No Kerosene: Journey Three

2nd May To Lubljana

At seat service…. Yesterday….. today, a train as old as the engine …. But cleaner….. this is an International Inter City train! The local Hungarian internal expresses are considerably better
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track is left – as in UK

Somló

Famous for its white wine

The complex geography of countries that are Slavonic, German & Hungarian

The Usual! – paper work and engine change

As we moved through Slovenia the weather became wet – with constant low cloud. We hardly noticed as early on 3 young sisters, all fluent English speakers, joined our compartment. The journey then simply became conversational – hearing their family history, stories and intentions.

After arrival in Lubljana we received the following message – which we didn’t fully comprehend

We had an evening and morning in which to wander round the centre of Lubljana.

3rd May: To Trieste

Survivors of a different Age

Capable of multiple interpretation

Cultic beliefs?… and modern ‘influencers’…. the institutional & the individual.

Our journey through Slovenia relates somewhat to the history of the region (now ‘nation’) as until the C20th it was historically a ‘cross-roads’ area and consequently has seen multiple changes in its rulership.

Its territory has been part of many different states: the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Carolingian Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Republic of Venice, the Illyrian Provinces of Napoleon’s First French Empire, the Austrian Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Wikipedia

In C20th the territory attempted to create and become part of a ‘south-slav’ nation which was created as Yugoslavia, dismembered (by Germany, Italy & Hungary) during WW2, then re-established under communist rule (but developing independently of Russia control & influence).

Having been part of the Hapsburg dominions in C19th the area had shared in the general economic and industrial developments. This became important when as the ‘Socialist Republic of Slovenia’ (‘Federal Slovenia’) it made major contributions to the economy of Yugoslavia. This contribution encouraged a desire to become more independent and thus, before the major revolutions and changes of 1989 the nation had begun the process of separation. this was concluded in 1990 with the Ten Day War. The nation has consequently avoided all the troubles that beset the other parts of Yugoslavia & has almost merrily become a comparatively affluent member of the EU.

Slovenia is a developed country, with a high-income economy ranking highly in the Human Development Index.[31] The Gini coefficient rates its income inequality among the lowest in the world.[32] It is a member of the United Nations, the European Union, the Eurozone, the Schengen Area, the OSCE, the OECD, the Council of Europe, and NATO.[33] Slovenia was ranked 33rd in the Global Innovation Index in 2023.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenia

Summary of the route through the complex pattern of hills in Slovenia

Welcome to Italy

“Editto di tolleranza”

Porto Vecchio

May 4th: To Napoli

New day, new weather

Rosalba, Luciana, David, Valerie, Philip (etc):
Jacqui and I have become teachers again…. We are surrounded by secondary school kids on a trip! Jacqui has already assisted in teaching some how to open interconnecting doors and directing them to the nearest loo.
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Farewell, briefly, to the Alps

Change at Venezia Mestre

The Drinker’s Guide to European Railways: chapter 36.

“The Issue”

A traveller is delayed unexpectedly, by technical difficulties’ outside Firenze S. M. N station, with an expected delay of at least 30 minutes before arrival.

Action:

advance swiftly to the bar (ensuring one is in advance of other passengers) and purchase a bottle of fine Friulano wine. Drink contents slowly.

RESULT: the train regains life but this becomes a matter of little or no concern. Sleep in a comfortable seat may also form part of the process.

Assessment: why should anyone wish to go to Firenze….. hey folks, stay on Napoli, drink more wine, have fun.

Ecco la primavera,
Che’l cor fa rallegrare,
Temp’è d’annamorare
E star con lieta cera.

Noi vegiam l’aria e’l tempo
Che pur chiam’ allegria
In questo vago tempo
Ogni cosa vagheça.

L’erbe con gran frescheça
E fior’ coprono i prati,
E gli albori adornati
Sono in simil manera.

Ecco la primavera
Che’l cor fa rallegrare
Temp’è d’annamorare
E star con lieta cera.

We are late, very late, but we roar into Tuscany and the edge of Umbria. Some in this group may remember ‘83… and a visit during which one son began to walk on the steps outside Orvieto Cathedral. This fast line ((Bologna to Napoli) has been 40 years in development (more, including planning)….. a real triumph of Italian coordinated determination.

Unfortunately in U.K. during a similar time period similar plans have been made, changed, altered, abandoned.

Our experience in the old communist countries (now in EU) is that similar long term ‘thinking’ is beginning to have a significant impact….. it’s a long hard road…. But worth the journey

Racing towards Napoli
300 kms pr hr

Spring has come apace
To waken hearts to gladness;
Time for lovers’ madness
And to wear a happy face.

The elements together
Are beckoning to mirth;
In this delightful weather,
Delight pervades the earth.

The grass in fresh rebirth
Helps meadows come a-flower,
And every branch and bower,
Is decked with kindred grace.

Spring has come apace
To waken hearts to gladness;
Time for lovers’ madness
And to wear a happy face.

Napoli Centrale

We were very slow to realise that this night was to be important!

