Postcards From Beautiful Baska

View of Baska from the route up to the Cemetery.

Old wagon in a field of olive trees.

Looking back to the boardwalk from one of the Wharfs.

Unusual pet?

Traditional dress, music and dancing.

Visitors from distant shores.

Fish and Chips aka "Przene Ribe". Fish is Hake.

300 year old narrow homes.

Energy efficient, these electric trucks pick up or drop off for a very nominal fee.

Heaven is the sea 20 meters from your front door!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I hope these snapshots will give you a glimpse of this beautiful treasure of the Adriatic.

St Mark's Chapel, Baska, Croatia

"When you come to across a small chapel of St. Mark's in Baska, you are, in fact, in an unavoidable spot of the topographic map, of the early Christianity. Lowering your gaze into the under-church you discover at least a millennium older architectural remains of the setting of initiation into Christian religion and community by the inhabitants of Baska, their Baptistery."

"We know this because of a high degree of preservation since the first half of the 5th century, as we preliminarily date it, up to present days, with the church of St Mark's constructed over it having played a significant protective role."

Quoted directly from the information board posted outside.

Bura

In Croatian, Bura means a big wind storm. Because of it's geographical location, Baska is prone to Bura, and when I arrived in Baska, they had been experiencing Bura for a couple of days already. The skies were clear and the sea restless and turbulent.

But because of Bura, the sea experiences rapid turn over, which in turn scours the sea floor and beaches.

The water in Baska is beautifully clean generally, but after Bura it is sparkling.

Yes these are sea urchins, and this photo was taken as I stood on the boardwalk and looked down into the sea.

By the time I had been there for a day or so and even tho it is late September, the water is still warm enough to brave for a very refreshing swim! (after much shrieking and giggling, Dr M and I ventured into the Adriatic which was about 19 Degrees C)

"Can you do me a favor please?"

I should have known! But instead I blurted out “sure!” You see, at home in Vancouver, if my dear friend Dr M asks me for a favor in that particular tone of voice, the favor is unusual! Not necessary difficult, often not difficult at all, but always interesting!
“Could you bring me a toaster?” she asked. “A TOASTER?” I replied, not quite sure I was hearing her right and “yeeeesssss….” (with the patience one would use with a small child) “a toaster. A simple two slice toaster. Ours is not working and I cannot find one here!”
Now to explain, Dr M does not want me to bring her a toaster to Vancouver, she is in Baska, (on the island of KRK in Croatia), where her family has a 300 year old summer home, and I planned to visit them for a couple days.
I found what she asked for, and even had a choice of a very expensive model (about $100 CDN) that I swear would do about everything but the dishes, and a more reasonable one. I packed the toaster into my suitcase and after work today headed off to the train station.

A beautiful sunny ride through the southern Slovenian country side, through lush green valleys between steep rugged forested hillsides, where plump sheep snooze, and cattle graze, and bright yellow pumpkins lay ripening in the fields. Around every corner seemed to be a little hamlet of red tiled roofs surrounding a tall church.

Crossing the border into Croatia was indicated by a simple and friendly visit from the customs officers asking me if I had anything to declare and for my passport. Before I knew it I was in Rijeka, where I needed to change from train to bus.
After hooking up briefly with a young Austrian couple who spotted the maple leaf on my pack and wanted to talk to me about Canada, I found the bus station, bought my ticket to Baska and after a couple of false moves found the correct bus. When the driver stowed my duffel bag in the cargo hold he turned to me and said “7 Kunas”. For a moment I’m sure I looked at him blankly until I remembered I have to pay for luggage on the buses in Croatia and replied “Euros, please?”. He replied “Ne, 7 Kunas”. I pulled out a 10 Euro bill and said “Euros?” again. At this point, with exasperation written all over his face, he gently but firmly grasped my shoulder and steered me down the side of the bus, behind the bus and pointed at the currency exchange. “OHHHHHHH” I exclaimed and promptly rushed off to change some money.
I was laughing when I handing him money, and he was laughing when he handed me my change. Two hours later I was the last person on his bus, and when I thanked him for my suitcase we laughed again. A wave good bye, and a big hug hello from my friends and WHEW!!!! Toaster and Gwen have arrived in Baska.

I wonder what tomorrow holds?

