Jaq Greenspon's Blog, page 76

Hvar and the Dalmatian Coast

Saturday we woke up early, packed up our belongings (we were moving apartments that night) and headed off to catch the ferry to Hvar (pronounced "Far" with a hard F), an island about 50km from Split, deep in the heart of the Adriatic. Okay... maybe not the 'heart' but certainly the pancreas! The ferry ride was an hour forty-five (about the same time it takes me to get to Budapest) amidst some incredibly beautiful islands and crystal clear blue-green ocean. I know this sounds cliche, but where do you think the cliche came from?

Now, luckily, we were here before the season really gets underway. Sure, there were downsides, like there only being one ferry and some of the other places were a little more difficult to get to (if accessible at all) but on the plus side - lots fewer people! So there was no need to book the ferry in advance, we could just show up. Same with the bus to take us from the ferry port of Stari Grad (which means "Old City," something I didn't know, much to my great embarrassment) to the city of Hvar itself. Once in the town, we headed towards the harbor, deciding to have a coffee and look over the guidebooks.

The island isn't very big, and at first we thought about renting a couple of scooters but Chris and I vetoed the idea after going to explore our option, figuring we could walk and spend the money on a nice meal (or eight) instead. And walk we did. Our first stop was the Spanish Fort (Tvrdava Spanjola) atop the hill which overlooks the city. See, it seems Hvar was a fairly popular military site, home of many fortresses and battlements, dating back to the ancient Greeks. And honestly, you really could get a sense of the history walking trough the terraces and up the hill. Even though the dwellings weren't more than a few hundred years old, you could tell they were built on foundations which were far deeper and sturdier, historically speaking, than is apparent from mere photographs.

Getting up to the fort, though, you are treated to some amazing views at every turn of the trail. Just when you think you've seen the best one, the trees clear and suddenly there's a more glorious scene before you. Astonishing! We actually went off he path to take a side trip to a see an old chapel which, surprise surprise, also offered spectacular sights. Not to mention a small snake, which I'm not sure was really there since everyone but me saw it. I think they were all in cahoots (whatever THAT means).

The fort had some really cool parts, and was still fairly solid. The one thing which was closed was the little archeological museum but we did get to see the dungeons (which had their own mystery since when we were in them we could see an air hole but which we couldn't find once we were back on the surface) and they had some cannons set up so you could see how the battlements were defended in a battle.

Climbing down from the hill we walked through a park and out to the water. Have I mentioned how clear the water was? I've never seen anything like it on so grand a scale. We immediately determined to try and find out if the local schools needed any English teachers.

The day was hot so we wandered around after lunch looking for a gelato place (gelato is the Continental food of Europe!) and got lost in the winding streets before we finally found a place. Then, gelato in hand, we headed along the waterline towards an old monastery. There was no one inside so me and Laurel found a WC and then made our way into the chapel, which was nice and all set-up for Easter (which was the next day). That's the thing about chapels in Europe... they're all really nice but it's quite possible to get a bit overdone with the gilt and glitz of religious iconography.

By this time it was hitting mid-afternoon and so time to grab the bus back to the ferry to go back to Split. On the ferry, we met a couple of american girls who were studying in Italy and they gave us a tip on a place for dinner, which we took. This was after we found our new lodgings, which weren't as nice as our first digs, but were right in the middle of the old town. So it was a give and take. Dinner was a nice place, crowded but great food.

The next day was Easter so nothing was open. We decided to take the opportunity (and the car) to drive up the coast and see some of the other towns. Our plan was to go north and then work our way back down.

Our first stop was Sibenik. This was after we got slightly lost trying to find a petrol station. We found it eventually and then it was a challenge to find a parking spot in town. But like all good things, we found one and were able to walk down to the waterfront. Along the way we passed some fun public art and a fountain with live turtles! We found the Cathedral of Saint James (closed for services) and then went up to the citadel (we didn't go in because they were charging and we couldn't be bothered. Then we got slightly lost, a recurring theme, sure, but here it was due to using the tourist guide as an actual map. But it was good we went the way we did because we ended up in the gardens of a former monastery which were lovely (and had a nice coffee/gelato place).

