Joined 12 December 2020 · 356 posts
traveler, nature lover, photographer, dreamer
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@marianomariano
Strong frost and sun is a paradise for the lens Today's weather was kind to the lens. Even though the sun is very low over the horizon at this time of year, you can feel its warmth. It also makes the frozen snow look wonderful. At times, the frozen snow reflects the sun's rays so strongly that it is impossible to look at it without sunglasses, and the photos come out "blown".
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Peles Palace in Romania - splendor and innovative solutions - my journey through the Balkans Peles Castle in Romania is one of the amazing places where you drive a thousand kilometers to see some beautiful details and details of the building. In Peles, for example, the beautifully decorated stairs are such a detail. The beautiful Palace of Peles is just over 100 years old. The whole story began in 1848. During the Spring of Nations, the then young Alexander Jan Cuza whose revolutionary exploits to overthrow the rule of Moldova had failed and was imprisoned. After 10 years, he escaped from a prison in Moldova, returned to Romania and became the minister of war. This lucrative job meant that this time history turned his way and in 1859 he became the ruler of Moldavia and Wallachia. His reign did not last very long.
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Today I again took the hackneyed route to meet the birds to feed their tummies with energetic nuts. They did not disappoint, although the snow arrived significantly during the night. It is currently about 35 cm. It's a lot, I don't remember such rainfall in Silesia for a long time. Titmouse arrive consistently, like clockwork, at a certain time. I'm waiting for the moment when they start snatching peanuts from my hand. The robin also appears regularly, and is getting closer and closer. He watches titmouse eating seeds from the bench with impunity. He's still shy, but in a few days...?
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Common Stinkhorn - for some creatures like Chanel perfumes It is a fungus that I come across in the forest every summer. It always fascinates with its sophisticated shape and an equally sophisticated smell, which is unbearable for humans, because it resembles the stench of decaying carcass. But to lower-level creatures, it is like an expensive perfume. The phallic shape, which is unambiguously associated by women and men (mainly because of the smell) with the male member, is easy to locate in the beech forest, due to its size and smell. Many men, seeing such a miracle in the forest, fall into complexes. The whole thing hatches from an egg, also known as a "devil's egg", and its diameter can reach up to 5 cm. An egg like this egg is usually ovoid or spherical in shape. In this form it is odorless and edible. They can be eaten raw, fried or pickled. The leg can be very long (for men with complexes, I suggest skipping this paragraph) and it can reach over 25 cm. It has a cylindrical shape and is spongy and delicate. The flesh is tender, but only edible when the fungus is egg-shaped. Of course, supporters of Swedish pickled herring will eat even the ripe fruiting bodies of this mushroom without stuttering. 😁
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An unusual temple in Kyoto - Fushimi Inari Taisha - Tori gates and sacred foxes It is a place that cannot be missed while visiting Japan in the city of Kyoto. Most folders or websites advertise this place as the top 5 must-visit places in Japan. And it is true. We often get disappointed when visiting overrated monuments, but Kyoto and its attractions are not such places. Inari surprises with its size, it is beautiful and you can spend a few hours here. Tori gates Before we get to the labyrinth of paths, which is really called Sembon Tori (Thousand Gates), we will come across a representative part of this complex, i.e. Fushimi Inari Taisha. There is a Prayer Room, the so-called Double Gate, there we can also buy various talismans.
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Mushrooms with unusual colors - Parrot Toadstool or Parrot Waxcap The very first look brings to mind a bird. The color of these mushrooms is surprisingly similar to that of a parrot, it is very varied and variable. The aquatic parrot mushroom can be olive, green, green-yellow, pink-green, lemon yellow, orange in color. There are also other creatures that, due to their coloration, have 'parrots' in the name, namely the parrot fish (Scaridae). The hat may reach a diameter of up to 5 cm, in young mushrooms it is convex, bell-shaped, in older specimens it becomes flat, sometimes curled up, and even turned upwards. The surface of the hat is slippery and sticky and slimy. During the dry season it is smooth and shiny. Occurrence. Gliophorus psittacinus grows most often in groups, it can often be found in the so-called devilish circles. He likes grass in meadows, the presence of moss, pastures, wastelands among grasses or mosses in meadows, pastures, in bushes. In Poland it is a rare species, but if we find its position, it is very extensive, with a large number of specimens. Value: Inedible mushroom.😀
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Udaipur in Rajasthan - the Venice of the East and James Bond's favorite place Rajasthan is by far the most visited region in India. There, too, near the Thar Desert, among dry rocky lands, one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in India - Udajpur was created. The city of Udjpur, the former capital of the kingdom of Mewar, once known as the white city, the Venice of the East, or the city of lakes, is the most romantic place on the Indian continent. The city center is probably known to sympathizers of James Bond, who played film roles there as Sir Roger Moore in the 1983 film "Octopussy".
