Posted: July 17th, 2009 | Author: Gergana Milusheva | Filed under: fun, trips and notes | No Comments »
we have left our cozy hotel and I cannot make peace with the idea that they have almost no new constructions… the night before I opened Google Earth and looked around the main canals (since we already know that they build the new, nice stuff around the water) and marked a couple of places… there is, actually, a housing crisis in the city and it seems there are not enough new apartment buildings but when I heard the price range (of about 4000 EUR sq. m), I really could not see how there could be more of them… this is expensive even for the Swedes plus they have a policy that doesn’t allow anyone to win a lot from lending property
here is the first place:
the part that is under construction on the previous picture was already completed when we were there:
there is an enormous staircase on two levels in front of me, leading to the inner yard
the compound is not a closed one as you can see on the print above but it looks like it is closed and gives you that feeling too
mhmmm…
the next place is over a significantly larger area and although it looks very close to the first spot on the map, there is no direct road or water connection to it… meaning that there is a road leading to the first place that does not go anywhere else
a few more facts before the pictures 🙂
their apartment building belong to small communities and the owner of an apartment does not exactly own the apartment, but rather has a part of the entire building plus a part of the yard and the common areas; not living in an apartment you own is NOT allowed: you can rent it out only if you have respectable reasons to do so such as going away to study, having to undergo medical treatment somewhere else or going to the military but you have to obtain the approval of the local council in order to do that; you cannot, actually, own more than 1 housing unit (except if you are that well off that you can buy one of the 30 000 islands and build a house there)
the maintenance fee for a two bedroom apartment is about 300 EUR per month
and you get a zero crime rate, tranquility and this for it
maybe it is not hard to sell the first floor apartments in that case…
maybe it is not hard to sell the first floor apartments in that case…
and not just them
the ones situated in the arched area (come on now, who did not look at the blueprint?)
the inner courtyards
bridges
and the garden along the inner canal
for a while there, I was wondering what this strange glass building is for in the context of this white-coated architecture around (not that it is bad like that): was it a bank, a café, a shop… it turned out it was:
it even has its own bell tower
the buildings are not similar at all (as it is obvious, perhaps); there are also glassed atriums
some fun balconies
photovoltaics on the facades
painted railings
and even some lavish solutions of solid wood facades and a little bit of black… just the way they do it in Denmark 🙂
from up close the black is
and all of that is built like this
I take a closer look… aha!!! precast reinforced concrete units construction! even this building, which is obviously going to be a public one, hides something reminding me of the University System # xxxxxxx behind its promising façade
I read somewhere inside the architecture museum yesterday that up until some 20 years ago ALL houses in Sweden were catalogue ones: you go to a housing expo, you get in the first house you see… too small, the second one… mmm, noooo, the third one… too many windows… and so on until you find yours
I don’t think they were trying to make cuts in planning costs back then….
there is even a term for it – Swedish functionalism (and there was another word to it such as simple, strict or clean… )
our next destination will kill this term once and for all
a look at the only architectural highlight that I have made a note to see while still in Sofia
K:fem
(the colon is part of the alphabet but I did not understand how they were pronounced)
a small local neighborhood mall… no need to comment…
I will only point out that there is no parking lot! this building is the beginning of a small commercial district in the neighborhood and the parking is on the -1 level inside an apartment building across the street… and it is free for the first 2 hours
a façade
a main entrance
up on the escalators
the staircase
the atrium
looking up
upstairs
on the escalators, going back down (there are two on the way up and one on the way down)
an exit on the other side towards the rest of the stores
a little bit of ceiling of the overused type
and a little bit of the special type
my jaw dropped…
after having satisfied my hunger for architecture, we head to the harbor where we hope to get a “last minute” promotion on one of the big ferries to Helsinki; a big mistake! the only cabin available is a deluxe one for the discounted price of 700 and something EUR (one way)…. it travels for 15 hours and we do not even discuss the option of sleeping while sitting; the king is dead, long live the king, or, in other words, hello, sunny Copenhagen!
we load up the Volvo, trying to get rid of the last Swedish Kronas we have left and off we go.
