Ljubljana and Lake Bled Slovenia

Sept 20: It was so nice to see this city during the day! It was hard to get a feeling of this place last night since it was dark. Ljubljana is very quaint, clean, and non-touristy. We walked to the out skirts of the city to Joze Plecnik’s (Famous Architect) House. It was cool, because this house was decorated exactly as it was the day he died. He had so many projects (models) in his house. He built the library and the triple bridge here in Ljubljana (along with many other sights). We passed the city gardens on the way back to the hotel that supplies the daily market in the city center.

We spent the afternoon at the castle and market. We hiked up to the top of the hill to check out the castle area, but it is currently used for receptions etc. We found many buckeyes (buckeye trees) up on this hill. GO BUCKS! The castle wasn’t very impressive, but it provided a good view of the city. We shopped a bit at the market once we hiked back down the hill. We had dinner at a “Mexican” restaurant, but it wasn’t quite Mexican enough for us. I think we will wait till we get back to California for good Mexican food.

Sept 21: Since Ljubljana took us only one day we decided to take a day trip to Lake Bled. This was quite an amazing place! The lake prohibits motorized boats which helps keep the deep blue color of the water. There are these cool row boats called “pletna” boats that Eric and I took to the little island in the center of the lake. A local said that Slovenia has only one island, and it is in lake Bled (this is funny because Croatia has so many islands off the coast). We had cappuccino in the afternoon before heading to the Vintgar Gorge just outside of the town. We had to take a bus for 15 minutes, and then we walked for another 15 minutes to reach the Gorge. We paid 3 euro to hike the Gorge and it was every bit worth the money! The views were spectacular, and the water was energetically rushing through the small space given. This has been one of our favorite place to hike! There was a wooden path running across and along this gorge. We hiked back into Lake Bled to try its world renown cream cake called kremna rezina. Yummmy! Then it was time to return to Ljubljana to catch our night train later in the evening. First was had dinner at a really great restaurant called Gostilna As Lounge. Eric had a huge sea bass served whole on his plate! It is a good thing that he learned how to fillet his fish earlier in Croatia! It was quickly time to get our train to Munich. Our train was an hour late (sucked) and when it arrived our wagon was not there? We saw another couple who were looking for our same wagon! We finally asked the train worker and he said that our wagon was coming shortly. They do a lot of attaching and detaching train wagons on these night trains, because when we got to Munich our train was 5 times longer than when we boarded!

Split and Hvar Croatia

Sept 16: We woke up early, and Viktor had coffee and grappa (yuck) ready for us in the morning. Grappa is a strong wine liquor… not something we are used to in the morning! Then we caught the city bus to the long distance bus station. We got on our bus (with no bathroom) as I was wondering how I was going to make it 4 hours with out peeing! Our bus had an exhaust leek that made for a noisy ride! Anyway, I later found out that the bus stopped every 1 to 2 hours for small breaks (yea!). We needed these because the bus sucked! Eric was a little hung over and a little sick. Dylan gave him some antacid that helped. Then the bus started getting really hot and crowded! It sucked and I don’t think we would recommend taking a long distance bus again! We were so happy, and sweaty, when we arrived in Split! Our apartment was nice and was decorated like a boat with ropes as the railing along the stairways. The apartment was small, but three levels high and located just outside of the Old Town. We were ready for something real to eat after the bus ride so we found a place to eat that was recommended both by our book as well as the lady who booked our apartment. It was a bare bones place but a cool mostly locals place and the food was good and predictable…when you ordered chicken that’s exactly what you got and not a whole lot more. After dinner Leslie and I took it pretty easy, Leslie took a nap and I sat in the massage chair (a nice addition to our apartment) and Dylan went for a quick walk around the Old Town. After reconvening Dylan guided us to a cool café area near Old Town where we enjoyed a couple of cappuccinos (he tried to order a double but just got two) and Les and I had Oranginas. I’m not totally sure but we probably got gelato on the way home too.

Sept 17: Recharged today we were ready to check out this city that was built around Diocletian’s 4th century palace (He was a Roman Emperor). We headed out for a walking tour around Old Town where we rubbed the toe of Bishop Gregory of Nin (statue) for good luck; saw several of the original 13 black sphinxes that Diocletian had originally brought here from Egypt. Peristyle Square was the centerpiece of the palace where residents would often meet and discuss matters of the times. We shopped our way through the end of the walking tour in the recently (during the past century) rediscovered basement of the palace. We bought a ticket to tour the cellars, and an area that was used for sewage during the middle ages. Later in the evening we all went out to dinner at our favorite Split restaurant (the only one we ate at the whole time we were there)… it’s called Buffet Fife and it was right around the corner from our apartment. Dylan’s treat… even better…. What a nice guy!

Sept 18: We caught a high-speed catamaran ride to one of the islands off the coast of Split this morning, called Hvar. We checked out Hvar town and some castle ruins on top of the hill. The hike to the ruins was well worth the view! We could see many of the islands off the coast, but it was a very windy day so we didn’t stay too long. We had to catch a bus to the other side of the island (town called Stari Grad) to catch our ferry home. Our ferry ride home was very nice with amazing views! We met a man out on the back of the ship (where we were sitting drinking our beers) from Ireland. He owns a boat and cottage there in Hvar and was returning back home. He recommended that we go to Lake Bled while we are in Slovenia. He was bringing his boat from Ireland to Hvar Island and regrets not stopping there for a few nights. The boys talked about racing and we were back to Split before we knew it.

Once again we had dinner at Buffet Fife, where I had the best calamari I have ever had! The seafood was so fresh, and the price was right, so it wasn’t worth going anywhere else! We hung out a little while but turned in early since E and I had to get up early to catch a 7:30 am train to Zagreb then on to Slovenia.

Sept 19: Today was such an early day! We said our goodbyes to Dylan, and walked to the train station where our train waited. Our train was very short containing only about 3-4 wagons. We had first class ticket reservations that included a coffee and sandwich. The train ride was very beautiful. We passed some rivers that were a brilliant aquamarine blue! This color is from the calcium carbonate (a mineral deposit from the limestone) and causes such high calcium deposits ever changing the landscape (especially around water falls). We arrived in Zagreb on time, but we had a 4-hour layover. We took this opportunity to walk around Zagreb (the capital of Croatia). The city was very nice, clean and quaint. We were happy that we had the opportunity to check this place out for a few hours. Later this evening we arrived into Ljubljana pretty late. So we walked to our hotel to get some shuteye.

Dubrovnik Croatia

Sept 12: We had a great breakfast in the morning in the dinning room of the Ferry. We ate as we watched the Croatian islands pass by through the windows. It was really cool, but extremely early. Maybe the drugs hadn’t worn off yet? We arrived at 7 am and the man renting us our apartment, Viktor, met us at the dock. He bought us bus tickets and invited us in for some coffee. Once again we couldn’t get the apartment until later in the day so he showed us around the city and told us to return around noon. We walked all around and took many pictures. It was so beautiful and the weather was so nice! The water was extremely clear and blue. We went back at noon and made ourselves at home in the studio apartment. We had a kitchen and bathroom… it was very nice. We took a nice little nap before going out again. We went to dinner at this restaurant that Viktor recommended early for fresh seafood. Dylan had squid, Eric had Cuttlefish Risotto, and I had fresh shrimps. There were many stray cats running around trying to get any scraps that they could. We sat outside right in the old marina surrounded by such amazing scenery. We walked around through the old city, and outside the giant walls of the city after dinner. The whole city of Dubrovnik is enclosed within the old walls!

Sept 13: It was so nice to wake us refreshed and rested. We went to the beach today for some sunbathing and swimming. The water was a bit cold, but felt good after getting in and used to it. You could see the bottom the water was so clear. Everyday there was a cruise ship docked off the coast in the bay between Dubrovnik and Lokrum (island just off the coast). We stopped by the grocery store for some sandwich stuff on the way back to the apartment.

After lunch we went out to explore the city from its walls. We bought tickets to walk the walls of the city in the evening as the sun set. With the infinite number of picturesque scenes it took us a while to get round the whole city. Every step brought a new view of our stunning surroundings. We have so many pictures! We climbed up the tower (with the best views of the city) to the highest point of the protective wall. It was said that this same wall helped protect the people of Dubrovnik in the 1991 bombing of the city by the army of Yugoslavia. There are posters as you enter or exit the city marking each location where bombs hit the city! It was covered in these dots! It is hard to imagine because it was not so long ago and the city looked as it does today while it was bombed. All the people here remember these times vividly, but not many will talk about it. The only remnants of the bombing are the new orange roofs of the old town, which were much more worn in the past.

At dinner, we all split a huge seafood platter. It included shark, squid, fish, zucchini, potatoes, and muscles. Our waiter was a very nice young man. His parents own and run the restaurant and he and his brother help. He told us some cool bars that we should check out. Eric and Dylan went out for a drink around midnight, but I was too tired to join them. They took some cool pictures of the city at night after most the tourist had gone to bed.