Leaving there, we continued south to Trogir, whose old town in on an island. By this point, we were getting hungry so late lunch was in order. We found a little out of the way place (on the main tourist street, prices were outrageous) with a dining room set in a little alcove. Again, there were sites, castles and churches, but paying money, regardless of how much, for the opportunity to go inside and see some old bricks just wasn't that appealing. Despite being a day of driving, we also spent a good deal of time walking around and seeing the sites. My rule, as driver (and one I follow even by myself) was if you see something you want to take a closer look at, say stop and we will. So we stopped at a lake to see the gulls sleeping on the water, we stopped at a harbor to see some amazingly cool large boats, we stopped to look at a small island just off the coast.

As we continued south, we were approaching Split and decided that since the sun still had a bit of time before it set we would go a little further south towards Dubrovnik (which was too far this trip) and instead spent the twilight in Omis. What separates Omis from the other towns is the river which runs from the mountains, down through the center of town and into the sea. During the summer they host white water rafting trips (our american friends from the ferry the day before had done that trip). There were also rock climbers in evidence and a really cool church like building built into the stone face of the cliff.

Monday morning was also a holiday. Yes, the day after Easter is also celebrated. Pretty nice for banks, not so much for tourists. But it was okay for us, since we were heading home that day. We only had one place left on our itinerary... Plitvica Jezera.

I'd been here before, but my companions hadn't... and it was well worth a return visit! Plus, it was on the way home. See, it should have been on the way down, too, but I took a wrong turn (or didn't as the case may be) I missed the junction for the "short" route down to Split on Thursday. Turns out on Thursday, I did the right thing. We took the inland, direct route back up to Plitvice and it was windy and confusing and slow. So while it may have been "shorter" distance wise, the longer route was motorway the whole way (with some really cool tunnels along the way).

So we got to the National Park, which is known world-wide for it's relatively unique pattern of lakes and waterfalls, about noon and immediately set off for one of the many trails. The entrance where we started was in the middle of the park so we could go down and come back up or go up and walk back down. We chose the down and walk back option since it included a long boat ride.

As it turned out, we made a good choice. Since there weren't that many people there (off season, but the park is open 365) We were able to hike the trail and then go back and hike the other side. As I've said before, words can't really describe it and pictures only show a flat view, but until you go there yourself, they'll have to do. The water is blue and cold and crisp, the falls ("slap" in Croatian) are impressive in height, breadth and scope. There was even a cave for Laurel (over the course of the four days, we discovered Laurel likes caves). We were able to see the park and still get on the road before dark.

We made it home just before midnight (and no, I didn't make the same mistake at the border I made coming down), finding a place to park a block from Chris and Laurel's place. Sure, we'd have to move the car early the next morning, but that was fine, we had to return it anyway. All in all, it was a great weekend getaway. We'd laughed until we cried, we ate new food (especially Rolanda who got out of her food comfort zone, yay!) and saw some great sights.

This is one of the major advantages of living in Europe. There are amazing things to see and do only a relatively short drive away. I think I need to get a Unesco World Heritage Sights checklist... now that would be an awesome goal to meet.

Split

So after much deliberation and hemming and hawing, I decided spring break would be in Croatia, where I had NOT gone during the winter break. And it would be a part of Croatia I hadn't seen when I was here in 08. So I was looking at Split and Dubrovnik. I was also looking at going with some fellow Americans, Chris and Laurel, and a Lithuanian, Rolanda, decided to join us as well. Chris is in the same MFA program I was in and he's doing HIS time abroad teaching in Hungary. He is engaged to Laurel, who is also teaching in Budapest. We decided to rent a car instead of taking the train, thinking it would be cheaper, quicker and more convenient for when we wanted to do things not on a train schedule. We were right. The only downside, and I knew this going in, was that I was the only one amongst the four of us who actually knew how to drive a manual transmission (a stick; mechanical; four-on the floor - whatever you want to call it) so I would be doing all the driving. I was cool with that. So I made the car reservations while Laurel took care of accommodations.

