Enjoy!!!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Warsaw
Before leaving Poland completely we did stay a few nights and visited Poland’s capital, Warsaw. After WWII Warsaw was nothing but rubble, since then, it is now a thriving city that is continuously doing construction and modernizing itself to the 21st century. Warsaw is vey much like most other European countries capitals; nevertheless we did enjoy touring the city. Warsaw has very much reconstructed itself and since its destruction they have rebuilt its Old Town to look as it once did. Just near the Old Town Square is St. John’s Cathedral which was also destroyed but has since been rebuilt and has an amazing array of stained glass windows. Roughly thirty minutes outside the heart of downtown is Warsaw’s “Palace of Versailles” called, Wilanow. Wilanow sits in the middle of this lush green garden and displays a tremendous amount of oil paintings and portraits as well as ritzy furniture. On our way back from Wilanow we stopped at Lazienki Park to visit Chopin’s Monument, amphitheater and Palac Lazienkowski. To late to tour inside, we did stroll around its grounds which are surrounded by water, trees and several peacocks. This palace is quite stunning as it sits on the water and is simply surrounded by the parks trees. With our few days in Warsaw behind us we boarded our overnight train to our last stop, Berlin, Germany.
Krakow
Our Visit to Krakow was wonderful yet challenging. Roughly 1.5 million people were murdered in the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz and Berkenau which sit just outside of Krakow. Seeing and hearing the horrifying actions the Nazis did just makes me sick to know how cruel and twisted humans can become. For example, day in and out the prisoners were told or read this fraise, “Arbeit Macht Frei”, (Work Shall Set You Free) which was not the case at all. The prisoners either worked to there death or were directly killed for being themselves. The Nazis took everything from personal possessions to human pride and Birkenau really conveyed this. Birkenau means swamp and that is exactly what the prisoners lived in, worked in and slept on. When the Nazi’s built Birkenau their goal was to increase the number of killings as well as diminish these pour souls to the worst conditions one could ever imagine. Visiting Auschwitz and Birkenau was emotionally challenging yet I am glad I went.
On a lighter note, we also visited Wieliczka Salt Mine and saw some of the most amazing sculpture works ever. Since 1996, Poland stopped excavating salt and instead turned this salt mine into a tourist attraction and that is exactly what it is. Aside from it being very touristy and theme park like, the carvings inside are well worth the visit. Inside the salt mine there are several carved statues and chapels, the most popular being St Kinga’s Chapel. The chapel is entirely carved from salt and all the walls have carvings of religious stories form the Bible. The most famous carving is a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper,” the carving is three dimensional and is nearly an exact replica. I am amazed at the expertise of these simple miners who spent nearly fifty years crafting this magnificent chapel.
As for what we did in Krakow we spent an afternoon touring several of Wawel's Castle chambers and the Wawel Cathedral. Just outside of the Stare Misatro (old town) is the old Jewish quarter with remnants of the ghetto walls the Jews were forced to live behind. And of course, nearly every block we walked down there was a church or two, so we popped our heads into a few of them. My most favorite being St. Mary’s Church, for its blue ceiling and gold stars as well as the 500 year old wooden altar.
On a lighter note, we also visited Wieliczka Salt Mine and saw some of the most amazing sculpture works ever. Since 1996, Poland stopped excavating salt and instead turned this salt mine into a tourist attraction and that is exactly what it is. Aside from it being very touristy and theme park like, the carvings inside are well worth the visit. Inside the salt mine there are several carved statues and chapels, the most popular being St Kinga’s Chapel. The chapel is entirely carved from salt and all the walls have carvings of religious stories form the Bible. The most famous carving is a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper,” the carving is three dimensional and is nearly an exact replica. I am amazed at the expertise of these simple miners who spent nearly fifty years crafting this magnificent chapel.
As for what we did in Krakow we spent an afternoon touring several of Wawel's Castle chambers and the Wawel Cathedral. Just outside of the Stare Misatro (old town) is the old Jewish quarter with remnants of the ghetto walls the Jews were forced to live behind. And of course, nearly every block we walked down there was a church or two, so we popped our heads into a few of them. My most favorite being St. Mary’s Church, for its blue ceiling and gold stars as well as the 500 year old wooden altar.
Budapest
When traveling with dad a nice hotel is usually just around the corner and in this case a castle. Okay, so that may be a bit of an exaggeration since our hotel was built in and around the remains of an old 17th century Gothic chapel. This chapel, now the Hilton hotel, sits at the top of Castle Hill and is surrounded by the old castles walls. So the way I see it, I stayed in what felt like a castle and it was luxurious. We spent six days in Budapest visiting its main sights as well as driving to a few cities outside of Budapest.
Budapest is quite large and is divided up into two sides Buda and Pest and in between them is the Danube River. Since the weather was nice we thought a boat cruise down the river would be a good way to get our bearings and learn more about the city. After about an hour we stopped at Margit Island and took a stroll through this amazing car free park. Margit Island is named after King Bela IV’s daughter who became a nun after the King won his battle against the Mongols invasion in
1241. The King vowed to make his daughter a nun if God would help him defeat this battle. They of course came out undefeated and the King sent his daughter to this island where once sat a convent. The island is named after her and is now a big park for visitors and Hungarians to escape from the city and relax.
Although the boat cruise was nice there was still so much more to see so we joined a guided walking tour and explored the city sites. First stop, Heroes’ Square where 14 of Hungary’s most prominent figures stand. Just behind the square is Millenaris Park and from here we walked to Hungary’s Opera House, which is supposed to have the best acoustics ever. A walk through the Parliament building is a must and then of course we had to visit St. Stephen’s Basilica. St. Stephen is Hungary’s first King who was given his title and crown by the Roman Pope in exchange for converting his country to Roman Catholic. After our grand tour of Pest we hopped on a bus and head to visit Buda. Buda is most famous for its view of Pest, the skyline that will never change since a law was written that nothing can be taller then the Parliament and St. Stephen’s Basilica. After admiring the beautiful skyline we then walked the short distance back to our castle (hotel).
