Hello, I thought I would share some recent events and observations (and pictures too) before my trips to the mountains tomorrow....
Home Improvement
I finally relented and purchased an air-conditioner here in Piran - or rather replaced the one that didn't work (yes another thing that didn't work). It just gets so incredibly humid here, even at modest temperatures, once that sea warms up. I also contacted my electrician to do some minor improvements and fixes. He turned up on his new electric bike. Electric bikes are the future I think but are currently expensive and heavy but he had one of the new types which are smaller (with smaller tyres), lighter and cheaper (a bit like the portable, fold up bikes). He said his will go up to 30 km/h. Impressive - especially as he lives up the top of a hill.
Neighbours
I have had a few issues with my neighbours (family of five) who live above me here in Piran. They also come for the summer, with the father working in the local ice cream parlour. Usually, they are not there. This year, for some reason the mother and children spent a lot of time home. The youngest child apparently decided to practice gymnastics or his triple jump upstairs, shaking the whole floor, on a regular basis. It was getting ridiculous, so I went up one particular bad day and made my feelings known. I got a quick "sorry" as the mother scurried away with the delinquent child. Since then it has been comparatively quiet and they have spent much more time out of the apartment. On reflection, I shouldn't really blame the child. At times he was put in a separate room and when he woke up he went bezerk. Plus I don't think he is an indoor person - he is always crying when indoors or when they return to the apartment - and they come back at all sorts of odd hours too which doesn't help.
Tourists
I saw a Japanese man the other day wearing an air freshener around his neck. I am not sure whether it was because of the smell or his smell.
The English like to parade the fact they are English. I saw one of them wearing a floppy hat with England and the Union Jack all over it. Not a good idea in these times of Brexit. He could speak Italian and was quite happy to show it by speaking to anyone that looked at him. He was a bit confused though when he got off his stop with Google Maps quickly consulted. Been there, done that.
I get a bit caught out when I am walking down the street from time to time and what appears to be a topless woman walking by is in fact a topless man. It's not an uncommon mistake. Although my neighbours did say they once saw a full naked woman in the main square here in Piran, walking around, completely unfazed.
I have mentioned this before but Russian tourists are hilarious. They usually don't know any language apart from Russian but that doesn't stop them. They just talk Russian to people and expect them to understand them. When I went to buy my air-conditioner there were a (rich) Russian couple trying to order appliances for their apartment. The conversation wasn't going anywhere and I think the sales person was about to punch one of them. Another woman I saw regularly for a while (she looked like an Olga) went shopping and just asked for things in Russian.
We had a bit of a blow up between locals and tourists here in Piran recently. We have an unofficial hostel (officially, a collection of "private" rooms) round the corner which regularly has youth groups staying there on summer camp. Most of them are quite good because they have activities for them al day which keep them occupied and too tired at the end of the day to get up to no good. This was not the case with a recent Belgian group. They sat in the middle of the street, walked around playing loud music and smoking, sat on peoples front steps, and wandered around all night. Things got to a head when they were running around the "hostel" splashing water on the street below and playing loud music. A local woman had had enough and went up to tell them off. In their wisdom they decided to splash water on her. Well that set it all off with all the other neighbours who had had enough coming out on the street and giving these kids a piece of their mind. There was shouting all around. So much so that the police were called and then things quietened down. Not a peep was seen or heard of them again until they left the next day. Unfortunately, it's an ongoing problem here, particularly peak season in August, when some tourists treat the place as some sort of fun park rather than respecting it as a place where people live and work.
Wedge Parking
This is a standard type of parking in Italy but it has also caught on here in Slovenia as well. Wedge parking is when you don't have enough space to park your car but there is sufficient space to get half your car (the nose) into the spot with the back end hanging out on the street.
Scooters
I have seen a few older people riding around on tiny scooters recently. Seems like they can't be bothered walking but can't handle the complexity of bikes.
Paris Urinals
Apparently there has been a bit of a public backlash to the placing of outdoor public urinals in Paris. Who would have thought? You can see the story on the Euronews website.
Flying Angel
Recently we had a spectacular event here in Piran - removal, for restoration, of the angel from the top of the bell tower by helicopter. It was quite a sight seeing this angel flying in the air. I took some pictures from my window (see below) but there are better pictures at this website if you are interested. The army and mountain climbers were engaged in the operation. The angel is 3.8 metres high and weighs 320 kg.
Home Improvement
I finally relented and purchased an air-conditioner here in Piran - or rather replaced the one that didn't work (yes another thing that didn't work). It just gets so incredibly humid here, even at modest temperatures, once that sea warms up. I also contacted my electrician to do some minor improvements and fixes. He turned up on his new electric bike. Electric bikes are the future I think but are currently expensive and heavy but he had one of the new types which are smaller (with smaller tyres), lighter and cheaper (a bit like the portable, fold up bikes). He said his will go up to 30 km/h. Impressive - especially as he lives up the top of a hill.
Neighbours
I have had a few issues with my neighbours (family of five) who live above me here in Piran. They also come for the summer, with the father working in the local ice cream parlour. Usually, they are not there. This year, for some reason the mother and children spent a lot of time home. The youngest child apparently decided to practice gymnastics or his triple jump upstairs, shaking the whole floor, on a regular basis. It was getting ridiculous, so I went up one particular bad day and made my feelings known. I got a quick "sorry" as the mother scurried away with the delinquent child. Since then it has been comparatively quiet and they have spent much more time out of the apartment. On reflection, I shouldn't really blame the child. At times he was put in a separate room and when he woke up he went bezerk. Plus I don't think he is an indoor person - he is always crying when indoors or when they return to the apartment - and they come back at all sorts of odd hours too which doesn't help.
Tourists
I saw a Japanese man the other day wearing an air freshener around his neck. I am not sure whether it was because of the smell or his smell.
The English like to parade the fact they are English. I saw one of them wearing a floppy hat with England and the Union Jack all over it. Not a good idea in these times of Brexit. He could speak Italian and was quite happy to show it by speaking to anyone that looked at him. He was a bit confused though when he got off his stop with Google Maps quickly consulted. Been there, done that.
I get a bit caught out when I am walking down the street from time to time and what appears to be a topless woman walking by is in fact a topless man. It's not an uncommon mistake. Although my neighbours did say they once saw a full naked woman in the main square here in Piran, walking around, completely unfazed.
I have mentioned this before but Russian tourists are hilarious. They usually don't know any language apart from Russian but that doesn't stop them. They just talk Russian to people and expect them to understand them. When I went to buy my air-conditioner there were a (rich) Russian couple trying to order appliances for their apartment. The conversation wasn't going anywhere and I think the sales person was about to punch one of them. Another woman I saw regularly for a while (she looked like an Olga) went shopping and just asked for things in Russian.
We had a bit of a blow up between locals and tourists here in Piran recently. We have an unofficial hostel (officially, a collection of "private" rooms) round the corner which regularly has youth groups staying there on summer camp. Most of them are quite good because they have activities for them al day which keep them occupied and too tired at the end of the day to get up to no good. This was not the case with a recent Belgian group. They sat in the middle of the street, walked around playing loud music and smoking, sat on peoples front steps, and wandered around all night. Things got to a head when they were running around the "hostel" splashing water on the street below and playing loud music. A local woman had had enough and went up to tell them off. In their wisdom they decided to splash water on her. Well that set it all off with all the other neighbours who had had enough coming out on the street and giving these kids a piece of their mind. There was shouting all around. So much so that the police were called and then things quietened down. Not a peep was seen or heard of them again until they left the next day. Unfortunately, it's an ongoing problem here, particularly peak season in August, when some tourists treat the place as some sort of fun park rather than respecting it as a place where people live and work.
Wedge Parking
This is a standard type of parking in Italy but it has also caught on here in Slovenia as well. Wedge parking is when you don't have enough space to park your car but there is sufficient space to get half your car (the nose) into the spot with the back end hanging out on the street.
Scooters
I have seen a few older people riding around on tiny scooters recently. Seems like they can't be bothered walking but can't handle the complexity of bikes.
Paris Urinals
Apparently there has been a bit of a public backlash to the placing of outdoor public urinals in Paris. Who would have thought? You can see the story on the Euronews website.
Flying Angel
Recently we had a spectacular event here in Piran - removal, for restoration, of the angel from the top of the bell tower by helicopter. It was quite a sight seeing this angel flying in the air. I took some pictures from my window (see below) but there are better pictures at this website if you are interested. The army and mountain climbers were engaged in the operation. The angel is 3.8 metres high and weighs 320 kg.
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