So Thursday morning we all trudged to pick up the car, bags in hand, ready to start our adventure. We were scheduled to pick up the vehicle between 9-9:30. No problem. We were on the Metro at 9:30 so we were going to be a few minutes late, big deal. Except it was. I got a call at 9:33 wondering where I was and when would I be there? "Just a few minutes, getting off the Metro now." Inadvertently, I lied. While I thought it would be just a few minutes, it turned out it was actually more like 45 and we actually passed the place. See, thing is the car rental place was actually inside a boat dealership with no external signage (and in fact, no rental cars but the one for us there). This is one of the oddest car rental places I've ever seen. But after filling out paperwork, signing forms in a language I didn't understand (quite possibly making myself responsible for the middle-east conflict and the Charlie Sheen debacle) we were off and running.

The drive itself was pretty uneventful. Chris was up front with me while the girls were in the back and there were conversations and silences, oohs and ahhs, pointings and excited shouts at the passing scenery (the debate as to the actual existence of Lake Balaton as seen from the window of a car being driven on the #7 Motorway) and generally an easy drive...until we reached the border.

Yeah... when I went to Austria a few weeks ago, we passed from country to country with barely a blip on the transfer of cell phone coverage, thanks to the European Union. Unfortunately, Croatia is not yet a part of that illustrious group so when we hit the border we had to stop and surrender our passports. This isn't a big deal. They look at the paperwork, ask a few questions, stamp a blank square and away we go... which is exactly what we did until I was flagged down by an irate woman in a uniform about 10 feet away from where we had just been. Seems that first stop was just to get us out of Hungary. NOW they had to let us INTO Croatia. Needless to say, I felt a bit silly about trying to blow past the international checkpoint, especially after what happened the last time I was at the Croatian border. But it all turned out okay and we were safely in a foreign land.

After a stop in Zagreb for lunch and petrol fill up (and a bit of drive-by sight-seeing) we were on our way to Split. Of course, by the time we got there, it was dark and the map we had purchased of the area only had names for the major highway, not the number of the map we had been using to get there so finding our place was slightly difficult, resulting in some harrowingly narrow streets and a couple go 'rounds. Finally, we made it and, after calling the rental agent, were let inside.

Laurel had taken care of the accommodations and found us these amazing apartments (plural - we'd have to move after two nights, but more on that later). This one was great and we all immediately decided we'd like to move in. But it wasn't until the next morning when we fully experienced the balcony and the "ocean view." That night however, after a long day of driving, we decided to walk around and eventually found a nice little seafood place for dinner.

Friday, after getting up leisurely, we decided to walk to town (about 20 minutes) and see Split. We walked along the water and hit the old town with a tourist's enthusiasm. Laurel had Rick Steeves' guide book on her Kindle and was "Julie, Our Cruise Director," reading to us about the history, the interesting facts, and what we should see.

The Diocletian's Palace was amazing. It had been built about 1600 years ago and over time it, and the adjoining old town, had been built up to the point of overcrowded absurdity. It was a maze trying to make your way around, with competing architecture styles use of space issues everywhere. Businesses and restaurants and bars fought with residential dwellings for wall space to hang wet laundry and offers of the daily specials. We ate breakfast inside the palace at a nice little breakfast place set up just across from a life size 3D rendering of The Last Supper (surreal to say the least).

The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent exploring. We went into crypts and climbed bell towers, saw chapels which had been originally built in honor of pagan Mediterranean gods and then usurped by the Christian deities. After seeing antiquities, we figured now was time for a little lunch and then, the ocean beckoned. Stopping on our way back to the flat at a little convenience store we picked up the fixins and Chris made a delightfully light pasta which we enjoyed on the balcony, with the ocean view seen through the unshuttered window of the building across the way. Then it was off to the beach where I'd promised to go swimming.

What was I thinking? It was freezing! But never one to let a promise go, I went in the water and braved the (I'm sure) sub-arctic temperatures of the Adriatic. See the pictures if you don't believe me.

