Catching up. Croatia through Rome.

Croatia was quite amazing.  We stayed at the Hobo Bear, and when we first walked up to it we were quite skeptical.  Looked like a dark entrance to an apartment complex, and it was pointing us down into the basement.  Turned out our concerns were completely unfounded.  Downstairs was a charming little main room, and as we checked in they offered us drinks (free perks are big deals in hostels).  We got settled in, and decided to just go get some food and call it an early night. 

Wandering a couple of streets that were recommended to us, they turned out to be mostly bars.  But as we later learned, the Croatians have perfected the idea of sitting beside the road with a drink (alcohol, tea, coffee, it really doesn't matter) and people watching.  They do it for hours!  Unfortunately this was not conducive to our grumbling stomaches, and eventually we found somewhere still open, at 10:30.  

For the first time in my life.  I think I may have been carnivored out.  After nothing but huge portions of meat for the last two weeks, my body was letting me know it needed another form of nourishment.  I was craving salad, pasta, fruit, anything but meat.  So I went for a truffle pasta and tea.  The tea turned into an english tea with the fixings, which was a delightful surprise, and our waitress obviously enjoyed our enthusiasm for it.  The pasta was so-so, but it was something I had needed.  Feeling much better now, we decided to call it a night.

The next morning we were trying to get to the local national park.  But when I mentioned it to the hostel worker, Mimi, she looked out the window, gave me a look and said, "Today?"  We thought the better of it after that.  While we were trying to decide what to do instead, Mimi was chatting with us about a Canadian girl who had been cooking the other day after going to the market.  Well if this didn't just sound like the best idea ever now!

So Jen and I got directions, Mimi showed us what food in the kitchen was up for grabs, and we headed to the market.  We bought tomatoes, peppers, grapes, cheese, cream, and fresh ciabatta bread.   Then we made a delicious fresh pasta dish, including a portion for Mimi in thanks for the idea.  She sat with us and chatted the whole time.  We loved having her there!  

As we finished up, Jen's friend Randi sent us a message.  She had a scavenger hunt for us.  How wonderful since we were just trying to find an activity!  There is an art installation in Zagreb, she informed us.  The Sun is in the center of the city, and then based off of accurate mathematic rations, all the planets were spread across the city, proportionally accurate.  Well, I love puzzles and hunts like this, and I love astrology.  So I pretty much went nuts.  Jen and I had so much fun!  We only got as far as Jupiter before it was just too far out into the city edges to get there on foot.  Most of the planets were tiny little dots stuck to the walls of buildings.  Jupiter was noticeably larger, and stuck on a park fence.    As we scrambled around the city we found statues to pose with, and interesting people all over.  

Once we determined we were not going to be able to get to Saturn, we headed back to the city center, all energized.  Jen had found the museum of broken hearts online and was interested, so off we went.  There was a great view across the rooftops as we went,  the red roofs vibrant against the grey sky.  

Then we found the museum.  It was very interesting.  People had sent in mementos of ended relationships.  Some were absurd and funny, some were tragic.  One room was dedicated to people who had passed, and one of those stories was written by a gal whose husband was stabbed by a burglar while he lay in bed next to her.  She had donated a book she had written about it, trying to help her with her grief and acceptance of what had occurred.  

In one of the humerous rooms, some one had sent in a magazine with Obama on the cover just after the election.  All the note with it said was that the relationship had lasted two years, and she had really hoped it would work out.  It was pretty amusing.  As wonderful as it was, the museum was fairly emotionally draining, having encountered the full range of emotion in a short stay there.  

Once back in the hostel, we took some time to book our ferry and hostel for the next couple of days.  Then it was time for dinner!  We went to a local restaurant that was rated pretty high.  We picked it specifically because it had strukli on the menu, which Mimi told us was her favorite dish; a large strudel stuffed with cheese and boiled or baked.  A little pricey, we shared strukli had I felt the boiled was better, but Jen preferred the baked.  All in all it was an okay dinner, but we were satisfied afterward.  

Back at the hostel, they informed me they were having mulled wine and krimpets that night if we wanted to join.  Jen chose to shower, but I figured I'd feel gross after a 12 hour ferry ride, so why bother.  The mulled wine was wonderful, and I met Kristen, who was on the same train as us the next day to Split.  I don't think I can emphasis how awesome an experience this hostel was enough.  Some of the other guests were obnoxious, a group of five guys from Australia, England, and the US particularly so.  Everyone got sick of hearing them one up each other with their conquests and talking about how the Croatian girls just loved them.  Kristen even told them off for how they were treating Gigi, another hostel worker, ordering her around and demanding things.  It's unfortunate that people like this are out there, ruining things for everyone else.  

The next morning was an early one.  Kristen, Jen, and I headed for the train station a little before 7 to get a reservation, and then headed for Split, which was 6 hours away.  And can I say Croatia is stunning!? This is definitely a country I am coming back to, and doing justice.  All three of us were plastered to the windows almost the entire time, even when we had to take a bus for part of it, as they were doing some work on the rail lines.  

The last bit of it was raining rather hard, and eventually turned into a downpour, right as our train pulled in to Split.  We sat it out for a little bit, as there was no cover and we weren't sure where on the port we were heading.  Eventually, the rain lessened enough and we were pointed in a direction, so we ran for it.  Once we were checked in for our tickets, we had two hours to kill.  We had been hoping to explore Split, especially once we saw how stunning it was, but the rain was coming on and off.  Then we saw there was a restaurant upstairs and thought we'd give it a try. 

Skeptical at first, seeing it labeled a disco club, the stairs were lit up in neon colors, in a cheesy fashion.  But once you get up to the top, the effect is charming!  Huge windows from which we watched the thunderstorm, excellent service, good food, and they let us just take our time through the whole meal.  It was a wonderful experience, and we never once had to go outside and get our packs drenched.  

