July Desperation

 

This is a difficult month. Again. But, Leppävaara to the rescue! A constant stream of fresh snow is being delivered outside the ice skating rink. So why not make a ski hill on the nearby slope?

Quite nice. I made several runs, but I did get sweaty from moving all that snow. And rain was threatening to appear at any moment.

Video:

Of course, I've been here before.

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

Predjama Castle

I had only heard about the Postojna Cave before coming to Slovenia. But it turns out that there are many caves (of course) as well as many very interesting or famous cave sites. Right next to the Postojna cave, a 10 minute car ride away for instance is the Predjama Castle, which is world's largest castle built in a cave. 

This castle was built for defensive purposes only, and such sits in the cave opening on a massive cliff face. The castle has some normal structures in the front, but the back of it is built into the cave. At the top, the castle can be exited to the cave tunnels, and eventually through a vertical shaft to the top of the cliff. We're told that this was used to supply the castle during sieges, as well as to continue offensive operations from the back exit.

There's also (apparently separate) cave under the castle, further down at the bottom of the cliff. We did not have time to visit that, but there are regular tours there as well. Would have been very interesting though! Under the cave opening for the lower cave, there's also a deep river valley, perhaps that's part of the lower cave.

The castle can be visited just by walking through, a self-guided tour. I particularly liked of course the back side and the cave rising further up. But another really nice touch was the rock balcony, a tunnel cut into the side the cave opening, leading to a high-up balcony where you can view the valley from the cliff face. That is, a window in the cliff, not on the castle walls.

On the tour we learned that the castle has also appeared in a number of movies, and in the filming of a Jackie Chan movie, Armour of God, Jackie fell and had a serious accident.

If you visit the Postojna cave (see here), you can buy a combination ticket that lets you visit Predjama castle as well, as well as a number of other interesting things. Much recommended. Our tickets cost 50 euros per adult, and included the Postojna tour and Predjama visit, as well as some exhibitions and the like in the Postonja area.

The coordinates for Predjama are N 45.815831 E 14.126848. The official web page is here, and of course, Wikipedia has a lot of good information.

Cave behind and above the castle:

And these steps lead towards the top of the cliff exit inside the cave, eventually becoming a vertical shaft:

Castle itself:

Not all rooms were as nice, however:

And the torture chamber was, well, torture:

The balcony on the cliff face, accessible from the castle:

At the top of the castle:

More pictures of the castle:

Also from underneath. It does look quite imposing... would not want to attack from this angle:

A well inside the castle:

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.

Lonely little cave that no one notices

We were driving back from the technical museum of Slovenia - a massive museum, by the way, well worth visiting. Then there was a hole in a cliff we drove by. I had to stop. The cliff was next to a parking lot and a bus stop, in town of Notranje Gorice near Ljubljana. No one was paying any attention... too many nice caves in this country, I guess. I decided to call the cave the Forgotten Cave. And I did go in.

The cave was a large hole, maybe 10 meters wide and 6 meters high, and perhaps ten meters deep. There were no obvious signs of human construction, this seemed like a real, natural cave formed under the cliff in the weak stone. Weak as in not granite like we have back home...

If anyone else wants to visit, the coordinates are: N 45.988011 E 14.401508. (But perhaps our other cave visits in Slovenia are more interesting, see the Postojna and Predjama cave stories.)

Here's what the cave looks from the outside:

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.

Venice again, no skiing, just heat

 

Many years ago, I tried to find some skiing inVenice. No luck, could not score any snow from local skating rinks, so was unable to plaster the Calatrava Bridge with snow... sad... or maybe good. This year we went back there.

No snow or skiing this time either. We just walked around, and got to see most of it (if one can ever say that for a short visit). But we walked around the islands at least. In the heavy heat of 32 degrees, but reportedly it is going to get even hotter soon. I have to say I was suffering even in 32 degrees. And I'm worried that I'm contributing to the heating with travel and other consumption... :-(

It is a wonderful place though. 

For more about the bridges of Venice, look here. And more information about the Calatrava Bridge can be found here. The bridge is often called by the name of the architect that designed it, Santiago Calatrava, but the formal name of the bridge is Ponte della Costituzione.

I really loved the royal gardens, too, in the heat:

Canals:

Churches:

Signs:

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

Walls of Piran

 

Piran is a medieval town on the coast of Slovenia. A wonderful town, clearly retaining its historic parts. The protective walls of the city date back to the 7th century, and can be toured for a nominal fee. Much recommended.