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The gorgeous Hummingbird hawk-moth, you can go wrong Who among us has not seen a strange flying creature and at the sight of it got a fit of euphoria shouting a hummingbird !, hummingbird, hummingbird! I have encountered such a situation many times, during my travels in all countries of southern Europe and, of course, also in Poland. I was also convinced that it was some southern European species of hummingbird. None of these things, this beautiful double of the smallest bird is just a moth. Its name is Hummingbird hawk-moth, but due to its different coloration, it has different names in other countries. Outside Europe, it also occurs in North Africa and Asia.
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Forest, arboreal edible mushrooms - Do they have medicinal properties? - Oyster mushroom Healing properties of Oyster Mushroom The most important therapeutic effect of oyster mushroom is its antioxidant properties. Another important health-promoting feature is lowering blood sugar levels. It also helps to lower LDL cholesterol in the blood due to a substance called lovastatin. How to recognize it, what does it look like? The mushroom cap can reach up to 15 cm, but there are more branchy specimens. The mushroom is named after its fruiting method. It grows sideways to the trunk and resembles an oyster. You can find many color varieties of the mushroom, from white, through cream, gray, sometimes falling into a graphite or blue shade. There are also breeding varieties that have a beautiful orange color. In the kitchen, we mainly use young fruiting bodies, because the stars are stringy and fibrous. Oyster mushrooms can be boiled, fried and even dried or frozen. Marinated in vinegar is also very tasty.
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Shipwreck bay (Navagio) - Zakynthos, my trip around Greece Shipwreck Bay, or as some say, Shipwreck Beach, is undoubtedly one of the most popular attractions of the island of Zakynthos, also called by the locals Zante, and at the same time one of the most photographed place in Greece. The most famous Greek shipwreck is located on a beautiful beach, among huge cliffs. The location of the beach is so special that it can only be reached by sea. The island does not offer many historical attractions and monuments apart from a few churches and monasteries, but its natural beauty is simply stunning. It is full of wonderful landscapes, amazing beaches, charming coves, olive groves and very nice inhabitants of the island.
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Little known edible mushrooms - Agrocybe praecox The mushroom cap can reach up to 11 cm in diameter. When the fruiting body is young, it has a bell-shaped, then semicircular shape, and flat in old age. Color: cream, light cream, white, light ocher. During the dry season, the surface of the hat is cracked. Young fruiting bodies have a fairly long shell which covers the cap and covers the gills. The hat is thin, delicate and brittle. Occurrence. This is one of the first edible mushrooms to appear in spring. It can already be found in April, hence the name - "early". It appears in clearings, outside the forest, in parks, on the sides of field roads. Sometimes it grows in wood debris, sawdust, most often in groups. Usage: edible mushroom.
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Winter arboreal mushrooms - Mock oyster, Orange oyster Orange-yellow oyster mushroom. The hat can be up to 8 cm in diameter, has a bright orange color, very visible in winter weather. Semicircular in appearance, in the shape of a fan, outstretched with age. Adherent to the ground sideways. The edge is wavy, slightly curled. To the touch, the mushroom is soft, velvety. Occurrence: The fungus is becoming rarer. It grows from summer to fall, but can also be found in early winter. Its location is dead conifers, while deciduous trees are rare. Value: Inedible mushroom.
