Lake Bled to Ljubljana, Solvenia
This day was an interesting travel day. Our mission was to get to Ljubljana and then hop on a late night train to Budapest, Hungary. This wonderful train would depart at 1:50 in the nite and hopefully get to Budapest tomorrow by noon. Well, that's what we thought.
There was no hurry to get to Ljubljana, so we took our time making breakfast. It was another drizzly day and we still had not paddled out to the island in the middle of Lake Bled. We decided to go for tit and walk around the edge of the lake to where our apartment owner knew the boat guy. They gave us an hour extra on the rental which was already 10€. Ouch! The girl that helped us was really kind and said go for it. It's rainy and there is no wait for the boats. I can only imagine what this would be like in full sun with all the tourists. It was a funny sight to see all three of us hop into a 12 foot long wooden rowboat. It was attached to the dock with a chain and after disconnecting it, we pushed off. I was on paddle duty and tried to navigate rowing backwards towards the island. We kept turing to the left as I rowed and I could not tell why. Upon further inspection, we noticed the the left (port) paddle was smaller that the right one. Well, that will do it. The rest of the time out to the island I was fighting the pull of the paddles, favoring the weak one and going light on the large one. It drizzled on us the whole time, but it created a dark atmosphere on the way. We docked the boat just below the 99 stairs that take you up to the church. Pretty cool, but first, we wanted to walk the perimeter of the island to see what was there. A little trail took us along the engender and we could look into the water below. It was very clear and had a light blue and green tint. Visibility was about 15 feet deep or a little more and you could see fish all around. Occasionally, we saw s ome really large ones maybe 2 feet long just chilling there close to the bottom watching the smaller ones closer to the surface. After the hike around, we decided to head up to the church. People were ringing the bells from the top and on the 1/2 hour and hour, the church would blast out with the large bells. On the top we decided not to go into the church. They wanted another 4€ to do that. And now, we are churched out. After one in Zagreb with a model of a body in a tomb, I kind of find them tacky. More o that later. We descended the stairs and got back to the boat for the wet paddle back. It was a peaceful calming ride and set us up for some really nice photos.
We grabbed some lunch in the local market and headed back to the apartment. They let us put our bags behind the counter and we then headed to the bus station. The station was only a 3 minute walk away and had a really easy to use automatic ticket machine. We had looked at it earlier, but were unsure of what ticket to get for Ljubljana. Lucky for us, there was a nice young man there to help. He spoke English and showed us what to do. While in the process, we found out that he worked for the bus station. Thanks bro! We then had our tickets and the bus was there in a matter of minutes.
When we got into Ljubljana, we had made a few friends and were chatting right off the bus. Then, the driver came down and asked is someone was missing something. He was holding Katherine's iPod. Oops! Katherine freaked out and thanked him profusely. He even took a hug and smiled about it. Katherine never loses anything and this time someone was there to help out. We owe him! We have run into other people that would have see that as a tip.
Now in the middle of Ljubljana we had several hours to kill. We decided to walk some of the streets we had not seen and get a bite to eat. We found a nice park in front of the parliament building and had a seat for over an hour. People watching in the parks is plenty of entertainment. Trust me. There were many locals and tourists to watch. Surprisingly, there we're many children and dogs. Not wild dogs, but ones on leashed out to play.
The hours passed and we went back to the station. We knew there was a free toilet and water. Soon enough, at 9:30 the attendant locked it up and we were needing water. Katherine and Andrew walked way down to the the other bathroom in desperation . There was nothing open to buy a bottle and it looked like the station was closing. There were many people waiting in the station for our same train from the looks of the sleeping arrangements. We just laid out on the dirty floor like a homeless person and slept for a bit. I was able to sleep for a few hours, but when it got closer to get on the train, I could not sleep. 1:50am came quick and we made it on without a problem. The train originated from Venice and the sleeper cars we full as well as the couchettes. Oh well, now we are stuck in an airliner seat for 9+ hours. Here we go!
I am writing this while on the train and it is still chugging along. It's noon the next day and we are still hours out from Budapest. It's close and quiet on here. Skies are cloudy and Hungary looks very lush so far. We'll see how this city turns out.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Lake Bled, Slovenia Day 3
Lake Bled, Slovenia Day 3
Today, hiking was what we set out to do, and hiking is what we did. We got up, had a great breakfast, and headed out on a trip to the Vintagar Gorge. We could take a bus or rent bikes, but walking is free and that fits in our budget. Yes, it would have been cool to ride, but walking saved us 15 € a person. The bus trip would have been 6 € a person. The walk there was sweet. We passed lots of farms and gardens. Within the hour, we got to the entrance of the gorge. The parking lot had cars from about every country in Europe and many motorcycles. It was interesting to see all the different license plates. This gorge is a walled cut through the rocks with very narrow passages at times. It is nowhere as tight as Zion's Narrows, but very intriguing with the dense forest. The walkway is similar to Bushkill Falls in Pennsylvania on the New Jersey border. Katherine and I went to Bushkill Falls many years back and this place brought back some fond memories. In this gorge just north of Bled, back in 1898 people put in a walkway for tourists to see the grandeur the river has to offer. There is no way you could pass through at times without the supported walkway. Much of it was constructed with old railway steel which we have seen a lot of around here. Back in Brasov, the street guard rails were made of it and welded together which made a super strong barrier. About 2/3rds of way down the river trail, we started to get drizzled on. It was not bad, but the forecast of the day said that we would have sun and no rain. Oops. All that I had was a garbage bag for our pack. No rain gear. Everything went in and we were all good. The exit of the trail was at the bottom of the gorge and I knew we could get back another way. I wanted to avoid backtracking and make it a loop hike back to Bled. There was a little trail to the right of the lower entrance. We took it and it was spectacular! We hiked a bit through the forest following the signs to Bled. We passed a few squatters and saw some old beat up homes. The forest was thick and eerie. The homes had been overtaken by the forest and in a few more years, they will return to the Earth.
When we got back to town we got a bite at the Pizzeria Rustica. It was very close to our apartment and we had seen signs for it the day before. The food was just like brick oven pizza back home and some Austrian beer topped it off.
After that, we just went back to the apartment for a little nap and then got dinner. Yes, all we do is eat. Some time transpired, but we wanted to get to the grocery store before the other tourists ransacked it. You have to be pretty creative in these little places, especially while trying to make good food. You might not have all the pots and pans you need and have to go with the flow. This time we had a microwave, but no oven. There were plenty of plates and silverware and even a refrigerator. You have to be careful not to buy too much stuff that you can not take with you. So far, I have been carrying a bit of olive oil and some garlic powder which we use in most meals. Salt and pepper are a must too. I broke down and had to get a knife since most of them are dull and worthless. I will just check the bag on the way back to the USA to pass through security. It has been well worth it.
This time, the man of the night was in film form. We came across some Sharpe movies that must have been left in the apartment. This series is from the 1990's and is very popular in England. The main character, Sean Bean, plays an English soldier in the 1880s with events happening in France and Spain. I only knew the actor from The Lord of the Rings and James Bond in Goldeneye. We had a great time watching since we did not plan on it and the character came across as a Chuck Norris with an English accent. It seems to be a good series and I will have to check it out later in the States.
We have not had too much social interaction with locals or tourists around here, which has been kind of nice. The place where we have been staying allowed us some needed privacy and the party hostel environment drains you after a while. The locals seem to be extremely nice and patient. Slovenia is a hidden gem with only about 2 million people in the entire country. Once again, I would love to come back and spend some time in the mountains. They are truly beautiful!
Today, hiking was what we set out to do, and hiking is what we did. We got up, had a great breakfast, and headed out on a trip to the Vintagar Gorge. We could take a bus or rent bikes, but walking is free and that fits in our budget. Yes, it would have been cool to ride, but walking saved us 15 € a person. The bus trip would have been 6 € a person. The walk there was sweet. We passed lots of farms and gardens. Within the hour, we got to the entrance of the gorge. The parking lot had cars from about every country in Europe and many motorcycles. It was interesting to see all the different license plates. This gorge is a walled cut through the rocks with very narrow passages at times. It is nowhere as tight as Zion's Narrows, but very intriguing with the dense forest. The walkway is similar to Bushkill Falls in Pennsylvania on the New Jersey border. Katherine and I went to Bushkill Falls many years back and this place brought back some fond memories. In this gorge just north of Bled, back in 1898 people put in a walkway for tourists to see the grandeur the river has to offer. There is no way you could pass through at times without the supported walkway. Much of it was constructed with old railway steel which we have seen a lot of around here. Back in Brasov, the street guard rails were made of it and welded together which made a super strong barrier. About 2/3rds of way down the river trail, we started to get drizzled on. It was not bad, but the forecast of the day said that we would have sun and no rain. Oops. All that I had was a garbage bag for our pack. No rain gear. Everything went in and we were all good. The exit of the trail was at the bottom of the gorge and I knew we could get back another way. I wanted to avoid backtracking and make it a loop hike back to Bled. There was a little trail to the right of the lower entrance. We took it and it was spectacular! We hiked a bit through the forest following the signs to Bled. We passed a few squatters and saw some old beat up homes. The forest was thick and eerie. The homes had been overtaken by the forest and in a few more years, they will return to the Earth.
When we got back to town we got a bite at the Pizzeria Rustica. It was very close to our apartment and we had seen signs for it the day before. The food was just like brick oven pizza back home and some Austrian beer topped it off.
After that, we just went back to the apartment for a little nap and then got dinner. Yes, all we do is eat. Some time transpired, but we wanted to get to the grocery store before the other tourists ransacked it. You have to be pretty creative in these little places, especially while trying to make good food. You might not have all the pots and pans you need and have to go with the flow. This time we had a microwave, but no oven. There were plenty of plates and silverware and even a refrigerator. You have to be careful not to buy too much stuff that you can not take with you. So far, I have been carrying a bit of olive oil and some garlic powder which we use in most meals. Salt and pepper are a must too. I broke down and had to get a knife since most of them are dull and worthless. I will just check the bag on the way back to the USA to pass through security. It has been well worth it.
This time, the man of the night was in film form. We came across some Sharpe movies that must have been left in the apartment. This series is from the 1990's and is very popular in England. The main character, Sean Bean, plays an English soldier in the 1880s with events happening in France and Spain. I only knew the actor from The Lord of the Rings and James Bond in Goldeneye. We had a great time watching since we did not plan on it and the character came across as a Chuck Norris with an English accent. It seems to be a good series and I will have to check it out later in the States.
We have not had too much social interaction with locals or tourists around here, which has been kind of nice. The place where we have been staying allowed us some needed privacy and the party hostel environment drains you after a while. The locals seem to be extremely nice and patient. Slovenia is a hidden gem with only about 2 million people in the entire country. Once again, I would love to come back and spend some time in the mountains. They are truly beautiful!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Lake Bled, Slovenia Day 2
Lake Bled, Slovenia Day 2
Today was our biggest hiking day so far. We were presented with the option to pay a guide to take us to the 5 peaks around the lake. I had a map and a enough idea of where to go. We chose to save the 30 Euros a person and head out by ourselves. Good choice. We saved the money and saw the peaks on our own. It was beautiful, to say the least, and we went at our own pace. There was even a stop half way to get food and some drinks. The first trailhead was nestled in-between two houses and we surely looked like we should not be there. But, by pressing on we got where we needed. These trails are in good shape in most places, even with the large amount of rain Bled receives. These peaks we were trying to see overlook the lake and are pretty close together. It was nice to leave the tourist crew and have some peace and quiet in the forest. In places the canopy is so thick the floor is bare and covered in only leaves. Moss is everywhere and I am always looking for mushrooms and berries. This area is supposed to have some very poisonous mushrooms and I just wanted to get a picture. I must say, I was let down and only saw one mushroom which was boring and white. Last summer in the Santa Fe mountains I was able to see a ton of mushrooms. We even ran into a chef and crew harvesting baskets of them. Upon returning to Vegas, I searched the mushrooms and read a little more on others. These mountains in Slovenia and other neighboring countries have some really weird ones. Best bet, just stay away and take pictures. The ones in the states will not kill you by touch or even by eating a little bit of them. You would have to consume quite a bit to kill, but you will surely get sick.
On top of one peak we saw some dark things in a field. I stared for a while and then heard a whistle. These were soldiers training below us and they were doing some crawling drills. This was something we did not expect. There must be a Slovenian army training field back behind the town. We watched for a while, and on the descent from the peak, heard them firing shots. They echoed through the mountains, but probably were not heard in the lake area. It was neat to see from overhead, but we did not need to the be caught as tourists photographing the military drills. That would be a good way to never go home.
The hike took longer than expected and we wanted to get home for dinner. Tomorrow we will walk to the gorge that's close and on the way back hopefully have some steam to paddle out to the island. That is a must.
I failed to mention that it was just Katherine's birthday on the 23rd of July. We have for some time, and others copy our idea, celebrate the birthday week. Today was birthday day 4 and she wanted to get ice cream. Andrew and I were cool with the idea knowing what would happen if we refused. Katherine said she remembered a place we passed on the way back to the apartment the past two evenings. She said there was a sign with a bear eating ice cream. Ok. We would head out to inspect. It was just a short walk back towards the bus stop and that's where we saw the sign. Boom! She was right, a bear eating an ice cream. Amazing the things she sees and I just overlook. I was probably looking at some ancient motorcycle or tree, and she notices ice cream. There you go. We headed inside and saw a huge counter of ice cream and a display of ornate cakes. There were ones that my mother told me of in Germany and Austria. Some were in rolls, others in layers, and one was even the shape of a hedgehog. No, I'm not kidding. We just got ice cream cones and took a seat. While eating we stared at the counter. People poured in from finishing their dinners and knew exactly what they wanted. This was no tourist hang out. Yes, they come here, but the locals know what's good. We stumbled onto a goldmine of desserts. Katherine and Andrew have already planned what we will eat tomorrow and the next day. There was this huge espresso machine that looked impressive. I checked the menu and the price was right. We will surely hit the place up in the morning before our hiking. When we left, I took a look at the sign and the shop has been there since 1966. Good for them! In the States a Baskin Robbins would have put this place out of business. Not here. Still going strong.
Gotta get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a lot of hiking, but mostly flat stuff. The legs need a rest for sure after the ground we covered today.
Today was our biggest hiking day so far. We were presented with the option to pay a guide to take us to the 5 peaks around the lake. I had a map and a enough idea of where to go. We chose to save the 30 Euros a person and head out by ourselves. Good choice. We saved the money and saw the peaks on our own. It was beautiful, to say the least, and we went at our own pace. There was even a stop half way to get food and some drinks. The first trailhead was nestled in-between two houses and we surely looked like we should not be there. But, by pressing on we got where we needed. These trails are in good shape in most places, even with the large amount of rain Bled receives. These peaks we were trying to see overlook the lake and are pretty close together. It was nice to leave the tourist crew and have some peace and quiet in the forest. In places the canopy is so thick the floor is bare and covered in only leaves. Moss is everywhere and I am always looking for mushrooms and berries. This area is supposed to have some very poisonous mushrooms and I just wanted to get a picture. I must say, I was let down and only saw one mushroom which was boring and white. Last summer in the Santa Fe mountains I was able to see a ton of mushrooms. We even ran into a chef and crew harvesting baskets of them. Upon returning to Vegas, I searched the mushrooms and read a little more on others. These mountains in Slovenia and other neighboring countries have some really weird ones. Best bet, just stay away and take pictures. The ones in the states will not kill you by touch or even by eating a little bit of them. You would have to consume quite a bit to kill, but you will surely get sick.
On top of one peak we saw some dark things in a field. I stared for a while and then heard a whistle. These were soldiers training below us and they were doing some crawling drills. This was something we did not expect. There must be a Slovenian army training field back behind the town. We watched for a while, and on the descent from the peak, heard them firing shots. They echoed through the mountains, but probably were not heard in the lake area. It was neat to see from overhead, but we did not need to the be caught as tourists photographing the military drills. That would be a good way to never go home.
The hike took longer than expected and we wanted to get home for dinner. Tomorrow we will walk to the gorge that's close and on the way back hopefully have some steam to paddle out to the island. That is a must.
I failed to mention that it was just Katherine's birthday on the 23rd of July. We have for some time, and others copy our idea, celebrate the birthday week. Today was birthday day 4 and she wanted to get ice cream. Andrew and I were cool with the idea knowing what would happen if we refused. Katherine said she remembered a place we passed on the way back to the apartment the past two evenings. She said there was a sign with a bear eating ice cream. Ok. We would head out to inspect. It was just a short walk back towards the bus stop and that's where we saw the sign. Boom! She was right, a bear eating an ice cream. Amazing the things she sees and I just overlook. I was probably looking at some ancient motorcycle or tree, and she notices ice cream. There you go. We headed inside and saw a huge counter of ice cream and a display of ornate cakes. There were ones that my mother told me of in Germany and Austria. Some were in rolls, others in layers, and one was even the shape of a hedgehog. No, I'm not kidding. We just got ice cream cones and took a seat. While eating we stared at the counter. People poured in from finishing their dinners and knew exactly what they wanted. This was no tourist hang out. Yes, they come here, but the locals know what's good. We stumbled onto a goldmine of desserts. Katherine and Andrew have already planned what we will eat tomorrow and the next day. There was this huge espresso machine that looked impressive. I checked the menu and the price was right. We will surely hit the place up in the morning before our hiking. When we left, I took a look at the sign and the shop has been there since 1966. Good for them! In the States a Baskin Robbins would have put this place out of business. Not here. Still going strong.
Gotta get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a lot of hiking, but mostly flat stuff. The legs need a rest for sure after the ground we covered today.
Lake Bled, Slovenia Day 1
Lake Bled, Slovenia Day 1
We departed Ljubljana and took the bus to Bled. It was only an hour and a half, but the trip was spectacular! The countryside is something else and the clouds only added to the unique sky. We have now traded heat and sun for clouds and coolness. We are situated NW of the capital, Ljubljana just in the foothills of the Julian Alps. The lake here cradles the only island in Slovenia, which is one of the world's most picturesque lakes. It holds true to the testament. The surrounding mountains and the depth of view are amazing. The town is super small and within walking distance of everything. Our apartment is on a hill with views in all directions. The first thing that we did after checking in was find out where the market is. In our case, it is right down the street. I only carry a little bit of emergency food, but when people get hungry, they get cranky. I try to avoid that at all costs. It is easy to prevent, but when it happens it comes on full force. Just keep a reserve in your bag and all is good.
