Last Post, Tuesday September 30, flying between Paris and Seattle We have had a convoluted trip home. We left Dubrovnik in a taxi together for the airport. No easy way home and we all had different routes. Ron and I flew to Gatwick on British Airways, took a coach (bus) to Heathrow and took another flight (British Air) to Paris. Ron and I spent a short night in a funny little hotel at the airport, Ibis. Small and inexpensive-the bath may have been smaller than the boat. This morning we boarded Air France for Seattle. We had free frequent flyer business class tickets so I am not complaining about the 10+ hours in air. Heathrow security is very strict and I was lazy when I packed my carry on and it was gone through very throughly and hand cream and shampoo thrown out. Very little in each of the containers but they don’t allow more than three ounce containers, even almost empty ones.
Dubrovnik deserves a visit from every traveler. Croatia, like Poland, is another very Catholic Country. The Catholic churches are very vital, full of worshipers of all ages. The Cathedral seems to serve as a community center in addition to a lively church. The steps in front were the stage for musical entertainment almost every night. The outdoor café’s were perfect seating for watching the entertainment as well as the people. In the evening the cruise ship day trippers were gone and it felt like we were locals.
In addition to the Catholic churches we visited a large Serbian Orthodox Church and marveled at the icons. Since the war in the early 1990’s most of the Serbs left and have not returned. Our hotel was on the Jewish Street. We happened to go to synagogue on Yom Kipper and were not charged admission. It also included a small and very moving museum with 13th century torahs and artifacts from the holocaust and explained some of the persecution that they endured since the 1500’s. It is the second oldest Jewish Synagogue in Europe and very beautiful. It was an orthodox synagogue and I went up in the balcony where the women sat for the services. I got into an interesting conversation with some Jewish women from South Africa and Australia and learned among other things that the children are free to sit down stairs or upstairs until the girls reach the age of 12. The idea is that the men may become distracted by the women while they are worshiping. They told me some very moving stories of family member’s experiences during the holocaust.
Between earthquakes, the recent Civil War and earlier attacks Dubrovnik has been a city under siege but it seems they somehow find the energy to rebuild and go on. The Croatians have been friendly and outgoing and eager to talk about their Country. Other than their incessant smoking and breakfast Pivo (beer) not much different than Americans. I will say they look pretty fit, and we didn’t see any gyms. Climbing stairs and walking seem to do the trick.
European Trip Map
Planes & Trains & Boat Routes
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Arriving in Dubrovnik-Late Post
We left the sleepy little harbor of Okukje on the island of Mljet a couple of days ago. The town, with a population of 40, has about 4 restaurants, all with their own docks. . About six yachts were moored at the dock of our restaurant (no charge, some docking fees at other locations were over a hundred dollars a night for a big boat like ours) but this dock had no water or electricity. We had plenty of water and the boat had a generator so we needed neither. We shopped at their little store and ate dinner at the restaurant. Food was great and we ended up partying with a fun group from Wales. We shared a big fish and it was great.
We motored on to Dubrovnik-still no wind. We toured the harbor of Dubrovnik which was small and crowded. We then proceeded to the Mooring’s harbor where we turned in the boat after spending our last night on the Rubis. Ironically it rained some in the night and the wind came up! We had learned from other people that the week before we picked up the boat had been windy but we had glassy seas and little wind. We really enjoyed our time on the boat despite having to motor. It was a big comfortable boat that took us places we would never had gone any other way.
The mooring was about 15 minutes from the old city. We look a taxi to the old town and walked down to our pension. No cars in the old town which kind of reminds us of Venice except that instead of canals there are narrow, steep, cobbled, stair step lanes. What a lovely city! Quite small, hilly, walled and lots of old lovely buildings. Lots of damage from the bombing in 1992-95. They have repaired all the roofs and the outer walls but many homes are still gutted on the inside.
The only drawback to Dubrovnik is the up to7 or so large Cruise ships that dock here and unload as many as 30,000 day trippers every day! They flood the sights, restaurants and streets. Some wear wrist bands and look like they just escaped from the hospital!
We sat in the main street, called the Stradun, and drank coffee and watched the people. We saw two weddings and watched the wedding parties and guests parade through the streets-very fun. We are a seafood lunch and Patti and I had the mussel’s marinere
The hotel where we are staying has a small lobby with three rooms stacked above. It is a restored 600 year old house. Winding stairway to the fourth floor where our very cute room and bath are. The downside is that it is 78 steps from the square to our quarters.
We have been touring the old town all day. The curtain wall around it is still intact, and runs over a mile. Many, many more steps involved, but great views of the city and the surrounding countryside. The town itself is paved in stones polished by thousands of years of people walking on them. It is very clean and a great place to sit around and watch the people go by.
We are having problems uploading pictures but will keep trying.
Ron, Bev and the Crew.
We motored on to Dubrovnik-still no wind. We toured the harbor of Dubrovnik which was small and crowded. We then proceeded to the Mooring’s harbor where we turned in the boat after spending our last night on the Rubis. Ironically it rained some in the night and the wind came up! We had learned from other people that the week before we picked up the boat had been windy but we had glassy seas and little wind. We really enjoyed our time on the boat despite having to motor. It was a big comfortable boat that took us places we would never had gone any other way.
The mooring was about 15 minutes from the old city. We look a taxi to the old town and walked down to our pension. No cars in the old town which kind of reminds us of Venice except that instead of canals there are narrow, steep, cobbled, stair step lanes. What a lovely city! Quite small, hilly, walled and lots of old lovely buildings. Lots of damage from the bombing in 1992-95. They have repaired all the roofs and the outer walls but many homes are still gutted on the inside.
The only drawback to Dubrovnik is the up to7 or so large Cruise ships that dock here and unload as many as 30,000 day trippers every day! They flood the sights, restaurants and streets. Some wear wrist bands and look like they just escaped from the hospital!
We sat in the main street, called the Stradun, and drank coffee and watched the people. We saw two weddings and watched the wedding parties and guests parade through the streets-very fun. We are a seafood lunch and Patti and I had the mussel’s marinere
The hotel where we are staying has a small lobby with three rooms stacked above. It is a restored 600 year old house. Winding stairway to the fourth floor where our very cute room and bath are. The downside is that it is 78 steps from the square to our quarters.
We have been touring the old town all day. The curtain wall around it is still intact, and runs over a mile. Many, many more steps involved, but great views of the city and the surrounding countryside. The town itself is paved in stones polished by thousands of years of people walking on them. It is very clean and a great place to sit around and watch the people go by.
We are having problems uploading pictures but will keep trying.
Ron, Bev and the Crew.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Dubrovnik
We left the sleepy little harbor of Okukje on the island of Mljet a couple of days ago. The town, with a population of 40, has about 4 restaurants, all with their own docks. . About six yachts were moored at the dock of our restaurant (no charge, some docking fees at other locations were over a hundred dollars a night for a big boat like ours) but this dock had no water or electricity. We had plenty of water and the boat had a generator so we needed neither. We shopped at their little store and ate dinner at the restaurant. Food was great and we ended up partying with a fun group from Wales. We shared a big fish and it was great.
We motored on to Dubrovnik-still no wind. We toured the harbor of Dubrovnik which was small and crowded. We then proceeded to the Mooring’s harbor where we turned in the boat after spending our last night on the Rubis. Ironically it rained some in the night and the wind came up! We had learned from other people that the week before we picked up the boat had been windy but we had glassy seas and little wind. We really enjoyed our time on the boat despite having to motor. It was a big comfortable boat that took us places we would never had gone any other way.
