Friday, June 19, 2009
umm, that's 6 ticks and an orchid
After I posted that last entry, I decided to check myself again, and yes, I found a 6th tick happily sucking away over my rib.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
5 ticks and an orchid
I started a hike yesterday that I've been wanting to do since I first got here. I set aside 5hrs round trip to reach the summit above the village of Costa. These mountains are the first ones in the range and unfortunately, I am still extremely curious of the views to the inside from that vantage point. Also, I planned on taking a bunch of bug shots to help convince myself to spend $920 on the Nikon 105mm mirco lens, which was $750 when I first laid eyes on it last year . Sometimes it doesn't pay off to wait.
The whole trail was moderately steep so it was a good idea that I took my camera so I could take pictures while I took breaks. This trail was immediately very grassy compared to the trail right behind my house so my immediate thought was "Ticks, merda". At first though, that didn't stop me from getting down in it trying to take some photos of the critters. Not until an hour and a half in, I find one the size of a small mole crawling up my leg. This was/is a big deal for me since I've been fortunate to have done quite a bit of hiking and have never, ever seen a tick. I'm a big scaredy cat, and by then I was becoming paranoid. About 20 minutes from the top I picked off my 3rd tick. And after contemplating it for a few minutes, I reluctantly decided that was enough. I'm going back! But I looked longingly at the top of the mountain as I turned around.
On my way down, I encountered an Italian hiker with his cane. I quickly asked in my bad Italian about the ticks (At this point, I don't even know the Italian word for ticks) and he informs me that there are sheep that graze in the area and that the place is "pieno". -The place is full of them! Mamma mia ! (I love this expression and they do use it all the time). He said I should wear "pantaloni lungo".
By the time I exit the trail I've picked off my 5th tick, the last bugger was a big one compared to the others. All that, and I only saw 1 orchid and it was a scraggily one at that.
Here are some shots with my crappy kit lens to justify buying that awesome macro lens!
Nymphalidae, Melanargia galathea
There's a little white spider hiding underneath one of the petals-no way my kit lens could focus on that!
These two are making beetle babies on a daisy- how cute!
Zygaenidae, Zygaena sp. - a day-flying moth
Zygaena sp. -another species in the same genus
some sort of pollinator action, I think it's Bombus lucorum, Lisa think's it's Apis mellifera, here's another shot of the same individual so someone can enlighten us:
Ta da! That's the orchid, Gymnadenia conopsea
Some useful vocab:
zecca, zecche (pl)= tick
pecora, pecore (pl) = sheep
margherita = daisy
farfalla = butterfly
coleottero = beetle
The whole trail was moderately steep so it was a good idea that I took my camera so I could take pictures while I took breaks. This trail was immediately very grassy compared to the trail right behind my house so my immediate thought was "Ticks, merda". At first though, that didn't stop me from getting down in it trying to take some photos of the critters. Not until an hour and a half in, I find one the size of a small mole crawling up my leg. This was/is a big deal for me since I've been fortunate to have done quite a bit of hiking and have never, ever seen a tick. I'm a big scaredy cat, and by then I was becoming paranoid. About 20 minutes from the top I picked off my 3rd tick. And after contemplating it for a few minutes, I reluctantly decided that was enough. I'm going back! But I looked longingly at the top of the mountain as I turned around.
On my way down, I encountered an Italian hiker with his cane. I quickly asked in my bad Italian about the ticks (At this point, I don't even know the Italian word for ticks) and he informs me that there are sheep that graze in the area and that the place is "pieno". -The place is full of them! Mamma mia ! (I love this expression and they do use it all the time). He said I should wear "pantaloni lungo".
By the time I exit the trail I've picked off my 5th tick, the last bugger was a big one compared to the others. All that, and I only saw 1 orchid and it was a scraggily one at that.
Here are some shots with my crappy kit lens to justify buying that awesome macro lens!
Nymphalidae, Melanargia galathea
There's a little white spider hiding underneath one of the petals-no way my kit lens could focus on that!
These two are making beetle babies on a daisy- how cute!
