Wow...It's been a while

I have since updated this info. The blogs are below because I can manually change the date and order they appear. Hope you enjoy...

There's no way I can update everything at the moment. I need my journal and my camera jump drive to be able to remember what day was what. I'll come back to Budapest later, but just thought you'd like to know we had to rearrange the itinerary this last week. This is a very quick run through.

You see, we missed our train to Zagreb, Croatia from Budapest. The next one didn't leave until later in the afternoon which would have been too late to catch the bus to Plitvice...so Plitvice had to go. I was so sad. I'd really been looking forward to getting out of the city and enjoying a national park. Oh well, I suppose.

Instead, we went to Slovenia early. We stayed in Ljubljuana (can you say it? I can) for two nights and then caught a bus in the morning to Trieste (YAY ITALIA!). When I get my camera handy, I'll post photos of the amazing cave we went through. Salt Mine: cool. Slovenia Cave: incredible. Maybe I liked it even more because it was natural, I'm not sure. But more on that later.

In Trieste, we saw spring. Leaves on the trees. Warmth from the sun. We were in heaven...especially when we got rid of our bags at the pensione. We "promenaded" along the coast in the most beautiful park. I stuck my feet in the very cold water, and we relaxed.

Sunday morning we caught a bus to the church. Wonderful people! I wish every day could be Sunday! We really enjoyed the ward members, and the missionaries were a lot of fun. I admit, it was nice to have a full-on English conversation again.

So Monday morning we skipped a few borders to our lighthouse by the Adriatic Sea in Croatia. It did not rain while we were there, which according to the lighthouse keeper, Milo, was very unusual. We ate at a little restaurant overlooking the water, where I destroyed my first crab...I have to be honest, it was a little tramatic.

We're now back in Trieste waiting to catch our train to Pordenone where we'll be staying with a friend for a few days. Hopefully I'll be able to update everything with real details.

Until then, I hope everyone is wonderful. Talk to you later.

Ciao, Andrea

Candle on the water...

Sorry, that song just came into my head.

March 31, 2008
We caught the bus to Umag, Croatia, and I got another stamp in my passport. Croatia is not yet an EU member, so we had to do a border check. In Umag, we grabbed a taxi to our lighthouse...well, it was "our" lighthouse for a couple nights anyway.

The lighthouse sits just up from a rocky beach. Some kind of tree was in full blossom, and we got to walk by it everytime we left the yard.

We walked forever looking for a grocery store. We had a kitchen in this place, and we wanted to take full advantage of it! Well, unfortunately, we never found a grocery store. We did, however, see beautiful, rural Croatia. Vinyards, trees, and winding roads. It really was a beautiful walk.

Since we couldn't find a store, we opted to eat out at one of the seaside restaurants two minutes walk away. Being in a rather adventurous mood, I decided to try the house specialty: Spaghetti with Crab.

Here I am, expecting spaghetti with crab meat in it, when out comes my spaghetti with PIECES of crab on top. A claw here or there. Parts of torsos scattered about. Oh Sebastian!

Maybe this requires some explanation. I have never ordered crab before. I've seen people eat it and therefore knew it required some cracking and crunching and extra effort. But never before have I taken the plyers in my own hands and broken some poor animal's arm. Ok, crustacian's arm. (Would you consider it an arm?) And all to scrape meat out of it.

It tasted good, but I'm afraid it was a little tramatic. This picture is in no way staged. That's me. Eating my first crab. (Terri really enjoyed the dinner's entertainment.) You should have seen my plate with all the shells after I was done. It looked like a crab masacre. I've decided that I prefer my food to be unrecognizable from the animal it once was. Oh! The little legs, still with little hairs on them...and the pinchers...

I really did like the dish. It was delicious, really.



April 1, 2008
I love being so close to the beach! I lounged on the rocks, listening to music and getting some sun. It was wonderful weather. No rain in sight, which is actually quite amazing. The rain follows us wherever we go.

