Roadnaranja

This post is 95 percent Florence. That city is something else… As I told you at the end of the previous post, I also needed to have some repairs done. I did a quick stop by the leaning tower, but only because it was on my way forward.

The old renaissance capital Florence

Let’s start with a mind boggling fact that gives you some idea about the cultural and artistic magnificence of the city: According to UNESCO, about 60 percent of the world’s art treasures are located in Italy and about half of those are in Florence. I did my best at viewing a lot of those in my four days there. I bought the Firenze card that gave me access to most of the museums in the city and I used it to gain entry to sixteen places.

The history of the capital of Tuscany is really impressive. It is considered as the birth place of renaissance and home of one of the most famous noble families in the history, the Medicis. There’s a lot to see of the long history even without entering a single museum. The Arno river is also a sight in itself and the bridges crossing it are beautiful too.

The Florence Cathedral

On Sunday I concentrated on the Duomo, the Florence Cathedral. The entrance to the cathedral itself was free, but the baptistery, the bell tower, the cupola and two museums were something that needed a ticket. Unfortunately this was not something that was included in the bundle ticket that I had bought. I bought a ticket anyway, but decided to skip the cupola.

I was very impressed with the Cathedral museum that had the previous facade of the cathedral rebuilt inside. There were also Donatello’s sculptures to admire.

The Baptistery ceiling is unfortunately covered up because of restoration at the moment. The building was still interesting to visit, but the highlight of it was out of sight. The bell tower had a pretty view, but it took some sweating to climb up in the hot weather. The final thing that I visited was the museum below the cathedral that showed the excavated remains of the previous church (Santa Reparata) and told the history of the history of the beginning of the city.

Classical masterpieces

I visited the Accademia and the Uffizi galleries. The first one I lined up for more than two hours to, because I didn’t read the fine print saying that you should reserve the entrance time. I did not do the same mistake for the latter and booked one in advance. In general, I enjoyed the latter much more too. The Accademia had of course the David, but besides that not so much that I found interesting. In Uffizi there were so many things to see that ita was hard not to lose the concentration and miss things.

Beautiful views and gardens

The most famous spot for sunset photos in Florence is the Piazzale Michelangelo. I took a bus up there and enjoyed the views (not so much the crowds) for more than two hours. It really was worth the hype and it makes sense that so many people come there.

The Boboli gardens are a part of the Palazzo Pitti complex that houses several museums and the gardens that basically works as an open air museum. I visited the museums too, but after Uffizi and dell’Accademia they were not really that impressive. Of course the old palace rooms were absolutely stunning, but the offering of those had already exceeded the point of being interesting. The gardens I really liked though.

The repairs

On Monday morning I walked over to a car mechanic close by that I was recommended by the guy working at the park in Scandicci where I spent the first two nights. They told me that I need a body shop and recommended two places that were not too far. I drove to the first one later and they told me that they didn’t have time the next couple of days. He called another shop not too far away and told me to go there instead. The guy working at that place told me (via Google translate) to come back after three and he would fix my bumper and put back the bottom plate that I had to take off.

After about an hour of work he was done and my bumper was most likely better than it was before the accident. Not like new and of course the crack in the front is not completely hidden, but he added screws to other spots too that had lost some earlier. I was a hundred Euros poorer for that, but I did not mind at all. Good and fast service and the language barrier was not a big obstacle either.

The leaning tower on the way west

After a full morning in running around museums and looking at the Boboli gardens, I decided that it was time to give up and leave Florence behind. The Firenze card had also expired and to be bluntly honest, I could not imagine going to another museum any time soon.

I had noticed that the city of Pisa was on my way west from Florence so I decided to take a late lunch break there and go see the leaning tower. It would have been possible to buy a ticket to go up the tower too, but I did not have the energy nor the patience to line up for that. So I just marveled the tower from the outside for some time. I had not imagined being so massive. It’s not that tall, but it was bulkier than I had expected.

After leaving Pisa I drove a couple of more hours west to a parking spot in Genoa. That was my last night in Italy before going to France. But more about the rest of the journey to Portugal in the next post coming soon.

It’s time to cover the next country on my way. There’s no way to fit all in one post, so this will just be the first part. If Slovenia was mainly about nature, Italy was arts and history – and lots of it…

Quick stop in Trieste

I drove to Trieste and really had problems finding my way to the camper park. I drove by the place twice before getting there. But then I had the next frustration… The parking meter only took coins and I could not get in since I was missing a euro. There was nothing around that looked like it could give me the change so I decided to go for a plan B. I parked at a free spot a bit further from the downtown area that was free, but a bit dodgy looking. I didn’t get into any trouble though.

Trieste also was a part of the Habsburg empire, just like most of Slovenia. It used to be the empire’s Mediterranean port city. You could definitely see it in the architecture. The city did not really impress me that much so I only stayed for a night and continued ahead after having breakfast.