Heading downstairs, we were funneled through customs, receiving more stamps for our passports.  Then onto the ferry we went.  It was a huge one, we were on deck seven of nine, and had gone for the reclining air seats to save money.  This turned out to be a poor choice.  They wouldn't have been that bad, as not many people were in the room at any given time, but the arm rests wouldn't move so you were forced to sleep in awkward positions.  Then the room randomly got cold.  Really cold.  Jen and I both were huddled in our coats, and putting on what layers we had on hand.  I even pulled out my gloves that I thought I would only be using in Iceland!  Constantly waking up every 45 minutes or so, we had a lacking night of sleep for sure. But when I finally gave up on the idea of it and went out on deck (which was substantially warmer), I was treated to an incredible sunrise with Ancona below.  What a wonderful way to enter Italy!

We pulled in a little after 7, and our train didn't leave for Rome until 1:30.  We wandered a little bit, but there just wasn't enough to see there to make it worth hauling our packs.  And Jen had a look on her face of complete disappointment, which I found tragic.  She simply said, "this wasn't what I was expecting in Italy."  I found this particularly sad as the town was very Italian to me.  The buildings in a range of yellow and orange hues, people standing at cafe bars talking, just little things that scream Italy to me.  The fact that Italy is a favorite of mine just made her discontent even sadder. 

So we holed up in a cafe by the train station and had some food and coffee, bought some puzzle books, and people watched.  We were both pretty tired anyway.  Eventually our train came and we headed off toward Roma.  Jen slept most of it, which was probably good, but I just watched out the window, happy to be back again.  

Once at Roma Termini, we walked over to our hostel and settled in.  Our hostel was doing a free pasta night, so we waited for that.  It was pretty good, but the portions were so small we headed out for a larger meal right after.  I had spaghetti carbonara, and prosciutto with melon which Jen had never heard of. I made her try some and savored its awesomeness.   

The next morning, we were off to explore Rome.  We headed for the Colosseum first.  I was worried that it wouldn't live up to what I remembered from the last time, but it was just as fantastic.  It's size is just so grandiose, that it dwarfs everyone and everything near it.  Except the roman forum, which is built on an equally large scale.  It's just an incredible feeling to stand so near them like that.  

After we walked around, as far into the areas as we could get without tickets, I decided to take Jen to all the big sites around the city.  We went to the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, to Vatican City.  All the places I remember so fondly of going to with the family in high school.  Jen seemed to have an absolute blast, taking pictures of everyone and everything.  She has a particular fascination with the begging gypsies.   I showed her how you can tell they may not be what they seem, wrapping scarves around all visible skin to hide age, and even gender.  She even saw one doing things to accentuate injuries, that had to be harmful to himself, pulling at joints to dramatize what they could.  It's definitely an education of sorts.  

I am also continuing my education of her in some of my favorite foods.  This time was bruschetta al pomodoro, and penne all'arribbiata.  Truly my culinary tour has begun.  There are so many more delicious things here, still to come too!  I'm trying to convince her she should try limoncello at least once, just since it is such a localized thing.  

Yesterday, I told Jen I was taking her to my one of my absolute favorite places, Orvieto.  It's only an hour from Rome, so it was a quick trip over.  She told me I was like an excited little kid the whole morning getting there.  On the funiculare to the upper city, I was telling her some of my favorite things here, and several different American couples listened in and started asking me questions.  I pointed them all in different directions, depending on what they were looking for.  

We went to the well first, then to a couple different look outs for pictures off the wall.  There is no view that is not incredible here.  We then headed towards the center of town, as it was near the middle of the day and I knew shops here close for siesta time.  Coming up on the cathedral from behind, I pointed out the stripes of its walls to Jen.  I don't think I have ever seen her take so many pictures of a single building.  It obviously called to her in some manner, and she was fascinated by it.  Looking at it from every angle.  We didn't go in as they now charge an entry fee, something I don't remember from before.

We continued walking down the shopping districts, and Jen was shocked that they did actually all close for a couple hours every afternoon.  All I could do was laugh a little and tell her, her American was showing.   It poured rain on and off, but we had come prepared with umbrellas and had fun shooting pictures in the rain. 

 During one cloud break, we were looking off the side of the city and a group came and were taking pictures.  We all started talking, and offering to take pictures for each other.  They were from Ireland, two from Dublin, the rest from County Clare.  I had fun telling them I had family from there, and had just recently visited the area for that reason.  They were a wonderful group and I told Jen that the Irish people were one of the reasons I love the country so much .  

Getting close to the time for our train, we decided to get some food first, since it was cheaper here than in Rome.  We had a great little meal, and finished with just enough time to go take pictures in the park by the funiculare.  It was pouring rain at first, which made the hills and terraces look all shadowed and misty.  Then as I walked around the wall, I saw a rainbow beginning, the end of which was firmly placed in lower Orvieto.  Excited, I started taking pictures, and watched it fully turn into a full rainbow, directly over the city.  I was running to find a spot to get a picture of it, and just had time to yell that to Jen as I ran past her.  She just laughed and took pictures of me running to take pictures.  

We both got some incredible pictures, and the whole experience of it was as wonderful as ever.  Truly this city has something magical about it for me.  I can only be thrilled that Jen had as powerful an experience here as I did, and that I could share something so powerful to me with her.  It's a place of wonderful memories, every time that I come.   I hope everyone I know who has been there has just as amazing of experiences as I have over the years.  

Today we got up and put our stuff into the luggage room and checked out.  Jen and I had decided to go into the Colosseum before we left Roma, and we quickly left the hostel.  We had heard Tuesdays were the best day here to see these locations, but the difference was astounding.  Roads that had been closed to cars due to the huge quantity of pedestrians were roaring back to life.  And we walked in with almost no wait at all, where the day before had a line practically around the building (which is huge if I didn't make that clear earlier).  What an experience!  We wandered around everywhere we could in awe, just taking it all in.  I'm very glad we decided to go inside.  It has always been one of my favorite pieces of architecture.  

After our little excursion, we stopped for some lunch.  I was craving pizza.  We ended up in a crazy little restaurant.  The food was all right, but our server was amazing!  Singing at the top of his lungs, cracking jokes, anything and everything.  He saw us taking a picture and came running in to pose with us each, grabbing a bottle of wine for one of his pictures with Jen.  When we said we had to leave, he asked us if we were on facebook then gave us all his information to friend him for the next time we came back to Rome.  He was quite a character, and he completely made our experience at this restaurant, which we later learned was called the Chicken House.  He informed us that everyone is crazy at the chicken house.  So if you want an experience in Rome, go see Paulo at the Gatto Matto, just don't go for particularly wonderful food. 