Sept 14: We decided to catch the little ferry to the island just off the coast called Lokrum. It is a natural preserve with some old fort (and monastery) remains. We got off the boat and started hiking up a path through the woods until we came out onto the cliffs and water below. The rock was very sharp and jagged but there were some very nice jumping spots! So Dylan jumped after making sure the water was deep enough. After Dylan jumped a few times, Eric and I decided to jump as well! It was so fun, but we had to keep our shoes on because getting out was a little tricky and included a little rock climbing. Check out our pictures! I smacked the crap out of my arms on my last jump so I was done for the day! After drying off and getting ready to leave, Dylan found another jump. This jump was quite a bit higher than the last so we let him do this one alone. Once he had jumped, actually on his way down in the water he opened his arms and popped his shoulder out! This was the same shoulder he had had surgery on a while back. It pooped back in before he got out of the water, but that was the end of cliff jumping for all of us!

We hiked up to the top of the island where a fort once stood. We met some guys from San Francisco who were traveling through Italy, Croatia and to Montenegro! We hiked back down and around the island to the boat dock. There was a little restaurant/café where we grabbed some lunch before heading back to Dubrovnik.

Later in the evening we had dinner at a pasta place! The guys had lasagna and I had pesto pasta! It was good, but a bit heavy. Then we went out to a Latino disco club, and after to a club located on the beach called “East West”. It wasn’t very crowded anywhere, so we went back home for the night!

Sept 15: Dylan went on a tour to Montenegro for the day. Eric and I slept in… we are not used to going out at night anymore! Once we got up and ready we went to the bus station to get our bus tickets to Split for the next day. After we returned we went to the beach for the afternoon. We laid out and went swimming again! It was very nice to relax and do nothing for a day.

After Dylan got back we went to get pitas for dinner! The pitas were the closest thing we have had to good old Californian food. We sat down next to some English guys that had been drinking all day! We started drinking with them. One of the guys was a bit arrogant and annoying spewing political criticism of America. His friends were very embarrassed but we all got along and kept drinking. All the while the same guy was getting more drunk and chanting football (this is soccer for us) songs. I taught him an OSU football chant, and he added to it (it was really funny). Then he taught me some chants for the Newcastle team (where they were from). We left since we had to catch the bus in the morning but it was a good night all in all!

Formula 1 and Italy

Sept 5: Today we packed because we were leaving for Milan tonight on an overnight train. Gerd took us to the Wutha train station after he got off of work (so nice). The train ride was pretty good, but we got into Milan very early the next day.

Sept 6: Today we woke up in Milan around 7:30 am and got off the train. We then found our hotel, but this took us a little while. Of course we got off the bus a few stops too early, but no harm done, just a little more walking before we got to the hotel. We grabbed some cappuccino and croissants across the street at the bar. The owner of the bar was so very nice and was glad to hear that we were from the USA and California. Then we went on a walk and did a little shopping (a must in Milan) because Dylan was not due in untill the afternoon. He had to take about 5 flights to get from Santa Barbara to Milan. He bought his ticket with points late and had to take what was left. When Dylan arrived we took a walk to the Duomo (large church in the city center) and the Galleria. We had dinner at a little bar (good lasagna) just down the street from the church.

Sept 7: Formula One starts today in Monza! We caught a train in the morning to the racetrack. Monza is located just north of the city of Milan. Once we got to the track we found out we had to pick up our tickets at another location about 4 km away! After a little more walking, we picked up our three-day passes and entered the racetrack. The cars were so loud and fast! We walked around all day to see the many different twists and curves of the racetrack. We saw a few cars lose control and spin off the track a few times. We sat down in the main grand stands to watch many of the formula 1 cars come out of the pits then come hauling down the straightaway.

As we were leaving the track, Eric and Dylan went out on the old circular track to take some pictures (before they were kicked off by a couple of angry Italians). The curve of the track was so steep that you couldn’t walk to the top of it. Next we watched some of the Italian Army men take off and fly away in their helicopter. We took the train back to Central Station (we thought), but instead we ended up in another train station in Milan. A worker knocked on the door of the train to tell us that we were here and that we needed to get off:-) After 15 to 20 minutes we figured out where we were and took the subway back to our hotel.

Sept 8: Today we decided to go to Lake Como (located at the base of the Alps). As we were walking from the train station to the lake, we stopped into an art store. Eric and I found a cool painting of the Eiffel Tower, which we bought later on our way home. We reached the lake and took in the scenic views. We took the funicular (a trolley that goes up the mountain) to the top of one of the mountains. It was so scary because we were stuck in this thing going up about 2,000 feet! It stopped a few times and you could feel the cable stretch and give a little bit! Anyway, I was able to enjoy the views more at the top when we got off it. We walked through a wealthy neighborhood to a good viewpoint. We grabbed some lunch in the middle of the city after our trip down from the mountain. It was a great day, with great weather!

Sept 9: The Monza Formula 1 race is today, we asked the angry Italians from a couple of days ago that kicked us off the track when we should get there to get a good place to watch since we only had general admission tickets and they said around six in the morning…well that wasn’t going to be very likely. The race didn’t start until 1pm so we were not ready to get there 7 hours early and camp out in one spot all day. Instead we lucked out and the free train from Milan for the race dropped us off right by where we wanted to watch around 11 o’clock. The Italians were right and the place was pretty packed already. People were hanging from trees, had tents set up, and some even brought their own ladders. Dylan and I went on a mission to find something that we could stand on. We found a huge log, with one end still smoldering from being on fire the night before from some squatters. Together we picked it up and made a beeline for our spot, with the burning end leading the way we were able to easily part the crowd and set up our perfect location. The crowd was buzzing with energy and drunks for that matter, as Ferrari flags were flying proudly throughout the nearby stands. Unfortunately one of the Ferraris was quickly out of the race and the other didn’t challenge which quieted the crowd down for most of the race. Mercedes McClaren driver Fernando Alonso won the race. Dylan and I had a great time and Leslie survived another whole day of racing. After the race we joined the massive crowd at the train station and headed back to Milan and back to our hotel where we tried to waste as much time as possible before we had to catch our overnight train to Milan that night. Fortunately our hotel let us leave our bags there and take showers that night so we weren’t filthy for the train. We’re off to Bari!

Sept 10: Once again we woke up early on the train when we arrived in Bari. We grabbed some cappuccinos and croissants for breakfast (this was a common theme during our trip). We caught a taxi to our bed and breakfast about 2 km away. We had a really hard time, as well as our driver, finding this place! Finally the taxi driver called the hotel and then he took some unnamed road into a sports complex where our B&B was located. Whew… we thanked and tipped the taxi driver then went to check in. None of the people spoke English, but we gathered that we couldn’t check in till later. So we went back into the city to do some site seeing around old town.

We discovered that this city was a little rough after dark but safe enough during the day. Our book said not to walk through the tight streets of old town at night because you will come out with empty pockets! It was really cool in the old town because the streets were so narrow only disturbed by a scooter now and then. Looking down the alleyways we saw old ladies cleaning vegetables. We stopped into a little store, and the lady offered us samples of these bread rings (crackers). Eric and I bought some wine and bread rings to snack on (some plain and some with peppers). We had lunch and did some more shopping (Eric and Dylan found some t-shirts). Then we headed back to the hotel. Later in the evening we set out to find the nearest restaurant (our place was not in a touristy area) in the drizzle. We had to ask a few people but we finally found the restaurant. The food and service was great but it was a bit pricey since it was the only restaurant around!

Sept 11: We leave for Croatia later this evening on an overnight Ferry! I think we are all ready to get there, but first we had a whole day to spend in Bari. So we checked out as late a possible, and headed to the train station to store our bags for the day. We walked around for a while then stopped at a café for lunch. We had a great lunch and met an American man traveling to Greece named Jon. He was a businessman turned writer and was looking for a peaceful getaway in order to write undisturbed. He was having some problems with his new Mac and Eric was able to help a little. It was nice to talk to someone who spoke good English. After lunch we left to old town again to see the old castle remains. Once again we ran into Jon and spoke some more about our trip and his past professions. He was leaving earlier since the Ferry to Greece was about 16 hours while ours was only 9 hours.

Later this evening we grabbed our bags and some dinner at McDonalds (I think this was the first time we had fast food during our whole trip). Then we walked to the Ferry Dock (around old town… not through). We met two Australians who were traveling around the world. We picked up our tickets for the boat, but the Australians had some troubles getting their tickets and had to buy two more! Anyway we took a shuttle bus to our Ferry that dumped us off right in front of the boat with out directions. We all stood there for a minute and then Eric, Dylan and I just started walking onto the ramp where the cars were driving onto the boat. It was really funny, and seemed a bit dangerous with all the busses, trucks, cars and passengers. The boat looked safe and I think we were all a little relieved because we didn’t know what to expect!

We got our key to our room, because we had reserved a room with beds and a sink. Our room was down stairs below the cars. It was a bit creaky but not too bad. We left our bags in the room and went to the deck for a few drinks at the bar. We said goodbye to Bari as we set sail on our boat with drinks in our hand. It was late and rainy outside so we went down to our rooms and went to bed (with the help of some Dramamine and sleeping pills). We all woke up around 3 am, maybe because it was a little rough and the boat was a little loud? But we took some more Dramamine as a precaution and went back to bed till morning.