I took my journal out and wrote. Listened to music. Isn't that the kind of stuff you're supposed to do on the beach? Well, at least if the water is too cold to go swimming in.

Terri disappeared. She was on a quest to find some groceries. Nine or ten hours later, she showed up groceryless. She liked the sights, but her feet weren't altogether happy with her.

Milo, our lighthouse keeper, was so fun! He didn't know English very well, but he was so excited to talk to us. We think he was practicing up for the next guest who was a "famous American writer". Never did figure out who the author was. Milo was sweet and charming. He even gave us a ride back to the bus station on the 2nd, so we didn't have to call for a taxi.

So, how to sum up Croatia? We weren't there as long as I wanted to be, but I'm glad for the time we were. It was so peaceful. No traffic. No massive buildings. No hectic schedules. Just small-town charm at it's best.

Oh, and by the way, we did find the grocery store. As Milo was driving us to the bus station, there it was, not five minutes walk from the lighthouse. If we had turned right instead of left...I wouldn't have had crab. :)

The adventure of the missed train

March 28, 2008: Ljubluana
You know, it wouldn't have been so bad if the only other train didn't leave until 4 pm. That 6 am train was early to miss too. We sat for a while in that cold train station, trying to figure out what to do. Finally, we decided to try another train station because the one we were at had no open information desks.

So we grabbed our bags and hopped the metro across town. No luck there either except that they actually had people to talk to. We debated for a long while. If we took the late train, we would miss the bus to Plitvice. Was it really worth one night? We had already had to cut it down to two nights to be able to manage church. Finally, a bit frustrated and thoroughly exhausted, we decided to head to Slovenia then instead of later. We hopped a long train ride to Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Hours later, with only one misunderstanding about our rail pass (apparently Slovenia is not considered "Eastern Europe" as far as the pass is concerned) we arrived. We were able to find a place for the night, as well as one for the next (just not in the same room).

We decided to head out to Postojna Caves for the day. SO AMAZING! The Salt Mines were cool, but this was all natural. Stalactites and stalagmites. Columns and "curtains". Colors everywhere. It was so incredible. I wish I could show you pictures, but unfortunately, none of the computers will accept those pictures. I can see them fine on my camera, but when I try to upload them onto the website, they show up as an icon only. The ones you see now are Terri's.

Anyway, we started out on a little train ride into the cave, going through small tunnels and huge caverns. It was definitely a time to heed the warning "keep your arms and hands inside the ride at all times". Standing would be ill-advised as well. We felt like we had to duck through areas as it was.

I couldn't believe the formations. My favorite were what our guide called "curtains". They looked like ribbon or fabric coming out of the walls and ceiling. I loved it.

March 29, 2008: Headed out
After much consideration, we decided to head towards Trieste, Italy, so we would not miss church again. After the train ride and finding a pensione to stay at, we dropped our bags and went for a walk along the beach.

They have a wonderful park that looks out over the sea. Trees everywhere, kids playing, sun shining. It was great! Spring at last!! It was so nice to just relax in some warm weather. I even soaked my feet in the water...although that was definitely not warm. It was still fun.

March 30, 2008: Church in Trieste
Church was definitely wonderful. We had no trouble finding it this week. We were early though because we had to take public transportation. We talked to some of the members who also had to take the bus.

They didn't have an English Sunday School class for us, and there was only two languages this week (see church in Prague), but it was wonderful! There was always someone there willing to translate. In Sunday School, the Elders came in to help us out. Aviano (Elder) Whatcott, excitedly spent time with Terri. He's from Holden and was excited they knew some of the same people (he's a wrestler from Millard High and therefore know Adairs, Musselmans, Eldredges, etc). He's been in Europe for less time than we have, poor green thing :). He didn't do much translating, but Terri understood most of it on her own.

Aviano Ballard helped me. It was fun. Some of it I could get on my own by the words written on the board or the way the teacher said things (she was VERY expressive). Aviano Ballard supplemented what I couldn't pick up on my own.