We were also treated to an unexpected airshow as a Swiss DC-3 and three smaller planes were performing flybys and turns above Piran's harbor. Very nice!

Walking along the shorelines of Piran is particularly nice. On the northern side there's a long stretch where one walks under a steep cliff. The signs say there's some rockfall danger, and one should not swim or spend time there. But many people seemed to do exactly those things :-) If you walk further from the center though there's a proper beach near the camping grounds, the Fiesa Beach.

From the harbor one can actually see three countries in one glance, see below for the photo. We're standing on Slovenia, but on the left there's the northern parts of Croatia, and on the right there's the most eastern corner of Italy.

Later on this trip we ventured to both the Croatian and Italian sides, see here and here.

For more information about Piran, see here. For more information about the walls, see here. The walls can be visited in these coordinates: N 45.52746 E 13.571584.

Piran view:

Walls:

Read more urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net. And for aviation related content, see planetflier.com. 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.

Northern Croatia swim

On our tour of Slovenia's Piran, we also peeked on the Croatian side, and had a swim in the Polynesia Beach in the town of Umag. Little did we know that the ruins we started our swim from were actually the ruins of the Sipar Castle from A.D. 1000 or thereabouts. Some have even called this place the Atlantis of Sipar. Interesting!

Apparently Sipar Castle was built by sea-faring pirates. Today, the area looks like a thin small peninsula, or perhaps the ruins of a unmaintained pier. 

Nice swim, by the way! Very warm water. Maybe even too warm. Our swims in Lake Bled and Lake Bohinj were more refreshing!

The coordinates for the ruins on the beach are N 45.467779 E 13.507431.

The Polynesia Beach's castle ruins are along the eroded pier or peninsula at N 45.467779 E 13.507431. Read more about its history here and 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. 

Kaleva swim. 2x.

I was looking for a visit in the Tampere swimming halls on the way to my summer cottage. It turned out that just on that day most of the halls closed for the summer. Bummer, I thought, and grudgingly decided to go for the remaining one. Little did I know that the Kalevala swimming hall - or Tampereen Uintikeskus as it is officially called -  would be a truly magnificent place. Perhaps one of Finland's greatest swimming halls?

For one, it is truly massive! There's an indoor side and an outdoor side. Both have 50 meter pools, and plenty of other pools to go with it... indoor there's also a 25 meter pool, kiddie pool and a jumping tower. Outdoor there's another jumping tower and kiddie pools. Wonderful! Much recommended.

(Just remember to buy a ticket for both indoor and outdoor if you visit.. I didn't realize I needed to do that.)

Links: official page and visitor's information page.

And then... for the apres-swim I went for a walk in Tampere... with a lunch in the market square huts... a bar visit at the top of the Ratina shopping mall's roof (the Periscope)... all nice.

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. 

Can you believe there's a swimming hall here?

I've lived in and around(*) Espoo for 35 years. And I often go to the swimming halls. How is it then that I've never visited Olari's swimming hall? I think I've heard about it, but had forgotten about its existence until looking for pools that I have not visited in the Helsinki region the other day. 

And the Olari hall is quite remarkable. It is in an apartment building. In the middle of the suburb, where you'd expect to maybe find offices, shops, or bars in the lowest floors of buildings. But no, this door leads to an actually swimming hall.

Granted, it is very small, just 15 meters long. But there's saunas and showers for men and women, and you can swim even in 15 meters. Unless there's a line of water walkers in front of you, of course... but overall a nice experience!

Sadly, the future fate of the hall is in question, with the new Matinkylä swimming hall quite close by there's been plans to close this one. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

The asterisk: I continue to live inside Espoo, sort of, since Kauniainen is encircled by Espoo. Anywhere I go, I need to pass Espoo :-)

By the hall's entrance, there was also an odd glass box with a ramp leading down... closed, not sure what it was used before, parking? Further commercial space? There's a massive rock in the middle of it, and a tree growing... interesting, but inaccessible! Does anyone know what the story is?

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. 

A year of walking.. and then, sigh

 

Just one day after completing my year of walking, I'm a cripple. Sigh. I can barely walk to the bathroom, let alone go outside. Problems with joints. 

It is improving, but when one leg gives in, the other one has to take more load, and now both are suffering. 

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

Final nail to the rust bucket?

Crisis to crisis, which one will be the final nail to the rust bucket? Now the steering gear and rack are toast, no parts. And then they make you drive a Prius.

Previous article was here.

Here's the previous article on this series. More car stories in the Planetskier blog series at Blogspot. The photos and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko.