Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Crocus => Topic started by: Janis Ruksans on October 14, 2013, 06:21:52 PM
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Few hours ago I returned from Crimea where I went to check morphological features of Crimean Crocus speciosus. As you can read in my paper published this summer, researches made by Brighton et Co showed that Crimean plants genetically are very different from type subspecies grown in Georgia. My target was to found features how to separate them morphologically and I suppose that I succeed in this not easy task. So I would like to name Crimean plants as subspecies ponticus (Latin name of Crimea is already used for Crocus tauricus) by old name of Black Sea. Still remain to check another genetically different form growing wild in NE Turkey, but this must wait till next autumn. On attached pictures you can see me and my Ukrainian friend Dima Zubov and Crocus speciosus pictures made on W end of Ai-Petri Yaila.
Janis
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Here you can see our guide on Ai-Petri - Ilya, great lower of nature, speleologist and forest guard, Those Crocuses are pictured below Tschatir Dag yaila. We were quite late but very luckily as two days before our coming there were heavy snowing and even minus 4 C. On Tschatir dag yaila still were snow, but at our visit midday temperature reached + 25 C and we were in real summer. Autumn was not pleasant in Crimea this year. Since mid September up to last days there were endless rains and very cool. Pictured crocuses are the last ones in season.
Janis
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Many nice forms of speciosus!
The dark one (Tschatir-dag2) reminds me of the cultivar Oxonian.
Poul
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When I visited Crimea for the first time I didn't give great attention to specific features of Crimean speciosus, following traditional view that it is identical with type subspecies from Georgia. After seeing of plants later described by me as subsp. ibrahimii and subsp. sakariensis and finding the specific morphological features of subsp. bolensis, I found article of Brighton et al. It gave me great doubt about former status of Crimean plants just for their genetic features - number and morphology of chromosomes. So I returned to Crimea and with the first plants checked I found the real difference from others and all complex of features well allow to separate it from other subspecies. The main features we can find underground - just on corm tunics. They are papery, thin but contrary to other subspecies subsp. ponticus has very distinct and very wide basal rings. Neck of old tunics generally is absent or rarely very short (up to 2 cm). On Ai-petri between 30 checked plants one had long neck, and on Tschatir Dag where I checked more than 100 specimens, two were with long neck of old tunics, but some such individuals (falling out of general concept) I saw between other subspecies, too.
More interesting is position of stigmatic branches. Generally in subsp. ponticus they well overtop anthers, but there were few groups with stigmatic branches hiden between anthers and one group without stigmas in flowers at all. I collected few plants from each and kept separately for comparing in future under cultivation conditions.
Janis
P.S. Would be pleased to read your opinion!
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Here picture from group where crocus flowers were without stigmas. Picture too dark, but I havn.t better.
Janis
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Passing three days in home I again packed my backpack for far road - now to Armenia where our forumist Zhirair promised to show me Armenian populations of Crocus speciosus. To reach Armenia from Latvia isn't easy. There are no direct flies to Erevan and all what I found on internet were expensive, very long and of "unhuman" time schedule - starting at one day I could reach Armenia only next day. Fortunately Vanadzor where lives Zhirair is midway between Tbilisi in Georgia and Erevan, so I selected flight to Tbilisi - much cheeper and more comfortable by schedule with change in Kiev (Ukraine). There are direct flight from Riga to Tbilisi, too, but only 3 times in week and for my very busy schedule and great travel plans this autumn - it was not useful.
Weather before my coming was quite wet and cold. Mountain tips were covered with fresh snow and seeing this from my plane's window I had deep doubts about success of my trip.
In Tbilisi Zhirair waited me with his wife's brother Aren who was our driver during this trip. Border passing was without problems adding only two new stamps in my passport - Georgian and Armenian. Our first target was Crocus speciosus population near Ijevan where we turned up in mountains to old church complex - 4 closely spaced churches - eldest from 7th century AD and youngest from 12th century. Quite soon we spotted first Crocus flower deep in shrubs, but near churches there were thousands of them but only in shrubs and on very side of forest, no one on open field.
