sayhitojohn

Tuesday May 22.  Late on the previous day we traveled from Austria to the Czeck Republic.  On the particular route we drove, as we passed over the border and though the now abandoned exit and entry stations, it seemed as though you were stepping back in time.  Not back to the middle of the last millenium, but maybe back to the early industrial age.  You could readily see the effects of the differing freedoms between the two countries.  This difference is not extreme, but it is definately noticeable.  Patti was in Berlin not long after the wall fell and she describes that as when you looked East like looking at a black and white photograph. We toured the castle which was founded by ancestral Czecks and remained with them for a few generations before the Habsburgs and a variety of other occupants moved in including the Nazis.  The castle and the town were spared German artillery as the Germans saw themselves as owning the castle in perpetuity.  We were guided through several Gothic and R...

Monday May 21.  Salzburg on, Salzburg off, Salzburg on again.  We originally had not intended to go to Salzburg but upon further research we found that our original target, Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic, is closed on Mondays.  Sorry folks, park's closed.  Yup, that's right, most of the town is closed on Mondays.  Arriving into Linz at 6:30 AM gave us the whole day to do some exploring so off to the home of Mozart.  The previous night was spent on a train and as you might have guessed we did not get much sleep.  I intentionally had the fewest minutes of sleep as I tend to be a bit cautious in those situations.  In her early travel days Patti lost her money belt to a thief with passport and money in it when she fell asleep on a train in the middle of the day.  There are more details to that story, but it does not take much to get into a bad situation.  My strategy, if I slept at all, was to sleep so lightly that I would be more aware of what might be going on.  As well, I d...

Sunday May 20.  We left from Ljubljana at a leisurely time this morning as we had all day to explore a few things and make our way to drop off our rental before we jumped on a train.  Our first stop was breakfast at our hotel where the kids loaded up on hot chocolate and super sugar crisp to power them for the day ahead.  Things that they never get back home, so when in Rome, or Ljubljana, do as the Romans or the Ljubljanians. Our first stop was the Postojnska Cave.  We were really not sure what to expect here but were very pleased with our tour.  The caves are a 20km network that is filled with stalagmites and stalactites and some very large caverns up to 40m high.  The lighting creates some very interesting effects but were difficult to capture.  After a train ride in of 2km we walked for another km then took the train back.  Flashes were not allowed.  My train shots are very poor, and I did my best with no flash on the others while stationary. Our next stop was Predjama castle.  Thi...

Saturday May 19.  Made the short trip from Bled, Slovenia to Ljubljana, Slovenia this morning and landed at a perfectly located and cheap place right in the heart of the city.  The first thing Tara said when entered the room was "this is awesome, look at the size of the shower and this bathroom door is great".  The place we state in Plitvice a few nights ago had a decent sized bathroom, but the sink and shower were hobbit sized.  There was no soap holder on the inside of the shower, so I had to bend down every time to get more on my hands.  To do so was tricky enough given the confined space, but every time I leaned over I would hit my head on the water control and change the temperature. We visited a Serbian Orthodox church today while a service was in session.  Very interesting.  If I have my church history right, the Orthodox church preceded the Catholic church, whic or course proceeded the Protestant church.  The service is all done in a sort of chant and there a no pews,...

No date specificity here, just food experiences.   Chocolate.  The kids and I spied a 350 gram bar of chocolate for 17Kn, which is about $3.50.  It had 6550 kilo joules of energy.  We needed this bar.  It was made in Sarajevo which was a new sweets origin for us.  Yikes, pretty marginal stuff.  Tara and I basically quit after the first few tries, but Riley seems to have taken to it.  Now she has about 300g of chocolate all to herself.  By contrast, this bar cost less then half of what the fine Swiss bars were selling for right next to it.  For the same amount of Kn we could have gotten half as much that tasted twice as good.  We upgraded with a 100g Swiss bar yesterday and that was the winner.  Update - while in the car today we happened upon a market with a big Swiss bar (250g) and cashed in a few favors to acquire it.  We bought a few other things, fruit and nuts, but that was by far the most expensive item in the cart.  Talk about priorities. Beer for Wifi.  My measly connection the...

Friday May 18.  Made our way from Plitvice, Croatia to Bled, Slovenia.  When we were driving to Plitvice just south of Karlovac I noticed a number of houses that appeared to be abandoned which seemed strange as there always seems to be a shortage of housing.  A little research yielded some answers.  These properties are owned by Serbs who had fled during the war and have not returned to reclaim them.  It is good to see the Croatian government respecting the property rights of its citizens even in the case of war.  I would like to learn a little bit more about this war having experienced the country firsthand. We stopped at a war memorial in Turanj and saw a few implements of the recent war.  Many of the buildings in this town still bear pock marks from bullets and total destruction from artillery.   Why do we have wars?  Asked Riley.  The short answer is - war is always the result of sin.  We find in the letter from James, chapter 4 - 'What causes quarrels and what causes fights am...

Thursday May 17.  Today we made our way East to Plitvice Lakes National Park.  The drive was nice and particularly spectacular though Rijenka, with the sea on one side and the mountains on the other.  We had a pretty powerful storm in Rovinj the day before with lots of rain and lightening reaching down into the sea, that was a new sight for me.  The temps dropped enough for a blizzard in the mountains above 1400km, nice Colorado spring weather following us here.  We filled up 3/4 of the tank today, 39.5 liters for 392Kn, that is about $75 yikes.   We saw a number of hill towns on the drive, each capped with the church bell tower.  These towers anchored the town square and acted as a pre-TV public address system.  The towers and the attached churches are reminders of the influence that Christianity had on the formation of Europe and the kids and I are having fun trying to spot them andululating count around the mid 50s. The Plitvice Lakes National Park is claimed to be Europes most beau...