Afterward, the teacher came up to me and jokingly accused me of laughing at her. I told her I was so excited that I actually understood what she was saying some of the time without any help. She decided to come and help us out by interpreting for Sacrament meeting.

So she translated for Terri when she needed it, and Aviano Ballard kept me informed on what was being said through the meeting. He also told me about different people in the ward. So many interesting people. I loved, loved, loved being there.

After the meeting was over, we road the bus and walked with all the Elders for a while until our paths no longer were the same. It was really nice to have some English conversation going on all around me. They were fun to talk to.

So ended our time in Trieste. The next day, we were scheduled to catch a bus to Umag, Croatia for our stay in a lighthouse...

Buda and Pest

MARCH 23
Happy Birthday to me...
Yes, Birthday #28 was celebrated in Budapest, and as a birthday present to me, I called home. It was a good day. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to find the church. We thought we had good directions...I think our hotel clerk sent us to a Catholic church.

So, instead of church, we spent the day reading from the Ensign, Scriptures, writing in journals, and (for me) calling home. I miss my cell phone. I don't like hoping my room will have a phone I can call out on and then worrying about the time difference.

MARCH 24
Her knight in shining armor.
It just so happens, that our timing was perfect in Budapest to be there during their Spring Festival. This particular day, they had scheduled a Renaissance Fair at the castle in Buda. Tents filled with musical instruments (and people playing them), clothes you could put on and get your picture taken in (like our old west photos), and, of course, tents with trinkets for sale at outrageous prices. Ok, to be completely honest, I'm not sure how much they were. My mind is a little frazzled from so many different currencies.

We watched our meal being cooked in these enormous cast-iron skillets. They kind-of reminded me of Dutch ovens, but much shallower. I had paprika potatos and mixed vegetables. Mmmmm...vegetables. I also had some kind of meat dish. I'm not sure exactly what it was originally, but it had some kind of mustard based sauce it was cooked in. Very good. Terri and I both decided to skip the roasted pig.

After wandering around the castle grounds, we walked across the Chain Bridge to Pest and made our way back to the hotel.

MARCH 25
Solo.
We ventured out on our own, so I headed into downtown Pest to see some sights and visit their main market. It's a huge, two story building with food vendors selling vegetables, fruit, spices, etc. on the first floor. Wrapping around the the second floor (with views down into the main floor) are where the fast food shops are along with all the tourist souveniers. I had a kind of fry bread with "Hungarian Sauce". It was basically a very messy goulash with vegetables in it. Tasted great. Kind-of hard to eat without plate or fork. At least they gave you napkins.

I didn't know when Terri was expecting me back, so I headed to the hotel, with some sidetracks, where I (yay) got to do laundry in the sink. I really miss a washer and dryer.

MARCH 26
A bath in Pest.
We again decided today was a day to go into the city on our own. I wanted to hit some places Terri had seen the day before, and she had some other places in mind.

First, I went up the Fishermen's Bastion...I think that's what it's called. I really can't remember. It's this really cool, fairytale-style castle overlooking the river where the fishermen lived. It's made of a white stone and has cone-topped turrets connected with arched ramparts. For about $1, I got to go up into the ramparts and turrets. I'd say it was worth it; the views were incredible.

I then went North to Hero's Square where they have statues of various hero's from Budapest's history. I walked around a Transylvania-style castle, saw their city park, and made my way to the Bath house where I was meeting Terri.

After paying for everything (entrance, changing room, towel rental), I went out into the main area. The buildings surround three different pools. The first is a "play" pool. The most likely place to find kids, it has a current area that alternates with jets in the center. It's a lot of fun, but you better get in the currents when they first start, or you'll be fighting for a spot in a crowd of splashing teenagers. When the current stops pulling, or pushing depending on your point of view, jets start going all over the big pool. Wonderful back and leg massage for tired muscles :).

The center pool is the "serious" pool. It requires a swim cap and is for swimming laps, etc. We didn't try that one out.