We had a little time to kill for the apartment owner to prepare the room. She just let us keep our bags behind the desk and we headed out to the castle on the hill. There is a trailhead right by our location, and we headed up into the thick forest. It was a brief ascent and we topped out next to a small parking lot and a wonderful view of the castle. This castle is simply named Bled Castle and is situated on a cliffside overlooking the lake. It has had a few owners and at one point was the area center of management. Since the end of WW2, after being looted, it has been refurbished and is a museum. The displays are first class with very detailed artifacts. Some of the best items were the swords discovered in the area. One was from around 3k BC and found in the bottom of the lake. I can only imagine what else is in there.
The tourist crowd is definitely here, but it's a little different than what we have seen. People seem to be a little older and the hostel guests are a little more calm. It's a very relaxing environment with soothing scenery to aide in the effect. There are many people riding bicycles and walking the streets. It's not too crowded and the mood here is pleasant.
The descent from the castle brought us to the edge of the lake. We were granted up close views of the island in the center and could peer into the clear waters. The entire circumference on trail is roughly 6k. We just took a brief walk and headed back to make dinner. Tomorrow we plan to hike, and possibly canoe out to the island. We'll see how things go.
We departed Ljubljana and took the bus to Bled. It was only an hour and a half, but the trip was spectacular! The countryside is something else and the clouds only added to the unique sky. We have now traded heat and sun for clouds and coolness. We are situated NW of the capital, Ljubljana just in the foothills of the Julian Alps. The lake here cradles the only island in Slovenia, which is one of the world's most picturesque lakes. It holds true to the testament. The surrounding mountains and the depth of view are amazing. The town is super small and within walking distance of everything. Our apartment is on a hill with views in all directions. The first thing that we did after checking in was find out where the market is. In our case, it is right down the street. I only carry a little bit of emergency food, but when people get hungry, they get cranky. I try to avoid that at all costs. It is easy to prevent, but when it happens it comes on full force. Just keep a reserve in your bag and all is good.
We had a little time to kill for the apartment owner to prepare the room. She just let us keep our bags behind the desk and we headed out to the castle on the hill. There is a trailhead right by our location, and we headed up into the thick forest. It was a brief ascent and we topped out next to a small parking lot and a wonderful view of the castle. This castle is simply named Bled Castle and is situated on a cliffside overlooking the lake. It has had a few owners and at one point was the area center of management. Since the end of WW2, after being looted, it has been refurbished and is a museum. The displays are first class with very detailed artifacts. Some of the best items were the swords discovered in the area. One was from around 3k BC and found in the bottom of the lake. I can only imagine what else is in there.
The tourist crowd is definitely here, but it's a little different than what we have seen. People seem to be a little older and the hostel guests are a little more calm. It's a very relaxing environment with soothing scenery to aide in the effect. There are many people riding bicycles and walking the streets. It's not too crowded and the mood here is pleasant.
The descent from the castle brought us to the edge of the lake. We were granted up close views of the island in the center and could peer into the clear waters. The entire circumference on trail is roughly 6k. We just took a brief walk and headed back to make dinner. Tomorrow we plan to hike, and possibly canoe out to the island. We'll see how things go.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Ljubljana, Solvenia Day 2
It rained all night, and it was still pouring when we woke up. One option was to get all dressed up in rain gear and hit the old city. The other option was to hang out inside and hopefully the weather got better. We chose the latter. Living in the desert of Las Vegas for years, it sure was nice to watch the rain and see what it was capable of. The trees and plants around here are beautiful with the consistent rain. Later, we saw that the river was flowing nicely through the center of the town. So, for a large part of the day, we just chilled in the dorm room and read, watched a movie, and took a nap. Maybe this was a good rest point for us? It sure felt so. We did manage to get ourselves together to go out when the rain subsided a bit. But, heading out on foot, with these ominous clouds over head, I was sure to pack all rainwear. With that, we took a stroll over to the old historic area of town. It was a beautiful sight to see the river snaking through the center of buildings and concrete banks along it's sides covered in ivy. The middle of the town has been rebuilt from the World Wars and the repair work looks impeccable. One thing that I noticed was the work done on the street. There was this semicircle pattern of paving stones that we have seen elsewhere. But, this time, it looked as if the stones were set with a concrete grout and had been mechanically flattened. It made for a near perfect smoothness and still upheld the authentic old town flavor. Many times before these cobble stones are set with dirt mortar and have shifted all over the place. This was much more appealing than black generic asphalt. I took a pic and will be sure to post it on Facebook. Ljubljana is known for the many bridges that cross the Ljubljanica river. Our favorites were the Dragon bridge and the section called Three Bridges. The Dragon bridge had 4 bronze dragons, 2 on either end which are the town symbol. There is even a dragon beer here. The Three Bridge area is neat since, for some reson, all three bridges are right next to each other. Right across from them was a huge cathedral and shopping area. We took a look around and even though the weather was a little sketchy, we still managed to cover a lot of ground. We did not hit any museums and just took in the scenery. It was really nice without large crowds. They must have been scared away with the rain.
We stopped for a little bite and headed back to the dorm. As we entered, we got the ping pong paddles and ball for an evening of sporting madness. There is a table at the end of the first floor and it had not been killed by the annoying Brit dudes, so we played for an hour or so. It was no pool like at Atilla's or Bulgaria, but was a nice change of pace. Andrew, being a beer pong master, put up a good fight at real table tennis. Katherine is just fun to get fired up. For myself, I just took a digger to the floor in hopes of returning the ball to Andrew. I made the shot for the point, but a tile floor bites back. Whew!
Katherine and I headed out to the track for a little workout session. Since there was one so close, why not give it a try. The track was just off the front steps of the dorm building. It was a little different on a metric track. It felt like the loop was a quarter kilometer around. I don't think that there was enough room inside the oval for a soccer pitch. One fits inside an English track for sure with room to spare. One point for the English measuring system, but a billion points for metric. We need to open our eyes!
Basketball seems to be popular here as some local dudes came out to play. The day before, with some better weather, ther were a lot of them out playing in the area inside the running loop. The rain had held off for just long enough to get in a great run.
There was a Skype session at 9pm with the Gadens and Andrew will not be one minute late for that. We got our showers and talked for a little bit.
Tomorrow, we head to Lake Bled by bus and will stay for a few days.
It rained all night, and it was still pouring when we woke up. One option was to get all dressed up in rain gear and hit the old city. The other option was to hang out inside and hopefully the weather got better. We chose the latter. Living in the desert of Las Vegas for years, it sure was nice to watch the rain and see what it was capable of. The trees and plants around here are beautiful with the consistent rain. Later, we saw that the river was flowing nicely through the center of the town. So, for a large part of the day, we just chilled in the dorm room and read, watched a movie, and took a nap. Maybe this was a good rest point for us? It sure felt so. We did manage to get ourselves together to go out when the rain subsided a bit. But, heading out on foot, with these ominous clouds over head, I was sure to pack all rainwear. With that, we took a stroll over to the old historic area of town. It was a beautiful sight to see the river snaking through the center of buildings and concrete banks along it's sides covered in ivy. The middle of the town has been rebuilt from the World Wars and the repair work looks impeccable. One thing that I noticed was the work done on the street. There was this semicircle pattern of paving stones that we have seen elsewhere. But, this time, it looked as if the stones were set with a concrete grout and had been mechanically flattened. It made for a near perfect smoothness and still upheld the authentic old town flavor. Many times before these cobble stones are set with dirt mortar and have shifted all over the place. This was much more appealing than black generic asphalt. I took a pic and will be sure to post it on Facebook. Ljubljana is known for the many bridges that cross the Ljubljanica river. Our favorites were the Dragon bridge and the section called Three Bridges. The Dragon bridge had 4 bronze dragons, 2 on either end which are the town symbol. There is even a dragon beer here. The Three Bridge area is neat since, for some reson, all three bridges are right next to each other. Right across from them was a huge cathedral and shopping area. We took a look around and even though the weather was a little sketchy, we still managed to cover a lot of ground. We did not hit any museums and just took in the scenery. It was really nice without large crowds. They must have been scared away with the rain.
We stopped for a little bite and headed back to the dorm. As we entered, we got the ping pong paddles and ball for an evening of sporting madness. There is a table at the end of the first floor and it had not been killed by the annoying Brit dudes, so we played for an hour or so. It was no pool like at Atilla's or Bulgaria, but was a nice change of pace. Andrew, being a beer pong master, put up a good fight at real table tennis. Katherine is just fun to get fired up. For myself, I just took a digger to the floor in hopes of returning the ball to Andrew. I made the shot for the point, but a tile floor bites back. Whew!
Katherine and I headed out to the track for a little workout session. Since there was one so close, why not give it a try. The track was just off the front steps of the dorm building. It was a little different on a metric track. It felt like the loop was a quarter kilometer around. I don't think that there was enough room inside the oval for a soccer pitch. One fits inside an English track for sure with room to spare. One point for the English measuring system, but a billion points for metric. We need to open our eyes!
Basketball seems to be popular here as some local dudes came out to play. The day before, with some better weather, ther were a lot of them out playing in the area inside the running loop. The rain had held off for just long enough to get in a great run.
There was a Skype session at 9pm with the Gadens and Andrew will not be one minute late for that. We got our showers and talked for a little bit.
Tomorrow, we head to Lake Bled by bus and will stay for a few days.
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Ljubljana, Slovenia Day 1
We just had our easiest train travel thus far. After leaving the Funk Lounge Hostel in Zagreb, we hopped on the train to Slovenia. The train only made a few stops and we cruised through the border with agents on the train. The train station here in Ljubljana is dead smack in the middle to town and we found our new place within 15 minutes. The new hostel is actually a dorm for the college. It holds 600 people and our room has 3 beds. This time, we have desks and chairs. There is a running track just outside, and below is a dining hall that serves breakfast for 3 euros extra a person.
Right when we got to town, we headed up the hill to the castle. This place has been around since 1100 and is in great shape. There are even a few restaurants and a cafe up there. The castle is positioned so that it overlooks the town, and with the sun going down, gave us a great view of the city. In the distance you could easily see the Julian Alps with clouds working their way in and out.
As we were getting ready for bed, we noticed some people gathering in the common are room making a ruckus. From the accents and cadence of their voices, we determined that they were British. This went on for a while and preparing to go to bed, I went out for further inspection. What I saw was another round of points for the British. I am not making stereotypes. They are for themselves. So far, I have met one Brit that has not fit the mold and was pleasant to be around. Hopefully there are others. There were about 8 large blokes dressed in super short cut off jeans with plaid shirts rolled up to show off their stomachs. They also had these fake mustaches glued to their lips to boot. Being only 10:30pm, and past hostel quiet hours, I still thought it was early for them to be smashed. Some were, and others were not, but pouring beer into a water boiler and drinking was the way to go. By my observations, it seemed like there was a leader trying to get them out to the bar scene, and the followers just wanted to drink where they were. But then, the real winner came out and was sliding against the wall to stand up. He hobbled over to the couch and plopped down. As this happened, someone put another liter of beer into the water boiler pitcher like thing. They held him down, cut some of his hair for some reason, and poured beer down his throat. He drank for a bit and the rest went all over the floor. Now, in a college, I don't think that this would be allowed in a dorm common room, but being summer, this is allowed? Surely not. We continued to watch from the computer room with the glass door shut in amazement. They were able to get the group mobile and move towards the stairs. I thought this might be funny with the super drunk guy maybe crashing to his death and maybe taking out a few more, but they made it down without a problem. There were too many of them for me as a single dude to tell them to shut up. So, I followed them out and stopped by the desk attendant to fill him in on the upstairs festivities. The sad part is, he had to go upstairs and clean the mess up himself. As we slept the rain was pouring. I can only hope that they got drenched and lost their way back. This is the situation where we lose sleep because they are keeping us up, but when we get up in the morning, they sleep through anything and still get 10 hours of sleep. You just can't win. I wish that I could have snapped a picture of them to do this justice. We were on the lookout for them at breakfast, but only saw one, and he looked like a wreck. Hopefully, this was their only night in Ljubljana, and get to Mykonos or a party place like that. We did notice that there were only dudes, and no girls wanted to be around them. It also amazes me that no one on the entire floor told them to be quiet. This has happened to Katherine and me in national park campgrounds. You know, the camp host is asleep and all Hell is breaking out. They just don't want to deal with it. Maybe in a 600 person dorm there should be some actual security? I have not seen a single guard.
Hopefully the weather gets better and we can head out tomorrow.
We just had our easiest train travel thus far. After leaving the Funk Lounge Hostel in Zagreb, we hopped on the train to Slovenia. The train only made a few stops and we cruised through the border with agents on the train. The train station here in Ljubljana is dead smack in the middle to town and we found our new place within 15 minutes. The new hostel is actually a dorm for the college. It holds 600 people and our room has 3 beds. This time, we have desks and chairs. There is a running track just outside, and below is a dining hall that serves breakfast for 3 euros extra a person.
Right when we got to town, we headed up the hill to the castle. This place has been around since 1100 and is in great shape. There are even a few restaurants and a cafe up there. The castle is positioned so that it overlooks the town, and with the sun going down, gave us a great view of the city. In the distance you could easily see the Julian Alps with clouds working their way in and out.
As we were getting ready for bed, we noticed some people gathering in the common are room making a ruckus. From the accents and cadence of their voices, we determined that they were British. This went on for a while and preparing to go to bed, I went out for further inspection. What I saw was another round of points for the British. I am not making stereotypes. They are for themselves. So far, I have met one Brit that has not fit the mold and was pleasant to be around. Hopefully there are others. There were about 8 large blokes dressed in super short cut off jeans with plaid shirts rolled up to show off their stomachs. They also had these fake mustaches glued to their lips to boot. Being only 10:30pm, and past hostel quiet hours, I still thought it was early for them to be smashed. Some were, and others were not, but pouring beer into a water boiler and drinking was the way to go. By my observations, it seemed like there was a leader trying to get them out to the bar scene, and the followers just wanted to drink where they were. But then, the real winner came out and was sliding against the wall to stand up. He hobbled over to the couch and plopped down. As this happened, someone put another liter of beer into the water boiler pitcher like thing. They held him down, cut some of his hair for some reason, and poured beer down his throat. He drank for a bit and the rest went all over the floor. Now, in a college, I don't think that this would be allowed in a dorm common room, but being summer, this is allowed? Surely not. We continued to watch from the computer room with the glass door shut in amazement. They were able to get the group mobile and move towards the stairs. I thought this might be funny with the super drunk guy maybe crashing to his death and maybe taking out a few more, but they made it down without a problem. There were too many of them for me as a single dude to tell them to shut up. So, I followed them out and stopped by the desk attendant to fill him in on the upstairs festivities. The sad part is, he had to go upstairs and clean the mess up himself. As we slept the rain was pouring. I can only hope that they got drenched and lost their way back. This is the situation where we lose sleep because they are keeping us up, but when we get up in the morning, they sleep through anything and still get 10 hours of sleep. You just can't win. I wish that I could have snapped a picture of them to do this justice. We were on the lookout for them at breakfast, but only saw one, and he looked like a wreck. Hopefully, this was their only night in Ljubljana, and get to Mykonos or a party place like that. We did notice that there were only dudes, and no girls wanted to be around them. It also amazes me that no one on the entire floor told them to be quiet. This has happened to Katherine and me in national park campgrounds. You know, the camp host is asleep and all Hell is breaking out. They just don't want to deal with it. Maybe in a 600 person dorm there should be some actual security? I have not seen a single guard.
Hopefully the weather gets better and we can head out tomorrow.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Zagreb, Croatia Day 2
Zagreb, Croatia Day 2
Our trip thus far has really been terrific. Going from the south and working our way to the north has really made the differences in countries and cultures more clear. I wish that we could have hopped over to Italy because it would have been nice to have some first hand accounts of the latest happenings. I have a feeling that similarities would be appearent with Greece and parts of Turkey. Having spent a number of years on the East Coast of the USA, and knowing a bunch of Italians, the Mediterranean countries sure have a lot in common. Maybe instead of dwelling on the slight differences they have, they should realize how similar they actually are. One conclusion that I have made is that most people just want to relax and have a good time together. Mostly over a coffee or a beer. No matter where you come from, people understand the language of "chill". If they don't, they should try it. If they don't try, they are just afraid of having fun. Sucks for them.
Today, we just got some groceries and made a killer breakfast here. Scrambled eggs, vegetables, and coffee was the fuel. Then we just
randomally walked around. We made it to the train station to get tickets for tomorrow to Slovenia and returned with more food for an early dinner. Once again, we got the Cordon Bleu frozen jammers and had some chunky weird pasta. The kitchen here is nice and easy to use.
While hanging out here in the hostel, I met another American. This time a guy from Tennessee that has been traveling all around Europe solo. His name is Daniel and he just got here from Spain after running with the bulls. Not believing him, I asked a few questions... Yeah, he did. And, he had video to prove it. In his run 10 people got sent to the hospital and he got hit by one, but not hurt. The video is pretty good and you can see him just for a second. Truly amazing! He made it all the way to the final stadium without bailing over a fence or being trampled. Some 3500 people do this at a time and it's intense as he said. A funny thing, he mentioned that spectators throw wine on the runners and the cheering is extremely loud. All the bulls get to be in a bull fight and the meat gets eaten in entirety. The bulls live a rich life getting fattened up and go out in full glory. PETA, eat your heart out! Maybe not, that's meat too.
Upon meeting Daniel, I had to question him about the American denial issue. I posed it as a question, not giving my stance away, about if he has or knows of people that mention that they are from Canada. It didn't take long for him to agree with me and see where I was going. It was great to meet a genuine American. Andrew had a lengthy conversation with him as well. But thank God, Daniel had to get to the train station, and the conversation had to end. Andrew gets rolling and, as we have seen before, might get crazy. We will have another time for this mayhem. They ended the conversation when they both liked the same Game of Thrones books. All Hell would have broke out if the night could have gone on.