As I mentioned earlier we did do a small bit of sight seeing around Hungary. One day we drove to the town of Eger where we toured Eger Castle and wine tasted at the Valley of Beautiful Women. The castle was average but the wine was excellent. Eger produces a lot of Hungary’s red wines and in this valley sits roughly 200 cellars. Most of the cellars are all in a row so we simply went from one cellar to the next. Well not exactly, we only wine tasted at three of them but did walk away with eight bottles of wine. Another day we drove up and around the Danube Bend stopping in Szentendre and Esztergrom. Szentendre is a small town and there isn’t much to see but it was a nice break to stretch our legs. We simply walked around the town and along the river before we got back into our car and headed to St. Stephen’s birthplace, Esztergrom. Esztergrom is the birthplace of St. King Stephen, as well as, the first Royal Court of Hungary and Hungary’s largest cathedral. This neoclassical cathedral was built in the 11th century and is massive. It dominates the whole town and quite honestly is a bit excessive and goofy looking in comparison to the rest of town but hey, they are proud of it. Across the river from Esztergrom is the country of Slovakia and before realizing it we drove across Maria Valeria Bridge and saw a sign welcoming us to Slovakia. Completely shocked, we did a little drive around town, took pictures of Esztergrom and then drove back over the bridge to Hungary and head back to Budapest.
Budapest is quite large and is divided up into two sides Buda and Pest and in between them is the Danube River. Since the weather was nice we thought a boat cruise down the river would be a good way to get our bearings and learn more about the city. After about an hour we stopped at Margit Island and took a stroll through this amazing car free park. Margit Island is named after King Bela IV’s daughter who became a nun after the King won his battle against the Mongols invasion in
1241. The King vowed to make his daughter a nun if God would help him defeat this battle. They of course came out undefeated and the King sent his daughter to this island where once sat a convent. The island is named after her and is now a big park for visitors and Hungarians to escape from the city and relax.
Although the boat cruise was nice there was still so much more to see so we joined a guided walking tour and explored the city sites. First stop, Heroes’ Square where 14 of Hungary’s most prominent figures stand. Just behind the square is Millenaris Park and from here we walked to Hungary’s Opera House, which is supposed to have the best acoustics ever. A walk through the Parliament building is a must and then of course we had to visit St. Stephen’s Basilica. St. Stephen is Hungary’s first King who was given his title and crown by the Roman Pope in exchange for converting his country to Roman Catholic. After our grand tour of Pest we hopped on a bus and head to visit Buda. Buda is most famous for its view of Pest, the skyline that will never change since a law was written that nothing can be taller then the Parliament and St. Stephen’s Basilica. After admiring the beautiful skyline we then walked the short distance back to our castle (hotel).
As I mentioned earlier we did do a small bit of sight seeing around Hungary. One day we drove to the town of Eger where we toured Eger Castle and wine tasted at the Valley of Beautiful Women. The castle was average but the wine was excellent. Eger produces a lot of Hungary’s red wines and in this valley sits roughly 200 cellars. Most of the cellars are all in a row so we simply went from one cellar to the next. Well not exactly, we only wine tasted at three of them but did walk away with eight bottles of wine. Another day we drove up and around the Danube Bend stopping in Szentendre and Esztergrom. Szentendre is a small town and there isn’t much to see but it was a nice break to stretch our legs. We simply walked around the town and along the river before we got back into our car and headed to St. Stephen’s birthplace, Esztergrom. Esztergrom is the birthplace of St. King Stephen, as well as, the first Royal Court of Hungary and Hungary’s largest cathedral. This neoclassical cathedral was built in the 11th century and is massive. It dominates the whole town and quite honestly is a bit excessive and goofy looking in comparison to the rest of town but hey, they are proud of it. Across the river from Esztergrom is the country of Slovakia and before realizing it we drove across Maria Valeria Bridge and saw a sign welcoming us to Slovakia. Completely shocked, we did a little drive around town, took pictures of Esztergrom and then drove back over the bridge to Hungary and head back to Budapest.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Road Trip to Venice
While we were walking around Piran, a small seaside town in Slovenia, the idea of Venice, Italy got brought up. I mentioned that Venice is one place I have never been to in Italy but would love to go. Dad then shared with me that when he was a teenager his father took him to Europe and one of the places they visited was Venice. So that evening we looked into possible day boats we could take, but sadly none were going during the middle of the week. Since we still had the car we thought why not drive to Italy, which ended up working out great because it was only about a two hour drive. I was stoked to finally see the famous city of Venice, plus I would get to indulge in the most delicious gelato ever.
Venice is composed of 118 islands and is connected to the mainland by a bridge which cars, trains, buses, bikes and pedestrians cross daily. At the heart of Venice is the famous Piazza San Marco and it is here where my dad stayed several years ago. Before arriving to Piazza San Marco we took Venice’s water bus to the main square. The boat took us all along the Canal Grande and as we cruised along we watched the little islands go by us. It is so amazing to see how all of Venice’s islands are connected by pedestrian bridges. Once we arrived to the main square we took a walk around, peaked in some shops, sipped a delicious Italian espresso, ate a double cone of gelato (serving #1), and then took in the sites.