Eventually we had to get our train to Napoli, and we headed for the train station.  Of course, our train was almost two hours late.  However, we still made it!  We got in to Napoli at 6, and funneled our way down to the cicrumvenesuviana, the local rail that goes around the bay to Sorrento.  On the ride, we made friends with a nice couple from south England who are staying one stop before us.  Who knows, maybe well run into them again!  For now, we are planning what to see in our 3 days here.  It's never enough time!  Just means you have to come back again though.

Currently we have had a delicious dinner.  My pizza was so much better than my lunch one that they don't even compare.  We ordered anana or pineapple for dessert, as we were both craving fruit.  They brought us whole wedges of pineapple sliced really nicely.   Couldn't have been a nicer meal.  Especially after wandering the waterfront and looking at the whole bay all lit up.  I am so excited to spend the next couple days in the sun here!

In need of good food.

Our last day in Vienna, extended last really, was not actually much spent in Austria.  A friend of mine from my first stay in Reykjavik, Kevin,  was driving through the area and had contacted me about hanging out.  We had decided to do a day trip to Bratislava, Slovakia and he had offered to drive us.  While we were waiting for him to arrive, Jen and I went to an old Viennese cafe, which was quite charming.  I think we had most fun listening to the conversation beside us though.  They would be talking completely in German, then out of nowhere in English.  "They were like zombies!" then back to German again.  We had a couple good laughs.  

When we got to the hostel, Kevin was there waiting, so we got our stuff together and got on the road.  It was a quick drive, and Kevin introduced us to a BBC radio show that was hilarious.  We parked near a hostel, so that we could get a map of the area, and were fairly unimpressed with the city.  Very blocky, and as Kevin said, you could see the stamp of communist in its architecture.    After we found the old town though, it was much nicer.

We posed with statues, climbed to the top of a tour, and went though the Slovakian history museum.  As we were leaving to head for the castle, it started to rain, and I was the only one with an umbrella.  As the rain got worse, Kevin broke down and spent 10 Euros for one that said I Heart Bratislava all over it.  He figured it didn't look TOO touristy...

This is where things got interesting though.  It was no longer just rain, but sheets of rain pouring on us, with wind coming in sideways.  When you can see the wind coming across the pooled water on the sidewalk and brace yourself for it, it's usually not a good sign.  We eventually were so soaked, that we gave up getting to the castle, and settled in to a little restaurant to wait out the storm in comfort.  We had a simple little lunch, and then decided to walk back to the car and try to drive to the castle.

Unfortunately, this also failed.  We couldn't find the parking ticket to get the car out of the lot.  Eventually we found a place that could run the parking lot (it had been all machines), and about had a heart attack when he told us it would be 50 euros to get out with out a ticket.  Luckily he was honest and realized our misunderstanding and corrected it.  He had said 15.  That, is a big difference.  

Once we got the car out, we also failed at finding the castle.  After driving in circles trying to find a way up to it, we called it quits and headed back to Vienna.  Jen and I had to change rooms in the extension, and Kevin was staying the night, so we all had to get situated into our rooms still.  When Jen and I were settling in, we made friends with an Australian gal named Tiahni, when we found out she was also heading to Budapest the next day, and invited her down for drinks with all of us.  We had a low key evening in the WomBar in the hostel, before calling it quits for the night.  

The next day was another country.  Hungary sounded exciting.  It's definitely the furthest east I have been, and I was curious to the differences we would see.  We ended up on the same train as Tiahni, and we had booked the same hostel, so we just figured we would all travel together.  This was her last stop before heading back towards Vancouver.  The train was pretty rinky-dink, which didn't shock me too much.  It wasn't the prettiest country, rather flat and the towns looked more run down.  But an adventure is an adventure. 

When we got off the train, we found two more Australian girls heading for the same hostel, and trying to find the metro.  Which only accepts Hungarian Forints, which none of us had.  So first we had to find a bank or atm, which turned out to be an adventure.  Then we had to figure out how many forints we actually needed.  218 Huf were equal to $1.  Hows that for fun math!  We ended up having to take out 200,000 Huf, which just seemed a strange number to take out.  

Now, with funds in hand, we had to find the metro.  After a couple wrong turns, we got to the correct stretch of block and went down to get tickets.  There was a little shack on the side, and seemed totally sketch.  When we tried to pay, he rudely said, COINS ONLY!  Well, this was going to be an issue since the only thing any of us had was not only bills but large bills at that.  We finally grouped together and managed to get them all together, and pay with a bill, and one of the Aussies told him off for being rude.  I don't think it left much of an impression on him.  

Then we went down into the metro.  Scariest escalators I have ever been on.  Rickety, and fast, we had to hop for the first one.  The second one went even faster.   All I could think was "Garrett would not be okay with this!"  We survive them and get down to a rundown underground line, and get shoved on with a mass group of people.  We watched each others backs as much as we could, since pickpocketing is supposed to be a problem here.  The cars shook, and  the windows were all stuck open and made crazy wind noises as we hurdled to the city center.  Luckily, our stop was very close to the hostel, and we worked our way over to it.  

Talk about a swanky hostel for cheap!  It had only opened a couple months ago and showed.  The rooms were impressive and clean, and we had down pillows.  Tiahni, Jen, and I were in the same room, and made the mistake of lying down on our very comfy beds.  Needless to say we didn't move for awhile.   Then I decided to make me bed.  I went to put the fitted sheet on, but it was weird with a pocket.  Jen told me it was actually to put around the comforter.  But this meant I didn't have a fitted sheet.  So I decided to use it as a sleeping bag instead and tucked its two corners down anyway.  After much laughing, we decided to find dinner.  

I had found two restaurants that were supposed to have good Hungarian food online, and a friend from traveling had recommended her favorite restaurant there.  All three were close to each other, so we figured we'd walk by them all before deciding on one.  Anne's recommendation came first, at it was classy and cute with good prices.  We continued on.  And the buildings around us were falling apart, and dingy, and we definitely were in an Eastern Europe city.  We became less enamored with the city by the minute.   Quickly deciding to go back to the first, we aimed for food.  