Dinner that night was seafood at a really cool place we'd read about. When we got there, no tables were available so the host told us to go to the bar across the way and he would call us when a table was ready. No taking of names, no nothing. So we went for a little pre-meal drink (Laurel found the smallest unisex bathroom in the world) and then, true to his word, the host walked across the street and told us our table was ready. Dinner was superb! Chris and I both got fish, which was prepared the local way -- whole. Yup, just take a fish, throw it into some heat with a sauce and throw it on a plate! Lots of bones, but it was SO worth it. Then, just to round out the evening's atmosphere, the host turned out to be the owner and he sat down at our table and told us the story of how he went from being a rep for Ferrari to a restaurateur. The story itself was interesting, involving his wife and following her for her happiness, but the best was that when he was done, with no ceremony, no nothing, he just up and left the table.

All told it was a great day. But we needed to get back to the flat since we needed to get up early saturday to catch a ferry to Hvar, a nearby island. We were on the coast, no reason to stay on dry land!

Vienna

The trip to Vienna, like all my trips since I've been in Hungary, really started on Thursday night. See, my bus to Austria left from Budapest at 7am which means I needed to be there by 6:45 which means I needed to spend the night in Budapest since there are no trains or anything else which will get me there that early. This also held true for any trips which had me leaving the country. So I went into BP on Thursday and met up with Chris Seelie, a fellow UNLVer who is doing HIS time abroad teaching in Hungary. We had a nice lunch and chat about writing and then I went to Edd's place for dinner and a brief photography lesson and a bed for the night.

Friday, I was up, showered, and out the door in plenty of time to find the bus station (and my particular bus). It was an easy ride, just under three hours and there was free wifi almost the whole way, so the time passed quickly. At one point, the bus slowed and I looked out the window and we were passing into Austria. It was kind of weird to see the former border check point deserted and run-down. It would make a great location for some sort of spy film.

Anyway, I got to the Viennese airport just before 10 and then had four hours to wait for Claudia's plane to get in - she being my reason for a weekend getaway in the city of Mozart. We were celebrating her birthday. By the time she finally arrived (her plane was late)and we found our hotel, it was close to five in the afternoon. We dropped our bags and headed out to explore.

Our first stop was Karlskirche (St. Charles' Church). It was getting dark and we had no idea what the building was so in we went! Turns out one of the things this church is known for is its amazingly painted dome, which is currently undergoing restoration. Of course, since it's undergoing restoration there's a scaffolding and an elevator so you can actually get up close and personal with these fantastic murals! They closed at 5:30 so at quarter to six we got kicked out and decided to try and find someplace for dinner.

The great thing about touring is you have the opportunity to really discover things. Yes, there are specific tourist sites which you should see, but after dark, most of those are closed and especially in mid march, the weather is cold and windy and rainy so there aren't many people on the streets and you can just wander around until you find the place which just feels right. This is what we did. We hit the main drag first, just as a point of reference but every food establishment we saw was a chain or a pub or someplace which didn't appeal for one reason or another. So we started veering off on side streets, finding out of the way squares, fountains in the middle of the street, quaint little shops and cafes and eventually, we came across Cantinetta di Norma, which was a tiny little place, with great pastas and a wonderful tiramisu for dessert. After a leisurely dinner we wandered around some more, and eventually found ourselves at an English language movie theatre where we caught a late showing of "The King's Speech" before heading back to the hotel.

Saturday morning, we were up and, after a nice hotel breakfast, were on our way to find the Spanische Hofreitschule (The Spanish Riding School) in the Hofburg. This is the home of the World Famous Lipizzan Stallions. These horses are amazing. the precision with which they move around the arena is phenomenal. Then, when you add in the jumps and walking sideways... it's really something which needs to be seen.