First on the list was the Basilica Di San Marco, which is really the heart of the square. The outside of the church is comprised of big symmetrical arches, tall statues of saints and vibrant yet detailed mosaics; it sort of reminded me of the Vatican. Inside the church are the remains of St. Mark, as well as beautiful gold mosaics from the 13th and 16th centuries. The décor and the amount of gold is just mind blowing, I have never seen so much gold mosaic work in my life. One might think it was all a bit excessive but in all honesty it’s absolutely beautiful. Adjoined to the Basilica is Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace). It was once the home of Venice’s mayor, but has been turned into a museum. The palace is huge and we spent a long time touring around. Some of our favorites are the columns they had on display as we first walked in. I realize this may sound strange, but each of the columns is uniquely sculpted with different themes. For example, on had different faces of women, another was of a variety of fruit baskets and so on. After we looked at all the unique columns we strolled around the square before we headed upstairs to tour the rooms. Wow, were there a lot of rooms to visit, it’s a good thing the path is set up in one direction otherwise I’m sure we would have missed several of the rooms. In almost every room there are big oil paintings, beautifully crafted wood pieces and decretive, if not painted ceilings. Two rooms we liked best are the map room and the room of four doors. The map room has two big vintage globes and then the walls were covered in old paintings and murals of a map. We took several minutes admiring the mapped walls and pointing out various countries and cities that currently exist or no longer exist; my favorite was seeing Constantinople. In the room of four doors there are paintings of biblical judgments all over the ceiling. Plus, each of the doorways is covered in beautiful green/cream marble. The smooth marble doorways clash with the dark oaky wood of the room, yet it gives the room a sense of strength and boldness. Just as you finish touring the rooms the path leads you to the Bridge of Sighs which is were all the prisoners lived. If I remember correctly, there are three maybe four levels of cells and it was fun to walk through all of them. All of the rooms have a very cold feel to them, some had graffiti left in them and the doors to enter the rooms are really small. I had to bend over to go inside; I bet it was a way to keep them from escaping really fast.
After we had finished touring the palace we rested our legs by having an early dinner at one of the restaurants off the main square. The food is nothing to rave about but the atmosphere was nice, the weather was perfect and it was a good end to the day. Just before heading back to the car, we wandered through more of the back streets of Venice walking over the bridges where we saw hand crafted gondolas go by and of course, popped into one of the many gelato shops for a double coned gelato (serving #2), yummy in my tummy!!!
Venice is composed of 118 islands and is connected to the mainland by a bridge which cars, trains, buses, bikes and pedestrians cross daily. At the heart of Venice is the famous Piazza San Marco and it is here where my dad stayed several years ago. Before arriving to Piazza San Marco we took Venice’s water bus to the main square. The boat took us all along the Canal Grande and as we cruised along we watched the little islands go by us. It is so amazing to see how all of Venice’s islands are connected by pedestrian bridges. Once we arrived to the main square we took a walk around, peaked in some shops, sipped a delicious Italian espresso, ate a double cone of gelato (serving #1), and then took in the sites.
First on the list was the Basilica Di San Marco, which is really the heart of the square. The outside of the church is comprised of big symmetrical arches, tall statues of saints and vibrant yet detailed mosaics; it sort of reminded me of the Vatican. Inside the church are the remains of St. Mark, as well as beautiful gold mosaics from the 13th and 16th centuries. The décor and the amount of gold is just mind blowing, I have never seen so much gold mosaic work in my life. One might think it was all a bit excessive but in all honesty it’s absolutely beautiful. Adjoined to the Basilica is Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace). It was once the home of Venice’s mayor, but has been turned into a museum. The palace is huge and we spent a long time touring around. Some of our favorites are the columns they had on display as we first walked in. I realize this may sound strange, but each of the columns is uniquely sculpted with different themes. For example, on had different faces of women, another was of a variety of fruit baskets and so on. After we looked at all the unique columns we strolled around the square before we headed upstairs to tour the rooms. Wow, were there a lot of rooms to visit, it’s a good thing the path is set up in one direction otherwise I’m sure we would have missed several of the rooms. In almost every room there are big oil paintings, beautifully crafted wood pieces and decretive, if not painted ceilings. Two rooms we liked best are the map room and the room of four doors. The map room has two big vintage globes and then the walls were covered in old paintings and murals of a map. We took several minutes admiring the mapped walls and pointing out various countries and cities that currently exist or no longer exist; my favorite was seeing Constantinople. In the room of four doors there are paintings of biblical judgments all over the ceiling. Plus, each of the doorways is covered in beautiful green/cream marble. The smooth marble doorways clash with the dark oaky wood of the room, yet it gives the room a sense of strength and boldness. Just as you finish touring the rooms the path leads you to the Bridge of Sighs which is were all the prisoners lived. If I remember correctly, there are three maybe four levels of cells and it was fun to walk through all of them. All of the rooms have a very cold feel to them, some had graffiti left in them and the doors to enter the rooms are really small. I had to bend over to go inside; I bet it was a way to keep them from escaping really fast.
After we had finished touring the palace we rested our legs by having an early dinner at one of the restaurants off the main square. The food is nothing to rave about but the atmosphere was nice, the weather was perfect and it was a good end to the day. Just before heading back to the car, we wandered through more of the back streets of Venice walking over the bridges where we saw hand crafted gondolas go by and of course, popped into one of the many gelato shops for a double coned gelato (serving #2), yummy in my tummy!!!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Caves, Castles, and Cemeteries, Oh My
In every town, city, or National Park there is a cave or castle and often times both to visit here in Slovenia. Our first visit was to Postojna Caves and Predjama Castle. Postojna Cave is Slovenia’s largest cave and was discovered when a man fell into the cave. This man survived and ever since it has been a big tourist attraction. Before entering the cave we boarded a train that drove us in about 2 kilometers and then from there we walked around to various parts. The downfall about this cave is that it’s set up a bi like an amusement park; think Disneyland’s Matterhorn. The upside to this cave is the amount of stalactites and stalagmites it has inside, never have I seen so many. Immediately, as we entered the cave via train we started to see stalactites/mites everywhere, in all different shapes, colors and sizes. The colors we saw were either pink for calcium, white for iron or black for magnesium. My favorite rock formation was the translucent “curtain” formations or as I liked to call them “bacon strips” because they were the color pink and white and looked like bacon. Another favorite is the “spaghetti” room, all over the ceiling there are little thin white stalactites hanging down, imagine a chef throwing a big bowl of spaghetti to the ceiling to see if it would stick. After about an hour or so of walking through only 20% of the cave the guide lead us back to the train for our ride out. From here we drove just down the road to Predjama Castle which is burrowed into the side of a mountain. This castle, like the cave, has its up’s and down’s, the down part is the fake 16th century décor and folk manikins. Setting this aside, what I did love about this castle is the free range to roam around and while doing this you see the various stages of growth this castle under went. The castle was first constructed in the 12th century and was built inside of the mountain and then in the 16th century it expanded outside of the mountain and left it with a distinct Renaissance flair. Underneath the castle there is a cave but since we just came from Postojna we opted to skip it.
