laimeduck Posted August 1, 2023 Author Share Posted August 1, 2023 1 hour ago, Robinhood said: It's even worse when the people at both ends have no idea what they are talking about 🤔 Je ne comprend pas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted August 4, 2023 Share Posted August 4, 2023 Not to alarm you but we're having some major floods in Slovenia right now. Including washed away MH as per the news, photo attached Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted August 4, 2023 Author Share Posted August 4, 2023 Spirou ...Thanks for the info...... Lake Bled? Also reported in Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia, many killed due to falling trees. We'll monitor the situation. We don't leave until 29th August. Jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted August 4, 2023 Share Posted August 4, 2023 Pretty much entire country is underwater to some degree. Most extensive damage so far in the north. Bled possibly included although I haven't seen any reports from there specifically and it's not directly impacted by any river or stream, but areas just outside most definitely are. Current storm system is passing to the south of Ljubljana and more is to come until tomorrow evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted August 5, 2023 Share Posted August 5, 2023 Not affecting you and yours, I hope? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted August 5, 2023 Author Share Posted August 5, 2023 The storm is reported to now be heading for Croatia and Bosnia-Herzogovina for the next couple of days. A month's worth of rain in 24 hrs in Carinthia Austria and Slovenia! I too hope you are OK Spirou? Whereabouts in Slovenia are you? We are keeping an open mind about visiting this area now, but looking at the pressure maps and jet stream forecast for the next couple of weeks it looks like high pressure will return and help dry things up. Not that I am a meteorologist but it looks like the Jet stream was responsible for the storms .... it was/is coming across the Atlantic in a straight line scraping Lands End then straight on down the Western side of Italy. More of a winter position. Hence all the low pressure systems over the Med and Adriatic. In summer it normally loops up in the Atlantic towards Norway? Jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted August 5, 2023 Share Posted August 5, 2023 Jeremy, a little suggestion for you in case you haven't Picked up on it. In Western Slovenia, only about 11 miles SSE from Trieste, is a small village called Hrastovlje. In the village is a small, fortified, church (The Church of the Holy Trinity). In the church is the most beautiful, painted, medieval "danse macabre" - in extraordinary condition. I don't want to say too much, as it might spoil the impact if you visit. We went in 2008, en route to Hungary, and were absolutely spellbound. One of the most memorable and atmospheric places I can remember visiting. A vivid testament to the insecurities of the time. It seems to have changed little in terms of accessibility. GPS coordinates here: N45.50975 E13.90136. Assuming you don't coincide with a coach party, you should have no problem parking! There were very few visitors when we were there - which was good, I think for much of our visit we were the only ones except for the lady who had the key. (There was a notice explaining where to find her, but as it happened she was already present.) There was no charge for entry. Spirou may possibly know more about the current visiting arrangements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted August 5, 2023 Share Posted August 5, 2023 Was thinking of writing an update but didn't want to hijack an insurance thread 🙂 Long story short, after several weeks of intermittent short and intensively windy localised thunderstorms (even a tornado a few days ago) like the rest of the Alps, this rain event since Thursday and its floods are quite possibly the most extensive in known history. Several rivers came near or surpassed recorded flows and obviously the associated resulting flooding. The difference this time is not just the individual river levels, there were terrible floods before, even recently, but that it affected pretty much the entire country. That flood wave is now also affecting Croatia and further towards Serbia where they didn't really have that much rain if any. That said, northern dalmatian coast and all the tourists in campsites had some "fun" times yesterday evening. I'm in the part of Ljubljana where we were mostly lucky (unlike 2010/14) also due to some recent major flood prevention measures. But it was close. About 15cm below the edge close. Northern/eastern parts of Ljubljana along river Sava were less fortunate but again, not nearly as much devastation as many other places near and far. I personally know quite a few people who didn't have the same luck. Some places are and will be unreachable by road for quite some time, even some motorways were flooded and closed until recently. Some news in English but I not much more than I've seen released by Reuters etc. Local news are all about the floods if anyone is really interested. https://sloveniatimes.com/slovenia-under-water/https://sloveniatimes.com/damage-after-apocalyptic-flooding-to-pass-e500-million/ Hrastovlje... I'm afraid I can't help much other that it's in the area that hasn't been affected by flooding. And while I've been in/thru the village several times I'm just not interested in that painting to ever bother taking a closer look. Anyway, there are many worthy places rarely visited by tourists of any kind, if anyone would like some personalised suggestions. It depends on available time and interest in what you want to see/do. And obviously, how fast they recover from these past few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted August 5, 2023 Author Share Posted August 5, 2023 A reply to both Brian and Spirou. As far as I am concerned it's my thread so you haven't hijacked it! Our plan was to come down through Austria and over the Wurzenpass and then travel down the Soca Gorge from Kranjska Gora and then probably head towards Ljubljana. After that was undecided although I wanted to revisit Jajce, hence my need for Bosnian Insurance cover. After that a bit of nose following around the Balkans but tracking back to UK via the Dolomites. So Brian your church will be on the list for our return towards the Dolomites. We can be away for about 45 days or more. Spirou I would welcome some personalised suggestions from you. We love the mountains (hence the passes) we like small non-touristy places that are as natural as possible and still inhabited by locals ...... we enjoy walks but my hips now dictate about 3 miles max! We tend to pitch on campsites then explore the area on 125cc motorbike or electric bikes. I have just received this picture today from my friend who lives in Reutlingen near Stuttgart .... 30cm of ice fell in the fom of hail ...in August!!! So Spirou ... you are not alone! Jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtravel Posted August 5, 2023 Share Posted August 5, 2023 Geez, on our way to Greece we just crossed the four countries (SLO, HR, SRB and NMK) without problems. But we left Italy where storms, windturning and hail devastated the north. I wouldn' turn the topic into politics but I remember someone from the States saying that global warming is an invention of fake scientists. Re-geez Max Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HymerVan Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Just on the subject of chatbots and chats. It does seem to me that there is a trend towards making communication with customers more difficult or at least on the terms and by the narrow channels dictated by the provider. It seems to me ironical that some of the companies most difficult to contact are communications companies ! I think many organisations use a bot i.e. a computer program to filter, triage if you will, enquiries and that part of the system may deal with a portion of enquiries by giving standard answers and/or directing to internet resources. However the bot may then direct the customer to a real living person, who may in turn escalate the query to a specialist. The layer(s) with a real person are still a chat but it will be a more focussed chat and may even produce an acceptable answer. I have recently had this experience with my internet service provider who would only offer full fibre solutions at renewal (something incidentally which I believe will become more widespread/the norm as BT/Openreach pursue the policy of dumping their traditional copper wire network). Ultimately my query was dealt with in a technically acceptable manner even though they wouldn't do what I wanted and I have been bounced into full fibre. The main problem though is that the chat is very slow, presumably because the chat operator is dealing with a number of chats simultaneously. As mentioned the ability to download a transcript is valuable. So my view is that if a chat is the only option then give it a go and persevere. My resolution as above took over an hour. Speaking directly with the right person would have taken 5 minutes ! If you are in a chat you can politely ask the person if they are a real living person or ask them something like how is the weather where you are located ? In issues with a legal aspect don't forget that you can still write to companies using "snail mail" and here recorded delivery can be useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted August 7, 2023 Author Share Posted August 7, 2023 I agree about the bots/chat bots/chats. In the situations I was in, the "bot" did indeed filter me through to a human on three separate occasions firstly on chat, then on telephone, so the filtering worked. Sad to say that two of these "humans" simply did not know what they were talking about. I was in the process of renewing my existing motorbike insurance which had cover for the EU and Switzerland, Bosnia, Serbia and extending the cover from 30 to 90 days. They renewed the insurance, to cover the 90 days, but ommited Switzerland, Bosnia, SerbiaI from the cover - which I only found out when the certificate arrived. I expected to get professional advice from these people but quickly realised that they simply had very limited knowledge of their subject. As stated, they did not know which countries were in the EU and one had never heard of Bosnia and Herzegovina or Serbia ..... and they made absolutely no effort to rectify the situation. (I will add that all this was done without any heated conversations!) The only "human" who did an efficient job was the last chap when I phoned to cancel my renewal - he was polite, understanding and efficient. So I suppose as usual it depends on who you talk to. The benefit to me of all this:- I have learned more about European Insurance. Your UK insurance covers you for minimum Third Party Only for EU countries plus those who comply with the EU directive. You are only covered FULLY, i.e. Comprehensive or Third Party Fire and Theft if your insurance certificate actually lists EU and those who comply with the EU directive. So Robinhood you were only partly right in your comment "It's even worse when the people at both ends have no idea what they are talking about 🤔" Jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GandJP Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 I have just received this picture today from my friend who lives in Reutlingen near Stuttgart .... 