I had the creamy garlic soup, with a traditional bread (kind of like a Hungarian pizza with cheese and sour cream) and a beef goulash.  The soup was delicious, as was the bread dish.  The meat was tough and flavorless.  Still, it was a fun experience and we headed back in for the night.  Tiahni was meeting a local friend to have him show her around a little, and was going to fill us in in the morning.  

The next day, we were hoping to see a nicer side of Budapest than we had the night before.  It really is a city of extremes though.  You can be looking at a beautiful block of old buildings, turn a corner, and it is dingy cement block houses that are falling apart.  We did end up having a lot of fun roaming around though.  

First we went by the synagogue, which was closed, but even the outside was wonderful.  Then we went by St. Stephens cathedral, which was structured remarkably similar.  Domed, towers that shined golden.  It was an interesting comparison architecturally.   After getting our fill of these, we headed for the Danube.  We were going to follow it up to parliament.  

Halfway along, we passed a bunch of bronze shoes lined up along the rivers edge. I had heard a guy talking about them at breakfast early in the day.  It was a Holocaust memorial.  I guess between 1944-1945, they lined anyone they found from the Jewish community up on the rivers edge, facing toward a church, and shot them.   It was sad to look at all these old shoes, many of which contained candles for vigils.  Especially when you realized some of them were shoes of toddlers.  We stayed here for awhile, and I found it to be very emotional.  

Afterward, we continued to wander towards the parliament building, which is quite impressive.  We determined we would have to cross the river to get a proper picture of it, since it was so large.  So we wandered across the bridge to the north, stopping at Margaret Island along the way.  This is a big park, and no cars are allowed so many of the locals go there to hang out.  

After getting our photo opportunities, we decided to climb up to the castle.  So we wandered up a hilly side street until we found some stairs.  Then we started climbing our way up.  The view was completely worth it though!  Also, we found our first tasty food here.  A baked spiral pastry called kurtoskalacs (remember that every one of those vowels has a symbol over it telling you how to pronounce it in a way we don't in America), coated in different things.  I went for cinnamon, Tiahni for nut, and Jen for vanilla.  Then with food in hand we went to the palace.  Here we got to see the guards do a routine change of positions.  Not as cool as a full changing of guards, but still really neat to see.  Then we headed back down again, looking to try the next hill over with the citadel.  But it took us awhile to get in the right area to start heading up again, and we really wanted to go see the market, which closed at 5.  So we took pictures of the statue on the hill from below (I really like how she looked up there, and made sure to buy a postcard with her in it) and called it good.  

The market was fun. Mostly meat, fruit, and vegetables, though there were a couple of stands with cheese and clothing as well.  On the upstairs level was dining, so we went to try some food.  Jen got a stuffed eggplant (which was mostly cold), Tiahni got sausage and beans (her beans were cold), and I got the best deal with sausage, potatoes, and onions.  While good, it still left much to be desired, mostly because it was all bland and unseasoned.  A running trend we were starting to notice with Hungarian food.  

Slowly, we wound our way back through the streets to the hostel.  We wanted to rest for a little while, before we went back out to get night pictures.  And it was worth going out again.  Everything in this part of town was lit up.  The bridges, churches, castles, and parliament.  It was a fun running around from site to site, finding the best spots to photograph them.  Them we realized we were hungry, and that it was 10:30. Options slim, as most places had stopped serving food, we finally found a little restaurant and got some salads.  Mine had lettuce with basil, tomatoes, mozzarella, and a little pesto mixed in.  It tasted like lettuce.  Bland Hungarian food strikes again!  I really don't know how they managed to find basil that had so little flavor.   After this we decided to call it a night.  

Today, when we woke up, it was time to check out and be on our way.  We tried to get into the synagogue, but it was too expensive for us, so we said oh well.  After we got our stuff all together, and wishing Tiahni well,  we braved the metro once more, going to a different train station.  Somehow, we managed to find the scariest escalator of all.  Definitely should avoid those in Hungary if possible.  

It's an all day trip to Zagreb (7 hours) so Jen and I settled into our compartments.  5 hours in, and we were rather bored.  We had talked about all sorts of random things, and the scenery left much to be desired.  Then we pulled in to a station that was just falling apart it seemed.  Then the border patrol came to check our passports.  There were three of them, and they all crammed into our little compartment at once to check our information.  Then we got new passport stamps!  We went to put them away, and another guy comes by for the same thing.  Apparently the first were from Hungary and he is from Croatia.  So we got another stamp!  Five minutes later, a train manager comes by to check our passports again to make sure everything is in order.  Luckily, after this many checks, it all was.  

So here Jen and I sit.  Heading into hour seven.  In Croatia, almost to Zagreb, two new passport stamps, starving for anything not coated in sugar(please let the food here be good), and bored out of our minds.   I think we will be ready to hike with our packs, no complaints, when this train gets in.  Especially since Jen just showed me her boredom manifested sketch of the haribro bear.

Making our way east to Wien

So the other morning Jen and I decided it was time to continue on our way to Vienna.  We packed up our bags and started walking through the train station, looking for an Apotheke along the way to try and help with Jen's cough.  When we were about halfway through old town, I saw a group of guys in traditional garb with instruments.  We arrived just in time to see them start up and march off through the streets!  It was a lot of fun, even if the euphonium player was having some issues...  After watching them turn onto some other streets, our search began anew.  Eventually we found one and got Jen taken care of again, and then we were off to catch our train.

The train ride is only a couple of hours long but beautiful, so I spent most of it just watching out the window.  I was excited to come back to Vienna, as I'd had less than 24 hours here last time and had a blast.  We had booked a hostel less than a block away from the train station, which was really convenient.  Originally we had planned to take that day as an easy day, but as those of you who know me are aware, that is not likely to really take place for me.  I ask what is playing at the Wien Staatsopera and am told tonight is Madame Butterfly, the one I had missed last time.  Jen quickly agreed that we should try to see it.