The mooring was about 15 minutes from the old city. We look a taxi to the old town and walked down to our pension. No cars in the old town which kind of reminds us of Venice except that instead of canals there are narrow, steep, cobbled, stair step lanes. What a lovely city! Quite small, hilly, walled and lots of old lovely buildings. Lots of damage from the bombing in 1992-95. They have repaired all the roofs and the outer walls but many homes are still gutted on the inside.
The only drawback to Dubrovnik is the up to 7 or so large Cruise ships that dock here and unload as many as 30,000 day trippers every day! They flood the sights, restaurants and streets. Some wear wrist bands and look like they just escaped from the hospital!
We sat in the main street, called the Stradun, and drank coffee and watched the people. We saw two weddings and watched the wedding parties and guests parade through the streets-very fun. We are a seafood lunch and Patti and I had the mussel’s marinere
The hotel where we are staying has a small lobby with three rooms stacked above. It is a restored 600 year old house. Winding stairway to the fourth floor where our very cute room and bath are. The downside is that it is 78 steps from the square to our quarters, and then about 42 more to the top room..
We have been touring the old town all day. The curtain wall around it is still intact, and runs over a mile. Many, many more steps involved, but great views of the city and the surrounding countryside. The town itself is paved in stones polished by thousands of years of people walking on them. It is very clean and a great place to sit around and watch the people go by.
We are having problems uploading pictures but will keep trying.
Ron, Bev and the Crew.
We motored on to Dubrovnik-still no wind. We toured the harbor of Dubrovnik which was small and crowded. We then proceeded to the Mooring’s harbor where we turned in the boat after spending our last night on the Rubis. Ironically it rained some in the night and the wind came up! We had learned from other people that the week before we picked up the boat had been windy but we had glassy seas and little wind. We really enjoyed our time on the boat despite having to motor. It was a big comfortable boat that took us places we would never had gone any other way.
The mooring was about 15 minutes from the old city. We look a taxi to the old town and walked down to our pension. No cars in the old town which kind of reminds us of Venice except that instead of canals there are narrow, steep, cobbled, stair step lanes. What a lovely city! Quite small, hilly, walled and lots of old lovely buildings. Lots of damage from the bombing in 1992-95. They have repaired all the roofs and the outer walls but many homes are still gutted on the inside.
The only drawback to Dubrovnik is the up to 7 or so large Cruise ships that dock here and unload as many as 30,000 day trippers every day! They flood the sights, restaurants and streets. Some wear wrist bands and look like they just escaped from the hospital!
We sat in the main street, called the Stradun, and drank coffee and watched the people. We saw two weddings and watched the wedding parties and guests parade through the streets-very fun. We are a seafood lunch and Patti and I had the mussel’s marinere
The hotel where we are staying has a small lobby with three rooms stacked above. It is a restored 600 year old house. Winding stairway to the fourth floor where our very cute room and bath are. The downside is that it is 78 steps from the square to our quarters, and then about 42 more to the top room..
We have been touring the old town all day. The curtain wall around it is still intact, and runs over a mile. Many, many more steps involved, but great views of the city and the surrounding countryside. The town itself is paved in stones polished by thousands of years of people walking on them. It is very clean and a great place to sit around and watch the people go by.
We are having problems uploading pictures but will keep trying.
Ron, Bev and the Crew.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Diane's Version of the mooring at Hvar
This is the real story of the docking in Hvar, apparently our captain posted a rather sanitized version of the story yesterday, and I will attempt to paint the true picture of the event. (We are not sure if this has already been posted, we had some problems, so ignore this entire thing if you already read my first attempt)
So, let me begin. When sailing into a town, the captain looks first to tie up to shore, which is tricky enough, but when we got to Hvar, the new hot spot, all the slots were full. So next, he searched for a buoy to tie up to. We spotted one in between 2 other smaller boats that were already tied up. Ron backed the boat between the other boats, while RT and Kenny played snag the buoy with the pole, this is much harder than it sounds, the captain has to keep the boat from drifting (think crashing) into the other two boats, while his crew flails about attempting the grab the buoy with the pole and then tying it off with the rope (called line on a boat). As sailors are inclined to do, I believe there were some choice words being used as they tried and tried to catch the elusive buoy.
Once that was accomplished and the front of the boat was secured, the next step is to tie the back of the boat to shore. This is when things really got interesting. Ken and Ron lowered the dingy and set off for shore with the line, only to discover that 1) the dingy did not have a plug and shortly they would be rather damp and 2) the rope was hopelessly tangled, apparently not properly stored by the last folks who used the boat. Fortunately, RT had seen some extra plugs, so he got one of those quickly and they shoved that in the hole. As RT was at the helm of the boat, trying to keep it from crashing into our neighbors as it swayed back and forth, Ron and Ken were in the now no longer sinking dingy trying to untangle the rope – that took about 20 minutes. I was in the cabin trying not to have a nervous breakdown, Bev and Patti were much more help on deck watching the other boats and trying to help RT keep ours from, as Ron puts it, “gently knocking into the boat next to us”, I call it a boat crash. You have to visualize our vessel, it is just short of the QEII in size, and is a little hard to maneuver. Again, I am sure our captain would disagree. So, after what seemed like an eternity, the guys got the rope untangled, tied it to shore, and were back on board. I had vodka.
Bev is sure the story will be retold over the years, anything they say I will verify, there is not enough exaggeration in the world to really do this event justice. As evidence of that, our always calm, unruffled captain, went below and took a shower. I need to be sure that you realize he was the picture of control and competence this time too, even in the trickiest situations, he never loses his cool, he has me for that.
Diane
Every crew needs an “in house philosopher” and we have Kenny. In addition to being an able crew ape and gourmet cook, he comes up with the best advice for living the good life. One of them is “what will happen will happen whether you worry about it or not.” and “suffering is wanting things to be different then they are.” He reminds us that Mark Twain said, “I have had many problems in my life and some of them actually happened.” All this philosophy comes in handy when the ice cream stand is already closed after dinner or the wine at dinner a disappointment all the dock places filled or the OJ we purchase tastes like orange soda.
Diane
So, let me begin. When sailing into a town, the captain looks first to tie up to shore, which is tricky enough, but when we got to Hvar, the new hot spot, all the slots were full. So next, he searched for a buoy to tie up to. We spotted one in between 2 other smaller boats that were already tied up. Ron backed the boat between the other boats, while RT and Kenny played snag the buoy with the pole, this is much harder than it sounds, the captain has to keep the boat from drifting (think crashing) into the other two boats, while his crew flails about attempting the grab the buoy with the pole and then tying it off with the rope (called line on a boat). As sailors are inclined to do, I believe there were some choice words being used as they tried and tried to catch the elusive buoy.
Once that was accomplished and the front of the boat was secured, the next step is to tie the back of the boat to shore. This is when things really got interesting. Ken and Ron lowered the dingy and set off for shore with the line, only to discover that 1) the dingy did not have a plug and shortly they would be rather damp and 2) the rope was hopelessly tangled, apparently not properly stored by the last folks who used the boat. Fortunately, RT had seen some extra plugs, so he got one of those quickly and they shoved that in the hole. As RT was at the helm of the boat, trying to keep it from crashing into our neighbors as it swayed back and forth, Ron and Ken were in the now no longer sinking dingy trying to untangle the rope – that took about 20 minutes. I was in the cabin trying not to have a nervous breakdown, Bev and Patti were much more help on deck watching the other boats and trying to help RT keep ours from, as Ron puts it, “gently knocking into the boat next to us”, I call it a boat crash. You have to visualize our vessel, it is just short of the QEII in size, and is a little hard to maneuver. Again, I am sure our captain would disagree. So, after what seemed like an eternity, the guys got the rope untangled, tied it to shore, and were back on board. I had vodka.