16:30 h
600 kilometers of these plains await us
the Swedes call this “a rolling terrain”
we pass by Sweden’s inner sea (a huge lake that looks larger than the Sea of Azov on the map)
well, this is a familiar name (it turns out to be a town’s name)
and back to the “rolling terrain” stretching to the horizon
the GPS tried to take us to the Helsingor – Helsinborg ferry, so shortly before we arrived, it turned out we had about 100 kilometers to Malmö…
23:00
Copenhagen
as if at home
smoking is not allowed in our old hotel’s rooms… European Union regulations
we are too tired to do anything 🙂
coming up next is THE POST about my favorite Copenhagen and, of course, BIG
Posted: July 16th, 2009 | Author: Gergana Milusheva | Filed under: fun, trips and notes | No Comments »
there is a separate section for It, the hotel, because it plays a big role in us liking Stockholm 🙂
and maybe it is because of the history it turned out to have…, although it seems this history is a natural part of its charm
the building was constructed in 1937, hosting a unique combination of functionality, including a hotel, a movie theater, a restaurant, apartments and a pastry shop.
nowadays, all of this still exists thanks to the fact that a few years ago Mr. Benny Andersson (one of the two former male pop-idols of ABBA) became an owner of it;
he renovated it entirely, putting a lot of style in it with the help of famous specialists; the results is a beautifully preserved atmosphere from the 30s and 40s of the 20th century without this interfering with the simplicity and modernism that I am looking for; see for yourselves
only a portion of the rooms have balconies which is the difference between a regular and a luxury room but the “deluxe” was definitely worth it as we spent the majority of our time on the balcony…
the waiting room by the reception desk
the lobby
the entrance and the lobby in front of the movie theater which are presently a bar and a very lively location in the evening
a hotel corridor
the lit up thing in the lower end of the door is the room number
a nice element from the room
to the other side
during our stay, there was an international tournament involving a game the Swedish call Bloom (if I am not mistaken) which is really popular; the primary playground was the sidewalk on the other side of the street and all the players had rooms in our hotel; this is how the sidewalk looks after the end of the tournament and the removal of the wooden mobile stand:
for those of you who are curious – the hotel’s website
coming up next – day 11 – 13.07.09
Posted: July 16th, 2009 | Author: Gergana Milusheva | Filed under: fun, trips and notes | No Comments »
our stay in Stockholm continues with a sunny Sunday which we have decided to dedicate to the museums
museums here work on Saturdays and Sundays at full capacity; the non-working days are on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday (different for each place); and there are surprisingly many museums…
we get on a low boat which takes us around the main bay area, stopping at the major tourist spots where we get off, look around and get on the next boat that comes in every 15 minutes… the rolling terrain around the bay makes it possible to see the masts of the sailing boats “parked” in the bay from almost any spot
sailing boats are definitely highly respected here
we take off and this is what we see around us
there is a feel to it 🙂
besides being situated on multiple hills and canals, Stockholm is also a part of the so-called Stockholm archipelago of 30,000 islands (!!!); they have a special definition of the word “island” – apparently, the rocky formations accidentally showing above the water do not count if they are less than 3 meters tall… a descent portion of the population lives somewhere on this archipelago or has a villa there; apparently this is for the rich (although there is no other way to tell that they are rich); there are also islands which have roads and small boats are a part of the public transportation lines; this is how it looks
we have chosen a single (I am merciful, right?) museum that we want to go to; this is it from afar:
this is Vasa: a Swedish military ship pulled up from the bottom of the sea about 45 years ago; Vasa sank on the day it first set sails some… ahmmmm… 400 years ago; for the record: it has nothing to do with the Vikings… (I looked for them everywhere but without any luck…)
in front of the ship museum
we get inside and we almost bump into it
it is difficult to imagine how huge this thing really is from these pictures… there is a 5-floor construction going around it (plus, each floor is about 5 meters tall, suitable for a museum); aaaaand, the masts are up to the first line, meaning about a third of their original length…
there are some fun things in the exhibition such as models showing the process of taking it out of the water: (above)
(from below):
the equipment of the vanguard who stretched the ropes (this is a deed of heroism):
we go around it
a bow
A deck
from the rear (for sure there is some very sophisticated name for it but I must have been asleep when we were having ship architecture….):
all of it
the dimensions are quite stunning, at least for 1630
there is also a fun model of it in a 1:10 scale, so that you can perceive it somehow (the part that is submerged in the water is not part of the model)
we leave a bit dazzled by the scale of the Sweden from that time (which was already a nation with a king at that point, in contrast to Norway)
the next stop is Moderna Museet (where the architectural center is as well) but taking pictures is forbidden and there was not much to shoot anyway…. After a short walk around, we sit at a café and about thirty of these buddies keep us company