On this entry I'm showing few pictures of Armenian mountains maid by road to Ijevan and Ijevan churches. Weather was cloudy, but in short moments sun shined through clouds. Zhirair's charming wife Alla called him and told that in Vanadzor are heavy raining.
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Now last pictures of Ijevan church complex and few of Crocus speciosus seen there, just near churches. Crocus speciosus there are growing only in shade, under trees and in shrubs. In this aspect they are close to Crimean populations. As in Crimea, on open field they are growing only at very edge of forets and most abbundantly at spots were rubbige is thrown.
Janis
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Outside of churches (surrounded by fence) was strange large stone construction with water spring in middle. There were left hundreds or even thousands of Crocus speciosus flowers. Saw on field we saw only remnants or those which came out later. Was it some donation to God or even ancient Gods or something else - I don't know.
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Best specimen there was found by Zhirair. I passed it some meters side of it. It was purest white speciosus specimen. In my travels I saw only 3 white blooming Crocus speciosus individuals - one on Crimea (not purest white, but could be accepted as such), another was subsp. bolensis (it didn't bloomed with me yet, so I can't judge howreally white it is), but now I saw really purest white. Common cultivar 'Albus' has straw yellow throat, but in this from Ijevan even throat is glistening white. Greatest advantage is that it is good splitter. There were clump from 2 flowering plants (one in bud), two without flowers and some cormlets. So will be good garden plant. Zhirair decided to name it 'Anahit' by ancient Armenian goddess of love and fidelity. Same name has his mother, too. I think very good choice. On first picture is plant with open flower in wild, on following two is that one collected in bud and potted. It nicely opened on Zhirair's apartments balcony. To compare - one more traditionally coloured specimen. On last picture you can see Zhirair in front of church complex.
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Ijevan is not very far from Vanadzor, so we return back to Zhirairs home. Next morning we will start for 2 days long trip to very SE end of Armenia - district of Goris where is another population of Crocus speciosus. Night was cold and in mountains were snowing. Snow went quite far down as you can judge by picture #1, but day is warm and sunny. Road is far going up and down, passing several ridges and finally in late afternoon we reach Goris. In front of us are black (really black) clouds and it looks that there is raining cats and dogs + hail. It seems that elements pass us and we got only short shower. In Goris we at first are taking very good lunch - kebabs and beer for me and Zhirair and cola for our driver. Short talk with pub-owner and we know where to drive for crocuses. Temperature dramatically dropped, it is only some degrees above zero. Sky is partly closed by clouds, it is quite dark, but we want only to find the locality for returning next morning. Soon after passing city-border starts cultivated fields - and there it is - growing in incredible numbers on ploughed up field were just-just are sawn wheat. And it is covered by crocuses. Not easy to judge - where are more crocuses - on recently ploughed field or on that which was cultivated a year before and now left untouched. On untouched grassland there are very few specimens only and nothing in shrubs. So this is Crocus speciosus type which gives preference to open fields contrary to most of others which prefers shrubland. On open fields I saw only subsp. bolensis and archibaldiorum. All others preferred shaded position entering open meadow only at borderzone with trees or shrubs. Here just opposite. Only Crocus bolensis seem equally comfortable both - on open yaila and under trees, but in very light conditions. Subsp. archibaldiorum I collected only few samples by leaves, on open spots, but I don't know is it growing in shrubland or not.
Here was hail and all crocuses are broken down and have damaged flowers. Only very few stay with undamaged buds.