Bev is sure the story will be retold over the years, anything they say I will verify, there is not enough exaggeration in the world to really do this event justice. As evidence of that, our always calm, unruffled captain, went below and took a shower. I need to be sure that you realize he was the picture of control and competence this time too, even in the trickiest situations, he never loses his cool, he has me for that.
Diane
Every crew needs an “in house philosopher” and we have Kenny. In addition to being an able crew ape and gourmet cook, he comes up with the best advice for living the good life. One of them is “what will happen will happen whether you worry about it or not.” and “suffering is wanting things to be different then they are.” He reminds us that Mark Twain said, “I have had many problems in my life and some of them actually happened.” All this philosophy comes in handy when the ice cream stand is already closed after dinner or the wine at dinner a disappointment all the dock places filled or the OJ we purchase tastes like orange soda.
Diane
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Sailing in Croatia
On Monday we sailed from the island of Vis to a nearby small island where there is a sea cave named, for the color of the light, the Blue Cave. When we arrived it was pretty jammed up, and Diane commented that she was not that fond of caves, much less sea caves. As everyone agreed we set sail for the island of Hvar and the port of Hvar town. The sailing was great. The big catamaran really covers the water. On arrival the port was packed and we were lucky to pick up a mooring. The lay of the mooring required that we tie off the bow to it and take a line ashore. My inadequate preflight was obvious when one of the crew pulled out the long line from its storage locker. It was a rats nest and Ken and I spend 20 minutes sorting it out. No harm done, but I was irritated at myself for not making sure the line was flaked properly beforehand.
The boat is new, commissioned in April of 2009. Moorings calls it a Moorings 4600, but it is really a Leopard 46 built by Robertson and Caine in South Africa. I have sailed an earlier model, the Moorings 4500, in the southern Caribbean so I am familiar with the boat. They have improved it with the addition of two crew cabins, one in each hull forward, a hard top over the aft deck area, and a raised helm station with a hard top. The salon must measure 10 by 10 feet. It is air-conditioned using its own generator. There are four main cabins each with their own electric head and shower. Length overall is 46’4” with a 24’10” beam. It sleeps 12 and we only have 6 aboard, so we have lots of room. Electronics include the usual sail instruments as well as a color GPS chart plotter as well as an autopilot. It is a very comfortable and fun boat to sail.
Ron
The boat is new, commissioned in April of 2009. Moorings calls it a Moorings 4600, but it is really a Leopard 46 built by Robertson and Caine in South Africa. I have sailed an earlier model, the Moorings 4500, in the southern Caribbean so I am familiar with the boat. They have improved it with the addition of two crew cabins, one in each hull forward, a hard top over the aft deck area, and a raised helm station with a hard top. The salon must measure 10 by 10 feet. It is air-conditioned using its own generator. There are four main cabins each with their own electric head and shower. Length overall is 46’4” with a 24’10” beam. It sleeps 12 and we only have 6 aboard, so we have lots of room. Electronics include the usual sail instruments as well as a color GPS chart plotter as well as an autopilot. It is a very comfortable and fun boat to sail.
Ron
Our Captain
Yesterday, Ron shared with you his experiences with the licensing and the Croatian officials. The rest of us thought we should share some observations of our leader. First, as all of you who know Ron, know that he can do just about anything, which comes in very handy when you need someone to captain a boat. Just a few comments on the boat, it is HUGE, Oprah would feel right at home on this thing. I have taken to referring to it as “the big ass boat”; we are making a statement when we sail into port. So, having an experienced, fearless, competent captain helps us all sleep at night. Next, as you all know, Ron is a walking encyclopedia; he knows something about everything, which comes in handy if you are writing a term paper. What you may not know is that he has a laundry fetish. The man loves to do laundry. Now, in his defense, he packs light and is very tidy, so washing frequently is a must. However, when you are on a boat and wash out your clothes, you need a place to dry it. So, as we sail the Dalmatian Coast, we have laundry flapping in the breeze off the sides of the vessel, sort of like the “Klampits visit the Adriatic.” We are thinking a new TV series is in the making.
We had an interesting night last night, the Germans – a couple of boats over – were up partying until the wee hours of the morning, which meant that we did not get much sleep either. Then, this morning, the German right next to us took issue with our use of the generator, and had a few words with Ron Thomas. So we got under way rather quickly. This has not been our experience in the past, folks are usually quite friendly. We are on our way to the island of Hvar, which is becoming quite the hot spot with celebrities, the next “new place”. JayZ and Beyonce were there before we left, so who knows we may spot someone famous. We’ll keep our eyes peeled and let you all know.
Diane
We had an interesting night last night, the Germans – a couple of boats over – were up partying until the wee hours of the morning, which meant that we did not get much sleep either. Then, this morning, the German right next to us took issue with our use of the generator, and had a few words with Ron Thomas. So we got under way rather quickly. This has not been our experience in the past, folks are usually quite friendly. We are on our way to the island of Hvar, which is becoming quite the hot spot with celebrities, the next “new place”. JayZ and Beyonce were there before we left, so who knows we may spot someone famous. We’ll keep our eyes peeled and let you all know.
Diane
Sunday, September 20, 2009
On the water
We arrived at a town called Marina, coincidentally also a marina, were we took possession of Rudis, a Leopard 46 sailing catamaran. The checkout did not take long, and Ron was off to take his sailing license exam. The rest of the crew busied themselves shopping at the village market while Ron was conveyed to the site of the exam. It takes 6 uniformed Croatian officials to conduct the exam. A rather fierce looking individual sat across the table from him with a nautical chart spread out before him. Also present were two wooden boat models used to set up various sailing scenarios and various navigation tools. A rapid fire cross examination then takes place, both word problems, chart reading, and problems using the model boats. A particularly distinquished looking official sat at one end of the table taking notes. The remaining four officials were in an alcove, observing the proceedings, perhaps to ensure compliance with the Geneva Conventions. A crisis arose when the passport sized photographs I had brought were not the right size for the Croatian license. Major discussion ensued and resloution was acheived only when a young women, affiliated with one of the charter companies, called our company who agreed to take photos and forward them to the port officials. Handshakes all around and Ron's temporary license was issued. The cruise was saved.
As a result of the excitement at the licensing exam we spent the night at the Marina marina. The boat is airconditioned and after a fine meal prepared by the crew, especially Ken, we turned in. We set sail the next morning for Vis, an island about 28 nautical miles from Marina marina. We sailed a bit but motored mostly as the winds were light. The crew performed excellantly. We arrived at the town of Komza at about 3:00 and performed a modified med mooring. This involves something called a slime line. For those interested in this process please contact one of the crew who will boor you with the process.
We are now sitting on the waterfront having a drink and planning the evening. The water is as blue and clean as the Caribbean, the scenery is gorgious, and a wonderful time is being had by all.
Pictures to follow.
The Crew
As a result of the excitement at the licensing exam we spent the night at the Marina marina. The boat is airconditioned and after a fine meal prepared by the crew, especially Ken, we turned in. We set sail the next morning for Vis, an island about 28 nautical miles from Marina marina. We sailed a bit but motored mostly as the winds were light. The crew performed excellantly. We arrived at the town of Komza at about 3:00 and performed a modified med mooring. This involves something called a slime line. For those interested in this process please contact one of the crew who will boor you with the process.
We are now sitting on the waterfront having a drink and planning the evening. The water is as blue and clean as the Caribbean, the scenery is gorgious, and a wonderful time is being had by all.