I saw large flocks of these buddies elsewhere in the city, so it seems they are among the permanent residents 🙂
we leave the islands with the small and yet smaller museums, deciding that we have no energy to see Skansen (a reconstruction of a Swedish settlement from 200 years ago in its actual scale, inhabited by people, with represented crafts) and by Grand Hotel we saw the preparations for the appearance of some big shot – there were many of these:
Swedes are really afraid of the police…. in fact, it seems having respect for the police is typical around the world, except in Bulgaria
the following pictures go especially to the fans of the unique Swede comedy Koops:
Benny himself in all his glory
and this is how the people who are afraid of the police look like:
Swedes and Norwegians almost seem to belong to different races… they have nothing in common; and it is no coincidence that Swedish women have a name in Bulgaria 🙂 (we are talking about beauty here and I have no idea what you thought it was…)
but the Swedish men are another story; the answer to my question “Where did the Vikings go?” was: they got skinnier, epilated and metrosexual… and those who stayed away from that trend married women from the Philippines! or men from the Philippines, or, as a last resort, Chinese or Korean
we board the boat again
this tiny sailing-boat is one of the many around
there are larger ones as well
and even larger ones:
the city is major destination for all kinds of marine tourism and there are several boats like ours at all times in the bay; there is also a sea station: you get off and sleep in one of the many hotels in the center while the ship gets cleaned up and loaded with tax-free alcohol, ready to embrace you back on board… you can also do it the other way around: board a boat to let’s say Helsinki or Tallinn in the evening and in about an hour, the ship is already in international waters and the alcoholic fiesta begins… you get drunk as a skunk and you are back home in a day without getting off…
Swedish people are alcoholics; and so are the Norwegians; and so are the Finnish; the Russians as well… needless to say… and if at this time of the year night time is around 1 am and the sun rises at about 3 am, in January the sun hardly shows to the south for a brief hour or two; six months of winter; half a nation constantly on antidepressants (I am not kidding)… I suppose that if it weren’t for the socialist structure they have formed here, no other possible form of settlement would have lasted for long.
and all of this is in the company of Emil of Lönneberga, Nils Holgersson and Pippi Longstocking… here she is, 15 years old (the freckles and the red hair are the same…)
coming up next – day 11 – 13.07.09 – hotel1
Posted: July 15th, 2009 | Author: Gergana Milusheva | Filed under: fun, trips and notes | No Comments »
I really wanted to wrap up my story about Stockholm in a single post but, apparently, it is not going to happen so we move along
We start off walking aimlessly around the city
they call it the Venice of the North, or so I’ve heard
before we know it, we are on a small island in the middle of the two main canals which is, actually, the oldest part of the city; it is bears the melodious name Gamla Stan
up until a hundred years ago, these cozy streets were buried in dirt and there were large stones that people should step on in order not get buried in the filth while crossing the street to see their neighbor…
now, the buildings are totally renovated inside and wealthy people live in these apartment buildings; I don’t envy their wealth, though, because I have no idea where they park their Porches…
some of the streets are quite narrow and the atmosphere is great…
the wider ones have become a tourist attraction – with street stands, souvenir stores, street musicians – the entire menu
while we were attempting to get away from one of these streets:
do you notice the hair colors? as I found out later, there are almost no ash blonde people here…
all children are ash blonde but at the age of 15-16 (like the girls in the picture), their hair darkens to a more natural blonde shade like the ones we have in Bulgaria… However! This color “did not say enough” (I am quoting here), so all Swede ladies bleach their hair!!!!! Viva the peroxide blondes!
In fact, women here have nothing to do with these in brotherly Norway… good-looking and well-tended (well not as much as the Danish women in Copenhagen)… perhaps because the following is not such a rare sight
later on we are going to meet my classmate who has lived here ever since we graduated, so all this information is really from him and his girlfriend (she told me about the blonde hair color)….
the maternity leave in Sweden is 1 year long; but it can also be a paternity leave; or they can take turns; it wasn’t fair that the mother would occupy the entire leave, so many fathers wanted to take a paternity leave in order to bond with their child; taking care of the child is considered a privilege… and these are no fiction stories: we saw a lot of fathers like this one, actually…
we get out of Gamla Stan and we come upon a strange type of architecture… neo-modernism from the 60s:
историята на това място, така както ми я разказаха:
here is the story of this place as they told it to me:
some 60-70 years ago, there was a hill in the center of Stockholm with extremely poor and dilapidated, insanitary buildings; the city decided to get rid of them and build the bright future in their place instead (in the picture); there was a competition as it should be, a winner, a project, a beginning of the construction works and everything was fine but the part of the plan (and its execution) was to demolish not only the old building but a part of the hill as well… (?!?!?!!!????)