The other pool is a huge hot tub. Well, maybe saying hot tub is a little misleading. The water was much warmer than the other pools, but it wasn't "hot". This is where the chess players are, if you've ever seen pictures. Groups of men surround two players and a waterproof board, seriously contemplating the next move. Knowing they could beat me in three minutes tops, I decided not to challenge anyone to a game.

Inside the buildings are saunas and smaller pools with varying temperatures. Most of the water is full of minerals, turning the water a bit green. They were really relaxing to soak in.

After spending nearly three hours at the baths, we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel. Our train was leaving at six in the morning, and we still had a bit of packing to do.

One cheap concert...

...or one pricey toilet
I'm not quite sure which it was. At the tram stop by the Vienna Opera House, there was a sign advertising a unique bathroom experience. Nowhere else in the world could you utilize the facilities while enjoying Mozart's masterpieces. You paid for this pleasure, however. 0.60 Euro, but you got a clean bathroom and a concert to boot. Can't beat that.

Vienna

We arrived at 6 a.m. from Krakow. After stashing our bags and buying a pass for the bus/tram/metro, we made our way into the city. We rode the tram around, and since we missed our intended stop, saw a little more of Vienna than we planned. We made our way back to the above mentioned Opera stop where we walked around the Opera House and to a monument commemorating the victims of all wars.

We jumped onto a different tram that looped us around the city center, letting us see many sights from the comfort of a warm vehicle. The architecture is amazingly beautiful. Ornate, but not too much.

When we finished our loop, we got off and walked up a pedestrian street full of strollers, shoppers, and Mozart's handing out concert advertisements. We visited the St. Stephen's church which is said to be the center of Vienna and their most loved church. It was enormous!

We were going to visit a palace, but decided to skip it and get to our hotel. I was ready for some warm comfort and privacy (hostels aren't so good for that), so we made our way back to the train station and arrived just in time to hop on the train for Budapest. Three hours later, we were there...

Journey to the Center of the Earth...

...at least a bit closer anyway. We went to the Salt Mines yesterday, and I actually made it in the front entrance. Of course, the fact that it looked like a hallway instead of a deep, dark wormhole helped. It was actually pretty big tunnels with huge caverns. Very cool. We had a fun guide who liked to joke around which made it even better. We went two levels down. Apparently on the third level is a spa for people who have health issues. The salt in the air kills all bacteria, mold, etc, so even people with trouble breathing can come here and have a much easier time.

The beams are all wood because metal rusts too quickly. Besides, the salt in the mine preserves the wood...It preserves everything. Our guide was 200-years-old afterall ;)

Within the tunnels there are chambers with different sculptures and carvings. Everything is done in salt and it is amazing! The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling are salt.

My favorite room was the largest chapel. It had "paintings" carved into the walls in 3D relief. There was DaVinci's Last Supper and several others. The talent these miners had/have is amazing.



After the Salt Mines, we went back to the hostel to rest up for the next day.

Day 10: Auschwitz

Today, we slept in (so nice) and then jumped on a tour to Auschwitz. Lynda, you were right. There's a feeling in these places.

We went to different areas, hearing what living conditions were like, what day to day life would have been, and the lies these people were told. Did you know they had to buy tickets to get on the train to go to Auschwitz? They were told they were being taken to a better place where they would have jobs and homes without the problems they were experiencing in their home countries.

I just don't understand how people can be so cruel! What kind of people were they? How could they voluntarily carry out those orders?

After we got back to Krakow, we walked around the old town square, looking at the different shops set up. Since Easter is coming up, they set up different shops selling knick-knacks and food, flowers and jewelry. Tomorrow we're going to try some of the treats they had...we wanted a good hot meal today, so...

We ate out in a sit down restaurant for the first time this entire trip. You gotta love a place where the most expensive thing on the menu is $5.33. And my plate was FULL. I had "Hunter's Delight Potato Pancakes". It was one big potato pancake with sausage, beans, cheese, sour cream, herbs...I'm not sure what else, but it was so good. The fact that it was hot made it even better.

Hoping it's warmer where you're at then here. ~Andrea