30cm of ice fell in the fom of hail ...in August!!! Not saying its not a lot of hail but the summer months and not the winter are when this is most likely to occur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 Been otherwise occupied but here goes a few nice places in areas that have not been affected by the floods. Be aware that many (mountainous) places are still completely cut off or accessible for emergency use only. Current info on road closures is on https://promet.si/en (also available as an app) One short and sweet hike with a viewing tower near the village of Hrastovlje mentioned by Brian:https://www.hike.uno/mountain/lacna/26/1705 On the other side of the village you have an entire ridge/cliff line with several "peaks". Examples:https://www.hike.uno/mountain/jamprsnik/26/780https://www.hike.uno/mountain/zjat/26/1707 An excellent view over the coast is right on the border with Italy (you can drive all the way up via small road)https://www.hike.uno/mountain/socerb_castle/26/844 If you're cruising on your e-bikes I would highly recommend a tour on the Parenzana along the coasthttps://www.parenzana.info/home.html (different sections possible) On your motorcycle, a more varied tour of small hilltop villages in the rear of the coast e.g. Pobegi - Marezige - Pomjan - Koštabona - Padna - Korte - Seča Away from the coast and more likely to spot wolves than people, another nice ridgehttps://www.hike.uno/mountain/volovja_reber/26/1226 A similar idea as above, note it can be very windy but very nice meadows:https://www.hike.uno/mountain/vremscica/26/571 Cycling/paddling/swimming around Lake Cerknicahttps://www.notranjski-park.si/en/nature/natural-sights/lake-cerknica One of my favorite day trips with a river, caves, natural bridges...https://www.notranjski-park.si/en/nature/natural-sights/rakov-skocjan-valley Must sees along Soča riverhttps://www.hike.uno/mountain/the_large_kozjak_waterfall/1/403 https://www.hike.uno/mountain/great_soca_gorge/1/427https://www.hike.uno/mountain/the_mlinarica_river-beds/1/424 Kolovrat ridge, WW1 open air museum with amazing viewshttps://www.soca-valley.com/en/in-search-of-adventure/culture/2021011121433003/kolovrat-outdoor-museum/ Fort Hermannhttps://www.soca-valley.com/en/in-search-of-adventure/culture/2021010610355699/kluze-amp-fort-herman/ ebike ride up to our highest pass (otherwise a toll road, closed for vehicles above the hut due to landslide taking out the road years ago)https://www.hike.uno/mountain/mangartska_koca/1/93 Another hike from a pass (and a campsite/aire/hut with nice restaurant)https://www.hike.uno/mountain/slatnik_northwestern_peak/1/290 Possible challengehttps://www.hike.uno/mountain/blejska_koca_na_lipanci/1/76 and extension to one of the peaks above the huthttps://www.hike.uno/mountain/brda/1/263 Hut hikehttps://www.hike.uno/mountain/koca_na_ljubelju/11/322 And on the other side from the same trailhead:https://www.hike.uno/hiking_tour/ljubelj_koca_na_prevalu_bornova_way/11/294/414 (if you like sweet stuff, order štruklji with chocolate at the hut) Nice views near Ljubljanahttps://www.hike.uno/mountain/sveti_jakob/5/119https://www.hike.uno/mountain/sveta_ana/26/527 Nice views, very short hike possibly on the way to Bledhttps://www.hike.uno/mountain/sveti_primoz_in_felicijan_jamnik/21/1697 Kolpa river canyon between Osilnica and Vinica has plenty of nice things to see and a bunch of campsites. Also nice bike tour along the river.https://www.metlika-turizem.si/en/portfolio_page/reka_kolpa_kampi-en/ Pohorje mountain range between Maribor and Slovenj Gradec has lots of possible easy hiking/cycling routes. A nice combination of both would be from Areh to Lobnica canyonhttps://www.hike.uno/hiking_tour/ruska_koca_na_arehu_veliki_sumik_waterfall/4/916/8764 A nice short hike with a very Scandinavian feelhttps://www.hike.uno/hiking_tour/dom_na_osankarici_crno_jezero_on_pohorje/4/918/1597 simple bike tour (with a cable car to get you on the ridge from Maribor)https://www.hike.uno/hiking_tour/pohorje_cable_car_ruska_koca_na_arehu_via_razglednik/4/842/1576 Another nice view and slightly longer hikehttps://www.hike.uno/mountain/boc/11/543 All the way in the east there are many thermal baths, quite popular with the motorhome crowd is this one:https://bioterme.si/en/ lots of flattish bike tours in the area as well I'm probably waaaay to long by now so I'll stop it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted August 11, 2023 Author Share Posted August 11, 2023 Spirou...wow! That is nothing short of excellent thank you. I will spend a few hours digesting all that. Jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 I think he works for the Slovenian Tourist Office!! 😄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 Some 20 years ago I learned that tourism is definitely not my career after only very brief exposure to the life of a tour operator representative on a greek island. No thank you 😂 I just like outdoor activities in places rarely/less visited Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted August 12, 2023 Share Posted August 12, 2023 Latest updates by the actual tourist office 😂 https://www.slovenia.info/en/press-centre/news-of-the-tourism-press-agency/24716-practical-information-the-majority-of-slovenia-is-safe-and-open-to-tourists Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted September 10, 2023 Author Share Posted September 10, 2023 Attention Spirou!! Well Spirou we are here in Soca camp in the Soca Gorge in 28C clear blue skies and are loving it! Superb scenery and location which we are exploring. Your "Tourist guide" is excellent and invaluable so thank you once again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted September 11, 2023 Share Posted September 11, 2023 Enjoy. Some afternoon showers/storms coming in on Thursday but otherwise nice weather continues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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