Last night we had a roommate from Austria. I had just taken a shower and was standing there in your get out of the shower gear as the hostel girl came in with him. HELLO! I just stood there and they came on in. Things could have been much worse, but i thought we had the place to ourselves. Guess not. This guy, Clemens, was visiting Zagreb to see his sister and a girlfriend. We chatted for a bit and he went out to go to some clubs or something. We left before he woke and the most interesting thing happened. While sitting on a bench in the town center, taking in the sights, he walked right in front of us. CLEMENS! Once again, what are the chances of this? We talked even more and went to the train station and sat down for a beer. The conversation was full of Garner conversational screw ups, as usual, which provided the humor of the afternoon. Running into him was not as weird as seeing Louis in Montenegro after we saw him in Sophia a week earlier. Now, we were used to these occurrences. Clemens must think we are nuts. He was our first Austrian friend and I hope to hear from him. His job might take him to Nebraska in the USA in the future. I hope, if he goes there, he can get some time and make it Las Vegas. It would be super cool to see a friend we have made come to our turf and show him around. Maybe someday. We split, and he had to get to meet his sister that had food waiting for him. Nice guy, and Austrian. Go Austria!
Now it's time for bed. We must make it to the train station for a ride to Ljubljana, Slovenia tomorrow. Hopefully, it's just a couple of hours and the border crossing is smooth.
Our trip thus far has really been terrific. Going from the south and working our way to the north has really made the differences in countries and cultures more clear. I wish that we could have hopped over to Italy because it would have been nice to have some first hand accounts of the latest happenings. I have a feeling that similarities would be appearent with Greece and parts of Turkey. Having spent a number of years on the East Coast of the USA, and knowing a bunch of Italians, the Mediterranean countries sure have a lot in common. Maybe instead of dwelling on the slight differences they have, they should realize how similar they actually are. One conclusion that I have made is that most people just want to relax and have a good time together. Mostly over a coffee or a beer. No matter where you come from, people understand the language of "chill". If they don't, they should try it. If they don't try, they are just afraid of having fun. Sucks for them.
Today, we just got some groceries and made a killer breakfast here. Scrambled eggs, vegetables, and coffee was the fuel. Then we just
randomally walked around. We made it to the train station to get tickets for tomorrow to Slovenia and returned with more food for an early dinner. Once again, we got the Cordon Bleu frozen jammers and had some chunky weird pasta. The kitchen here is nice and easy to use.
While hanging out here in the hostel, I met another American. This time a guy from Tennessee that has been traveling all around Europe solo. His name is Daniel and he just got here from Spain after running with the bulls. Not believing him, I asked a few questions... Yeah, he did. And, he had video to prove it. In his run 10 people got sent to the hospital and he got hit by one, but not hurt. The video is pretty good and you can see him just for a second. Truly amazing! He made it all the way to the final stadium without bailing over a fence or being trampled. Some 3500 people do this at a time and it's intense as he said. A funny thing, he mentioned that spectators throw wine on the runners and the cheering is extremely loud. All the bulls get to be in a bull fight and the meat gets eaten in entirety. The bulls live a rich life getting fattened up and go out in full glory. PETA, eat your heart out! Maybe not, that's meat too.
Upon meeting Daniel, I had to question him about the American denial issue. I posed it as a question, not giving my stance away, about if he has or knows of people that mention that they are from Canada. It didn't take long for him to agree with me and see where I was going. It was great to meet a genuine American. Andrew had a lengthy conversation with him as well. But thank God, Daniel had to get to the train station, and the conversation had to end. Andrew gets rolling and, as we have seen before, might get crazy. We will have another time for this mayhem. They ended the conversation when they both liked the same Game of Thrones books. All Hell would have broke out if the night could have gone on.
Last night we had a roommate from Austria. I had just taken a shower and was standing there in your get out of the shower gear as the hostel girl came in with him. HELLO! I just stood there and they came on in. Things could have been much worse, but i thought we had the place to ourselves. Guess not. This guy, Clemens, was visiting Zagreb to see his sister and a girlfriend. We chatted for a bit and he went out to go to some clubs or something. We left before he woke and the most interesting thing happened. While sitting on a bench in the town center, taking in the sights, he walked right in front of us. CLEMENS! Once again, what are the chances of this? We talked even more and went to the train station and sat down for a beer. The conversation was full of Garner conversational screw ups, as usual, which provided the humor of the afternoon. Running into him was not as weird as seeing Louis in Montenegro after we saw him in Sophia a week earlier. Now, we were used to these occurrences. Clemens must think we are nuts. He was our first Austrian friend and I hope to hear from him. His job might take him to Nebraska in the USA in the future. I hope, if he goes there, he can get some time and make it Las Vegas. It would be super cool to see a friend we have made come to our turf and show him around. Maybe someday. We split, and he had to get to meet his sister that had food waiting for him. Nice guy, and Austrian. Go Austria!
Now it's time for bed. We must make it to the train station for a ride to Ljubljana, Slovenia tomorrow. Hopefully, it's just a couple of hours and the border crossing is smooth.
Zagreb, Croatia Day 1
Zagreb, Croatia Day 1
We arrived in the capital city after a pleasant bus ride. The ride took about 6 hours and was a bit hot, but the scenery was something else. Croatia's heartland is filled with rolling hills littered with glorious mountain peaks. The road took us through some long tunnels that burrowed through the mountains. We stopped once with a lookout over a lake and the weather was perfect. As you may recall, we have a little problem with the bus driver mentioning at the stops how long we have until they leave. It helped to ask someone that speaks English to translate, so we arrive back to the bus on time. After that close call, we do not mess that up. Be on time! The bus dropped us off in the rainy capital. Once there, we took the tram to the stop close to the hostel. It was just a short walk in the drizzle to the location. Once we arrived, we were amazed at this new place. The hostel is situated in a 15 story building with the first two floors being hostel space. The rest belongs to other people or businesses. This place has been torn down to the bare walls and rebuilt. Everything is new and in prime working order. Most places we have seen are repaired with a patchwork of repairs on top of others. This place is tiled, re-plumbed, and has all new cookware. In this town of worn historic buildings people will love and appreciate all the work. Hopefully this place does well. It would have been easy to pass up this city since it is not on the super popular list of places to go. We are glad that we stopped. The tram system is near perfect and the shops are quite interesting. Tomorrow we will take a short stroll around and leave the next day. The mountain to the north is close, but I do not think we will have time to get up there. Mountain bikes are a big hit here. People are using them for commuting and surely there has to be some great trails. Most likely, if it is like Brasov, you just have to ask, and you will find. The forest and terrain has changed entirely. We have left the beach and thicker vegetation for taller trees and cooler temperatures.
It sure is nice to have left some people on the trip. It would be neat to somehow follow them and see what other people's reactions are to them. A ghost blog would be neat to trace the interactions of the most annoying people. After a week of interviews, maybe people might see how ridiculous they are. Most likely not. I should have interviewed the people at Split about our abrasive friends. The responses would be spectacular. This little group of travelers will always have a special place in our hearts.
One thing that bothers us is Americans that say they have told others they are Canadian. For real? This one guy from, of all places, Houston, mentioned this to us tonight. Maybe in the 80's this might have been a good idea with the whole Canadian flag patches. Possibly, it could have saved you from the communists or kidnapping, but now? Travel now is something different and being an American is something you should be proud of, not hide. Trust me, it seems like every country you go to, people love to tell you where they are from and are darn proud of it. Is it not cool to do this as an American? You can be proud, but be respectful of their culture and country as well. The next person that says this to me, I am going to mess with them a bit and get to the bottom of their cowardliness. If you don't agree with American politics, that's one thing. No one we run into has, but to disown your country, maybe you should find a place and stay there. Please do so. There is no security risk where we have been. Also, if you have a flag, fly it. Every other country does. Sing the Star Spangled Banner as well, you might just like it.
We arrived in the capital city after a pleasant bus ride. The ride took about 6 hours and was a bit hot, but the scenery was something else. Croatia's heartland is filled with rolling hills littered with glorious mountain peaks. The road took us through some long tunnels that burrowed through the mountains. We stopped once with a lookout over a lake and the weather was perfect. As you may recall, we have a little problem with the bus driver mentioning at the stops how long we have until they leave. It helped to ask someone that speaks English to translate, so we arrive back to the bus on time. After that close call, we do not mess that up. Be on time! The bus dropped us off in the rainy capital. Once there, we took the tram to the stop close to the hostel. It was just a short walk in the drizzle to the location. Once we arrived, we were amazed at this new place. The hostel is situated in a 15 story building with the first two floors being hostel space. The rest belongs to other people or businesses. This place has been torn down to the bare walls and rebuilt. Everything is new and in prime working order. Most places we have seen are repaired with a patchwork of repairs on top of others. This place is tiled, re-plumbed, and has all new cookware. In this town of worn historic buildings people will love and appreciate all the work. Hopefully this place does well. It would have been easy to pass up this city since it is not on the super popular list of places to go. We are glad that we stopped. The tram system is near perfect and the shops are quite interesting. Tomorrow we will take a short stroll around and leave the next day. The mountain to the north is close, but I do not think we will have time to get up there. Mountain bikes are a big hit here. People are using them for commuting and surely there has to be some great trails. Most likely, if it is like Brasov, you just have to ask, and you will find. The forest and terrain has changed entirely. We have left the beach and thicker vegetation for taller trees and cooler temperatures.
It sure is nice to have left some people on the trip. It would be neat to somehow follow them and see what other people's reactions are to them. A ghost blog would be neat to trace the interactions of the most annoying people. After a week of interviews, maybe people might see how ridiculous they are. Most likely not. I should have interviewed the people at Split about our abrasive friends. The responses would be spectacular. This little group of travelers will always have a special place in our hearts.
One thing that bothers us is Americans that say they have told others they are Canadian. For real? This one guy from, of all places, Houston, mentioned this to us tonight. Maybe in the 80's this might have been a good idea with the whole Canadian flag patches. Possibly, it could have saved you from the communists or kidnapping, but now? Travel now is something different and being an American is something you should be proud of, not hide. Trust me, it seems like every country you go to, people love to tell you where they are from and are darn proud of it. Is it not cool to do this as an American? You can be proud, but be respectful of their culture and country as well. The next person that says this to me, I am going to mess with them a bit and get to the bottom of their cowardliness. If you don't agree with American politics, that's one thing. No one we run into has, but to disown your country, maybe you should find a place and stay there. Please do so. There is no security risk where we have been. Also, if you have a flag, fly it. Every other country does. Sing the Star Spangled Banner as well, you might just like it.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Split, Croatia Day 4
Split, Croatia Day 4
I have given up on Katherine and Andrew contributing to the blog. Katherine is busy looking for the next place to stay, planning the trip, and editing what I have written, while Andrew is busy making friends. Oh well. I will still write, but if you want to harass them, please feel free. Katherine is kathgaden@yahoo.com and he is agaden4@yahoo.com. They come up with the very best to say and their interpretation of the events is something else. I feel like all that I do is just give a dry account of the day and don't have the quirky, out there stuff to say, or at least express myself. I guess I will continue to fulfill my dream of blogging every day and in a weird way, I enjoy it. It gives a sense of closure to the day and will help me when my brain fails me, to remember the madness that ensued during the summer of 2011. To date, it will be the fastest summer of all time. It feels like yesterday we stepped into the Newark airport bound for Greece with a small backpack and a camera. Yes, coming back to the USA will be great, but there is too much out there to see in the world, and even much more to attempt to comprehend. So far, the people we have met pretty much have all the answers to everything and feel the need to tell you how the world should work. Maybe a first step towards peace would be to recognize this as a fault of people and consciously deal with it. People will not change while alive and countries that know of only one way to live will continue to do so. We keep talking about the "know it alls". These are the travelers that love to tell you about where to go, and what to avoid, and so on. They come in all sorts of disguises. Some are political, others might be food snobs, some religious, others you might not know their end plan until you have opened up and told them too much. I could care less what religion you are, what food you hate/like, what political belief you have, if you are throwing it down my throat. That is the problem. Do what you want, but others probably won't think like you, and if they do, be grateful, and resist from using them as a team to go smash others beliefs. We have seen a different snapshot of civilization out here. It is a small glimpse into the world, but the people have come from many different countries. Many are younger travelers with very vocal thoughts, and since they have seen a few countries, believe they know the way of the world. It's like they have a little fire and have let it go way out of control. Me, on the other hand, the more I see I realize that I don't know jack about anything. I am pretty comfortable with that by this point. By now, you must realize that this is a stream of Garner's consciousness that is out of control . I will stop making a mess out of the blog and continue to fill you in on the day's events.
Woke up, ate, got sausage sandwiches, finally uploaded pictures from my camera on Facebook, walked to the water, made dinner, showered, packed bag to leave for Zagreb tomorrow, wrote this mindless blog. Goodnight.
I have given up on Katherine and Andrew contributing to the blog. Katherine is busy looking for the next place to stay, planning the trip, and editing what I have written, while Andrew is busy making friends. Oh well. I will still write, but if you want to harass them, please feel free. Katherine is kathgaden@yahoo.com and he is agaden4@yahoo.com. They come up with the very best to say and their interpretation of the events is something else. I feel like all that I do is just give a dry account of the day and don't have the quirky, out there stuff to say, or at least express myself. I guess I will continue to fulfill my dream of blogging every day and in a weird way, I enjoy it. It gives a sense of closure to the day and will help me when my brain fails me, to remember the madness that ensued during the summer of 2011. To date, it will be the fastest summer of all time. It feels like yesterday we stepped into the Newark airport bound for Greece with a small backpack and a camera. Yes, coming back to the USA will be great, but there is too much out there to see in the world, and even much more to attempt to comprehend. So far, the people we have met pretty much have all the answers to everything and feel the need to tell you how the world should work. Maybe a first step towards peace would be to recognize this as a fault of people and consciously deal with it. People will not change while alive and countries that know of only one way to live will continue to do so. We keep talking about the "know it alls". These are the travelers that love to tell you about where to go, and what to avoid, and so on. They come in all sorts of disguises. Some are political, others might be food snobs, some religious, others you might not know their end plan until you have opened up and told them too much. I could care less what religion you are, what food you hate/like, what political belief you have, if you are throwing it down my throat. That is the problem. Do what you want, but others probably won't think like you, and if they do, be grateful, and resist from using them as a team to go smash others beliefs. We have seen a different snapshot of civilization out here. It is a small glimpse into the world, but the people have come from many different countries. Many are younger travelers with very vocal thoughts, and since they have seen a few countries, believe they know the way of the world. It's like they have a little fire and have let it go way out of control. Me, on the other hand, the more I see I realize that I don't know jack about anything. I am pretty comfortable with that by this point. By now, you must realize that this is a stream of Garner's consciousness that is out of control . I will stop making a mess out of the blog and continue to fill you in on the day's events.
Woke up, ate, got sausage sandwiches, finally uploaded pictures from my camera on Facebook, walked to the water, made dinner, showered, packed bag to leave for Zagreb tomorrow, wrote this mindless blog. Goodnight.
Split, Croatia Day 3
Split, Croatia Day 3
Today was pretty sweet! We got up and had a wonderful breakfast in our little courtyard. There is a communal cooking area with a refridgerator and a stove. Outside, there are 2 picnic tables which make a nice place to sit under the grape vines for shade. Our plan was to hit two museums and then go to the beach. We headed out towards the town center and headed into the museum area. Since we are staying for four night here in town, they gave us a museum card that has some killer discounts and even free entry. Our first, was the Split City Museum, then off to the Maritime Museum. Both were extremely in depth and had very well preserved artifacts and played out a wonderful historical timeline. By my observations, and not being able to read the Croatian, I can not believe the intricate history of this place. These people have stuck together through some really tough times. War and the important location of the city, have lended it to invasion and turmoil destroying much of the city over time. Being rebuilt each time, now it is a wonderful place to relax and step back in history.
Today, we have crossed paths with some very interesting and friendly Germans. These two dudes are here for a wedding and are staying at our hostel for a week. The wedding is for a long time friend and the
week is full of festivities for them. We started off just casually having breakfast together and conversing about events and happenings. Meeting people from different places makes you turn on different humor receptors. These Germans are extremely funny if you are ready for it. Our pal, Scott from Scotland, we met in Bulgaria, was different and kept me on my toes with his jokes. These guys don't let down either, and when fired up, things get crazy. When asked by a British girl, "Are you guys twins or brothers?" One said back, with a straight face and zero expression with heavy accent, "both." The comic delivery was dead on and we died laughing. Back in Las Vegas I have tried getting sardines in a can from the grocery store in the International section. German sardines gotta be great, right? I ate them at work and could barely stomach them, and I have put some weird stuff down the hatch. Going into the kitchen this morning, Raphael and Simon were cooking up the hugest pile of sarsines in a pan from the local market. Those beady eyes were peering at me from over the rim of the pan. Right then, I knew that we were dealing with the authentic Germans. Correct indeed!
After the museums and beach time, we ran into Raphael in the grocery store. We decided to do dinner together back at our place and split groceries. There was some leftover pasta from the night before, and we were going to add some kielbasa sausages. I was cooking up the pasta while Raphael prepared.... Holy cow! What is that? He had a huge pile of squid. I'm talking totally intact whole squid about a foot long. They were in the sink lying there. He prepared them by cleaning out the insides and chopped them up in the saucepan. In Kotor, I thought I had my last squid for a while with that meal piled high. I don't mind it, but in large quantities, it's a little much. So, all he did was pour in some tomato sauce and let it simmer for a while. Not bad, but he is a seafood meister! On the plate was pasta, broccoli, and kielbasa, and we poured the squid mixture on top. Not too bad. I had to have some bread to top it off. Dinner was great. The company was entertaining. We hung out for maybe 4 hours for the ordeal. Mind I say, it was super cheap too. Another point for hostel meals in the kitchen.
Today was pretty sweet! We got up and had a wonderful breakfast in our little courtyard. There is a communal cooking area with a refridgerator and a stove. Outside, there are 2 picnic tables which make a nice place to sit under the grape vines for shade. Our plan was to hit two museums and then go to the beach. We headed out towards the town center and headed into the museum area. Since we are staying for four night here in town, they gave us a museum card that has some killer discounts and even free entry. Our first, was the Split City Museum, then off to the Maritime Museum. Both were extremely in depth and had very well preserved artifacts and played out a wonderful historical timeline. By my observations, and not being able to read the Croatian, I can not believe the intricate history of this place. These people have stuck together through some really tough times. War and the important location of the city, have lended it to invasion and turmoil destroying much of the city over time. Being rebuilt each time, now it is a wonderful place to relax and step back in history.
