Through my eyes

living my life without regrets

Monday, May 31, 2010

Dubrovnik, Day 1

We got up early, 6 AM to get all the way from Split to Dubrovnik in one day of riding. Not that the distance is that far, but one never knows what happens on the roads in foreign countries. Detours can alter the timing, Traffic jams are unpredictable, etc. We wanted to make sure and it is a pleasure to ride in the early morning hours. It was a double pleasure this day because it was Sunday and the roads were almost void of vehicles. We made amazing time, riding through towns, having all the space for ourselves. No restaurants were open, just a few early morning folks were about, but most of Croatia, on a Sunday morning, sleeps in. The towns are nice towns. The roads are in wonderful condition. The way follows the coast line and winds itself up and down hills, around every conceivable shore with beautiful vistas. It makes for good riding. It was a fantastic ride. There are not many places on earth that are like this for a motorcycle fan. Not dangerous, not extreme, just sweeping and a relaxed way to go.
We arrived just before noon and the hunt was on to find a place to stay. First thing is to get a hang of how the town is laid out. We found the old city, our target and it is huge, immense, walled,
with only 2 gates and only for pedestrians. Hotels! Where are they? I saw one place (Hotel Sesame) I read about in Carol’s book but it is a bit away from the main gate. It looked pretty; I knew it had 4 rooms and each one rented out for 150 Euros, if they are available. I saw a few signs for Apartments for let. We needed to think and were just stopped and talking to each other on our bikes near the bus station, when Edi asked us if we were looking for a place to stay. Edi Mačinko is an operator. I believe he is a good business man. I reminded me a little of Francis in Lima Peru. Edi (like spaghetti, he says) owns two houses near the Pile Gate and rents rooms and apartments to tourists. His place is set back from the street and no signs would yield enough customers. His houses are down a narrow alley nobody walks through. Edi stands near the bus station, near the main entrance to the old city and scans for potential customers. He can sort out not so good people, he tells us. We looked like the kind of customers he would like to have. With Edi’s help a lot of things about Dubrovnik became very easy. He helped us move our bikes into a free parking space. The parking space is a public space for scooters and bikes but Edi said, is very safe with camera security and it is ok to leave our bikes there. Naturally we took all of our possessions with us. The first night we had an apartment with a small kitchen and a bathroom under the stairs. Yes, with a hand held shower, that is just how it is down here. Yet this clean but eclectic room had a partial ocean view. At night, with the windows open you can hear the waves break on the rocky shore. We moved from this spot the following day just to get a real, American style, shower. Edi made a list for us of places to eat and gave us some hints as to what to do and when to do it. It was a question of do we trust Edi or do we look at him as an operator that cannot be trusted. We chose the former and it worked out well for us. Sometimes help sits right next to the road, even talks to you but you need to decide if you want to take it or not. We walked the town this first day of our visit and explored some of the narrow alleyways until our feet hurt. We ate dinner at the ancient harbor, dating back to Roman times and strolled along the Main Street (Stradun) licking an ice cream cone. Life has been good for us in Croatia thus far. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

