Holidays Austria: Day Five

Good day, my dear readers!~


As I've promised, a short report about the day I was leaving Austria follows. I haven't taken photos this day since nothing too interesting happened...

I have had a last breakfast with my parents, but this time not on the balcony since the weather turned bad and it was about to start raining soon...

Oh, by the way, a very enjoyable detail of the apartment: Every morning a bag containing fresh bread rolls was hanging at the door's handle~ We not even had to walk out for getting our breakfast - that's how holidays should always be ^___^

Later I packed my stuff, but before we left to the airport we went out for a very last short walk. Unfortunately it started raining... Somehow it just fit to my mood since I really didn't want to leave. Otherwise - holidays with bad weather also aren't the best thing... But the next days the conditions turned out to become better than expected again~

The transfer to the airport was unproblematic, as well as the check-in, the boarding, the flight itself and my transfer back home with the train. Again I was impressed of how quickly you can get from a point B to a point A nowadays with help of modern transportation... Around 3.30pm I was back at home!
And I instantly missed the fresh air... Here it was moisty and hot and in the evening a thunderstorm broke out...


Well, that was how my short trip finally ended. The next day I had to go back to university... And indeed I needed two additional days to mentally arrive here again. Nevertheless, I won't complain since it was okay ^__^
Very great vacations indeed, I just can say it again and again~



Thank you for reading and see you with my next trips and holidays!~
Junsui

Holidays Austria: Day Four

Good day, dear readers!~


Today I want to give a report about my last full day of my holidays in Austria.
This day we drove to Slovenia for visiting the stalactite caves of Postojna which are the second biggest ones in the world!

We had to drive for quite a long time to get there, but it was definitely worth the effort~
At the very first we had to surpass the so-called "Wurzenpass" - one of the steepest streets in the whole Alps. It was an adventure and I never would have dared to drive it myself...

One hardly can see how steep the street is here... But you can see how much impact driving through curves had; just look at the pendant flinging to the left xD
Thanks Dad for bringing us over there alive two times!~

Just some impressions taken out of the window - I never have been in Slovenia before and thus had no concrete expectations of the country, but I have to confess, I was impressed by the landscape~ I also could imagine to spend separate holidays there one time!

Okay, we now have arrived in Postojna. Besides to the caves there are some beautiful parks and surroundings, but we had no time to stay there: We just have bought our tickets and got in quickly.

And of course there is lots of tourism from all over the world - you can see Japanese, Korean and Chinese everywhere xD

"The caves of Postojna" - that's the only phrase I know in Slovenian xD I not even have learned what "Good day" means... But I know "Na svidenje", too, what means "Good bye"~
(very productive language learning holidays xD)

Waiting for the entrance - you only can get in  with a guided tour. Luckily they also had a German one, instead I would have taken an audio guide.






Okay, let's get in! At first you have to get on a train which brings the visitors into the main halls - even this short trip was amazing! But you really have to pay attention not to stretch out your arms and hands too far and you have to mind your head - sometimes it gets very narrow and you pass by the walls very closely.
We were the last ones of the German guided tour and didn't get a place on the "German" train anymore... So we had to wait for the next one, the "Italian" one with many funny people xD at least we got the very front place~

I suggest from now on you just let yourself impress by the photos~


Honestly, if somebody asks me what I would concluse about the caves: I always just can tell that you have to visit them yourself. It's impossible to describe what you can see there...

A little crash course on dripstones: The ones which grow up from the ground (as you can see the huge one on the right) are called stalacmites. The opposite ones, growing down from the ceiling, are called stalactites. If a stalacmite and a stalactite grow together, a stalacmate is born. And we have the "curtains", as you can see in the next picture: They grow by water constantly flowing down the walls. I think the last option is the most impressing one~


This is one of the biggest stalacmites of all caves: It's about fifteen metres high!

Just a glimpse of how huge these caves are...  I have been to a dripstone cave here in Germany before, but it's a joke compared to these dimensions...

Sharp like a shark fang...

Here you can see the "curtains" very well~

This is how the tourists are guided through the caves: On small metal bridges and also on paths over the ground. But you always have to pay attention since the floor is slippery: Don't forget that you are in a dripstone cave where water is still always drippling down on your head~
Moreover it's moisty and cool in the caves: The temperature doesn't change over the seasons, it always has constantly about eight or nine degrees celsius. You better take warm clothes with you - I was glad of having a jacket although it was very warm outside. But you definitely leave the caves frozen...