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Night we are passing in hotel Goris and in morning after good breakfast return to this crocus site. It is partly cloudy, quite cool (during this trip we expected dramatical changes of temperature during day - from + 17 C to minus 4) and crocuses are very lazy to open. But some pictures are possible. Question is - what is this crocus? When in evening I saw color pattern - my first idea that it could be subsp. archibaldiorum. Geographically it is very close to its area and outside colour has prominent wide stripes although of different pattern than on Iranian plants. But flower colour in crocuses are very variable. Now I judge inside colour. Throat colour is almost invariably lighter or darker yellow, position of stigma in most cases is at tips of anthers or only slightly overtopping them, but it is very variable. I found specimens with stigmatic branches well overtopping anthers. On last picture - Zhirair and I on tilth crocus field.
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As on every ploughed field crocus corms lie extremely deep. More easy to collect some samples on parts which where not recently ploughed up. There soil still are dry and not sticky, but on those which were ploughed and sawn - yesterdays rain entered deep and clay became extremely sticky. In such situation Zhirairs small spade is very comfortable, but my dandelion digger which is very handy on rocky soil, here is almost unusable. But ploughing pushed thousands of corms on surface. Many are damaged, many killed by sun but there are plenty of perfect corms - only one fault - it isn't possible to judge about colour of flower. My favourites are deeply coloured specimens with well expressed striping. Zhirair more is looking for deeply coloured or very light specimens. Unfortunately most of flowers are damaged and those coming up now still closed. Variation here is extremely great but not so easy to catch it on pictures. Zhirair found one of his dream plants - it is perfectly deep purple-lilac flower completely without nervation, but it was completely out of "photogenic shape".
We are going further and there again new and new cultivated fields. Here they were still not ploughed so completely covered with flowers. It is something higher by altitude and so blooming started earlier, but flowers are generally lighter and more uniform in colour.
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Not easy to prepair herbarium sheets - bulbs are very deep in soil and flower tube is so long that my travel press is too small for them and I must to bend stem. On this entry some more pictures from Goris population (between them one of lightest seen by me, but not collected) and at end Zhirair with our driver Aren staying on crocus field. Really it is one of richest crocus fields seen by me. Something similar I saw only with Crocus heuffelianus in Eastern Carpathians and in some place of Crocus chrysanthus where it densely covered yaila in central Turkey.
Crocuses accompany us almost up to border with Republic of Nagorny Karabach. They grow in full sunshine on every cultivated field, but nowhere between stones or in forested areas. By corm features it looks as archibaldiorum, but final decision can be maid only after DNA checking. Ecology, colour type (although different), geographical situation and morphology strongly resembles C. speciosus subsp. archibaldiorum.
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It's really fascinating to see these pictures from Crimea and Armenia Janis; landscapes, people and beautiful plants that most of us have little chance of seeing otherwise. Thank you for showing them.
Why do you think crocus populations near Goris seem to prefer cultivated fields? Could it be that ploughing disperses cormlets, or that regular disturbance of soil structure suits them better?
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It's really fascinating to see these pictures from Crimea and Armenia Janis; landscapes, people and beautiful plants that most of us have little chance of seeing otherwise. Thank you for showing them.
Why do you think crocus populations near Goris seem to prefer cultivated fields? Could it be that ploughing disperses cormlets, or that regular disturbance of soil structure suits them better?
I suppose that cultivated fields has more nutriments. Corms there were gigantic - in average around 3 times or even more large than at Ijevan where they grew in shaded areas. Really they were of same size as those offered by commercial growers.
I suppose that those from Goris genetically needs more sun, but those from Ijevan prefers more shaded position. There were open fields at Ijevan surrounded by crocuses but no one in full sun, but at Goris only very few on field edges and almost no one in shrubs. Another feature noted at Goris was forming cormlets in abundance, although at Ijevan we found cormlets, too, but not so abundantly. On first field blooming only started as digging some flowering corm we opened several with shoot tips close to soil surface and several which only started to show nose out of corm.