Leaving there took us, after searching for the (currently closed) Jewish Museum, to the Albertina. Ironically, we didn't see any of the permanent exhibits (well, except for the monkeys) but instead spent our time looking at two of the three temporary exhibits. The first was on Der Blaue Reiter, an art movement founded in Germany in the early part of the 20th century. One of the founders of the movement was Wassily Kandinsky, whom I had heard of, but the rest...not so much. Claudia knew them though (she having a degree in Art History) and was quite enlightening. For me, though, the best thing was being introduced to Alfred Kubin, who was independently drawing what Lovecraft was writing about. Just wonderfully dark, depressing and powerful surreal visions. These are the kind of pieces of art which inspire me to write stories for them.

We also saw an showing of Pop Artist Mel Ramos' work and I have to admit, I wasn't very impressed. The show was called "Girls, Candies and Comics" and I was excited to see what it was all about - and while there were some nice, skillfully rendered pieces, there was nothing to really make it ART. There was nothing deeper than the paint. At least Warhol had a sense of irony and a message he wanted to impart.

We skipped Lichtenstein (we were hungry) and headed across the street to the Hotel Sacher, home of the fabled Sacher Torte...we never made it. See, on the ground floor of the Hotel is the Cafe Mozart, where several key scenes in Carol Reed's 1949 masterpiece, The Third Man, were filmed. I had to go in. The place was packed! We wrangled a table away from an older couple and had coffee and pastries. The reputation of the Sachertorte is well deserved!

After what counted for lunch on Saturday we headed off in search of Freud's office, although, by the time we found it it was almost closing time so we just grabbed some literature and decided on our next move. For me, that consisted of going to see the Riesenrad (Giant Wheel). Again, this was used for a key scene in The Third Man and the last time I was here in Vienna, I didn't ride it - and I wanted to. So off we trudged to the Prater.

The Prater is an amusement park with an interesting business plan. Each of the attractions is owned and operated by different factions so while there's no entrance into the park itself, each thing to do costs. Thankfully, we only wanted to ride the wheel. We rushed through the midway, which was loud and noisy and full of strobe lights and made our way to the Wheel's entrance. Before you get to the area where you can enter the cars there's a kind of museum with dioramas showing the history of the park, which was interesting, but it was getting late and we wanted to see the sights from almost 65 meters up. The cars are interesting. Unlike the more modern Ferris Wheels, which allow two or three people to sit along a bench, or in a small car with benches on either side, the cars on the Riesenrad are fairly large and are often rented out for corporate events or romantic dinners. It seemed like every other car contained white clothed tables and buckets of pretzel sticks and bubbly beverages. Our car, on the other hand, was spartan, with a lone bench in the middle and room to walk around the perimeter to look out the windows.

At this point we had decided on a quick trip back to the hotel, a nap and then another late night film, this time True Grit. Before the movie, though, we did a bit of walking around Stephansplatz, the big square in the center of town, which is named for Stephansdom, the main cathedral in Vienna (as well as one of the tallest in the world. It was night time, so the main part of the church was closed off, but we could still have a quick look inside. Then it was off to another cafe for a quick bite before the film. See, Vienna is known for its cafe culture. On Saturday night we found Cafe Korb. Unlike Cafe Mozart, which was a definite tourist attraction, with an old world elegance and a low-pressure turnover, Cafe Korb was a locals joint where the vibe was relaxed and artsy. Were I to live in Vienna, I would be a regular here. Especially once I saw the performance space in the basement, which had bookshelf wallpaper. The tables were cracked formica, the menus printed on day-glo poster board and yet the waiters were dressed in tuxedos. And the patrons were all characters right of some 70s surreal arthouse drama. I loved it! We reluctantly tore ourselves away to make sure we didn't miss the film, then headed back to the hotel on the infrequent Ubahn.

Sunday morning was sunny (still cold though) and we headed up to Schönbrunn Palace, which housed on its grounds the oldest zoo in the world. This was a palace for the Habsburgs and is huge and amazing. We walked around and decided not to take the interior tour but instead, visit the Palmenhaus, an incredible Victorian glass enclosed green house featuring 4500 different species of plants. We thought about hitting the zoo, but we were fast running out of time, so instead, we walked around the perimeter, then grabbed our bags from the hotel and headed back towards the airport.