Since we still had the car and had driven it across the Croatia-Slovenia boarder we did the similar thing as we did in Croatia. We stayed at Hudicevec Farm which was our base and from there drove to the different towns/cities we wanted to visit. With the first cave visit being such a success we thought to visit Skocjan Cave. Skocjan Cave is nothing like Postojna cave; first it is a lot less touristy and has less stalactites/mites. Nevertheless our tour through Skocjan was very unique and different then most of the caves I have been in before. First we walked about 15 min. before arriving to the cave, then walked nearly 90 min. through both the dry and wet parts of the cave and finally took a funicular to the top. In the beginning we walked through the dry cave which consist of stalactites/mites and collapse ceilings (when rock falls during an earthquake). In the second half we saw the Reka-Velka River cut right through the cave and create a series of cascades, waterfalls and lakes. Walking through the wet part was fascinating, especially since for most of it we were walking above and along the river so we could really see all the sinkholes, lakes and falls. For the afternoon we headed to the town of Piran and as usual sat in the square, visited the cathedral and strolled along the harbor. Since it"s right on the Adriatic Sea, fish is very popular and we had lunch at this wonderful local run fish restaurant. Dad ordered the fried fish which came with fried calamari and shrimp and I had a local fish simmered in white wine. All the food was so fresh and absolutely delicious but dad’s calamari and shrimp was the best I have ever had in my life.
Of all the days spent in Slovenia our drive through the Julian Alps was my favorite. We started our driving tour along the stunningly turquoise Soca River till we arrived in Kobarid, the town where Hemmingway drove an ambulance truck during WWI and picked up dead and wounded bodies (Did you know this?). It is this town in which Hemmingway writes about in his novel “Farewell to Arms.” In Kobarid’s backyard sits the famous Soca Front, where a lot of WWI took place. Kobarid has dedicated a Museum explaining the history of the front and all the tragedy that occurred there. Since most of our planned route passed old WWI remnants we felt a tour around the museum would be a good way to start the day. The museum is divided into rooms; winter conditions, day to day activities, stories and pictures of tragedies, Kobarid’s history in the war and much, much more. Over all, the Museum is relatively small but there is so much to see plus a video to watch, we spent nearly two hours absorbing it all in. Continuing on our drive we drove past a WWI fort, a WWI cemetery and then stopped to take a peak in St. Joseph’s church. Much of it is covered in scaffolding but what is unique about this church is it is covered in patriotic symbolism that dates back to WWII. For example, it’s painted in red, white and blue (Yugoslavia’s colors); the ceiling has a painting of St Michael with Yugoslavia’s three WWII enemies at his feet: eagle, wolf and serpent; and on the walls are Slavic saints verses Catholic. Behind the church is a cemetery and one part of it is solely dedicated to the military. Just beyond the church is the start of Vrsic Pass which is in Triglav National Park and is the start of our 50 switchbacks, each one being numbered. Along the pass we drove through the “Valley of the Cemeteries,” (#49)crossed over Soca River, (#26-28) saw old abandon checkpoints as well as WWI debris,(#22) admired the mountain vista, (#15)took pictures of the nearly 10 foot snow still standing, (#8) hiked up to a cute Russian Orthodox Chapel and before getting back into the car I took a photo of the cobble stone road (the road we were driving on) which was built by the Russians in WWI. With the pass behind us and evening time quickly approaching we quickly headed to Lake Bled. Since it was getting dark we opted to drive around the lake, instead of walking, before we sat down for dinner. After our warm pizza and cold beer we headed for the highway which took us home.
Four days in and just a few to remain we felt it was time to visit Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana. The best thing about Ljubljana is that it’s dominantly a pedestrian city. It is so easy to walk around this capitol and there are so many pedestrian walkways, one would really not need a car, and this is werid to say for a capitol that doesn’t have a lot of public transportation. Anyway, once we arrived in Ljubljana we headed straight to Ljubljanica River to see and walk across the Triple Bridge, Ugly Duckling Bridge, Cobbler’s Bridge and finally the Dragon Bridge. Once we finished crossing all the bridges we made our way to Ljubljana’s castle (lame), but before we arrived we stopped and admired St. Nicholas’s Cathedrals and strolled through Riverside Market. St. Nicholas’s Cathedral has these two amazingly intricate bronze doors as well as some beautiful golden alters. Just behind the church is the market with tones of fresh produce and flowers, everything looked and smelled amazing. From here we took the funicular up to the castle where we were completely let down and unimpressed by what we saw. The only perk to visiting the castle was the panoramic view it has of the city. After our quick tour around the castle we sat and had lunch by the river and then headed to Slovenia’s famous architects house, Joze Plecnik. Plecnik was originally born in Ljubljana and although he moved away for his studies, he did eventually return to Ljubljana and lived till his death in 1957. Many of Ljubljana’s famous sights have Plecnik’s architectural touch to them, he left his mark everywhere. For example, the Triple Bridge was originally a single bridge but Plecnik added two pedestrian bridges, one on each side, and now it is the Triple Bridge. Plecnik also put his touch in the Universities Library, the Riverside Market, in Zale Cemetery, a few churches, and many other places, such as his own house. Plecnik designed one side of his house to be round so two of the rooms inside are in the shape of a circle. Although Plecnik is not well known, the pieces of work I did happen to see I liked and I found him a very clever man.
