hang … another puncture in Chardonnay not desired!

Our hosts were insistent we joined them… and ‘does the fat dog slide on lino?”

The farmer has a patch of about 20 different grapes in the front. Every year, he and neighbours dress in traditional clothes (hence the hats and boots) and they have a party for the first cutting of the grapes.

BUT before the precedings commenced we all had a shot of ‘grappa’ infused with herbs which gave it a green hue. Then the cutting commenced.

As peoples buckets filled, they filled the large wooden buckets, which were then transported on backs by Shanks Pony to the stalk stripping machine.

Clever device – pulls the grapes off the stalks and spits out the stalks. All the 20+ varieties of red and white grapes in together …

A bit of a pause: wine and food. Again J and I tried to slip away … uninvited guests and all that, but with a little pressure it was borne on us that it would be rude.

Food was homemade breads, parma ham and salami style meats, tomatoes and onions. I don’t eat bread, but I tasted J’s – one was like a soft pizza dough (but better) with bits of pork sprinkled on top … these came from the rendering down of the lard like butter … delicious.

To help a bit, the grape mush was loaded into potato sacks as it makes it easier to unload and reload the press.

Then the pressing began. Three pressings actually.

All the men were involved by this point – Zvonko Jr. (English speaking son) explained the Slovenian saying: ‘Too many midwives spoilt the birth’. Similar to our ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth’. But no issues here as most were in a supportive capacity.

The juice drained away through a long pipe into the Fermtation tank in the cellar. Zvonko Sr. used an device held to the eye to measure the sugar content – only 13. Sugar would need to be added. Do you think J and I look expert … expert drinkers! Or all at sea?

I should have recorded it … some of the men and women joined in a couple of songs. Honestly, it was 3 or 4 part perfect harmonies. Zvonko Jr. said they sang about the first grape cutting and as they all knew the words they belted it out. Really beautiful.

Other special moments of the evening were so numerous, but especially:

Looking at the barn of old farming equipment, such as a potato digger, that spits the potatoes out sideways. Apparently there is also a party to celebrate the old farming techniques. We must come back!

Being shown a young Edible Doormouse. Yep – this is its official name. Some places have special festivals to celebrate them. They live in trees in Eastern Europe and are a delicacy, but only the Slovenes eat them.

Learning about how each village will have a slightly different dialect .. we had picked up that the Slovene sounded different in the eastern part.

Seeing the Slovenian cattle: smaller and suitable for hilly areas as they don’t damage the slopes.

We thought these were to show wind direction, but they clatter in wind as bird scarers.

We cannot believe the warmth and hospitality of this country. We were not allowed to pay for our overnight pitch, offered toilets etc, given some of the bread to take away ….

This is a treasured and enriching memory. Thank you!

K – dog whisperer!

It worked the first time!

This amazingly generous and warm group of people – thank you.

140-141: Magical Maribor Moments

Posted on September 9, 2015 by Clunegapyears

Sunday 6th Sept 2015: Onto Maribor

We left Prebold, but were fairly unimpressed by the towns we passed through, not enough to stop anyway. Scenery was less mountainous by still pretty and agricultural. The barns are architecturally really interesting.

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More churches and always with hills in the background.

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Hops for the two Slovenian beers being harvested now: Union and Lasko

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Our destination was the motorhome parking at the top of a hill with the intention of walking on the morrow. Best laid plans and badly laid roads put paid to that! We started up the hill on the dirt track – too many water tracks and rattlings: Chardonnay and our teeth! Abort and plan B … Maribor, which was planned next anyway.

Our general expectations of Maribor were not high – even though it is Slovenia’s second city on the river Dava. (Boys and girls – were we surprised! Read on…). We arrived at our first Agro Camping at about 4:00 pm – the Horvat Vinejardji. Our hosts were out and we settled the van onto a very sloping pitch – chocks brought into play to level the bed. Settled to some admin work – and after a while, our host arrived – quick warm welcome (we were their first motorhome, despite being in the Agrotourism book for a while). K offered the standard EUR10 – refused! He asked if we would like a wine tasting a little later in the evening – does the fat dog slide on lino? At about 7:30 – he knocked and we followed him into the house… We tasted about 5 different wines – all white – this area is mainly white – Sauvignon Blank, some different Reisling, Chardonnay…. on we went … slowly with decent sized glasses. Then – our hostess appeared with a large platter of food! A real mixture: local cheeses, sliced onion on bread with a light lard butter (tasty – honest) and pumpkin oil drizzle, gammon on bread – and so tasty. J ate most of it – this was our evening meal – superb ! Our host’s English was very good, so he was able to talk to us about wine growing generally in Slovenia … mostly family run businesses and 6 major large firms, until last year when one in Maribor went bankrupt. Due to the sunny summer this year the harvest is starting this week and expected to be good. Last year there was very little sun and the harvest was poor. We discussed how the little known quality of Slovenian wine impedes its demand and therefore export to the rest of Europe. He also talked about the wines to look out for in the different areas as we travelled Slovenia. We were welcome to park up as long as we liked.