Back in Germany

Aug 27: Today Jorg picked us up and we went shopping for roof materials. Eric is going to help Jorg tar the roof because it has been leaking. Randy is going to put a new roof the next time he is able to come back.

Aug 28: I think it rained today (can you believe it??????)

Aug 29: The weather is much better today, actually a little warm! Eric and I worked on a path behind the guesthouse in the back yard. Another neighbor brought us some tiles and we broke them to make something like a mosaic looking pathway! It was fun working outside, and hopefully the weeds will not grow there anymore. We hope Randy likes it!

Aug 30: Today is Roof Day! Jorg came over in the morning with some Brotchen (bread rolls) and fresh homemade strawberry jam for breakfast! Then it was time to cover the roof with tar (not the most fun job in the world). It was a little dangerous up there since the roof is soooooo steep (that is why I just stayed on the ladder). It took about 8 hours to finish the roof with three people (although I didn’t do as much as the men).

Sept 1: Now that all the roof work is done, Eric and I went on a hike towards a town named Tahl. On the way we found Tropfsteinhohle (this was a mine as well as a cave)! So we decided to take a small tour of the mine and caves. We had to wear these bright blue hats as I later found out were for safety (since I hit my head on the ceiling). It was a long way down and I started getting a little scared. The mines were cool, but most the caves were too hard to get too and not viewable unless you wanted to crawl (more like shove your body through very small openings) between huge rocks on your stomach for 200 or 300 meters! This was a mine for some kind of heavy metal used in the medical field. I have to say that I was a little relieved when we came up out of the mine, but it was a very cool experience.

So we continued our hike to this old tower (I think remaining from an old castle) at the top of a hill in the small village of Tahl. We walked around for a while trying to find the path up. Finally we made it to the top! The tower had been renovated in the early 2000’s so we climbed all the way to the top to enjoy some scenic views.

Later in the evening Sabine (and her sister) picked us up to go to a wine festival in downtown Eisenach. There were many different booths with food and wine from many different wineries! There was a band playing all kinds of music… even a little salsa with dancers (we thought of you Scotty). We ate, drank, and danced all night until we were very tired. It was a very cool evening hanging out with Sabine and her friends!

Sept 2: After waking up a bit hung over and queasy from the night before. We went next door to learn how to make a Thuringen dish called Rouladen with our neighbor (another Sabine) Sabine. This is our favorite traditional meal but it is very hard and time consuming (of course) to make. First you take very thin, long pieces of beef. You roll up the beef with mustard, onion, speck (bacon fat pre cooked) and pickles inside! Then you boil it with some water and herbs. Then you make the red cabbage (with onion, apple and more speck) and KloBe (the “B” is like a double “ss”), which are like a potato dumpling. The KloBe take a long time to make, first you peel the potatoes, and grate them (very dangerous, just ask Eric) into a mush. Poor Eric had to use 3 Band-Aids to stop the bleeding that was caused by catching his fingers in the grater! Then you use cheesecloth to squeeze all the liquid out! Next you are left with the dry grated part of the potato. You add boiled potatoes (1/3 of the total potatoes peeled) and mash and mix them into the dried grated potatoes. Anyway, then you put a crouton in the middle and roll them into balls and boil them till they float! Whew! It is hard but soooooo tasty. It is served all together with the beef roll, red cabbage, and KloBe all covered (or swimming) in the beef gravy! Yummmy! We will try to make it at home for everyone to try. After a while we were able to kick our hangovers and enjoy a great lunch with the neighbors.

Sept 3: Not sure what we did today!

Sept 4: Eric and I had Reggie, Connie, Sabine, and Michael over for dinner. We made good old American Cheeseburgers. I made some German salad and Reggie brought some baked beans and champagne! Sabine brought over some cherry liquor and a few different jellies. And to top it all off, we had fruit parfait for desert. It was so cold here so we decided to come back inside. It was a great night with many funny stories of Reggie and Connie’s trip to California!

Prague with Scott Mike and Dan

Aug 20: Eric and I got up early to catch our train to Prague…. Mike and Scott were catching a later train. We met a couple from Argentina on the train. They were the nicest people and convinced us that we want to visit Argentina some time too! They were studying in Spain and were traveling with friends during their break. We were heading there earlier to meet up with Dan since he had an early flight in from Amsterdam. True to Dan form when we arrived he was sitting out on the terrace, sipping his tea and chatting it up with a couple of British ladies staying at our B&B. Once settled, we decided to walk down towards the city’s center (about 2 miles). We saw the Dancing House (Frank Gehry-designed modern building), but we turned around to walk back before we reached the heart of Old Town Prague. We soon learned how to take the 15-minute tram ride downtown. Dan, Eric and I had dinner at recommended restaurant down the street. Mike and Scott had a little trouble finding the Bed and Breakfast, and unfortunately it was pouring down rain! Needless to say, they were drenched once they finally found the place. Mike and Scott went to the same restaurant that we went to but the kitchen was closing and all they could get was fried cheese! Welcome to Prague. Leslie went to sleep fairly early and the rest of us ended up staying up BSing fairly late. Obviously about nothing too interesting but it was good to have the crew all together again and in Prague. Dan did manage to break down Mike’s timeline to prove he indeed found sightseeing in New York City to be a priority over emailing or contacting us waiting for him in Berlin, good laughs!

Aug 21: I wouldn’t necessarily say we got an early start today. Between everyone still adjusting to the time change and the fact that our ‘apartment’ contained one bath or shower or shower without a curtain that you can’t stand up in because the roof was in the way…whatever it was it didn’t help get everyone ready too quickly. Sometime after noon we headed toward the subway to get city transportation tickets for everyone for the week and then headed to Castle Quarter. Castle Quarter was filled with two main churches several streets and entrance gates manned by guards…probably mainly there for the tourists sake. We would learn the favorite picture taking technique developed by Mike and Dan during their last visit to Europe. Basically one person lies on the ground in front of a giant church, building, statue, something old…whatever and takes a picture looking up at the other person in front of the site. I’ll have to give it to them it actually makes for pretty cool pictures. After a few small group photos, Mike broke out one of his sandals, the camera timer and after several tries and few laughs from onlookers we had a perfect picture of the five of us in front of the St. Vitus Cathedral. After a fruitless search for a brewery tour, Mike and Scott headed down toward Little Quarter, and the rest of us stopped at a ritzy little café where Dan ordered a $20 soup and an $8 cappuccino…unfortunately it wouldn’t be the last one of those for him on this trip. The view was great though (as well as their ice cream) and we had a good time catching up some more.

After lunch we walked back down the hill into Prague’s Little Quarter. After stopping in some stores we came to the famous Charles Bridge. This definitely reminded me of something out of the mid-evil times. I am sure the thick layer of clouds rolling in helped with the mood as we were walked across taking pictures. Luckily we were meeting up with Mike and Scott as the winds started ripping through the streets like in a movie. Mike and Scott had bought some souvenirs (for Mike this was of course a T-shirt). Mike had mentioned that he doesn’t pack many shirts because he likes to buy at least one from every stop on his journey (he even had time to buy a New York T-Shirt when stuck there on the way to meet up with us in Europe). We jumped on a cable car back to our cozy little apartment. We stopped at a great little neighborhood restaurant called Josephine’s. At this restaurant we ate like kings and queen! I am being serious… Scot and Mike shared a mixed meat plate (made for two people) along with ordering their own meals! After we washed our meal down with two bottles of wine the check came to about 15 bucks a person (ok… maybe Mike and Scot paid a little more for their two meals each). Once again I went to bed before the guys so that they could have their manly time together (this usually consisted of Dan giving Mike a hard time and talking investments).

Aug 22: OK another early start, post noon, we are off to complete Tour de Mike of ‘Old Town’. We make it to Old Town and our first site we only have 40% participation, Mike and I (E) forked over 2 bucks each to see Bethlehem Chapel, the church where Jan Hus had preached and began his movement for reform in the Catholic church, arguing for religious autonomy and that the word of God did not have to be spread solely through the Vatican. This was met with much adversity and he was eventually burned at the stake in 1415. His predecessor 100 years later, Martin Luther, finally ended up being successful although through much strife of his own in successfully breaking away from the Catholic ideals. Although the chapel was fairly plain inside, it was an interesting place to visit and had a lot of info on Hus’ life. We came out to find everyone sitting at an outdoor café although only Dan was enjoying a drink. Apparently the service was poor at best and Dan was enjoying his second $8 cappuccino in Prague, this is just bad luck by now. Once Dan forked over his Korunas we headed to a bar around the corner that Mike and Scott had found in the meantime. They had Budweiser there…sweet glorious Budweiser…well I believe we were ready to go after one or was that five and a couple of hours later. Leslie, Mike and I left there and tried to finish the major sites in Old Town. We raced to The Church of St. James where they had hung the arm of a thief hundreds of years ago above the entrance and its crusty remains hang still today. The story goes that a thief tried to steal the Madonna Pietatis from the inside of the church, when his arm was frozen as soon as he touched the statue. His arm had to be cut off to release his grip from the Madonna; it was then hung above to stand forever as a warning. We didn’t quite make it so we rushed to the Old Town Square to see the ringing of the Astronomical Clock at the top of the hour…once again we missed this because we were trying to see the arm. Well we did see the Old Town Square, which couldn’t close on us and we found out the ringing of the Astronomical Clock was kind of overrated. We met up with Scott and Dan later, grabbed a quick bite to eat and checked out a club. Leslie and I took off early and went back to the apartment.