I did not understand why it needed to be such a severe intervention but there is no hill there anymore and the modernism of back then looks a bit sad nowadays, especially when it goes for 4- or 5 blocks
we dedicate the rest of the day to devoted listening to stories similar to this one from our local hosts over a beer or, OK, more like 5-6 beers
tomorrow, we will let our hosts take a break from us and we will look around …
coming up next – day 10 – 12.07.09
Posted: July 12th, 2009 | Author: Gergana Milusheva | Filed under: fun, trips and notes | No Comments »
we depart from the hotel to a secret place (I will let you know in a while)
and we pass by the ice skating rink again:
from up close, the facility looks terrible :), I don’t even want to post these pictures… for some 15 years (the Olympics were in 1994, if I am not mistaken) the building has been amortized tremendously…
still, they build other sports facilities such as this stadium
we reach the banks of the lake, we park happy to find a free public parking (which is truly rare) and off we go along the waterfront alley towards our destination; the houses around the alley have fenced… the first ones I have seen here
it is drizzling all the time but the people we pass by don’t seem to notice; it seems Bergen is not the rainiest city; there were renovation works going on in some of the houses and I did not miss the chance to get informed
we reach it after walking for about a kilometer or so
this lass stands by the entrance
and sends us to the “barn” at the back where we can buy tickets (I am not kidding – she used the word “barn”); so we go to the barn in question:
which turns out to be a museum… by Sverre Fehn
let’s take a short detour here:
Sverre Fehn died in February this same year
he got the Pritzker in 1997
the place where we are now is, actually, called Hedmark Cathedral Museum and it was built in 1979
and the museum personnel is dressed accordingly
the stone walls look strange
there are more surprises waiting inside in the shape of massive concrete platforms and second levels
we wonder around the museum and notice some quite interesting exhibits such as these sleighs
or the saddles for ladies
the wooden roof is supported by strange stands next to the walls in some places
another gallery
a random view through the vault arch
and this is in 1979…
we get to this at the end of the gallery
it is time to go outside because it has almost stopped drizzling; to the inner yard of the barn
the barn itself
besides the ancient rocks, you can see these in the yard as well
we go back to the glass house
and there is already another girl inside
after the young people that the girl was paying attention to left, she started singing.
unfortunately, I cannot re-create this in pictures
was she really singing beautifully or were the acoustics of this glass ceiling incredible… I don’t know but the feeling was amazing.
and she turned out to be quite talkative after she stopped singing
besides the memorized historic facts about the place which she seemed obliged to tell us (FYI: this thing is a Catholic cathedral from the 13th century which was destroyed by the Swedes 2 centuries later, abandoned after the acceptance of Protestantism and then forgotten for the past 4 centuries until recently), we managed to wring out another fun story from her:
after they did the excavation of the cathedral’s remains, it turned out that the stones got destroyed by the humidity; the museum was already built at that point; so they organized a competition for a facility that would protect it; they chose the winner; the locals, of course, opposed the modern glass building; but the competition had its winner; and nothing happened; for over 10 years the authorities kept putting off the construction works; a local lady, married to a rich American and living in the US, left the municipality the nice amount of 1 million dollars for the construction of the building under 1 condition – to use them within 4 years; so they had no choice; the construction works turned out to take 10 million dollars; the locals kept opposing the project.
now, 10 years later, the building is a regular spot for concerts (because of the amazing acoustics and the fact that during the winter, the building is constantly being heated to at least 2 or 3 degrees above zero), weddings, baptism ceremonies and all kinds of social events; the people in the region really love it…
the unique acoustics inside are a side-effect, it was neither intended, nor expected…
the supporting frames have a heating system attached to their back instead of lighting
a few details
one last glance
and we head for Stockholm
soon, the landscape is one of an absolutely flat country
the arable fertile lands are in Sweden
the roads, however, are not that different here and we are as fast as a snail… the speed limit for the highway which appears as we approach Stockholm is 110; everybody drives within it (?!?!!!); there is no police or patrols.