Today, we have crossed paths with some very interesting and friendly Germans. These two dudes are here for a wedding and are staying at our hostel for a week. The wedding is for a long time friend and the
week is full of festivities for them. We started off just casually having breakfast together and conversing about events and happenings. Meeting people from different places makes you turn on different humor receptors. These Germans are extremely funny if you are ready for it. Our pal, Scott from Scotland, we met in Bulgaria, was different and kept me on my toes with his jokes. These guys don't let down either, and when fired up, things get crazy. When asked by a British girl, "Are you guys twins or brothers?" One said back, with a straight face and zero expression with heavy accent, "both." The comic delivery was dead on and we died laughing. Back in Las Vegas I have tried getting sardines in a can from the grocery store in the International section. German sardines gotta be great, right? I ate them at work and could barely stomach them, and I have put some weird stuff down the hatch. Going into the kitchen this morning, Raphael and Simon were cooking up the hugest pile of sarsines in a pan from the local market. Those beady eyes were peering at me from over the rim of the pan. Right then, I knew that we were dealing with the authentic Germans. Correct indeed!
After the museums and beach time, we ran into Raphael in the grocery store. We decided to do dinner together back at our place and split groceries. There was some leftover pasta from the night before, and we were going to add some kielbasa sausages. I was cooking up the pasta while Raphael prepared.... Holy cow! What is that? He had a huge pile of squid. I'm talking totally intact whole squid about a foot long. They were in the sink lying there. He prepared them by cleaning out the insides and chopped them up in the saucepan. In Kotor, I thought I had my last squid for a while with that meal piled high. I don't mind it, but in large quantities, it's a little much. So, all he did was pour in some tomato sauce and let it simmer for a while. Not bad, but he is a seafood meister! On the plate was pasta, broccoli, and kielbasa, and we poured the squid mixture on top. Not too bad. I had to have some bread to top it off. Dinner was great. The company was entertaining. We hung out for maybe 4 hours for the ordeal. Mind I say, it was super cheap too. Another point for hostel meals in the kitchen.
Split, Croatia Day 2
Split, Croatia Day 2
You know that it will be a lazy day when you head to the beach first thing. We loaded up our bags and had a map to take us there. There was a slight detour with construction and we were brought through some older parts of town being renovated. It looks like they are working on some new waterfront buildings for shipping and businesses. The old concrete and stone buildings sure take a hit with the saltwater and air, and these new buildings had different barriers in place to protect the foundations from rust and concrete from deteriorating.
As soon as we hit the beach, we could see the competition water polo area. There were lights and bleachers right along the ocean. On the TV, we saw the highlights of the 2010 world finals one evening. This all makes sense now, Croatia won and this place loves their water polo. Everywhere, there are water polo fields set up and floating goals. Kids are always practicing while out playing. We even noticed a few dudes walking down the beach that must have been competition players since they were built different and super tall. They kind of look funny with huge chests and smaller legs. It's like a swimmers build, but even thicker on the top.
The beach is mostly rock and pebbles with a walkway that takes you along the shore. There are public water spigots and showers every once in a while. Most intriguing, are the rocks that sometimes make large cliffs to jump off of along the water. I really wanted to jump a few times, but was not sure of the depth. Down a little further, there were kids of all ages jumping off a high wall into the water. The height did not seem to bother these tiny dudes at all. We found a nice shady place to arrange our gear and headed in the water. Andrew and I walked right in over the sketchy rocks and totally missed the nice entry way that was provided. The temps were once again refreshing and the protected cove was nice. The rocks sure make a different coastline than I am used to. Snorkeling would sure be nice, but I still have not seen anyone that I could ask to borrow a mask from just yet.
While swimming, we saw a freighter come through from the north. A Croatian Coast Guard boat came out and got close to the boat, then all of a sudden, the freighter did a 180 and took off the other way. We suppose that it was not allowed to be close to shore, or must go through the other islands avoiding the proximity to Split. Also, it might not be good for tourism being so close to shore. Pretty cool to watch.
After the beach, it was a needed nap after the belly bomb sandwich we had for lunch. We then headed out for dinner groceries and came back to get to work. There were some cordon bleu frozen nuggets that interested us ,so we got them and whipped up a killer pasta dish. There is a communal kitchen down below and outside which made a comical place to cook. New guests were arriving and we could entertain them and they entertained us. 3 British girls arrived as we were eating. All we could remember was how Andrew handles Brits, so it was funny starting to talk with them. After dinner, we made the place spic and span, and went back to the room. Andrew had the invite to go out with them that night. He did.... I will leave it at that. If you have read this far, please email him to encourage the writing of events of the evening. Trust me. I can not do it justice. Agaden4@yahoo.com
You know that it will be a lazy day when you head to the beach first thing. We loaded up our bags and had a map to take us there. There was a slight detour with construction and we were brought through some older parts of town being renovated. It looks like they are working on some new waterfront buildings for shipping and businesses. The old concrete and stone buildings sure take a hit with the saltwater and air, and these new buildings had different barriers in place to protect the foundations from rust and concrete from deteriorating.
As soon as we hit the beach, we could see the competition water polo area. There were lights and bleachers right along the ocean. On the TV, we saw the highlights of the 2010 world finals one evening. This all makes sense now, Croatia won and this place loves their water polo. Everywhere, there are water polo fields set up and floating goals. Kids are always practicing while out playing. We even noticed a few dudes walking down the beach that must have been competition players since they were built different and super tall. They kind of look funny with huge chests and smaller legs. It's like a swimmers build, but even thicker on the top.
The beach is mostly rock and pebbles with a walkway that takes you along the shore. There are public water spigots and showers every once in a while. Most intriguing, are the rocks that sometimes make large cliffs to jump off of along the water. I really wanted to jump a few times, but was not sure of the depth. Down a little further, there were kids of all ages jumping off a high wall into the water. The height did not seem to bother these tiny dudes at all. We found a nice shady place to arrange our gear and headed in the water. Andrew and I walked right in over the sketchy rocks and totally missed the nice entry way that was provided. The temps were once again refreshing and the protected cove was nice. The rocks sure make a different coastline than I am used to. Snorkeling would sure be nice, but I still have not seen anyone that I could ask to borrow a mask from just yet.
While swimming, we saw a freighter come through from the north. A Croatian Coast Guard boat came out and got close to the boat, then all of a sudden, the freighter did a 180 and took off the other way. We suppose that it was not allowed to be close to shore, or must go through the other islands avoiding the proximity to Split. Also, it might not be good for tourism being so close to shore. Pretty cool to watch.
After the beach, it was a needed nap after the belly bomb sandwich we had for lunch. We then headed out for dinner groceries and came back to get to work. There were some cordon bleu frozen nuggets that interested us ,so we got them and whipped up a killer pasta dish. There is a communal kitchen down below and outside which made a comical place to cook. New guests were arriving and we could entertain them and they entertained us. 3 British girls arrived as we were eating. All we could remember was how Andrew handles Brits, so it was funny starting to talk with them. After dinner, we made the place spic and span, and went back to the room. Andrew had the invite to go out with them that night. He did.... I will leave it at that. If you have read this far, please email him to encourage the writing of events of the evening. Trust me. I can not do it justice. Agaden4@yahoo.com
Split, Croatia Day 1
Split, Croatia Day 1
After some of the most scenic travel of our trip, we made it to the town of Split. The bus took us from Dubrovnik along the coast passing through little villages and fishing communities. The road was twisting and turning, skirting the cliffs the entire way. Looking out to the Adriatic, we could see open ocean sparkling with the sunny skies. It reminded me a lot of the Pacific Coast Highway in California, but I could not understand the street signs. This is prime tourist season in Europe, so the busses were packed and everyone had beach gear with them. Some people hop on the bus for just a few miles, and others stay on for quite a bit, all the way to Zagreb to the north. One time, for a bus stop, where the bus waits for a while, Andrew and I went to get a soda and use the bathroom. We thought that this was a long stop where we could do something like this, but it was not. While walking to the bus we saw Katherine yelling out the door for us to hurry up. We boarded and she said that the driver tried to pull away and she had to run to the front to tell him that we were still out there somewhere. Whew! We were glad to keep her on there to guard our seats and keep him from leaving us. Good work girl.
We arrived at the bus station and had to decipher the hostel directions. Things like, "just ask where the theater is", and "everyone knows", led us in the right direction. Luckily, we found a city map and could locate one of the streets. Split has a large waterfront with a bustling old town and shopping district and our place is located in the back of the area. No problem. We found the hostel nestled back within old crumbling buildings. The host came out with cake for us, fresh out of the oven. Wow! We had heard that about this place, but did not expect it at all. We have a room upstairs to ourselves and have to share a bathroom with others. Not a problem either. We have become good at that. You just have to bring everything down with you all at once and when you are like me, and try to get some laundry done in there, it might be a little tricky.
This night we just ate from a little burger joint with all menu items being named after American cities. Interesting, but good. The next day will be a little exploring and heading to the beach.
After some of the most scenic travel of our trip, we made it to the town of Split. The bus took us from Dubrovnik along the coast passing through little villages and fishing communities. The road was twisting and turning, skirting the cliffs the entire way. Looking out to the Adriatic, we could see open ocean sparkling with the sunny skies. It reminded me a lot of the Pacific Coast Highway in California, but I could not understand the street signs. This is prime tourist season in Europe, so the busses were packed and everyone had beach gear with them. Some people hop on the bus for just a few miles, and others stay on for quite a bit, all the way to Zagreb to the north. One time, for a bus stop, where the bus waits for a while, Andrew and I went to get a soda and use the bathroom. We thought that this was a long stop where we could do something like this, but it was not. While walking to the bus we saw Katherine yelling out the door for us to hurry up. We boarded and she said that the driver tried to pull away and she had to run to the front to tell him that we were still out there somewhere. Whew! We were glad to keep her on there to guard our seats and keep him from leaving us. Good work girl.
We arrived at the bus station and had to decipher the hostel directions. Things like, "just ask where the theater is", and "everyone knows", led us in the right direction. Luckily, we found a city map and could locate one of the streets. Split has a large waterfront with a bustling old town and shopping district and our place is located in the back of the area. No problem. We found the hostel nestled back within old crumbling buildings. The host came out with cake for us, fresh out of the oven. Wow! We had heard that about this place, but did not expect it at all. We have a room upstairs to ourselves and have to share a bathroom with others. Not a problem either. We have become good at that. You just have to bring everything down with you all at once and when you are like me, and try to get some laundry done in there, it might be a little tricky.
This night we just ate from a little burger joint with all menu items being named after American cities. Interesting, but good. The next day will be a little exploring and heading to the beach.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Dubrovnik, Croatia Day 4
Dubrovnik, Croatia Day 4
I have to say for the reader, today was boring. For us, it was spectacular.
It started with a small breakfast and a catch up on the blog entries. I had a lot to take care of. Last night was crazy with the whole Harry Potter thing going on. Everything went very slow. We headed to the beach and chilled for 2 hours and then went to the store for food. We had to get dinner and breakfast for tomorrow. Tonight is our last night in Dubrovnik and we will be greatly sad to leave. Our hosts are spectacular and accommodating. I can only hope in Split, things are this nice.
Once back from the beach, it was time to make the Skype calls. My dad and Jeremy said that they would be on, so things would be fun. I signed on at 3pm and there were lots of people on there. Suzanne, Jeremy, Dad, and JIMBO. I talked to Dad for a good half hour and Mom was on there too. That made it even better. The video worked on both ends and it was. Great to catch up. Then came Jeremy. This was super cool since his mom was there too, so we could talk a bit as well. I took the iPod out front and showed them the bridge and the cruise ship viewable from our place. After them was Suzanne. I called and I ended up seeing Gil on the other end. What surprise! It was all great, but Gil could not hear me on his end. We joked around for a while and I even wrote notes to show him on the camera. He end up calling Suzanne and got the speakers to work. Good stuff.
After Skype came dinner. Katherine whipped up a wonderful chicken, broccoli, mashed potatoes extravaganza. We leave in the morning, so it's tricky to be sure to eat up the perishables. The bus ride will be long and bumpy. I can just hope for the best. The hostel is supposed to be difficult to find as well. Oh goodie!
Told you, a boring post. Tomorrow will be a little different, I am sure.
I have to say for the reader, today was boring. For us, it was spectacular.
It started with a small breakfast and a catch up on the blog entries. I had a lot to take care of. Last night was crazy with the whole Harry Potter thing going on. Everything went very slow. We headed to the beach and chilled for 2 hours and then went to the store for food. We had to get dinner and breakfast for tomorrow. Tonight is our last night in Dubrovnik and we will be greatly sad to leave. Our hosts are spectacular and accommodating. I can only hope in Split, things are this nice.
Once back from the beach, it was time to make the Skype calls. My dad and Jeremy said that they would be on, so things would be fun. I signed on at 3pm and there were lots of people on there. Suzanne, Jeremy, Dad, and JIMBO. I talked to Dad for a good half hour and Mom was on there too. That made it even better. The video worked on both ends and it was. Great to catch up. Then came Jeremy. This was super cool since his mom was there too, so we could talk a bit as well. I took the iPod out front and showed them the bridge and the cruise ship viewable from our place. After them was Suzanne. I called and I ended up seeing Gil on the other end. What surprise! It was all great, but Gil could not hear me on his end. We joked around for a while and I even wrote notes to show him on the camera. He end up calling Suzanne and got the speakers to work. Good stuff.
After Skype came dinner. Katherine whipped up a wonderful chicken, broccoli, mashed potatoes extravaganza. We leave in the morning, so it's tricky to be sure to eat up the perishables. The bus ride will be long and bumpy. I can just hope for the best. The hostel is supposed to be difficult to find as well. Oh goodie!
Told you, a boring post. Tomorrow will be a little different, I am sure.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Dubrovnik, Croatia Day 3
Dubrovnik, Croatia Day 3
Harry potter was the main event of the day. We were dead set to give it a try, Croatian style. First, I had to go for the morning run to the walled city. This is where the tickets were. From what happened yesterday my plan was to reserve or buy them at 9 am from the front dest of the theater. It was a sweaty, hot, and humid run. When I got there, I was dripping and disgusting. The lady did not take money, but wrote my name down for three tickets and told me to show up an hour early for the show. No problem. The city was chocked full of tourists and tour buses letting off more every second. I guess everyone had the same idea to get there early to beat the heat. It was a lost cause. The heat was already there and the large amount of people was daunting. I got out of there quickly, and ran back to the house.
When I got back, Katherine and Andrew had moved to another room below our previous location. There were new people arriving that had reserved our first place. Since we liked it so much, we wanted to stay another few nights, but just had to move to another room. The family here is extremely nice and the lady of the house is a high school librarian at a seamanship school. She said that the school is about 400 boys and about 4 girls. Ouch!
We got our stuff situated and headed off to the beach again. It was just a 15 minute walk. It has been great to just lay around and relax at times and the beach is such a great place to do so. We might do the same tomorrow if the heat is still there. Watching the strange activities of the beach goers is entertainment enough. We had to then leave to make a Skype appointment with Rich Gaden at 1pm. When they dialed him up, the connection was great and the owner here of the place said hi and thought it was impressive. It was 7 am for him on the East Coast of the USA. After that, it was a brief nap before we headed off to the theater all the way back in the walled old town.
Might I say, anytime you walk on the routes we take, you are overloaded with mopeds. These loud devices are normally driven as fast as possible and passing others is part of some game. Lots of times, the drivers are the best to observe. Some get dressed up. Others might by wearing a bikini. Sometimes there are two men hugging and seem awkward. There might be a kid that looks 12 or a granny that is about to croak. There are nice ones, like the Vespas or beater ones that pipe out blue smoke and only burn oil. Among them are the cabs. These are the most expensive vehicles around. Most are Mercedes and detailed to perfection. It looks like a great way to launder money since the drivers are sitting a lot and don't really try to pick up riders unless you ask. We haven't taken one yet and would rather walk remembering what had happened to us in Greece. The bus is still cheaper for 3 people, but walking is the cheapest and you are not crammed in with a bunch of smelly folks.
On the way to the theater, we got some pizza and golden fizzy beverage. The restaurants have only outside seating and the heat was strong. One pizza that we got was a seafood pizza. They smothered this thing in mussels, crab, and calamari. This was the perfect meal to then walk the 2.5 miles to the city.
When we got there, there were kids all over the place. Some were even wearing Harry Potter shirts and we were by far the oldest people there. We went to the front of the line to grab our reserved tickets. When asked, the lady acted as if we were once again from another planet and said that they were sold out. I expleained our situation, and she went to the back room to get the master map of the seating chart. And of course, we were on it. The lady in the morning had taken care of us. We now had a half hour to kill before they would let us in, so we took another brief walk around the city. We grabbed an ice cream and some post cards. By this time, the dinner folks were out in full force and with the sun setting, there were some cool light effects for people to take pictures.
Now for the theatrical event of the night. We got back with plenty of time to spare and headed up the stairs to the theater. The door was barricaded with one of those seatbelt like straps for people in lines. In what seemed like a flash, a hoard of kids showed up and wandered around the waiting room. They were super excited to see the show and were chatting loudly. Never being in a theater in a foreign country, we had no idea what to expect. I knew that the theater would be small, but since the movie is in 3D, the technology must be there, right? By now, the kids were getting restless and there were no parents in sight, and we started to worry. Our group and one other tried to form a line to enter, but the kids in their masses pushed up to the front of the line and tried to cut in front of us. Mind you, we all had reserved seats, but our minds were remembering the Kotor bus ride. We had reserved tickets on there too. So, I gave a shout out, "take it easy!" as I pushed my arms out and pushed back the stampede of kids. This was the beginning of what the movie would be like.