The day had come for us to head back to Zagreb, Croatia and return the car before we caught our evening train to Budapest, Hungary. Since we had the morning free we thought one more visit to yet again another castle would be a good end before we continued our travels north. We visited the 13th century Trakoscan castle that is surrounded by forest and at the bottom of the castle is a big lake. Trokoscan Castle has a fairy tale look to it, with its bright white walls that stand on top of this hill and green trees surrounding it. Much of what we saw in the rooms are the castles original décor and nearly all the rooms are open for touring. The kitchen is my favorite room, it’s separated from the rest of the rooms and in the center is a big old fashion fire oven and stove. Plus, hanging on the walls were old pots, pans and utensil that look much different then the ones we use today. Overall, Trokoscan Castle is one of my favorite castles I have visited. From here we drove to Zagreb, returned the car, and headed to the train station. With fifteen minutes till the train is expected to leave we make it to the platform and have a look around because no where could we see the train. Dad goes to check the platform number again and assures me we are in the right spot but of course, with it now being the time to depart, we ask a train worker and he says the train has already left. What? Excuse Me? How can this be? Well come to find out the platform we needed was about a mile down (a bit of an exaggeration) and since we didn’t know this we missed the train. To make us feel a bit better a local guy missed the train, making the same mistake we had. With little option, we had to stay the night and take the following train which left at 5 am, this one we did not miss.
Since we still had the car and had driven it across the Croatia-Slovenia boarder we did the similar thing as we did in Croatia. We stayed at Hudicevec Farm which was our base and from there drove to the different towns/cities we wanted to visit. With the first cave visit being such a success we thought to visit Skocjan Cave. Skocjan Cave is nothing like Postojna cave; first it is a lot less touristy and has less stalactites/mites. Nevertheless our tour through Skocjan was very unique and different then most of the caves I have been in before. First we walked about 15 min. before arriving to the cave, then walked nearly 90 min. through both the dry and wet parts of the cave and finally took a funicular to the top. In the beginning we walked through the dry cave which consist of stalactites/mites and collapse ceilings (when rock falls during an earthquake). In the second half we saw the Reka-Velka River cut right through the cave and create a series of cascades, waterfalls and lakes. Walking through the wet part was fascinating, especially since for most of it we were walking above and along the river so we could really see all the sinkholes, lakes and falls. For the afternoon we headed to the town of Piran and as usual sat in the square, visited the cathedral and strolled along the harbor. Since it"s right on the Adriatic Sea, fish is very popular and we had lunch at this wonderful local run fish restaurant. Dad ordered the fried fish which came with fried calamari and shrimp and I had a local fish simmered in white wine. All the food was so fresh and absolutely delicious but dad’s calamari and shrimp was the best I have ever had in my life.
Of all the days spent in Slovenia our drive through the Julian Alps was my favorite. We started our driving tour along the stunningly turquoise Soca River till we arrived in Kobarid, the town where Hemmingway drove an ambulance truck during WWI and picked up dead and wounded bodies (Did you know this?). It is this town in which Hemmingway writes about in his novel “Farewell to Arms.” In Kobarid’s backyard sits the famous Soca Front, where a lot of WWI took place. Kobarid has dedicated a Museum explaining the history of the front and all the tragedy that occurred there. Since most of our planned route passed old WWI remnants we felt a tour around the museum would be a good way to start the day. The museum is divided into rooms; winter conditions, day to day activities, stories and pictures of tragedies, Kobarid’s history in the war and much, much more. Over all, the Museum is relatively small but there is so much to see plus a video to watch, we spent nearly two hours absorbing it all in. Continuing on our drive we drove past a WWI fort, a WWI cemetery and then stopped to take a peak in St. Joseph’s church. Much of it is covered in scaffolding but what is unique about this church is it is covered in patriotic symbolism that dates back to WWII. For example, it’s painted in red, white and blue (Yugoslavia’s colors); the ceiling has a painting of St Michael with Yugoslavia’s three WWII enemies at his feet: eagle, wolf and serpent; and on the walls are Slavic saints verses Catholic. Behind the church is a cemetery and one part of it is solely dedicated to the military. Just beyond the church is the start of Vrsic Pass which is in Triglav National Park and is the start of our 50 switchbacks, each one being numbered. Along the pass we drove through the “Valley of the Cemeteries,” (#49)crossed over Soca River, (#26-28) saw old abandon checkpoints as well as WWI debris,(#22) admired the mountain vista, (#15)took pictures of the nearly 10 foot snow still standing, (#8) hiked up to a cute Russian Orthodox Chapel and before getting back into the car I took a photo of the cobble stone road (the road we were driving on) which was built by the Russians in WWI. With the pass behind us and evening time quickly approaching we quickly headed to Lake Bled. Since it was getting dark we opted to drive around the lake, instead of walking, before we sat down for dinner. After our warm pizza and cold beer we headed for the highway which took us home.
Four days in and just a few to remain we felt it was time to visit Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana. The best thing about Ljubljana is that it’s dominantly a pedestrian city. It is so easy to walk around this capitol and there are so many pedestrian walkways, one would really not need a car, and this is werid to say for a capitol that doesn’t have a lot of public transportation. Anyway, once we arrived in Ljubljana we headed straight to Ljubljanica River to see and walk across the Triple Bridge, Ugly Duckling Bridge, Cobbler’s Bridge and finally the Dragon Bridge. Once we finished crossing all the bridges we made our way to Ljubljana’s castle (lame), but before we arrived we stopped and admired St. Nicholas’s Cathedrals and strolled through Riverside Market. St. Nicholas’s Cathedral has these two amazingly intricate bronze doors as well as some beautiful golden alters. Just behind the church is the market with tones of fresh produce and flowers, everything looked and smelled amazing. From here we took the funicular up to the castle where we were completely let down and unimpressed by what we saw. The only perk to visiting the castle was the panoramic view it has of the city. After our quick tour around the castle we sat and had lunch by the river and then headed to Slovenia’s famous architects house, Joze Plecnik. Plecnik was originally born in Ljubljana and although he moved away for his studies, he did eventually return to Ljubljana and lived till his death in 1957. Many of Ljubljana’s famous sights have Plecnik’s architectural touch to them, he left his mark everywhere. For example, the Triple Bridge was originally a single bridge but Plecnik added two pedestrian bridges, one on each side, and now it is the Triple Bridge. Plecnik also put his touch in the Universities Library, the Riverside Market, in Zale Cemetery, a few churches, and many other places, such as his own house. Plecnik designed one side of his house to be round so two of the rooms inside are in the shape of a circle. Although Plecnik is not well known, the pieces of work I did happen to see I liked and I found him a very clever man.
