Today I visited the Cinque Terra. These are five villages located on the spectacular Ligurian coast. Part of it is national park (the bit I visited today) but there is still lots of vineyards and olive farms and the terraced path I walked today is still used to access these farms but these days these is also a road and train to make access easier. The five villages are linked by a path but unfortunately part of the path was washed away, so today I only walked three: from Monterosso, via Vernazza (spectacularly set on a promontory), finishing in Corniglia. I accessed both ends of the trail by train from La Spezia. It was very spectacular and rocky and steep in bits, and very busy. The villages (which are quite small) were even busier. I would hate to see it in the peak of summer.
You have to pay a fee to walk through the national park part of the trail. I wondered how they would enforce this. Simple: ticket boxes on the path at both ends and one ticket check box in the middle, in case anyone sneaked through. There were a lot of Americans, Australians and French tourists on the trail. One American had music emanating from her backpack, not loud but loud enough to be irritating. Another one (nationality unknown) was wearing thongs on the trail - at least she got to show off her nail job. A lot of people were wearing runners - I would hate to see the state of them (and their feet) after walking on what at times was very rocky, uneven ground. There were a few entrepreneurs on the trail - one offering freshly squeezed orange juice among other things (in the middle of nowhere) and two accordion players on the trail. While waiting for the train back I noticed a sign saying "For Security Stand Along the Whole of the Platform". I wasn't sure whether we were supposed to be prepared for a pat down search or what but it was later clarified by the English announcement which said that we should spread across the platform to enable quicker boarding of the train when it came.
The weather is not supposed to be as good tomorrow but in any event I am going back to Cinque Terre because I have a Cinque Terre card which allows for unlimited train travel tomorrow.
Hello, on another trip again, this time Italy. After a taxi, three trains and eight hours made it to La Spezia - without a hitch. You probably haven't heard of this place before as it's not really a tourist place in itself. It's claim to fame is that it is Italy's largest naval port, has a large marina, and is the gateway to the Cinque Terre National Park - which is why I came here and am going there tomorrow. I am using La Spezia as a base as it is cheaper than staying in one of the Cinque Terre villages. La Spezia is located on the west coast of Italy - between Pisa and Genoa. But it's a nice place to visit in itself. As with most Italian cities there are some dodgy bits but it's outweighed by the good bits: nice harbour and some nice old buildings, including the castle from which there were superb views.
While I said that the train trips went without a hitch, that wasn't completely the case. Between Trieste and Venice I had a window seat but there was no window! The seat was positioned so that you only got a bit of window and consequently a neck cramp trying to look out. There was one slight problem between Venice and Florence too when the carriage I was supposed to be in couldn't be used because the air-conditioning was broken, so we were packed into another carriage. This part of the route was the very fast train service between Venice and Rome. When it was doing 160 km/h (not its top speed) it felt like it was just rumbling along and between Bologna and Florence the line was practically all through tunnels.
I am sure suitcases are getting bigger and people insist on dragging them on trains. First, they come on the train, in a state of near collapse, after dragging the thing on. Then they try to maneuver this thing down the aisle, endangering everyone's limbs in the process. I have seen less luggage taken on overseas flights. If you can't carry it - don't bring it. Wheels has just made it to easy to drag your complete wardrobe around while travelling. On some train services they give the announcements in Italian and English. However, the place names are still said in Italian (even when there is an English equivalent). It would also be more understandable (and amusing) if they announced the stops the way an English speaker (not knowing Italian) would butcher them.
Back again. Last weekend I went to Celje, Slovenia's third largest town. It's an old place going back to Roman times and was the seat of the the Counts of Celje in the 13th-14th century who had considerable power in the region (it's their castle, Celje Castle, pictured below). I originally came to attend the Polkafest music event on Sunday but that was called off due to the bad weather expected. Ironically, it didn't rain at all on the day, although it threatened to; so I visited the castle instead. Great views of Celje and surrounds with plenty to see as it's quite a large castle (they even have a dungeon with torture instruments) and the honey cake is highly recommended. The previous afternoon I walked up to a lookout on a hill opposite the castle. I also visited the regional museum who have some Roman artefacts in their basement (including part of a road, see picture). The museum is located in a castle in town that the Counts of Celje moved to from the castle on the hill (the white building pictured at the end) - I guess it was a hassle going up that hill. Having walked up it, I fully understand.
In other matters...
The Trip Back from Kranjska Gora
I caught buses back to Ljubljana, and then to Piran. You might be surprised to learn that there were dramas. On the way to Ljubljana the bus had problems with the front door not opening. I'm no mechanic but it might be something to do with when the driver crunched the side of the bus on a kerb at a bus stop or maybe it was just a coincidence that the problem started after that misjudgement. In Ljubljana, for the next bus, the driver made people buy tickets from the bus station (usually you can buy them on the bus) and made the students with bus passes wait as he was caught out previously with the students getting on first and taking up all the seats at the expense of the non-subsidised passengers. There was some scowls and stamping of feet when they were finally let on. I guess life must be tough for a student. On the bus trip to Piran an English couple were sitting behind me. The husband had a problem that when he started talking he would start shouting before finding the right volume level and talking at a normal volume. The bus was also delayed by an hour due to a truck blowing some tyres and ending up sideways on the freeway (a car accident also held us up on my trip back from Celje but only for about 30 minutes).
Day Trip to Ljubljana
I went to Ljubljana for a day to do some shopping and on the way there our bus driver very kindly stopped to take passengers who were stranded at the side of the road when their local bus broke down.
My Neighbours Upstairs
The other day I was vacuuming outside my front door and upstairs were on their way out. The oldest child just gave me a death stare, the youngest child (the suspected gymnast) repeatedly pointed at me saying something to his mother. I don't understand Albanian but I am guessing it was along the lines of: "This is the guy that keeps on shouting at me from downstairs when I practice my gymnastics routine upstairs".
Slovenian Roundabouts
I was quite confused about the rule for giving way at roundabouts for a while but I think I have worked it out: you have to give way to the fastest and/or biggest vehicle.
Magpies
They have them here as well although they are a bit different. I started hearing them for the first time in Piran this year. They don't seem to have the musical skills of our magpies; their call sounding like a broken bicycle bell.
Off to Italy for a week on Wednesday. In the meantime here are the photos from Celje...