Wandering around Piazza Garibaldi, we thought it was a post-match celebration.

Flares – the blue and the white – Together

A Picture Story

The struggle begins

The struggle continues

Success

But where is the white??

Placed in a far corner away from the TV

A wonderful restaurant we’ve used before….. but in this case the camera lies. There has been continual noise outside, including explosions, and now inside a series of celebratory actions… very noisy, including whistles…..Thankfully we are in a corner….. but the atmosphere is fantastic and along with other less enthusiastic locals we wear benign smiles!
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5th May to Ricadi & Spilinga

A night of celebration as Napoli win the League for the first time in 33 years (last time was with Maradona).

Celebratory explosions lasted into the middle of the night and began again at 08.00.

Everyone wants a souvenir

What amazing time to have been in Napoli. We went no further than Piazza Garibaldi.
My first visit to Piazza G was in 1968 and I was shocked by the poverty. A similar feeling existed in ’83…. and at other times …exciting moments walking with and against the traffic (now removed) Since then it has changed but it remains a fascinating place where (like Istanbul) cultures and continents are joined and mixed.
The football brings it all together… both on and off the pitch….. and Napoli at its loudest. Once the championship was secured the explosions began…. A Thunderous cannonade that lasted over an hour…. And occurred at times during the night and earlier this morning.

The atmosphere was always positive….. even when the team was a goal down.
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The bulk of Vesuvio – seen as we pass around on the landward side of the hill.

I first visited in 1968 with John, a college friend, hitch-hiking into Italy to view art and museums. I suffered a fairly torrid time in Rome, after sleeping in the Borghese Gardens and receiving 67 mosquito bites on one side of my face
I counted them, my memory has not failed; I resembled a one-sided plague victim. Lesson: don’t sleep with your head under a bush.
We then headed for Napoli and Pompeii & decided, after working out the height & distance to the summit, we would ascend Vesuvio (height 1,280 metres. 4,200 ft) in the morning. We had a very grim evening wandering through a decaying urban zone eventually finding a beach (of very uncertain quality) at Torre Annunciata. We woke rather wet – it was raining. …. so, we abandon the hill climb, make for the city (ie the one under the volcanic ash called Pompeii) where, as well as (like almost every first time visitors) being astonished at every aspect, we also noticed that the heavy rain showers simply washed away parts of exposed (and unprotected) walls & surfaces.

After the visit we decided on two nights at a Youth Hostel by the beach in Salerno. This was for us, the height of luxury – the whole tour (hitch-hiking from the UK, sleeping ‘rough’) was costed at 14s 6d per day

14 shillings and 6 pence. This is 72.5 pence in present UK currency (c. €0.83). In 2023 it would buy a supermarket discounted 200gm tin of spaghetti in tomato sauce, one cheap avocado or 2 apples.

On returning north & trying to hitch-hike out of Napoli in the area through which the train is presently passing, we spent nearly 24 hours without receiving any offer. We decided to travel separately & meet up again in Lille, Northern France. We spun a coin – and I was 2nd…. so left behind as John departed in a car to Roma. In the early evening a large slow Freight wagon stopped – but, he was bound for Milano…. ‘Wow’…. one lift to the north. After clambering aboard and following a gestured conversation (we had no common verbal language) I accepted the offer of sleep in the bed space behind the seats….. and slept! Unfortunately, not for long as, whilst we trundled north towards the red sky of the setting sun, I woke to find that the driver had taken a physical interest in my ‘private parts’…. his other hand was on the wheel. Somewhat surprised & considering this ‘interest’ was offensive, I hit him.

This was effective – the interference with my crotch ceased, I clambered back to my seat. I knew that this chap would be expected in Milano in the morning & therefore knew he would be unlikely to become aggressive (I was also bigger than him). Therefore despite later night-time ‘offers’ made from the other side of the protective engine block, I simply ‘sat-tight’ & we slowly progressed north. After daybreak – somewhere on the Autostrada beyond Bologna, he found some English… and said ‘You are alright now’…. and whenever he could, when passing under bridges with women on them, made considerable efforts to engage in what is now called ‘up-skirting’. I ended the journey (in Milano) feeling rather sorry for the guy.

Some days later (after further interesting experiences including becoming involved in assisting 2 Czech students on the night of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia that ended the “Prague Spring’ – referred to in Journey Two) I met John in Lille. His condition was not good (he had spent most of this limited finance on photo-slides of art works) & had spent the previous night having, in the dark, accidentally found his way into a Zoo enclosure where, to his surprise, on waking discovered he was sleeping next to a dead moose!

We survived.

Cleaner windows would be nice!

The low stone wall behind the sign is part of the boundary of an important Greek city: _Paestum contains three of the best-preserved ancient Greek temples in the world_ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paestum 

This is also the place where in 1983 the group I was with (having travelled by road from U.K. to Calabria) realised I was unwell. They swam in a grey and churning sea whilst I began making arrangements to visit a doctor (in Rome).