Split

I find the name odd, there is nothing splitting about Split. On the way to Split we were near the town of Šibenik and it said in our book there was a famous cathedral to view. We tried, but either the cathedral is so small we missed it, or it is not inside the town. The traffic was so bad, we split. (Pun intended.) Somehow churches and I don’t work out.
Once back on the main road along the coast, I saw a sign for a mechanic, car wash facility, etc. The place looked clean and well organized so I asked if the guy could fix my side stand. I lucked out, the owner spoke English well, he was part of a Croatian Motorcycle club and he was mechanically all set up and capable. His name is Romeo. He inspected my side stand with a strong light and he found that the whole stand was cracked way up under the bike. To unscrew all, to do a perfect repair job would have taken two days. I opted for him to electro weld the broken part while it was still on the bike. We fabricated some kind of addition to the existing side stand so it will not lean over so far. We found a piece of metal piping and with some thinking and tinkering we came up with a workable do-hickey of a side stand.
It looks funny yet works just great. It is strong and welded well, reinforced inside with an iron bar and a screw was added to give some beef to an otherwise hollow section. Romeo’s son, Niko, drilled a few holes into my broken windshield and we kind of sewed the windshield together using plastic tie-mes. The windshield no longer flops in the wind. The whole fixing job took about 2 hours, a lot of effort went into the work and Romeo did a great job. Should you be stranded on the road near Split, email him. Romeo.baraka@si.htnet.hr Or call his cell +385 91 5583853 (95 81 70700) he will more than help you get going in Croatia. Above his shop he has 2 apartments for rent in case it becomes a long repair. A food store is next door. You could survive there and have your bike well taken care of.
Carol carries a big volume of Frommer’s Eastern Europe. We use it to get our bearings and this book spells out that it is difficult and expensive to get a room in Split. When we entered the town I disregarded the “Do not enter” street sign and considered myself a ‘resident’ who is allowed to drive through some restricted streets. I immediately got a better understanding of the way Split is laid out. Riding around, not through, the old part of the city helped me get my bearings. I saw a side street not far from the old walls and drove right in. I saw a sign, rooms for rent and stopped to take a closer look. Way in the back yard, down a step I saw the same sign again. Ok, I parked the bike, knocked at a door and an old lady cautiously opened the gate. Her English was poor, she spoke no German and my Croatian is non-existent. I checked out the room but did not check out the bathroom too closely. The bathroom was down the hall, it was shared with the proprietors. I took the place for 2 nights and with a little haggling paid 400 Kuna (57 Euros) for the 2 days. No breakfast. It was a bargain especially since it came with a parking spot for 2 bikes, secure in the backyard of the house. The room was Spartan but very clean. The bathroom situation was challenging in the beginning, especially since it had no shower and there was a 15 inch (at least) step up into the bathroom but we managed just fine, using the hand held device as a shower and letting the water drip right onto the floor. Many places in the Balkans have such a bathroom set up. A hand held shower used in the tub, for example, without the shower curtain. No worry about where the water will fly. Just hold the gizmo against your skin and the water will not fly far. Works great! You hardy spill any water that way if you do it right.
The town of Split itself is worth a visit. I am not sure we needed the 2 days we had because after one day, one gets the hang of the place. Carol and I took a guided city tour for 100 Kuna plus we paid an additional 25 Kuna for the basement tour. Our guide spoke English well and the tour lasted about 1 hour plus.
The main attraction of Split is the Palace of Diocletian. Diocletian was a Roman Emperor (245 to 316 AD) who is the only Roman Emperor who ever abdicated his reign. While he was in office he had his retirement palace built near Salona (today Solin), the center of Roman activity in the Dalmatia. Diocletian’s planning worked out well, after 21 years on the throne he did move into his huge Palace which spans about 10 acres. Built with slave labor and begun in 293 it took 12 years to finish. The Emperor occupied the palace in 305 and after his death in 316 it was used by the Roman Government. Avars and Slavs attacked in the 7th Century and destroyed Salona, the major Roman city nearby. Split became the refuge for the remaining Roman citizens, who defended the Palace which has walls up to 6 feet thick and nearly 100 feet high at some points. There were so many people however, that the Palace was not big enough and people established a new town next to the Palace walls, today’s Split. Instead of ripping down the Roman Palace the folks then incorporated the walls, the rooms, the temples, the houses, the facilities into their new buildings. A major part of the Roman architecture was now part of the town. Restaurants had three new walls and another wall that was pure Roman, including columns that were stolen in ancient times from Egypt. Split is a mix of antiquity, of medieval structures and of layouts originating in Roman decree. The roads inside the old city are narrow, no vehicle is allowed within its walls. Specially constructed delivery platforms have been developed to deliver goods to stores. People that live inside these ancient walls, and some 3000 people still do, have their good delivered by these motorized contraptions.
Split today is not only the old town but continues up the hill and expands beyond the ancient area. Solin (Salona), the old Roman center of Dalmatia is only 6 Km away and is today a modern, albeit very industrial looking harbor town. If it were not for Diocletian retiring to his Palace, which today is called Split, Croatia would have lost out big. Split is a huge tourist mill, spitting out Euros, Dollars, and Kuna for Croatia on a daily basis. I guess a lot of Croatians owe Diocletian a huge thank you for providing a good life.