Zygaenidae, Zygaena sp. - a day-flying moth
Zygaena sp. -another species in the same genus
some sort of pollinator action, I think it's Bombus lucorum, Lisa think's it's Apis mellifera, here's another shot of the same individual so someone can enlighten us:
Ta da! That's the orchid, Gymnadenia conopsea
Some useful vocab:
zecca, zecche (pl)= tick
pecora, pecore (pl) = sheep
margherita = daisy
farfalla = butterfly
coleottero = beetle
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Dober dan, bog, hello, hola, ciao, oi, ni hao; all of the above
l'altro ieri, siamo andati a lago di bled e la gola di vintgar in Slovenia. é bellissimo!
Originally, we planned to go to Plitvice National Park in Croatia but after considering the 6hr drive and how we always get lost, we thought better of it and decided on something less ambitious. Abe suggested Lake Bled in Slovenia which is only a 3hr drive, including the "we're so lost" time. With less than 20km to go we were stopped by a Slovenian cop. We were going 110km/hr in a 80km/hr stretch of highway. We were going with the speed of traffic but we we're the unlucky ones. Hmm, I wonder if it was our Italian plates?! He was pretty nice and instead of fining us the mandated €200 he let us go with a €25 ticket which we had to pay on the spot. Luckily, we had €30 on us and avoided getting the car towed. Phew! (In Europe you have to pay traffic fines on the spot and if you don't have cash and the cop doesn't have a credit card reader, you are screwed!) I thought the whole thing was pretty funny, since I'm always complaining to Abe about his speeding. So that was the first time we were stopped by the cops, 2 more to go.
Once there we set up our tent, watched the mallards and took a siesta. Afterward we walked around the lake and hiked up to the castle. Inside the castle's museum they had exhibits on the area's past settlements and even some fossilized coral, shells, and a 230 million-year-old Birgeria sp. found on Mt. Triglav (highest peak in Slovenia). As we usually do on the first night at a new place we gorged ourselves on local food. We found, 'Gostlina Murka', where I had venison in a dried plum sauce and gorenska prata. Delicious!
Lake Bled, Gorenjska, Slovenija
I took this picture from Blejski grad (castle). We camped in the valley to the right of the little island (Blejski otok).
Late Triassic Birgeria sp. found on Mt. Triglav
All these were found in the Julian Alps.
The next day we awoke at 5am to the "baa-ing" of an enormous flock of sheep somewhere in the neighboring hills. After a slow start we headed towards Vintgar Gorge in Triglav National Park about 15km north of the lake. As usual we go lost on the way but made the best of it by taking in the gorgeous countryside.
Radovna River
Soteska (Gorge) Vintgar, Triglav National Park
Dov'e Waldo, anzi cercami?
What better way to end this beautiful day than getting screwed by the man? Ignorance is not cheap. On the way home we had to drive ~30km in Austria and right before we entered the Italian border we got pulled over again. This time the cop asks for our Austrian vignette (road toll sticker). He points at our Slovenian one but apparently we need one for Austria too! Immediately he points to "€120" on a pre-filled out ticket on his clip board. Vaffanculo!! Grinding our teeth we hand over a credit card. We drive away with our spirits dampened but not defeated. Not 5 minutes go by that we get stopped by the Italian police in our own country!! This time he just wants to see our documeti. With sour faces we hand over our Italian registration and license. He then asks for the passports. Fortunately, I got my visa in Marzo. He let's us go. Another, "Phew!". Now defeated we head back home, surprisingly we don't get lost navigating the foothills from the highway to our little village of Giais. Abbiamo avuto abbastanza (We've had enough). I don't think we'll be driving anywhere anytime soon.
Originally, we planned to go to Plitvice National Park in Croatia but after considering the 6hr drive and how we always get lost, we thought better of it and decided on something less ambitious. Abe suggested Lake Bled in Slovenia which is only a 3hr drive, including the "we're so lost" time. With less than 20km to go we were stopped by a Slovenian cop. We were going 110km/hr in a 80km/hr stretch of highway. We were going with the speed of traffic but we we're the unlucky ones. Hmm, I wonder if it was our Italian plates?! He was pretty nice and instead of fining us the mandated €200 he let us go with a €25 ticket which we had to pay on the spot. Luckily, we had €30 on us and avoided getting the car towed. Phew! (In Europe you have to pay traffic fines on the spot and if you don't have cash and the cop doesn't have a credit card reader, you are screwed!) I thought the whole thing was pretty funny, since I'm always complaining to Abe about his speeding. So that was the first time we were stopped by the cops, 2 more to go.
