 |
| An incredibly tame Red Deer (female) in a national park near Bled. We were only 15 m from it on foot. |
Hi everybody, we are nearly home! It is 6 October and we have just had a couple of days in Austria before starting the final push to the Fens today through Germany. We plan to be home about 10 October and will speak more and be in touch then. As usual we did not quite get the pictures in order - in fact they are all totally back to front. So if you want to see the pix in chronological order please start with the bottom one and work forward.
Our next post will be after we get home for the final part of the journey and for any review, statistical, end piece news etc
 |
| The cable car up from Lake Bohinge, it seemed to almost go up vertically. |
 |
| The Bohinje cable car provided access to the ski slopes, devoid of snow but good walking at this time of the year |
 |
| All the rivers in the Bled - Bohinge area were crystal clear and often deep and full of fish (we saw a guy pull out an 18 kg carp, he let it go again); here a 6m diving board provides entertainment for the brave. |
 |
| This is a contender for 'bird of the trip' a Ural Owl fond sitting on a barn and in a tree at the Pojluka reserve above Bled. Seeing owls in dayliight is always rewarding and seeing one as rare as this one in the very west of its European range was a real thrill. This biird probably sits on the barn where we found it every day at dusk so if anyone wants the coordinates of the site get in touch. |
 |
| Sadly we did not see one..... |
 |
| The Podjluka reserve has large areas of fine pine and beech trees. |
 |
| A cheeky house sparrow wanted to share mike's cake |
 |
| Bled is a very popular beauty spot in Slovenia mainly because of the pretty little church on an island in the late and an imposing castle overlooking the lake |
 |
| Great Crested Grebe |
 |
| This and the next several pictures are from Ptuj in eastern Slovakia. This ia an attractive way to deal with ugly broken asphalt paving - well it was the arty district of town |
 |
| The town hall, Ptuj |
 |
| These horses were about to take a bride and groom round town |
 |
| The castle Ptuj, this one was free |
 |
| Slovenian pix start here and go up. |
 |
| Hungarian Greys - very rare breed, there was an electric fence between Mike and the bull |
 |
| Lots of thatch near Lake Balaton |
 |
| Paprikas drying Lake Balaton |
 |
| Get a bed, have a meal, take the waters, have a drink and play tennis but watch out the hotels can be a litte nasty caption |
 |
| Fifty years ago Lake Balaton was an ornitholgical paradise but now it is all promenades, hotels and camping sites. |
 |
| Peace statue Buda |
 |
| Parliament building |
 |
| We found a park still being lit by gas |
 |
| Guards at the castle Buda |
 |
| Fine hunting scene statue and fountain Buda |
 |
| Big church Pest - St Stephan's Basillica - from memory |
 |
| Heroes square Pest |
 |
| Opera house Pest |
 |
| The camps site in Budapest - our first camp with other caravans and motorhomes since Apri. |
 |
| Carol discovers an unexpected gluten free section in a Tesco's in eastern Hungary |
Well "Ural Owl" should be the pic of the year. Altogether stunning pix. You must do a calendar - or another book. And Tesco to the rescue! Carol I take back everything I've said about John's addiction to that shop ! He says to congratulate you on skilfully missing the Jubilee, the Olympics, Paralympics, Andy Murray winning Wimbledon and the Party Conference Season.
ReplyDeleteSo pleased to hear you're homeward-bound on the last lap and hope the Fen doesn't seem too flat - in both senses - after all your amazing experiences. Safe journey and of course we look forward to catching up with you before too long.
Lots of love
Beth and John