An old acquaintance: Palmanova

Since the old fortress town of Palmanova was on my way to Venice, I decided to stop there for a bit. I visited the town in the spring of 2007 when I was living in Salzburg. It was a trip organized by the pedagogical institute that I was doing my assistant teacher posting at. Nothing much had changed, but nothing much can in a town protected by UNESCO.

And now for something completely different: Venice

Somehow it felt difficult to appreciate the things I saw in Ljubljana and also in Trieste. After leaving Trieste I was sure that I just couldn’t handle cities anymore that I had reached a saturation point of a kind. I was wrong.

In so many ways, Venice is just crazy! The amount of tourists for one. The rising sea levels and the weird labyrinthian and almost claustrophobic feeling of the old town to name a couple of more reasons. Apparently if the city is different enough from the rest I have no issues. I stayed there just for two days and spent most of the time just wandering around the old city. I could have stayed longer too, but after the two days, I had had enough of the masses of people.

I stayed at a campsite that was really quite nice. It had a pool that I used a lot for swimming laps and a bus connection to the old city was very good. It was more expensive than normal campsites, but it was also close to something quite special so I didn’t mind. But there was something I gave them negative feedback for…

Why should you do things the way they’re meant to be done

When I checked out and was ready to leave I made a dumb mistake. There was no one parked at the slot in front of me so I decided to take the “easy” way out and drive straight to the road leading out of the campsite. It seemed like a good idea until I heard a cracking sound. That’s when I remembered that there was a thick wooden pillar with the slot numbers just in front of my bumper. The pillar was still stubbornly there, the bumper had not bothered it much, but unfortunately the same could not be said vice versa. A bottom plate was hanging on the ground and there was a deep crack in the bumper itself.

I walked back to the reception and told them that I drove to one of their place marks and they said that this was ok. Apparently everyone does it. I told them that it is not ok with me and that I might need some extra time. I also gave them an idea that they might want to consider putting something higher than just the 20 cm pillar to mark the slots.

Since it was Saturday, there was no place open that could do some fixing work so I took off the part that was hanging loose (luckily just four screws) and decided to continue as planned to Florence. That ended up being a good choice, but more about that in the next post.

The past few days I have been in Slovenia. I stopped in two cities briefly before heading to the heights and depths.

City hopping

I stopped for a few hours in Maribor right after entering Slovenia. The city itself was nice, but unfortunately the riverbank is being renovated at the moment and it was just a big construction site. So I decided to continue my journey.

Ljubljana was up next. It’s Slovenia’s capital and much bigger than Maribor. I parked in a mobile home park outside of the city. It wasn’t much really, but there was a 20 minute bus connection to the city and it worked really well for me.

I enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the Saturday night, but then quickly noticed that I was too tired. On Sunday I visited the castle on top of the city and did plenty of walking in the downtown area. The museum inside the castle had plenty of information about Slovenian history. I really needed that, because I must admit that I was not very well informed before.

The Triglav national park – finally some real mountains

I drove up north to the only Slovenian national park next. And it was a treat! I had thought about climbing the highest peak in Slovenia (Triglav 2864 m), but unfortunately that would have needed at least one night sleeping somewhere. Going up in a day is doable, but back down on the same day is too much. I neither have the equipment for sleeping and I wasn’t sure about my physical condition either. But luckily there were plenty of other options.

The first morning I packed a day bag and put on my hiking shoes. I drove to the end of the Lake Bohinj with my bike and then hiked to the Savica falls. The hike itself was simple and about six kilometers one way. The final steps to the waterfall were the toughest part, but the view was pretty and the climb was well worth the effort.

The first day also served as a scouting trip to the other trails in the park. I passed a tempting sign about a trail climbing a very steep hill. There was a QR code pointing to this video. That dissuaded me. My will to live is too strong. But I found an option for the next day that was demanding enough, but not too crazy.

The next morning I woke up early, bought some fresh bread rolls from the bakery and drove Naranja below the Vogel ski center where I had a quick breakfast. I took the first cable car up the rock wall to 1500 meters. From there I started my hike to the Vogel summit in perfect weather and stunning views.

The climb was absolutely stunning! The weather was completely clear, but there was a strong wind that made my stop on the summit shorter that I had planned. Everything went without problems, but about a kilometer before the end the sole of my left shoe started flapping and by the time I got back to the cable car, it was more than half off. I hope that I can still get it fixed at a shoe repair guy somewhere. That was a clear sign that it was time to do other things.

The Skocjan caves

The UNESCO world heritage site close to the Italian border was my last stop in Slovenia. I read about the place in the karst museum in Talpoca and I decided that it might be worth a stop. It was! Cameras weren’t allowed in the first part of the three hour tour that went through the broader caverns full of impressive stalactites and stalagmites.

The scale of the caves is really mind boggling. The underground canyon is up to 140 meters deep and some chambers could easily fit a big cathedral inside. The big collapsed doline (sinkhole) where the river goes underground and the caves begin is also very impressive.

Summing up Slovenia

I wanted mountains and I got them! The country definitely left a positive impression on me. It’s really hard to see it ever being behind the iron curtain. Everything reminded me so much of Austria. Of course historically it makes sense, because most of the country was under the Habsburg rule for over 500 years. But still it was surprising how “western” it felt. Hungary for me was much more exotic and strange for me.