The day had come for us to head back to Zagreb, Croatia and return the car before we caught our evening train to Budapest, Hungary. Since we had the morning free we thought one more visit to yet again another castle would be a good end before we continued our travels north. We visited the 13th century Trakoscan castle that is surrounded by forest and at the bottom of the castle is a big lake. Trokoscan Castle has a fairy tale look to it, with its bright white walls that stand on top of this hill and green trees surrounding it. Much of what we saw in the rooms are the castles original décor and nearly all the rooms are open for touring. The kitchen is my favorite room, it’s separated from the rest of the rooms and in the center is a big old fashion fire oven and stove. Plus, hanging on the walls were old pots, pans and utensil that look much different then the ones we use today. Overall, Trokoscan Castle is one of my favorite castles I have visited. From here we drove to Zagreb, returned the car, and headed to the train station. With fifteen minutes till the train is expected to leave we make it to the platform and have a look around because no where could we see the train. Dad goes to check the platform number again and assures me we are in the right spot but of course, with it now being the time to depart, we ask a train worker and he says the train has already left. What? Excuse Me? How can this be? Well come to find out the platform we needed was about a mile down (a bit of an exaggeration) and since we didn’t know this we missed the train. To make us feel a bit better a local guy missed the train, making the same mistake we had. With little option, we had to stay the night and take the following train which left at 5 am, this one we did not miss.
Croatia
With a few days of BH under our belt, a love for Eastern Europe has already started to bloom and our next stop was to Zagreb, Croatia. Our time in BH was short and our train ride to Zagreb, Croatia was long but it’s all good because Croatia is beautiful. For the first few days we walked around Zagreb, which is the capitol. One of our favorite sights is the Church of St. Mark for its colorful tile roof, it dates back to 1880 and depicts two coats of arms. As we walked up to St. Marks we walked under the Stone Gate which has been turned into a chapel. The focal point is a painting of Mary that happened to survive a fire and around it are lit candles plus benches for people to pray. Although it was strange to see and walk through, it felt like a real church it just happens to be in the middle of this main path. Another favorite spot or site was the Burglars’ Tower which was once a watchtower and at the top sits an old cannon; they fire the cannon everyday at noon. While all the sites were interesting to see my favorite was the red tents or should I say the market. Just off of the main square is the big open air market which is covered with red tents and people are selling all kinds of fresh fruits, vegetables, and fish. :) Plus, they had beautiful flowers for sell as well as flowers and herbs to plant in your garden. Underground is the poultry market, where they sell cheeses, meats, bread, wine, and sauerkraut, oh what a wonderful smell!!! The market was amazing and we went back a few times and picked up several items; strawberries, carrots, radishes, a tomato, bread, two kinds of cheese (goat and sheep), salami and of course a cheep 1L bottle of barreled white wine. We were set for a few picnic lunches or light dinners.
Croatia is primarily known for its Dalmatian Coast but sadly we didn’t spend any time there and instead toured the NW which is called Istria. Since we had a car, we stayed in a little beach town called Opatija and from there ventured out to different cities. Our first visit was to a town called Rovinj where we wondered the cobble stone streets. In the heart of town there are no cars since the streets are more like lanes and as we walked through them we walked under various arches which connect the houses. This town was once very crowded and since its right on the water, space became limited so the only way to grow was to build up. Rovinj is also a fisherman’s town, so for lunch we indulged in some local fish and it was delicious. Just as we finished eating it started to rain so we ended up having a coffee to kill time as the rain passed and then dashed to our car before the next rain clouds rolled in.
For our last day in Croatia before we headed into Slovenia we did an all day road trip through most of Istria. We first drove along the west coast and passed through Vrsar, Porec, Novigrad and then on to Brtonigla where we stopped for lunch. From there we started our drive inland and drove through Buje, Groznjan, Krasica, Motovun, Buzet, Roc, and Hum and then finally made our way back home, Opatija. Well, I realize I mentioned a lot of towns but most of them we really only drove through, but a few of them we did stop in for a quick tour around. One of our favorites was Motovun, mostly because of all the wine and truffle shops. Truffles are found all around this area and are popularly used in there traditional cooking. Since I am not familiar with truffles I went for the wine and liquors, Dad on the other hand picked up two bottles of brandy. One is flavored with mistletoe and honey (disgusting) the other was walnut flavored (better) but my favorite was the cherry brandy or liquor (yummy). I went for the cherry and a bottle of white wine since it’s what they mostly grow. Another favorite town was Hum, and to get to this town we drove along Glagolitic Lane, a suggestion by expert travel Rick Steves. Apparently, Glagolitic Lane commemorates a ninth century alphabet which was once used for written Croatian. Along the drive we saw monuments that had Glagolitic characters. At one time it looked as though we drove past Stonehenge in Enlgand, but really they were just stones with different characters on them. At the end of this lane we arrived in Hum where we walked around the whole town in about ten minutes. The population of Hum consists of 16 people, so says the guidebook and is probably the smallest town in the world. Even though it’s small it has great character because it sits on top of a hill over looking the valley, plus it has the Glagolitic Alphabet in writing all over the place. From Hum our drive home was supposed to be easy, or so I thought, but of course we got a bit off the beaten track and ended up driving through a few more small towns, if you could call them that, before we finally found the highway which took us home. Anxious to be out of the car, I was nevertheless thrilled over the success of our day, and really enjoyed seeing the countryside. There are definite perks to having a car!!!