When we entered the theater, we saw that the room was first class with great seats and quality speakers all around. We were handed our 3D glasses and we sat down. The temp in there was just like everywhere else we have been accustomed to, not quite cool enough. Ok, things can only get better as the show goes on as the kids pour into the room. The room only had seating for about 80 or so and it seems that every kid that came in had a plastic popcorn bag and a Coke in hand. Right at 7pm the movie fired up. The lights went out and the kids began to scream. Literally scream. There were no previews and the crackling of popcorn bags and munching made the quiet mumbling of British English hard to discern. With a bunch of middle school and younger kids in the audience it is as much a social event as a movie viewing. Kids were texting and chatting just like any little unsupervised kid would do. Then, the man behind us to the right yelled out to them to be quiet or something in Croatian. They got quiet for a second and Andrew said out loud, "translation, shut up and watch the movie!" in English. The man replied, "exactly!". The movie went on as kids found some flashlight to play with and the chatting, seat moving, and a little popcorn throwing pursued. The man next to us did not yell out to them again and the movie staff never came in to calm these wonderful souls down. Then came my part. When Voldemort was about to kill Harry Potter the kids were a mess. I stopped watching, leaned towards to the front and sat up a bit yelling, "Could you please be quiet?" with that, one girl said yes and the silence of the movie only let my voice be heard in the entire theater. But, I also heard what was like someone up front laughing, so I said something else immediately after, "Shut your mouth!" I said and with that the kids were quiet and this lasted for the rest of the movie. When others would come up to the front with them, they shushed them and were quiet. These were well off kids by the way, they were dressed in designer clothes and the amount of i phones and electronics that they had was amazing. We take it that they were locals since this is the one working theater in Dubrovnik. Maybe it was just me and I just don't know what happens in a movie theater since I do not normally go. I told myself a while back that I will not see a movie in the theater because of these reasons. If you get a movie on the Internet or on DVD the home theatrical experience, with the killer TV's that we have, provide you with a much better experience. This was more fuel for that decision. I am glad that we saw HP in the theater though. We see only 2 movies in the theater, James Bond and HP. Oh well. It was a cultural experience and the thrill of getting tickets was something special.
There was the long walk back to the apartment, but it didn't matter since we had a lot of HP talk to tend to. Also, the night scene was starting, so the ladies of the night were impressive too. We got back and were tired, so it was an early night's end. Good day. Beach. Food. Movie. Sleep.
Tomorrow, more beach, then it's off to Split, Croatia the next day. 4 hrs on the bus. We will walk the long route to the station and try our luck at getting a ticket. Nothing in hand just yet.
Harry potter was the main event of the day. We were dead set to give it a try, Croatian style. First, I had to go for the morning run to the walled city. This is where the tickets were. From what happened yesterday my plan was to reserve or buy them at 9 am from the front dest of the theater. It was a sweaty, hot, and humid run. When I got there, I was dripping and disgusting. The lady did not take money, but wrote my name down for three tickets and told me to show up an hour early for the show. No problem. The city was chocked full of tourists and tour buses letting off more every second. I guess everyone had the same idea to get there early to beat the heat. It was a lost cause. The heat was already there and the large amount of people was daunting. I got out of there quickly, and ran back to the house.
When I got back, Katherine and Andrew had moved to another room below our previous location. There were new people arriving that had reserved our first place. Since we liked it so much, we wanted to stay another few nights, but just had to move to another room. The family here is extremely nice and the lady of the house is a high school librarian at a seamanship school. She said that the school is about 400 boys and about 4 girls. Ouch!
We got our stuff situated and headed off to the beach again. It was just a 15 minute walk. It has been great to just lay around and relax at times and the beach is such a great place to do so. We might do the same tomorrow if the heat is still there. Watching the strange activities of the beach goers is entertainment enough. We had to then leave to make a Skype appointment with Rich Gaden at 1pm. When they dialed him up, the connection was great and the owner here of the place said hi and thought it was impressive. It was 7 am for him on the East Coast of the USA. After that, it was a brief nap before we headed off to the theater all the way back in the walled old town.
Might I say, anytime you walk on the routes we take, you are overloaded with mopeds. These loud devices are normally driven as fast as possible and passing others is part of some game. Lots of times, the drivers are the best to observe. Some get dressed up. Others might by wearing a bikini. Sometimes there are two men hugging and seem awkward. There might be a kid that looks 12 or a granny that is about to croak. There are nice ones, like the Vespas or beater ones that pipe out blue smoke and only burn oil. Among them are the cabs. These are the most expensive vehicles around. Most are Mercedes and detailed to perfection. It looks like a great way to launder money since the drivers are sitting a lot and don't really try to pick up riders unless you ask. We haven't taken one yet and would rather walk remembering what had happened to us in Greece. The bus is still cheaper for 3 people, but walking is the cheapest and you are not crammed in with a bunch of smelly folks.
On the way to the theater, we got some pizza and golden fizzy beverage. The restaurants have only outside seating and the heat was strong. One pizza that we got was a seafood pizza. They smothered this thing in mussels, crab, and calamari. This was the perfect meal to then walk the 2.5 miles to the city.
When we got there, there were kids all over the place. Some were even wearing Harry Potter shirts and we were by far the oldest people there. We went to the front of the line to grab our reserved tickets. When asked, the lady acted as if we were once again from another planet and said that they were sold out. I expleained our situation, and she went to the back room to get the master map of the seating chart. And of course, we were on it. The lady in the morning had taken care of us. We now had a half hour to kill before they would let us in, so we took another brief walk around the city. We grabbed an ice cream and some post cards. By this time, the dinner folks were out in full force and with the sun setting, there were some cool light effects for people to take pictures.
Now for the theatrical event of the night. We got back with plenty of time to spare and headed up the stairs to the theater. The door was barricaded with one of those seatbelt like straps for people in lines. In what seemed like a flash, a hoard of kids showed up and wandered around the waiting room. They were super excited to see the show and were chatting loudly. Never being in a theater in a foreign country, we had no idea what to expect. I knew that the theater would be small, but since the movie is in 3D, the technology must be there, right? By now, the kids were getting restless and there were no parents in sight, and we started to worry. Our group and one other tried to form a line to enter, but the kids in their masses pushed up to the front of the line and tried to cut in front of us. Mind you, we all had reserved seats, but our minds were remembering the Kotor bus ride. We had reserved tickets on there too. So, I gave a shout out, "take it easy!" as I pushed my arms out and pushed back the stampede of kids. This was the beginning of what the movie would be like.
When we entered the theater, we saw that the room was first class with great seats and quality speakers all around. We were handed our 3D glasses and we sat down. The temp in there was just like everywhere else we have been accustomed to, not quite cool enough. Ok, things can only get better as the show goes on as the kids pour into the room. The room only had seating for about 80 or so and it seems that every kid that came in had a plastic popcorn bag and a Coke in hand. Right at 7pm the movie fired up. The lights went out and the kids began to scream. Literally scream. There were no previews and the crackling of popcorn bags and munching made the quiet mumbling of British English hard to discern. With a bunch of middle school and younger kids in the audience it is as much a social event as a movie viewing. Kids were texting and chatting just like any little unsupervised kid would do. Then, the man behind us to the right yelled out to them to be quiet or something in Croatian. They got quiet for a second and Andrew said out loud, "translation, shut up and watch the movie!" in English. The man replied, "exactly!". The movie went on as kids found some flashlight to play with and the chatting, seat moving, and a little popcorn throwing pursued. The man next to us did not yell out to them again and the movie staff never came in to calm these wonderful souls down. Then came my part. When Voldemort was about to kill Harry Potter the kids were a mess. I stopped watching, leaned towards to the front and sat up a bit yelling, "Could you please be quiet?" with that, one girl said yes and the silence of the movie only let my voice be heard in the entire theater. But, I also heard what was like someone up front laughing, so I said something else immediately after, "Shut your mouth!" I said and with that the kids were quiet and this lasted for the rest of the movie. When others would come up to the front with them, they shushed them and were quiet. These were well off kids by the way, they were dressed in designer clothes and the amount of i phones and electronics that they had was amazing. We take it that they were locals since this is the one working theater in Dubrovnik. Maybe it was just me and I just don't know what happens in a movie theater since I do not normally go. I told myself a while back that I will not see a movie in the theater because of these reasons. If you get a movie on the Internet or on DVD the home theatrical experience, with the killer TV's that we have, provide you with a much better experience. This was more fuel for that decision. I am glad that we saw HP in the theater though. We see only 2 movies in the theater, James Bond and HP. Oh well. It was a cultural experience and the thrill of getting tickets was something special.
There was the long walk back to the apartment, but it didn't matter since we had a lot of HP talk to tend to. Also, the night scene was starting, so the ladies of the night were impressive too. We got back and were tired, so it was an early night's end. Good day. Beach. Food. Movie. Sleep.
Tomorrow, more beach, then it's off to Split, Croatia the next day. 4 hrs on the bus. We will walk the long route to the station and try our luck at getting a ticket. Nothing in hand just yet.
Dubrovnik, Croatia Day 2
Dubrovnik, Croatia Day 2
Looking back on the blogs is pretty neat this far in the trip. I can't believe how much I have written and never before have I documented a trip like this. Well, I have never been on a trip like this before either. Even though there are only about 2-5 hits a day, it is still fun to write. Once again, I believe that I am my own biggest fan. If there is something that interests you in the blog, please comment. If you think it sucks, please comment. We would love to hear from you. If you have a question about a country or would like to know other details, let me know and I will consult the travel team. When the entries come piling up, that's just because I have not had Internet connectivity or I have had to wait a day to write. Sorry about that. Let's get rolling.
Today, we set out to have a partial rest day, and if you know me, that normally does not happen, even if planned. Breakfast was prepared in the super nice kitchen and we headed out to the beach. It was just a short walk through the camping areas. This must be a popular campground for EU road trippers and backpackers with the necessary gear. Never did we see a motorhome. Everything was a pull behind camper, either full height or pop up style. The beach is named Copacabana, like the one in Brazil. It overlooks one of the inlets and the bridge in the distance. The water is surprisingly clear and has a rocky shore entrance. I believe that we were the only Americans there because they are easy to spot. This time water temps were warmer than the Black Sea, but just wearing a swimsuit is refreshingly chilly. Here in Europe, it looks like if you are a kid under about 6 you can just go naked if you want. Kind of weird especially when the little dudes need to relive themselves in the open. Once again when we fire up in English, we get the crazy look, but probably deserve it. Andrew and I swam out to the concrete platform and jumped in a few times. I misjudged a rock on a long running dive and sliced my finger a bit. This could have been much worse. Maybe the super fast running dive was not the best choice. Once again, I would have killed to have my mask from home. The underwater terrain looked interesting and I probably should have just asked to borrow someone's. Liquid courage could have taken care of that.
Today, being the opening of the last Harry Potter film, and a day earlier than the USA, we found that it was showing in Dubrovnik. So, we found the theater online and decided to just walk to the theater. It looked like it was close to the walled old town, so we headed out after a super early dinner. Google maps said walking should take us 40 min. After a long walk through streets that don't make much sense, it was closer to an hour and the theater was actually inside the fortified walled area. A couple of people helped us find it and we still and time for the show at 7pm. But..... BOOM! Sold out! Said the ticket lady. We were bummed that we had walked so far. She said we could get tickets for tomorrow if we show up at 9am. They do not do pre sales. By walking we save a lot of money, but who wants to go all the way there in the morning to then return later for the show? Me, I guess. So,tomorrow morning, I will run there in the early AM for my run and grab the tickets and come on back. Then we should hit the beach, eat a big lunch, head to the old town, tour for a while, get cheap street food, and hit the movie and walk back. We'll see.
After finding out the tickets were sold out, we went to a public water fountain. All around where we have been, there are public fountains where you can refill bottles or wash up a bit from the clean spigots. Some are ornate, and some are just functional. This is where I left my sunglasses. I only realized this when we got to the other side of the walled city fortress. What does GMAN do? Run to the other side as fast as possible to see if they are there while Katherine and Andrew wait. This time.... BOOM ! Fund 'em just where I left them. Thank goodness they were all tourists because some of the shady places we have been, they would have been snatched up in a second. Just glad it wasn't my camera. There are too many pics on that card to mess with that disaster.
Gotta get some sleep to get up early and run. Hopefully we'll get those Harry Potter tickets!
Looking back on the blogs is pretty neat this far in the trip. I can't believe how much I have written and never before have I documented a trip like this. Well, I have never been on a trip like this before either. Even though there are only about 2-5 hits a day, it is still fun to write. Once again, I believe that I am my own biggest fan. If there is something that interests you in the blog, please comment. If you think it sucks, please comment. We would love to hear from you. If you have a question about a country or would like to know other details, let me know and I will consult the travel team. When the entries come piling up, that's just because I have not had Internet connectivity or I have had to wait a day to write. Sorry about that. Let's get rolling.
Today, we set out to have a partial rest day, and if you know me, that normally does not happen, even if planned. Breakfast was prepared in the super nice kitchen and we headed out to the beach. It was just a short walk through the camping areas. This must be a popular campground for EU road trippers and backpackers with the necessary gear. Never did we see a motorhome. Everything was a pull behind camper, either full height or pop up style. The beach is named Copacabana, like the one in Brazil. It overlooks one of the inlets and the bridge in the distance. The water is surprisingly clear and has a rocky shore entrance. I believe that we were the only Americans there because they are easy to spot. This time water temps were warmer than the Black Sea, but just wearing a swimsuit is refreshingly chilly. Here in Europe, it looks like if you are a kid under about 6 you can just go naked if you want. Kind of weird especially when the little dudes need to relive themselves in the open. Once again when we fire up in English, we get the crazy look, but probably deserve it. Andrew and I swam out to the concrete platform and jumped in a few times. I misjudged a rock on a long running dive and sliced my finger a bit. This could have been much worse. Maybe the super fast running dive was not the best choice. Once again, I would have killed to have my mask from home. The underwater terrain looked interesting and I probably should have just asked to borrow someone's. Liquid courage could have taken care of that.
Today, being the opening of the last Harry Potter film, and a day earlier than the USA, we found that it was showing in Dubrovnik. So, we found the theater online and decided to just walk to the theater. It looked like it was close to the walled old town, so we headed out after a super early dinner. Google maps said walking should take us 40 min. After a long walk through streets that don't make much sense, it was closer to an hour and the theater was actually inside the fortified walled area. A couple of people helped us find it and we still and time for the show at 7pm. But..... BOOM! Sold out! Said the ticket lady. We were bummed that we had walked so far. She said we could get tickets for tomorrow if we show up at 9am. They do not do pre sales. By walking we save a lot of money, but who wants to go all the way there in the morning to then return later for the show? Me, I guess. So,tomorrow morning, I will run there in the early AM for my run and grab the tickets and come on back. Then we should hit the beach, eat a big lunch, head to the old town, tour for a while, get cheap street food, and hit the movie and walk back. We'll see.
After finding out the tickets were sold out, we went to a public water fountain. All around where we have been, there are public fountains where you can refill bottles or wash up a bit from the clean spigots. Some are ornate, and some are just functional. This is where I left my sunglasses. I only realized this when we got to the other side of the walled city fortress. What does GMAN do? Run to the other side as fast as possible to see if they are there while Katherine and Andrew wait. This time.... BOOM ! Fund 'em just where I left them. Thank goodness they were all tourists because some of the shady places we have been, they would have been snatched up in a second. Just glad it wasn't my camera. There are too many pics on that card to mess with that disaster.
Gotta get some sleep to get up early and run. Hopefully we'll get those Harry Potter tickets!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Dubrovnik, Croatia Day 1
Dubrovnik, Croatia Day 1
I guess that we will be at this location for a while. The lodging is not a hostel and we need a little break from that mess. Our place is a mini residence in the back of a families house. There is a beautiful garden, large rooms, kitchen, and even some wonderful modern marvel called, air conditioning. The WiFi works and the shower is clean. There is a market just down the hill and world class beaches near by. But, to make this truly wonderful is to know the mayhem that we went through to get here.
The morning started with an alarm going off at 6:30am, but I didn't need the alarm. I was not sleeping anyway. I laid there mostly wondering if Andrew would return from the heated late night discussion with those wonderful Brits. Even when he returned, I was still amped and could not sleep. I was in alert mode and sleep would not happen. We threw our packs together and headed to the bus station. There was a quick market stop and we arrived comfortably early to the station. Then we hopped on the bus and we had a sight to see... With seat assignments in hand, and entering a quiet stagnant void, people were in our seats. No one spoke English, or so it seemed. Many just stared, while others were sleeping. We were a stop for an international bus line in the early morning heading north to Croatia. By the looks of it, there were mostly females that had the look of the partying scene that we had seen before on the trip. Does Mykenos, Greece ring a bell? Awwwwww. We were trying to avoid this mess. I guess while on the Adriadic in the middle summer, you will run into this crew. I know that many of you have been in this situation before. There is a seat, but a bag is in it. I say, "hello, can I sit here?" I get a stern look from the girl from Espana, and she moves her bag with disgust. Mind I tell you again, there are no seats on this thing, and my ticket seat numbers have lovely sleeping beauties in them. Katherine had the same situation for her seat behind me. We found out later that these girls were together. I don't know about you, but if I saw people boarding like us, that were obviously together, I would have mentioned that they can sit together and I would change my seat. Oh well, the schedule said that it would be 2 to 2.5 hours to our destination. Andrew's seat crisis was a bit different. While Katherine and I were situated, Andrew went to the back of the bus. I mean, the very back of the bus. There was a girl/woman, whatever she was, laying across the entire back row of seats. The people that were awake took note of Andrew trying to get a seat and some were watching to see what he would do. He just nudged her feet out of the way, and he took a seat. During all of this, she still pretended to sleep. If you know Andrew, he had a little trick up his sleeve. Out came the iPod, and he took a wonderful picture of her in her trampy clothing and skirt laying face down in the seats. And... It came out perfect. Everyone saw him do this and we were silently laughing at the situation.
Once we got the seating situation under control, we were off to Dubrovnik. This was a truly picturesque route as we followed the coutour of the bays and all eyes for people that were awake, were out the window. The high mountains that slope directly into the water were something that I had only seen in pictures.
The border crossing into Croatia was a little different too. This was the first time that we would do this on a bus. Since some of these countries don't really like each other, the stamping is weird. We got stamped into Serbia, but not out, stamped into Montenegro, but not out, and stamped into Croatia. When leaving, the customs agent looks at passports and briefly searches the bus. Upon entering, all passports are collected and taken off the bus to the stamping and computer room. Yes, the passports were taken away from us and that is the game we play. When people say, "never let your passport leave your sight", that is impossible. Try telling that you don't agree with the border agent. They brought them back stamped and ready to go. The fun part is now the passports are in a huge stack, not in order, and they have to get handed back to wonderful people that are all really friendly. On a bus such as ours. yay! This all takes a lot of time and the bus shuts down and the heat enters and makes you love it even more.
So far, the coast of Croatia is beautiful and we have a very comfortable place to stay. Katherine booked this place last minute and during the high season here, we could have been much worse off. Tomorrow might be just a beach day and little light exploring. We will have to tour the city fortified walls and the inner protected old town. There is also great diving, and we might have to partake. We might stay comfortable here and dive, which would mean skipping the island of Korcula, but we are not sure just yet. We should rest up and rethink the plan tomorrow. A full night's sleep is something I could go for.
