Idrija Lace Festival 2014

It is time again for the lace makers to take over the streets of Idrija, Slovenia. This weekend (20.06. - 22.06.2014) the annual Lace Festival will take place again.

If you have the chance you should definitely take a trip to this charming old Slovenian town. The weekend will be full of events and the thread used for lace making will be carefully intertwined with rich technical heritage mostly related to half of a millennium of mercury mining and many local culinary delights.

If that is still not enough to get your attention, you can also enjoy relaxing walks in nature just a stone-throw away from the city.

If you are into history, a visit to the Anthony’s mining shaft (a definite highlight) and the town's museum within the Gewerkenegg castle are a must.

You should check out the official web page for the full programme of the 2014 Idrija Lace Festival.

Choose Idrija as a destination for this weekend's trip and have a great time! After the weekend is over, you will definitely want to visit the area again and again...

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Timelapse video presentation of Slovenia

This is another great piece of work from the hands of a very talented team of multimedia artists at Vizualist. Enjoy the ride!

If you have not done it already, it is time to put Slovenia on the top of your travel list.

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Hiking in hills over Izola

Spring is an excellent time for visiting Slovenia. It is one of those seasons during which you can go skiing in the morning and afterwards enjoy a warm afternoon by the Adriatic sea. For the brave ones even a dip in the sea is not out of the question.

Sunny weather was reason enough for M. and myself to drive to the coast and have a walk in the hills above one of the charming coastal towns of Slovenia. We chose Izola where we left our car and started our circular, 16 kilometre walk.

We got the idea for this hike from a local website (www.izola.eu) where you can check out a few walking/biking suggestions. Maps and GPS directions are available for free download.

After we left our car at a free car park just outside the Izola old city centre we started our walk towards the nearby hills. Quickly we left city streets behind us and found our way amongst old vineyards and olive groves.

Beautiful views of the coast were there to admire all the way around the path. With the exception of occasional wind gusts it was pretty warm for this season. Some trees and flowers were already blooming in bright colours. A branch of rosemary we picked on our way provided a natural aromatherapy opportunity. It smelled even better as it looked.

When we were done with the first half of our walk we stopped for lunch. In the town of Šared we stumbled upon a restaurant called Panorama. The first impression was not too promising, but they offered really good value Sunday lunch menus, which to our surprise were prepared individually - even rice for the shellfish risotto was not cooked in advance.

This meant the lunch stop took quite a while, but it was definitely worth it. We washed the food down with a glass of local wine, made from grapes that grew on a nearby hill. Delicious!

After lunch we continued our walk past a small church dedicated to St. James. It is situated on the outskirts of Šared. From there we followed distinct yellow markings, that can be found on various pilgrimage routes leading to sacral objects dedicated to St. James.
I have a feeling we will be seeing many more of such markings sometime in the not so distant future. More about that in one of the future posts...

From Šared the path led us downhill towards the sea. We passed a few more vineyards on our way and enjoyed beautiful views of Izola below.

We entered Izola through the town's marina and enjoyed a beautiful sunset just as we walked past rows of many moored sailboats and yachts.

One of the most interesting sights on this trip was definitely a small entertainment park (Lunapark) by the seafront. Although it was closed at the time we walked by, it was interesting enough just to look at from a distance. To me it looked like a scene from a horror movie. That huge chimney at the back and graffiti painted old walls sure don't help with the inviting look of the place.
I suppose at night with all the lights on, it might even look a bit more inviting.

For the grand finale we stopped for a glass of wine in the old centre of Izola. There are a few enotecas with great selection of wines. We chose Wine Bar Manzioli, operated by the Zaro family. Apart from owning the charming bar, they also produce some great wine themselves.

It was a great day in the warm spring sun. We are planning to explore the coastal region of Slovenia again as soon as possible.
Actually this Sunday a "Culinary walk of Istria's delicacies" (Kulinarični pohod Istrskih dobrot) is taking place and it might serve as a perfect excuse for another trip to the region.

Clicking on any one of above photos will reveal them all in a much more flattering resolution.

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Terra Magica

A few days ago I stumbled upon a documentary teaser well worth sharing. It is about something everyone should experience by himself: Slovenian wine.
There are just so many excellent winemakers in Slovenia but mainly due to small production most of them are completely unknown to the global market.

If you ask me, it is just one more reason for spending your next vacation exploring Slovenia. Yo can drop me a line if you need some local advice somewhere along the way.

