13682

Slovenia: Pot Treh Zvonov / Three Bells Trail

Hiking trail Pot Treh Zvonov (Three Bells Trail) is a round forest path that connects villages Žiganja vas, Novake, Golnik, Senično and Sebenje. Nada and me took my nephews Tim and Matic and nice Klara and we walked together for 9 kilometres.

  

3 bells - The idea for the trail came to villagers from Žiganja Vas when they were replacing three bells in the Church of St. Ulrich. It seemed a pity to them to discard out the old ones, so they got the idea of using them to mark a trail that would wind through Udin Woods. This is where the name Three Bells Trail comes from. Since the church bells were too big, they used three smaller ones and signs to mark the route.

  

On our way we did many things

You can read more about the trail on this link - click.

Nice round trip in Udin boršt, one of the oldest glacial terraces in the Ljubljana Basin.

In the afternoon Nada and me quickly ascended also to Stari Ljubelj.

GeoCaches found (all received a visit by trackable item "Hjärtat", TB3MQ3N):
- Pot Treh Zvonov - Zvon 1, GC6Q47Z
- Pot Treh Zvonov - Zvon 2, GC6Q484
- Pot Treh Zvonov - Zvon 3, GC6Q48E

13681

Austria: Via Ferrata to Cjajnik and Košutnikov turn

With Nada we decided to do one of the hardest Via ferratas in our neigbourhood, that is Via ferrata to Cjajnik (Lärchenturm), marked with difficulty D. Cjajnik was in the past one of the the most difficult summits to ascend in the Karavanks. Since 2006 now a really attractive via ferrata secured with more than 800 m of steel rope leads to the summit. The descent to the Lärchenscharte wind gap requires again a lot of power (D). We prolonged our hike to Košutnikov turn with another interesting descent on via ferrata back to our starting point, Koča pod Košuto / Koschutahaus, 1280 m.

Somwhere on our way to Cjajnik, 1965 m

View from the top to Koroška / Carinthia

 

Descent was the most difficult 

Sketch of the Via Ferrata

So many blisters

 

We continued on the ridge towards Košutnikov turn, 2133 m

Another day with great view

South

 

How to spice up things - with the ladder

On our way back we quickly detoured to Mejnik, 1517 m, where a great view to Košutnikov turn was

Whole day trip in the mountains

GeoCaches found:
- Koschutnikturm / Košutnikov turn (2.136 m), GC625YZ
- Koschuta - ganz ohne Kletterzeug, GC6JX1X
- Koschutnikturm-View, GC1ZF4E, where I took the trackable item "Hjärtat", TB3MQ3N

13680

Slovenia: Hike to Visoki Mavrinc, Zipline in Planica

Nada had a coupon for Zipline in Planica so I joined her, but first we did a short hiking trip to Visoki Mavrinc, gorgeous spot with magnificent view.

View to nearby mountains from Visoki Mavrinc, 1562 m

Gorgeous Julian Alps with Prisank in the middle

Towards Kranjska Gora and lake Jasna

Great spot for panoramas

Short hike to less known hill

 

In Kranjska gora we visited the monument dedicated to our childhood hero Kekec

Soon we were on our way to Planica, to try the world steepest zipline.

25€ and you can be in the air

30 seconds and as promised, max speed 70 km/h and vertical drop of 210 meters

 

View from the top and Nada, just arriving to the finish line

GeoCaches found:
- Visoki Mavrinc, GC6M0BD
- Vandotov junak / Vandot's hero, GC1ZZ9W
- Podkoren's first cache, GC37ZCY
- Otroško igrišče Javornik, GC4MVRC

13679

Austria: LTspice seminar in Graz

LTspice IV and its successor LTspice XVII are high performance SPICE simulators, schematic capture and waveform viewers with enhancements and models for easing the simulation of switching regulators. Rok and me decided to attend the seminar in Graz and Nada joined us. While we were on the seminar, Nada was exploring the city. The speaker was also it's founder and software developer Mike Engelhardt. We did some interesting things on LTC1624 buck converter and Mike also showed us some other helpful tricks. We finished the day in Rodine with our friend Aleš tasting his Puntar beers. Cheers!

Saint Joseph's church in Graz

 

LTspice guru, Mike Engelhardt of Linear Technology

GeoCaches found:
- Mach mal Pause, GC6BZRM
- A2 - P260 Fischering (2nd), GC5PAH0
- Church-Challenge #1: Josefskirche, GC6R57R
- Herzogberg Nord, GC1FVGJ
- Pack - TB Motel, GC262YE
- Kurze Pause A2, GC6TPFC

13678

Slovenia: GeoCaching around Medvode

Quick GeoCaching hour after work resulted in 4 more finds.

Hydro power plant Medvode, built in 1953, has 2 Kaplan turbines

GeoCaches found:
- HE Medvode, Mystery, GC6BR2X
- GG # 03, Mystery, GC61N9P
- GG # 14, Mystery, GC6G7K8
- GG # 15, Mystery, GC66C75

13674

Slovenia: Discovering Ptuj area

With Nada we were on a weekend holiday in Tržec, Ptuj with her friends Marija and Matevž and their kids Klara, Julija and Laura and today was our last day. After the long morning rest and a lunch we decided to explore the Ptuj area a bit. Big thanks to our hosts!

Party house in Tržec

6 adults and 4 kids, or was it vice versa

Gravel pit is now a spot for tourists and fishermen

I took Nada to the seaside - Ptuj Lake is also called the sea and is the largest reservoir in Slovenia.

Borl Castle is an imposing medieval castle above the banks of the Drava north of the main settlement. It probably dates to the 12th century with 15th- and 17th-century additions and is now under restoration.

 Bird-scaring rattle in vineyard

Pigs in an open air pig farm

 

 On our way to Ptuj castle, built in the mid-12th century. It was constructed to defend against the Hungarians.

The hill where Ptuj Castle stands was settled in prehistoric and Roman times and due to its strategic position also attracted medieval feudal lords. Here they built a castle in the 9th or 10th century, from which a tower survives today in the western forecourt. In the first half of the 12th century, since this castle had succumbed to the winds of time, Archbishop Konrad of Salzburg, then Ptuj's feudal lord, ordered the construction of a new castle, whose imposing residence, today's Leslijev wing, remains today.

View to Ptuj, the oldest city in Slovenia.

Ptuj Town Hall

GeoCache found:
- PTUJ Castle, GCTXCP

13673

Slovenia: Vuk's Homestead, Donačka gora

With Nada we were on a weekend holiday in Tržec, Ptuj with her friends Marija and Matevž and their kids Klara, Julija and Laura. In the morning another family joined us, Lidija, Tadej and Tomaž. After a nice lunch - rabbit in sač we went hiking to nearby mountain or better said hill, Donačka gora, 884 m.

First we stopped by the Vuk's Homestead (Vukova domačija), a "document" of time that has passed. It shows the way of living in Haloze 100 years ago. According to the local belief the house has been built by a lawyer from Maribor as a weekend-holiday house.

After a quick tour we continued with cars to the starting point of our hiking trip. A nice track, partly demanding, leads to the top of the hill, where we had a break, like many others during our ascend. After a photo session on the top we descended to Rudijev dom na Donački gori and that was the first constructed and marked way in Slovenia, built in 1853.

 

 Vuk's Homestead (Vukova domačija)

 

One of the quick stops on our way up

View from the ridge to nearby hills

On the ridge

Grop photo on the top of Donačka gora, 884 m

On our way back, just before we reached Rudijev dom na Donački gori, 590 m

And then straight back home. Yeah right.

Roundtrip hike to Donačka gora