Pictures to follow.
The Crew
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Split, Croatia
Here we are in Split Croatia. Ron and I and the Hoods took a 14 hour train ride from Vienna two days ago. It was a long time but provided time to see the beautiful scenery. We arrived at Split and checked into the Villa Ana Hotel and Patti and RT were waiting for us having flown in... The small hotel is wonderful-5 rooms in a stone building. We are on the third floor, nice room with 3 windows and ac. The breakfast in the basement was great. Maybe the biggest plus was the clerk Branka. She spoke wonderful English and was full of suggestions and information. One night we called Debbie on Skype. We tried to contact Jerry but he did not answer his phone. We miss them and this is the part of the trip when we were to meet up with them. If you are not familiar with Skype it is a great program that makes telephone calls through the computer. Cheap and great connections.
Split is a lovely old town with Roman ruins. We took a city tour and saw the ruins inside the old Diocletian Palace. The Caesar Diocletian built it in the third century AD, and later retired to it. He died here as did the last of the Roman Caesar’s. Many people still live within these walls. A maze of narrow alleys has shops, restaurants and private homes. Ken and Diane hiked outside the city center and reported ugly suburban sprawl. Split is a tourist town, full of Europeans on holiday arriving by bus, ferry, plane and train. Sitting in the Café’s drinking a coffee or beer and people watching is a treat. Between the Old Town and the Dalmatian Coast is the Riva (waterfront promenade lined with benches and palm trees).
Last night we are seafood in a waterfront restaurant and watched the sea and the sun set. On the way back to the hotel we ate ice cream. Earlier in the day we had visited the fish market situated close to a sulfur spa as the sulfur keeps down the flies.
In less than an hour we leave the Villa Ana for the sailboat. We have a Mooring’s 4600-a 46 foot catamaran with 4 queen sized staterooms, 2 additional berths, and wonderful salon and cockpit spaces. We have sailed a similar, earlier iteration of this boat in the southern Caribbean some years ago. Ron has to get a Croatian sailing license and has been cramming for his exam. Cramming in Croatia always involves beer. We are not sure of the availability of internet connections once we set sail so this may be out last post for a while.
The Crew.
Split is a lovely old town with Roman ruins. We took a city tour and saw the ruins inside the old Diocletian Palace. The Caesar Diocletian built it in the third century AD, and later retired to it. He died here as did the last of the Roman Caesar’s. Many people still live within these walls. A maze of narrow alleys has shops, restaurants and private homes. Ken and Diane hiked outside the city center and reported ugly suburban sprawl. Split is a tourist town, full of Europeans on holiday arriving by bus, ferry, plane and train. Sitting in the Café’s drinking a coffee or beer and people watching is a treat. Between the Old Town and the Dalmatian Coast is the Riva (waterfront promenade lined with benches and palm trees).
Last night we are seafood in a waterfront restaurant and watched the sea and the sun set. On the way back to the hotel we ate ice cream. Earlier in the day we had visited the fish market situated close to a sulfur spa as the sulfur keeps down the flies.
In less than an hour we leave the Villa Ana for the sailboat. We have a Mooring’s 4600-a 46 foot catamaran with 4 queen sized staterooms, 2 additional berths, and wonderful salon and cockpit spaces. We have sailed a similar, earlier iteration of this boat in the southern Caribbean some years ago. Ron has to get a Croatian sailing license and has been cramming for his exam. Cramming in Croatia always involves beer. We are not sure of the availability of internet connections once we set sail so this may be out last post for a while.
The Crew.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Vienna and environs
Vienna, September 13-17
Patti and RT joined us in Vienna. We, Ken, Bev, Ron and I, are currently on our way to Split, Croatia after 4 days in Vienna, aka Wien. Once again we are traveling by train, the rail system here in Europe is something to be envied – on time, clean, efficient and comfortable, and as I write this our train is swaying a bit! RT and Patti are flying, but our airline went out of business right before we left, so another train ride, which we are looking forward to – can’t wait to see the countryside of Austria, Hungry, Slovenia and Croatia.
Vienna is a beautiful city. The old part of the city was built around the palace. The Hapsburgs ruled this part of the world and much of Europe for centuries. The center of the city was developed in a circular pattern around the palace, surrounded in the past by a wall to protect the city. Today this is called the Ringstrasse and all of the major sites are within this area. We could easily walk to all the sights and many areas were traffic free.
We have learned much about the Emperor Franz Joseph and his beautiful but unhappy wife, Sisi, short for Elizabeth. Her life mirrors Princess Di’s in some ways. She was ahead of her time in that she exercised daily to maintain her 100 pound figure and 20 inch waist – and she was 5’8” tall! Their life was as interesting as it was tragic. We really enjoyed touring the palace, the Royal treasury and getting a small glimpse of Royal life in the 1800’s.
Last night, we bought standing room tickets for the Opera and saw the first act of “The Magic Flute”. The Opera House is one of the most famous in the world and quite lovely, although part of it was damaged during WWII and was rebuilt but not to the original grandeur it once was. You could see the contrast between the section that was not damaged and the newer portion. Having seen the Opera House in Budapest, built a little after Vienna’s and in the same style, we could see the difference. We all enjoyed the experience and felt very cultured!
We have been able to see first hand some of the destruction and hardship from WWII and the Communist reign. Hungry, Poland and the Czech Republic are just now refurbishing buildings, knocking down the cement block housing from the Soviet area and rebuilding parts of their cities. It has been very interesting and enlightening to witness. One of our central meeting spots was the monument Against War and Fascism, very moving.
Ron and Bev spent one afternoon at the Albertina Museum at the traveling Impressionist Exhibit. Very good.
One evening we took the tram to the end, into the Vienna Woods, for dinner in a Wine Garden called in the town of Nussdorf and had a very good and inexpensive meal. New wine was served in carafes-quite good. Certainly off the beaten tourist track and a favorite with the locals. Franz Joseph liked the winemakers-there are still 1700 acres of vineyards in Vienna-and gave them a tax holiday for 6 weeks each year to sell their new wine. Hence, they built wine gardens and added food.
One afternoon we visited the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the art collection of the Hapsburgs in a grand building, built as a museum in 1888. We did a Rick Steves super tour-Titian, Raphaels, Caravaggio, Velazquez and Bruegles, Rubens and Durer to drop a few names. We had coffee and sweets in the delightful Café and marveled at the variety of different colored marble used to construct the building. That morning we had toured the Hofburg Palace’s Treasury-a huge collection of jewels, crowns and mostly Catholic alter pieces.
The Lipizzaner horses were on view in their stables as we walked near the Hofburg Palace. We also saw the St. Stephen’s Cathedral.
Vienna is an elegant city. The Opera was a collection of the most sophisticated, well dressed and cultured people imaginable. Weather has been perfect. One night we got caught in a downpour on the way home from dinner but we retrieved umbrellas and raincoats from backpacks and enjoyed the excitement. Food has been good. We are enjoying wine. Coffee and dessert are terrific. We tried the famous chocolate torte at the Sacher Hotel and were underwhelmed. One again, a plug for traveling with Rick Steves. With his tips it is affordable to travel in Europe for a month, saving on hotels, restaurants, transportation and feeling comfortable and close to the country. We have perfected packing to a science. We all have a rolling bag and carry on bags. Laundry is easy to do in the hotel room. We also drop off a bag of laundry and pick it up the same day, washed and folded.
We have two days in Split, Croatia, before we pick up the boat for our sail to Dubrovnik. It will be a change of pace from the urban tourism we have been enjoying.