Vodice and the bikes

The morning did not start off so great. Carol’s bike would not start. I thought it to be a weak, run down battery, maybe from the GPS left on overnight. Normally a GPS does not draw much current so I had my doubts but all signs said it is the battery. Now, I am no mechanic, even less an electrician. I could not even find the battery of the 650 GS. Lucky for me, Carol had a service manual that showed us how to remove the right side panel to access the battery. Sure enough, I found the battery in front of the tank but under all the plastic. Naturally I accessed the negative side first and had to take the left panel off, too to get to the positive terminal. Since I had done this many times on my GS Adventure, I knew how to start a bike using my alternator terminals, instead of the battery poles on my bike. Maybe there is an easier way to start a GS 650, without the extra work of taking the panels off but I do not know it. The 650 finally started up well and we ran the engine while I put the covers back on. We were off towards the town of Split in no time. There was no need to do anything but ride to charge up the battery on the 650. The major road was in great condition and we made good time.
The signage is still a bit tough for me. I knew we had to take the ferry in Prizna to cross over to Pag Island. You would think that a major sign would show you the ferry terminal, but no, just a small yellow sign spelling out the way towards Prizna. This is a major road change yet it gets no special attention from the highway department. I guess everybody knows that there is a ferry so why bother advertising it with a big, maybe even overhead sign? OK, I found the road to the ferry, paved, well maintained with even a sign showing that we needed to buy a ticket for the ship before we proceeded to the boarding area.
This ticket office, small and insignificant looking, is new, built on the side of the road on a rather steep downhill slope. I don’t know about you, but I hate to park my bike facing downhill. Looking around I saw a better, albeit not perfect area near the ticket booth itself. I rode the bike closer to the booth itself, got off the bike and made sure the bike could stand on the side stand. It felt a bit precarious but I thought it was ok for the time I needed to buy 2 tickets. Just as I walked up to the window I heard a loud crash and my bike was laying on the ground behind me. It had toppled over the side stand and was now on the left side, wheels in the air. It had toppled over despite the side stand being down. I stood dumb struck. I tried to lift the bike but the side stand prevented me from doing any good. In addition, the mass of the bike was on the downhill side. What to do? How much damage was done? I asked the guy in the booth to help but he was very reluctant. Carol could not help; she was still sitting on her bike, with no safe place to park it on the rather steep downhill slope. With some effort I was able to get the side stand kicked back which freed the bike a bit. I bought the 2 tickets for the ferry and must have made such a stupid face to the attendant that he felt obliged to help. The two of us muscled the bike upright and I tried to use the side stand but something was askew.
Adrenaline still pumped in my blood so I somehow got on the bike without the side being down and rode to the waiting area for the ferry. The bike ran fine. Once at the waiting area I put the bike on the center stand. It is hard to get off the bike not using the side stand. I managed with Carol’s help but I do not like the maneuver. To make things worse, I had to do this again on the ferry, since normally, for the short 15 minute crossing; the bike would just stand on the side stand. All this happened rather quickly. I was busy buying the ticket; fussing with the damaged side stand; parking the bike in the waiting area; getting again on the bike; getting it on to the ferry; etc. I had no time or space to look over the bike. The bike ran well.
Well, on the ferry, some other bikers from Belgium noticed that I was losing gasoline; it was pouring out of the overflow hose. Just before the fall I had filled up with gas, the tank was filled to the top. When the bike fell, gasoline must have gotten into the overflow and now it started pouring out. To eliminate the air pressure in the tank I opened the gas cap and, like a small geyser, gasoline bubbled up and out onto the tank and all over the ferry deck and all over the bike. The bike was still hot from running on the highway. This gas spill made me nervous. One guy was smoking nearby and that made me really nervous but his buddy asked him to move further away.
What do I do now? A quick visual check assured me that nothing was broken, no gas line was ruptured. That was good. I noticed now that the windshield had major scrapes and that the right side of the plastic windscreen was totally broken. The windscreen was actually broken in half. I just stood and watched the gasoline pouring out. Nothing I could do to stop it. I knew from experience that it will stop in time as soon as the air pressure in the gas line is equaled out. I also knew that the charcoal filters, the air pollution device on my bike would now be saturated with gasoline and that the bike might not start. The least it would do is not run well for at least 20 miles. I knew this because it has happened to me before. When the gasoline gets into the charcoal filter it chokes the system with too much gas. The gasoline needs to evaporate or be used up in the recovery system and that takes a bit of time. Nobody wanted to be near me, the guy with the leaking bike, reeking like gasoline. I wiped up as much of the gasoline as I could with the use of some paper towels I had on me. Carol gave me some wipes, too.
Still, as soon as the ferry stopped, the others made a fast departure from the ticking gas bomb. I waited as long as I could but I needed to get off the ferry to make room for the people behind me to get off. So I hit the starter button and the bike started just fine. I rode off the center stand and kept on moving off the ferry, onto the road and just like I anticipated, the motor begun to stutter. I rode on. I was using the accelerator very carefully to not pour too much gas into the system. I rode in high rpm’s to use up as much gas as I could but no matter what I did, I had to shift up to the next gear and every time I up shifted, the engine almost died. This went on for about 15 miles and then, like a mystery, it went away.
Meanwhile the windshield flopped a little in the breeze. I could not stop because I could not use the side stand. All this commotion and I had to use the washroom. How do I stop? Lucky for me the road is rather dull and boring and not heavily trafficked. I find a coffee, sandwich shop and while I sit on the bike, Carol found a hunk of wood to push under the side stand. The bike could stand like this but it was not good, I rode in a similar way last year all through Norway and had devised a side-stand support from a 2x4 but not this year. I needed to get this fixed. After we had a break, I found a piece of a tree trunk and carried it with me, just in case I needed to use it.
The weather was hot, temperature was near 30 degrees C and the sun was beating on us. Yes, we wanted to make the town of Split but why push ourselves? I had had enough excitement for the day, let’s find a town we like and stay there for one night. Looking at the map we decided to stop in the town of Vodice. We could have made it to Split but why push on? We will make Split tomorrow. Meanwhile we call it an early day and enjoy Vodice, which turned out to be a very elegant, almost rich boating town with a very historical downtown. The hotel we found was within walking distance of all the attractions and the beer that night tasted delicious.