Feel free to share your thoughts on the video in the comments below.

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View of Izola, Slovenia

Clicking on the above photo will reveal it in a much more flattering resolution.

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On the slopes of Civetta ski resort

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A glass of wine in a traditional trattoria

Every time we find ourselves in this area of Dolomites, we make stop for a glass of wine at the same place. It is a small restaurant - trattoria, in the village of Mezzocanale. It is called Trattoria da Ninetta.

From the outside it does not look all that special, but there is a very pleasant, local atmosphere waiting for you inside. They offer mostly local dishes for a reasonable price. When you add a glass of good wine you have a winner.

An old fireplace is the main attraction of the place in my opinion. The massive stone fireplace stands in the middle of a cosy seating area. At its side there is a stand with a number of iron tools for poking the fire and keeping it at just the right size to warm up the place.

When we stop at this place and order a glass of Cabernet Franc I always get the feeling my skiing vacation has finally began. It was no different this year.

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Another ski season coming to a close

Even though my friends keep posting photos and videos of their recent ski adventures, spring is definitely coming to town. It might take a while for all that snow to melt high up in the mountains but at lower altitudes spring flowers are already blooming.

Despite of all that, my next few posts are not going to be about spring. Instead they will feature a report from our annual skiing vacation in Italian Dolomites (you can find previous reports if you follow the Dolomites label in the right column).

We enjoyed another great week in the snowy mountains of northern Italy. We had a few sunny days, then clouds rolled in and brought some snow. After that the skies cleared again for a while.

There was more than enough snow - we actually had to skip our last day of skiing due to massive amounts of fresh snow. It was so bad they did not even start the lifts for a couple of days.

Since we obviously were not able to ski throughout the last day, we decided to leave a day early. Well... as it turned out instead of leaving a day early, we left a day and a half later.

The end of our week was marked with constant snowfall. On one particular morning a look out of the bedroom window revealed more than a metre of fresh snow. It has been a long time since I saw people shovelling snow from their rooftops.

You can see a morning photo of my car below. I was driving it the previous evening and yes, it was all clear of snow at that time.

In spite of everything, I can say we were quite lucky compared to thousands of people a few valleys to the north. In addition to heaps of snow, they were stuck in their homes without electricity.

Those snow avalanches can definitely cause a lot of trouble. Although power lines were not broken, avalanches blocked all roads going out of the valley we were staying in. In spite of some army troops helping with clearing the mess, roads were being blocked again as soon as they had managed to clear them.

In addition to all that the weather forecast did not look very promising either - it was more snow for the whole next week.

As luck would have it, during our second day of waiting it stopped snowing and in the afternoon when we were already making plans for the next day of waiting, the information about an open road arrived. In a matter of minutes we got our stuff together and left.

Since the road was almost clear of snow our ride was pretty smooth and uneventful. As we got home to Slovenia we saw the power of nature in another form.
It was sleet, which would cripple half of the country in the following days...

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Tram and metro network of Istanbul

While in Lisbon, Portugal almost exactly a year ago, I snapped a few nice photos of their famous Tram 28.

At that time I did not even suspect I will find myself in Istanbul after a year to admire a similar sight. Like in Lisbon there is an extensive tram network also in Istanbul.

Since there are quite a few hills within the huge city (just like in Lisbon and Rome), Istanbul also has a couple of funicular type trams to help transfer passengers uphill.

Apart from those there is also a stretch of the metro line simply called Tünel. Just recently a celebration took place to mark the establishment of the Tünel (139th anniversary), which is the second oldest subterranean urban rail line in the world. Only the London Underground (est. 1863) is older.
Today it is just a part of the municipal transport network and serves some 12,000 people daily.

Among the many public transportation rides we took while in Istanbul, we also had to try the Tünel. It was built to provide an easy ride between the neighborhoods of Galata in Karaköy and Pera (60 meters higher) in Beyoğlu, both of which at the time were in the relatively newer part of Istanbul on the northern shore of the Golden Horn.
The only direct street connecting the two, Yüksek Kaldırım, is steep and narrow. At the time of the construction of Tünel, it was crowded with 40,000 pedestrians a day.

We also tried walking uphill that street and I would definitely have to agree it is quite a workout. You can easily try both options and you will get the idea pretty quickly yourself. If it is not obvious enough, I suggest you take a ride through the Tünel uphill and walk the streets downhill.
You can also check out the spectacular view from the Galata tower while in the area.

