Zagreb-Plitvice Lakes-Split

Our trip to Plitvice Lakes was by bus, as that is the main mode of travel in this part of the world.  It was suppose to take 3 hours but it took 5 hours. Plitvice Lake National Park was a real gem.  I have never seen anything like before.   It is a series of 12 lakes at different elevations with waterfalls spilling over from one to the other It is really spectacular. There are great hiking trails throughout the Park, most going over the water. The afternoon we arrived we got caught in a rainstorm while hiking and got quite wet.  We waited  for the tram for 45 minutes with an interesting Russian family.  We got up the next day to a beautiful sunny day and finished our hike before catching our bus to Split which took another 5 hours.
We met two young backpacking girls (20ish) on the bus to Split.  They had been traveling for 2 months. One was from B.C.Canada ( Megan) and one from Miami ( Christy) a photographer. Christy had to go back to the States to attend her brothers Wedding in a couple of weeks, I got the impression that if she thought she could skip it she would have kept on traveling.  Megan said she was going back to the U.K. where she had a job with Direct Ski.com, a British Company where she could ski in Chamoinix France for the winter months and watch a few kids that come in for the weekend.  Kate this is something like you did at LBSU a couple of years ago.
Split is just beautiful!  It was  a warm 75 degrees.  It is the second largest city in Croatia.  So far this is our favorite spot......this could change tomorrow!
In the beginning Split was the retirement home of a Roman Emperor Diocletian.....a really bad guy!  He built a Palace to match his ego!
What is known is that he passed his retirement years in Split having Christians captured, tortured and put to death.  So many were martyred in fact, that Diocetian holds the record for Saint creation............ including St Lucy.  Fighting Chritianianity was a losing battle, however only two years after his death in AD 316, the Milan Edict legitimised the Religion.  Ironically the site of his former tomb is now the City's Christian Cathedral.  The majority of the people of Croatia are Catholic.  It is also the same for the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary.

We spent the day touring on our own, looking at churches, palaces and shopping....although I can't buy anything as I just don't have the room in my suitcase.  We really did have a wonderful Anniversary there..... and we are still together in Split!  The second day we went for a day trip to the island of Hvar..  It is a 2 hour Ferry ride from Split.  We had a delightful day looking at all of the Ruins and having the best lunch over looking the Adriatic!  The water is so clear, just like Lake Tahoe!  We originally wanted to go to the Island of Korcula that day which was sold out, so we could not go.

Now , I am going to tell you about Marco Polo!  He was born on the Island of Korcula, Croatia on the Dalmatian Coast near Split.. It was rumored that he was born in Venice, Italy. A congratulations to Kiara, Haley and Megan for getting back to me on Marco Polo.  You are right he did travel the Silk Road. which runs from China to Istanbul.  Did you know that the Silk Road is on my "bucket list"! Dick is not interested so I will have to find some other adventurist person to go with me.
We were reminiscing the other day as to how many countries we both have traveled to so far. When we are finished with this trip I will have over 40 and Dick will have over 45. Remember that he traveled half way around the world before he was 4 years old, since he was born in Burma  O.K. here is a new question for the Grand kids.........What do they call Burma now??????.
We are in Medugorje now (more on that later) and off to Dubrovicnik tomorrow by bus again.  We will be there 2 nights and then flying back up to Zagreb to catch the night train to Venice on the 28th.

Budapest-Zagreb

Our train ride from Salsburg to Budapest was very nice.  The Tyrolean scenery in Austria was exquisite!  As we got closer to Budapest Hungary it had markedly changed. It was much flatter and not nearly as clean and prosperous looking as Austria. Budapest has a Buda side and a Pest side separated by the Danube River.  We stayed on the Pest side in the Ibis Budapest Hotel. I am making our reservations as we go along a few days ahead.  I am always mindful to keep them in the City Center and try to keep the price within $100.00 per night. So far we have had some great accommodations!
Our first night in Budapest we went to a  random restaurant within walking distance to our hotel that was advertising music with dinner. There were two fabulous Violinist that serenaded us for more than an hour with wonderful Hungarian Music. Dick said he didn't think that a short guy with such short fingers could play that well.  As it turns out they were very famous in the city and also played on the Holland American Lines in the Caribbean.
On Sunday we went to a very old beautiful church near our hotel called Meserend az Egyeteme. The choir was sooooooo gorgeous!
We took a 5 hour tour of Budapest which was pretty interesting.  We saw both sides of the Danube...Buda and Pest.  The Parliament Building was very interesting, one of 4 of the largest in the world.  It was like going into Fort Knox, the security was so rigid. The Castle was something out of Disneyland, it was so unique.
They were under communist rule from 1956 to 1989.  It was pretty sad.
We took the train from Budapest to Zagreb on a 6 hour train.  We assumed that there would be food to buy on the train......wrong!  It was a good thing we had a few granola bars and apples with us.  Next time we will have to ask that question.
We had an interesting day today in Zagreb.  We did not do a tour but got around  by ourselves on the tram that runs all over the city.  We found our way to the bus station to buy our ticket for tomorrow's journey to Plitvice Lakes a National Park in Croatia.  We will be there for one night and then journey by bus to the City of Split.  We will celebrate our 49th Anniversary in a City called   SPLIT......hummmmm!
Hey, I have a prize questions for the Grand kids only............Who is Marco Polo and where was he born?   It is a place we are going in a couple of days.  You guys know the rules....the first one who e-mails or comments on the blog! I am not seeing many comments on the blog.  Kiara Grandpa loved your comment.