Ljubljana Rain

Today as my workday was wrapping up it started to rain. After turning down the offer of a lift home I thought this is no “cold November rain” (thank you Guns N Roses), but a warm September rain, and that it did not matter in the least if “the thunder rolls, and the lightening strikes” (thank you Garth Brooks) because this Vancouverite is “no stranger to the rain”! (thank you Keith Whitley)

I put on my jacket, stepped outside and raised my borrowed umbrella and thought with a smile “Here comes the rain again, falling on my head like a memory, falling on my head like a new emotion” (thank you Annie Lennox) and started to walk.


Ljubljana is quieter today, people huddle under brightly colored umbrellas hurrying to and fro, little pausing to chat or to admire the architecture. Even the cyclists seem to use an umbrella, a feat I admire greatly given the unevenness of the cobblestones that they have to negotiate. The sidewalk cafes are all but empty as the people move indoors.

I love it, and as I walked along at my usual brisk pace, I even took a moment to jump in a puddle! Hey, “blame it on the rain!!” (thank you Millie Vanilli)

I say “let it rain, let it rain on me” (thank you Amanda Marshall), and as I walk along, and those “raindrops keep falling on my head” (thank you B. J. Thomas) I smile as I “listen to the rhythm of the falling rain” (thank you The Cascades), and suddenly feel very much at home!

Celje

(Pron. cell-yeah)


Known for it's hops, goldsmiths (I met two rather famous ones) and for the Counts of Celje. This is Slovenia's 3rd largest city, with a population of around 65,000 people. Celje derives it's name from the Roman settlement Celeia. Economically and culturally Celje peaked in the Middle Ages, under the Counts of Celje, who were one of Central Europe's major ruling dynasties for over three Centuries.
Yesterday I boarded an InterCity train for my first venture out of Ljubljana. I was headed 89 km east to Celje, to spend the most delightful day catching up and sightseeing with my friend Tanja.
After a great breakfast we set off to explore the city, with our first stop being the Museum of Modern History. Here I was introduced to a wonderfully presented Celje of the 20th century. After taking in the exhibits, we left the museum and wandered about the old town.

One of the structures that fascinated me was what Tanja referred to as the "city castle' where there is currently a dig and restoration going on.




Stones and pillars dating to Roman times.





Celje's old town square.



When we had wandered the old town we drove to pretty Gorerje, where we lingered over a wonderful lunch including the best mushroom soup I have ever had, the mushrooms picked from the surrounding forests. Heading back to Celje we stopped to visit Tanja's church, then in stark contrast, walked over to the large mall where we solved my coffee dilemma. Large and modern was followed by a visit to the beautiful windswept Old Castle from the 12th Century, (it acquired it's current layout in the 14th Century), and I was suitably awed. This is one of the countries largest fortifications.




After walking the ancient pathways, and wondering of the stories the stones would tell if they could speak, we went to meet her delightfully warm parents, Vlado and Anita Planinsek, who turned out to be two of the regions well known goldsmiths! I was treated to a detailed and fascinating introduction to their art, and before we knew it the time had passed very quickly, and we had just enough time to dash out to the countryside to see Tanja's younger sister Natasha (who I met last year in Vancouver) and her new husband David, visit over some wonderful ice-cream (my third helping of the day!), and then make a mad dash back into Celje to catch the last train of the night with barely 2 minutes to spare. Thank you my dear friend "Cookie Monster" for such a wonderful day. I am most looking forward to our planned trip to the Soca River Valley next month!

Grobo Mleta Kava

"Coarsely Ground Coffee"
I think those of us West Coasters that drink coffee are quite particular about it. Having been to Europe a couple of times now, and not being a big espresso fan, I thought I would come prepared. I brought some of my favorite coffee from home, and knowing I would not find a drip coffee machine here, brought filters and a filter holder to make coffee with. And I brought my 'To-Go' cup. (And yes, the stainless "To-Go' cup gets me some strange looks!) Making coffee like this is not not my preferred way, but I thought it would keep me going until I managed to find something to make coffee in here. A friend suggested I might find a French Press, so within a couple of days of arriving, I set about to find one.
"A what?" was the usual reply when I asked around. Hmmmmmm! This is turning out to be harder than I thought. Thanks to the internet I was able to show a picture of a French Press, but still I got the same blank looks in response to my inquiries.
Finally, last weekend, after much poking around in the shops here I was able to locate one! "Woo Hoo" I exclaimed when I found one, and had to restrain myself from doing a little happy dance right there in the store!
Next obstacle was the coffee. You see I only brought a few days worth of coffee from home and by the time I had spent 10 days here, my supply had dwindled to the point where I had to start looking for more. Again a bit of a language problem, but I finally found what might do the trick....... but when I opened the package I was concerned with the fineness of the grind. Yup, it took one cup of coffee, and one large mouthful of grounds to tell me that yes, this grind is too fine for the French Press. All week I have been treated to mouthfuls of grinds as I get to the end of my morning coffee. Again I asked around, and again the same blank looks. I can get a very fine grind used for Turkish coffee, or a very fine grind for espresso, or the beans themselves.
I am delighted to report that although it took a trip to Celje, and the patience, and the translating skills of my friend Tanja, but finally, we found beans, AND the means to grind them! However, even Tanja experienced difficulties explaining my request in Slovene because at one point she turned to me and exclaimed "you would think I just asked the strangest question ever!"
We found a large store that sells the beans, and outside this store, in the middle of the mall corridor there is a grinding station set up where one can grind nuts on one side and coffee on the other. After much laughter as we figured out the machine, I finally came home with the right grind, and this morning had an excellent cup of coffee, with NO mouthful of grinds to chase it down!