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A nightcap wine tasting of our own back in the van – that fat dog just will not stop sliding – thanks to Thomas O’Reilly for that one, Amelia!

At EUR 5.99 fro 5 litres it really was a poor finale.

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The view from Chardonnay looking up at some of our host’s vines

Monday 7th Sept 2015: Magical Maribor Moments

This may be a long blog – no need for sleeping pills tonight… AM – we cycled into Maribor – I (J blogging here) did a sort of walking tour guide thingy. Maribor was 2/3rds destroyed in WW2 and boasts a large 1980’s iconic bus station. Most of the architecture reflects the ‘proletarian’ history of factories (source our 2001 guide book). However a number of old buildings such as 4 old town wall towers and a synagogue survived. We avoided the tourist train (Kerstin, if you are reading, this pic is for you!) – it did not seem to move due to the lack of tourists :).

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We saw the oldest vine in the world – 400 years old – it’s in the Guiness Book of Records – it still produces wine. As there is a festival to harvest its grapes so the date is pretty much fixed to end of Sept / start October. The wine produced is distributed by the Mayor in small bottles.

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The wrinkly old vine is on the right!

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It had a small and free museum and had some of our overnight host’s wines – Horvat.

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Journalists waiting to ask us how our trip in Slovenia was going … actually Serbian journalist interviewing Slovenian wine experts … should have asked us, we seem to be tasting enough to become expert!

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That led to a sampling of the local wines in a conveniently nearby restaurant – only 4 wines, but we were sharing, honest!

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We fell into conversation with a lovely lady – Petra, and her Crufts Bichon Frisee, and she gave us very good advice on the area and things to see and do.

She talked about how her family, wealthy Ljubljana, had different capitalist ideas to a lot of Slovenia, who were still emotionally locked into the Tito era. She recommended a particularly good restaurant – Mak’s – for special occasions – possibly expensive – K’s eyes lit up the street and she asked Petra to book us in for 6:30 this evening! Bugger the budget Mrs Spontaneous…

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Not having had enough of wine tasting, we headed for the largest underground wine cellar in Slovenia – 20,000 sq metres. A good tour of timber and concrete (?) wine barrels – with German and Dutch couples – the wine tasting then began (again !). Our tour guide was the manager of the overseas consortium that was trying to buy the bankrupted wine firm from the receivers (see note above about 6 large wine firms). He was Dutch married to a Slovene and had worked in many industries (we did get his life story) but it was very interesting to hear his take on some Slovenine attitudes to competition and pricing based on old Communist beliefs.

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No fountain, so visitors press coins into the wall for luck.

7 wine tastings later, we retrieved our bicycles and wobbled back to Horvat…. J was ready to nap before the 6:30 restaurant booking – K disappeared into chez Horvat to purchase some of the wine, where she was offered more wine tasting and a tour of the bottling equipment and the main cellar. The generosity of our host is amazing: he rounded each price down and threw in a bottle of a different grape! In telling our host about the cave tour, he said how a consortium of vineyards had bought some vines from the bankrupt large company and they were in a really poor way but a lot of work on them and they should produce some good kilos of grapes this year. Slovenia is a small country and is is fascinating to hear parts of the same story from different people.

K back with 2 minutes to spare before the taxi arrived….. a very quick clothes change and minimal makeup.

The restaurant decor was fairly bland. The chef / host David was eccentric … jeans, jacket and a mop of unruly hair. He offered up his 19 month son as the main course! We left ourselves entirely in his hands re the meal and the wine. He does not produce a menu as it depends what is available. The pictures can do the talking. It was truly amazing. So much food, but served slowly and all so light that neither of us had that leaden stomach feeling.