Croatia is primarily known for its Dalmatian Coast but sadly we didn’t spend any time there and instead toured the NW which is called Istria. Since we had a car, we stayed in a little beach town called Opatija and from there ventured out to different cities. Our first visit was to a town called Rovinj where we wondered the cobble stone streets. In the heart of town there are no cars since the streets are more like lanes and as we walked through them we walked under various arches which connect the houses. This town was once very crowded and since its right on the water, space became limited so the only way to grow was to build up. Rovinj is also a fisherman’s town, so for lunch we indulged in some local fish and it was delicious. Just as we finished eating it started to rain so we ended up having a coffee to kill time as the rain passed and then dashed to our car before the next rain clouds rolled in.
For our last day in Croatia before we headed into Slovenia we did an all day road trip through most of Istria. We first drove along the west coast and passed through Vrsar, Porec, Novigrad and then on to Brtonigla where we stopped for lunch. From there we started our drive inland and drove through Buje, Groznjan, Krasica, Motovun, Buzet, Roc, and Hum and then finally made our way back home, Opatija. Well, I realize I mentioned a lot of towns but most of them we really only drove through, but a few of them we did stop in for a quick tour around. One of our favorites was Motovun, mostly because of all the wine and truffle shops. Truffles are found all around this area and are popularly used in there traditional cooking. Since I am not familiar with truffles I went for the wine and liquors, Dad on the other hand picked up two bottles of brandy. One is flavored with mistletoe and honey (disgusting) the other was walnut flavored (better) but my favorite was the cherry brandy or liquor (yummy). I went for the cherry and a bottle of white wine since it’s what they mostly grow. Another favorite town was Hum, and to get to this town we drove along Glagolitic Lane, a suggestion by expert travel Rick Steves. Apparently, Glagolitic Lane commemorates a ninth century alphabet which was once used for written Croatian. Along the drive we saw monuments that had Glagolitic characters. At one time it looked as though we drove past Stonehenge in Enlgand, but really they were just stones with different characters on them. At the end of this lane we arrived in Hum where we walked around the whole town in about ten minutes. The population of Hum consists of 16 people, so says the guidebook and is probably the smallest town in the world. Even though it’s small it has great character because it sits on top of a hill over looking the valley, plus it has the Glagolitic Alphabet in writing all over the place. From Hum our drive home was supposed to be easy, or so I thought, but of course we got a bit off the beaten track and ended up driving through a few more small towns, if you could call them that, before we finally found the highway which took us home. Anxious to be out of the car, I was nevertheless thrilled over the success of our day, and really enjoyed seeing the countryside. There are definite perks to having a car!!!
Time to Pray
Although it was nice to be in a Christian country for the Easter holiday, I do have to confess that I missed hearing the call to prayer five times a day, it became music to my ears. For the past three months I have been in countries that practice the Muslim faith. Part of being a Muslim is praying five times a day; twice in the morning, once in the afternoon and twice in the evening. The way they are reminded is by having the call to prayer sung from the minarets. Once I left Turkey I thought for sure I was never going to hear the call to prayer again…well I was wrong. I arrived into Sarajevo where my Dad greeted me at the airport and although it was dark during our drive to the hotel I could still see all the minarets standing tall above the buildings. Shocked and unsure if what I was seeing was real I quickly read up on the many articles my Dad had brought as well as the travel books and it turns out roughly half the population is Muslim. Since it was late in the evening I missed the call to prayer but no worries I heard it at least four of the five times almost every day thereafter.
Aside from Bosnia & Herzegovina (BH) being dominantly Muslim I was also shocked to read through all its history. BH has suffered a lot and before I get into where and what all we did, here is a bit of history so you can understand them better. The Ottomans ruled Bosnia for five centuries, but before that it was ruled by the Romans, the Goths, the Slavs and finally the Ottomans took over; so already Bosnia is very diverse. After five century’s, around the late 1800’s, the Austro-Hungarian empire took over and stayed till 1918 when it then became part of Yugoslavia under the ruling of Tito. Well, just before this WWI broke out which started in Sarajevo at Princip’s Bridge when Serbian Nationalist Princip assassinated Emperor Franz Ferdinand and his wife. Once WWI was over Bosnia became apart of Yugoslavia and stayed a part of it until Tito’s death in 1980. Once Tito died, Yugoslavia started to crumble and each of the countries we have today (Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia, etc...) all started to claim independence. BH was one of the last because they knew that if they were to break off from Yugoslavia internal ethnic conflicts would eventually arise, and they were correct. War started to break out in 1991 and continued till 1995. On December 14, 1995 the Dayton Peace Agreement was signed and the war was over. The war in BH resulted in many deaths, many buildings were destroyed and a dramatic shift in population occurred.
Even though it is only fourteen years ago since the war ended one would think that BH would still be mourning and very little progression would have been made. It turns out this is not the case. Walking through the streets of Sarajevo I was amazed by how peaceful and happy everyone is. Most of the buildings have been refurbished and very little war damage remains. Sarajevo sits in this valley and in between this valley is the Miljacka River which runs right through Sarajevo splitting it into two parts. The river has several bridges and it is at the corner of Prinicp’s bridge where Franz Ferdinand was shot. Currently the building where the shooting happened has been turned into a WWI museum which explains the history of WWI in Sarajevo; sadly it was closed so we could not go in. Walking along the river was nice because you could see the buildings that have been restored and in between those were ones that still had bomb shelling scars. We also liked to walk through the central market called, Barscarsija, it is filled with bakeries, mosques, copper shops, restaurants, cafes, arts, crafts shop and many more. Barscarsija is covered in cobble stone streets and it really takes you back to the old times. Since it was the weekend most tourist attractions were closed so we spent most of our time roaming the cobble stone streets, watching the old communist tram go by and taking in all of Sarajevo and its history.