Once there we set up our tent, watched the mallards and took a siesta. Afterward we walked around the lake and hiked up to the castle. Inside the castle's museum they had exhibits on the area's past settlements and even some fossilized coral, shells, and a 230 million-year-old Birgeria sp. found on Mt. Triglav (highest peak in Slovenia). As we usually do on the first night at a new place we gorged ourselves on local food. We found, 'Gostlina Murka', where I had venison in a dried plum sauce and gorenska prata. Delicious!
Lake Bled, Gorenjska, Slovenija
I took this picture from Blejski grad (castle). We camped in the valley to the right of the little island (Blejski otok).
Late Triassic Birgeria sp. found on Mt. Triglav
All these were found in the Julian Alps.
The next day we awoke at 5am to the "baa-ing" of an enormous flock of sheep somewhere in the neighboring hills. After a slow start we headed towards Vintgar Gorge in Triglav National Park about 15km north of the lake. As usual we go lost on the way but made the best of it by taking in the gorgeous countryside.
Radovna River
Soteska (Gorge) Vintgar, Triglav National Park
Dov'e Waldo, anzi cercami?
What better way to end this beautiful day than getting screwed by the man? Ignorance is not cheap. On the way home we had to drive ~30km in Austria and right before we entered the Italian border we got pulled over again. This time the cop asks for our Austrian vignette (road toll sticker). He points at our Slovenian one but apparently we need one for Austria too! Immediately he points to "€120" on a pre-filled out ticket on his clip board. Vaffanculo!! Grinding our teeth we hand over a credit card. We drive away with our spirits dampened but not defeated. Not 5 minutes go by that we get stopped by the Italian police in our own country!! This time he just wants to see our documeti. With sour faces we hand over our Italian registration and license. He then asks for the passports. Fortunately, I got my visa in Marzo. He let's us go. Another, "Phew!". Now defeated we head back home, surprisingly we don't get lost navigating the foothills from the highway to our little village of Giais. Abbiamo avuto abbastanza (We've had enough). I don't think we'll be driving anywhere anytime soon.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Easter weekend in Firenze (Florence)
I loved this town! Not only are the sights amazing but we gorged ourselves on wild boar salame, roasted rabbit and veal, wine, and over-priced gelato...mmm.
Day and night shot of Palazzo Vecchio w/ a sculpture of Cosimo I in the foreground by Giambologna.
Ponte Vecchio
Museo Nazional del Bargello, which has an amazing collection of Michelangelo's early sculptures and Donatello's famous bronze David which is noted as being the first nude sculpture of the Renaissance.
View of the Duomo, Campanile di Giotto, and Palazzo Vecchio from Giardino di Bardini
Awesome green Mini. Can I have another?
Giardino di Boboli
The Duomo, Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore
Campanile di Giotto
Last Judgment by Vasari on the inside of the dome.
Giambologna's Rape of Sabine Women in the Loggia dei Lanzi, one of my favorite sculptures.
Chiesa di San Miniato al Monte
San Miniato's sacristy dedicated to St. Benedict painted by Spinello Arentino.
Unfinished sculpture by Michelangelo intended for pope Giulio's II tomb in the Galleria dell' Accademia.
We've all seen pictures of Michelangelo's David but in person he is jaw-dropping gorgeous, and huge! The detailing is stunning, you can even see the veins in his neck. The Galleria dell' Accademia does not allow photographs to be taken but I could not resist.
Basilica di Santa Croce, where Galileo and Michelangelo are entombed.
First corridor of the Gallerie degli Uffizi. Botticelli's Birth of Venus, Primavera, and my personal favorite; Fortitude (his earliest documented work) are all here. It also houses Artemisia Gentileschi's beautiful Judith beheading Holofernes. Other of my favorites are Brozino's potraits of Lucrezia Pianciatichi and Elenora di Toledo. Look them up, they are awesome!
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