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A space flight simulator in the Silesian Planetarium - there is power! June 11, after many years of renovation, the modernized and full of technical innovations Planetrarium Śląskie in Katowice was opened. The structure itself and the wide offer of this facility are impressive, but to see everything, i.e. thematic exhibitions, star projection, vantage point and space flight simulator, you need 4.5 hours. As for me, a bit too much for one time, so I decided to visit the Planetarium in installments. However, I was most interested in the space flight simulator and started my tour of the planetarium with it. 10 people divided into 2 groups enter the room with 5 simulators at one time. The first one takes positions in simulators and, under the supervision of the staff, is installed in comfortable armchairs. Now we'll begin! The simulator door closes and an image appears in the goggles. And here is the first surprise! Suddenly, we feel as if half of the simulator is glazed, and we are about to fall out of it. I was reminded of an effect from my favorite science fiction film "Contact", where a capsule with an astronaut flies through a magnetic field and the capsule at some point becomes translucent. Amazing effect.
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Mushrooms in the lens, not only in the kitchen Today it will be a little different about mushrooms, not about their culinary or health properties, but about their undoubted charm and sometimes even grace. Walking through the forests, we often do not pay attention to the artistic value of the species we find. Mushrooms are sometimes in amazing places, in unusual lighting, in unusual situations.
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This woodpecker is much larger and more massive than other birds of its species. It has beautiful plumage with a characteristic red cap, which is found only in the male. This woodpecker has a beautiful brindle and a contrasting white rump. The underside of the body is black, hatched with a pink background. The length of the body reaches up to 30 cm. Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer places in Poland where the natural environment is favorable for this bird. It can be found mainly in reserves in the eastern part of Poland, for example in the Augustów and Białowieża Primeval Forests and in the Biebrza Valley, as well as in the Lublin region and in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains. The species is becoming more and more difficult to spot, and this is closely related to the stand which must be old, aged with a lot of dead decaying trees. Unfortunately, this has become an increasingly difficult condition to meet in recent years. Według danych statystycznych w Polsce występuje około 500 par lęgowych. Jest gatunkiem objętym ścisłą ochroną. When it comes to food, there is no surprise here. Like most birds of this species, the diet consists mainly of insect larvae, it extracts caterpillars and small insects from a swollen tree.
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Dark-scaled knight - little known edible mushrooms The mushroom cap can be up to 10 cm in diameter. As with most of the geese family, at the beginning it has the shape of a bell, with age it opens up to become flat or concave with age. It may have a slight bulge at the tip. The surface of the hat is covered with distinctive colors ranging from gray-black to brown-black. The closer to the edge the cap becomes lighter to achieve almost white at the edges. Occurrence: Tricholoma atrosquamosum grows in autumn, from September to November, sometimes even until December. Her favorite sites are mixed forests with a predominance of deciduous beech forests. It occurs all over Europe and North America. Value: Edible mushroom, underestimated by many, not harvested, often overlooked. This is a mistake. Due to its tenderness and fleshiness, it is a great addition to soups. Marinated also tastes good.
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My trip to Cambodia - Kampot, the plantation of the best pepper in the world. We decided to make our trip to the pepper plantation with the help of a scooter. So we rented a scooter for $ 5 a day and went to the pepper plantation, but as it turned out later, not just pepper as there were many exotic crops there. The distance of about 25 km one way seemed trivial to travel on a scooter, unfortunately Cambodia is not a highway, and most of the route was field paths with holes and stones. It was not pink, I would even say it was red, because we were all covered with red dust from the local soil. We got to the Pepper Farm in Kampot. Admission is free, but you can only move around with a guide. We had to wait a while for the guide to return with the previous group. In the meantime, you can spend time in a local restaurant combined with a pepper products shop.
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The shape of the mushroom is most often slender, club-shaped. The bubonic fungus (Earthen tongue) can be 3 to 9 cm tall. The fungus may be dark brown, through graphite brown to almost black. The head (hat) is darker and almost black. The leg is narrow, often twisted, and it is brighter than the head. There are distinct tiny villi and moss on the stem. The surface of the fungus is dry, sticky and jelly-like during the rainy season. Characteristic villi on the leg of Earth tongues (Geoglossum). Occurrence. The mushroom is on the list of rare mushrooms. It can be found on pastures, outside forests, if in a forest, then in moss or its vicinity. Due to the color scheme it is very hard to find. They usually grow in larger clusters. It appears in autumn, most often in September and grows until November, until the first frost. Value: inedible mushroom
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Fatehpur Sikri or "City of Victory" - India - my journey through Asia The construction of the "Victory City", completed in 1586, is located about 35 kilometers from Agra.It is situated on a low hill in the Vindhya mountain range, the creator of this temple was Akbar the Mughal king. During the reign of Akbar, it was a small village inhabited by stonemasons and was the home of Sheikh Salim Chishti, a Muslim astrologer and Sufi saint. The city was then strategically located in Rajasthan, which brought Akbar and his armies closer to the Gujarat region, whose coastal cities were ideal starting points for trading with the Arab lands.