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Passed some time from my last entry. I was very busy in garden and after that together with my wife went to holidays in Turkey - real holidays with only one crocus for which I was looking and 2 more species pictured by the way. But now back to Armenia
Zhirair brought me just to border with new state - Nagorny Karabach. Now there was referendum and people voted for independence - so there are real border with border guards, custom and even visas (price 30,- Euro) which you can receive at border check-point. In this entry some not-crocus pictures of Nagorny Karabach, Monument to Armenian soldiers which died fighting for freedom of Nagorny Karabach.
After that we went to famous Tatev Monastery. There is long funicular to Monastery (they wrote that longest way between two supports over huge canyon in the world), but it was Monday and just on Mondays funicular not works. So we drive by long serpentine down in canyon and again up by opposite side. At bottom are bridge - named Devil's Bridge (partly natural, only improved) to opposite side of gorge. There are hot water springs and even bathing basins, but I didn't tried swimming.
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We tried to visit another spot with Crocus speciosus but it was very late and too dark for research, so we returned back to Vanadzor. Next day Zhirair brought me to his garden - in some distance from city. There I saw his Crocus speciosus cultivars in full bloom. So in this entry are two of his varieties - 'Vahagni' and 'Cloudy Sky' - both very floriferous and both comes from surroundings of "somewhere near Vahagni". At Vahagni is garden of Zhirair's colleague, who improved her garden with soil somewhere from vicinity and together with soil came some very beautiful crocus corms. I think that Zhirair must to search for their original locality. On pictures you can compare both varieties. On last picture Leonid Bondarenko's variety 'Late Love' - with smaller flowers and not so good increaser but blooming in same time.
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Of course - we visited garden not only to see it and its crocuses (I very wanted this) but Zhirair used this visit to plant some crocuses which we collected at Goris. Here you can see some pictures how this process is done and on last picture - place prepared for new roses which he bought at Kordess & Sohne Company in Germany (by the way - to buy them he was forced to take credit from bank). He waits for plants everyday calling post office.
Zhirair is even greater perfectionist that I'm. Each stick marks planting spot with accuracy of 1 cm. In evening we visited Zhirair's mother house where his step-father feasted us with fantastic 25 years old Armenian Cognac. By the way - by my opinion Armenian Cognac is the best in the world - according my taste far better than French. Only very few French cognac's something approximates by taste to Armenian's.
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To visit Armenia from Riga isn't easy. My flight back is at 6-00 in morning, so I must to be in airport at 4-00. Road to Tbilisi takes another 2 hours + some time on border between Armenia and Georgia. So in my brain suddenly came idea - to go to Georgia in following morning and to visit some Crocus speciosus locality there. I need herbarium from Tbilisi. It makes driving easier, too. Using Google it was not very difficult to get Czerepashje lake where I know Crocus speciosus locality. Weather in Georgia is much warmer and I'm afraid that no one crocus will be in bloom. Soil is dry and brick hard. But crocuses are, flowers something wilted and only very few of good shape. On picture with Zhirair you can see habitat - here Crocus speciosus is growing between low and spiny shrubs, sometimes coming out from moss, so spot must be quite wet normally, but not this season. Collecting few good specimens and after some pictures we returned back to Airport. There I'm passing all night reading some novel-book and then back to home - to prepare all collected herbariums, to plant new crocuses. Few days in home and again to Airport - now to Antalya together with my wife.
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Few days after returning from Armenian-Georgian trip I again packed my travel bags for new trip to Turkey. My target is Crocus speciosus subsp. elegans. Last year I got 4 corms of it through my friends from Gothenburg BG - two specimens were used for herbarium, one for DNA (which failed - best for DNA research are leaves, corms can be used, too, but sometimes not works in laboratory which helps me) and the last died - didn't came up in spring. So I needed sample for DNA and of course some corms for my collection. I gave me strong limits - only this one crocus, nothing more and offered for my wife to join me. After some doubt she agreed and so in last day of October we started our travel.