I guess that we will be at this location for a while. The lodging is not a hostel and we need a little break from that mess. Our place is a mini residence in the back of a families house. There is a beautiful garden, large rooms, kitchen, and even some wonderful modern marvel called, air conditioning. The WiFi works and the shower is clean. There is a market just down the hill and world class beaches near by. But, to make this truly wonderful is to know the mayhem that we went through to get here.
The morning started with an alarm going off at 6:30am, but I didn't need the alarm. I was not sleeping anyway. I laid there mostly wondering if Andrew would return from the heated late night discussion with those wonderful Brits. Even when he returned, I was still amped and could not sleep. I was in alert mode and sleep would not happen. We threw our packs together and headed to the bus station. There was a quick market stop and we arrived comfortably early to the station. Then we hopped on the bus and we had a sight to see... With seat assignments in hand, and entering a quiet stagnant void, people were in our seats. No one spoke English, or so it seemed. Many just stared, while others were sleeping. We were a stop for an international bus line in the early morning heading north to Croatia. By the looks of it, there were mostly females that had the look of the partying scene that we had seen before on the trip. Does Mykenos, Greece ring a bell? Awwwwww. We were trying to avoid this mess. I guess while on the Adriadic in the middle summer, you will run into this crew. I know that many of you have been in this situation before. There is a seat, but a bag is in it. I say, "hello, can I sit here?" I get a stern look from the girl from Espana, and she moves her bag with disgust. Mind I tell you again, there are no seats on this thing, and my ticket seat numbers have lovely sleeping beauties in them. Katherine had the same situation for her seat behind me. We found out later that these girls were together. I don't know about you, but if I saw people boarding like us, that were obviously together, I would have mentioned that they can sit together and I would change my seat. Oh well, the schedule said that it would be 2 to 2.5 hours to our destination. Andrew's seat crisis was a bit different. While Katherine and I were situated, Andrew went to the back of the bus. I mean, the very back of the bus. There was a girl/woman, whatever she was, laying across the entire back row of seats. The people that were awake took note of Andrew trying to get a seat and some were watching to see what he would do. He just nudged her feet out of the way, and he took a seat. During all of this, she still pretended to sleep. If you know Andrew, he had a little trick up his sleeve. Out came the iPod, and he took a wonderful picture of her in her trampy clothing and skirt laying face down in the seats. And... It came out perfect. Everyone saw him do this and we were silently laughing at the situation.
Once we got the seating situation under control, we were off to Dubrovnik. This was a truly picturesque route as we followed the coutour of the bays and all eyes for people that were awake, were out the window. The high mountains that slope directly into the water were something that I had only seen in pictures.
The border crossing into Croatia was a little different too. This was the first time that we would do this on a bus. Since some of these countries don't really like each other, the stamping is weird. We got stamped into Serbia, but not out, stamped into Montenegro, but not out, and stamped into Croatia. When leaving, the customs agent looks at passports and briefly searches the bus. Upon entering, all passports are collected and taken off the bus to the stamping and computer room. Yes, the passports were taken away from us and that is the game we play. When people say, "never let your passport leave your sight", that is impossible. Try telling that you don't agree with the border agent. They brought them back stamped and ready to go. The fun part is now the passports are in a huge stack, not in order, and they have to get handed back to wonderful people that are all really friendly. On a bus such as ours. yay! This all takes a lot of time and the bus shuts down and the heat enters and makes you love it even more.
So far, the coast of Croatia is beautiful and we have a very comfortable place to stay. Katherine booked this place last minute and during the high season here, we could have been much worse off. Tomorrow might be just a beach day and little light exploring. We will have to tour the city fortified walls and the inner protected old town. There is also great diving, and we might have to partake. We might stay comfortable here and dive, which would mean skipping the island of Korcula, but we are not sure just yet. We should rest up and rethink the plan tomorrow. A full night's sleep is something I could go for.
Kotor, Montenegro Day 2
Kotor, Montenegro Day 2
It was a great day to get a little sleep. We needed it from the pile up of hectic days. We got breakfast and came back to the hostel. This is where our friend Boyana joins in. She is the hostel attendant and has the most interesting sense of humor. We were in search of the entrance to the fortress wall. Yes, it was hot outside and we were not getting the earliest of a start, but when we asked Boyana about the people hiking the steep steps, she replied, "they are idiot!". OK, Boyana but we want to go to the top as well and don't care about it being hot outside. She then says again similarly, "Then you are Idiot too!" I just agreed and she then told us where to go. We had some more to take care of with her for reservations and this short dry humor persisted, so we just played her game. At this point, I did not know her name and we continued to go back and forth. Her accent only added to the humor, and it seemed that she was using it as a tool for her being funny. She never cracked a smile and most people would probably just think that she was rude and should not be operating the front desk. We were glad that she helped us with all of our matters and each time we visited her, we played her little game. It only got better as the night went on.
We went ahead as idiots do, and went up the fortress walls in the grueling heat. This is what has protected the city of Kotor for so long, and now it is mostly ruins. We climbed and climbed taking breaks in the few shady places and reapplied sunscreen and drank more water. The higher we went, the views kept getting better and better. We could see all the way down the fjord and up to the tallest mountains around us. Perched throughout the walls, there were gun cut outs through which a shooter could easily take out his opponent. Right off the walls were sheer cliffs and crumbling rock. When we got to the top, the breeze made it comfortable in a window pass through. The descent was much quicker and we got down to the bottom really needing a water and food. Perfect timing. So, that's what we did and it was nice to cool off in our hostel making jokes once again with Boyana. We brought her some food since she said that her work day was super long and she did not have a break. This happened twice. Once for snack chips, and again for some of our left over breakfast. She was super excited each time.
The dinner was a little crazy. We ate once again at the hostel's recommendation. You pay at the desk and then head over with a voucher. Once seated, you just give the voucher to the waiter and you get salad, soup, and the main dinner. Previously, the night before, when we were done, I left a few Euros on the table for a tip. We did get water, but I thought it was included. So, even if the water was charged for, the tip would look like we were paying for the water. Sounds good, right? OK, this was the second night, and we were ready to leave a few more Euros on the table to cover the water or a tip. We we not sure. With money on the table, we were confronted upon leaving by the waiter and the hostess. They were both angry as I was going to give him another few Euros and he said, this time being able to suddenly speak English, "you owe 4 for water tonight, and you did not pay last night", arggggghhh! I said, since we left money on the table last night and we were leaving more tonight. I said, "4 for water tonight, for real!" I told him that was ridiculous for water and we were leaving. Surly, when you sit down with this hostel meal ticket in hand, and you order something else, it should me mentioned that you will have to pay. Oh well. Now it gets funny. We went back to the hostel, hopefully having an ice cream in hand for Boyana, which we did not, and I told her about our situation. She freaked out and ran to the restaurant angry. She just told us to wait and she would take care of things. I thought surly we would have to owe money, but when we saw she had 5 Euros in hand, I was a little amazed. Boyana had come through in full glory. That set the tone for the rest of the evening. The tour that was out all day from the hostel returned with crazy fun people and I ran out to another place, not the same restaurant, to get ice cream for Boyana.
Andrew found some English friends to actively discuss politics which lasted the entire evening into the morning at 4 am. That has been the situation with most of the Brits. All they want to do is bash America and tell you that their national system is the one and only way to go. This leads to some very heated conversations at times. Also, coming out of the mouths of rich, over privileged, young, idealistic college kids, you have to just sit back and laugh. I don't even respond, but Andrew being a history buff, tears them up. I really wish that he would enter a blog entry just on this matter. It would be hilarious.
The rest of the night I was a little concerned for him being out with these angry people alone. As the hours went by, I had enough waiting in the room and I went down to the lobby. Boyana was furious since they were there too late and kicked them out. The wonderful political conversation continued in our lobby dragging on as people were trying to sleep.
All in all, I got at best 2 hours of sleep and we had to catch an early bus to Dubrovnik the next morning. Hopefully we will make it.
It was a great day to get a little sleep. We needed it from the pile up of hectic days. We got breakfast and came back to the hostel. This is where our friend Boyana joins in. She is the hostel attendant and has the most interesting sense of humor. We were in search of the entrance to the fortress wall. Yes, it was hot outside and we were not getting the earliest of a start, but when we asked Boyana about the people hiking the steep steps, she replied, "they are idiot!". OK, Boyana but we want to go to the top as well and don't care about it being hot outside. She then says again similarly, "Then you are Idiot too!" I just agreed and she then told us where to go. We had some more to take care of with her for reservations and this short dry humor persisted, so we just played her game. At this point, I did not know her name and we continued to go back and forth. Her accent only added to the humor, and it seemed that she was using it as a tool for her being funny. She never cracked a smile and most people would probably just think that she was rude and should not be operating the front desk. We were glad that she helped us with all of our matters and each time we visited her, we played her little game. It only got better as the night went on.
We went ahead as idiots do, and went up the fortress walls in the grueling heat. This is what has protected the city of Kotor for so long, and now it is mostly ruins. We climbed and climbed taking breaks in the few shady places and reapplied sunscreen and drank more water. The higher we went, the views kept getting better and better. We could see all the way down the fjord and up to the tallest mountains around us. Perched throughout the walls, there were gun cut outs through which a shooter could easily take out his opponent. Right off the walls were sheer cliffs and crumbling rock. When we got to the top, the breeze made it comfortable in a window pass through. The descent was much quicker and we got down to the bottom really needing a water and food. Perfect timing. So, that's what we did and it was nice to cool off in our hostel making jokes once again with Boyana. We brought her some food since she said that her work day was super long and she did not have a break. This happened twice. Once for snack chips, and again for some of our left over breakfast. She was super excited each time.
The dinner was a little crazy. We ate once again at the hostel's recommendation. You pay at the desk and then head over with a voucher. Once seated, you just give the voucher to the waiter and you get salad, soup, and the main dinner. Previously, the night before, when we were done, I left a few Euros on the table for a tip. We did get water, but I thought it was included. So, even if the water was charged for, the tip would look like we were paying for the water. Sounds good, right? OK, this was the second night, and we were ready to leave a few more Euros on the table to cover the water or a tip. We we not sure. With money on the table, we were confronted upon leaving by the waiter and the hostess. They were both angry as I was going to give him another few Euros and he said, this time being able to suddenly speak English, "you owe 4 for water tonight, and you did not pay last night", arggggghhh! I said, since we left money on the table last night and we were leaving more tonight. I said, "4 for water tonight, for real!" I told him that was ridiculous for water and we were leaving. Surly, when you sit down with this hostel meal ticket in hand, and you order something else, it should me mentioned that you will have to pay. Oh well. Now it gets funny. We went back to the hostel, hopefully having an ice cream in hand for Boyana, which we did not, and I told her about our situation. She freaked out and ran to the restaurant angry. She just told us to wait and she would take care of things. I thought surly we would have to owe money, but when we saw she had 5 Euros in hand, I was a little amazed. Boyana had come through in full glory. That set the tone for the rest of the evening. The tour that was out all day from the hostel returned with crazy fun people and I ran out to another place, not the same restaurant, to get ice cream for Boyana.
Andrew found some English friends to actively discuss politics which lasted the entire evening into the morning at 4 am. That has been the situation with most of the Brits. All they want to do is bash America and tell you that their national system is the one and only way to go. This leads to some very heated conversations at times. Also, coming out of the mouths of rich, over privileged, young, idealistic college kids, you have to just sit back and laugh. I don't even respond, but Andrew being a history buff, tears them up. I really wish that he would enter a blog entry just on this matter. It would be hilarious.
The rest of the night I was a little concerned for him being out with these angry people alone. As the hours went by, I had enough waiting in the room and I went down to the lobby. Boyana was furious since they were there too late and kicked them out. The wonderful political conversation continued in our lobby dragging on as people were trying to sleep.
All in all, I got at best 2 hours of sleep and we had to catch an early bus to Dubrovnik the next morning. Hopefully we will make it.
Kotor, Montenegro Day1
Kotor, Montenegro Day 1
We thought it would be a long Trina ride, and it was. The train took us to the capital city Podgorica, and we then got on a bus to Kotor. Being tired and beat, it all was a blur of logistics. We went to the bus ticket window and the attendant asked if we wanted the bus that leaves in 2 minutes. Of course we did, and got the tickets, and ran out the door. The bus cruised in-between the mountains and then descended the steep switchbacking road. This is where I woke up from my travel coma and was taken by the awe inspiring view of the Bay of Kotor. Surrounded by cliffs, this town has been safely situated for centuries. It has survived numerous attacks and the most impressive being the deflection of the Ottomans.
The hostel is inside the fortress walls nestled among the old buildings. We were looking for a desperate shower and a clean change of clothes. The cold shower revived the life in us and we took a brief nap. After waking, we went to the common room and who did we see? It was freaking Louie!!! What a pleasant surprise. This was the guy from Hostel Mostel in Sophia that we toured the Rila Monestary with weeks before. Also, I remembered going out on that morning run in the rain early the day he left. And now we run into each other on the coast of the Adriatic? The was too cool. We exchanged trip reports and did some shopping. He already knew where the best swimming spot was and has ascended the fortress walls to the top of the mountain, of course. That is what we intended to do the following day. We then split for dinner and he ate some delicious grub he whipped up in the hostel . This time, I got his email address and we are bound to run into each other again. Go Louie!
We then went to sleep to catch up on some quality rest for the hot hike the next day.
We thought it would be a long Trina ride, and it was. The train took us to the capital city Podgorica, and we then got on a bus to Kotor. Being tired and beat, it all was a blur of logistics. We went to the bus ticket window and the attendant asked if we wanted the bus that leaves in 2 minutes. Of course we did, and got the tickets, and ran out the door. The bus cruised in-between the mountains and then descended the steep switchbacking road. This is where I woke up from my travel coma and was taken by the awe inspiring view of the Bay of Kotor. Surrounded by cliffs, this town has been safely situated for centuries. It has survived numerous attacks and the most impressive being the deflection of the Ottomans.
The hostel is inside the fortress walls nestled among the old buildings. We were looking for a desperate shower and a clean change of clothes. The cold shower revived the life in us and we took a brief nap. After waking, we went to the common room and who did we see? It was freaking Louie!!! What a pleasant surprise. This was the guy from Hostel Mostel in Sophia that we toured the Rila Monestary with weeks before. Also, I remembered going out on that morning run in the rain early the day he left. And now we run into each other on the coast of the Adriatic? The was too cool. We exchanged trip reports and did some shopping. He already knew where the best swimming spot was and has ascended the fortress walls to the top of the mountain, of course. That is what we intended to do the following day. We then split for dinner and he ate some delicious grub he whipped up in the hostel . This time, I got his email address and we are bound to run into each other again. Go Louie!
We then went to sleep to catch up on some quality rest for the hot hike the next day.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Belgrade, Serbia
Belgrade, Serbia
The train got us into town only a little bit late because of the border crossing. You never can tell how long the customs officials will take, but our train was packed thin and we got through rather quickly. At the station we had to get a reservation for the night train to Podgorica, Montenegro. We already had a ticket to get there, but you need reservations for each leg of the trip which cost you a few bucks extra. Normally, the ticket is good for a month, but once you use the reservation, you have to go, and if you don't, you only lose the reservation price. Sounds good and it would be neat if the airlines could do something like that. I am sure there is a good reason why they don't. Next, we put our bag in temporary storage at the train station so we could walk around on foot with only our daypacks. The few bucks was sure worth it and the bags came back in fine condition, even though the place was totally sketchy.
The town of a Belgrade has had an interesting past through WW1 and WW2. With the formation, and the breakup of Yugoslavia, there is a burning feeling around. Some like it, some don't, and right now people are kind of getting along. I just remember the activities in the 90's in the news and the ethnic hatred driving most people. So, fitting enough, our day's plan took us to the Military Museum. This museum is situated right in the tip of land where the Danube and the Sava rivers connect, and is inside the massive fortress on the land.
First of all, the rivers colliding made an impressive sight. The Danube was a little muddy and must have been a different temperature since when it collided with the Sava, which was clearer, it disappeared and must have gone under it being colder. I suppose. We saw this from a distance of about a quarter mile from up high. These natural phenomenons sure look cool!
The fortress was used in the wars and is still in decent shape. The wars took their toll, and you can climb around the place wherever you want. It's a little different than the USA where a fall or injury could land the place in legal troubles for eternity. Most places we go to just want you to use common sense. The problem with that runs another problem. There is a lot of trash everywhere. There are a few Europeans that must think that trash can go just anywhere. Cigarettes, trash, napkins, etc.
There is no way to talk about the Military Museum in great detail. It was too large to comprehend, and most labels were in Serbian. The museum was laid out chronologically and featured weapons mostly used in the area. I could not believe how many items they had on display from the medieval and Ottoman times. They were mostly just out to see and not behind glass protected, which surprised me. Right as you start, you see what was used from the beginning of the village and maps explaining what forces moved in from where. All of this was cool until you got to the United Nations exhibit. Unknowing, after you have visited the past events the UN presentation was throughly displayed. Yugoslavia was well represented and portrayed in a positive light. Then.... Came the NATO exhibit. Wow! All the communist involvement and dealings were passed over until the involvement in the 1990's. There were numerous detailed accounts of the bombings and civilian pictures of the dead. Nowhere, was the ethnic cleansing of Albanins mentioned, conveniently. Most impressive was the F-117 stealth airplanes's wreckage on display behind the glass. There were also cluster bomb fragments displayed mentioning how they are illegal to use in war. Chillingly, there was the US soldier's jacket with the name Carpenter and flag patch in a case as well. There was another display of the shot down F-16 pilot's helment and flight gear as well. As a US citizen, this was truly something out of the ordinary and left me feeling a little out of place in a museum like this. I would like to look up and read the details of the crashes since I was very young when this all happened. I remember it all being in the news but I think at the time, as a nation, we were more involved with the Monica Lewinski situation. These items were displayed as trophies and not documented in the best of light.
Just to wrap up, we walked the fort a little more, got some dinner, and made our way back to the train station. We were hopping on the train to Montenegro, which would be a long grueling ride through the night.
The train got us into town only a little bit late because of the border crossing. You never can tell how long the customs officials will take, but our train was packed thin and we got through rather quickly. At the station we had to get a reservation for the night train to Podgorica, Montenegro. We already had a ticket to get there, but you need reservations for each leg of the trip which cost you a few bucks extra. Normally, the ticket is good for a month, but once you use the reservation, you have to go, and if you don't, you only lose the reservation price. Sounds good and it would be neat if the airlines could do something like that. I am sure there is a good reason why they don't. Next, we put our bag in temporary storage at the train station so we could walk around on foot with only our daypacks. The few bucks was sure worth it and the bags came back in fine condition, even though the place was totally sketchy.