The Crew
Patti and RT joined us in Vienna. We, Ken, Bev, Ron and I, are currently on our way to Split, Croatia after 4 days in Vienna, aka Wien. Once again we are traveling by train, the rail system here in Europe is something to be envied – on time, clean, efficient and comfortable, and as I write this our train is swaying a bit! RT and Patti are flying, but our airline went out of business right before we left, so another train ride, which we are looking forward to – can’t wait to see the countryside of Austria, Hungry, Slovenia and Croatia.
Vienna is a beautiful city. The old part of the city was built around the palace. The Hapsburgs ruled this part of the world and much of Europe for centuries. The center of the city was developed in a circular pattern around the palace, surrounded in the past by a wall to protect the city. Today this is called the Ringstrasse and all of the major sites are within this area. We could easily walk to all the sights and many areas were traffic free.
We have learned much about the Emperor Franz Joseph and his beautiful but unhappy wife, Sisi, short for Elizabeth. Her life mirrors Princess Di’s in some ways. She was ahead of her time in that she exercised daily to maintain her 100 pound figure and 20 inch waist – and she was 5’8” tall! Their life was as interesting as it was tragic. We really enjoyed touring the palace, the Royal treasury and getting a small glimpse of Royal life in the 1800’s.
Last night, we bought standing room tickets for the Opera and saw the first act of “The Magic Flute”. The Opera House is one of the most famous in the world and quite lovely, although part of it was damaged during WWII and was rebuilt but not to the original grandeur it once was. You could see the contrast between the section that was not damaged and the newer portion. Having seen the Opera House in Budapest, built a little after Vienna’s and in the same style, we could see the difference. We all enjoyed the experience and felt very cultured!
We have been able to see first hand some of the destruction and hardship from WWII and the Communist reign. Hungry, Poland and the Czech Republic are just now refurbishing buildings, knocking down the cement block housing from the Soviet area and rebuilding parts of their cities. It has been very interesting and enlightening to witness. One of our central meeting spots was the monument Against War and Fascism, very moving.
Ron and Bev spent one afternoon at the Albertina Museum at the traveling Impressionist Exhibit. Very good.
One evening we took the tram to the end, into the Vienna Woods, for dinner in a Wine Garden called in the town of Nussdorf and had a very good and inexpensive meal. New wine was served in carafes-quite good. Certainly off the beaten tourist track and a favorite with the locals. Franz Joseph liked the winemakers-there are still 1700 acres of vineyards in Vienna-and gave them a tax holiday for 6 weeks each year to sell their new wine. Hence, they built wine gardens and added food.
One afternoon we visited the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the art collection of the Hapsburgs in a grand building, built as a museum in 1888. We did a Rick Steves super tour-Titian, Raphaels, Caravaggio, Velazquez and Bruegles, Rubens and Durer to drop a few names. We had coffee and sweets in the delightful Café and marveled at the variety of different colored marble used to construct the building. That morning we had toured the Hofburg Palace’s Treasury-a huge collection of jewels, crowns and mostly Catholic alter pieces.
The Lipizzaner horses were on view in their stables as we walked near the Hofburg Palace. We also saw the St. Stephen’s Cathedral.
Vienna is an elegant city. The Opera was a collection of the most sophisticated, well dressed and cultured people imaginable. Weather has been perfect. One night we got caught in a downpour on the way home from dinner but we retrieved umbrellas and raincoats from backpacks and enjoyed the excitement. Food has been good. We are enjoying wine. Coffee and dessert are terrific. We tried the famous chocolate torte at the Sacher Hotel and were underwhelmed. One again, a plug for traveling with Rick Steves. With his tips it is affordable to travel in Europe for a month, saving on hotels, restaurants, transportation and feeling comfortable and close to the country. We have perfected packing to a science. We all have a rolling bag and carry on bags. Laundry is easy to do in the hotel room. We also drop off a bag of laundry and pick it up the same day, washed and folded.
We have two days in Split, Croatia, before we pick up the boat for our sail to Dubrovnik. It will be a change of pace from the urban tourism we have been enjoying.
The Crew
Thoughts on the train
We are on our second train of the day, in Croatia headed for the town of Split. We will spend 2 nights there and then pick up the boat for our sail on the Adriatic. Bev and I were discussing some of our impressions and thought you all might be interested in some of our observations.
First, toilets. It has been quite an adventure trying to figure out how to flush. Each toilet, even within the same country, seems to have a different mechanism. Some on the floor, some on the lid, some on the wall, some on the back of the commode itself. There have been more than one occasion when one of us has not been able to figure it out. Also, each country has different labels for the women and the men, which we all would expect, but (and we can’t remember which one now) either Poland or Hungry has a circle for the ladies and a triangle for the men. Thank goodness for Rick Steves and his thorough explanations! Some places charge for the privilege, Kenny just paid 80 cents, which he felt was outrageous. In Vienna, in the subway, there is a pay toilet which plays Opera for you – Bev and I could not pass that one up, we even got a picture, no not the inside, but right outside which was quite decorated up. All countries have used the universal, at least in Europe, WC (water closet) which makes locating the spot easy.
Second, languages. In each country we have been in, everyone speaks at least some English. As our hotel proprietor in Budapest said, “You would not have much opportunity to practice Hungarian.” English is taught in all the schools and we have noticed on tours where different languages are offered, many people who are not native English speakers choose English when their language is not offered. It certainly makes our travel easier, but Ken and Patti especially, make an effort to learn a few words, that always gets us at least a smile, if not a little better connection with the people.
Third, money. We have used five different currencies, with five different exchange rates, so we are constantly doing the math trying to figure out how much the beer costs. It is a bit like play money and you have to remind yourself it isn’t. Only Austria is on the Euro and was also the most expensive countries we have visited. Poland, Hungry, the Czech Republic and Croatia are all still using their own money system even though they are part of the EU. Poland has been the least expensive place we have been. Patti, as usual is our purser and is doing such a great job one of our waiters dubbed her “the Minister of Finance”. We are coming home with pockets full of change from all those places; you can’t exchange coins, just paper money.
Rolling along on the train through Croatia. Not much to do but read and blog. The small cities in Croatia were not appealing, too many ‘burbs full of last housing blocks that were pretty depressing (Soviet Socialist Realism?) but as we climb into the mountains the countryside is beautiful and the little villages picturesque. Lots of big woodpiles indicate a cold winter. Corn fields and kitchen gardens with cabbage and pumpkins, sheep, goats, geese, chickens. Each village has a quaint little Catholic Church.
The blue sky is full of fluffy clouds.
Another observation.. This train is no smoking but the car is full of smoke because we are right behind the train cab where the train staff is smoking like crazy. The Croatians appear to be big smokers. No dining car on this train or the one this AM. As Ron observed, they could be making money selling the passengers food, coffee and beer. However, later they did come around with a tray selling sandwiches and beer. Beer was good; sandwiches not so much.
Diane, Bev and the Crew.
First, toilets. It has been quite an adventure trying to figure out how to flush. Each toilet, even within the same country, seems to have a different mechanism. Some on the floor, some on the lid, some on the wall, some on the back of the commode itself. There have been more than one occasion when one of us has not been able to figure it out. Also, each country has different labels for the women and the men, which we all would expect, but (and we can’t remember which one now) either Poland or Hungry has a circle for the ladies and a triangle for the men. Thank goodness for Rick Steves and his thorough explanations! Some places charge for the privilege, Kenny just paid 80 cents, which he felt was outrageous. In Vienna, in the subway, there is a pay toilet which plays Opera for you – Bev and I could not pass that one up, we even got a picture, no not the inside, but right outside which was quite decorated up. All countries have used the universal, at least in Europe, WC (water closet) which makes locating the spot easy.
