Sunday, May 7, 2023

Burg Hohenzollern

It is an imposing, massive castle on top of a high hill. Worth a visit!

Here's the website and the wikipedia article.

As my friend Mark pointed out the entrance arrangements are a great example of defense in depth, or perhaps even about paranoia... there's multiple doors, multiple layers, always positions to shoot down on an advancing attacker. Nicely done. Very nice to look at, too.




Some pictures from inside:


More pictures from the outside:





And last but not least, dungeons discovered only recently, in the 2000s.

Read more urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot or TGR. Photos and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.


No sauna power for me

 

"The sauna is only open until 10pm". But I was coming in later, so I wanted to know if I could use it in any case. They said I could, if I was quiet. However... I couldn't turn the sauna on.

Not sure if that was because the power was cut off due to renovations elsewhere in the building (and a nearby gym room was gutted, too) or if there was a timer somewhere.

Well, I've been in this sauna before, so ok ... not sauna this time.

All this is happening at the Schloss Dagstuhl, a center dedicated for organizing Computer Science workshops. It is a superb place, mostly because it gathers people around the castle as it is not easy to find anything else nearby. So the discussion continue through the evening and to the night, in the wine cellar, and sometimes even in the sauna. But not int he sauna this time, then!


For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. I never take photos of other saunagoers or swimmers and visit when there is simply no one else or the facility has been closed or booked only for me.

May 1st at the Finnair Lounge

Wow. Munkkeja (donuts). Traditional May 1st delicacy.

Then, in the air I had received a nice upgrade. Here are the meal and sky views:


For more flying stories, check out the planetflier.com website! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.

Trust me, it is NOT a watertower

It does look very weird. For some reason I thought it was a water tower. It is in the town of Oberreid in the Black Forest area in Southern Germany, near Freiburg. But ... it is in fact a defense against against nuclear weapons and natural disasters...

It is called Barbarastollen. Right behind it is an old mine, archiving Germany's cultural heritage and safeguarded for natural and man-made disasters, 400 meters underground. For more information, refer to the Google Maps page and this article. The archive is described also in a Wikipedia article here.

Read more urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot or TGR. Photos and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.

Only crappy parts with this car

While I was away, they replaced the door with a used one from the car wreckers. It is dark so hard to see, but initial reaction at home is that it doesn’t fit because “it is clean and not rusted at all unlike the rest of the car”.

More car stories in the Planetskier blog series at Blogspot. The photos and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko.

Leaving the car, hoping for a fix

I'm going for a business trip, and I'm dropping the car off on the way to the airport. Let's see ... this could be expensive...


More car stories in the Planetskier blog series at Blogspot. The photos and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko. 

Monday, May 1, 2023

Happy 1st of May!

 

Traditional 1st of May celebration, on skis. This time on my local hill.


Here's the video:



More pictures:


Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from BlogspotTGR. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko.

Friday, April 28, 2023

She's Back!

Well, she's back! The exhaust pipe has been re-attached a bit further away from the hull parts, and everything tightened :-) 

Well, one thousand and more already spent. Another thousand awaiting for the door. Sigh.

(The earlier article with the problems was here.)

More car stories in the Planetskier blog series at Blogspot. The photos and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko. 

Something is wrong again

Sigh. Something is wrong again. Loud noise when driving over 5km/h over the most minor bumps.

And this was right after all the good news.

More car stories in the Planetskier blog series at Blogspot. The photos and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko. 

I scored a hole-in-one-car

 

Remember how I left the car for a week+ in the repair shop and for the annual check-up? I have new see-through door … but check up approved. Mostly because I needed to drive the car to the shop that can do the door replace, not because they approved the rusted door … anyone happen to have a right door for a 740?


More car stories in the Planetskier blog series at Blogspot. The photos and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko. 

Good luck with the Volvo...

Wish me good luck. The car is going for the shop to some repairs, and they will take to the annual check. Very unclear if it will ever return to me ...

I'm preparing for the check-up by washing the car. My theory is that if it is clean, they will not notice the rust :-)

Update a week later: Bad news: forbidden to be driven. Good news: only due to handbrake imbalance. No issues with the hull, though the hole in the door apparently needs to be fixed using something else than a plastic bag. I’m sure it will soon be a decent summer car again 🙂

More car stories in the Planetskier blog series at Blogspot. The photos and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko. 

