I sat in my car and drove away early in the morning. Didn't have any particular place in mind, but I was definitely headed northwards. Mostly because you have to swim, sail or fly to go south. There is a big blue stretch of Adriatic sea in between my hometown and the land in the south.
Although I had no destination at the start, now that the little trip is over, it's clear that I was driving towards Motovun ...
... this lovely old town on one of the many hills in the central - northern part of Istra, the peninsula on which I live. I didn't drive into Motovun, only till the restaurant on the nearest hill with a great view of the entire town.
I stopped two times on my way there, and at the point when this photograph was taken, I didn't even know that I'm on the way anywhere in particular. These petrified people, Jesus & co, are situated on the crossroad near the town called Zminj. About 50 kilometers from my hometown.
There is a supermarket nearby, just across the road ...
... and since this is an important crossroad for the development of the area ...
... it is currently being updated. Which means transformed into a roundabout.
The works are progressing quite nicely ...
... under the expert supervision of Jesus himself.
This limestone representation of Calvary was made in 1728 ...
... and has seen quite a few changes in the surrounding landscape since then.
Here you can see some brand new building on the outskirts of town, while in the following photograph ...
... you can take a look at the old center.
The excavators looked like sleeping monsters. I had the feeling that the machines would wake up if I don't keep quiet.
At one point this loud old tractor passed me by.
The road-making monsters didn't wake up.
The next stop was a couple of kilometers from the town called Pazin ...
... when I noticed a line of frost ...
... in the fields under a small, wooded hill. I was about 70 kilometers from home now.
The frost was intensely white and very photogenic.
It looked almost like snow in some places.
I parked the car nearby and walked to the fields. Most of the cabbages were rotting or rotten ...
... but those which retained their shape and color ...
... looked great with these crystal decorations.
The shadows and the light were neatly separated, creating an elegant frosty belt at the edge of the fields.
Some crystals on the edge of that line were still safe in the shadow ...
... while others were slowly melting in the sun.
Here you can see the blue, frost-covered cabbage in the shady foreground, and a glimpse of the sunny landscape in the blurry background.
I spent about an hour here.
There was so much to photograph.
I rarely experience frost in my seaside area, and never this kind of dense, snow-like frost.
My focus was constantly shifting, from the wider view ...
... to the amazing small details ...
... and back.
At one point ...
... I decided that is time to enter the macro world ...
... so I mounted the appropriate lens to see what's going on there.
The minuscule crystals looked great ...
... and I saw two types of them.
The ones in this photograph were photographed on a molehill.
Here you can see how the pattern looked when I removed the macro lens.
I took only a few more shots ...
... before leaving this place.
Here you can see the fluffy seeds of the climbing plant Clematis vitalba.
They looked a bit like snow or Christmas decorations from a distance.
Here you can take a last look at this winter wonderland before continuing the journey.
The third and last stop was in the parking of a restaurant ...
... with the great view. From there you can see the picturesque old town called Motovun ...
... some others, more distant towns & villages that I wasn't able to identify because my geography skills aren't that great ...
... and you can also see plenty of hills, valleys, fields, woods, and mountains of that northern inland area.
I was about 90 kilometers from home when these scenic shots were taken.
I didn't enter the restaurant, just photographed these lovely roses ...
... that are climbing the rear facade of the relatively small, cabin-like building ...
... and then continued downhill, to explore the area that I never visited before.
This type of old threshing machine appeared in the early 1900s and was sporadically in use until the late 50s in this area.
Here you can see a rusted detail from one of those threshers.
A bit further down the path ...
... I came across an outdoor WC ...
... and two more recent old machines.
The driver's place of one of those cars was taken by a wild rose. The thorny shrub was spreading its branches through the glassless windshield.
These are the edible, vitamin-rich fruits of the wild rose.
On the outside ...
... the bodywork was covered with lichens.
I don't remember ever seeing a lichen on the car. The cars were old, but this was something new to me.
The production of The Zastava 750 cars started long ago, in 1955, and they were produced until 1985 with some changes and improvements along the timeline. This model was a product of Yugoslavia and was very popular in my childhood and during my teenage years. As a very young kid, I remember watching the big, wide world from the back seat of this car. Then, as an older kid, I remember driving it without a driving license, across the fields and forests to the sea. It was like a little tractor for me. I had only about a hundred meters of asphalt road where I could get in trouble with the police which was called Militia back then, after that was all wild, unpaved territory where nobody cared about me having a license or not.
Some years later, I drove it with the proper license in my wallet, mostly at night, directed to the discotheques in and around the city of Pula. Or to the sea again, to smoke me a joint in peace and quiet.
These cars looked very cute and cartoonish. A dude couldn't easily be taken seriously while coming out of this small car. Which is good. There was less showing off with cars and other stuff that money can buy. Humor, musicality, dancing ability, and intellect were definitively more prominent than now. In this area, at least.
Another fifty or so meters further, I reached this photogenic abandoned house and some newer houses behind it. This must be some small village, but I can't tell you how is called.
On the edge of the village, not far from the house that you saw in the previous photograph, there was a makeshift shed with another Zastava 750 in it. This one was in considerably better shape. After taking this shot ...
... I walked back to the car.
Before entering and driving away ...
... I spent some more time in front of the roadside restaurant.
I was observing the town on the hill ...
... through the zoom of my camera.
And that's it.
As always in these posts on HIVE ...
... the photographs are my work ...
... THE END.