The Inter city train. Technically we are 1st class… but a continual high pitched noise from the aging air conditioning system, plus equally ineffective lavatorial systems make the journey less comfortable than it should be. Added to that is the strange behaviour of another passenger and young men who tried insisting they could smoke in the doorway of the carriage. All is fine, the views are good and the seas are beautifully azure.
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Irritating journey: noisy air-con and aggressive, troublesome lady

Lamezia, Change trains

Welcomed at Ricadi Station we are taken to our accommodation.

We have arrived at Seaview…. Next 3 nights are here in the gentle, peaceful warmth of la primavera

An evening meal with the core members of ICRE – Pasquale, Vittoria & Anna have been involved with our partnerships since 2011.

Seaview has become a regular base for our visits and the final EU funded partnership meeting for the Green Bridges Project was held here 2021 when Covid restrictions were only just being relaxed.

We’ve been visiting first Vibo Valentia & Spilinga since 2005 and not just for partnership work.

Hopefully the links established over the years will continue.

Background to our Calabrian Links

Calabria was an important EU partner from 2005. Our projects were intentionally linked with peripheral (and often less affluent) regions. Calabria is one area of Southern Italy that has suffered neglect, employment opportunities and other social difficulties – but having personally visited south of Napoli in 1968 & then Calabria with students in 1983 & ’86, we were delighted, in our 2nd partnership project, to be able to link with local groups. Strong connections & friendships have developed through those links.

Our first Calabrian partners were the technical High School in Vibo Valentia – led by Rosalba & Luciana. They joined our 2nd Project in 2005 & remain linked to recent work in Spilinga.

In project with Vibo Technical School we met Pino Paolillo who is WWF representative in the area. We toured an important local nature reserve (and I was lucky enough to see an Osprey swoop onto the lake & take a large fish).

He also contributed to our last EU funded project:

After 2011 our links extended to Spilinga.

Vibo and Spilinga were part of the core network in our partnership work, alongside partners in Poland & Iasi.

Including Spilinga into the activities spiced our partnerships in very specific ways. Their interests in conservation of environment & culture, encouraged a sharing by partners & development in 2016 & 2019 of two environmentally focused projects.

Traditional Music & Dance became important in partnership visits….

……..as was the local delicacy:

traditionally produced….

…. and celebrated by all visiting partners

There was also one other – gradually evolving during the years in which we visited

Celebrated in 2018

6th May

Ricadi

The local onion.

In the evening we were to be hosted by Vittoria – and at Seaview there was a special event…. but before we left introductions were made & Luciana danced …..

Somehow a visit to Calabria without music and dance would have been inappropriate – and it also felt so appropriate to have Luciana dancing, as, in 2004, she, & Rosalba, first greeted us to the area on Vibo-Pizzo railway station.

The Dance Continues

And lightly dance
Some triple-timed romance
In coupled figures, and forget mischance…
Thomas Hardy

Sunset over Stromboli….. the last time we encountered ‘stromboli’ was in the snows of Turku, Finland…. as a restaurant delicacy.

Spilinga

But tonight something else is being celebrated…….

Celebration of success: Presentations to local football team who won the regional league

Franco (on the right), hosting the event

7th May

A day of no travel, no commitments…. just spent ‘mooching around’ in the warmth…. but with lunch at Seaview

We mentioned our first journey to Calabria made in 1983 – and Cirò wine…. so were then presented with a litre bottle to drink!

Sunset on the 7th – & an impending weather change

A somewhat appropriate conclusion to our brief visit

Spilinga, a place, for Brits, of farewells

The Last Meeting
of Green Bridges our last EU funded Partnership Programme

On 31 January 2020 at 23:00 GMT (00:00 1 February 2020 CET) UK left the EU.
Though not a requirement of the departure the UK Government decided to also withdraw from cooperation projects such as Erasmus Plus.

Thus the final partnership meeting of our EU project, held in October 2021 occurred after the UK had left the EU.

It is fortunate for our memory that this final event occurred held in Spilinga. ICRE’s vision of cooperative community environmental & cultural action was a near perfect match to the aims of UK groups. ICRE members in many ways provided the ‘Engaging Spirit’ to all the efforts made over nearly 20 years of co-operative international effort.

The final meeting in 2021 encapsulated that spirit in dynamic fashion.

‘Eat, Drink and Be Merry,’ for you are (in EU terms) already dead.
We, from the UK, eat, danced and song our way to an undesired oblivion

Oblivion is a state of ‘not-knowing’ & may be painful (or joyous) depending on how one personally feels & reacts to being aware of ‘not-Knowing’.

In this case, the oblivion occurred through formal disconnection with those to whom we once had multiple connections (some of which survive – which therefore can increase the sense of being in ‘oblivion’)

For those of us who were deeply involved in supporting partnerships, the state of oblivion is painful – not simply because we, personally, cannot participate but because, having seen the considerable and varied benefits, are agonised knowing that others will never know, understand, gain or benefit from that which had once been available.

Oblivion (in EU terms) was only for the Brits who were present. Others could sing, drink, dance, stomp, chant & celebrate the increasing Post-Covid freedoms.