We got our hotel at 01-00 in night. Surprisingly, but they hadn't my reservation (repeated twice). In morning was another surprise - one wheel of our car had thin nail in it. Fortunately I was warned by another driver before tire became unusable and with kind help of some Turkish men tire were changed and in next petrol station repaired. Next surprise was that inner electro contact were to attach navigation was out of power. So I had no possibilities to check road. Fortunately I so many times were in Turkey, that really I needed navigation only for coordinates of single gathering. For that was sufficient with battery recharged in home. Air temperature was around +25 and there were no rain before our coming, so I was afraid that no one crocus will bloom and I started to think about another short fly to Antalya for another search if this trip will fail.
But at very first we went to ruins of Perge (picture 02) - magnificent large antique city. Comparing with last time now larger part was opened to visitors. Followed fantastic lunch with ala balik (trout) on road to Gembos Yaila near Akseki and as it still was light enough we went to Crocus speciosus locality. At first stop which looked similar to description given me by Swedish friends, I found it under first roadside shrub. It was large population and later I found that I stopped around 500 m from locality marked by Swedes.
And then third surprise - battery of my camera ended, but luckily I maid several pictures from both - plant and locality (pict. 03). On our way back to main road we maid two another stops and on both were searched crocus, but it was too dark for pictures (I changed buttery after returning to car). As I got everything - we decided to go ahead and slept at Beyshekir. I took few plants in bud for later picturing next day when flowers will open. All three populations were very uniform - flowers were small, almost without stripes on inner surface (they were pale), outside light blue without veining. Throat and flower tube both were glistening white. I didn't find anyone specimen with white anthers, so I suppose that white anthers mentioned by Turkish botanists was mistake and most likely they were sterile anthers. I specially opened some buds to check unopened anthers and they all were yellow. So I was right when in my article in AGS Bulletin put under doubt white colour of anthers. Long neck of old tunics were better expressed on specimens growing in forest and it really was very weekly attached to corm. This subspecies tend to some protection from trees and I found very few on yaila meadow and even those near trees. Many specimens grew just below huge Pinus in quite deep shade. But many specimens had small cormlets at base, so it must be good increaser in garden. I found even several seedpods with seeds still inside. Soil were extremely dry and may be poor shape of most flowers were caused by high air temperature and dryness.
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Janis thank you very much for all this trip that we can "live" with your pics and words. I hope that all these gems will be proposed in your catalogue in.......several years !!!
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Now some more pictures of Crocus speciosus subsp. elegans. I more and more tend to think that it must be regarded as species. Final decision will be made after DNA research. Here you can see corm tunics of it, too.
After night in moderate ParkMotel at coast of Beishekir lake were river falls in it, we went to Pammukale - famous hot water springs and huge Roman city Hieraklion attached to it. Our trip goes through apple districts and we maid some pictures how apples are gathered before preparing of juice etc. Now I think that only juice from my orchard can be used...
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I was before in Pammukale but then weather was rainy and wet. Now it is beautiful, sunny evening. We got excellent hotel (Hal-Tur Hotel) and after leaving our luggage went to warm springs and geological formations. From Roman time buildings I was mostly impressed by Amphitheater - reconstructed from ruins (really from heap of stone fragments) with incredible skill. It is one of "must to visit" objects in Turkey.
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Dinner at hotel was excellent as well as wine (Turkish). Following day we want to visit two objects - the first is quite recently rediscovered and another "must to visit" antique city Aprodisias. There surprisingly well was conserved monuments. Earthquake destroyed city and most of bas-reliefs felt with "face-down" so early christians couldn't destroy heads and other parts. In museum we can see a lot of bas-reliefs and compare those which were "lucky" and escaped Christian fanatics, and those which were victims. The stone-cuttings are so fantastic that I decided to show there some. There are many sarcophagus, no where else I saw so many, so well conserved. And there are still huge areas which arheologists still not recovered.