Aug 23: Today we saw the arm in St James Church! This was our first task of the day that we completed without getting distracted by the many pubs we passed along the way. We left and headed for Old Town Square once Mike was finished taking pictures inside the church. We walked through the Jewish Quarter and saw the huge metronome perched above on the hill created to send the message that for every power there’s a time to go. The metronome was erected during Prague’s centennial exhibition. Mike and Scott went into the old Jewish Quarter, including the old Jewish Cemetery (there were many deaths with only a small plot of land to bury their dead resulting in so many old stones sticking out of everywhere.). Dan, Eric and I were in search of a painting that we had seen a couple days before. Dan bought a colorful abstract oil painting of a naked woman (it was very nice). We met up with Mike and Scott a little early since Mike’s train was leaving around 9 PM. We all went to our favorite restaurant and ordered another feast of Pork Ribs and desert! As the waiter brought our desert, Dan said “Mike what time does your train leave because it’s 8:15PM”! As much as Dan just wanted to sit there with his mouth shut waiting to see if Mike would realize on his own the time, he didn’t! The problem was that Mike had to walk back to the Bed and Breakfast, pack his belongings, walk to the subway, take the subway about 7 stops and catch an overnight train to Poland! Amazingly enough he finished his desert in a couple of bites and made his train (I can only guess with no time to lose). The rest of us went back to the apartment (wondering if Mike was going to show up later:-)

Aug 24: This morning Eric and I went back to Castle Hill and toured the inside of the St. Vitus Cathedral. We also climbed up the 250 stairs to the top of the bell tower for some magnificent views of the whole city. Next we visited the Little Quarter in search of the John Lennon wall. This was a wall that was covered with peace sayings inspired by John Lennon himself during the communist era! You can imagine that the government did not like it and covered it up every day because when they cleaned it the next day it was back as if they hadn’t cleaned it. After the fall of communism it has been left here as is so that anyone can add his or her graffiti. The next place we visited was the Monument to Victims of Communism Who Survived (long name, but very interesting). This monument started from a far with parts of a man, but as the image of the man got closer the more there was of him (hard to explain but check out the pic). This just resembled all thought people who had to recreate who they were after such a repressive governing body.

At 6 PM Eric and I met up with Scott and Dan to attend an orchestra concert at the Basilica of St. George in the Castle Quarter. It was very cool, they nine member orchestra played classics from Mozart and Bach (there were other composers to). Later in the evening we went out to a club (once we found it)! About 1 hour later and asking 3 different people directions, we finally made it! The club scene wasn’t very crowded but it was pretty cool. The club had a roof top deck overlooking part of the New Town area. After a few drinks, Eric and I headed back to the apartment for some shuteye!

Aug 25: Eric and I went to New Town today to do some shopping. This is the only place that the currency is about at the same level as the dollar. The Euro has continued to climb (as the dollar has fallen) while we have been here in Europe. So Eric found some white pants (very Euro) from Energy. I wasn’t really able to find anything so we headed back to Old Town for a little while. I bought a sketch of a ballet dancer that was done by a Russian artist (it is very good, no so cute looking like in the States, but really technically good). It seemed like the last day here went so fast! This has been such a great trip hanging out with friends! We hate to see it end…

Aug 26: Eric and I caught our train this morning after saying goodbye to the guys! We were sad but can’t wait to see everyone again back in California. Scott and Dan were meeting Mike in Budapest later today. Just another ordinary travel day, but I do love traveling by train!

Berlin with Scott and Mike

Aug 17: Eric, Scott and I woke up early to catch our train to Berlin. Of course the train was packed full of people after we told Scott that we wouldn’t need a reservation. Luckily we all found seats, just not necessarily together. The seating only further complicated things when we all got off the train and we only had two suit cases??? Since Eric has such good manners he had forgotten that he had carried my bag onto the train and placed it behind his seat. So he jumps back on the train in search of my bag… after a few seconds Scott starts heading for the door of the train to find E! Just as Scott is about to board the train again I see Eric coming out the door on the other end of the wagon. Luckily Scott heard me scream that E made it off so he didn’t end up stuck on a train headed for Copenhagen.

Our first day in Berlin was great. We visited the remains of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church just up the street. This is a reminder to Berlin of the destruction of the second World War. There is a new wing with 11,000 little blue glass windows covering a modern building… depending on the time of day the lights glow on the inside (from the sunlight) or from the outside when it is dark (from lights within). We went inside the new church and listened to the organ music.

Next we all headed to the East! I wanted to go up in the renovated, both modern and historic, parliament building. On our way there we passed through the Brandenburg Gate. There is a glass dome on the top of the parliament building with spectacular views of the city of Berlin. You are also able to look down into the legislative chamber inside (with the message that there should be no secrets in government). I made Eric and Scott wait in a long line with me to see this. They were such good sports!

Aug 18: After a good night sleep we went to a photography exhibit of Helmet Newton’s life work. There were many naked people but all in all it was pretty good. I think Eric really likes photography so he really enjoyed this exhibit! As we were headed to the S-Bahn (train/subway) we saw many people dressed in their soccer garb! Yes, there was a “football” game today in Berlin against Stuttgart. We all decided pretty quickly that we wanted to try to get tickets to see what all the fuss was about. After a little nap (and waiting for Mike to show up…. We will talk about that later) we showed up at the stadium. They had cheap tickets for sale at the ticket office so we were in luck. We went inside and Scott bought us some rather large beers (that is an understatement). I have to admit that I hung with the boys drinking my liter of beer just a quick as they did. That just meant that I had to pee 3 times as much as them, and I was about twice as drunk! OK… back to the game, Berlin won after Stuttgart took an early lead! The fans were so fun to watch down below us. They were constantly chanting and singing songs! It was a great experience… and a little contagious (Scott, Eric and I were singing along even though we had no idea what they were saying in German). The stadium was amazing… I believe that it is where the World Cup championship was played a year before. It was built during the Nazi era for the Olympics and the 1,000 year Reich. There is so much history in this city. It’s a little hard to believe it all took place here!

Meanwhile we headed back to the hotel expecting Mike to be there (late as usual) but there is still no sign of him?????? I think we all start to worry a little bit considering he was to be here by noon today. We grabbed some dinner then went out for the night. We left a note for Mike because our hotel was really a pension that closed around 7 PM… so if he were to show up late he would not be able to get into the building. Then we went to the East for a night out on the town. Scott asked a girl on the street where we should go, and we followed her to an underground Reggae Club. It was very cool… the modern music was all mixed with a little Reggae beat. We stayed until 3 AM when it started to get really crowded and smoky then headed back to the hotel…. Still wondering if Mike would be asleep on the sidewalk waiting for us to get back:-) Although there was no Mike when we returned to our hotel. Really worried, Scott went to an Internet café to see what he could figure out. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to figure out anything.

Aug 19: Today we woke up and there was still no Mike????? It was so funny when he arrived around 11 AM considering he was a day late. Turns out that Mike got stuck in New York because of bad weather and had missed his connection. It would have been nice to know just because we started getting worried. Turns out Mike was busy touring the City of New York and forgot to send us an email:-) Anyway we figured that a night sleeping on the floor of the airport was enough punishment for one trip!

We decided to take a bike tour of Berlin in the afternoon. We wondered around the East for a couple of hours before our tour started. We passed through the Topography of Terror (where the SS and Gestapo headquarter were located), which was right by a rather large remains of the Berlin Wall. We met up with our tour group and jumped on our beach cruisers (mike got stuck with a girly bike:). We visited the remaining sites in Berlin during our tour: Reichstag, Wall & Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Potsdamer Platz, and the spot were Hitler’s Underground Bunker was located! Our tour guide was very informative and energetic. He was about 26 years old, from Central California, sold an on line business, and is now traveling the world for 5 years (he studied world history in college too). The bike tour was about 5 hours long so we decided to get some dinner afterwards. E and I went home, but Scott and Mike went to a local bar to grab a beer since Mike hadn’t had the chance to go out in Berlin.

Back in Germany and Scott Arrives

Aug 7: Today it rained! E read his book and I worked on my drawing.

Aug 8: It rained again!

Aug 9: Guess what???? It rained all day!

Aug 10-11: Can’t remember, but I think it rained again?

Aug 12: Our neighbors, Gerd and Sabine, invited us over for lunch. We hung out for a while then went to Sabine’s to use the computer. Sabine made some plum cake and coffee so we ate and talked for a while.