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1. Bottom left to right and up – you need directions are there were so many elements just to the starter!

Beetroot macaroon with chicken liver pate and foie gras.

Parsley with homemade sausage and …. on top.

Crostini with Slovenian parma ham

Corneto with minced spiced beef and cream cheese

Lollypop of 24 month aged cheese with pumpkin seeds

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1. Continued … hot part

The lightest tortilla with cauliflower cream

Sweetbread in crumb with ginger and soy sauce

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James knowing he is in for a good time.

Wine was Zlata Radgonska Permina 2006 – apparently the oldest sparkling winery in Slovenia

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2. Soup Course

Tenderest salmon strips in a yellow pepper soup. Quail egg, caviar and a jelly of sweet and sour pumpkin. Served under a large dome with herb smoke.

WINE: Verus Sauvignon Blanc … delicious

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3. Salad Course

Dressed leaves with roasted pumpkin seeds and chargrilled chicken.

As the chicken was on the bone, they came later with a large bowl, jug of warm water and rolled towels so we could rinse our hands!

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4. Main Course

Most melt in the mouth lamb with lightest mashed potato, meat juices, onion sauce and papardelle of pumpkin and carrot.

WINE: Zamut Cabernet Sauvignon (Augustus) 2008 (we rejected an earlier suggestion as we felt it was too heavy – Shiraz)

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5. Dessert

Marinated pear balls, pear ice-cream, cinnamon and wine poached pears, bitter chocolate biscuit, chocolate soil, white chocolate mouse with a mango centre (when you cut in it looked like a poached egg!)

WINE: Most …. this is actually not a wine…. yet. On a certain day in November the celebration is the the grape juice is now fermented enough to become wine. Until then, it is Most (pronounced Mosht)

We were offered a cheese course!!!! To finish we were given shot of grappa, told to only drink half of it as it was a long drink ins a small glass. The glass was then topped up with Chardonnay grape juice.

As we left, we had a sour cherry shot! In any normally circumstances, we would feel bloated, poisoned and plastered … it is a testament to the quality of the food and wine and the lovely long gaps that we felt replete but in no way uncomfortable. Amazing experience. WOW – WHAT A DAY!

138 – 139 : Slap Happy and Numb Bums

Posted on September 5, 2015 by Clunegapyears

138 Friday 4th Sept: Dogged Walking … oh and a Lunch

The lovely Meine Hostess let me off EUR1.15 as I did not have the correct change … under £9 a night … peaceful and basic – our kind of campsite.

Logarska Dolina is another valley, the one up from where we were yesterday, but quite a different feel. It is known as the Foresters Valley, is only 7.5 km long and culminates in a Slap! Yep, slap the thighs, another blinkin waterfall! We parked up just into the valley and followed the forest path along the river bed and then up to the Rinka Slap. A real mix of deciduous and evergreen trees. Loads of wild flowers, we don’t know the name of, but appreciate all the same.

We watched the clouds blow in and off the mountain peaks.

Along the river bed. Dry at the moment as the water from the waterfall gets absorbed into the ground unless there is a massive downfall. Given the rain we battled through, I wonder what constitutes a massive downpour?

Rinka Slap. Do check out the coffee kiosk perched up a lot of steps … we’d climbed enough and even the lure of blueberry brandy was not sufficient temptation!

On the descent, J felt peckish so we stopped off for another lunch (must stop this becoming a habit!) and left with a large doggy bag.

Another lunch … happy bunny!

What is hard to get across is how incredibly peaceful everywhere is. Walking the valley, the only sounds were the rain (yes it poured on our way up), the waterfall and the odd cry of a bird. We are now sat on a campsite in the small town of Prebold having moved a little to the east … again, no sounds other than the rain and the odd hum of a car. Slovenia is restful and peaceful. The friendly mein Host has given me a FREE super scale walking and cycling map of the area.

Our neighbour, who likes to talk, wears a shell suit – he comes from what was the DDR! He was moved to Dresden by the powers in the communist era and then you went where you were sent. He said how lucky he was to have been moved somewhere so lovely. I was able to tell him that I had been to Dresden and the Meissen factory some years ago. And all this in German …

139 – Saturday 5th Sept 15: Numb Bum!