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Next object is Ephesus. It is famous by reconstructed library of Celsius - one of three most famous libraries of antique world. One was in Alexandria, second in Pergamon and the third is Ephesus. Before seeing of Hieraklions amphitheater, I thought that Ephesus is most fantastic object in W Turkey and certainly wanted to show it to my wife Guna. We had sufficient time for antique city but we didn't went to Christian holy cave of Seven Sleepers - our protest to phanatics destroying monuments.
We wanted to sleep somewhere not far from Ephes, but I don't know any hotel there and all which we saw by road were closed - it is out of season time, so I decided to drive up to Milosh where I know at least three hotels working at this time. My favourable was open and we got nice room there. There are no restaurant in hotel, so we went to city for dinner. The restaurant used by me and colleges during my previous visits there was open, but cooking... now it was so, so... that I never will go more to it. Such a contrast with previous visits.
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Near Milosh is famous Labranda, not only for its ruins (eldest seen by us during this travel) going back around 3000 years but for crocuses growing in vicinity, too. The legend tells that God sent to land huge lightening which split hill in 2 parts (you can see this hill on frst picture) and at bottom spring came out. Of course we tried water of this spring. The hill is quite steep with remnants of fortifications up to top and some amazing shaped stones. Crocuses will be on next entry.
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Labranda vicinity is the place from where Crocus nerimaniae was described. Road after ruins is horrible, with every visit there road becomes more and more worth, almost unpassable. During my last two visits there all around in forest was "ploughed up" by wild boars. Now it looks nicely and of course Crocus nerimaniae are in full flower. I never before saw it so abbundantly, but as allways - greatest part of flowers shows heavy virus infection. Some are healthy indeed and I mostly picture just such, but they are serious minority. It is early morning, so flowers are covered with condensated fog and are not fully open.
From there is reported one of most beautiful Crocus pallasii forms, but even after long search I found no one. During my earlier trips I found 2 or 3 specimens, but t was in summer and I saw only leaves. In garden they really showed excellent flowers. May be we were in wrong time, may be wrong spot. "Vicinity"is quite large concept.
The third species growing there is spring blooming Crocus caricus - one of most beautiful from spring blooming biflorus group crocuses.
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I'm using some pictures from my archive, to show other crocuses growing at Labranda. One picture labeled as "ionopharynx aff." most likely is the same caricus, it is made in Labranda in early, frosty morning and I haven't it pictured under cultivation. Most likely it didn't bloom yet with me.
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Thank you for sharing your travel experiences and the photos, Janis.
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After visit to Labranda followed long drive to next hotel in Kalhan just near sea border. I accidentally late night stopped at it some years ago - was very well accepted and we got fantastic meal made by hotel owner. The name of Hotel is Kelebek Hotel - it means Butterfly hotel and it is family owned hotel. Now again we where welcomed there and got really fantastic dinner, excellent wine and room was clean, perfect. During my trips to this part I almost try to stay in it.
Next one is our last day in Antalya, so we select road through Altinyaka. I wanted to visit another one locality of Crocus speciosus, but there was dirty road winding up to yaila and our car was very simple with smallest engine and too low for driving on such road, so I only made few stops and pictured Crocus lycius there. I have several stocks of it and so made only few pictures. At locus classicus of Crocus flavus sarichinarensis I pictured Colchicum sanguicolle - last flowers of it. And then to my usual Lemon Hotel for last night before flying home. We visited local market to buy some fruits for bringing home but taxi which we used had open windows. So I caught wind, after that I ordered ice-cold beer at our last dinner and as result now I'm in bed with flu and fewer... Hope to quick recovery.
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It is so interesting to see the historical ruins as well as the flowers - and useful tips on hotels, too!
Thank you Janis.
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Janis
Many thanks for the most interesting postings.
I have not had a holiday since the Spring so suffering withdrawal symptoms. Your excellent accounts almost filled the gap. :) ;) :)
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Great trip Janis
Thank you for sharing those photos!