after about 600 boring kilometers, we get to Stockholm
10 hotels – all of them full! and expensive…
as if by accident we find an available room in one of them and even smoking is allowed! (in contrast to Norway where all hotels have rooms for smokers and there are ash trays on the terraces of the bungalows, Sweden is a member of the EU and things are not quite the same…)
it turns out our hotel is quite special anyway but I will tell you about that tomorrow 🙂
coming up next – day 09 – 11.07.09
Posted: July 11th, 2009 | Author: Gergana Milusheva | Filed under: fun, trips and notes | No Comments »
having happily overslept the next morning, we pack and look around where we have spent the night:
and following a short reminiscing session we head back
this time, our target in not the architectural landmark from last night (although we are definitely going to pass by it and maybe this time we could find Knut at his home) but a moto – landmark 🙂 and we will get to that later on; first of all – Isfjorden – which we passed by last night in the dark:
it is not a small town at all and the GPS shows us many hotels and camping sites but they were all full last night… we pass by this:
mhmmm, there’s a tourist festival (??) further down the road:
the average age of the group members – about 12… 🙂
that’s is how the moto-destination look like from afar
and now up-close
all this, thanks to this flowing water here which has never gotten tired of digging in the rock for thousands of years:
do you see the bridge in the middle? and the road to the side?
this is the Troll Stairwell, or Trollsteigen, a popular destination for motorcycle riders; in other words, the rider who climbs the staircase (on both tires) is the better rider than those who have not climbed it! and here, motorcycles are a nationwide favorite, perhaps even more than campers and caravans.
it is almost impossible to stop on the stairwell, so I have very few pictures… but there is a video
this is a close-up shot of the bridge
at the top, where the water begins to rush down, there’s a parking and souvenir stands (?!?!???), and this:
my hand is shielding the lens because it is raining intensely all the time; I don’t know how that happened but it seems the God of Rain must have been driving along our track)
they didn’t think this platform through because you cannot see anything from it, no part of the road or the valley below…
further on inside the chambers of Odin
the green water
and his white hair carelessly covering his powerful shoulders
the valley on the other side that hosts my tiny architectural treasure:
we get to it
this time it looked like there were people around
I got inside one of them anyway for a few extra shots
I find Knut (I have been sneaking around the man’s property to take pictures, so I did not find the strength to ask him to take a picture of him as well… not that properties here have any designation but still…)
the first amiable Norwegian – about 55 years old;
happily answering all of my questions;
he is obviously frank.
GM (Gergana Milusheva – me): why is this the first trace of modern architecture ever since we left Oslo?
Knut: well… (he smiles with irony in his eyes)…. Norway is a young nation (?!????), we have not yet gotten out of our romantic period; but we are really good at copying our old architecture.
my conversation with this men resonated in my thoughts for the next few days; and so did the memories of the bungalows – the lack of architecture, rather than the presence of it; as Niki put it: dzen.
It actually turned out that the hotel wasn’t finished and wasn’t working yet; next time …
I think this is where we had too much, as if Knut brought us down to earth, he added contrast, him and everything around him (I am not talking about the architecture here but the reason it looked this way) played the role of the ray of light which made us realize that is has been dark up until now
I am still pondering over the question of what exactly was too much for us –
was it the almost Socialist order in the country, the lack of competition and the terrifying results of this lack (the unwashed glasses in the hotel, the same prices and the same tasteless dishes at the camping sites, the ignorance and the narrow-mindedness) and the impossibly well-arranged yards without fences, the mowed meadows and the sheep who herd themselves, the colossal amount of tunnels, the roads, the public spaces all perfectly arranged,
or was it the absurd extremes such as the Mies Prize of Snohetta and their antique wooden houses, looking like they were built 150 years ago,
or was it the fact that it appears that people are equal – in terms of social and financial status – or, at least, that there are no recognizable signs of poverty but there are also no signs of wealth… and, at the same time, those equals that have enough of everything (and we did not see a single police officer around) do not look pleased or happy; in fact, they don’t display any emotions as they seem to go with the flow; it is as if someone tripped up the nation on a small scale while, at the same time, the nation works wonderfully as a perfectly oiled machine on a large scale – it extracts oil, exports electricity, builds the Oslo Opera House…,
or was it the incredibly beautiful nature that leaves you heartbroken when you leave as if it was the love of your life you left behind… and the unexpectedly unattractive people – neither tall, nor blonde, nor fit, nor well-dressed
…. (I still don’t have an answer)
we decide not to continue north
we put our finger on a larger town where they should probably have a hotel with an internet connection and off we go; on the road – strawberry fields forever…
and
we go down to the branches of Storfjorden
we go around it along some roads and pathways although it seems boring after seeing yesterday’s beauties; still, it is our last one
a last glance back
the place where we are going to sleep is called Molde
tomorrow we head southeast on the long road, through Lillehammer to Stockholm.
