Hello, yesterday's excursion was to another cave system, Škocjan Caves, not far from here. Unfortunately, no pictures allowed inside but they are very spectacular caves being composed of a number of huge caverns with the river flowing way down below.
On the bus there, there was a woman who had three changes of hair in an hour. At the caves we had lunch and a little child kept on crawling to our table where we had food. I nicknamed him "left over kid". At one stage he looked up, pleadingly, at my nephew. The people on the guided tour were quite interesting: the Czechs were in a world of their own, carrying on with their own private tour while the guide was talking. A couple must have been afraid of the dark as they kept clutching each other. At the end of the tour a child, who appeared to have been brought up in the woods, started digging a hole (with her hands) under a rock wall. Maybe she detected truffles.
Weather still warm here, just about 29 everyday, but humidity is steadily increasing.
My nephew returned from his northern European journey and we met up in Ljubljana (Slovenia's capital). Went up to the castle, the hard way (walking), with great views and coincidentally caught the start of the Tour of Slovenia cycling race. A few observations to date:
Back to Bologna
You may recall from my previous blog, issues I had with my hotel. Well, apparently, the couple of apartments in fact constitute a B&B. For the breakfast bit you get a 5 euro coupon which you can use in three cafes. You then are required to go on a treasure hunt to find these cafes. I didn't bother participating as I was catching an early train. In any event, the owner wanted to meet me outside the apartment at 11am (checkout) to give him the key. I advised him that I was leaving early and he said to leave the key in the apartment. At 10.45, when I am on the train, I get an SMS asking me whether I was coming. I texted back that the key was in the apartment. This all occurred with me writing in English and they replying in Italian. The apartment next to me, seemed quite small. More the size of a prison cell.
The platform at Bologna that I had to catch my train from was deep in the bowels of the station and took some time getting to. Munich had the same issue with platforms nearly a kilometre away. Seems that these big train stations are becoming like airports.
On the train trip back to Trieste I was treated to a complete makeover opposite me: first face cream was applied, then it was the eye brows that were tended to, then we moved on to the hair, this was followed by eye lash work, then we applied eye shadow, then general face make up, then lipstick. Then she moved to a now empty adjacent seat, probably noticing the expression on my face. I guess there are just not enough hours in a day.
While in Piran
I went shopping to a shopping centre in an industrial area, just outside a major adjacent town. Surprisingly, a Chinese couple got on wearing Playboy caps. This was unusual (not just the hats) as you don't get many tourists catching the local bus to this shopping centre (which only has a few supermarkets). The only possible conclusion is it was some sort of espionage mission.
While in Ljubljana
We had to stay at a hotel which I have had issues previously as there were not many to choose from. It started OK; nice, clean room (with a TV), not too small. Then it deteriorated. We couldn't get the lift down because tour groups were hogging the lifts. This extended to the breakfast room which was as if a load of zombies had been released in a confined space. Then there was the door slamming and hallway conversations at night that the Chinese in particular like to engage in. Apart from that, it was better than my last stay.
The hotel was adjacent to an apartment block and we could see and hear some maintenance work that was going on, involving grinding a metal grate. It attracted a few residents, no doubt providing some advice. But what struck me was the maintenance mens' uniform: crimson shirt, black shorts, and thongs. I guess it's better being comfortable than safe.
The trip back was on a bus driven by The Neck. We have had him a couple of times. He is The Neck because he has a thick neck with several crevasses (at the back). He looks like a retired bouncer or kick boxer. He speaks a hybrid language which includes Slovenian and Croatian words; he expects cars to give him way because his vehicle is bigger; he hasn't quite mastered how the gears work; and suffers bouts of Alzheimers as you have to repeat your destination to him at least twice when you buy your ticket from him. Apart from that he is friendly and likes to stick to the timetable. Once he was over 10 minutes late and managed to get back that time. But he is his worst enemy. Unlike, most drivers he announces the major stations. He got caught out once when he didn't announce a town stop and the passenger had a go at him for not announcing the stop. It became his fault for that the person didn't get off at the right stop.
Hello, am in Bologna today while my nephew is travelling further north (into unchartered waters for me). I have arrived in Italy and don't I know it. First the train was late arriving due to "technical infrastructure problems". I think that means the internationally recognised signal failure. Then I couldn't find the hotel. Got to the address, finally, but it was just an apartment building, no sign for the "hotel". As I was walking down the road, someone came chasing after me asking whether I was looking for the hotel in question. Turns out the hotel is just two rooms in a residential apartment building. Having said that the room is excellent - it has a TV and pillows (see below). I forgot to ask the person about wifi and checkout, so I rang their contact number. But they didn't know what I was on about as they don't speak English, so I sent an email and got the information, in Italian! Up until now, whoever is running this "hotel" seemed to have an excellent command of English based on previous correspondence. I have sent a follow up email on checkout as I didn't understand (even with Google translate) what they were on about. I think their business model needs a bit of refinement.
You certainly know you are in Italy, simply by the way they drive. You really take your chances when you step onto a road (regardless of whether there are lights or not). I figure they must have different rules here: drivers appear to be only required to give way to a certain number of pedestrians crossing the road before they are allowed to plough through the middle of them. Conversely, pedestrians can cross if they have a green man but they can also cross if it is red provided there isn't a car in the vicinity (i.e. less than 3m away).
The train trip was eventful. The feature was the high needs Italian traveller. He was talking to himself throughout the trip but the most entertaining was when he tried to get his overly large case up on the luggage rack, he nearly crushed himself before someone came to the rescue. He was simply too short and/or weak to manage that sort of bulk. The bag was simply out of his league. Shortly after that his phone rang and he couldn't get to it in time with all the cords. Then it rang again. He was comedy gold at this stage. Later he came back down the carriage complaining they hadn't stopped at the station long enough for him to have a cigarette. At one stage he was literally swinging off the luggage rack, later he was trying to cool himself by fanning with his hands. At one stage two dodgies
came down the carriage, scanning it. Either looking for something to
steal or two undercover police. Another passenger had an enormous set of
hair. She clearly liked her hair but it looked structurally unsound as
she only had a small head. Talking about police, no state police on the
border between Austria and Italy but Italian Army instead. I don't why
as they did less checking than the police usually do.
During our trip it was interesting to see what people carry on their travels. One person had a huge pack, including a device that looked like a water pump. I guess you always need to be prepared. This morning I saw someone with a quilt packed (or rather stuffed) in her backpack. One of those essential items I guess. Also on this trip I have noticed that the Austrians and Germans appear to be trying to abolish the pillow. The accommodation we stayed in provided these thin little things that are more like quilts than pillows. I'd like to know what is going on. In Italy they still believe in the pillow.
I have had only a small time in Bologna after a long (6 1/2 hour) but pretty train trip (see first pictures) but I did see their leaning towers. They have two.They allow you to climb up one but not the short one which leans more. Even the the Italians aren't prepared to risk it.
The last day in Munich was spent visiting the Allianz Arena (home of Bayern Munich soccer team), this included visiting the museum and tour of the ground. I managed to meet some of the players (see photo below). On the tour some kids managed to repeatedly ask the guide some silly questions, including about the fire exits. In the afternoon, after a bratwurst lunch, we walked around the English Garden and Isar River area. The weather deteriorated somewhat with it being cloudy all day and drizzly in the morning. I am off to Bologna tomorrow on the way back home.