And here we have another type of stalactites: These ones are called "spaghetti" since they're very young and small~ In average a dripstone grows one millimeter in ten years which is very slow...

Somehow this reminded me of Disney fantasy worlds... Or of something frozen in Arctic regions.

Dripstones can have three different colours due to the dominating minerals in the water: Yellow for sulfur, reddish or orange for iron and black for manganese.

And here we have one of these stalacmates. They're quite rare since it's not often the case that two dripstones exactly grow together... As you also can notice, the connection is the thinnest part.

Sometimes the combination of light and shadow causes a creepy effect... But just always imagine that we wouldn't see anything inside the caves if we wouldn't have electric light - that's the even creepier thought, in my opinion...
Two times the lights were turned off shortly - this is a trick to move the slowest visitors to continuing their walk. It creates a completely different atmosphere...

I especially liked these ones!~

This is "Brilliant", one of the most famous stalacmites. It really looks impressing, reminded me a bit of an overflowing, frozen fountain. And it is really huge... I don't know how long it was growing there. Just imagine that a stalacmite grows about eight millimeters in a human being's lifetime - how old it is then...?


Our guide told us to make use of our imagination: One can discover many different things in looking at the dripstones, one just needs some fantasy in our minds. So, what can you see there?~

This one is also a symbol of the caves - but in my opinion it looked a bit unrealistic... I was really doubting whether it's an authentic one or just made out of wax. It looks quite displaced and unnatural... But maybe that's exactly the reason why it became that famous.

Sorry, but just... wow! 

Now we finally have arrived in the main hall where we would get on the train again. It's the hall with the highest point: The ceiling is about 40 metres over your heads - don't forget that we're still deeply under the ground!
There also was a souvenir shop in this hall...  Commercialism is everywhere -___-;

Haha, just look at this locomotive! Can you see the plus and minus poles? I guess it's from the 50's and still works with battery power - I don't want to know how much electricity it consumes xD
But somehow it causes a nostalgic feeling~




We sat in the first row again ^___^

Hard to see, but here we have a groundwater lake. Did you know that the proteus, the "human fish" is living here? It only lives in very few cave lakes all around the world, so of course it also was an attraction here. I also wanted to see one...

And indeed, here we have one! ^___^ You also can visit a vivarium where some of them are presented to public. But of course you shouldn't annoy them with light, so everything inside was quite dark...
Besides to that some other animals are living in the caves: Mainly spiders, bugs, water fleas, all  kinds of small insects. I even saw a bat fluttering around~

Oh yes, before I forget: On some walls many people have written their names. Today of course it is forbidden, but in earlier times every visitor and passant signed the walls in an "I was here" fashion. The oldest entry is from around 1300!

Okay, finally back in the car. I couldn't resist buying a magnet with a photo of the caves as well as a plush human fish - say hello to "Rosie" ^___^ (don't laugh, it was my first thought when seeing it... I guess it was because of the colour~)

On the way back home. Look how deep the clouds were hanging between the mountains!

...And the evening! Do you remember my promise to return to the pizzeria once more? Well, this evening we did since it was my last one... I invited my parents and we enjoyed it very much!
Again I had a mango juice and this time the full version of the "Antisklerosa" pizza - last time I shared it with my Mom, as well as the tuna salad.
A great sign-off of my short trip indeed! ^___^

After dinner we took a farewell work again, and just look what we found! Dad as well as me were fascinated from this Cadillac - somebody had married and used it as the wedding car ^___^



That was how a great day ended!~





I'll write another short entry about the day of my return home, but mainly the holidays ended on this evening. Although it was just a short time I made best use of it and enjoyed it very much! I also would love to return to Austria and the surroundings for taking some other hiking tours and relax in this clear atmosphere... But it was the right thing to get a first impression of everything~

Also a very very big thanks to my parents who made this trip possible!~

It already has been a while since then and I have stumbled back into everyday life too fast, but I still can feel the positive memories and the recreation I was able to enjoy~ Really great short holidays! ^___^



Thank you for reading and see you soon!
Junsui~