coming up next – day 07 – 09.07.09
Posted: July 11th, 2009 | Author: Gergana Milusheva | Filed under: fun, trips and notes | No Comments »
we get up after a tough night in the questionable sleeping conditions at the Baba Yaga’s (Grandma Yaga’s) houses; it is not as if we were the first to rise – the cars around the rest of the bungalows are already gone and it is just 9 am; somehow everything seems fine when I look outside the windows:
last night we drove a bit longer than we planned, so we go back and get down to the fjord, taking an exit from the main road; another tunnel; this one was quite long; on the way out of it:
the place is called Fjaerland, another branch of the same Sognefjord – the largest fjord; our destination there is the Norwegian Glacier Museum; we park
this is actually a new extension of the building, the function of which remains a mystery
we are about to see the actual museum building:
it is not a new one, actually
the designer is somewhat of a national hero of Norwegian architecture, the renowned Sverre Fehn, may he rest in peace
he received the Pritzker Award 7 or 8 years ago and, I believe, he died shortly after that; I did not research the exact project that they awarded him for but considering the Norwegian architecture in general (not counting the colleagues from Snohetta since they came up just recently and a few other flashes of innovation), the award is well-deserved even if solely for managing to present a more contemporary mindset in the context of the diehard Norwegian construction… sounds familiar, doesn’t it ?!?!
here are a few more pictures:
an entrance
taken from the terrace on top
according to my observations, Norway is shamelessly rich in granite and solid wood…
and it most definitely shows in this building
we are watching a glacier-dedicated video in a round hall with 5 screens which are put together, adjacent to one another at an angle, their length covering about 90 degrees from the circle; they play the video, which has been especially shot for this hall, simultaneously from 5 projectors… there are frames shot from a helicopter which is making a turn and the sensation of watching it is much more impressive compared to the IMAX movies I’ve seen…
the exhibition, on the other hand, is nothing special and neither is the interior, so we wrap it up quickly and off we go; we pay a toll fee once again for the tunnels – the pay desk right before the museum…
we go back and take the prominent road 55 which is a part of the Norwegian program called National Tourist Routes (in fact, Aurland, where we drove yesterday, is also a part of this program ordered by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and so are the observation platform and the bathrooms … I wonder how they managed to convince the decision-making clerks to accept such a modernist solution)
we depart from the fjord, heading up (it seems there is no other direction to take here…); and soon we take another exit to Jostedal…
Jostedal is the largest glacier in Europe; in fact, the road winds around the glacier all the time; later that day we will go down to the glacier’s other side; the glacier has many tongues, pointing at the high mountain lakes and we are headed to see one of them; before we get there:
the building is a museum… again
we move on
it is close to a miracle that it is sunny (which almost never happened again while we were in Norway)
You leave your car at the parking lot and walk for about a kilometer; it is a toll road and there are 4 or 5 girls at the entrance who are 12-13 years old, whispering something to each other and giggling as they proudly collect the fee; there is a sign on the wooden booth behind them saying that you have to charge yourself but there is no one inside….
but why is the water green… ? you would know had you been listening in school 🙂 the ice “eats” away the rock base beneath it and the ice melts in this process, so the glacier is constantly melting from below, taking along miniature particles from the granite base:
poor little Norwegians… making electricity thanks to this constant flow of water; you have to pity them!
they are handing in ice-axes and crampons and they organize these guided tours up the glacier but we are always in a hurry, so we head back; before that, ignoring Niki’s protests, I fill up a small bottle with water which I have prudently packed in my backpack; it looks crystal clear in small quantities;
I have never tried better-tasting water…
on the way back:
the lakes filled with melted water from the glaciers are green as well
the rest fill in by one of these
while people live down there
and go fishing
we ate right opposite this waterfall:
the scale is a bit lost here but I think that if there was a waterfall of this size in Bulgaria, there would inevitably be at least 4 or 5 hotels around it, a spa, several swimming pools, at least 10 places to eat and something else that I cannot think of… while here, there is a tiny camping site with something like a canteen where they offer only 3 types of dishes… which were not quite delicious when we tried them
the road continues up again
guess what the spikes are for
the thing in the lower right corner of the GPS is the above sea level figure
our road will soon end at a small town with the funny name Lom
coming up next – day 05 – 07.07.09 – part 2