If you plan on using the pretty convenient public transportation network a lot during your stay in Istanbul, you should consider getting an Istanbul Card (Istanbulkart), which you can fill up with cash as you go. You can get it at the airport as soon as you arrive.

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Sweet memories of Istanbul

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Church of St. Anthony of Padua, Istanbul

Istanbul is not all about mosques and Islam. There are also a few pretty nice Christian churches hidden within the city. This is a pretty good indicator of city's cultural diversity.

One of them is definitely the Church of St. Anthony of Padua (aka Sant'Antonio di Padova). It is situated just off the İstiklal Avenue in the Beyoğlu district.

It is quite nice and worth a quick look if you are in the Beyoğlu neighbourhood, but not so special to deserve a dedicated visit from the opposite side of the city.

It was built in 1725 by members of Italian community, but later demolished and rebuilt again between 1906 and 1912. It is actually considered a minor basilica and is run by Italian priests.

According to Wikipedia Pope John XXIII preached in this church for a period of 10 years (when he was the Vatican's ambassador to Turkey) just before being elected as pope. He is known in Turkey with the nickname "The Turkish Pope" because of his fluent Turkish and his often expressed love for Turkey and the city of Istanbul.

Clicking on any one of above photos will reveal it in a much more flattering resolution.

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Nargile smoking in Istanbul

If you are wondering what Nargile could be, let me tell you it is a word widely used in Turkey for a water-pipe, hookah-pipe or shisha (whichever expression you might find familiar).

There are countless places offering nargile smoking to tourists and locals alike. Obviously not all of them are equally good. You can expect cheaper tobacco varieties in those places catering mainly to tourists. How water pipes are maintained also varies from place to place.

If the place is serious about their Nargile experience, they should have different equipment for each variety and they should clean it as often as possible.

Obviously places specialised in nargile smoking are generally more professional but you can also expect them to be a bit more expensive.

You can order nargile with tobacco in a variety of flavours, apple being the most popular. You can also try cherry, banana, coffee, orange or melon flavours, in addition to many others.

However, if you are in search for the real deal, try locating a place that offers Al Fakher or Nakhla molasses. They are stronger and are often not mixed with fruity flavours. They might be a bit hard to find, but worth the effort in my opinion.

Apart from those I really liked apple with mint and also melon flavours.

Many claim Erenler Nargile (located on the Yeniçeriler Cd, near the Grand Bazaar) to be the best place for a proper nargile experience and suggest one should order Double Apple to get a taste of the real thing.
We also found a great place specialised in nargile smoking on the Asian side of the city and another decent place on the Akbıyık Caddesi near Sultanahmet (rougly in the middle section of the street). It is called Mitani.

If you are thinking of buying Al Fakher or Nakhla molasses for home use, you are up for a challenge. Since a lot of the stuff on the market is fake you can never tell whether it is original until you smoke it. If you look like a tourist, your chances for a good deal are even slimmer.

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Galata Tower by Day and by Night

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The Basilica Cistern in istanbul

Basilica Cistern is another popular attraction located near Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) and Hagia Sophia. It is quite unique and in my opinion well worth a visit.

It is even more spectacular if you look at it through the prism of time. It was built in the 6th century AD during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I and is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul. It must have been quite an architectural challenge and it is no wonder that 7,000 slaves were involved in its construction.
Hundreds of them died during the process. This might be the reason for an eye with tears engraving on one of the columns.

It is basically a huge underground chamber approximately 140 metres (450 ft) by 65 metres (210 ft) and is capable of holding 80,000 cubic metres (2,800,000 cu ft) or 100,000 tons of water. The ceiling is supported by 336, nine metre (30 ft) high, marble columns (mostly carved in Ionic and Corinthian styles).

Its initial purpose was to store and filter water for the Great Palace of Constantinople and other buildings on the First Hill. It continued to provide water to the Topkapi Palace even after the Ottoman conquest and also into the modern times.

At the far end (northwest corner) of the cistern there is a couple of Medusa column bases. One is placed sideways and the other upside down. According to tradition the blocks are oriented sideways and inverted in order to negate the power of the Medusa's gaze.

The place is lit with water reflections in mind and the effect is aimed to emphasize the countless number of columns. I hope this is obvious from the included photos.
There are even some fish traces visible on the first photo.

At the time of our visit the entrance fee was 10 TL. Basilica Cistern is open every day from 09:00 until 18:30. It took us almost an hour to walk through the place and take those countless photos. I guess without a camera it could be done much quicker.

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