| Welcome to the Nova Gorica Polytechnic. On our 2nd day, we were invited to Jan's birthday party at the school. There was Slovenian wine, juices, and a plate of delicious prosciutto, cheese, and olives. Friends and teachers came to congratulate and toast Jan. |  |
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Henry is teaching a two week course at the
Polytechnic. These are graduate students in Environmental
Science.
Jan is a recent biology graduate, Duzon is a veterinarian, and Andrej is a water systems engineer. They are native Slovenes and have provided a lot of traveling tips.
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| Is this going to be Nancy' s favorite pose? Surrounded
by men and sipping wine?
There is a test in this picture: who is holding their glass correctly? |
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This view of the school has a contradiction with a palm tree beside a pine tree. Remember the Adriatic Sea is about 30 miles from Nova Gorica. If you can enlarge the picture you will see gas prices. |
| Buildings in Nova Gorcia are only 45-50 yrs old. There is a limited amount of available land, so they have provided high rise apartments. But right outside the apartments are vineyards and this is near the city center. |  |
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This house shows rocks on the roof tiles to save them during the "burja". This a ferocious wind that can topple large trucks. Notice the windows are shuttered against the wind. We are on way to the mountains in the Triglav National Park. Sunny, but cold and crisp. |
| This is a cathedral is in a small town called Kanal. It has a small square with a gostilna. Hair salons or frizerski can be found too. |  |
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Duzan who lives in Tolmin says this is a magnificent view of the mountain range that on the north side of this valley leading to Tolmin. Yes, that is snow on mountains and not clouds. |
| This is the Gostilna Kranjcu in Tolmin and Henry is
trying to get in out of the cold. We are now in Tolmin. This
town is beside the Soca River. We will be going to Bovec a
town catering to skiers that is near the headwaters of the Soca. The river
was a very clear jade green, color. Anyway the food was good
and the owner very nice.
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A plate of stuffed squid with vegetables was Henry's choice. Prior to this course we were given a bowl of hearty, delicious ham sauerkraut soup and homemade bread. I also had ordered an dish of gnocchi covered with a blue-cheese sauce. These are thumb-nail size dumplings with sauce. I was so full I could not eat my Tolmin cheese and butter. They were supper later in the evening in Ljubljana. |
| The host Mr.Marko Peternell agreed to pose with Henry and Nancy. |  |
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These impressive peaks are where we will go later in the day. |
| This is a map showing the importance of the battles fought in the Koberid to gain control of the mountains in World War I. It was Austrians and Slovenes against the Italians and British. There is a very good museum of artifacts and pictures to preserve the memories of the brave Slovenes in those critical battles. |  |
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This is a picture of a rock slide into the Soca River. That is not snow. It is fairly pure limestone, without the iron in rock that we are used to seeing. We are on the road to Bovec. |
| I know, another view of the mountains. It was a beautiful day and visibility was great. |  |
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Can you imagine any car bigger than the VW bug on a narrow road. Notice how close the wall is to the road. Houses are like this too in some towns. |
| Who said that Evis didn't get around? Perhaps he slept here, then went next door and partied. This is in North Bovec. A skier's haven. Close to the ski runs. Bovec reminds Nancy of Telluride,Colorado. |  |
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Do you remember the snowy caps? After being turned back on
the main road up the mountains out of Bovec, Henry says let's try this
road to Kranjska-Gora. It is nearly dark and lots of hairpin turns.Will
we have to back down further up? No Snow now! I'm scared. Will I live to see a new Weibel? But
confident Henry. On we go. As you see it is dark. 5pm It
was clear, sparkly the north star was out. Notice the mound of snow. So
far so good. I wish I was jumping for joy instead of clutching my
heart. What a wonderful view to the south . A tiny bit
of light let us see the ridge to the west. No picture of that.
But [ I was on a summit in the Alps in January 2001.] A lucky
American!!!!!
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| This is the marker on the crest of the summit . It is in a bank of snow .On a mountain top in the alps. This pass is the "VRSIC PASS". |  |
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And this shows a Victorious Henry Connor!
He crossed the Vrshich Pass Jan.13,2001. This a pass in the Triglav National Park. He is also a lucky American. |
| For perspective, it was sheet of ice from the crest of the pass until you were half-way down. There were a few cars parked like they were camping in the forest. I hope they were in a cabin. Then in the middle of a dark and scary forest, we find Gostilna Erika. Notice the 50kmph and the coke sign and a stop sign. I love the slippery road ahead sign. But This is really a picture for a friend of the family. Maybe Andy Warhol was here? |  |
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Now I admit in the throes of coming off the mountain,
I thought this might be a rather racy place for folks to celebrate
.. I learned that it really means-" today we
offer"...shepherds snack(brkfast) soft cheese/bread,perhaps potato ,eggsor
a bit of bacon. "Ricet" barley stew with smoked pork ribs.
"Konjske Jedi Golaz" is goulash made of grain. It is an A
frame chalet with a wide front porch.
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