We looked on the map they gave us and it had several restaurants marked for traditional Vienese food, so we determined we would have enough time to eat first and headed off to the closest one, schnitzelwirt.  Luckily there were some food descriptions on our map too, cause there was no English menu here.  I decided on the Schweinsbraten with nodel and salad. It is a traditional roasted pork served in a broth, with a dumpling.  And the salad was interesting and delicious!  cabbage, potatoes, onions, a little sauerkraut, and beans all in a wonderful vinegar.  We practically inhaled it!  My dinner was just as good, though I think I prefer the nodels in Salzburg.  Then we saw the schnitzel being delivered to the table next to us.  Talk about HUGE portions, and the schnitzel was only 6.50€!   I think that's when we knew we'd be coming back the next night too.

Realizing what the time was, we hurried off to the Opera house to get in line for the SRO tickets that were 5€, only to be pleasantly surprised that they were now 3€.  We were concerned that we might not get in, with how long the line was, but we made it no problem.  The lady who had been next to us in line had seemed a little aloof, but when I expressed interest in the show, she quickly warmed up.  She spoke very little english, but looked at the program and told us that the singers were good ones, and what the next shows would be about.  She also showed us how to use the little screens to get english subtitles so we could follow the opera better.  Then we settled in for the show.  Poor Jen had to leave at one point because she had to cough really bad, and they wouldn't let her back in.  Luckily she was only minutes from the intermission when this happened.

In the second half, we heard this loud thump to our right.  We couldn't figure it out at first, and then we realized a gentleman in the last row of seats had passed out.  I have never seen people move so quickly!  Six people were immediately working together to get the doors open and carry him out into the atrium (the concert hall was VERY warm and may have been the reason he fainted) just outside and got him taken care of.  We checked later and learned he was just fine in the end, but still, that was some unexpected excitement at the opera!

Yesterday started off slowly.  Jen slept in, and I went exploring for a little cafe.  It was a perfect morning!  Just cool enough to be comfortable, quiet, and beautiful.  I wandered around for an hour and a half, before stopping at a little bakery/cafe on the street.  I got an interesting looking pastry, and it was so delicious!  It contained chocolate, and an amazing vanilla cream, all dusted over with powdered sugar.  Definitely a good decision.

Jen was still getting ready when I got back, so I looked into things to do a little bit.  And I found  Zentralfriedhof.  I'm one small area of this cemetery were Beethoven, Brahms, Strauss, Schubert, Schoenberg, and a memorial to Mozart (he was buried in the next cemetery over).  I couldn't pass the opportunity up!  So Jen and I got on a tram and headed the 30 minutes out to the cemetery.  The guy at the first entrance, was just flat out rude to us.  He waited til I came up to ask him a question, then started drinking his can of pop while glaring at me the whole time as I waited for him to finish.  Then he shooed us away like we were annoying him.  So we went to a different entrance, and the man at this gate could not have been more different.  While he spoke almost no english, he was obviously delighted that we were here to pay respects to people, promptly got us a map of the cemetery, and pointed out the location of all the names I was interested in, smiling the whole time.

 On our way out we were trying to find the S-bahn, and he tried so hard to be helpful, but we just couldn't understand him.  We asked another guy at a restaurant across the street and he just yelled 'Neicht english!' at us.  Sorry, but all I needed was a finger point in the direction we were going, not a conversation in english.   I found him to be unnecessarily rude.  So we just decided to walk along the tram line to the next S-bahn station where we knew they crossed.  Luckily this worked out well for us, and after a 20 minute walk we easily found the next station and headed into old town to look for Freud..

We wandered passed the old churches to the outer ring and found Freud's old apartment which is now a museum.  But entrance was 8€ and we weren't willing to pay that.  But it was still cool to have seen it.  I told Jen she needs to watch 'A Dangerous Method' which she will love.    Then we headed off for dinner, wandering through the main parks on the way.  We saw two boys, one trying to teach the other to tightrope walk on some strapping they had hooked to some trees.  The one kid was really good, jumping right up and walking, the other was obviously new, but doing very well.  He was trying to learn how to jump up and hold his balance.  We stopped and watched for awhile, and after a couple misses he looked at us a little embarassed and rambled off in German.  We just told him we were very impressed, and on his next one when he almost got it, we made sure to clap.  He was flustered, but you could tell he was still pleased.

We tried to hit another restaurant that looked good on the map, but it was closed for road work, and since we were only a block from the one before that had been so good, we decided to try it again.  We were seated at a group table with two gentlemen, who were painters.  One spoke english quite well and quickly struck up a conversation.  When he asked where we were from and we told him Washington state, he asked the usual Seattle?  The real surprise was when we said no and he followed up with Spokane?  He has apparently been there several times before for work.  We spent ahile chatting and he helped to translate the menu we didn't know and was overall very friendly.  I gave him the name of the bagelshop and told him to come in next time he came to Spokane.  He seemed prettyxcited about this, saying he didn't know very much about places to eat in Spokane, as his stays were always so short.  He aslo expressed surprise that we had found this restaurant, as it is apparently a loval favorite.  This made me happy that if we ate at the same place twice, this was the one.

Then we ordered our schnitzel.  I got the full portion.  Jen got the kids portion.  Jen's was huge.  Mine was gigantic.  I almost managed to eat it all though, it was so good!  Jen took pictures for comparison, and it was like night and day.

After dinner, I broke down and went to the apple store here.  Since my devices are all apple, I decided it was worth the money to buy a European USB converter plug for the wall.  I feel it is not a purchase I will regret, since my American plugs have trouble fitting into my converter and fall out regularly.  Now I won't have to deal with that anymore.

When we got back to the hostel, I was chatting with Kevin, a friend I made my first time in Reykjavik.  He is military and has been living in Germany lately.  He spent the last several days in Slovenia, and saw that I was in Vienna.  Currently he is driving up, and we are going to do a day trip to Bratislava today with him.  I'm really excited to see him again!  We had such a fun group in Iceland, and it will be great to hang out with one of them again.  He'll stay the night here and then head back home  to Germany tomorrow.   So we are killing a couple hours time before he gets into town.  I got him a red bull so that he would be good for more driving today.  This will be country 29 for him, and 19 for me.  Not that we are counting or anything.  I'm just sad he has me by 10 countries at this point.  At least that gap will be narrowing more this year.