K gets satisfied, in a weird sort of way, when laundry is done, so a bedding etc load into an efficient top loader (haven’t seen one of those in a while) and some hand laundry. Again, all hanging under the awning or inside Chardonnay. Slight concern that it will hang around as there is so much damp in the air.

We had a massive thunder storm again last night and they seem quite frequent. We hear the long low rumbles echo around the hills and the water droplets sound like gravel on Chardonnay’s roof. More rain is expected today, BUT we are turning into Mr and Mrs Fittie- Allweather! Bikes down, prepped and wet weather gear donned, we set off. K navigating the back roads to Celje: a slight 3 km detour … oops! Fortunately the rain held off.

A typical view on our route. All the hills and mountains are really pointy and churches seem to inhabit the tops – is climbing up to them some sort of penance for this Catholic nation?

The area we are in seems to be a garden of Slovenia. It is well known for its hop growing; we passed a tall machine harvesting the hops and then being stripped in a barn. However, as well as corn and a few sun flowers, there are LOADS of apple orchards, and numerous varieties.

Should I be jealous? Not sure J would get any takers in those cycling leggings!

Having triple locked the bikes, we planned to go into a museum …. oops! All the museums and shops (except large supermarkets) seem to shut at lunchtime on Saturday! So if you work full time and need to do jobs, there is no chance of a lie in Saturday morning. Given we could not be cultural, J’s tummy rumbled, so we went gastro instead! But when a pizza, a delicious soup and 4 glasses of wine (albeit small) only costs £12 including the tip, it would be rude not to!

Happy boy! Third lunch out in a row and he said it was one of the best pizzas – EVER.

As we left the restaurant, the heavens opened. Why is it ‘heavens’ … nothing heavenly about the weight or length of the downpour. We waited a bit but as it seemed set in we resigned ourselves to a drenching, but decided to go back on the main route in the hope it would be more direct and easier cycling. We had a quick coffee stop (euphemism for J needed to use the facilities) on the way and back in time to change and tidy up before James’ Gaelic Football game started. Power of the internet: J can watch the Dublin v Mayo semi final replay live on the iPad in rural Slovenia 🙂

Only 24.4 miles, but only the second time the bikes have had and airing in a while. Despite, he sexy padded cycling leggings (K has her own padding), J was the one with the numb bum!

135-137: Should be at school!

Posted on September 3, 2015 by Clunegapyears

135 Tuesday 1st Sept: Oldest and Finest …

No not wine! An Arboretum. After we ran and said farewell to Laraine and Steve (who actually thought we were having lie in – duh!), we set sail North. We stopped off at the Volcji Potok ( you should hear hear the sat nav rendition of this … much amused by Sally Sat Nav’s pronunciation generally – cesta vesta is one of our faves!). It is the ‘largest and most beautiful arboretum’ quote from our 2001 guide book!. Having been spoiled growing up near RHS Wisely, even K was much impressed.

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A French garden

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Two English gardens with lovely Acers just turning … don’t say Autumn is coming!!!

If this were Football, I’d be shouting England 2, France 1 and Italy and Germany ZERO!

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A rose garden, indigenous forest etc…. and all with a mountainous backdrop.

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A really pleasant couple of hours and ice cream at the summer house!

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Highlight? Most memorable? The donosaurs!!!!! Yes, seriously – scale and MOVING and BELLOWING dinos. I know they have to entertain the kids, but do they have to make them so life like …. even some eye rolling! K unnerved … and not just by what they were doing in an arboretum!

When we were in Ljubljana, the lovely TIC girl, when asked where she liked to go had indicated two place on the map and we set off for the first of these – Velika Planina, just north of Kamnik. This is the ‘great highlands area’. top height is 1666m. K had identified a campsite (not in all resources and we soon found out why … MINUS: very basic at EUR22 (K negotiated a 10% discount – it all helps) … one toilet in a shed (clean and it flushed!!!), amongst trees and interesting manoeuvres to get Chardonnay in! PLUS: it was right at the base of the of the cable car we would take tomorrow and really peaceful. Only one other (smaller) camper on the site …. interestingly a German married to a French lady, so K found herself badly switching languages.

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Pre dinner drinks on our woody camping.