Sveti Juraj



Amazing what one day of riding in a new county can do. I felt better on the roads the 2nd day and we wiggled our way back up the eastern part of Istria and I was looking forward to riding along the coastal road. The map suggested we backtrack for a while and then, after Labin, take a road that goes along the Adriatic coast. So much for our planning! There was a detour. I followed the detour signs one by one and felt good because once in a while a sign gave me positive reinforcement that I was on the correct road. Yet the road we took was not at all coastal but more of the inland experiences we had yesterday. We ended up just west of the town of Učka. We had a choice here; do we take the new, 5.1 Km tunnel along a toll road or the old road to Učka over the mountain pass? We choose the pass, naturally, and what a ride this turned out to be. The road surface over the pass was excellent. The corners were constant, not the smallest section had a straight away and there were 19% grades. This went on for 26 Km, Wow, what a road! Yet I saw hardly a motorcycle in sight. I think I saw one other bike on this road. In the U.S. this would be a biker’s heaven. I must say that the ADAC group marked this spot but Carol and I had chosen the coastal road along the Istria Peninsula which was not that great. The Učka pass however is a must take road. The section takes all your concentration and was wonderful. The town of Učka is so small that you will most likely miss it at 1401 meters at the top of the Vojak Mountain.
Coming down from Vojak Mountain we entered the very large town of Rijeka. Rijeka is an active harbor town that hugs some small areas of flat land along the coast. The signs now told me to follow the road towards Split. Even though Split is far away, that is the direction indicated on the signs. Finding the way through town was a bit tricky since again, there is only one sign and the sign is not always large and the direction is not always logical. Go straight and then immediately move left to make a left hand turn. I found the route ok and I was glad to leave Rijeka behind me.
From now on, we just followed the directions towards Split. This made negotiating traffic a lot easier. We were on the main road now going south. The road was in very good condition. Mostly hugging the coast, it winds through picturesque smaller towns and in order to see these towns we had to get off the main road. We did this once in Crikvenica, just to see the town. I used the Bankomat (ATM) and then we went on our way. The town was pretty but it was too early to stop for the day.
We rode on to the smaller town of Sveti Juraj. I cannot say why we stopped here. The weather by now was warm. The temps were around 25 C; the sky was blue and sunny. The time was mid-afternoon; around 3.30 PM. Normally, we ride longer. Yet on this trip the distances are packed with newness so that pushing on for the sake of more miles seems ludicrous. We stopped for the day. The town is really small. It is an active fishing harbor. We see a Konuba right on the water, a trattoria, a gasthaus. This place is kind of like a hotel but privately run and more like a family business. The price is 40 Euro per night without breakfast. Breakfast would be another 20 Euro. I think it expensive and we ride through town looking for other places. We are told by one guy that there is a place next to the town cemetery. We find the place, the owner even speaks a bit of English but he is still closed for the season. Two old ladies are walking on the road; one speaks German and tells me to go to an agency.
We saw this agency right across from the Konuba. Two young gals managed the place and one led us in her car to a house way up a hill, away from everything for 35 Euro per night. Nice place but not a good place to park the bike, nor a good place to get a meal at night, etc. We went back to the first place and paid the asking price of 40 Euro, without breakfast. Our room was overlooking the water, we had a balcony with a table and chairs, and we could park our bikes in their gated front yard. It was a good spot albeit a bit high in cost. Walking around town we found a market and bought our breakfast but found that had we paid the extra 20 Euro we would not have been cheated either.
Sometimes my head expects things to be a certain way but in reality things are different. I like a bargain yet sometimes I need to realize you do get what you pay for. While walking around town we found a few other restaurants but we opted to eat at our trattoria. We made the right choice. The food was first class. The garlic on the mussels was wonderful, the salad fresh and the Calamari grilled just right. We slept with the balcony door wide open, hearing the ocean waves break against the rocky shore, a slight breeze drifted the scent of a wood fire into our noses, and the moon shone silvery over the anchored boats. We were in a small jewel of a place. Life is good.

