riding backroads, Europe is bigger than i thought - Summer 2023

2021.09.11 Ljubljana Walking Tour

stunning paint job.....i mean art work






city center and life seems normal









about 14" long...huge rodent...?



side entrance to the church is kind of spooky






open market



























though we could hike up to the castle, this looks fun for 4 euros

the view from the top of the funicular





















extra euros to get to the tower



good bye cruel world



being bad got Ian here









WTP....all of the sudden the women are all over Ian



hiking down







sorry...poor wifi. tune in, more later.

Ljubljana walking tour random pics




































really glad to explore the old city on foot. it's beautiful and surprisingly very much alive. the only time we felt there's a covid restriction was when we went to a restaurant to eat, we were told to have our vax cards available in case an inspector shows up.

Nice pictures Joel. Am I the only one who suspects a local lock dealer or manufacturer is responsible for starting this, to get tourists, who otherwise would have no reason to buy a lock, to buy locks?

2021.09.12 ride to Lake Bled and back

it was a Sunday and certainly crowded, but really we didn't have a choice not to go. anyways, the backroads itself is a great destination.






the villages are separated by corn fields















we stopped at a castle along the way
















then to Kranj































to be continued

The cities are very nice but I was ready for this change of pace through the beautiful countryside.

The Dino Park seemed pretty random.

we made it to Lake Bled after turning a 40-minute ride to a half-day joy. parking next to the lake was tough but this restaurant offers food and parking






the car owner was happy to talk to us about the car






the view from the restaurant



after lunch, we walked a little bit along the lake






my Lumix does a fine job zooming into the subject









more info here

For the giant rodent, you saw a Nutria. They are originally from South America but were imported to many other places (including Europe) and are considered an invasive species with no natural enemies.

Regarding the locks on the bridge, the entire tradition dates back to 2006 in Rome. It is truly a case of art imitating life, when an Italian author wrote a book called "Ho Voglia di Te (I Want You)", which was a love story. In the book, he described how a couple went to the historic Milvian Bridge in Rome, affixed a lock to a light standard and threw the key into the Tiber River so that the lock could never be opened, thereby affirming their enduring love for each other. This tradition took off quickly due to the popularity of the book. However, the weight of so many locks on the light standards became too heavy and the poles broke. The local government tried to replace the lights with lock-proof ones and installed heavy chains on the stone bridge but these quickly became too full of locks to manage. Meanwhile, a cottage industry of lock sellers sprang up at the bridge. The number of keys polluting the water as well as the weight of the locks began to worry environmental factions as well as the city authorities, so the practice was outlawed in Rome about ten years ago. I used to live right up the street from that bridge 2007-10, so I saw the problem unfold.

Meanwhile, the lock "tradition" has spread around the world. You can find examples of these locks in many cities (including my hometown of Ottawa) and it shows no sign of abating. So that's the geeky history of locks on bridges...

This is what the light standards looked like for a while...

Yikes!

In my opinion, this lake is the most scenic place you’ve been. I would just stay there for a while.

Also commonly referred to as a Muskrat here in the Midwest. Kept me in Taco Gringo and McD's money when I was in HS in the late 70's. $8.00 each for one of those from a fur buyer in my hometown.

Sidney

Muskrat and Nutria are different animals.
https://www.crittercontrol.com/wildlife/muskrats/muskrat-vs-nutria

Joel, I hope your next installment is you guys taking one of those boats over to the island. After scrolling through the pictures on the following link, I would probably have to stay even longer than I thought in order to see the island under some different conditions.

https://www.bled.si/en/what-to-see-do/attractions/2/bled-island/

Re: Nutria. We know them as Coypu. "another eradication campaign began in 1981. This campaign succeeded in fully eradicating coypu in Great Britain". Wikipedia.

Thanks...I stand corrected. Never saw a Nutria in the wild and always assumed they were the same animal. I think back in the day their fur was combined/exchanged/substituted for the same, hence my thinking they were the same animal.

I'd say from the white patch on it's nose and being 14" long...it was a Nutria.

Carry on,

Sidney

a day or 2 in the city is good enough. if i am solo, probably i will never able to ride in the countryside as much as we did. Ian's TomTom does an amazing job finding those roads. i could also use "Kurviger" which is as good or better but no ios app available. i have it on my laptop though it requires more time to get the routes/tracks on my Montana.

there are more to see and do in Bled. we didn't do enough planning to include a day or 2 stay in the city. the boat ride to the island church would be nice. we didn't see anyone selling boat rides making us think those are booked by tour operators.

we thought to go on a paddleboard, but we didn't bring our Speedos.

thanks for the info. it was huge, maybe 22" long including the tail




they also made it to California
https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Invasives/Species/Nutria/Infestation

2021.09.12 Bled to Ljubljana

we crisscrossed motorways to stay on small roads



crossed a lot of small bridges






the villages started looking the same



it's common there's a small forest between the villages















we found a road that was almost impassable






riding through the countryside is perfect for my bike. we seldom see 70kph, and hardly any traffic. i appreciate the green and open landscape with quaint villages every few kilometers. i really admire the agricultural atmosphere and quiet scenery.