136. Wednesday 2nd Sept: Shite Frite

Up and at ‘em again …. we caught the 9.00 am cable car. Sorry, you working folk (very conscious my former work colleagues are back dealing with new classes, seating plans and new directives from ‘em on high), but it felt early to us! The guide book states ‘ the six minute ride is not for the skittish”. It was steep. it was a long way. The cables looked very baggy. Now James likes to have his feet on terra ferma and he was slightly anxious / disconcerted about this ride.

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K happy to board the cable car, but J already shaking and it had not yet started its ascent!

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However, we then had a LONG chair lift ride, having been advised to get the double ‘get you up there’ package. J mostly eyes just and gripped the rail. Again this was a REALLY long ride, but it saved us a 45 min steep climb by foot.

Velkina Planina is where traditional diary farmers graze their cattle over summer. It is hight pasture land. Mostly above the tree line. The wooden round buildings were razed by the Germans, but rebuilt since. Many are holiday homes, but a lot were still inhabited by the herdsmen, who wear green felt pointy hats.

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We had not gone far before it was coffee stop. We sat outside one of the round huts … listening …. listening to …. virtually nothing. The odd cry of a bird of prey and the jangle of a cow bell. It is seriously one of the most peaceful places we have ever been. On top of the world!

We walked through a number of the wooden hutted hamlets and past numerous urbane cattle with their young. A really lovely place. Unfortunately J had started with an eye infection the night before and was not feeling his best. I put this down to why he keep his eyes shut and hands white knuckled on the return chair lift! As we arrive at the bottom of the lift, he less than calmly said he needed to find the toilet …. it had frightened the shite out of him! He really was not a happy bunny and has informed me that cable cars are doable at a push, but chair lifts NOOOO!

Sorry, lots of pix of the scenery and little wooden huts, but it was a very special place.

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We needed LPG so drove south and then back north a bit (I know I should have sorted it yesterday, nearer Ljubljana) and stopped off at Kamnik … mandatory daily ice-cream and eye drops for J. Isn’t amazing – we describe symptoms in English and they prescribe antibiotic drops for all off EUR5!

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Lot of benches had rolled up mags for people to relax and read … what a lovely idea.

Next Stop: Logarska Dolina- the second place the Ljubljana TIC girl had said was one of her favourites. We had picked up an AgriTourism book of camperstops at farms and K had confirmed our arrival for tonight by email with one. Sally Sat Nav initially tried to take us through a barrier that, even had it been open, a car would have struggled with. The she tried to take us up a near vertical track. The concept of farms giving up a space for motorhomes is fab, but not if totally inaccessible! We will try the book one more time and see if we just bummed out on our first choice. Fortunately, we had spied a campsite on the route up, just north of Luce and we retraced our steps. Adjacent to a bubbling brook, 2 other couples staying, small, clean and basic … perfect! And only EUR13.16 incl Tourist Tax :). When checking in, K asked Meine Hostess about short walks for the morrow as J only 86% … really helpful again and K had to resort to German; we are only miles from the Austrian border … and she suggested on with a food stop that specialises in local produce. Sounds fun, although most local produce seems to be buckwheat and sour milk or dumplings … not sure what we will get, but when in Rome!

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Using the bench with a roof as a laundry drying hut!

137 – Thursday 3rd Sept 15: Gourmet Gorging

Slow leisurely start; waiting for the rain to cease of course! K ran and did some Pilates; there was kindly a hard standing behind the picnic bench. And we both showered… always a good thing, occasionally.

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Parked up at the start of Romanov Kot, as recommended by Meine Hostess at the campsite. It is another glacial gorge, however, the valley bed is a sea of scree and rocks. Quite lunar or post bomb.

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One of the prettier beehives,

And the opening of the valley.

But the highlight of today was …. tarter – massive bowls of soup. This is the main course of the lunch – all typical of the region …. cottage cheese …

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Sdumpling, a meat in a ravioli thingy, three other sorts of roast meats, green beans with a pork cracking sprinkling and an onion dish. Did I mention the roast potatoes and salad sides? Pudding was a kind of apple and cinnamon strudel. I have not see J eat so much in ages and we still have a massive doggy bag for tomorrow. we will NOT be wanting supper tonight!

120- 126 : Wonders of the World

Posted on August 30, 2015 by Clunegapyears

In the last week, we have seen so many magnificent sights, they are the New Wonders of the World – according to us!

120 – Monday: Wonder 1 – Leaning Tower of Pisa

Having arrived at a campsite the night before we continued with housekeeping … cleaning and washing. After lunch we wandered into Pisa and found some repair equipment, such as glue and screws. We had plenty of time before collecting Maddy from the airport to have a wander. I had been to Pisa a couple of times before and believed there was not much there other than the Square of Miracles with the Duomo, Basilica and Leaning Tower (Campanille). However, we discovered some lovely piazzas and arcades of shops.

J had the brainwave to get the bus to the airport rather than disturb / pack up Chardonnay. So EUR2 each and a short ride to the airport … having watched a man go apoplectic as he missed his airport transfer and had to catch the public bus … the air was blue … shame as he was with his young son. Plenty of time at the airport and not driving, so we had a couple of glasses to pass the time!

My Munchkin arrived :). Bus back into the centre and we bought timed tickets to go up the Leaning Tower. We wandered around the cloisters that had been badly damaged and saw statues and some of the restored frescos and had supper.

I scaled the Tower about 28 years ago with my father. It had then been shut to tourists and only reopened in 2001 after inserting a concrete plinth underneath to correct the lean slightly and prevent further lean. As you look at it, it really is amazing that it does not collapse. Incredibly, it started leaning after they constructed the third story and they kept building! The circular stairs hug the wall and you can sense the angle of lean as you climb. They also get narrower and have more wear to the tread. Climbing is not for the faint hearted or unfit. At the top, the narrow walkway is all of about 90 cm wide. Now there is a very high fence, but there was not when I climbed up all those years ago. I can still remember moving around the walkway with my back pressed to the tower thinking that this really is not safe! Some super views.

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Other people taking Instagram pix

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Maddy doing an Instagram pic!

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Katherine doing an Instagram pic!

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James doing an Instagram pic; James style! … if only he had an account!

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Amazing views

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James declined the climb up and rested, until Maddy poured water on him …

121 – Tuesday: Pick up in Padua

We drove to Padua to pick up Kerstin who had arrived by train from Germany a couple of days before. Having set Sally Sat Nav for her hotel near the station, we were guided into the tram lines and one way systems …. a slight concern, but Kerstin was on the look out for us. So a quick traffic halt as we bundled her, and her back pack on board.

We drove to a campsite on the Branta Riviera and had a BBQ.

122 – Wednesday: Villa Pisani and onto Venice

The main reason for staying on the Branta Riviera was to be near Venice, our destination for the next evening. However, the guide book had bigged it up. Accessible from the Venice Lido, the wealthy merchants has sailed up the river and built numerous villas along its banks. Some were small holding and some designed to be ostentatious to impress. Boat rides along the river were available, but at EUR65 PP, this was a NO.

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Villa Pisani is billed as the most impressive and open to the public for all of EUR10pp. As it happened, no discount for J’s great age, but Kerstin had a 25% discount for being a Professor – much delight. Pisani had been partly redecorated under Napoleon and Hitler and Mussolini had their first meeting here. However, it lacked a cohesive charm and was very soul-less – guess we have been much spoilt by the National Trust. It was, however, perfect for such a morning of heavy rain. Kerstin and I had a coffee and met an English couple, who had hired a boat from which to do Venice; they had even been able to sail part way up the Grand Canal.

After lunch in the carpark we set off for Venice. Whilst Sally had been programmed to avoid toll roads, i had omitted to include ferry crossings. With her destination set for a campsite on the spit of land the other side of Venice, she guided us along a long bridge and INTO Venice to the port. The crossing would have cost EUR56, but Sally advised us that re-routing along terra firma was only an hour and Maddy advised us that she does not like boats. So we turned back along the long bridge and headed to the spit. It actually took about 2 hours as the traffic was horrendous. I was later informed that it was a major change over day for all the holiday villages that inhabit the area. Slightly concerned that the campsite I had ear marked would prove to be similar to the ones we were passing, we were delighted that we had a large pitch and it was quiet. The receptionist was extremely helpful and sold us the ferry tickets and we were able to BBQ 🙂

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Our Pitch for two nights.

123 – Thursday: Wonder 2 – Venice

A short walk to the ferry port (the main reason for picking this campsite) and a 40 min ride to near St Mark’s Square. Despite being early, there were already massive queues to get into the Duomo. Venice is much larger than most people realise … 122 islands, canals and waterways everywhere with small arched bridges. We twisted and turned the narrow lanes to reach the Rialto Bridge, which was partly under scaffolding and busy. A rip off coffee and dry bun (what do you expect!) and we wandered N to some of the quieter streets. Our ferry ticket was valid for 24 hours on all the public ferries, so we hopped onto the Number 41, which took us around the main island complex. At the end of this line, we caught the Number 1, which took us all the way up the Grand Canal. A real treat and the guide book earned its weight as it explained all the buildings as we passed them. We selected a restaurant for lunch with aircon and it was reasonable value. Maddy got her pizza in Venice!

We wandered some more, but by now it was getting extremely busy and uncomfortable. We caught the ferry to Murano, which is where the glass making was moved to in the 15th Century. A very different feel to it; more residential. Had a coffee and gasped at the prices of the glasswares. Managed to catch a boat directly to where we wanted via two other major Venice islands.

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As we had an early start the next day, K went to pay … but the cash desk (and card reader) had officially closed :(. Oops – we really needed to be on our way as soon as the gates opened at 7.00 a.m. in the morning. Fortunately, the lovely girl on reception said she could process the payment with cash and would leave her boss, who opens up, a note that we had paid. Service and with a smile. 🙂

124 – Friday: An early start and into Wonder 3: Postojna Caves

We packed up efficiently, of course and drove to Venice airport. The traffic at 7.00 was, needless to say, very quiet. James and Kerstin dropped Maddy and I at the airport and went off to have a coffee. I received a text from Kerstin that James was also having TWO croissant! They are full of air, aren’t they?!? Maddy was already checked in, but as we have no printer, we thought we would have to queue, but as she had no luggage to check in, it was the fast line and all really quick. Full marks to Monarch airlines …. the flight and a pre-assigned seat was all of £42. Maddy and I also decided to have a drink and oozed around the airport for a bit. A hug and K watched M disappear again until October half term … A text to James, and he and Kerstin came and picked up K within 5 mins.

Kerstin only had till Tuesday afternoon before she returned to Germany and she had a shopping list of destinations. So we set Sally Sat Nav for the 1st destination on her bucket list – Postojna Caves. We realised the guide book had not over egged it when we saw the size of the FULL car parks and the size of the complex. They tried to sell tickets for extra museums and exhibitions, but we settled for the caves and Predjama Castle. We even had a timed ticket, so we had an obligatory ice cream and then Kerstin and I investigated the mill, which was actually pretty basic. But what was of more interest to most visitors were the dog kennels housed inside!

We presented ourselves at the cave entrance at the allotted time, along with half the population of natives and visitors to Slovenia. It was EFFICIENT. You scanned your ticket and stood by the sign with your language. Then as a body, you moved forward to the train with the language guide. We boarded the train. It rattled though the caves for about 4 km – you had to mind your limbs and head as in parts, the rock had been carved out just to accommodate the minimum that was needed! We all experienced a slight concern …. the train was so fast, we barely had a retina impression of the stalactites and stalagmites … a blur. However, the train stopped, we alighted and we had a further 1.7 km of walking through the caves. Over the years, we had all done a lot of caves in lots of countries, but these, we agreed, were the seriously the MOST AMAZING CAVES WE HAVE EVER SEEN. There was cavern after cavern of varying formations: the colour depending sometimes on the soil and mineral deposits above. We saw golden, reddish and pure white drip stones. Before the electric train, diesel was used and the formations are stained black. There is a Russian Bridge, built by POW in 1916. The final cavern is used as a concert hall and can seat 10,000 people – must be amazing. Here, there are also tanks that housed two Proteus anguinus – a form of salamander only about 8” long. These are known as ‘human fish’ and found only in some of this region’s (Karst area) caves. For the animal lovers … the Human Fish is blind, only lives in water in caves, can go 12 years without food, but still manage to reproduce! Where do they find the energy???

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I think Kerstin would have been up for doing the castle in the same afternoon, but J and I vetoed this and headed for Pivka Jama campsite. Very wooded, over the top of another cave … the area is riddled! A BBQ, which included a strange dessert! A local had wandered around selling his honey (beekeeping is a really big thing), which we bought. On the embers of the BBQ, we made a foil plate and toasted pine nuts. To this we added slithers of local cheese and just as it was melting, added honey. Delicious – TY James for not consuming … more for Kerstin and I.