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Hat reaches a diameter of 3 cm, rarely larger. In young fruiting bodies it is convex and becomes flat with age. Intense scarlet, red color clearly visible. The edge of the hat is slightly rolled up and has a lighter - orange, yellowish color. Leg usually cylindrical in shape, but sometimes also flattened - up to 3 cm high, has an intense red, scarlet color, is smooth and dry, up to several mm thick. The flesh of the mushroom is orange, yellow, light yellow, it is quite delicate and brittle, the smell is imperceptible and the taste is mild, mushroom. The gills are cream, yellow, light orange in color, the closer to the hat, the darker it is. Thick but seldom apart. Occurrence - As the name suggests, the fungus likes an environment where there is a lot of moisture, i.e. meadows, peat bogs, the banks of ponds, water reservoirs. It can also be found in moss. Most often it grows in small groups. It appears in July and usually grows until October. Listed in North America, Asia and Europe, including Poland. Value: inedible mushroom.
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Edible toadstools? Yes! - Warted amanita (Amanita strobiliformis) You have no knowledge and experience? Don't pick up! Most of people associate the word fly agaric with a poisonous mushroom. And rightly so, let it stay that way, because not everyone should collect toadstools. There are many edible and very tasty species of toadstools, but they are reserved for seasoned and experienced mushroom pickers. I do not recommend, even advise against collecting toadstools to people with little experience and knowledge about them. I present the first edible toadstool - the Caesar's mushroom (Amanita caesarea). The hat is white, white and gray. The size may even exceed 20 cm in diameter. Like most of the toadstool family, the hat is round (ovoid, oval), later semicircular, convex due to old age, flat and sometimes concave. The hat is covered with remnants of the film, both on the top in the form of patches and on the sides of the hat.
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A walk around the "Upper Silesian Ethnographic Park in Chorzów" Museum - a memory of summer and a great sculptor I have written about this open-air museum before, but mainly about buildings from various regions, mainly Silesia. Today, however, I will tell you a little about a walk that took place in the summer, and its main point was not the museum buildings themselves, but the sculptor and his work. This is quite an unusual place, because the sculptor is not a substitute, but an authentic creator. Anyway, the whole open-air museum deviates a bit from the convention of a museum, because animals are bred and plants are grown there. This beautiful exhibition of sculptures, and there are over 700 of them, are the works of the sculptor Franciszek Wojtowicz. His works depict characters appearing in the world of tales, songs, folk tales, mainly from the region of Silesia.
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Strange edible mushrooms - Clavaria argillacea Clavaria argillacea does not have a separate hat, it consists only of a long club-shaped leg. The mushroom takes many shapes, ranging from finger-shaped, club-shaped, branched like a slingshot. This fruiting body is light cream in color, but may be clay, yellow, yellow-orange in color. It grows in small clusters. The mushroom can reach up to 15 cm in height. Flesh This mushroom is usually whitish or creamy, very tender and devoid of any characteristic smell or taste. Occurrence: It grows almost all over Europe, in Spain, Scandinavia and Iceland, quite popular. It can be found less and less in Poland, it is on the list of endangered species. If we manage to come across it, it is most often found among grasses, heaths and peat bogs. It grows on the ground. It appears in July and grows until November. Value: Edible mushroom.
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We're frying kites, and how will we be left? - mushrooms fried like meat cutlets You can write a lot about mushrooms in the kitchen, they always know their place, and the choice is huge. My favorites in culinary adventures include, first of all, the popular Parasol mushrooms. This year, on one of the trips, we collected a lot of them, so much that we had a problem what to do with them. Some of them went directly to our table in a fried form, a'la pork chops. The ingredients are not a secret, and they are generally available, except maybe a mushroom called a Parasol mushrooms. This fungus, unfortunately, only occurs during a certain period of time, that is, from summer to autumn, and not in all areas of the world. Nevertheless, it is very popular in Europe.