Second, languages. In each country we have been in, everyone speaks at least some English. As our hotel proprietor in Budapest said, “You would not have much opportunity to practice Hungarian.” English is taught in all the schools and we have noticed on tours where different languages are offered, many people who are not native English speakers choose English when their language is not offered. It certainly makes our travel easier, but Ken and Patti especially, make an effort to learn a few words, that always gets us at least a smile, if not a little better connection with the people.
Third, money. We have used five different currencies, with five different exchange rates, so we are constantly doing the math trying to figure out how much the beer costs. It is a bit like play money and you have to remind yourself it isn’t. Only Austria is on the Euro and was also the most expensive countries we have visited. Poland, Hungry, the Czech Republic and Croatia are all still using their own money system even though they are part of the EU. Poland has been the least expensive place we have been. Patti, as usual is our purser and is doing such a great job one of our waiters dubbed her “the Minister of Finance”. We are coming home with pockets full of change from all those places; you can’t exchange coins, just paper money.
Rolling along on the train through Croatia. Not much to do but read and blog. The small cities in Croatia were not appealing, too many ‘burbs full of last housing blocks that were pretty depressing (Soviet Socialist Realism?) but as we climb into the mountains the countryside is beautiful and the little villages picturesque. Lots of big woodpiles indicate a cold winter. Corn fields and kitchen gardens with cabbage and pumpkins, sheep, goats, geese, chickens. Each village has a quaint little Catholic Church.
The blue sky is full of fluffy clouds.
Another observation.. This train is no smoking but the car is full of smoke because we are right behind the train cab where the train staff is smoking like crazy. The Croatians appear to be big smokers. No dining car on this train or the one this AM. As Ron observed, they could be making money selling the passengers food, coffee and beer. However, later they did come around with a tray selling sandwiches and beer. Beer was good; sandwiches not so much.
Diane, Bev and the Crew.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
St. Wolfgang
There has been no internet access for a few days, so we are a little behind! We are on the road again, actually on the train again, on our way to Vienna from St. Wolfgang, the childhood home of Adrian’s dad Hubert. We spent a wonderful weekend there with Adi and Kiki and the extended family. But first the place itself. It has to be one of the most spectacularly beautiful places on earth. Nestled in a valley surrounded by the Alps, it sits right on the lake, Wolfgangesee. It is hard to describe the place and do it justice, we will post some pictures and you can see for yourself.
We were picked up in Salzburg by Adi and his first cousin Sonia for the 30 minute ride to St. Wolfgang. Kiki greeted us at the hotel and we walked back to the family compound, for a lack a better way to put it, for a wonderful traditional meal prepared for us by Kiki and Ursula, Sonia’s sister. The whole gang was there for us to meet, Hubert and Katherine (his girlfriend), Inge (Hubert’s sister, Adi’s aunt), her daughters (Sonia and Ursula) their husbands (Rudy and Andres) and their two sons (Andy and Moritz). Horst, Adi’s uncle, Inge’s husband, came later. It was a wonderful evening with much laughter, good food, wine and beer and getting to know one another. Fortunately, most of the Austrians speak good English because our German is not so good, except for Adi of course; he is fluent.
In the morning, Adi and Kiki took us for a walk up into the hills overlooking the town and the lake; again words cannot describe the beauty, at least not mine. On the way down, we encountered several lederhosen – clad men shooting off cannons across the top of the village. Next we see a parade of men, women and children in dirndls, and lederhosen, following a small band through town. Turns out it is part of a traditional wedding ceremony taking place in town. We have some new ideas for Kiki and Adi’s wedding. We later came across the bride and groom parading through town on the way to the reception.
The village is a resort town and has only 700+ people, a beautiful church, and wonderful buildings, all with flowers in every window box. Our hotel was wonderful and it seemed that most of the action (brass bands, etc) happened right outside our windows. Our balcony was a ring side seat to the action.
Just a note about the couple, Adrian wore a traditional Austrian shirt, coat and hat and was so handsome. Kristin borrowed a dirndl outfit from Ursula and braided her hair and she looked absolutely Austrian and so cute! The traditional clothing is worn a lot and I must say it looks great!
That evening we walked way up to the top of one of the hills surrounding town to a hut sitting against the side of the hill. It had a covered outdoor area and an inside complete with wood burning stove. This was the site for Hubert’s 70th birthday party. You start the festivities with dessert and coffee, then drinks, then dinner, then more dessert and schnapps. There was also a hired accordion player and one of Hubert’s friends plays and brought his, so they played together – it was wonderful! Many of Hubert’s friends were there, people he had grown up with and known all his life. A great deal of eating, drinking, singing, and tributes. It was such an unreal cultural experience, plus getting to know his friends was great. Somehow we managed to communicate, some had very good English, some not at all, but we all managed. Our one new phrase is “prost”, that’s the word when you toast each other before a drink, we did a lot of “prosting”. Bev, Ron, Ken and I ended our part of the evening before they did, they lasted until 1 am, and we walked back down the dark and curvy road to town, fortunately Kenny had a flashlight or we might still be wandering around in the Alps.
When we got back to town, we were greeted with a concert by the town marching band, right outside our hotel in the town square – all in all it was a weekend to remember.
Diane and the Crew
We were picked up in Salzburg by Adi and his first cousin Sonia for the 30 minute ride to St. Wolfgang. Kiki greeted us at the hotel and we walked back to the family compound, for a lack a better way to put it, for a wonderful traditional meal prepared for us by Kiki and Ursula, Sonia’s sister. The whole gang was there for us to meet, Hubert and Katherine (his girlfriend), Inge (Hubert’s sister, Adi’s aunt), her daughters (Sonia and Ursula) their husbands (Rudy and Andres) and their two sons (Andy and Moritz). Horst, Adi’s uncle, Inge’s husband, came later. It was a wonderful evening with much laughter, good food, wine and beer and getting to know one another. Fortunately, most of the Austrians speak good English because our German is not so good, except for Adi of course; he is fluent.
In the morning, Adi and Kiki took us for a walk up into the hills overlooking the town and the lake; again words cannot describe the beauty, at least not mine. On the way down, we encountered several lederhosen – clad men shooting off cannons across the top of the village. Next we see a parade of men, women and children in dirndls, and lederhosen, following a small band through town. Turns out it is part of a traditional wedding ceremony taking place in town. We have some new ideas for Kiki and Adi’s wedding. We later came across the bride and groom parading through town on the way to the reception.
The village is a resort town and has only 700+ people, a beautiful church, and wonderful buildings, all with flowers in every window box. Our hotel was wonderful and it seemed that most of the action (brass bands, etc) happened right outside our windows. Our balcony was a ring side seat to the action.
Just a note about the couple, Adrian wore a traditional Austrian shirt, coat and hat and was so handsome. Kristin borrowed a dirndl outfit from Ursula and braided her hair and she looked absolutely Austrian and so cute! The traditional clothing is worn a lot and I must say it looks great!
That evening we walked way up to the top of one of the hills surrounding town to a hut sitting against the side of the hill. It had a covered outdoor area and an inside complete with wood burning stove. This was the site for Hubert’s 70th birthday party. You start the festivities with dessert and coffee, then drinks, then dinner, then more dessert and schnapps. There was also a hired accordion player and one of Hubert’s friends plays and brought his, so they played together – it was wonderful! Many of Hubert’s friends were there, people he had grown up with and known all his life. A great deal of eating, drinking, singing, and tributes. It was such an unreal cultural experience, plus getting to know his friends was great. Somehow we managed to communicate, some had very good English, some not at all, but we all managed. Our one new phrase is “prost”, that’s the word when you toast each other before a drink, we did a lot of “prosting”. Bev, Ron, Ken and I ended our part of the evening before they did, they lasted until 1 am, and we walked back down the dark and curvy road to town, fortunately Kenny had a flashlight or we might still be wandering around in the Alps.