Aug 13: We went with Sabine in the evening to play beach volleyball in Eisenach. She plays every week (as long as it doesn’t rain) with some associates from Bosh. Eric and I had a great time playing again, even though it was a bit of jungle ball. The court was very nice… located in a park up in the woods just outside of Eisenach. We were very happy that Sabine invited us and gave us a ride!

Aug 14: Scott arrives today, so we are off to Eisenach to meet him at the train station. Everything worked out well, he made it to Eisenach without any issues. We quickly jumped on a train to Wutha and then walked home from there. We stopped at Tegut to pick up some groceries then Scott had the chance to drag his bag the rest of the way through the town past the chickens, cows, goats, rabbits, you name it and someone has it in their yard here. We caught up on all the south bay news, then met up with Sabine later that night for food and beers at the Eisenach Irish Pub, where she holds an English speaking open table once a week. We had a good time there and talked about the differences between our cultures. We met a guy Tobias who spent some time in Detroit and complained about how many questions we are asked in the US when trying to order food…How do you want that cooked?, What do you want to go with that?, What kind of dressing do you want on your salad?...Germany is more on the order of the “I’ll have the #9”…ok good next person…

Aug 15: Took Scott to Eisenach today, we tried to take a tour of the Eisenacher brewery, but after going in through the shipping entrance found out all they had to offer was a smokey office, with a couple of glasses for sale, a bikini calendar and a German speaking German lady that had no idea what the word ‘tour’ meant…well so much for that. We were off to the Wartburg castle. We took a bus up to the castle then walked around and as always beautiful views of the countryside can be seen in every direction. Scott spent 15 minutes trying to take a picture of a green pasture off in the distance. After a few minutes of discussion we agreed with Scott that it was ‘the greenest pasture ever.’ We also stopped for lunch downtown and had one of our local favorites…rolled beef, red cabbage and dumplings…ask Scott it is a lot better than it sounds. We finished the day off with a barbeque with Gerd, we made German vegetable salad and bratwurst! We had a great evening and it was our first opportunity to act as interpreters, it is definitely a good thing this happened now and not when we first got here. The conversation was pretty basic but I think we did a pretty good job.

Aug 16: Sabine Probst invited us over today for making pancakes (more like crepes) and a South American mixed drink along the lines of a mohito…it started by smashing a bunch of limes, after a couple I can’t remember what else went in them. We hung out there for most of the afternoon and enjoyed lots of conversation. We rode our bikes home, made more bratwurst and I finally started packing for our trip to Berlin and Prague at about 10 o’clock. I don’t know how I manage to always screw myself like that.

Rainy Germany, Paris and Normandy

July 26: Eric woke up early (5:30 am) with his father. I woke up briefly to say goodbye and thanks for this great opportunity and place to stay. Then Randy was gone. E and I went back to bed for a few more hours. We didn’t have much going on the rest of the day… just a little house cleaning! So in the evening we fixed a nice dinner with Champagne and ate outside.

July 27: This evening we went on a walk… there was a very nice sunset (check out the pics). The farmers had just started cutting the wheat so the air was a little dusty. Eric was completely interested in the large tractor that was being used to do the job. After our walk we called it a night!

July 28-30: It rained the whole day… every day… for three days straight! We played a lot of Rummy 500, and watched a lot of CNN ☺

July 31: Today we leave for Paris! I am so excited to visit Paris… I am a little worried about the Parisians attitude you so often hear about from other travelers, but E and I are excited because we are meeting Rob and Cody tomorrow! Our train doesn’t leave until later this evening… we are taking a night train (natch zug) from a city named Karlsruhe to Paris arriving around 7:30 am! So I made some pizza and we ate outside… seems like the weather has turned sunny! Our neighbor Gerd stopped by because he saw our suitcases outside and offered us a ride down to the train station. We are so lucky to have met all these nice and generous people here. When we got to the train station we ran into this German guy who seemed to be telling us that the train was not coming! We tried to talk to him but couldn’t understand anything…. Then we realized that he might be just a bit off his rocker because usually we can understand something from a conversation. Then the guy left and we waited anxiously for our train, hoping that it would come. It came and all our worries were washed away! The rest of our journey went so smooth that we ended up in Karlsruhe early. We walked around to find something to eat but all the restaurants had closed at 10:30 am and our train wasn’t coming till 1 am. This is the first time that we had to bite the bullet and eat Mc Donald’s.

After our long wait our train arrived and we boarded in search of our compartment. We had a private room with a washbasin in it… and the stewardess asked for our breakfast preferences. It was kind of like a hotel room, but very small with a bathroom around the corner with a shower! E and I went to sleep and woke up early in the morning to the alarm clock that was set for breakfast. Our stewardess brought us breakfast and coffee (hot chocolate for E) and we ate our food as we looked out our window at the passing French countryside. Oh… I am into the next day!

Aug 1: So as I wrote before we had breakfast in our compartment as we waited for the train to reach Paris. After we got off the train we went to the metro to figure out what line we had to take to get to our hotel. A French train station worker approached us and was more than happy to help us. We were very surprised by his friendly demeanor. We checked into our hotel in the Marias neighborhood just north of the Seine. We walked to the old Parisian Cemetery (Pere Lachaise Cemetary) from our hotel first. We saw Jim Morrison’s grave and Chopin’s grave. There were so many very old graves mixed with more recent ones. It was very interesting walking around and reading those stones that were still readable. In the afternoon we went to the Catacombs located underground in old quarry tunnels. Starting in 1785, six million people were relocated from cemeteries around Paris underground (then) just outside the city. It was very strange almost unbelievable walking through so many stacks of bones. Many of the famous people that are located here were executed during political unrest. We have pictures of this too! After our depressing sigh seeing day we made our way to the Luxembourg Garden. These gardens belong to the Parisian Senate and they had strict rules on what activities can take place in what areas of the park. On our way back to the hotel we passed Notre-Dame!

This evening we met Robb, Cody and their parents at dinner (they just arrived this afternoon). There was Robb’s mother, father, sister, and Cody’s mother and father. We ate at a neat restaurant right by the Place Des Vosges. It was so nice to see them since we have been gone so long! We wish all our friends had been able to make it out for a visit! (I have to give props to Scott, Mike, Dan, Dylan, and Mike L. – all are visiting while we are here!). After dinner we called it a night because we were getting up early to site see with Rob, Cody and the families.

Aug 2: Eric and I woke up at 7:30 am because we were meeting the gang at their hotel at 9 am. First on the itinerary was Sacre-Coeur on Montmartre! We walked up the steps to go through the famous church. You could see a lot of the city from this 420 high hilltop. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower (one of my favorite sites). We didn’t stand in line to go up the tower but we walked all around and under it and got some great pictures. Next we went to Napoleon’s Tomb… E and I didn’t go in, but we heard it was a very big Tomb for such a small man! The rest of the afternoon was a little more laid back with a nice lunch (E and I had Lebanese Food). The ladies did a little shopping and then met the men at the bar for a drink! Then we walked through Notre-Dame.

Later in the evening we met the whole group and took a riverboat cruise along the Seine River! We made the 9:20 pm trip (the best time to see all the sites at night because they were all lit up). This city is really amazing at night, and the view is very different from the river. We saw so many of the main sites in Paris on our boat tour (L’Orangerie, Orsay Museum, The Louvre, Grand Palais, Notre-Dame, the Tuileries Gardens, the Eiffel Tower, and the many bridges of Paris. The Eiffel Tower was all light up and for about 15 minutes was sparkling like a diamond with strobe lights. The night boat cruise will be a great memory of our time in Paris!

Aug 3: Today we slept in and met up with Rob, Cody and Cody’s parents at the Louvre. They went into the Louvre early and we met them around 12 PM so that we could get some sleep! From The Louvre we walked through the Tuileries, Orangerie to the Place Concorde. We kept going up the Champs-Elysees, stopping in some stores and car showrooms. Eric, Rob, Cody and I entered a pit-crew challenge in the Renault Showroom (Eric and Rob’s idea). Cody and I were on a team and Eric and Rob were on the other team. We had to change the tire of a Formula 1 car as we were being timed. Of course Eric and Rob won, but Cody and I gave a good fight. They guys working there told Eric and Rob that they had the fasted time of the week (they seemed really impressed with their time)! Now that Rob and Eric were smiling from ear to ear we finished our walk to the Arc de Triomphe. We all paid to go up to the top for the great views of the city. Later in the evening we all went out to dinner (after a little walk to find a good dinner spot) for our last evening in Paris. It was another great day in Paris!

Aug 4: Today we left Paris and headed to Bayeaux, a small town in Normandy, to tour the infamous battle beaches of WWII. We had a little trouble getting our rental car since they didn’t speak any English, but eventually we were given the car. We drove to the Chateaux just outside of Bayeaux. This place was very nice, and we were served a bottle of Cider when we arrived (they can’t grow grapes there due to the cold weather, so they make Cider instead of Champagne). We went back into town for a little dinner and went to bed early since we had to get up early for our tour!