Gone to the Dogs

Ljubljana is a very dog friendly town. Everywhere I go I see people walking their dogs, or sitting at a cafe or restaurant with well behaved dogs at their feet. This makes me miss my guys a lot, but fortunately I get regular updates, and cyber kisses from them! :)
Today I was feeling just a little blue, missing their furry faces, when I rounded the corner in my apartment building stairwell, and what should be coming towards me but a little dog. I stopped to give him a pat, and immediately got lots of real kisses, and suddenly all was bright in my world.



This fabulous picture is one of the students and her dog Grin (a red merle Australian Shepherd) competing at an agility trial. There is a competition locally next month, and I will make sure I am in town that weekend to go and cheer her on.
And for those of you who might be curious, docking tails is forbidden here in Slovenia, so this Aussie, has a tail!

Look Up.... Look Waaaaaaay Up

On my way to work this morning, I was paused at a street light and while waiting looked up at the castle. Yes, I look at a castle every day, to and from work... now how cool is that? To my surprise, suspended in the sky close to the castle was a hot air balloon. WAY COOL I thought and paused to watch it until it disappeared. Hmmm I thought, pays to look up in Ljubljana. Now Ljubljana is a city of cobblestoned streets, so sometimes looking up can be a bit hazardous, so it pays to pause for a moment to look up, rather than blindly step forward, trip over the uneven stonework, making a spectacle of myself, arms flailing to keep my balance, feel foolish, grin at the passers by, and look up again! I counted not one, not two, but 5 pretty balloons in the sky this morning.








I later learned that these balloons offer sightseeing tours when it is sunny out, a tour lasting about 2.5 hours, for 82 Euros. My hosts for lunch today were kind enough to look this up on the Internet for me. Today the resident who is doing some Cytology training with the students, invited me for lunch. I wound up sharing the better part of the afternoon with Biljana, and her charming husband Simon, and delightful daughter Mila. Biljana cooked enough food to feed a small army, and sent me home with enough to last me the entire week! I particularly enjoyed the Macedonian Salsa, and the Strudel, all made by hand this morning by my hostess. Good food, good company, and Turkish coffee to round things out! Nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon in Ljubljana!


A bird's eye view.

All Work and No Play...

Yeah, yeah, they say it makes you dull! Hopefully the novelty of this Canadian and the funny way she talks has not worn off yet! I have been putting in some long hours, was at work today for a few hours and will return again tomorrow for the same.



I thought I should send you some photos of the people I work with. First off this is one hunking huge multihead microscope that you see here in the first picture. It has spaces for 10 people to sit around! This is twice the size of the multihead microscope I work with in Canada. I have greatly amused the staff and students here as the first thing I have done, when sitting down at a microscope is clean it. I've been cleaning lots of microscopes!


The next set of photos is the class of 2007-2008.
The second photo shows the teaching technologist, in white.
We share an office, and she kindly picks me up for work in the morning when it is raining.
I am enjoying her company, and her laughter, she has certainly gone out of her way to make me feel welcome.

The final photo is the resident that is also working with us. I have most appreciated having her sit in with our multihead sessions as she fills in some of the gaps for me, in Slovene.
My sessions are in English, but the lectures that the others give are in Slovene. All of the students have a good knowledge of English, and are gradually becoming more comfortable using it with me. They all get a chuckle out of my Slovene, but I am learning new words every day, and they are very patient with me, thank goodness.
The work is interesting and very challenging, as I am struggling a bit with the way they prepare their material here. Most of all though, it is rewarding.
And not to worry, the next two weekend I will be away.... so it isn't ALL work....