My bus was a few minutes late but I made it back to Budapest, with just barely enough time to get to the station, buy a ticket and make my train for home.

Great Day in Lithuania

Thursday was a long, but really good day! It started early when we caught the train to Kaunas - which, of course, was late due to the snow. This worked out in our favor since we were waiting on Rokas, Roo's magic partner, who was going to spend the day with us and HIS train was delayed so he made it to Vilnius before we left.

Kaunas is the second biggest city in Lithuania, home of a University and "The Naked Man," an amazing sculpture (see pictures here) and a really pretty town overall. We were only there for a few hours, just to walk around, meet some people and then we headed back.

The train back was a riot. We started off having to move wince the seats we originally picked were surrounded, just before the train left the station, by a group of drunk, load blue collar workers. It was not a place we wanted to spend the 70 minute ride. So off we went, in search of three seats together. THere were none to be had on the train with the exception of moving in on someone else sitting peaceably by themselves... which is what we did.

Back in Vilnius we had dinner together then said good-bye to Rokas and Rolanda and I went to the symphony!

That's right, I said symphony! I don't think I've ever been to the symphony before. Sure, I've been in and seen musicals with full orchestras, even seen symphonies on TV, but this was different. Okay, to be fair, they were playing the music of Queen (highly orchestrated and barely recognizable, but still, there was a chill when the kettle drum beat out the beat of "We Will Rock You").

I loved it! Maybe it's like hockey where you need to see it live to fully appreciate it, but it was great! The conductor is LIthuania's best (and how awesome is it that in a country of just over 3 million people, it's entirely possible to not only have a 'best' but also easily get tickets to see him?) and he was having a great time waving his baton! Also, being there live I could look around and watch the people the camera wouldn't focus on, like the first cellist who was rocking out and the members of the men's chorus who were bored in between their own bits. My only complaint was that it was too short. It only lasted about an hour and they didn't play "Under Pressure." Okay, maybe they did but I didn't hear it. I did hear "Killer Queen," "We Are the Champions," "Bicycle," the aforementioned "We Will Rock You" and of course "Bohemian Rhapsody."

Afterwards, we walked across the Neris river (which bisects Vilnius) on the White Bridge, notable for the fact that halfway across there's a sign imploring people NOT to jump! Seems Lithuania is the suicide capital of Europe and this bridge is a prime spot. Even in death, it's all about location, location, location!

From there it was an easy bus ride home where the mildness of the weather caused my brain to agree to go sledding at 10pm. So after changing clothes we grabbed the sled, headed for a small hill in the complex, and spent a half hour shooting down the snow covered embankment.

A pretty good day!

White Christmas...

Well...

It's been a while since I updated, I know, I'm bad. That said, not much new has been going on. I have been going to Budapest on a fairly regular basis, both for work and to see friends I've made there, and I took an early Christmas trip to Heidelberg to see Claudia and David and even met up with Tom and Jerri, my cousins whom I never saw in the states, but here in Europe, will probably be seeing much more of. In fact, lunch with them was great. Aside from a brief visit in Vegas a few months back, when they came to see me where I was working, this was probably the longest conversation I'd had with them in 10-15 years. It was really nice and I'm looking forward to doing it more!

As for Claudia and David, we had a bunch of fun! We went ice skating and D and I put together C's new bed. That's right, AAron, I finally got my CHANCE to teach someone "Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey" and the kid picked it up pretty good! The hardest part was him wrapping his head around the idea that the nut changed direction when the we were working on the opposite end of the bolt but overall he did a great job!

So now onto Christmas... Rolanda had invited me to spend the holidays with her and her family up in Vilnius, Lithuania back when she was visiting Hungary so naturally, I accepted. It had been two years since I'd been in Vilnius and I remembered it as a great place so going back seemed like a fun idea!