The Hills are alive?!

Today started off pretty simply.  Jen and I had booked the Sound of Music tour and were waiting for them to come pick us up at the hostel.  We were picked up in a van to take us to the  bus, and ended up sharing it with a couple from Vancouver, BC.  I had a lot of fun chatting with them the whole way.  There were another couple ladies in the back seat who were on their way to Vancouver next week for the first time.  One told us she had been to Seattle numerous times in all different seasons and had never seen it rain once.  The rest of us just looked at her in disbelief and told her she was lucky.  Particularly in the spring.

We got on our bus, which had a painting on the side of Maria and the kids singing, but as our tour guide informed us, Maria just looks like she's sneezing.   Then we started going to all our destinations.  We couldn't have had a better, or funnier guide.  On our way to the gazebo, he stopped, posed, and sang a high pitched note.  Then he told us to just imagine we had just had our first kiss...by a Nazi postman!  We were then informed that Ralph was a hollywood creation and had not existed in real life.  He regularly referred to him as the Nazi postman who didn't really exist.

Some of his other great lines were:
'Green means go, red means no.'
'You Americans should be proud. We have a statue of Lincoln riding a horse and reading a book.  Not everyone can do that, but Lincoln sure could!'
'This restaurant is better, and not just because they give me a free lunch.'
'Is that a dog tag you are wearing?'
'Please do not eat on this bus.  But you can drink.  In fact, I have a bar up here, anyone want a beer?'
'The mountain Maria was on in the beginning is quite far away, and she ran down it in only three minutes!  What an athlete!'

So I saw the beautiful Lake District, while drinking a beer.  The bus driver informed me that the beer was first brewed in 1492, just like when my country was discovered by Columbus, so I should like it because they are alike.  From then on, I could only think of it as Columbus beer.

We had apple strudel in front of the church where they were married in the movie.  When we went inside, it was incredibly beautiful.  I found it particularly interesting that they had five bodies set above the alter, dressed in incredibly regal attire, and fully visible.  I was hoping there would be something written, explaining who they had been, but there was nothing there.  I also want to go back to Dragon point sometime and climb to the top of it.  You could see a bridge in between two of the points, so you know there must be a way up somehow.  I guess it is called that, because when it reflects on the lake below, the two images look exactly like a dragon.

On our way back in, we heard, what may be the best and worst Sound of Music joke ever.  We laughed for a really long time it was so bad.

A family named the Hills were driving around Salzburg when their car ran out of gas.  It was late at night, but the father saw a light up on the hill, and ran up to see if he could use the phone.  When he knocked, who answered the door but Dracula!  Dracula said he didn't have a phone, but that they were welcome to stay the night, and in the morning he would help them get home.  Well, in the middle of the night Dracula went and drank all their blood at that was that.  Feeling full of energy from all the blood, he went and started playing the piano.  He heard a noise behind him and when he turned around was startled to find the whole Hill family standing there.  'But I know I left you all dead in your beds! How did this happen?' he asked them.  Mr. Hill responded, 'The Hills are alive, with the sound of music!'

It is even better if you could hear our tour guide saying it.  He had the greatest, most expressive voice, and it just made us laugh that much harder to hear it.

After the tour was over, we were dropped off at the Mirabell Gardens, which is where the Do-Re-Mi song was filmed.    As we went in, I found two huge statues of unicorns right on the edge of the stairs.  Of course I had to have a photo with them to send to Morgan for our unicorn collection.   We took pictures of the pegasus fountain, and the tunnel they ran down.  Then we went to the gnome garden.  In the movie, they all pat the head of the one sticking out its tongue, but I was more enamored of two others.  One looked like he was dancing, so of course I needed photos dancing with him.  Another looked like he was pointing accusingly at something.  So I went and had a showdown with him.  Quite a lot of fun in the gardens.

Once we got back to old town, we decided we wanted to try the Salzburg Nockerl.  We had no idea what it was, but its pictures looked delicious and there were postings for it all over the city.  Turns out it is not as good as it looked.  It was huge, and tasted of eggs.  We looked it up later and it is said to be made of eggs and air.  Gross.  Then there was a very thin layer of berries on the bottom, almost a cranberry flavor of sorts.  While this part was good, it could not mask the flavor or scent of egg that was coming off of it.  I do not recommend trying this dish.

We also roamed up on the hill above the city.  It had some great view points and lead us to the castle and the Nonnberg Nunnery, which is where Maria was from. Slowly we wound our way back down again, and decided to go to the Golden Ende again, since it had been so delicious.  We were not disappointed!  This time I had the Wiener Schnitzel, but I had them give me another dumpling instead of the potatoes.  Jen kept it to soup and salad, and she is still feeling a little under the weather.  Everything was wonderful though, and we headed back to the hostel just in time for the rain.  It sprinkled on us a little while we walked, but it was fairly negligible, and it felt really good outside.  So we sat under the umbrella sitting area and read into the evening before calling it a night.

Salzburg and Hallstatt. Gorgeousness,

We decided to get up first thing in the morning to see the city.  I am very glad we did.  After breakfast in the hostel, Jen and I headed out into old town, and had fun taking pictures of everything in the morning light.  It was also nice for photographing because not very many other people were out and about, so we had unobstructed shots of most everything.  There was a large golden sphere with a man standing on top, fountains, statues, and my favorite, a statue of Mozart that someone had put a post bag in his hand. It was postman Mozart!

We slowly made our way toward the train station in a meandering fashion to get a ride to Attnung-Puthheim and then onward to Hallstatt.  The train ride alone made it worth while!  Past lakes and mountains, through tiny little towns. We even had to stop sometimes because there was only one track and another train needed to pass at set points. I had wanted to see Hallstatt since watching an episode of Rick Steves on it, and at Heather's wedding, Ryan had mentioned it to me as somewhere I needed to go.  This just solidified it for me as a must see.  And they did not lead me astray!

