PØK-BLOK

Summer holiday #4 - Norway (Mistra)

Another week, another cabin. A few months ago we agreed with Vlado, that he would bring his daughter Stella to Norway and together with Lukas we would spend a week somewhere. I found a relatively remote cabin (Nordstustua at Lomnes-Mistra), right next to a famous big-trout river Mistra in Rendalen, 3 hours drive from Oslo. We had very relaxing and simple time there and despite the rainy weather enjoyed every day.

The cabin and blue sky - is that even possible? We set up a terrace using a tarp, which increased our comfort during frequent rainy periods

View from our door

Old bridge - one of many promising fishing spots close to the cabin. Conditions were amazing, but I was not getting any fish here. Even with a wobler specifically designed for Mistra. Btw., a fishing shop May & Fred in Åkrestrømmen is the place to shop!

Around the cabin

Lukas got his first fishing rod and we made a great team. Usually, I was fishing with him 1 hour during the day and when he fell asleep (usually around 21:30), I fished alone till 23:00. We were not getting anything (actually, we got a lot of water plants), but we had good time around the river anyway. It was like salmon fishing. And I met several fishermen who were getting nice fish (1-2kg trout). So there was hope.

A calm section of Mistra above the "New dam"

Lovely path along the river

One of many nice camping places along Mistra

There was a lot of water in the river

Sølen mountain. So near, but so far.

Lukas discovered a T-Rex sceleton in the sand!

Finally, I got a big trout (55 cm; 1.7 kg). I walked 3,5 km through soakwet forest, right after the thunderstorm at 22:00, fished 10 minutes, got this beautifull fish and walked back We were eating it the whole day (I made a soup and fillets).

Another lovely view at Mistra. We will be back!

Summer holiday #3 - Norway (Langsua)

We arrived from Sarajevo to Oslo without any plan where to go for another week trip. After few hours of internet searching we booked an old cabin in Etnstølen, on the borders of Langsua national park. Only 4 hours driving from Oslo, this place offers great mixture of farming, mountains, lakes, rivers and good views toward Jotunheimen. And we have never been there before!

Large viper in front of our cabin's terrace

Beautifull small Etne river. Unfortunatelly too warm for fishing, but great for bathing

Goats, cows and sheep all around

Trip to Skaget, the highest peak of the park (1685 m)

A view from Skaget towards a local DNT cabin

A view towards Skaget from one of the smaller tops (Synnhaug)

A view towards Jotunheimen

Fullsenn lake

Fullsennknatten (1080 m)

Summer holiday #2 - Bosnia

Second week of summer we spent in Sarajevo and nearby. Bosnia is an amazing country, with great people, tasty food and fantastic landscape.

There are many tourists in the center, but just go a little further and you will experience an authentic city.

Mixture of cultures and religions everywhere

Escaping the city ie easy - just take a cable way up to the mountains. Great experience.

Not only the food is amazing, they have Kravik there as well!

Evening in the city

If you like roasted lamb, Bagrem restaurant in Jablanica is a good choice.

Boracko lake - good choice for refreshing bath. The road up there from Jablanica is windy, but worthy. And the road back to Sarajevo through the mountains is just breathtaking.

I was amazed by Bosnian's landscape. After long time I experienced a "wow" effect. I have been in countries like Peru, New Zealand, Canada, USA or Japan and Bosnia could be ranked among them. Just 30 minutes drive from Sarajevo (which is just 50 minutes flight from Vienna) leads you to deep valleys, vaste plains and steep mountains. Below are some pictures from our two half days trips (Boracko - Sarajevo and Sarajevo - Lukomir).

Completly different world. Instead of waiting at the Vienna airport for 7 hours for our flight to Oslo, we jumped to the Technical museum in Vienna. Great place!

Summer holiday #1 - Czech Republic

First week of summer holiday = The Czech Republic (Praha/Hranice/Brno). Visiting family and friends. Trying to work as well. A lot of swimming. Almost no draft beer!

We landed in Prague right into a huge blackout. Despite all the chaos, we managed to reach Hranice with only 100 minutes delay.

Summer in Hranice is always nice. Great facilities for kids, however a real tank was one of the biggest hits. This picture shows a statue of stork with real stork nest on its top.

A few days in Brno... I miss all the books we have there. Here, my book "Sbohem, sedmikrasky" meets her younger sister, "Perly vychodu".

It has been almost a tradition - visiting Louka, Sika, Vit and Vojta in Hostenice, grilling and sleeping in Louka's caravan.

Moravian Provence - check Louka's webpage here.

It is posible to see Palava mountain from the Provence.

Planet exhibition in Brno

Pinse in Bergsjø area

50 days after Easter Sunday is Pinse, also known as Pentecos. It is a major Christian holiday, marking the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ. For me, being from a former communist country, where we have never celebrated it, it is just another free day from work and possibility for a long weekend. So lets go north-west from Oslo, to check a cabin in Vats. We stayed in a deep green farming valley with Bergsjø mountain area just a few km behind us. While there was almost summer in the valley, there was still some snow in the mountains. Great place with local feeling, good fishing and encounters with farm (sheep, horses, goats) and wild animals (fox, badger, eagles).