When we got back to town, we were greeted with a concert by the town marching band, right outside our hotel in the town square – all in all it was a weekend to remember.
Diane and the Crew
Budapest
We took the overnight train to Budapest. The train was new and spotless. The tracks were old and bumpy. Bev said this morning, we have only taken public transportation – buses, the metro, and the trains – not a single taxi and it has been so easy to get around. Budapest is a beautiful city, so much to see and huge. Divided in half by the Danube; Buda on one side and Pest on the other. Our first day we visited the Castle Hill area and I led the Rick Steves walking tour. I ( D) have been the informal tour guide, leading the Rick walking tours all over the city. We toured the Opera House and the Parliament building as well as walking all over the city via Rick Steves. We easily could have spent more time here; there is so much to see. Bev and I had a favorite part of the city – The Great Market Hall – we need one of these in Sac, all you ML’s would be in heaven!
Hungry has resurrected their wine industry and we once again enjoyed wine with our meals. The food was much improved over the standard Eastern European heavy fair. We enjoyed salads and fruit with the usual meat and potato dishes.
On the train we are traveling through the soul less suburbs, full of communist era apartment blocks, in contrast to the city center older architecture. In the cities restoration is in full swing. Cranes everywhere. In the ‘burbs they are beginning to tear down the horrible apartment blocks.
Our hotel in Pest was wonderful. It was a two $$ sign (mid range) Rick Staves, close to the tube stop, high ceilings, friendly staff, quiet and clean. The elevator was beautiful Art Nouveau metal work, and the stairs were well worn.
This has been a great trip and we are thankful to be physically able to walk, climb stairs and enjoy a trip that is close to local life! On to Austria.
Diane and the Crew
Hungry has resurrected their wine industry and we once again enjoyed wine with our meals. The food was much improved over the standard Eastern European heavy fair. We enjoyed salads and fruit with the usual meat and potato dishes.
On the train we are traveling through the soul less suburbs, full of communist era apartment blocks, in contrast to the city center older architecture. In the cities restoration is in full swing. Cranes everywhere. In the ‘burbs they are beginning to tear down the horrible apartment blocks.
Our hotel in Pest was wonderful. It was a two $$ sign (mid range) Rick Staves, close to the tube stop, high ceilings, friendly staff, quiet and clean. The elevator was beautiful Art Nouveau metal work, and the stairs were well worn.
This has been a great trip and we are thankful to be physically able to walk, climb stairs and enjoy a trip that is close to local life! On to Austria.
Diane and the Crew
Krakow
We have not blogged for a few days due to days and nights packed with fun! We are on the day train to Vienna/St. Wolfgang to meet up with Kiki and Adi, Ken and Diane’s daughter and soon to be son in law. Our last 3 days have been very eventful. Our final day in Krakow was great. We all loved Krakow. It is a very beautiful and friendly city, with a main square that was the largest in medieval Europe. Our final day began with a city tour in little golf cart type vehicle that covered the old town, the Jewish quarter and the Jewish ghetto where the Jews were forced to live during WWII before being sent to the camps. We then took the Rick Steve’s walking tour of town. The highlight of the day was happening upon the Spirit of Assisi 2009. Religious leaders from all over the world gathered in Krakow to commemorate the 70 years since the war. They had visited Auschwitz earlier in day and had a memorial in the square complete with a feed from Assisi, an orchestra and concert in Krakow. It was very moving and emotional; we sat in the square, had a beer and felt part of history.
Diane and the crew
Diane and the crew
Monday, September 7, 2009
Just a quick note on eating and drinking here. The food in Eastern Europe is heavy. Coarse and wonderful bread, meat and potatoes, dumplings and cabbage. Lots of meat and cheese for breakfast, The local wine disappointing, hearty burgendy like. In Poland we discovered "wodka", delightful and varied. Beer is good too.
In general we have found Poland very cheap. Our hotel is half what we paid in Prague and great. Rick Steves cautions about being "ripped off" in Prague and we had a personal experience. The Poles pride themselves on being honorable and it has been our experience that that is certainly been the case.
In general we have found Poland very cheap. Our hotel is half what we paid in Prague and great. Rick Steves cautions about being "ripped off" in Prague and we had a personal experience. The Poles pride themselves on being honorable and it has been our experience that that is certainly been the case.
Krakow
We climbed aboard the night train to Krakow, pulling out of Prague at 9:10 sharp. Our conductor was a hoot, officious but friendly, and we pulled into Krakow at 6:30 AM on the dot after gently rocking and clacking through the Czeck and Polish countryside while having sweet dreams of beer and goulash and things to come.
Our first impression of Poland, while trudging the downtown streets of Krakow on Saturday morning, fit every stereotype we had---old and dirty steets, dour people, soviet style archictecture, and a general dreariness that was reinforced by the overcast skies. Things picked up after a cheerful and extremely helpful hotel manager, and wonderful breakfast at a first class restaurant that cost us about 80 zloti ($26 US) for the four of us.
We headed out by city bus to the Wieliczka (vee-LEECH-kah) Salt Mine, a unique man made feature that has been producing salt since the 11th century. The tour takes you hundreds of feet into the earth where you are guided through about 2% of the 200 miles of shafts and chambers. It was interesting, but the tour was too long and a little corny. Diane's claustrophobia was at a high pitch, ending with a crammed ascent to the top in a rattley miner's evevator. I think this is when she began to appreciate the virtues of the exquisite local vodkas (wodka to our Polish friends).
The next morning Ron, Bev and Ken traveled by private car to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Diane understandably chose not to come along, aware that the emotional intensity would be substantial. She was, of course, correct in her assumption, and we returned with an experience and memories we'll never forget. Traveling for an hour across the Polish countryside stirs the memories of everything you've read about the irony of the bucolic landscape and the unimagininable horrors that awaited the million plus unsuspecting arrivals at the camps, mostly Jews, who were murdered by the Nazis from 1941-1945. The several hour tour is conducted by experienced guides who are somber, respectful, and matter of fact. There is no entertainment, no hyperbole, no attempt to persuade. They are allowing history to present its own case through observation of the camps themselves, along with photographs, artifacts, factual commentary, and the personal experience of being present in the very place where these events occurred. Even though its impossible to fully wrap your mind around the reality of this unspeakable, and recent, historical event, you leave with profound and unsettled emotions that will be carried permantly. It was an honor to have this experience.
We headed back to Krakow, freaked out by our driver who was intent on passing every car on the busy two lane road, and hooked up with Diane who had a relaxing day despite a troublesome eye infection. We had a beer on the massive plaza of the Old Town, a vibrant and very busy place full of eating, drinking, entertainment, horses and carriages, and beautiful people. We ate at a terrific restaurant (Polish-Italian fusion) and finished with dessert on the plaza. By this time we are in love with Poland. The people are polite and friendly, the town is fun, safe and full of interesting things to see and do, and it is cheap (not inexpensive), cheap! Tomorrow we will continue our sightseeing before boarding the night train to Budapest (sounds like a bad movie).
