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Published: August 4th 2013
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TRYING TO BEAT THE HEAT
As reported previously, we have been sharing the heat wave and it's effects with the natives and visitors. Our campsite in Prebold was a perfect location for our visit to the center of the Hop-growing and brewing Industry in Slovenia. As we headed into the local city of Celji, we found Large fields of what appear to be giant pole bean plants turned out to be HOPS. Natural growing hops are supported by trees but here they have poles to support their growth, We also learned about the industry and the attendant celebrations throughout the year. We were able to use our motor scooter to access Celji, locally known as the City of Legends, and one of Slovenia's oldest cities. We were able to learn of the legends of conflict between the Counts of Celji and the Haps burg family from a young woman at the information center. The Haps burgs had the titles but the Counts of Celji had the economic wealth and power. After years of competing for total power, a deal was struck that of the two families, whoever had the last remaining male heir would be the winner. Legend has it
that the last living male heir, a Celjian, was assassinated by the Haps burgs and apparently to no avail, as the Clejians still ruled the city and had the wealth and 'smarts' to prevail. We toured the old part of the city, enjoying coffee in the city park along the river, taking photographs of course and enjoyed the city museum. The temperature while on the scooter was cooling but back at camp it was a still 31.4 C (84-86 F). A few thunderstorms threatened in the distance, but had little effect locally.
Our next stop was at Ptuj (pronounced pi too ey). Ptuj is one of the most beautiful, small, old central European towns. At the campground we were reassured that the city was within 15 min. walking distance. Well, not for us and not in the current heat, even in late afternoon. We opted once again to use the motor scooter and it took us 15 min. to get to the edge of the city. We checked in with the local information office that stayed open until cpm and got a map and great directions to use the next day. The setting sun gave a glow to the
city, particularly the old section with it's red roofs, that Guy was able to capture in photos. Back to the campsite to plan out our next day adventure. The Ptuj castle is the center of the old part of the city and a challenging climb, even in the early morning. We found a bakery to supply our morning coffee break and then climbed up to the castle. The entire castle has been designated as a museum, one of the most visited and most complete in Slovenia. The collection of masks, legendary meaning of the costumes and clothing is separate from the main castle building and is impressive and educational. Then on to the 3 storied castle museum with all definitions, explanations and information in English as well as the local language. Again the heat convinced us to return to our campsite after several hours, buy we were able to appreciate many of the other historically significant structures in the city and find our way back across the river to our cooler campsite and fan.
Well, coming from a resort area, we should have known better than to start to travel toward a resort area on a Saturday. But, there
we were in stop and go traffic for miles with overhead signs posting the current temperatures, just to help us along the way. We of course were headed into Croatia as every other beach seeking car was. Our GPS 'buddy, Richard eventually gave us permission to exit said nightmare of traffic and put us on our way to a 'campsite' (a stretch of a description). 25 empty sites, with sad to awful facilities with a sign at 'reception' FIND A SPACE AND I'LL BE BACK SOON. We stopped long enough to check it out and make a U-turn. Okay, Richard, these are the coordinates for the only other campsite anywhere nearby. (South of Zagreb and Karlovac). Remember now, it's 30C (86F), dry and HOT. Well, 1/2 hour later after traveling a narrow, convoluted, twisting road, we actually found the campsite as promised on a river and crowded with bikini and speedo clad sun worshipers. We were able to find a site that had some shade and near the facilities with a wonderful restaurant that served a marvelous dark beer on a deck overlooking the river and swimmers. Not necessarily our style of campground, but good to stay off the roads
until Monday. We had some conversations with the young man at reception and he told us that he had learned his English as a small boy from watching Disney Cartoons. He really couldn't go out to play because of the war. He now speaks a number of languages fluently. We also found out that the winters in this area are harsh with a lot of snow and that most of the campground is under water due to the rising river level. He also suggested that we start driving out of the area on those same roads at 5am on Monday morning. We didn't quite make it by 5 but were on the road by 7 am. Eventually Richard (GPS) got us to Rte. 1 and on our way to the Plitvicka National Park for an early check-in and after 3 moves we found a space under some shade with relief from the 38.6 C. temperature.
In our next blog we will share our adventures in the National Park and our subsequent travel to Split.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Hop growing and brews
My husband is a beer snob so he would have enjoyed this part of the world. The St. George church is lovely.