Prague-Vienna-Salzburg

Our trip to the Opera was wonderful.  We saw "The Bartered Wife" in seats 5 rows from the front in the most beautiful theater.  It was in the National Theater in Prague. We went to Mass in "Our Lady of Victories" Church in Prague. This is where the "Infant of  Prague" statue is. There are many miracles that are attributed to this statue.  I have heard about this statue all my life although Dick claims he has never heard of it. Dick's back was bothering him a little so we both had one hour Thai Massages while we were in the old town. At the hotel here in Salzburg I asked the hotel clerk if she knew of any chiropractors in town, she said yes and she sent me down the street to a Psychologist...hummmmm!
After our 4th full day in Prague we used our 1st leg of our train pass and went to Vienna for two days. Vienna is a very big city where everyone talks like "Arnold"....even the women!  We went on tour and saw the Schunenbrum Palace, part of the Hapsburg dynasty!  You remember Marie Antoinette!  In the evening we saw a wonderful Mozart/Strauss Concert in this old theater ( I can't remember the name but it is where Strauss did perform).
We took a 3 hour train ride to Salzburg yesterday. Traveling on a first class train is so nice, I just wish I had that much room on the plane ride over here. Boy, did the "Sound of Music" make Salzburg popular with the tourists.  They have run that tour everyday since 1964! That was a pretty good year I have heard.....Joanne!
We decided to skip that tour, and instead take a city tour yesterday.  Today we took a tour to the "Eagle's Nest!  Dick is such a "history buff" that he wanted to see Berchtesgaden!  This was a secret hideout of Hitlers during WWII.  It was a gift from his "Party" for his 50th birthday. It has an incredible view from the top!  It was a great place to see the "hills that are alive with the sound of music"!
Tonight we are going to a "Mozart Dinner Concert" in a Baroque Hall that is Shiftskeller St Peter at St Peter's Monastery.  It is the oldest resturant in Central Europe.  It was first mentioned in 803 on the occasion of Charlemagne's visit.

Tomorrow we have a 5 hour train ride to Budapest!

We have arrived in Prague!

Our trip to Prague was not too eventful, but it was interesting in a weird way.  As Sean pulls us up to our airline at LAX  as we are arriving he says, hey isn't that Cardinal Mahoney in front of us?  Sure enough it was ,but he didn't have his pink hat on that day.  I prided myself on packing really light so we could carry our bags on all the way to Prague,but was way layed by the agent at Lufthansa because it was a full flight and they only allowed carry ons that were 17 lbs. They weighed both of our carry ons and mine was 26 lbs and
Dicks was 29 lbs......so we had to check our luggage!  I could not even pay for the extra poundage!  I was so bummed!  Well so much for all that expensive compact luggage I bought!
Another strange thing that happened is that Dick got on the plane without me!  In 49 years of marriage he has never done that before!  I was on the phone with Dave as we were starting to board, when I finished I looked around and there was no husband in sight. I panicked for a minute, I thought he has been kidnapped, no he is in the bathroom......oh hell I will check to see if he boarded, sure enough he did!  When I finally caught up with him he said... Oh hi!
We are staying in a lovely B&B in Prague recommended by our daughter Karen.  The woman who owns it has daughter that lives in Sonoma  We have the whole 3rd floor of her home which is clean and very roomy, kind of like having our own little apartment.  She is a great cook and makes all of her own pastries  She even gave us food to pack our own picnic lunch today. She gave us bus tickets and told us how to find our way into the city on our own, which we did today.

I have to say Prague is one amazing city!  It is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen! It is really well preserved, even though it was one of the few cities that was not bombed during World War II. The architecture and the churches are exquisite! There were thousands of people walking in the Old Town tonight including tons of Scottish Soccer players in their Kilts.  It seems Scotland played the Czechs today and lost!
We went to the National Theater today and bought Opera tickets for tomorrow night...it should be fun!

Ready to go!

I am sitting with my Granddaughter Kate on her kitchen table trying to figure out how to blog! Wow, am I ever out of my element!  After selling my house, moving to San Diego,getting settled,buying a new laptop to take on my trip and a new IPhone....I am just a little overwhelmed today. We are leaving on a 2:50p.m. flight to Prague today with just a 21" carry on which I already think is too full.  Maybe I can live without a few more things as go through it one more time.  Sean and Inez are coming over to the Deatons to take us to the airport today October 7th.