When you get off the train, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, you make your way down to the ferry dock, where a ferry meets every train for passengers to funnel you across the lake to the town.  Set in a little valley between two mountains, right on the waters edge.  It couldn't have been more beautiful, with all the trees starting to change color, so that the roofs and steeples were backdropped with green, yellow, orange, and red.  Further up the lake we could see people paragliding  down into another village.  

The one thing I really wanted to do here was to tour the old salt mine.  Hallstatt has one of the oldest salt mines, and even has a time era named the Hallstatt Period after it when they were one of the most powerful salt traders around.  They traded all the way down into Africa, or so their burial grounds show from the quantity of artifacts from all over.  

To get up to the mine, which is near the top of the mountain, you have to take a tram up the side of the mountain.  While I find this to be beautiful, in fact I may have been plastered to the side of the car trying to look over the edge as much as I could, Jen is afraid of heights.  She did great though, and toughed her way through it.  I told her she could stay down in the town and see that if she would prefer, but she was determined to face her fear on this one.  Once up there, the view was even more spectacular than I had hoped.  The Alps really are gorgeous, especially in the fall.  

After some photo ops, we headed up the guided trail, set with informational points along the way.  This was the first grave that was found, here is where we found evidence of settlements, here is where we are trying to recreate their way of life.  It was enough to be interesting, but brief enough to keep you moving.  Then at the top of the path was the mine tour.  We had to put on outfits that were like ill-fitting scrubs, with a different material on the back of the thighs, and then our guide stepped up.  He was a great guide.  No-nonsense (good since there was also a high school on a field trip in our group), but fun.  He wore traditional miner uniform, which we learned is buttoned the way it is in honor of the patron saint of miners.  

We went 300 meters into the mountain through tunnels, and watched an informational video, complete with English subtitles.  Then came the slides.  There were two of them, one is the longest slide in Europe.  This is why there was the alternate material in our pants.  You sit in the slide with your legs outside, so you need the material to keep you moving where it rubs on the edge of the slides.  On the second slide they clock your speed.  I managed 31.5 kph, which wasn't the fastest, but it was one of the five fastest.  36.2 was the top winner.  So much fun!

Then we were put onto a little train where we all sat single file.  There was a cute Asian family sitting behind me, and the dad and daughter started singing "Gangnam Style!" and all I could do was laugh.  As we all changed out of our scrubs, they passed out little shakers of Hallstatt salt for us to take home.  

Then we were down the mountain, and walking through town to catch one of the last ferries back over for our train.   It was an uneventful trip back to Salzburg. We kept it simple and had a kebob sandwich for dinner and were going to call it an early night.  Until we realized our hostel was playing "The Sound of Music" when we got back, and were just about to start singing ''Do-Re-Mi.'  We got sucked in and watched most of the movie before heading to bed.  Whoops!

Exploring south Germany

So Germany has not been kind to my blog, and I apologize for that.  Sadly it has not been due to lack of internet for once, but rather a lack of time, which I  view as a good thing.  Too many amazing things going on to have time to write. 

On Friday, Jen and I spent the day getting ourselves down to Stuttgart, Germany.  Allison, has been living here for work and will be for several months more, and she invited us to visit her.  We tried to come on this particular weekend as Collin and Kori were also going to be there for Oktoberfest, and we were all going to go out together for the festivities.  

We got very lucky coming into Stuttgart, as Allison arrived 5 minutes before us at the Hbf coming in from a work trip to Paris.  So she was able to show us where the S-Bahn was and which routes to take to get to her apartment.  Collin and Kori and Allison's friend E had arrived earlier that day and we all had fun catching up a little and having a beer in Alli's living room.   Collin even taught us how to do "cheers" or "prost" properly in Germany, as he had been taught by a 6 year old in a bar earlier.  You must do it as a group, not one person at a time as we often do in the states, and you must make eye contact with people.  I guess this kid had thoroughly chastised him when he had done so wrong.  Then he offered to share his McDonald's hamburger.  

We decided to go get some food (it was already 10:45, as our train hadn't come in until after 9), and went out to see what was open.  Eventually we ended up at a Kebob restaurant, and after getting some communal food and some more beers, we sat around and just had a great evening.  I don't think we got back to the apartment until after 1.  

The next morning everyone was heading to Munich for Oktoberfest.  Jen and I would be coming back that night to stay at the apartment, but the others were sharing a hotel room and were driving down.  So Allison gave us her work cell phone so she could call us when we all arrived and meet up.  We figured Jen and I would get there earlier since the train didn't have to deal with traffic.  

When Jen and I arrived at the train station, we went to turn the phone on and realized it had a pin to use it.  So we found a Starbucks, got on the internet, and sent Collin a Facebook message telling him what the deal was, and that we were heading to the main entrance to Oktoberfest where we would keep an eye out and try to access internet again if we could.  

After waiting for 20 minutes or so, we decided we should go explore the area. So we scoped out all the beer tents with their masses of people waiting to try to get in, all the wonderful food (both of us were eyeing the bratwurst that was in an entire baguette.   There were rides, beer, food, games.  It was like a giant carnival for adults.  Since we still hadn't heard back from the group at this point, and the train station was so close, we decided to go back to the Starbucks and check to see if they had messaged us the pin #.  Unfortunately, the internet there was on the fritz and wouldn't let me sign on to check.  We finally just said whatever, and went back to the park.  Our thought was we would just keep an eye out for them and if we found them in the crowd, good for us.  

After consuming our brats, which were delicious, we found a stand with chocolate covered fruit kebabs.  Easily one of the best ones I have had, just because the fruit and the chocolate were both so good!  I debated doing a ride, but it had started raining, which unfortunately just tends to make fast moving rides painful.  We ended up in the mass exodus of people leaving to get out of the rain.

Once out of the park, we sat on the curb for a little bit to people watch.  We saw a girl passed out on the sidewalk, with a guy watching over her, people stumbling around who had obviously gotten sick all over themselves and were to drunk to notice or care and were continuing to drink, medical personal rushing around with gurneys, a British guy talking on a cell phone confusedly about a fight he'd been in while blood ran down his face, and another guy trying to use his phone but was so intoxicated, this was a huge task to take on.  