The town of a Belgrade has had an interesting past through WW1 and WW2. With the formation, and the breakup of Yugoslavia, there is a burning feeling around. Some like it, some don't, and right now people are kind of getting along. I just remember the activities in the 90's in the news and the ethnic hatred driving most people. So, fitting enough, our day's plan took us to the Military Museum. This museum is situated right in the tip of land where the Danube and the Sava rivers connect, and is inside the massive fortress on the land.
First of all, the rivers colliding made an impressive sight. The Danube was a little muddy and must have been a different temperature since when it collided with the Sava, which was clearer, it disappeared and must have gone under it being colder. I suppose. We saw this from a distance of about a quarter mile from up high. These natural phenomenons sure look cool!
The fortress was used in the wars and is still in decent shape. The wars took their toll, and you can climb around the place wherever you want. It's a little different than the USA where a fall or injury could land the place in legal troubles for eternity. Most places we go to just want you to use common sense. The problem with that runs another problem. There is a lot of trash everywhere. There are a few Europeans that must think that trash can go just anywhere. Cigarettes, trash, napkins, etc.
There is no way to talk about the Military Museum in great detail. It was too large to comprehend, and most labels were in Serbian. The museum was laid out chronologically and featured weapons mostly used in the area. I could not believe how many items they had on display from the medieval and Ottoman times. They were mostly just out to see and not behind glass protected, which surprised me. Right as you start, you see what was used from the beginning of the village and maps explaining what forces moved in from where. All of this was cool until you got to the United Nations exhibit. Unknowing, after you have visited the past events the UN presentation was throughly displayed. Yugoslavia was well represented and portrayed in a positive light. Then.... Came the NATO exhibit. Wow! All the communist involvement and dealings were passed over until the involvement in the 1990's. There were numerous detailed accounts of the bombings and civilian pictures of the dead. Nowhere, was the ethnic cleansing of Albanins mentioned, conveniently. Most impressive was the F-117 stealth airplanes's wreckage on display behind the glass. There were also cluster bomb fragments displayed mentioning how they are illegal to use in war. Chillingly, there was the US soldier's jacket with the name Carpenter and flag patch in a case as well. There was another display of the shot down F-16 pilot's helment and flight gear as well. As a US citizen, this was truly something out of the ordinary and left me feeling a little out of place in a museum like this. I would like to look up and read the details of the crashes since I was very young when this all happened. I remember it all being in the news but I think at the time, as a nation, we were more involved with the Monica Lewinski situation. These items were displayed as trophies and not documented in the best of light.
Just to wrap up, we walked the fort a little more, got some dinner, and made our way back to the train station. We were hopping on the train to Montenegro, which would be a long grueling ride through the night.
Brasov, Romania to Belgrade, Serbia
Brasov, Romania to Belgrade, Serbia
Today started with a long journey back to a new location. We departed from Brasov with kind goodbyes with Gabriel and Flavia at the hostel. We sure had a great time with them, even though our time was brief. I asked Flavia if she wanted a picture with us and she declined. But, we did get a picture in front of the reception desk. She seems a bit shy. The last night we were there, a group of 12 or so came in from Slovakia, and only for one night. She had told us that this was her least favorite since all the beds have to be changed and made for one night's stay. But, that's part of the job and she understands. Gabriel was out getting his Dacia's front quarter panels replaced and a new front end paint job. It's great he still takes such great care of this car. Hopefully other tourists will appreciate the old relic such as we have.
After the farewells, we boarded the city bus to the Brasov train terminal. Once again, it was time to fight off Roma people and kill an hour until the next train. The train station always has people to watch and this time we could see people working together to steal bags, or that's what it looked like. Some men passed us many times and were looking for easy targets. They never made a lift as we could see, but it sure would have been easy without obvious police presence. Gabriel told us that there were plain clothes police in there and he knows a few of them. We were assured that all would be good. We found a safe place with a good view and observed the people.
Next, was the train from Brasov to Bucharest. Nothing crazy here, but another nice ride through the mountains with cool air ending in the large city of Bucharest. This station is much more busy than Brasov and we had a longer time to kill. We needed water and a little food. The first place I went for water wanted 5 lei for 1.5L, so I put it back and told the lady that was too much. She and her 2 helpers started yelling at me about something in Romanian, and I took off. The station was super humid and hot, so a refuge of air conditioned comfort would help, so we entered what looked like the only place we could head to, Mc Donald's. Yes, we were dead smack in the middle of Romania and we were going to sit in an air conditioned Mc Donald's. We ordered off the dollar menu, which was their 3.5 lei menu. When you do something like that and need the air conditioning, you take your sweet time eating the minimal food you brought. One time in Moab, Utah, Katherine and I were able to kill almost 2 hours at a Mc Donald's. The people around the station were mostly legitimate tourists, but there is always the occasional opportunist and trickster. Those guys want to distract you and always say hello to start a conversation. After the conversation begins, they start in on their little scheme. I just look them straight in the face now and point my finger back and forth while saying "no" a couple of times. They get the point even if I do look like a total tourist with blonde hair and a large bag on my back. Gunna miss them though, it keeps things interesting.
The next train would be a sleeper car for the 3 of us going to Belgrade, Serbia. As we boarded, the train was hot as Hell. No joke, Hell must be about this hot, I assume. The room was nice, but unbearable. Once we got going, I opened the window, which didn't help that much. I used a magazine to funnel air into the room from the outside only to bring in a few of the flying bugs of the night. Great. After an hour or two, the mini air conditioner, we thought, was starting to cool. I shut the window to see what it was capable of. Not much. If you leave the window open, the sound of the tracks is enough to wake even the heaviest sleeper, and if it's shut, you sweat like a rat. We opted for quiet heat which finally cooled off and became bearable.
Now that we are in Serbia, I will pick up in the next post, since it is the next day.
Today started with a long journey back to a new location. We departed from Brasov with kind goodbyes with Gabriel and Flavia at the hostel. We sure had a great time with them, even though our time was brief. I asked Flavia if she wanted a picture with us and she declined. But, we did get a picture in front of the reception desk. She seems a bit shy. The last night we were there, a group of 12 or so came in from Slovakia, and only for one night. She had told us that this was her least favorite since all the beds have to be changed and made for one night's stay. But, that's part of the job and she understands. Gabriel was out getting his Dacia's front quarter panels replaced and a new front end paint job. It's great he still takes such great care of this car. Hopefully other tourists will appreciate the old relic such as we have.
After the farewells, we boarded the city bus to the Brasov train terminal. Once again, it was time to fight off Roma people and kill an hour until the next train. The train station always has people to watch and this time we could see people working together to steal bags, or that's what it looked like. Some men passed us many times and were looking for easy targets. They never made a lift as we could see, but it sure would have been easy without obvious police presence. Gabriel told us that there were plain clothes police in there and he knows a few of them. We were assured that all would be good. We found a safe place with a good view and observed the people.
Next, was the train from Brasov to Bucharest. Nothing crazy here, but another nice ride through the mountains with cool air ending in the large city of Bucharest. This station is much more busy than Brasov and we had a longer time to kill. We needed water and a little food. The first place I went for water wanted 5 lei for 1.5L, so I put it back and told the lady that was too much. She and her 2 helpers started yelling at me about something in Romanian, and I took off. The station was super humid and hot, so a refuge of air conditioned comfort would help, so we entered what looked like the only place we could head to, Mc Donald's. Yes, we were dead smack in the middle of Romania and we were going to sit in an air conditioned Mc Donald's. We ordered off the dollar menu, which was their 3.5 lei menu. When you do something like that and need the air conditioning, you take your sweet time eating the minimal food you brought. One time in Moab, Utah, Katherine and I were able to kill almost 2 hours at a Mc Donald's. The people around the station were mostly legitimate tourists, but there is always the occasional opportunist and trickster. Those guys want to distract you and always say hello to start a conversation. After the conversation begins, they start in on their little scheme. I just look them straight in the face now and point my finger back and forth while saying "no" a couple of times. They get the point even if I do look like a total tourist with blonde hair and a large bag on my back. Gunna miss them though, it keeps things interesting.
The next train would be a sleeper car for the 3 of us going to Belgrade, Serbia. As we boarded, the train was hot as Hell. No joke, Hell must be about this hot, I assume. The room was nice, but unbearable. Once we got going, I opened the window, which didn't help that much. I used a magazine to funnel air into the room from the outside only to bring in a few of the flying bugs of the night. Great. After an hour or two, the mini air conditioner, we thought, was starting to cool. I shut the window to see what it was capable of. Not much. If you leave the window open, the sound of the tracks is enough to wake even the heaviest sleeper, and if it's shut, you sweat like a rat. We opted for quiet heat which finally cooled off and became bearable.
Now that we are in Serbia, I will pick up in the next post, since it is the next day.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Brasov, Romania Day 4
Brasov, Romania Day 4
The 1998 Silver Dacia fires up. We leave the parking spot. All 5 of us. Quickly maneuvering through Brasov early morning traffic, headed to one spot out in the country. Little does this place know that 600 years later some tourists from a far off country would be excited to come see what it has become. The Romanian countryside pipes sweet fragrant air into the car. Wildflowers galore. Birds flying, butterflies floating, wild dogs running, and eyes wandering. Wandering out into the openness of rolling hills, farmland as far as you can see. Most people working by hand, except for only a few visible tractors. Roma people out on horse drawn carts carrying the recent goods to the market. We make a turn down a bumpy pot holed road leaving the slick asphalt behind. Many bumps later and only after passing Roma villages, we find ourselves in an old German Saxon town. There is a wide main street of cobble stones. It seems as if we are in a future X Files episode. A dozen tourists walk the street in mostly silence until interrupted by a barking dog or chickens making their calls. Gabriel has taken us to a Saxon Village from the early 19th century. We wander and look around for a bit. He has told us that this is where Prince Charles owns a house to come to when he needs some peace and quiet. This is a great place to find it. We are told that there are no police out here and the German community speaks Romanian, Hungarian, and German.
After looking around at the houses, some kept up nicely, and others totally dilapidated, we headed to the fortress on the hill. Katherine had heard about these towns that should be kept up and protected, but if you have a car and are willing to drive out into the country, you can explore almost every inch of them. There were some locals using long bladed sickles to keep the grass down and we entered through a gate which looked like it was not the "real" entrance. It was. Gabriel had run up the stairs and found the old woman manning the gate. We paid a small entrance fee and proceeded to check out the entire fortress. There was a surrounding wall with a church and a watch tower in the center. Behind the fortification wall was small room for living quarters and shops for iron and food storage. The support wood was all still original and there had not been much restoration. The church was flat out creepy with wavering walls, a rear choir area with the painting still on the wood. The floor was all made of wood panels the creaked as you walked. It gave off a musty, old, damp smell which only added to the aura. We proceeded to the tower through a rear entrance in the back of the church. It was a winding stairway that was dark and steep. The ceiling above you would break off if you bumped against it. Up farther, we kept winding and ended in the tower climbing wooden ladders to each floor. Now, I'm up for climbing and have no fear of heights, but if you are going up something this old and breaking apart, something just doesn't feel right. We topped out on the 360 degree lookout ledge at extreme top of the tower. The view was amazing, with a clear sky allowing us to see across the hills. This location was truly thought out to be able to spot oncoming intruders and notify the guards to close the gates. The descent was a little sketchy while boards creaked and dirt crumbled. I do not see this fortress being unprotected like this for long. I almost felt guilty being there stomping around and adding to it's deterioration. It was a short walk back to the car and we cruised by Prince Charle's house, which was normal and looked like all the others. Gabriel asked the locals where the prince liked to chill and we were pointed in the correct direction. I imagine there is some crazy security when he shows up. We saw nothing of the sort in the peaceful quitet country escape.
On the way out, Gabriel wanted to show us a Roma (gypsie) village that has been intact for God knows how long. The whole time in the car we were conversing about Romanian culture and the influence of the Roma. Gabriel was actually dating a Roma woman for a while and had some great insight to their lives and customs. That's a whole other blog entry, but it pretty much is about people squatting in the country and forest. They live in little villages off the grid and find any way possible to make a buck, sometimes in the most desperate, intriguing ways. Or, the just beg for cash. We saw a mother on e the side of the road, breastfeeding, come out of the woods with her children. One, only wanted water, the others were just wandering. She had a cup for money. Now, back to the village.... We came across a little commune with a few buildings, horses, water well (from which we got water) and children playing in the street. Gabriel just stops the car and says that this place is fine and we all get out. We are swarmed in an instant by mothers and children and he is off to the property. He is interested in the wall of the barn the one young man was repairing. He was using a mud mixture of horse manure to build a wall. Gabriel translated everything for us and we even asked some questions. There were rabbits in cages, horses in the barn, and a few chickens. The living quarters was unlike anything I had seen before. They lived in what looked like a same building as the horses were inside. Dirt floors, dirt walls, and the roofs were made of any material they could find. Some sheet metal, some plastic, wood, and clay tiles. Wow. In the business of the visit, Gabriel was asking and talking to them about supplies while I was watching the car and where people were located. The children were as interested with us as we were with them. But then, Gabriel says the young man wants to know if I think the young women are pretty. Uhhhh. I said politely, " of course.". But, I was a little unknowing about what was actually going on. Many Roma see foreign visitors and are willing to sell anything for a buck. Services, etc. Oh no! This must be a frequent thing for people passing through Roma villages, and we were right in the middle of one. The longer we waited, the more people were coming. Gabriel said that the next time he would come by, he would bring some treats and food. This made them happy and we were excited to get going. Things started feeling a little sketchy. Whew!
We headed on to the town of Sighisoara just a bit down the road. This is another wonderfully preserved medieval village bearing the birthplace of Vlad Tepes. It has a few churches situated on the mountains allowing for a nice view of the town below. We were amazed at the amount of the tourist crap available. Everything from Scream masks to Dracula shot glasses. Prices were high and this felt a little too Disney World for us, so we saw a couple of the historic sights and the really old cemetery and moved on. I will say the streets were kept up nicely giving the medieval vibe, but it's difficult to figure out what's authentic and what's there to impress the tourists. Still, it was beautiful and was something I had not ever seen before.
The ride back to the hostel was full of conversation once again. Our new friend Ches was a riot only adding to the mayhem in the old Dacia silver speedster. Gabriel stopped to get a watermelon for desert at home and we ended the day feeling spent and overwhelmed. The Romanesca restaurant was once again visited for the bacon-cheese mushrooms and local hoppy beverages. It was a great day. Wow! This county has seen some large changes in society and civilization through the years.
The 1998 Silver Dacia fires up. We leave the parking spot. All 5 of us. Quickly maneuvering through Brasov early morning traffic, headed to one spot out in the country. Little does this place know that 600 years later some tourists from a far off country would be excited to come see what it has become. The Romanian countryside pipes sweet fragrant air into the car. Wildflowers galore. Birds flying, butterflies floating, wild dogs running, and eyes wandering. Wandering out into the openness of rolling hills, farmland as far as you can see. Most people working by hand, except for only a few visible tractors. Roma people out on horse drawn carts carrying the recent goods to the market. We make a turn down a bumpy pot holed road leaving the slick asphalt behind. Many bumps later and only after passing Roma villages, we find ourselves in an old German Saxon town. There is a wide main street of cobble stones. It seems as if we are in a future X Files episode. A dozen tourists walk the street in mostly silence until interrupted by a barking dog or chickens making their calls. Gabriel has taken us to a Saxon Village from the early 19th century. We wander and look around for a bit. He has told us that this is where Prince Charles owns a house to come to when he needs some peace and quiet. This is a great place to find it. We are told that there are no police out here and the German community speaks Romanian, Hungarian, and German.
After looking around at the houses, some kept up nicely, and others totally dilapidated, we headed to the fortress on the hill. Katherine had heard about these towns that should be kept up and protected, but if you have a car and are willing to drive out into the country, you can explore almost every inch of them. There were some locals using long bladed sickles to keep the grass down and we entered through a gate which looked like it was not the "real" entrance. It was. Gabriel had run up the stairs and found the old woman manning the gate. We paid a small entrance fee and proceeded to check out the entire fortress. There was a surrounding wall with a church and a watch tower in the center. Behind the fortification wall was small room for living quarters and shops for iron and food storage. The support wood was all still original and there had not been much restoration. The church was flat out creepy with wavering walls, a rear choir area with the painting still on the wood. The floor was all made of wood panels the creaked as you walked. It gave off a musty, old, damp smell which only added to the aura. We proceeded to the tower through a rear entrance in the back of the church. It was a winding stairway that was dark and steep. The ceiling above you would break off if you bumped against it. Up farther, we kept winding and ended in the tower climbing wooden ladders to each floor. Now, I'm up for climbing and have no fear of heights, but if you are going up something this old and breaking apart, something just doesn't feel right. We topped out on the 360 degree lookout ledge at extreme top of the tower. The view was amazing, with a clear sky allowing us to see across the hills. This location was truly thought out to be able to spot oncoming intruders and notify the guards to close the gates. The descent was a little sketchy while boards creaked and dirt crumbled. I do not see this fortress being unprotected like this for long. I almost felt guilty being there stomping around and adding to it's deterioration. It was a short walk back to the car and we cruised by Prince Charle's house, which was normal and looked like all the others. Gabriel asked the locals where the prince liked to chill and we were pointed in the correct direction. I imagine there is some crazy security when he shows up. We saw nothing of the sort in the peaceful quitet country escape.