Aug 5: Our tour of the Normandy WWII beaches started at 9 AM. The first beach we went to was where the British arrived. The tide along the Normandy beaches rise and fall about 25 feet. They set up a harbor just off the beach in about 3 days… this was complete with a floating road so that the tanks could go back and forth from the ships no matter the tide. They used huge 4 story tall concrete bocks, towed across the bay, and then filled with water so that they would sink. It’s pretty incredible how quick they were about to create this harbor… and just a few days after it was made, a big storm destroyed the man made harbor. There are still many parts (huge concrete blocks etc) that remain today… nothing has been changed since.

Next stop were the German fortifications up on the cliffs. These fortifications had the original guns (huge guns) within them. One of the forts took a direct hit and there are pieces of concrete and the gun spread all around. The barrel of the gun was half buried in the ground! The concrete walls of the forts were so think… maybe about 10 feet thick in some areas. Then we learned about the pipe line that the British laid along the bottom of the bay to bring fuel, and water (because they thought the Nazi’s poisoned the local water supply).

We went to Omaha Beach (aka Bloody Omaha Beach) next and walked around. This place was pretty strange… this was the most deadly battle (as seen on Private Ryan) of D-day. There was a French man who walked up to our tour guide and told him that his wife doesn’t come out the trailer when they are there out of respect for all the men who lost their lives helping liberate the French people. There were not many people on this beach. There were no seashells… only pebbles. It is said that the water was red for days following the battle here. The solders had to swim to the beach, then if they made it that far they had to run 300 yards up the beach since it was low tide. Perched on top of the hill stands the American Cemetery. They French gave this land to America and is considered American soil. We walked through this cemetery where only about 1/3 of the dead solders are buried. The remaining 2/3 of the dead were shipped back to the United States. Many of the head stones were unknown, while others contained names, rank, hometown, date of death, but none of the stones contain birthdays.

The last stop on our tour was an area that was so heavily bombed there are still huge craters all over the ground. There were rangers that climbed the cliffs here only to find out that the guns were fake and the real ones had been moved inland. There are huge pieces of concrete from the forts just tossed to the side!

Aug 6: Today we traveled back to our home in Wutha! It was a long travel day, so we took a taxi home from the train station!

France, Monaco and Switzerland (FiVB Beach Volleyball World Championships)

July 18: This morning Eric decided that he was going to be able to make it to Nice, so we jumped on the subway headed to the train station. The subway was hot and E started feeling sick again. Luckily (so we thought) we made it to the train station with plenty of time to spare. After sitting around for a while I checked the boards for our train. It was only 30 minutes till we were supposed to leave and our train was not on the board. As I took a closer look at our tickets, I realized I had made a big mistake! We were at the wrong train station in Barcelona…. We needed to get across the city and on a train in 30 minutes! So we ran out to catch a taxi. I showed the taxi our tickets and he said that it was most likely impossible to make, but we gave it a shot (what else were we to do). I felt so bad because I knew E was not feeling well (of all days to make this mistake)! Somehow our old little cabbie got us to the train station with 10 minutes to spare! We gave him a gracious tip and ran to the security line (new in Spain for train travel). Thank goodness we got our train because I think it was the only train available that day for our destination. The remainder of the day was spent traveling to Nice. We arrived in Nice later in the evening. We checked into our rickety room that had a kitchenette and a great location. Our hotel (wouldn’t consider this place a hotel) was right outside of the Old Town in Nice not far from the rocky beach. We grabbed some pasta at a little Italian restaurant, walked around the Old Town and called it a night. I was just happy that E was feeling a little better.

July 19: This morning we went to the grocery store and stocked our refrig with some snacks and breakfast foods. Then we went to the beach (Nices beach is all rocky). It wasn’t what I had in mind for Nice and the French Riviera. Although Nice is a huge travel destination, I would recommend some of the smaller towns just outside of the big city area. There were two sand volleyball courts available that were fenced off (which you had to pay to play). So E and I paid 4 Euro to play a game. We waited for a while, but ended up playing a good team/game with two other guys. We lost by a few points but were happy considering E had been sick and wasn’t at a 100% and we hadn’t played in over 4 months! So we went swimming in the very blue water to cool off.

Since E wasn’t 100% we heated up our leftovers for dinner in our room and had a nice little meal. We walked along the beach on the walkway called the Promenade. There were many people out, and we saw many casinos along our way.

July 20: Today we woke up early to climb to the top of Castle Hill. First we started with a walking tour of Old Town Nice. Our walk took us through the open air market on Cours Saleya. We made it up to Castle Hill where there is no Castle! There once was a castle that stood here, but Louis XIV destroyed it in 1706. We had the best views of Nice from the top of this hill! After lunch we rented bikes (E’s breaks didn’t work and my chain fell off once) and road along the beach towards the airport. These bikes sucked! E almost ran into a few people because they were not paying attention and he had no breaks. Oh well, it was nice to be riding bikes along the water again…. Just not quite like the South Bay!

Later this evening we went out to dinner. E was feeling better and was ready for some good seafood. Eric and I split pasta and a mixed grilled seafood plate! The fish, mussels, calamari, and shrimp were great! We had a nice dinner and went to this place called Fenocchio’s for gelato! We had gelato last night here too! They had over 90 flavors… I got Mango one night and Baileys the next. Eric got Baileys the first night and Cinnamon the 2nd night! Good stuff!

July 21: Time to move up on our trip and catch the train for Monaco! It only took us 20 minutes by train to get to Monaco. This place is amazing! I think it might be the cleanest and safest place I have ever seen. We exit the train station (which is underground so that it isn’t seen) and walk a few minutes to get to Hotel De France. We are here early so we left for some site seeing in Monaco Ville. Monaco Ville is on one side of the harbor and Monte Carlo is on the other side. Monaco Ville is up on top of a cliff that overlooks the sea! This is where The Palace (still a working palace today) is located with guards on patrol. The two princesses live in Monaco Ville as well just outside the palace. We walked through the old town and went to the royal cathedral where Princess Grace is buried. Then we walked down the other side of the hill through the gardens and past the aquarium. This place is just beautiful!

After walking through Monaco Ville we headed for Monte Carlo (where the casino is located). We walked down by the harbor where are the ships were docked… these boats (ships) were the biggest and most expensive (I’m sure) private water crafts I have ever seen anywhere! A lady walked out of her ship into her Rolls Royce (with driver) as we were passing and staring☺ Anyway we walked along the Formula One Race Track through the tunnel. I can’t tell you how many Ferrari’s drove by as we were walking. This place is so small only about 30,000 people live here (only 10,000 of them are full time residence)….the other 20,000 use it as a playground for their expensive toys.

Later in the evening we ate dinner along the harbor with a great view of all the ships. As we started to walk back to the hotel Eric noticed two Ferrari’s parked on the sidewalk with a sign reading, “Drive a Ferrari”! Well that was all it took (and about 90 Euro) and Eric was off in a red 360 Spider Ferrari! He drove the formula 1 racetrack in this nice car! When they drove by the crowds at the casino, tourists were taking his picture!!!! His adrenaline was pumping all evening from that one ride. Once you get a taste of the good life there is no going back (isn’t that what they say?).

July 22: Today we were headed to Milan for an evening on our way to Gstaad…. That is until we found out that the Italian Trains were on strike! So we met this other couple that were suppose to get on the same train and decided we would try to rent a car and drive. We walked to Hertz only to find out that it would cost 700 euros alone just to drop off the car in another country. So we went to Avis to check on there fees… Avis was a bit cheaper but still not worth the 300 euros! So we went back to our hotel and booked another night and hoped that we would have better luck tomorrow. Now that we had an unexpected extra day in Monaco we went to the swimming pool down by the harbor. There was a process to this place! Eric and I had to enter separately (you hd to go through the women’s and men’s dressing rooms). You had to change in the dressing room and put your clothes in a tote (that had a number). Then you checked your tote with the people behind the counter, and shower before you went into the pool area. When Eric and I met up we found a small spot by the lifeguards chair trying to steal some of the shade from his umbrella. Since it was so windy, they made everyone take down their umbrellas…this was bad for Eric. So we stayed about as long as we could without E getting too burnt!

July 23: Our train was not canceled today! That means we have to get from Monaco to Gstaad in one day! This is a really long distance, but we were up for the challenge. When we got into Milan (over an hour late!) we had to get a reservation for our train to Spiez (we had 40 minutes). Well, three lines and 45 minutes later we missed our train. So we got on the next one that left about 15 minutes later (not too bad). Our train was nice, and the scenery was magnificent! Northern Italy and Switzerland are so beautiful (beyond description). We got off in Spiez and boarded our third train of the day! In Zweisimmen (small town) we switched onto a bus in the pouring rain that took us two towns over then back onto a train for one stop to get to Gstaad! WOW (4 trains and 1 bus) we got in at 10:30 PM and found our way to our hotel in the rain. The kitchens were closed but we had salad and beer for dinner!!! Not to bad… Our room was great…. We had a balcony with a view of the Swiss Alps. Hopefully tomorrow with be sunny!????