125 – Saturday: Wonder 4: Predjama Castle

In the morning Kerstin went down the Pikva Cave and complained about the number of stairs she had to encounter. K and J unimpressed as we had gone for a run / slog. She did come back with the information that a lot of the caves are pretty much connected. We stuck camp and headed for Predjama Castle.

Perched up a rock face / half cave and half castle. It is a seriously dramatic location. Various owners, but the most notable by far was Erazem Lueger. He was a C15 Robin Hood type who robbed the rich to feed the poor. He was under siege in the castle by the Austrians, using the secret passages out the back of the caves to carry on his daring exploits. He was so brazen that he sent fresh cherries, which had not yet ripened in this valley, and roasted OX etc, down to his attackers. He developed a mystical status. However, he had an ignoble downfall – literally! The weakest point in the castle was the toilet and the Austrian’s bribed a servant to alert them to when Erazum ‘went’ and the blasted him. What an earth shattering experience!

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Models of the Human Fish that you could buy … no prizes for guesses what we decided they looked like!!!

We lunched in the car park and people watched … car park manoevres and a group of ageing scouts (average age 60) who persisted in peeing in one particular spot in the car park!

Slovenia is NOT big; it is the size of Wales, so it was a shortish hop onto Ljubljana. We had identified a CamperStop just the the east of the city, which cost EUR10 compared to 30+ on the city campsite. We were not sure what to expect, but it was a real find. It is restaurant with a motorhome parking; unusually with toilet, shower and full services AND free if you eat in the restaurant. Mein Host, yes his German is better than his English, is obviously an industrious sort. The place is immaculate and he keeps chicken, pigmy pigs and goats, offers a bakery service for the morning and loaned me a map of campsites to photograph. A cheeky chappy waiter helped us perfect and judge our versions of HVALA – thank you.

126 – Sunday: Ljubljana – Not a Capital City

Mein Host sells bus tickets and dispenses city maps … the CamperStop is at the end of the bus line. We caught an early bus in – 8.30!!!! Must be the Kerstin influence, as this is far too early for J and I!

Ljubljana is not like other capitals. Slovenia only became independent in1991. It has a young feel as it is home to the main University, and since it is free to students, most young people have degrees and doctorates. Unfortunately, since the Slovenia recession, many are unemployed. It does have an intimate feel – I suppose due to its small size; certainly Bristol is very large and sprawling by comparison. James was tour guide with a slight detour to see the Sunday Antiques market and several attempts to see the saint’s corpse in the church (yes, really, this was how it was described in the guidebook, but it was actually very disappointing – wax face and hands, nothing like the real C15 saint’s corpse in Lucca) … until … he relinquished all responsibility as we were handed a leaflet for a free walking tour … due to start in 10 minutes. No brainer. As we have found before, these walking tours really hep to give a sense of place and time and tell you so many snippets that the guide books omit. Well worth the tip one gives.

The Tourist Information for Slovenia proved a real gem … with a little pressing, the young girl found loads of leaflets and marked interesting places, not on the main tourist trail on a map for us.

We lunched and Kerstin wandered up to the library to see the reading room, but like the whole of Ljubljana, it was small …. nice story, that during WW2, it had just been built and the local populace did not want the Germans to use the building, so they hand carted several thousand books from the old libraries. Sadly, many of these were later lost when the building was bombed.

We walked up to the castle, via a wine booth. Kerstin is SUCH A BAD influence, she enticed us to buy a bottle of red to drink whilst we imbibed the views from the castle. Bless, the vendor even de-corked it for us! We did not make it into the castle, but enjoyed the views.

We caught the cable car back down and back on the bus. Supper in the restaurant … Kerstin and I shared a pork rib dish and then helped J out with his Wiener Schnitzel … we still had a doggy bag!

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Slovenia is still 80% Catholic, despite Communist rule (Tito) and a nun was dispensing food and checking he was alive …

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We first saw a bridge of love locks in Helsinki. Wonder what happens when the relationship breaks up … how many still have keys with which to remove them?

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The triple bridge at the heart of the centre.

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Both with wooden bikes!

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K dispensing coffee …

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K dispensing wine into the coffee cups…

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From the return bus … a fairly typical hay drying rack

Clune Gap Years

A journal and reflections of our motorhome travels

Tag Archives: Slovenia