On the way out, Gabriel wanted to show us a Roma (gypsie) village that has been intact for God knows how long. The whole time in the car we were conversing about Romanian culture and the influence of the Roma. Gabriel was actually dating a Roma woman for a while and had some great insight to their lives and customs. That's a whole other blog entry, but it pretty much is about people squatting in the country and forest. They live in little villages off the grid and find any way possible to make a buck, sometimes in the most desperate, intriguing ways. Or, the just beg for cash. We saw a mother on e the side of the road, breastfeeding, come out of the woods with her children. One, only wanted water, the others were just wandering. She had a cup for money. Now, back to the village.... We came across a little commune with a few buildings, horses, water well (from which we got water) and children playing in the street. Gabriel just stops the car and says that this place is fine and we all get out. We are swarmed in an instant by mothers and children and he is off to the property. He is interested in the wall of the barn the one young man was repairing. He was using a mud mixture of horse manure to build a wall. Gabriel translated everything for us and we even asked some questions. There were rabbits in cages, horses in the barn, and a few chickens. The living quarters was unlike anything I had seen before. They lived in what looked like a same building as the horses were inside. Dirt floors, dirt walls, and the roofs were made of any material they could find. Some sheet metal, some plastic, wood, and clay tiles. Wow. In the business of the visit, Gabriel was asking and talking to them about supplies while I was watching the car and where people were located. The children were as interested with us as we were with them. But then, Gabriel says the young man wants to know if I think the young women are pretty. Uhhhh. I said politely, " of course.". But, I was a little unknowing about what was actually going on. Many Roma see foreign visitors and are willing to sell anything for a buck. Services, etc. Oh no! This must be a frequent thing for people passing through Roma villages, and we were right in the middle of one. The longer we waited, the more people were coming. Gabriel said that the next time he would come by, he would bring some treats and food. This made them happy and we were excited to get going. Things started feeling a little sketchy. Whew!
We headed on to the town of Sighisoara just a bit down the road. This is another wonderfully preserved medieval village bearing the birthplace of Vlad Tepes. It has a few churches situated on the mountains allowing for a nice view of the town below. We were amazed at the amount of the tourist crap available. Everything from Scream masks to Dracula shot glasses. Prices were high and this felt a little too Disney World for us, so we saw a couple of the historic sights and the really old cemetery and moved on. I will say the streets were kept up nicely giving the medieval vibe, but it's difficult to figure out what's authentic and what's there to impress the tourists. Still, it was beautiful and was something I had not ever seen before.
The ride back to the hostel was full of conversation once again. Our new friend Ches was a riot only adding to the mayhem in the old Dacia silver speedster. Gabriel stopped to get a watermelon for desert at home and we ended the day feeling spent and overwhelmed. The Romanesca restaurant was once again visited for the bacon-cheese mushrooms and local hoppy beverages. It was a great day. Wow! This county has seen some large changes in society and civilization through the years.
Brasov, Romania Day 3
Brasov, Romania Day 3
I don't know how many more of these action packed sight seeing days I can handle. We arose early to depart at 8:00 am. The sights today included the Sinai Monastery, Peles Castle, Rasnov Fortress, and Bran Castle. All of this was led by our hostel owner, Gabriel. Gabriel is one to rule the day as has Scott from Varna, and Atilla from Turkey. He is a native Romanian that wears a wicked stars and stripes track suit and knows everybody in the town of Brasov, it seems. We rode around these sites in his 1998 Dacia 5 door station wagon. It's his lucky gem that has taken many travelers around to the sites and handles like the Cavalier that I drive at home. It has more character than most vehicles on the road and looks like a silver stallion glistening in the sunlight, rust and oil vibrantly adding to the presence.
Here in Romania, things are different, and much simpler, one could say. Yes, there is the influence of the European Union, but most people are just looking to stay above water and make a good wage for themselves. But, with the bureaucracy of the city and the state, things sure seem difficult through the eyes of the self made business man. Gabriel says that the hostel has had many hiccups due to people wanting bribes and endless paperwork. He told us, if you try to do the right thing, it just comes back to bite you and run you out of money, then being unable to make a profit playing the games of the state officials. This all seemed to bring us down in the car while going to see some of the treasures of the country, but to get local insight of a local was very valuable. You can see the presence of the EU everywhere here. There are new streets, sewers, lights, and even sound walls and tracks beind laid for the train rails. Yes, it will be great then it is all completed, but Gabriel says that it will be difficult for this country to repay the EU when the projects are completed. Sounds similar to what's happening in the US? Hopefully things will work out, and all we can do is hope. These people really want the best, but corruption runs deep through many generations with people owing others for deals. It is so difficult for someone to take a stand and try to do the right thing when everyone is doing the wrong thing. Sounds simple, but when you try, you just might go broke, and then fold into doing what everyone else is doing. Going with the masses? Tough decision. Once again, similar to Atilla from Turkey, may the honest man prevail. The world knows we need more people to stand up for what they believe and not give in. May there still be hope....
We saw the most beautiful castle today called Peles castle. Google it and take a look. My crappy write up will not do it justice. Everything in the place was priceless. I have never seen so much hand crafted furniture, walls, ceilings, tapestries, paintings, carpets, lamps, instruments, and windows in my life. It was expensive to enter, but worth it in the end. The castle is situated in a dense evergreen forest with cool breezes and mountain air and stream in the distance. A little too opulent for most, given that who in the world could afford to hire and purchase all that stuff doing a fair job. If any of the townspeople saw that and knew that there were people out there starving, and the king was living like this, hopefully they would stand up and ask for some change, or demand it. No one needs to live like this. Yes, the items are beautiful, but enough is enough even when you are royalty. You can enjoy fine things in life, but such an overload make me really question your end goal. Is there one? We see much of this in America with the common worker and citizen. People want and desire the finer things in life, and this was an extreme case of compulsive issues. There was just so much of it, it was tasteless. After living out of a bag for weeks and being content with what I have and even knowing that I have a bit of garbage back in Vegas, I do not have the feeling that I need what I saw in the castle. I do not feel like others touring around did either. It was like a circus freak show where you are impressed with what you see, but don't want to try that out on yourself. Who really wants to swallow swords, and who really wants all this stuff in the castle? Well.... Not me. The construction is intriguing, and that's all I can say.
Before we saw Peles castle, we stopped by the Sinai monastery. When we arrived, there was no one manning the admission booth. Confused, we wandered onto the property, and suddenly heard singing. There was a church service in progress, and Gabriel told us to go in. We felt like we were in a movie. There were monks singing behind a curtin in the dimly lit church. The singing sounded awesome, but creepy. All the people were doing the sign of the cross over and over and bowing and making little groaning sounds. There was an old woman laying on the ground under one of the church seats. She looked like she was passed out drunk, but apparently she was fervently praying. We looked around and noticed two others doing the same thing. Gabriel pointed to the first woman and said that it was his aunt! He interrupted her, exchanged a few words, and she went back to her prostate position. Andrew was committing a major faux pas by putting his hands in his pockets, so we decided to make our exit. What an interesting way to start the day.
Tonight we met a new friend named Ches. He is from Miami and teaches Social studies. Funny enough, he grew up in Northwest Florida and we had a lot to chat about. He even went to Longwood Elementary School, which is the next school over from Shalimar Elementary, where i went. He also did 4 years in the Air Force and his father was stationed at Eglin AFB. We had dinner together and had much to talk about in the center square of Brasov.
Tomorrow we plan to go to the castle of Vlad the Impaler and see the town Sighisoara. Pretty cool. Google Vlad and read about his tactics. Good reading.
I don't know how many more of these action packed sight seeing days I can handle. We arose early to depart at 8:00 am. The sights today included the Sinai Monastery, Peles Castle, Rasnov Fortress, and Bran Castle. All of this was led by our hostel owner, Gabriel. Gabriel is one to rule the day as has Scott from Varna, and Atilla from Turkey. He is a native Romanian that wears a wicked stars and stripes track suit and knows everybody in the town of Brasov, it seems. We rode around these sites in his 1998 Dacia 5 door station wagon. It's his lucky gem that has taken many travelers around to the sites and handles like the Cavalier that I drive at home. It has more character than most vehicles on the road and looks like a silver stallion glistening in the sunlight, rust and oil vibrantly adding to the presence.
Here in Romania, things are different, and much simpler, one could say. Yes, there is the influence of the European Union, but most people are just looking to stay above water and make a good wage for themselves. But, with the bureaucracy of the city and the state, things sure seem difficult through the eyes of the self made business man. Gabriel says that the hostel has had many hiccups due to people wanting bribes and endless paperwork. He told us, if you try to do the right thing, it just comes back to bite you and run you out of money, then being unable to make a profit playing the games of the state officials. This all seemed to bring us down in the car while going to see some of the treasures of the country, but to get local insight of a local was very valuable. You can see the presence of the EU everywhere here. There are new streets, sewers, lights, and even sound walls and tracks beind laid for the train rails. Yes, it will be great then it is all completed, but Gabriel says that it will be difficult for this country to repay the EU when the projects are completed. Sounds similar to what's happening in the US? Hopefully things will work out, and all we can do is hope. These people really want the best, but corruption runs deep through many generations with people owing others for deals. It is so difficult for someone to take a stand and try to do the right thing when everyone is doing the wrong thing. Sounds simple, but when you try, you just might go broke, and then fold into doing what everyone else is doing. Going with the masses? Tough decision. Once again, similar to Atilla from Turkey, may the honest man prevail. The world knows we need more people to stand up for what they believe and not give in. May there still be hope....
We saw the most beautiful castle today called Peles castle. Google it and take a look. My crappy write up will not do it justice. Everything in the place was priceless. I have never seen so much hand crafted furniture, walls, ceilings, tapestries, paintings, carpets, lamps, instruments, and windows in my life. It was expensive to enter, but worth it in the end. The castle is situated in a dense evergreen forest with cool breezes and mountain air and stream in the distance. A little too opulent for most, given that who in the world could afford to hire and purchase all that stuff doing a fair job. If any of the townspeople saw that and knew that there were people out there starving, and the king was living like this, hopefully they would stand up and ask for some change, or demand it. No one needs to live like this. Yes, the items are beautiful, but enough is enough even when you are royalty. You can enjoy fine things in life, but such an overload make me really question your end goal. Is there one? We see much of this in America with the common worker and citizen. People want and desire the finer things in life, and this was an extreme case of compulsive issues. There was just so much of it, it was tasteless. After living out of a bag for weeks and being content with what I have and even knowing that I have a bit of garbage back in Vegas, I do not have the feeling that I need what I saw in the castle. I do not feel like others touring around did either. It was like a circus freak show where you are impressed with what you see, but don't want to try that out on yourself. Who really wants to swallow swords, and who really wants all this stuff in the castle? Well.... Not me. The construction is intriguing, and that's all I can say.
Before we saw Peles castle, we stopped by the Sinai monastery. When we arrived, there was no one manning the admission booth. Confused, we wandered onto the property, and suddenly heard singing. There was a church service in progress, and Gabriel told us to go in. We felt like we were in a movie. There were monks singing behind a curtin in the dimly lit church. The singing sounded awesome, but creepy. All the people were doing the sign of the cross over and over and bowing and making little groaning sounds. There was an old woman laying on the ground under one of the church seats. She looked like she was passed out drunk, but apparently she was fervently praying. We looked around and noticed two others doing the same thing. Gabriel pointed to the first woman and said that it was his aunt! He interrupted her, exchanged a few words, and she went back to her prostate position. Andrew was committing a major faux pas by putting his hands in his pockets, so we decided to make our exit. What an interesting way to start the day.
Tonight we met a new friend named Ches. He is from Miami and teaches Social studies. Funny enough, he grew up in Northwest Florida and we had a lot to chat about. He even went to Longwood Elementary School, which is the next school over from Shalimar Elementary, where i went. He also did 4 years in the Air Force and his father was stationed at Eglin AFB. We had dinner together and had much to talk about in the center square of Brasov.
Tomorrow we plan to go to the castle of Vlad the Impaler and see the town Sighisoara. Pretty cool. Google Vlad and read about his tactics. Good reading.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Brasov, Romania Day 2
Brasov, Romania Day 2
After a much needed night sleep, we ate some bread, nutella, and fruit and headed out. Our mission was to take it easy and hike the Brasov peak to the south of the hostel. Easy enough. The streets are lined with beautiful unique houses and store fronts. We came across many tennis courts at what looked like a racquet club of some sort. All the courts were red clay and we watched some players for a bit. From there it was an easy walk to the trailhead. The trail started as a walking path with lots of locals out for a morning walk. Then the trial took a turn and went up the mountain. It was different than Turkey, with the straight up trails. This trail was blazed with a red triangle and followed up the mountain with swithchbacks, giving us a gentler grade to follow. We just took our time enjoying the forest that looked like some old growth was still present. Some of the trees were about a meter in diameter and we were covered in full shade. There was a slight chill in the air and it only sprinkled on us once just as we hit the top. The top had a massive radio tower and a little sky top restaurant at which we rested our legs and ordered 3 dark Ursus treats in a glass. It was a little cheaper than the place on top of the mountain in Albuquerque for sure. With the Romanian exchange rate, we are able to treat ourselves a little bit, unlike Athens and soon to be Germany on the Euro. After just a few pictures, we headed back down the peak probably descending about 900 feet. Just enough to get the blood flowing.
From the top we could see the Black Church, which we really wanted to go check out. It was very close to where the trail let out, so we walked over to check it out. It was built in the 14th century and started as the church of St.Mary, then with the reformation, became Lutheran. It is the largest gothic church in the country and is a good representation of the architecture they say. The pillars in the back by the altar are skinny and octagonal in shape which reminds me of something from the Star Wars episode 1 and 2 where the Jedi hang out. Those things are really high and from the back of the church it looks as if there is no end to them. Cool, but I could not get pics in there since they don't allow it. Oh well.
Ending the day, we took a walk around the main mideival square that everyone thinks of when they think of Brasov. An ice cream cone did the trick and we just took a look around. With tired legs, we headed back to the hostel, grabbed some dinner snacks and breakfast treats for tomorrow, and came inside. Tomorrow will be a big eventful day with a tour of Bran Castle, Pele's Castle, and Rasnov Fortress. The owner of the hostel will be taking us in his car. We hope to get some local insight and should be out with him for 7-8 hours.
After a much needed night sleep, we ate some bread, nutella, and fruit and headed out. Our mission was to take it easy and hike the Brasov peak to the south of the hostel. Easy enough. The streets are lined with beautiful unique houses and store fronts. We came across many tennis courts at what looked like a racquet club of some sort. All the courts were red clay and we watched some players for a bit. From there it was an easy walk to the trailhead. The trail started as a walking path with lots of locals out for a morning walk. Then the trial took a turn and went up the mountain. It was different than Turkey, with the straight up trails. This trail was blazed with a red triangle and followed up the mountain with swithchbacks, giving us a gentler grade to follow. We just took our time enjoying the forest that looked like some old growth was still present. Some of the trees were about a meter in diameter and we were covered in full shade. There was a slight chill in the air and it only sprinkled on us once just as we hit the top. The top had a massive radio tower and a little sky top restaurant at which we rested our legs and ordered 3 dark Ursus treats in a glass. It was a little cheaper than the place on top of the mountain in Albuquerque for sure. With the Romanian exchange rate, we are able to treat ourselves a little bit, unlike Athens and soon to be Germany on the Euro. After just a few pictures, we headed back down the peak probably descending about 900 feet. Just enough to get the blood flowing.
From the top we could see the Black Church, which we really wanted to go check out. It was very close to where the trail let out, so we walked over to check it out. It was built in the 14th century and started as the church of St.Mary, then with the reformation, became Lutheran. It is the largest gothic church in the country and is a good representation of the architecture they say. The pillars in the back by the altar are skinny and octagonal in shape which reminds me of something from the Star Wars episode 1 and 2 where the Jedi hang out. Those things are really high and from the back of the church it looks as if there is no end to them. Cool, but I could not get pics in there since they don't allow it. Oh well.
Ending the day, we took a walk around the main mideival square that everyone thinks of when they think of Brasov. An ice cream cone did the trick and we just took a look around. With tired legs, we headed back to the hostel, grabbed some dinner snacks and breakfast treats for tomorrow, and came inside. Tomorrow will be a big eventful day with a tour of Bran Castle, Pele's Castle, and Rasnov Fortress. The owner of the hostel will be taking us in his car. We hope to get some local insight and should be out with him for 7-8 hours.
Brasov, Romania Day 1
Brasov, Romania Day 1
The last post ended with the train ride that brought us into this day. The last train of the trip took us from Bucharest to Brasov. We said a quick goodbye to our new pal Ed from Brazil and ran to the ticket office to get tickets for the last train. This last leg would take us over the Carpathian Mountains down to the flat land of Brasov. Brasov is a medieval town situated in the foothills of the Carpathinans with a distinct architecture of gothic and communist flavor. The churches go way back to the 15 century and have been well taken care of. We can't wait for tomorrow to give this place a look.
Our train trip ended in the large train station in Brasov. We then took the city bus on line 51 (no alien joke needed) to the end of the line. Directly behind the bus stop is our hostel. We looked around and the lady that owns the place saw us through the window and let us inside. Upon entering we were instructed to take off our shoes. Wow! This was the first time ever this has happened in a hostel. I am sure that some of the people we have run into would have not taken this very well, but this is what we do at my home, so all is good. The place is immaculate! And we are instructed to remove hair and water from the shower drain when finished. It will be 4 nights here, so if we irritate the host we will be in for a difficult time. There are also little signs everywhere about keeping it all clean. Gee, it's a little different from the Mykonos camping that we had in Greece for 3 times the money and 3 times the foulness. Maybe more.
Being tired from the train, we took a nap, shower, had a little eats, then will go to sleep. Man! We need it. Tomorrow will be a hike up the mountain and a little exploration of the town.
The last post ended with the train ride that brought us into this day. The last train of the trip took us from Bucharest to Brasov. We said a quick goodbye to our new pal Ed from Brazil and ran to the ticket office to get tickets for the last train. This last leg would take us over the Carpathian Mountains down to the flat land of Brasov. Brasov is a medieval town situated in the foothills of the Carpathinans with a distinct architecture of gothic and communist flavor. The churches go way back to the 15 century and have been well taken care of. We can't wait for tomorrow to give this place a look.
Our train trip ended in the large train station in Brasov. We then took the city bus on line 51 (no alien joke needed) to the end of the line. Directly behind the bus stop is our hostel. We looked around and the lady that owns the place saw us through the window and let us inside. Upon entering we were instructed to take off our shoes. Wow! This was the first time ever this has happened in a hostel. I am sure that some of the people we have run into would have not taken this very well, but this is what we do at my home, so all is good. The place is immaculate! And we are instructed to remove hair and water from the shower drain when finished. It will be 4 nights here, so if we irritate the host we will be in for a difficult time. There are also little signs everywhere about keeping it all clean. Gee, it's a little different from the Mykonos camping that we had in Greece for 3 times the money and 3 times the foulness. Maybe more.
Being tired from the train, we took a nap, shower, had a little eats, then will go to sleep. Man! We need it. Tomorrow will be a hike up the mountain and a little exploration of the town.
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