Touchdown Europe

Hello, been here (Slovenia) for a week now and the weather has been variable. Started off very sunny and warm, in the low 20s, then deteriorated the last few days with almost constant rain. It's incredibly green here at the moment as they have had almost constant rain in May.
My nephew is over for a visit so we have visited areas around Piran (see pictures), spent a few days in Postojna to visit relatives and Postojna Cave (it was better weather inside the cave than outside). In a few days we are starting our grand tour of Slovenia, Austria and Germany.

In the meantime, some observations:

The Trip from Australia
Had the usual problem with the eye scanner at Melbourne Airport, doesn't work too well if you are cross eyed. At the international terminal they have a collection of multicoloured pandas. One of them (last picture), seems to sum up China-Australia relations. Also some of them are quite scary looking.
On the actual flight, the person sitting behind my nephew decided it was more comfortable to rest his foot on my nephew's arm rest. Welcome to airline travel.
We changed flights at Dubai (to go onto Venice) and at one of the shops, for some reason, the shopkeeper appeared to be assaulting a roll of paper. 
When we got off at Venice, it was a free for all. Passengers, probably Italians, started dismantling barriers to get to where they wanted in the Customs queue. There was only one (sprightly) official running up and down, while answering queries, trying to get things back in order. This happens every time and it's as if the airport didn't know a flight was arriving. After 15 minutes of utter chaos, things magically attained some sort of order and things proceeded smoothy. Initially, it looked like we would be there for hours and it ended up only taking 30 minutes. An example of Venetian efficiency.
Touring
While in Postojna we stayed at a very comfortable and quiet apartment (in fact we were upgraded). What was odd was the taps; they turned off automatically after about 2 minutes, including in the shower. I guess they like to conserve water but it might have been more efficient to regulate the shower pressure which, at times, felt like being under a high pressure water cleaner.
The tour of the Postojna Caves was interesting. Particularly, the Chinese that kept taking pictures of themselves every 10 metres (and blocking people's passage in the process). Oblivious. The person that asked the most intelligent questions of the guide was a five year old Irish kid, and he had a lot of them. Including how deep were the caves and were there any bears. He was obviously into caves in a big way.

 

Countdown to Slovenia

Hello, this is my last post from Australia before I leave for Slovenia next week, in time to enjoy the warmth! It has been quite cold here in Bright recently, minimums of 4 degree being the norm. We recently had the Autumn Festival Gala Day here with its street market and parade (pictures below).

Some observations:

Queensland
Some final observations on the place following my recent trip there. Brisbane is a much larger and more modern city than I remember it. It's not as busy in the CBD as other capital cities, seem to have decentralised better. It got dark very quickly, and was pitch dark by 5.30. Those electric scooters are widely used in Brisbane, and I can confirm they are dangerous, for anyone else on the footpath at the same time. Brisbane city people aren't particularly friendly except when they get off the bus, they greet the bus driver like a long lost friend. I am not sure whether that's because bus drivers don't have a great safety record and so they are grateful for a safe trip, or what.
I stayed in an Airbnb "New York" style apartment. I think that means it has very large windows. It's good as you have an apartment to yourself and it's usually (but not always) cheaper than a hotel. They don't seem to believe in recycling in Queensland, rubbish was just put in a large skip at the back of the apartment.
I was watching TV News one day and the reporter was giving a report on a stolen car spree while in the background somebody was doing burnouts.
The early morning trip back to Brisbane airport by train was eventful. There was somebody who bought a bottle of Coke from a vending machine at the station, it was just before 5am. I guess if you don't like the taste of coffee. Then there was the bouncer or weightlifter on the train with a an oversized case (perhaps full of vitamin "supplements") who didn't know that you had to press the button to open the train door to get out. He was clearly not a regular public transport user as he also didn't seem to know you needed a ticket, based on the abrupt u-turn he executed when he saw someone checking tickets at the domestic terminal station.
At airport security, someone jumped the queue while her friend with oversized luggage waited for her to go through. Subsequently, I saw her again, twice, coming from different, but obviously wrong directions, trying to find her gate - which remarkably are in numerical order. While waiting to board the plane, a beard with an elaborate, but pristine, broad brimmed hat cut in front of me; probably a tourist. On the plane the people sitting in the emergency exits got a very comprehensive briefing on their responsibilities. Those people have a lot of responsibility if things go wrong. I would be more reassured if they were required to have some sort of qualification or training before they were allowed to sit there.
I caught the airport bus to the city from Tullamarine. Some people appeared to be surprised by the fact that they had to have a ticket to board, based on the fumbling they were doing in trying to find their ticket. Perhaps they thought they would get entry based on having an honest looking face. The luggage appears to be getting bigger every time. Some of the luggage is now bigger than a bar fridge. I don't know how you could wheel that let alone carry it.

Reality TV
They are running out of reality TV ideas when they need to make a programme about Lego building. 

Election
I think the campaign managers of the parties are a bit out of touch.  I am not sure how the credibility of your party leader is enhanced by getting them to do things like loading mulch on a truck (in a suit), decorating a cake, putting buckets on a production line, or manhandling children and puppies. I think we would learn more if they spent this time answering questions, rather than displaying their carrot picking or bingo calling skills. But maybe it's just me.
Knuckleheads appear to be attracted to politics; first some of them didn't know they were nationals of other countries, now we have a whole lot of them stepping down as candidates after having made stupid statements either in person or online. Thank goodness for social media; it has effectively become a knucklehead detector. The way the Indonesians do their elections is much better. If you turn up for a rally, you get some petty cash and a free lunch for your efforts. At least they recognise the commitment required.

Face Masks
I think it was mainly knuckleheads and paranoid Japanese that wore masks around town. I am not so sure anymore. With the amount of coughing I have experienced on public transport recently, and subsequently getting a cold, it makes a lot more sense to me now.

Tea & Chips
At the local fish & chip shop I saw a British couple trying, rather optimistically, to order tea with their fish & chips.

Knucklehead Comments
After a win, a sportsman actually said on TV that it gave him some "nourishment from the victory perspective."

Local Church
One of the Bright churches seem to have run out of sayings/verses to put on their notice board, based on the message I saw the other day (see last picture below).

Announcing...Yet another New Book
It might not be of interest to a lot (or any) of you! but I have recently self-published a new book called Australia's National Parks by Public Transport. It's a book based on information obtained from my trips to national parks around Australia. It basically is a guide on how to visit these parks using only public transport. You can order this book, or any of my other books, from the printer through this link. You can also get a 15% discount, until 16 May, by entering discount code ONEFIVE at checkout.