Hyrylä dust-off

 

After cleaning up at my mom's, it was time to dust off myself: my first visit to the Tuusula swimming hall. Quite nice. Small, but good saunas, a therapy pool, airy, nice views in the main pool area, etc. Worth a visit!

Another place that I've swam in Hyrylä is the nice small pond in the sports center. See my report here.

For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. I never take photos of other saunagoers or swimmers and visit when there is simply no one else or the facility has been closed or booked only for me.

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Communism is closed, so is the museum

We went to the Krakow Museum of Communistic Poland... it wasn't open, and neither is communism. Would have been very interesting to tour this, but oh well.

Read more urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot or TGR. Photos and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Rokokallio meet-up


So, as reported earlier, our caving association went to Rokokallio. Very nice to see people in the middle of the pandemic :-) and be in the nature. We ended up exploring most of the caves in the area. Here are some pictures of them. 

Starting with the main cave (pääluola) in coordinates N 60.489854 E 24.476853:




The top crack cave (päällysluola) is in coordinates N 60.489582 E 24.477191:


The roof cave (lippaluola) is in coordinates N 60.488881 E 24.479111:


The side cave (sivuluola) is in coordinates N 60.489937 E 24.476207:



The deep crack cave (syvähalkeamaluola) is in coordinates N 60.489154 E 24.477937:



The fire pit cave (nuotiopaikanluola) is in coordinates N 60.489495 E 24.477370:


The team having a break:


See more caving stories at Planetcaver.net, and all Planetskier and Planetcaver stories at Blogspot and TGR! This article, pictures and videos is (c) 2020-2021 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.

Monday, April 10, 2023

Enoshima Caves

Only in Japan: They have a "candle lending service" at cave. And it is not like it is a dark, lightless place even without the candles - the Enoshima cave has lighting, but obviously the candles are a remarkable addition to the experience. On the other hand, since the candles are actual candles with actual fire, there is now a need to have a fire alarm system, if somebody accidentally sets the cave on fire...

Overall, a super nice experience in the cave, and the island in general as well. Much recommended! On the island you can find observation towers, lights, restaurants, and a spa, even though I was actually unable to find it :-) The is nice hiking, a "love bell" for the lovers, and of course, incredible views of the lush island, cliff faces, the sea, and, spectacular views of Mt. Fuji. Although on the day I was there it was covered mostly in clouds.

But back to he caves. There are actually two caves, cave 1 and 2. Both are part of the show cave. Their coordinates are N 35.298389 E 139.475556 and N 35.298174 E 139.476748. Here's a map of the caves:

The caves are ancient sea caves, formed when the island's cliff faces were at a different level, and waves kept hitting some cracks in the rock. Cave 1 is 153 meters long and cave 2 is 56 meters. They are indeed beautifully lit, have nice roofs above entrances, and well-constructed walkways. For the most part one can just walk in the cave, but in few places one needs to lower one's head to not hit the ceiling. The cave is well decorated and protected against accidental roof rock fall. Maybe to the extent that it feels a bit less like a natural cave. The sides of the cave are full of statues, for instance.

There is an entrance fee, around 1000 local (9€) gives you access to both the caves and a number of other attractions on the island. You can buy these tickets before taking the bridge to the island.

I found the stories around the cave most interesting. The main story is about a many-headed evil dragon that falls in love with a maid. They get each other, and dragon plays nice from that point onwards :-)

I also laughed out loud when I read about the Fuji connection story. There's an ice cave on Mt. Fuji, some tens of kilometers away. The people looking a the Enoshima cave felt some cold air come from the cave (as often happens with caves), and immediately deduced that there must be a connection to the Mt. Fuji cave because of the cold air :-)

More information from the caves and the island can be found from Wikipedia and various local travel sites such as this or this.

Cave 1:







Cave 2:



Island:



The Shinto Shrine in the middle of the island:



Train station for arriving to the island. Wonderful!

There were also two other tiny caveats nearby that I could spot. Well, not really even caveats, just tiny holes few meters across, formed by the sea. They are in coordinates N 35.298916 E 139.474808 and N 35.298459 E 139.475269. I also made a map and a 3D model (view, download) of the first of these. Here are some pictures:

Read more urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot or TGR. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.