The day before leaving BH we took a day trip over to Mostar which represents the best and worst of the Yugoslavian years. Before the fall of Yugoslavia, Mostar was a mingling of cultures, but once they broke off from Yugoslavia all this peace turned into ethnic pride and war broke out amongst these ethnicities. Today, like Sarajevo, Mostar has moved past the war and has rebuilt its city. One of the most popular sights in Mostar is the Old Bridge. The Old Bridge dates back to the former Yugoslavia era but sadly during the war it tumbled into pieces due to all the bombings and crossfire. Once the war was over the city put great efforts into rebuilding the Old Bridge and today it stands strong over the Neretva River. Mostar is divided as well into two parts and so this bridge is very important to the people because now they can freely walk over it without the fear of being shot. During our walk through Mostar we crossed this bridge a few times to see different sites, one of our favorite sites we visited was an old Turkish home. The Biscevic Turkish House dates back to 1635, and has a mix of oriental and Mediterranean features. Although it’s been refurbished a bit the interior and décor is purely authentic and original, it was really unique to see. Just down the road from the house is a mosque and across from the mosque is an old park, however, today this park has been turned into a war cemetery for those who died in the war. We took a stroll through the cemetery and all of the graves dates were either 1993, 1994, or, 1995, it was really sad to see how many people died during the war. Before heading back to Sarajevo we stopped to have lunch by the Crooked Bridge, which happens to date back a decade before the Old Bridge. This bridge however, managed to survive through the war but sadly was destroyed by flooding. Nevertheless, they have rebuilt it and the restaurant we ate at was just across from it. Our visit to Mostar was a real treat and just gave a better understanding to BH’s history and cultural diversity. When looking out over the skyline we saw minarets sharing the space with church steeples. Plus, we heard church bells going off and the call to prayer all at the same time, nowhere else can one find this kind of music!
Aside from Bosnia & Herzegovina (BH) being dominantly Muslim I was also shocked to read through all its history. BH has suffered a lot and before I get into where and what all we did, here is a bit of history so you can understand them better. The Ottomans ruled Bosnia for five centuries, but before that it was ruled by the Romans, the Goths, the Slavs and finally the Ottomans took over; so already Bosnia is very diverse. After five century’s, around the late 1800’s, the Austro-Hungarian empire took over and stayed till 1918 when it then became part of Yugoslavia under the ruling of Tito. Well, just before this WWI broke out which started in Sarajevo at Princip’s Bridge when Serbian Nationalist Princip assassinated Emperor Franz Ferdinand and his wife. Once WWI was over Bosnia became apart of Yugoslavia and stayed a part of it until Tito’s death in 1980. Once Tito died, Yugoslavia started to crumble and each of the countries we have today (Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia, etc...) all started to claim independence. BH was one of the last because they knew that if they were to break off from Yugoslavia internal ethnic conflicts would eventually arise, and they were correct. War started to break out in 1991 and continued till 1995. On December 14, 1995 the Dayton Peace Agreement was signed and the war was over. The war in BH resulted in many deaths, many buildings were destroyed and a dramatic shift in population occurred.
Even though it is only fourteen years ago since the war ended one would think that BH would still be mourning and very little progression would have been made. It turns out this is not the case. Walking through the streets of Sarajevo I was amazed by how peaceful and happy everyone is. Most of the buildings have been refurbished and very little war damage remains. Sarajevo sits in this valley and in between this valley is the Miljacka River which runs right through Sarajevo splitting it into two parts. The river has several bridges and it is at the corner of Prinicp’s bridge where Franz Ferdinand was shot. Currently the building where the shooting happened has been turned into a WWI museum which explains the history of WWI in Sarajevo; sadly it was closed so we could not go in. Walking along the river was nice because you could see the buildings that have been restored and in between those were ones that still had bomb shelling scars. We also liked to walk through the central market called, Barscarsija, it is filled with bakeries, mosques, copper shops, restaurants, cafes, arts, crafts shop and many more. Barscarsija is covered in cobble stone streets and it really takes you back to the old times. Since it was the weekend most tourist attractions were closed so we spent most of our time roaming the cobble stone streets, watching the old communist tram go by and taking in all of Sarajevo and its history.
The day before leaving BH we took a day trip over to Mostar which represents the best and worst of the Yugoslavian years. Before the fall of Yugoslavia, Mostar was a mingling of cultures, but once they broke off from Yugoslavia all this peace turned into ethnic pride and war broke out amongst these ethnicities. Today, like Sarajevo, Mostar has moved past the war and has rebuilt its city. One of the most popular sights in Mostar is the Old Bridge. The Old Bridge dates back to the former Yugoslavia era but sadly during the war it tumbled into pieces due to all the bombings and crossfire. Once the war was over the city put great efforts into rebuilding the Old Bridge and today it stands strong over the Neretva River. Mostar is divided as well into two parts and so this bridge is very important to the people because now they can freely walk over it without the fear of being shot. During our walk through Mostar we crossed this bridge a few times to see different sites, one of our favorite sites we visited was an old Turkish home. The Biscevic Turkish House dates back to 1635, and has a mix of oriental and Mediterranean features. Although it’s been refurbished a bit the interior and décor is purely authentic and original, it was really unique to see. Just down the road from the house is a mosque and across from the mosque is an old park, however, today this park has been turned into a war cemetery for those who died in the war. We took a stroll through the cemetery and all of the graves dates were either 1993, 1994, or, 1995, it was really sad to see how many people died during the war. Before heading back to Sarajevo we stopped to have lunch by the Crooked Bridge, which happens to date back a decade before the Old Bridge. This bridge however, managed to survive through the war but sadly was destroyed by flooding. Nevertheless, they have rebuilt it and the restaurant we ate at was just across from it. Our visit to Mostar was a real treat and just gave a better understanding to BH’s history and cultural diversity. When looking out over the skyline we saw minarets sharing the space with church steeples. Plus, we heard church bells going off and the call to prayer all at the same time, nowhere else can one find this kind of music!
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