we’ve picked our new destination and if things go as planed, we should move countries in a few months time… until then, i’m making an effort to post as much as possible about what we like in slovenia and the things we saw here. first up: the town of piran!

i think when god created slovenia, it must have gone something like this: well, we got tall mountains, we got the bluest/greenest rivers and lakes, we got caves, now if only we could squeeze in a bit of sea it would be perfect. all countries should have a sea view, right? and then he pushed croatia and italy a bit to the side and voilá! 46 kms of slovenian coast facing the adriatic sea. perfect. :)

slovenian’s coast is a succession of 4 towns, connected by a road by the sea: koper, izola, piran and portorož. we don’t know the others very well, but we ♥ piran!
there’s old medieval houses in narrow cobbled streets, with lots of lovely details on the walls. there’s a church with a campanário that resembles the one from piazza s. marco in venice and from which you see the whole peninsula. there’s a cute little harbour with ice-cream stands and one of those machines that turns 5 cent coins into a mini-panorama of the city. and there’s fish restaurants, fresh sea air, plenty of sun… what’s not to like?

there’s a saying in portuguese “those who don’t have dogs, hunt with cats” and this is a bit the spirit around here. no sandy beaches? no problem! we’ll lay our towels right here in the cement or over there in the pebbles and we’ll be ok! it’s a bit strange for us portuguese: the concept of a beach without sand… is not a beach! but hey… i guess it’s better than nothing, and besides, the water is not that cold so you would be spending most of your time there anyway! :)

we must have been there half a dozen times now, and it hasn’t lost its charm yet :)

you know when you have so much to do that you don’t even know where to start? i’m so behind in my slovenia posts that i don’t know where to begin. by the last thing we did, i suppose – the memories are still fresh, and green. insanely green.

yesterday we grabbed our recently found portuguese friend (there’s now 3 of us in the country!) and ran for the water. more specifically, the lakes (bled and bohinj) and vintgar. we’ve had some trouble finding this secluded gorge the last times we tried (the path from bled to vintgar is a narrow winding road across small villages) but i suppose third time’s a charm.

we found vintgar at last, and slowly covered the 1.6km wooden path along the radovna river, just taking it all in: the soothing sounds of the forest, the waterfalls, the pools and the rapids and the quiet deeper stretches of green. at the end, the path crosses the river over the šum waterfall, giving us a really nice top view of it. :)

the entrance costs 4 euros and it’s definitely worth the detour if you’re in bled or bohinj. for those who’d rather not get lost, the gps coords are: N46.3907 E14.0835. :) enjoy!

(image by the flickr commons)

the china adventure is coming to an end: another few months in the middle kingdom and we should be flying to our next destination. no, nothing happened, we weren’t victims of the crisis… but 2 years is enough. there are a lot more countries to explore out there!

i’m not too fond of tags like locating independent or digital nomads, but i love the crazy plans that involve hopping between destinations. food, travel and photography – these are the things that make me happy. so we plan on hitting the road, keep a roadtrip log book, take pictures, blog, look for geocaches, taste all the local specialties and send postcards from a number of different places – while we soak on the wifi and work a bit from the places we stay in. we have a gps, sort of an online business and some freelance gigs, and as soon as we get our mei backpacks and ship the cats home (a whole new adventure), i think we’re good to go.

until then though, i’ll try to fit in as much of china craziness as i can – be warned! :)

another snapshot from the september trip to singapore/malaysia (still catching up on those pictures and stories)…

But despite the fanfare, Shanghai is hardly an international city (anyone who has been to Kuala Lumpur will immediately spot the difference) and a curious absence of creative energy can make this fast-changing city seem oddly parochial and inward-looking.

from the lonely planet guidebook on china (which is banned around here).

The name Macau is thought to be derived from the temple. It is said that when the Portuguese sailors landed at the coast just outside the temple and asked the name of the place, the natives replied “A-Ma-Gao” (Bay of A-Ma). The Portuguese then named the peninsula Macau.

from wikipedia

macau, the most densely populated territory in the world, is a little city that used to be portuguese – until the portuguese gave it to china in 1999 or so. it’s a short boat ride from hong kong, so we decided to hop on the ferry and spend a day there last week… and well, what a difference a boat ride makes.

macau is a million years from hong kong. it thrives on casinos (and pawn houses) – i believe it is the only place in “china” where gambling is legal (1 country, 2 systems policy). our companions on the ferry? loads of old chinese people, eager to hop on the first bus that drove them to a casino. which is a bit sad… but then again, the overwhelming feeling i got in macau was precisely sadness. macau looked old and depressed, with the same chaotic urban planning reminiscent of a neglected mid-sized portuguese city.

the fun part though, was checking all the double translations in portuguese/chinese that give macau a very peculiar feeling (even though only 0.6% of the population speaks portuguese), counting our patacas, and walking in a portuguese “calçada” again, surrounded by semi-familiar facades.
closing our eyes and pretending, just for a second, that we were in portugal.

and

:)