We decided at this point, we didn't want someone to accidentally get sick on us, and to take our leave.  As we walked a new direction to the train station, we passed a store selling traditional German outfits.  The dresses with aprons and blouses, and lederhosen. 

Jen tried on the lederhosen, and I went for the dresses.  At first I put on the wrong type of blouse underneath.  I could tell it was wrong, but I didn't know why.  When I came out to ask the girl, she took one look at me and just started laughing.  Then she pointed me in the right direction.  I'm glad I could make her day better though.    I had a lot of fun trying them on and found one I loved!  If I wouldn't have had to ship it home, I likely would have gotten it, as I could have easily used it for a Halloween costume for many years to come.  

My favorite part of the day was at the train station though.  As Jen and I were waiting to cross the street back into the hbf, we overheard an Australian girl talking to her friend.  "Oh come on.  Let's just go to McDonalds and get ourselves a bier."  You first have to imagine beer being said with the German pronunciation, but the Australian accent.  It was wonderful.  We've then looked at every McDonalds in Germany, but never found one that served beer.  This was oddly disappointing.   

Eventually we made it back to the apartment in Stuttgart, where we found a message from Allison exclaiming that she forgot to give us the pin, and then later received a note from Collin where he stated he had only just received my message about the phone.   While it would have been fun to be there with them, Jen and I had fun on our own too.  I guess the others had made it into a tent, but they had to wait for 45 minutes to do as such, and didn't get any of the awesome food we did.  I think we got the better end of that deal.  

The next day we were planning on keeping low.  Jen was feeling a little under the weather, so I told her to take a sleep day and drink tons of water.  Collin, Kori, and Allison had made friends with a couple at the afb, and they had offered to  take them to buy goods on base.  E and I got bored and decided to go explore downtown Stuttgart.  I finally even found a Starbucks card for my friends back home too!

After a little bit of wandering, we decided to try to hit the Stuttgart Oktoberfest.  Now this was what I had been expecting!  We got what was essentially German sausages, and then headed into a tent, where there was no line and we immediately found a table.  There was music playing, which I guess there was none of in Munich, and everyone was standing on tables, dancing, singing, and drinking beer.  We quickly ordered a couple and joined into the festivities and called everyone else and told them they had to get over to this one.   

By the time the others had shown up, E and I had moved up to one of the front tables and made a lot of new friends.  There were a bunch of Venetians at our table, Fabio in particular was trouble.  He only spoke a little English, and kept trying to tell me all Italians kiss on the lips in greeting.  I just gave him a look and told him, "Mi familia es Italiano. "  He knew he was caught and laughed and then tried the same line on the two girls near me.  I gave them fair warning too and all he could do was laugh.  I also hung out with a really sweet gal from St. Petersburg, Ana, who was married to a guy from Stuttgart.  She only spoke Russian and German, but her husband spoke English.  So we mimed, and cobbled something together, and occasionally asked him for translation.  It was so much fun!  I also hung out with a group of four Australians who were planning on heading to Salzburg the next day, same as us.  I exchanged emails with Scotty so we could try to meet up there.  

They would regularly do the same drinking song too, but we could never get anything but Prost, Prost, Prost! at the end.  So we made up our own lyrics based on English words that sounded similar so we could sing along.  We ended up with:

I'm drinking! I'm drinking! I'm drinking lot's of beer! Prost!  Prost! Prost!

Probably not highly accurate, but very fitting we thought.  We stayed all night until the tent closed down and then grabbed some last food before leaving.   While we were eating, we met up with an Australian gal and her four English friends.  Actually one was Welsh, but we were informed his parents were both from London, and he was barely from Welsh territory, so it didn't really count anyway.   Allison got one of the English gals info, because I guess her job will be sending her near her home soon, so she was going to try to visit.   Basically it was another late night, but worth every second of it!

The next morning we were all supposed to be heading out of town.  Collin and Kori were driving to Paris to see Francois, Allison was flying to Russia for work, and Jen and I were going to head to Salzburg.  But the hostels were all full for us, so Allison kindly let us have her key and stay an extra night at the place.  So instead Jen and I decided to do a day trip to Zurich.  

I was a little disappointed in Zurich, compared to other Swiss cities.  It was just too industrial with too little culture.  And since we had such a short time there, we weren't able to wander far enough to find a better area of town.  I didn't dislike it, but it is not high on my "to return to" list.  I would much rather see Interlaken or Lausanne again, or go to Bern!  We managed to catch the last train of the evening back to Stuttgart, and got back to the apartment late once more.  I took time to upload all my pictures, since that can be hard to do in places where the internet is not as good.  We booked hostels in our next two cities and went to bed.

Today we got ourselves all put together again and packed up.  Allison had let us do laundry and we had taken full use of her shower too.  We both feel fairly human again, and Jen is sounding much better now.  I walked to the local bakery for breakfast and lunch, and then we headed for the train station here one more time.   Of course, the earlier train had been delayed, and was pulling away as we walked up to the platform.  We hadn't been planning to catch that one, but if we had only been one minute earlier we would have made it.  Instead we sat at the little cafe inside and had some coffee and people watched.  It was also quite enjoyable, if not as time constructive.  

Our train into Salzburg was a tiny little thing with unusual open compartments, and smelled a little funny.  But as we zipped through southern Germany with it's rolling hills and into Austria where the hills were turning into the mountains, and couldn't be bothered with that at all.  I spent the whole time gazing, delighted, out the window.  And as we rolled into Salzburg, all I could think was 'Thank you John, for his recommendation.'  

I don't know that I have seen a more picturesque place, especially when you're leaving the train station.  Mountains, castles, beautiful blue river.  Salzburg is truly stunning and I was instantly charmed by it.  And the dinner we had, oh the dinner!  Jen had Wiener Schnitzel and I had a pork rump roast with a huge bread dumpling and homemade sauerkraut.  Our server was wonderful, and recommended a beer to go with my dish that it was actually cooked with.  It was a wheat beer, and it was perfect with the dish.  And when we saw how beautiful the city was at night when it was shadowed, we instantly made plans to get up early so we could see it at first light.  And thus began our adventure in Austria.