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Old Goa or Portuguese heritage in an Indian edition - my journey through Asia Old Goa - the glory days of Portugal's reign Old Goa, once a bustling colonial giant city, built on the hostile and humid shores of the Arabian Sea, is a replica of late Medieval and Renaissance European cities. This legacy from Portugal is one of India's most surprising treasures. In the 15th century, these areas were inaccessible, surrounded by the jungle, they belonged to the Sultanate of Bijapur. The first port facility was established by Indian Muslims, the rest were completed by the Portuguese. In the 16th century, they took over Goa, and on a rocky coast full of headlands and peninsulas, they built a dozen or so impressive forts, such as Aguada or Cabo del Rei.
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Zanzibar, Stone Town - the birthplace of Freddie Mercury, Old Fort Before we went to visit the Freddie Mercury Museum, we decided to take a look at the Old Fort, which is also one of the attractions of the capital of Zanzibar - Stone Town. Old Fort in English, Old Fort, and in Arabic (Ngome Kongwe), was built in the years 1698-1701 on the site of a Portuguese church from the 16th / 17th century. In the 19th century there was a prison here, the fort served as a warehouse and even as tennis courts for women. Currently, it serves as a cultural center and theater. Film and music festivals take place here. Among other things, the Sauti za Busara festival of African music and the Zanzibar International Film Festival take place here.
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Mycetinis prasiosmus - autumn mushroom with a garlic smell Mycetinis prasiosmus is a mushroom from the lamellar family. His hat is about 3 cm in diameter. The color of the hat is brown, translucent, slightly ribbed, lighter at the edges. During a dry aura it becomes whitish, faded. Gills light brown, beige, densely spaced attached to the legs. The leg is brown in color, lighter the closer to the hat, thin, cylindrical. Occurrence: Uncommon in Europe, it also grows in Asia and North America. It can be found mainly in deciduous forests on calcareous soils under oaks or beech trees. It appears in autumn and bears fruit until the first frost.
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Walking through the meadows of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland in the summer season, it is difficult to concentrate on a specific goal. Life explodes with a variety of creatures, plants and phenomena. This time I decided to take a look at a butterfly named Dostojka Malinowiec. There were quite a few of them in the clearing, so although the butterflies are quite skittish, the photo session was successful. The insect is quite common in Europe, it can be found all summer, even in early autumn when it is warm, in meadows and forest clearings. The wingspan of this butterfly can reach about 7 cm. The color of the butterfly varies depending on whether it is male or female. The female is more red-olive in color, while the male is red. The name of the butterfly indicates its interests. He is a lover of wild raspberry bushes in the forest. It also often appears in home gardens where raspberries are grown.
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This kitten lives freely in the middle of a large park He is a pet of the Silesian Park who has been living in one place for many years. It is not known where he came from. He accepted the place, the people accepted the cat, the cat accepted the people and the environment. He lives in a very busy and frequented place, but few people know about his presence. Mainly the townspeople know that a cat lives here. His place of accommodation, despite the fact that it is located next to the main walking alley. is shrouded in mystery, and only a few, mainly people who feed the cat, know about its existence. This beautiful kitty goes out for a walk from time to time, or rather the catwalk, to show herself to walkers. He sits in the grass near his den and carefully watches people passing by.
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Microstoma protractum - Mushrooms like flowers - rare mushrooms At first glance, the mushroom resembles a tiny beautiful flower in red, bright red, pink, similar to a small tulip. At the beginning it is a tiny ball with a hole, it opens over time, the edges curl and break, resembling flower petals. The diameter of this socket may be up to 30 mm. The inside of the mushroom is darker, usually red, the outside is lighter in pink with delicate white villi at the edges. The leg is not separated, connected to the hat, it widens upwards, turning into a chalice or a bowl. It has a much lighter color than the cup, white-pink, pink. Occurrence: The fungus is very rare. In Poland, this species is under strict protection! It can be found in late winter in February and grows until April. Most often on decaying litter of deciduous trees, decaying branches. Most often it grows in groups. Usage: Inedible mushroom
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