July 24: Today we woke and it was still raining! So we had a huge breakfast at our hotel. They had cheese, meat, fruit salad, yogurt, Croissants, 5 different types of bread, energy bars, 3 different types of cereal, coffee, orange juice, and hot chocolate! This place was only a 2 stare, so you can imagine that Gstaad it a pretty nice little resort town (like Vail?) E and I walked to the village where the main volleyball court was set up just as Misty May Treanor, and Kerri Walsh were playing their first match. Since it was raining there were plenty of wet seats available. Needless to say they won their games and the whole tournament (later that week). After a few more games E and I decided to go back to the hotel to dry out, warm up and eat lunch. After lunch we went to Court 2 for the USA men’s teams (there were about 3-4 consecutive USA men’s matches in a row). Just as the first game starts Eric starts congratulating someone, so I look up and there is Kerri Walsh walking up the bleachers and sits down right behind us. So I get my picture taken with her (I was very nervous asking, but what the hay!). As the game progressed most of the USA women’s players were sitting all around us including Misty May, Wacholder (sp?), and Youngs! E and I were the only non AVP groupies of the crew (we were the only fans (non players) in the stands ☺.

July 25: We had to wake up really early today to catch our train(s). So we had an early breakfast and walked to the train station (only about 5 minutes away). Today was another long travel day… we were traveling all the way back to the house in Wutha Farnroda. We arrived in Wutha around 5-6 pm and decided to walk back to the house. As we were walking, a car stops by the side of the road… it was Sven (our pilot)! So he gave us a ride to the house (it would have been about a 25 minute walk). We were saved by Sven! Eric’s dad was leaving in the morning so we spent the rest of the night at the house with him.

Spain!

July 11: After a good nights sleep on our train we arrive at our last connection and board our train to Pamplona. We are in on of the ‘tourista’ cars along with a bunch of college age American backpackers. Everyone was in good spirits and excited to get to Pamplona. Everyone was discussing if they were going to run with the bulls or not and about how dangerous it was. A girl sitting behind us was convinced she would be running but seemed to be changing her mind when she found out you could actually get hurt or better yet gored in the ass. Leslie also noticed out of all the pictures and newspaper articles about Pamplona, few if any girls are seen running.

We arrive in Pamplona a couple of hours later, it is a much bigger city than we expect and English speakers are few and far between, after a couple of trips to the informacion desk we realize we are to get on a bus and head to the city center where we can catch the second bus we need. About two bus stops past what we later found out was our stop we got off the second bus and started our hike to our hotel, complete with a couple of jogs along guardrail lined blind curves with no sidewalks we finally made it to our hotel.

We are here! And ready to check out the festival. By now we have figured out that we are not dressed correctly for Pamplona, everyone is dressed in white pants and shirts with red belts tied around their waists and red bandanas tied around their necks. So we are off back to down town to get our garb, lunch and a bottle of sangria! Good times! We’re now wearing our new stuff, we are full and on our way to our second bottle of sangria. We were hanging out on the fence that lines the Bull Run when the crowd started filing into the stadium for the bull fight. Scalpers were out in full force and we scored tickets just before the start, although I hate blood and we don’t really like the idea of killing animals we were going to give this a shot. Hemmingway made the spectacle famous in the US, enough so that he has a street there named after him right next to the Bull Ring. We headed into the stadium and up to our seats, fairly high up on the top tier and in the shaded area, later we found out this is the dry area. In the sunny area of the stadium, fans carry in huge jugs and coolers full of sangria and spend the whole Bull Fight covering everyone within range with their special sangria concoction.

Even being pretty far up in the stadium the scene is definitely gruesome and for me almost stomach turning. Leslie and I made it through two Bull Fights, after the second dead bull was dragged from the stadium we left and to the unknown pleasure of the people in front of us I didn’t end up throwing up on them, they never knew how lucky they were. We came to the consensus that although this was definitely not our thing we were glad we experienced it. We conceded that if we ever go back that we would participate in the ‘Running of the Nudes’, a demonstration we saw on TV prior to going where a bunch of protesters dress up, well don’t dress up and make their way through the streets of Pamplona.

July 12: 6 am and we are on a bus on the way to see the Bull Run, which starts in 2 hours. We are decked out in our festival garb, and half asleep, but excited. Surprisingly we were not the only people on the bus at this hour, but it wasn’t overly crowded either. So we got off and started walking towards the Bull Ring to scope out our spots. On the way there we saw a guy passed out in a bank by the ATM, which was enclosed by glass! We also saw many people passed out on benches and grass in the middle of the sidewalk. These people must have thrown in the towel, but there were many more sangria covered people that had been out all night and still drinking! Once we got to the running area the number of spectators that were already claiming their spots surprised us. So we found a windowsill of a bank and thought that it would probably be the best spot we were going to get. So we climbed up into our spot, which was right behind the two fences where the bulls and runners come from the streets into the bullring! The first fence is off limits to spectators (mainly used for photographers and media) but many people were sitting on the second fence. The police, and emergency personnel, used the space between the two fences. This space was also used as a little safe haven for a few injured or feeing runners. Most of the running took place through the streets that are completely blocked off creating no space for runners to hide for safety; only the end of the track from the streets to the bullring had some kind of escape.

Now we wait! We stood in our windowsill for almost 2 hours just watching all the people walk by. Many people watch the very end of the running inside the bullring when the runners and bulls enter the bullring. Most the people we saw on the streets had been up all night drinking etc. Across the way two men climbed up a pretty large tree for a great view! Then the firework was lit and heard by all, runners, bulls and spectators! For a little while we were wondering when we were going to see them. That is when a large group of people really started running by and we could see the tops of the bulls. E and I thought to ourselves… is that it!? But it seemed like there was more going on. Then another group ran by…. This running took about 7 minutes. Most runs last for 2-3 minutes, but this morning the bulls (and steers) got separated which is the worst thing that can happen. Once the bulls get separated they start getting disoriented and start running the wrong way etc. I think some of the bulls got turned around 2 different times: once in the streets and once right in front of us! A bull stopped and turned around and charged right at the fence (and runners) right in front of us. I think two people were injured, one person was gored in the leg (shin) and the other had a head injury. To make a long story short we were very happy that we didn’t run, because this ended up being the most dangerous run of the festival. There were a total of 12 people injured, 7 people gored, and 2 people were in critical condition in the end. There was a Mexican man who was gored in the gut and thrown up by the horn of the bull (we saw this on TV later that night), then trampled. 2 men from Ohio (brothers) were gored (in the butt) by the same bull at the same time (one of them now lives in Hermosa Beach).

We went back to the hotel room to grab some breakfast and a little nap before going back down to the festival. That night we went to the park to watch the best fireworks show! Each night the city puts on a fireworks show… actually the fireworks are a contest between different city’s around the world… so a different city sponsors the fireworks each night during the festival. After the amazing fireworks show we grabbed some food and went back to the room since we were leaving early the next morning for Madrid! All in all Pamplona was quite the experience and we were very happy to have been able to take part in the celebrations!

July 13: Today we woke up early to catch the bus to the train station for our train to Madrid. We were sad, but ready to leave the party town of Pamplona for a new adventure. We got into Madrid and found our hotel quickly. Then we took a walking tour of Madrid, through the Puerta del Sol and to Plaza Mayor. Our walked ended at the Royal Palace (Palacio Real) so we decided to buy a ticket to see the inside. This palace was simply amazing. It is said to the Europe’s 3rd greatest palace. Maybe it is because it is still a working palace, although the Royal Family does not live there anymore, they live in a mansion just outside of the city. The inside was very impressive… just a few things that E and I thought were funny. The Royal dinner chairs were just a couple inches taller than all the rest of the dinner chairs and the 3 feet in-between the doorways were for the servants! The servants would work and walk in-between the walls to get around the palace unnoticed! The Throne Room was covered with Red Velvet, and the dinner table was the size of a bowling lane (seats up to 150 guests).

This evening we went to a restaurant called Restaurante Puerto Rico. We had fried chicken, even though we ordered grilled or roasted chicken. The food here was ok, but not really our taste? We should have brought our translation book so that we could have ordered what we thought we were ordering ☺

July 14: We slept in today, but made our way out around noon. We went to Chocolateria San Gines for some of Spain’s famous Churros con chocolate for breakfast. They give you a bowl of chocolate (with a pudding consistency) to accompany your churros. All the people in this café had ordered some. They were very unhealthy but tasted very good. Our next stop was the Retiro Park. The park was very pretty and well maintained! It was extremely hot outside, but we made our way to the lake to rent a rowboat! E rowed us around the lake a couple of times (I took the oars a couple times too). It was a neat experience, but you had to be careful of all the other boats and unskilled rowers! We made our way back to the hotel to take a break from the heat. Later that night we had dinner near our hotel in search of something healthy! Then we went to bed because we had another early train to catch the next day.

