Travel

Thursday Thoughts –

/ Leya / 4 kommentarer

At the end of our Mediterranean cruize, we were one single day in Slovenia – but that, meant the icing on the cake!

I knew that my blogger friend, Manja of Manja Mexi Moving (Movie) had her home there, and I loved reading about her adventures, her parents and their garden – and of course her beloved Bestia! Unfortunately her blog is not alive anymore.

When I realised I could get to Piran by bus that day at shore, I contacted Manja – just to find she would not be there then, but in Italy! She insisted she would tell her parents and that we should go anyway.

And we did.

Piran was just as beautiful as Manja always pictured it – and her parents, Meta and Branco were just as sweet and wonderful as they came out in every post of hers.

They treated us to a drink and to a very special cake – Piran’s Š’torta – made with sea salt and their own olives. Delicious.

Š’torta is the signature local dessert of Piran, Slovenia, celebrating the region’s culinary heritage.

Key Features

  • Ingredients: Combines delicate olive mousse made from indigenous Piran olives, silky caramel, and a touch of traditional Piran salt.
  • Inspiration: Designed to capture the essence of the Slovenian coast, blending local olive groves, the sea, and salt-making traditions.

And – you should sprinkle olive oil onto it as well (the little capsule on top!)

We spent some unforgettable hours there, chatting and talking about life. Thank you SO much for having us!

Branco proudly showed us their lush garden and the fruits and vegetables. He also connected us on the computer with Manja and Bestia. So wonderful, now that we could not meet properly in person. Hopefully there will be a next time?!

Too short a visit to this pearl of a city! Not only the people were kind and welcoming – and we’d love to see more of the city.

Thank you, Manja, Meta and Branco – see you again!

Thursday Thoughts – Cats, Cats, Cats

/ Leya / 15 kommentarer

Athens, Corfu, Mykonos and Montenegro – everywhere in the arhipelago.. Kotor is the real cat paradise and there are many legends about why they revere cats so much. Some years ago when we were there, one popular story was that the city once had been invaded by rats and the incoming ships let out their cats to clear the streets. People still say that the cats saved their city.

They were quite well taken care of. Food provided and vets checking up on them. Big smiles from the tourists as well!

Thursday Thoughts – Lost in Arctic Sahara

/ Leya / 11 kommentarer

In 1968, 8th December, three American Lockhead jetplanes flew from Goose bay in Canada heading for Keflavik, Iceland. They were hit by bad weather over Greenland and tried to make an emergency landing at Kangerlussuaq. In those days, there were no roads whatsoever in Greenland, and this area is still called ”Arctic Sahara”.

This ”highway”, or ”Autostrada” as the Greenlanders call it, was built partly during WWII and partly 1995. The river is in low water prone to sandstorms that disturb GPS signals. Tall masts have been built to help out.

Anyway, no road existed where the three planes were lost and finally ran out of fuel. The whole crew of four people, managed to jump out before the planes crashed in no man’s land. In winter the temperatures can fall to -40 degrees C. And this was in December.

Luckily all four of them were saved by helicopters before freezing to death.

The remains of one of the planes were still spread out along the Autostrada, and our bus stopped for us to have a look. There was a sign warning people not to take any souvenirs – but showing respect for the pilots and the remains of the jets. But, there wasn’t much left to see, I guess there were souvenirs brought to many homes as the road made the area accessible.

The driver told us there were many stories about this accident, and he told us one of them – one that he believed was really true:

Since the Autostrada was built, family and relatives of the pilots started visiting the place. Story has it that when the daughter of one of the pilots and her husband was on their way to the site, her father (the pilot) asked them to look in the glovebox for his wallet. And – they found it.