Medulin, Croatia

The ride along the bit of coast in Slovenia was not very long and with just the pro forma of a passport check and a friendly, “Have a good trip”, we entered Croatia and the Istria Peninsula. Yes, the first impression of Croatia showed a difference. Croatia is not as rich as Slovenia. I am glad the first few miles in Croatia were very rural. I had to get used to the signs again. There is only one sign for a direction. If you miss it, you will ride the wrong way. In a few instances the sign pointed the way straight ahead only to point left or right a few yards after the original sign. Strange, but it does make sense in a certain, nutty way. Go straight but after you go straight, turn left. This is especially tough when entering a larger town. I noticed this right away in a town like Umag, not far from the border. Sure enough, we got lost a bit, not badly, just into a dead end. Turned around and off we went on the correct road.
Following the map of the ADAC group we wiggled ourselves down the western coast with some bumps inland. I was looking for the reasons the ADAC group picked these roads as motorcycle roads. The area was kind of blah with fields and hardly any towns to speak off. One section, after the town of Buje, had some interesting curves and some downhill areas along a river but as a whole, I cannot understand why these roads were picked. Poreč, a town on the coast, had an old Basilica but I have this thing about churches. We rode along and got lost on purpose in Rovinj, another coastal town that sprouts a castle and a small section for tourists. Yes, we are tourists but I never want to consider myself a tourist.
We did not stay in Rovinj even though a one night stop would have been ok. It was early in the day and the ride itself was a bit boring. We searched out Pula, a large town on the tip of the Istria, known for its Roman Amphitheater. Amazingly I found the ruin easily, but had to ask directions a few times. Hidden in the center of town, not visible from afar, was the theater that could hold 25,000 people in its heyday. Today, it serves as an occasional theatre for orchestral performances or off-off Broadway plays. The total outer ring of the Amphitheater is intact yet the inside had been looted, demolished or altered since Roman times. We paid the 40 Kuna (6 Euro?) admission but I was disappointed. The advertisement for the place was good; the reality of the place was warm, not hot. Carol felt a sense of awe to be standing in the same place that Romans stood nearly 2000 years ago, but she also had a feeling of repulsion at the cruelty and bloodshed that had occurred here.
Now we needed a place to stay and we decided on the most southern town on this spit of land and rode to Medulin. Arriving in town, I asked for a good place to stay and a local guy pointed the way to the beach. He said “Do not pay more than 30 Euro for a place to stay, including breakfast” but I could not get the place we wanted for less than Euro 39. Croatia is used to long rentals; a 3-day stay is the norm here. To stay overnight only, like we like to do, creates a situation where the hotel or motel owner has extra work, changing linens and towels, etc. For 3 days you will get the same towels and sheets. For this extra work of a one day stay, they will charge extra.
By the way, I had to speak German as English is not yet commonly spoken here. A lot of Croatian men have worked in Germany for awhile, saved some money and then have returned to their homeland to buy a motel, a shop or build a house, etc. They cannot get work in Germany any longer but by now they have found ways to make money in their own county. Anyhow, I ordered food, coffee, gasoline, etc, speaking German. I was amazed myself that so many people spoke German in Croatia. English is a bit tough for the Croatians. Most tourists, I believe are from the German speaking areas and it is natural for the Croatians to learn that language first. Signs along the way in Croatia are written in both languages, Croatian and German.
We found the Pension Hilde 2 within walking distance of the ‘boardwalk’, with a secure place to put our bikes, with a large restaurant attached and a clean room. We moved in for the night. We walked the short promenade along the water and saw a campground and with nothing else to do, we took a stroll through it. This was a large place. I can see that in the summer this place is hopping. In May the season is not yet in full swing so we just saw a few of the early birds. The campground had all you could want; good spots for tents, good spots for trailers, restaurants, playgrounds for the kids, waterslides, washing facilities for cars and campers, etc. The place was huge and walking around the campground, I was glad we did not bring our tent on this trip. To set up and break down a tent each day takes time. To find a food store is ok, but then you eat alone, away from others. The way we travel now, finding a local establishment with rooms, eating in nearby local places is the way to go for us. Yes it might be more expensive but then how long do we have to save before enjoying the money we have? We ate at a local place that was crowded, not at our Hilde2 place. Naturally, we had fish; we are at the seashore after all.
It was grilled to perfection, washed down with a glass of beer, we called it a day.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Piran

The coast line is puny in Slovenia. There are only a few towns along the way and we picked Piran because it comes highly recommended. 120 Km from Ljubljana is the very small coastal town, a jewel among Slovenian towns. Founded by the Romans, it is today still a lovely place. Compare it to Venice without the canals, some people say. A wonderful, large Piazza, coffee tables, lively folks from all over the globe come and visit. Children play their games on this plaza, like in ancient times, only now they use roller skates or small bicycles or high tech bouncing balls. Yet they still play catch or tag, just like always. Carol and I sat, had our coffee and watched. Only local car traffic is allowed inside the town. Enough history abounds to stay here for weeks if you want to study deeply. Carol and I spend 3 days in this lovely place. The sun shines, the temperature is around 27 degrees C. and while it has tourists, it does not feel too touristy. All or most of the houses are very old. One could believe that life is very good walking the ancient streets. Wash hangs out the window on lines hung by the owners; the streets are a mere 4 or 5 feet wide. The shadows of the 3 or 4 storied buildings give shade in the hot summer and protection from the fierce winds off the Adriatic Sea in the winter. Boats anchor peacefully; a few scooters add the needed noise to make sure everybody is awake. The town lives a peaceful life today and lives off tourist Euros. In years past it was under the protection of the City of Venice, Italy. Its main product was the sea salt harvested in the Salinas, now a tourist attraction and part of the living history museum. The streets are steeply carved into the hills with some ruins of a former castle on top. Old city walls have been partially restored just so you can experience the size of its former glory. A lighthouse marks the spit of land this town stands on. Locals swam in the ocean near a pebbly beach where divers got dressed to search for archeological treasures or ecological curiosity.
All foreign traffic is stopped at large parking lots before the actual town limit begins but motorcycles are exempt from this ruling. We arrived and immediately found a small hotel, a 5 minute walk away from the center of town that served us well. “Miracolo di Mare”, a B&B, has all we need. (www.miracolodimare.si) Good internet which could get us on line to post all of these reports, a sufficient breakfast, quiet location and a room with new air-conditioning were all provided. We paid Euro 60/night for 2; there was no leeway for bargaining. Our bikes are parked in the alley in front of the B&B. We are having a fine time. The restaurants are plentiful and first class. Fish is the main dish on every menu and the personnel speak English fluently. We lucked out. We could not have asked for a better place if we tried. Carol and I visited spots by walking up and down the narrow laneways; we felt safe and enjoyed ourselves being among the locals. Piran is a 3 Star on my list of places to visit. Nothing is in the extreme; it is a great, quiet, enjoyable seaside port. Piran is small, old and elegant and the dilapidated housing is just part of the charm of this place. Come and see for yourself.

Lipica and the Lipizzaner Horses




Along the way to the coast we had the choice to see the famous Škocjan Caves or visit a Stud Farm for the world famous Lipizzaner horses. We did make a stop and even walked to the first lookout of the cave system that makes up the Škocjan Caves but finally opted out in favor of the farm where Lipizzaner horses are bred and trained.
This one of a kind horse, pictured in many of the paintings depicting royalty in the last several centuries is a grand story. The roots of this horse are in Arabia. With the invasion of Spain by the Moors, this horse came to be in Europe. I am not sure how old the roots are in Arabia but Wikipedia only tells the story of the breed of this horse. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipizzaner). The famous picture of Napoleon in Battle shows him sitting on a Lipizzaner. These horses were fearless; trained to obey and to even be heroic. Without noticeable commands, by just feeling the pressure points, the horse knows how to respond to his rider. Mostly trained to transport royalty on their escapades, this horse did serve in many battles. The footing of the horse is very exact and strong. Each step taught to the horse serves as a help in battle. Walking sideways, cantering, even jumping up with all four legs in the air at one time, are tactics used by the battle rider to exploit the nature of the horse.
Jumping like that would give the rider room to maneuver in a crowded battle formation. Walking sideways would sidestep a frontal assault by another horseman. The Lipizzaner is a very strong horse. It learns relatively quickly and it does look elegant. The visit to the stables of Lipica was a treat. There are only 2 stud farms I know of; the other is Piber, near Graz, Austria. This breed of horse, there are only about 3000 horses worldwide, brings one back to an era of ‘horse’ power, when life was not as hectic, when distances were calculated in the days it took for a horse to carry you to your destination. The place in Lipica, even though it is very modern, evokes nostalgia for simpler times. One has to love horses to see my point of view I guess. Yes, my bike has horse power, gets me to places I could not get to otherwise, but I just visited a place where it all started; one horse power at the time.
We had a great time walking through the barns, recounting the days of yesteryear. The farm is located on a huge piece of property. Well organized, with painted white fences, this is a prime example of a heritage Slovenia can be, and is, very proud of.
We loved this place! (Sorry about not visiting the cave system, but we cannot do it all.)

Ljubljana via Vršič Pass

Here is a quote from a travel writer: “ Vršič Pass: the drive of your life “.
“50 numbered hairpin curves, most with cobble stone corners; 25 KM long. Experience Intense and beautiful vistas, staggering rocky formations and excellent views!” (I only looked at the road; I did not see the views). We got a workout early in the morning after we left Bled. The pass summit is only 1411 meters but what a ride! We were totally awake riding this section. I knew ahead of time about this stretch so I mounted my camera to the bike to take a video but… the camera shook loose. I had to stop on the pass to just take it off and push it into my pocket. A helmet camera would do a better job anyway but I gave it a try using the video setting on my old and trusted Canon. No way to take other pictures while riding. We stopped at the summit to prove to ourselves for later years to come that we made it to the top of this pass. This is amazing road work.
I read that many people died building this road; 300 Russian prisoners of war alone died in an avalanche near turn 21. There is a chapel built to honor the dead at turn 8 but I never saw it. Thousands more died during the construction of the road. All the people are buried in a nearby cemetery. Even after we were off the pass, the road continued in very curvy, ideal motorcycle style for many miles. We passed the towns of Bovec, Tolmin, Škofja Loka to end up in the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana. The whole of our travels that day were on excellent and challenging roads, made for motorcycles. Go as fast as you want to go, just slow down in the dispersed towns to 50KM per hour. The road is yours. We rode moderately but we were passed by local riders who rode past us as if they had stolen something.
We intended to stay for 2 days in Ljubljana, the dragon city. Jason the Argonaut supposedly slew a dragon here. Ljubljana is a former swamp area. Lovingly the inhabitants often refer to themselves as ‘frogs’ stemming from this former swampy neighborhood. We felt the cold, wet weather and the last few days of riding in our bones. I don’t believe it was the wetness that made us feel that way. We were worn out. Today, Ljubljana is a very large, very cosmopolitan city with all the modernity the new age has to offer. The way into town was easy. In the center of town is the old city and one has to just follow the signs for city center to land near the river, in the heart of Ljubljana. Finding a hotel was a different story. When we arrived it started to rain. We were so close to finding a hotel; we did not put on our rain suits. Well, I did not, Carol’s suit is a ‘Stich and supposedly waterproof. I asked young people in a café if they knew of an inexpensive hotel, motel or hostel for a few nights. Their English was excellent yet their directions were for the birds. We found the “City Hotel’ but all my crying did not help, Euro 98 for one night incl. breakfast. I passed. Back on the bike, back into the rain. I asked a taxi driver, I find those guys know a lot. Sure enough, in perfect English he explained to me that there was a hostel/hotel “Park Hotel” and after some searching we found it. The price was 40 Euro but no breakfast. Parking was in front of the hostel. Now this is a curious place. It is a hotel. But the 7th floor of this hotel is made into a hostel for young people. No shower in the room, just a sink and a toilet, basic accommodations with 2 single beds in a room. It was a basic place to stay, cheap enough to be affordable for students, for example. Well, Carol and I are students of life, so we set off, after we moved in (we could only get a one night stay) and visited the downtown, old city area. We found graffiti all over the walls of the historic area. There were pierced everything people walking about. I saw hairdos from the future; colored hair in any shade of purple, pink and what not. We had entered the twilight zone. I am glad the Park Hotel only had room for us for one night. We walked around, had dinner in a small place that served typical Balkan faire and left the next morning. No shower, just a sponge bath and off we went to find the tiny coastline of Slovenia.