July 15: Waking us early has become a habit now again (not really). We got on our train to Barcelona, we were both ready to be by the water! The Barcelona train station was a wreck, with people everywhere. We waited here for an hour to try to make our reservations for Monte Carlo to Milan (later in our trip), but only to find out that they could not make reservations for other countries? Spain, Italy, and France are all this way… seems like the best place to plan trips and make reservations is in Germany! We made it to our hotel right on the Ramblas (very exciting pedestrian street). Our hotel was great, we had air conditioning, free drinks and snack bar all day! Yes, beer was included with the free drinks. We also had breakfast every morning. We drank a few drinks and took a walking tour of the Ramblas all the way down to the ocean. We had a great time looking at all the street performers etc. We passed and old burial ground that was discovered during the construction of a new building. We bought some pop corn and strolled across the La Rambla del Mar (wooden pedestrian bridge). There was a huge Columbus Monument there, strange since his discovery of the New World hurt the Spanish trading power and economy. E started feeling bad so we headed back to the hotel for a rest. By the time we got back E was feeling worse. He was sick for the next three days with a bad case of food poisoning!

July 16: E was not feeling better… very sick and in bed all day. I went down stairs to read a little, and checked on him every hour. Started to feel a little scared since we were in Spain…. So far away from home and Germany.

July 17: E was still sick… but he was able to keep down some fluids. Things started to look just a little better as the day passed. I went to the beach for a little 2-hour site seeing adventure. It was a little nerve racking to be by myself in a foreign city. I took the subway to the beach area and took some pictures to show E! I went back to the hotel after a quick 20 min rest in the sun. E was still feeling a little better. I grabbed some pizza for dinner at a restaurant next door. We decided to see how E was feeling before heading to Nice tomorrow (it was a 9 hour travel day). All in all I think Barcelona would have been a cool city to see…. I know Eric was very frustrated that he was unable to see most of the sights here. Maybe we will come back sometime????

Flying to Berlin and off to Spain

July 8: This morning (only after 6 hours of sleep) we woke up at 8 AM and headed to the airport where Sven’s plane is kept. I was soooooo nervous because I don’t necessarily like flying for fun. I also have never been in a small plane that only holds 4 people. Sven met us at a small airport just outside of Eisenach. There was a jumping group and about 10 of them were all parachuting into the middle of the airport every 20 minutes! So we went into the hanger and Sven proceeded to pull the plane out by hand (that’s how small the plane was). Then we all got in (I in the back with Randy and E up front) and settled with our earphones on so that we could talk to each other. As we taxied to the runway Sven was very quickly explaining to E how to fly. Then all the sudden he puts the gas on and tells E to fly… faster, faster, left, right… etc. Eric had no idea what he was doing, and the lift off was very rocky, but he did it! Then Sven took over (he was probably making sure that E didn’t mess up too bad during the whole take off). I was freaking out in the back, but I have to admit the view was amazing. It was a very sunny day with a few scattered clouds. We got to our 9,500 ft cruising altitude (just above the clouds) and an alarm went off and the plane dove down and I thought it was all over! This happened twice about 20 minutes later… something to do with the autopilot and Sven not paying attention (that didn’t help). Well actually I have to say that Sven was very careful and I felt pretty safe with him in charge. We landed in Berlin about 1 hour later and I was very excited to get out of the plane ☺
We walked around the airport, Tempelhof, which was built by Hitler and the Nazis. This building was the largest building until the Pentagon was built. Nearby a monument dedicated to the 'Air-Bridge' was dedicated to the pilots that died during the flights that were made between West Germany and West Berlin until 'The Wall' fell in 1989. These flights were made to bring supplies to West Berlin, many of the people that lost their lives were Americans. They are planning on closing the airport soon. I don’t think there are any solid plans for what it’s going to be turned into as of yet. We had coffee and cake, then it was back to the plane for our flight back to Eisenach. I sat in front this time and Eric and Randy sat in back. This plane had it’s own parachute that you can use in case of an emergency. This made me feel a little better. The take off was good, but got really bumpy because it was warm outside. Sven explained that this was normal because the warm air lifts you up all the sudden. We had a little head wind so it took us a little longer to get back. Sven explained the radar to me and showed me when we passed planes etc. We saw a few gliders on our way into Eisenach. Sven doesn’t like them because they are nor required to have radar on them. On both landings Sven did a quick dive and turn thing that made you lose your stomach a little, but I have to say it was cool. It was all a very cool experience, but I was very happy to be back on the ground!
After all the excitement this morning we met Silke, Ryan & Girlfriend in the Bosch parking lot to take the bus into Eisenach for a festival called Thuringen Tag! It was the largest medieval/modern festival (state festival) I have ever been to. There were so many people and sausages ☺ We walked around and watched the parade of people go by. Then, thanks to Ryan’s infatuation with Bratwurst, we found a food stand and had some good old German food (AKA Bratwurst) and ice cream. After walking around the markets and food stands we were ready to go home and have a BBQ of our own. Reggie met us at the house to help eat all the left over party food. It was a nice, but very long day!


July 9: Eric here, back in the driver’s seat of the blog, so for my first day back, I have nothing to report, pretty sure today was just getting ready for our trip and possibly running a few errands.

July 10: Today we are off for our trip to Spain, France, and ???, luckily my dad hung onto his car so we had a ride to the Eisenach train station which makes things quite a bit easier. So the trip to Pamplona should be a smooth one, well not exactly, once in the train station the board says ‘Zug fallt auf’ which as everyone knows means, train cancelled, and as we soon found out do to a German train strike. Not really sure how we got this lucky but another train due 2 hours earlier was 130 minutes late, so we were able to get on this one and get to Frankfurt, with a nice little sprint through the Frankfurt train station we were able to catch our train to Cologne and get back on track.

We had a layover in Paris (Leslie saw the top of the Eiffel Tower from the train) and had to use the subway to get to a different train station, that worked out all ok. It was now time to board our night train and see what we were in for considering we were booked for a reclining seat with a sheet, at least as far as what we understood from the German lady we made the reservations with said. To our surprise our seats were actually beds and there were only 4 per cabin, much more spacious than the 6 per cabin we experienced in 2005 when we traveled overnight from Frankfurt to Milan. Good night, we’ll see you in Spain in the morning.

Wutha Farnroda

July 3: Don’t remember what we did???? I do know that we slept in because we were tired after our long day the day before.

July 4: Hung out at the house. Thought about our friends on the strand at the beach having a good time playing volleyball ☺

July 5: Today was rainy again! We went on a hike because we were starting to get cabin fever! We packed the backpack with some poncho’s and some extra jackets just in case the weather changed (because the weather changes so fast here). Our plan was to hike to this tower that the neighbor, Gerd, showed Eric on a recent bike ride. There are a lot of back roads (dirt roads etc.) going from town to town. On a nice day you can see the tower in the distance, but not today (only until we got closer to the hill it is located on top). Along the way we were passed by a tractor (actually 2) full of cow poo! Yuck! It wasn’t so bad until we came up to the cow poo dump! There was a giant mountain of cow poo in the middle of this field. Let’s just say we walked very quickly past this area. Once we got closer there were signs indicating which way we were to go (important later in my story). So we hiked about 4 miles to the Alexander’s Tower. It was really cloudy but E and I started to climb up to the top (not too high), but we could not make it all the way to the top. The wind was blowing very hard and we got scared so we stopped before we got to the top, took a couple pictures and quickly went back down.
On the way back it started to rain, so we busted out the ponchos! It was really pretty fun hiking in the rain; it reminded me of being a kid. On the way down we took a wrong path (figured that out later:-) Just when we started to get a little worried about our location we ran into a paved road with a sign saying Mosbach. This was the town just across the meadow from Wuth (our town). So we started down the road (understanding we were on the far end of the town where the road started! Anyway it took us about 45 minutes longer to get back to the house. We did the whole hike in about 3 ½ to 4 hours! We were completely exhausted. We grabbed pizza at our favorite place in Seebach in the evening and called it a night. Although this time we got shots on the house from the owner of the pizza place! Very cool.

July 6: Today Eric and I mowed the grass! Eric actually had to mow the lawn after I did it because the lawn mower was not working really well (and the grass was like a jungle). Then E built a wall behind the garden house in the back yard. It looks very nice! Randy went to the store to stock up on drinks for the party tomorrow night. Al I did was pack Eric and I for our upcoming trip to Spain and France since we will be busy up until we leave. All in all it was a very productive day at the house in Germany.

July 7: Today is the day of the BBQ here at the house in Germany! Randy has invited about 24 people! So we did all the yard work yesterday, so today we have time to figure out were we are going to put everyone! Eric and Randy picked up a bunch of food that Silka made (friend of Randy’s). Randy also told us that his friend Sven (who would be at the party) invited us to fly with him in his plane to Berlin in the morning!
Eric was the master griller. The menu consisted of pork, pork and more pork! We had, of course, Thuringen Bratwurst, and marinated steaks. Gerd, the neighbor helped with some of the grilling since there was so much food. Everyone brought a food dish, so there were plenty of great tasting treats. A couple of guests brought musical instruments too. We had a great time listening to Reggie play the drums and Jorge play the guitar. The party went on into the wee hours of the morning. E and I didn’t go to sleep until 2 AM. This was pretty late considering we had to get up at 8 AM to get to the airport for our little flight to Berlin and back!