Do widzenia
Ron, Bev, Ken, Diane
Our first impression of Poland, while trudging the downtown streets of Krakow on Saturday morning, fit every stereotype we had---old and dirty steets, dour people, soviet style archictecture, and a general dreariness that was reinforced by the overcast skies. Things picked up after a cheerful and extremely helpful hotel manager, and wonderful breakfast at a first class restaurant that cost us about 80 zloti ($26 US) for the four of us.
We headed out by city bus to the Wieliczka (vee-LEECH-kah) Salt Mine, a unique man made feature that has been producing salt since the 11th century. The tour takes you hundreds of feet into the earth where you are guided through about 2% of the 200 miles of shafts and chambers. It was interesting, but the tour was too long and a little corny. Diane's claustrophobia was at a high pitch, ending with a crammed ascent to the top in a rattley miner's evevator. I think this is when she began to appreciate the virtues of the exquisite local vodkas (wodka to our Polish friends).
The next morning Ron, Bev and Ken traveled by private car to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Diane understandably chose not to come along, aware that the emotional intensity would be substantial. She was, of course, correct in her assumption, and we returned with an experience and memories we'll never forget. Traveling for an hour across the Polish countryside stirs the memories of everything you've read about the irony of the bucolic landscape and the unimagininable horrors that awaited the million plus unsuspecting arrivals at the camps, mostly Jews, who were murdered by the Nazis from 1941-1945. The several hour tour is conducted by experienced guides who are somber, respectful, and matter of fact. There is no entertainment, no hyperbole, no attempt to persuade. They are allowing history to present its own case through observation of the camps themselves, along with photographs, artifacts, factual commentary, and the personal experience of being present in the very place where these events occurred. Even though its impossible to fully wrap your mind around the reality of this unspeakable, and recent, historical event, you leave with profound and unsettled emotions that will be carried permantly. It was an honor to have this experience.
We headed back to Krakow, freaked out by our driver who was intent on passing every car on the busy two lane road, and hooked up with Diane who had a relaxing day despite a troublesome eye infection. We had a beer on the massive plaza of the Old Town, a vibrant and very busy place full of eating, drinking, entertainment, horses and carriages, and beautiful people. We ate at a terrific restaurant (Polish-Italian fusion) and finished with dessert on the plaza. By this time we are in love with Poland. The people are polite and friendly, the town is fun, safe and full of interesting things to see and do, and it is cheap (not inexpensive), cheap! Tomorrow we will continue our sightseeing before boarding the night train to Budapest (sounds like a bad movie).
Do widzenia
Ron, Bev, Ken, Diane
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Prague
The Hoods and Lambs safely arrived at our hotel, the Pension Green Garland on Thursday, September 3rd.. Located in the center of the old town, it is a converted manor house first built in 1327. It has been updated since. The rooms (apartments, much larger than a Jr. one bedroon in SF!) were huge and spotless. After dropping our bags we began to explore Prague. I think we stopped for a beer first thing, just to honor the culture. After walking around the old town we went for dinner at a traditional Czech restaurant. Bev had goulash, and the others typical dishes, not exciting food. We all slept well dispite all night bar noise (and we thought of the Club 2 Me when the college kids are home was noisy). Breakfast at the Pension was perfect and we hit the streets with Jana, our wonderful Czech guide. We went to the Wenceslas Square, named after a kind and benevolent Czech leader from the 10th century. Jana showed us the spot where the Russian tanks rolled in in '68 and the '89 velvet revolution happened, and the memorial to two young student leaders who burned themselves to death in '69 in protest of the Communist takeover. We walked along the square and into the Franciscan Gardens.
The architecture here is amazing, everywhere you look you see a different and amazing building. Fortunately, the Communists (or the Nazi's) did not destroy the town. Jana shared with us her experiences of growing up under Communist rule: the sameness of the clothes, furniture, everything was the same for everyone, no variety at all. She was a hit in 3rd grade when she showed up to class with a Mickey Mouse t-shirt sent to her by her German grandparents.She was allowed such a bourgeoise item because she was young. A soldier took a sweater right off her mom because it had a small American flag on the front of it. After the Velvet Revolution, the end of Communism, she returned to school after Christmas break, to find that she no longer had to take Russian anymore, a real joy for her.
We toured the Old Town Square with its famous Astronomical Clock, built in the 1400's. Tthe clock maker was blinded after completion of the clock so he could not make another one, or so goes the legend. The square was very cool, swarms of tourists and interesting things to see. Also went through the Jewish quarter and the old cemetary where Jews are buried 12 deep because they were not allowed to be buried anywhere else for years.
Saturday we again spent the day with Jana, touring the Little Quarter across the Vltava River from Old Town. This is where the Prague Castle is located, on the top of a hill. The castle was built over a span of a thousand years, party by bi-polar Hapburg monarchs. The views across the river to Old Town are spectacular. After bidding adieu to Janna we had a late lunch, and then walked to the Alfonse Mucha Museum. Mucha is a much loved Czech who all but singlehandedly developed Art Nouveau. We are now in a coffee shop, blogging and waiting for our night train to Krakow. Prague has been great.
The architecture here is amazing, everywhere you look you see a different and amazing building. Fortunately, the Communists (or the Nazi's) did not destroy the town. Jana shared with us her experiences of growing up under Communist rule: the sameness of the clothes, furniture, everything was the same for everyone, no variety at all. She was a hit in 3rd grade when she showed up to class with a Mickey Mouse t-shirt sent to her by her German grandparents.She was allowed such a bourgeoise item because she was young. A soldier took a sweater right off her mom because it had a small American flag on the front of it. After the Velvet Revolution, the end of Communism, she returned to school after Christmas break, to find that she no longer had to take Russian anymore, a real joy for her.
We toured the Old Town Square with its famous Astronomical Clock, built in the 1400's. Tthe clock maker was blinded after completion of the clock so he could not make another one, or so goes the legend. The square was very cool, swarms of tourists and interesting things to see. Also went through the Jewish quarter and the old cemetary where Jews are buried 12 deep because they were not allowed to be buried anywhere else for years.
Saturday we again spent the day with Jana, touring the Little Quarter across the Vltava River from Old Town. This is where the Prague Castle is located, on the top of a hill. The castle was built over a span of a thousand years, party by bi-polar Hapburg monarchs. The views across the river to Old Town are spectacular. After bidding adieu to Janna we had a late lunch, and then walked to the Alfonse Mucha Museum. Mucha is a much loved Czech who all but singlehandedly developed Art Nouveau. We are now in a coffee shop, blogging and waiting for our night train to Krakow. Prague has been great.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Not a Great Start
The day before we were to depart we learned that SkyEurope, the Slovakian airline four of us had booked from Vienna, Austria, to Split, Croatia, had ceased operating. Not a total surprise as we had been watching the news descriptions of it circling the drain for some weeks. So, the day before we were to leave we were searching for alternative transportation to Croatia. Last minute airline fares apparently required that you purchase the airliner, so we ended up with train tickets from Vienna to Zagreb connecting to Split. Our 1.6 hour flight became an all day train ride, but the scenery from ground level should be better then from the air. In addition, what could be better then a late lunch in Zagreb? Overnight FEDEX got us the tickets 30 minutes before our departure for the airport, and the game was on.
Except, two hours before our departure one couple had to cancel due to some needed elbow surgery. Jerry and Debbie not being able to come was a great loss-Jerry specialized in early morning search and acquire missions for breakfast pastries, and Debbie was great fun to have along. So, the eight became six, and off we go.
Except, two hours before our departure one couple had to cancel due to some needed elbow surgery. Jerry and Debbie not being able to come was a great loss-Jerry specialized in early morning search and acquire missions for breakfast pastries, and Debbie was great fun to have along. So, the eight became six, and off we go.
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