After staying a couple of extra days in Budapest after the games, it was time for me to move on. My plan ahead is to continue to Slovenia next. The lake Balaton region just happened to be on my route so I decided to give it a couple of days too. No regrets! It has been pretty!

Lake Balaton – the biggest lake in Central Europe

As the heading above states, Balaton is a big one here in Central Europe. But to give it some perspective for my Finnish readers, it would only be the eight largest lake in Finland. Of course the Finnish lakes mainly look very different than the open and basically islandless Balaton.

The lake was formed just 15-17 thousand years ago, which is rather recently geologically speaking. There is a chance that the whole lake may disappear in the next 40 years if the climate change has its way. The heat waves and droughts in the last years have already made the lake lose a lot of it’s water.

The Balaton region: Balatonfüred, Tapolca and Hevíz

The northern side of Balaton is a big wine area that mainly produces white wine. I stayed in Balatonfüred on the north side for the first night and went exploring with my Brompton. The road up the hill to one small winery was a tough climb, but well worth it. I had a glass of their Sauvignon Blanc and enjoyed the scenery. It would have been nice to try another one of their wines too, but since five kilometers of biking downhill was waiting for me I didn’t feel comfortable having more.

I stopped in Tapolca a little north of the lake for another night. The main attraction there is the partly water filled cave under the town. Only a part of it can be visited and you can take a boat and paddle around a narrow path. The cave itself continues in many directions and there are more than five kilometers of caves underneath the town, some of which still unexplored. Above the cave there was a karst museum that had some interesting geological facts to tell.

The town of Tapolca was pretty above the ground as well. I enjoyed a nice double espresso (or Eszpresszó as the Hungarians like to spell it) this morning on the terrace on the left in the picture below.

I had one more stop left before saying my goodbyes to the lake region. Since I forgot to visit the baths in Budapest, Elina suggested that I should go for a swim in a thermal lake in the town Hevíz. It was pretty much on my way so I decided to give it a go.

I paid an entrance fee of4500 HUF (about 12€) for three hours and then I had to walk a bit until the lake appeared. It was bigger than I imagined and there was plenty of room even in the showers and dressing rooms. The water had a little bit of sulfuric smell, but you got used to it quite soon. The water was 35 degrees warm which somehow felt a bit wrong in the beginning. I took two long swim sessions and then walked around the place. I noticed that the lake area has several entrances and also a separate wellness and sauna area. It wasn’t included in the price so I skipped that.

Heading to Slovenia tomorrow

I’m now in Nagykanizsa just a few kilometers from the border to Croatia and Slovenia. I’m parked next to a narrow lake and this is where I’ll sleep tonight. I might go for a run around the lake tomorrow morning, because there seems to be a nice path for running all the way around.

I have already looked up a couple of spots in Slovenia that seem interesting and I’m really looking forward to some mountains! It has been a long time since I saw some real mountains up close.

Unforgettable nine days of excitement and and fun but also of extreme heat are now over. The games had several competitions that were very exciting right in to the last attempt/meter. Some incredible last attempt gold turnovers in a couple of disciplines and even a medal for Finland. But the temperatures were above 30 degrees (centigrade) every day except for the first day. There were some days that it was more than 35 degrees.

Nine busy days of spectator sports

I had a ticket to all the sessions, but I had to skip a a couple of morning sessions because of my work and the Saturday morning session too because of the heat. Otherwise I sat in sector 218, row C and seat 3 of the National Athletics Center for the whole games. I had never been to an event this big and I was a bit afraid how stressed out I would be because of the crowds. I wasn’t really at all. Of course lining up in the heat to get in was not always that much fun, but other than that everything was pretty smooth.

I took public transportation for about half the times I went to the stadium and the other half I used my Brompton. It was a bit faster to use my bike for the 11 kilometers than taking the bus-subway-tram combo. I also managed to get a slight sunburn on the first Sunday while biking back from the morning session. Also no matter how slowly I tried to go, I was quite sweaty when I got to the stadium. But even the public transport was sweaty.

Probably the most interesting events for me were the heptathlon, decathlon, women’s pole vault and men’s javelin just to name a couple. The expectations for the first Finnish medal after a long dry spell were high in the women’s pole vault. Wilma Murto managed to get a bronze medal which was almost a disappointment. She had done so well in the previous important finals of her career.

Holidays and being a tourist in Budapest

As I said in the beginning, I still had to work for the first week in Budapest. But now I’m on my three week holiday. I stayed at the campsite for a couple of more days and visited the city and it’s sights. Elina gave me a lot of helpful tips and ideas, because she used to live in Hungary for some time.

The Memento Park was one place that I regretted not visiting on my first trip to Budapest in 2005. It is a collection of the Soviet era statues and memorials from the city and it’s also documenting the history in other ways. The most creepy thing there was the video installation that was edited out of the secret police training videos. Now I know how to do a house search carefully without the inhabitant finding out…