Summer vacation days, pt. 2

After the medieval fair, early Monday morning, knowing the weather will hold for the better part of the week, we set sail for the stony cape of Istra, Rt Kamenjak:

G wanted to go somewhere closer to Opatija, that's why we drove mostly as far from the seaside as possible, but after checking out several other camps and sites, finding each time something displeasing about it, he finally agreed to check out the bit that attracted me (cannot explain, just did) - the resort on the wide end of the peninsula. Though the camp was closed, we found an awesome post-season accommodation..

... And some day maybe we'll be able to afford nice buildings like the orange on in the back as well :D

We were both addicted to hamburgers by then (Thanks, Stari Pisker), so G had a classic and I had a chicken-wrapped-in-bacon diner. Then we moved into this cool place for a few days - a two-bedrom appartment lent to us for post-season price:

G took the smaller bedroom, because it had a bigger window, and I cotted on the couch, because I had the full view of the bay from it and I like waking up to the sound of great outdoors <3  (Plus the beds were too soft for me and would make my back ache.) 

Early next day we drove all the way down to the end of the world and found a secluded rocky platform to camp on and go swimming. Alas, we were soon joined by every other tourist who had the same idea. The current coming from the Bay of Koper down to the Adriatic pool was so strong you'd be washed out of the shore range in a minute if you didn't keep swimming back. That said, it was beautiful.

There was a little island very close by and a lighthouse a little further out, but, like I said, the current made it entirely impossible to reach either. As consolation, last night's storm brought in millions of the mnemiopse (Some call them sea walnuts, I call them sea onions). Nobody was sure what to make of them, so we all waited for someone to make the first move, jump in and try to swim through them. A Russian gentleman did so as we held our breath in case he starts screaming. But as it turns out these lazy little fuckers are entirely passive and alien though they may seem, they're mostly water in a kissing mood. So, after I photographed them oodles, we went snorkeling. 

Bored after a few hours, not really in a mood to read any of the half a dozen books I brought along, I offed to explore the cape, capturing the impenetrable vegetation (and I mean impenetrable - the Istrian flora is impossible to break through even by just a few inches) and the terran curious fauna.

The cape is a maze of footpaths, so I marked my forks to know my way back...

Plenty of wide cracks or endless holes in the ground - just that kind of terrain ...

Many curious rock gaps, some designed for diving in, some designed for jumping off... 

In the eve we drove home and had a 'plate for two' dinner of local BBQ and veggies... Yummmm..

And I offed out in the eve to photograph the sea ...

Atomic Blonde

G and I offed to watch Atomic Blonde in the theater - though I didn't get who did what to whom for what reason and everyone seemed to be extremely unprofessional, at least a tripple agent, it was just my kind of stylish ... I loved the old cars and the old buildings and the hotels, clubs and outfits ... I love it how Americans think the Berlin Wall was this exotic, chaotic, sexy state of mind - and of course everyone is stupid except for CIA who is always awesome... Some impressive performances from people usually wasted on bombastic cartoon stuff, some realistic fighting, too.. For a John Wick makers, not half as bad as everyone cried. 

General's line of the week...

G: Do you know what that is?
me: Yes, we had one like it when i was little, it's a small milk bucket..

Summer vacation days, part 1 :)

Okay, so. In a hurry. Because we couldn't rightly decide whether we want to go to a mountain camp or the seaside, we just tried a little bit of all, more or less successfully :) The first part of the trip was up to the Logar Valley, with an intention of getting over the Kamnik Saddle, sleeping in the lodge and ascending adjacent summits ...

The white mountains of our original plan ...

It was easy enough to reach the first lodge, though G's tempo was problematic for me, but I got a panic attack when I could no longer see him ahead once we began ascending towards the second one. It's what happens sometimes - the world simply get too big for me.

Though indeed very beautiful, as it turns out, I am simply no longer designed for steep ascends up unsafe rocks. Once we climbed up the slope and reached the part where you are supposed to hang off wire, the General declared me unfit to continue and we had to turn around. It's not really a hard place to get to, plenty kids and fit elder people did it every few minutes. But my knees were starting to hurt too badly and I barely managed to descend again. The consensus was we return home and continue the next morning up the other side.

Day 2

So, after coming home at around 6pm, I passed out on the bed. G asked me how long I want him to let me sleep and I said until 6. True to my prediction, I didn't even roll until the dawn next day.

      The next attempt was, if you see the southern bit of the map, to ascent a much more pedestrian and pleasant slope, upping the Large Mount - Velika Planina. 

It was funny, because we've tried to check that one out for a decade and always something came up, and this time we only just barely managed to skid ahead of a valley marathon, before they closed the roads down completely. 

 

Velika Planina, the Great Mount, is another superior site regarding magical landscapes - it is famous for a place the shepherds of old days used to rally the cattle up and then stayed over the season in these adorable little wooden panel huts ...These days the huts are mostly there for tourists, as are the cows, but the place is still magical and - with a small stretch of imagination - timeless...

Ape, trying to portray a cow

The General, looking like business

Once up the lodge, I saw that they had pie and though the guys ordered beer, I ordered the national dish for G: sour cabbage and sausage. This was a good choice, because it was a well done meal and we were hungry as fuck. In fact we were so thirsty, I had some of the cold beer and went: this is beer??! It's fucking awesome! ... which is what happens when you are thirsty, tired and have muscle ache - beer solves all of those problems for ya. :D

Ape with Budapešt, her charm companion

Ape and the General, kick-ass mountaineers... ( ... well, guess who has to keep running ahead to take their pics, man!)... :P

So pretty it was almost kitschy...

Then we drove home again and Ape and I rode a local bus up the castle to check out the medieval fair event :)

Early morning, just me, the islands are sleeping ... Late at eve, just me, the boats are sleeping ... I like my dreams to feel real and my Real to feel like a dream ...