Bled

In order to go to the Slovenian town of Bled, famous for its idyllic setting, we had to get back to Austria for a little bit. The town of Bled comes highly recommended by every guide book. One cannot go to Slovenia and not go to Bled. We needed a rest anyway from the cold and from riding every day so we thought about staying 2 nights. Entering Austria was as difficult as leaving Austria. Little did we know that Austria would not let us go in or out without going over some tricky roads! The passes we had to take to get in or out of Austria were not that high, Paulitsch Sattel at 1338 meters, Schaida Sattel at 1069 meters and Kleiner Loibl Pass at 720 meters, but all had their own tricks up their sleeves. Having passed our baptism last year in Italy we managed each pass just fine, albeit it was hard work getting through all the hairpin curves, the narrow roads, the sometimes scary drop offs. We got a great workout, our arms hurt, and our necks pained us from looking up and way over through each hairpin curve. Some passes were so isolated that I thought about what I might have to do to get help, just in case. We were just the 2 of us riding the tricky roads. No time to take pictures, just hang on, do the right thing, get past this dangerous section, then get ready for the next twisty. One by one, we managed yet I can tell you these not so high passes were surprisingly difficult. We entered Slovenia again and again I had to get used to the names. How to you pronounce “Trižič “?
Once we arrived in Bled we were determined to be in the center of town. We saw a sign on a nice looking hotel, room with breakfast, double occupancy for 50 Euro a night. Great! We could not park or even stop in front of this hotel and had to find the back alley first. Once there we got off the bike and… the hotel was closed. Nice looking place but closed. I guess you can put any price on a place if you are closed. I tried the hotel next door but there the price for a room was 120 Euros per night. Even crying a little only brought it down to 96 Euros. I passed. The young man behind the reception of the open 3 star hotel heard me cry so loudly and had pity on me and told me about an apartment nearby that rented on a daily basis so we checked there. We got the room for 40 Euros without breakfast. Parking was in front of the door, we had a kitchen and while there were 52 steps up to our room (Carol counted them) and the place was old, run by an older lady that needed extra income, it was just fine. The apartment had the best location in town, too. A supermarket one street over gave us what we needed for food. We were ready to explore the place.
One of the things to do here is to walk around the lake. About a 2 hour walk. We passed. We have seen lakes before. Another thing to do is a boat trip, one guy rowing you and others to a small Island near the center of the lake for 12 Euro per person. The Island had a few trees and was so small it only had a small Chapel in the center and nothing else. We passed on that one, too. I am not that fond of Churches, Cathedrals and/or Chapels. That leaves the main Church of St. Martin and the castle, high on the cliff to explore.
The first day we walked up to St. Martin and it was nice enough, yet, like I said, I am not keen in visiting one church after another. I went just to get some walking in after all the riding we did. Through a well laid out park along the edge of the lake we meandered, always uphill, to this church. Yet it was open, Carol took some pictures and now it was time to return to our loft and rest for the night.
The next morning, the weather was wonderful and mild; we looked at each other and the castle from below. We decided to take a taxi up and walk down. It was a good choice. Even after arriving at the castle by car, we still had a steep hike for the last few hundred yards. The old bones start to creak and the lungs wheeze after walking like that. The castle contained a small museum and showed an exhibit of the local history. This well done display gave us an insight back to the beginning of Bled but I would like to add something here.
Slovenia has always been a country of turmoil. It is said that the Greek Argonauts under Jason travelled through the land and founded cities such as Ljubjana (Laibach). Some ancient finds give proof of this, depending how one looks at things. In Bled, it is shown that men occupied Slovenia during the Ice age. Slovenia has a history that is very diverse and difficult to study and to remember. While the Romans definitely founded towns such as Ljubjiana (Emona in Latin), Ptuj (Poetovia), Celje (Celia), the history of Slovenia started with local tribes such as the Celts and the Illyrians. Attila the Hun ran across the land in the 5th Century, burning everything in his path. A lot of written documents were lost during Attila’s carnage. The Roman settlers retreated to the coastline during Attila’s attack and founded the cities of Trieste (now in Italy) and the towns of Piran (Piranum) and Koper (Capris). The coast remained a Roman/Italian strong hold for centuries and the port cities served Italian city states, such as Venice, as safe harbors. The inland of Slovenia remained purely agricultural and is even today, a very hilly, very lush, very productive agricultural area.
After Attila the Hun left this region (Attila could never find a way to cross the Alps to attack Vienna) the devastated area he left behind in the 6th Century, was occupied by Slavic tribes coming from the East. These tribes brought along their superstitious beliefs and agriculture and founded an area known then as Karantania. Not long after this formation of a Slavic ‘State’ the new Christians from the North, the Germanic Frankish tribes forced Christianity onto the new Slavic settlers. In the 14th Century the house of Habsburg (Austria) took over for the Franks. The ‘Heilige Römische Reich Deutscher Nations’ (Holy Roman Reich of German Nations) took over. Vienna, as headquarter of this Reich, ruled for the longest time. The Balkan countries were along the route of the Holy Crusades (the many takeover attempts of the Catholic Church to take back Palestine from the new religion, Islam). A tide of warfare ebbed back and forth through this region between the Christians from the North and the Muslims, especially the Turks, from the South. These back and forth battles made for a difficult life. The coastline towns searched for alliances and found protection from the City States in Italy, like Venice for example. The inland was unprotected and, like a ping pong ball, frequently changed hands. Napoleon in the 18th Century occupied Slovenia, too. After the Peace Treaty in 1812 in Vienna, the area reverted back to the Holy Roman Reich of German Nations. Vienna was in charge again. The Elite, spell Royalty, promoted the German culture. The peasantry however, spell farmers and workers, were the people of Slavic descent.
This back and forth went on and on. The history of Slovenia is difficult. The museum in Bled could only give the smallest picture of its history yet did a fairly good job. After World War 1 Austria lost Slovenia, After World War 2 Russia or the Eastern Block took over and Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia. Yet here we are today, Slovenia is now, since 1991, independent and doing a great job being part of the EU.
Not that I learned all this at the museum in Bled but it is essential to understand when visiting this great county.
The town of Bled is indeed a good illustration of what Slovenia is today. Clean, sophisticated, industrious and very educated, the town is worth a visit.
If only…… we had to walk down from the castle and it is a long walk. Not only is the way long but dangerously precarious, following a path established by mountain goats, it seems. We were glad to be back near the edge of the lake and in the sophisticated surroundings of modern society. The area in and around Bled is good for young people. Hiking, canoeing, parasailing, bungee jumping, white water rafting, etc. are the main activities. It is nice to watch the young do it, but why jump out of a perfectly good airplane to skydive? I am getting old!