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One of the Trieste trip activities selected by Keiki was the Grotta Gigante. Accordingly we booked timed entry tickets, and headed out on the bus on Day 2.
Spoiler alert: It is a gigantic cave. You have to descend 500 damp, steep, slippery steps bounded by damp, slippery metal handrails. As a person with acrophobia, I should have realised beforehand that this was going to test me, but somehow I managed to completely miss that despite it the access parameters being pretty clearly stated on the web site. I am quite proud that through much deep breathing and tight management of the pointing direction of my vision, I was able to cope with the descent and appreciate the visit.
Humuhumu and Keiki on the bus.
Bloke and me on the bus. Photo by Humuhumu.
The walls.
First stop on the descent.
The ceiling. Stalactites!
The walls. It’s stalagmites all the way down.
Close to the bottom, and now some of the stalagmites loom above you.
There’s something H.R. Giger-esque about this wall of stalagmites.
If you want to give yourself a headache, try to match up the stalagmites with their feeder stalactites.
We can see the bottom…
As can the geodetic pendula, the longest in the world.
Behemoth stalagmite! It looks like one of those barrel jellies but 40x bigger.
Stalactites and stalagmites do eventually meet in the middle, it just takes a few hundred thousand years.
These all have wet tops, so are still growing.
As is the biggest stalagmite in the cave. His name is Roger. Roger the Stalagmite. Do not laugh, English tourist.
Heading back up.
That’s Roger’s tip. /solemnface
Intricate ceiling features. Apparently three different species of bats nest in the caves, but humans almost never see them.
The pendula are rather delicate-looking hollow tubes.
Suspension mechanism.
Aaaaand lunch!
With tiramisu.
Finally, we hopped back on the bus to town to enjoy the afternoon sunshine, which will be the subject of a separate post.
THE END.
Spoiler alert: It is a gigantic cave. You have to descend 500 damp, steep, slippery steps bounded by damp, slippery metal handrails. As a person with acrophobia, I should have realised beforehand that this was going to test me, but somehow I managed to completely miss that despite it the access parameters being pretty clearly stated on the web site. I am quite proud that through much deep breathing and tight management of the pointing direction of my vision, I was able to cope with the descent and appreciate the visit.
Humuhumu and Keiki on the bus.
Bloke and me on the bus. Photo by Humuhumu.
The walls.
First stop on the descent.
The ceiling. Stalactites!
The walls. It’s stalagmites all the way down.
Close to the bottom, and now some of the stalagmites loom above you.
There’s something H.R. Giger-esque about this wall of stalagmites.
If you want to give yourself a headache, try to match up the stalagmites with their feeder stalactites.
We can see the bottom…
As can the geodetic pendula, the longest in the world.
Behemoth stalagmite! It looks like one of those barrel jellies but 40x bigger.
Stalactites and stalagmites do eventually meet in the middle, it just takes a few hundred thousand years.
These all have wet tops, so are still growing.
As is the biggest stalagmite in the cave. His name is Roger. Roger the Stalagmite. Do not laugh, English tourist.
Heading back up.
That’s Roger’s tip. /solemnface
Intricate ceiling features. Apparently three different species of bats nest in the caves, but humans almost never see them.
The pendula are rather delicate-looking hollow tubes.
Suspension mechanism.
Aaaaand lunch!
With tiramisu.
Finally, we hopped back on the bus to town to enjoy the afternoon sunshine, which will be the subject of a separate post.
THE END.
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(Also, love the holiday photos, but I clearly hadn't seen recent photos of Nanila-fam :D)
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