Of course, what fails in the windmills of my mind is that when I was in Vilnius last, it was the beginning of July. The end of December is a VERY different thing and the city is a VERY different place. Just getting there was different. I flew from Budapest to Prague (ahhh... Prague... Hi Jennica!) where our plane was delayed by an hour due to inclimate weather conditions and then the flight from Prague to Vilnius was booked solid (as opposed to the first leg, where I could spread out and relax). That said, the flight was fun and I ended up sitting with two Lithuanian girls and we had a blast, drinking wine making emergency row jokes (we were asked to move to the emergency row when the people originally there decided their small child couldn't open the door if required).

Once we landed, though, and stepped outside, the primary different between summer and winter presented itself in two main ways - it was dark at 4pm and it was freaking cold! Roo met me at the terminal and we cabbed it back to her place, where I was immediately gifted with cold weather gear including shoes, fur-lined gloves, a russian style hat with ear-flaps and a set of yaktrax! This was good, because we immediately set out on an adventure to the city center to see the sites and meet up with Roo's friend Julija!

The next day was Christmas Eve, which, in Europe, is when gifts are exchanged and family meals are eaten (it happens on Christmas as well, but they get a good head start on things here). Roo and I headed to the nearby mall so I could do some shopping, eat a traditional Lithuanian lunch and see the tribute to Lithuania's sole NHL player (it was in a glass case INSIDE the mall). Dinner that night was a multi-course feast with lots of seafood. I also got to meet Ričardas, Roo's brother, who is a great guy and a science fiction fan!

Christmas Day I was a good jew and we went to the movies. This is was to be the first English film I'd seen in a theatre in four months and I chose Tron. It wasn't bad... wasn't great but it looked nice (and we'd watched the original that morning so we had that fresh in our minds - the difference in graphics was astonishing).

Then came Boxing Day! We were up early to catch a cab to take us to the bus station where we were going to sit for four and half hours while driving clear across the country to Palanga, a beautiful little resort town on the Baltic Coast.

A word, now, about bus travel in Eastern European, former Soviet bloc countries... Pee before you get on the bus! The modern looking double decker we were riding in had no modern facilities! Hell, the overhead lights didn't even work. So naturally, I fell asleep. I slept through the first two hours or so and woke up justin time for a bathroom stop in a tiny little village. I took my 1 lita coin and headed out to the concrete bunker with the big WC painted on it. After walking down two flights of stairs I met a woman straight out of Central Casting who, in exchange for my money, not only allowed me access to the toilets, but even gave me a handful of paper to use while i was in there! I was overwhelmed by the generosity! I shouldn't have been. The toilets were holes in the ground with foot prints on either side (directions were pretty obvious). Of course, there was no heating - the only relief from the elements was the gray concrete enclosing the room. I left after exposing the barest minimum of my flesh to the cold, kept the paper in my pocket in case I needed it next time, and headed back to the bus.

We finally arrived in Palanga and, after a few missteps, found our hotel. Once we dropped everything off we headed out for a walk. Let me tell you, there is nothing so depressing as a beach town in winter. Especially on the beach itself. Even the boats were out of the water! And it was cold! But we walked along the coast then back to the main tourist road before finding a pizza place to have lunch.

After lunch, a walk through the park and towards the Amber museum kept us occupied until the sun went down, around 5pm. The museum itself was closed, but the building and grounds were beautiful. Evidently, this had, at one time, been a home of one of the richest men in Lithuania and the park was donated to the city after his death.

With the dropping of the sun came a dropping in temperature so we headed back to the hotel for a dinner and night of games on the iPad.

Monday morning, bright and early (well, not that bright since the sun doesn't come up until around 8:45 and even then it was mostly behind clouds all day) we walked up to the bus station to grab the intercity van to Klaipeda, which, at 150K people, is Lithuania's third largest city. It's also a newly discovered cruise ship stop and a university town. We hit the ground running (again, just a phrase, since the snow was thick and any running we did was more like slogging wetly) and found the sculpture garden (home to over 140 pieces of 3D art) on our way to the tourist information office, where we picked up a map listing local attractions. We started off by heading to the harbor where there was a sculpture of a ghost Roo wanted to see. It was very cool. And it was next to an old fashioned swing-away bridge (like a drawbridge only it rotated out of the way instead of lifted - I know because we got to watch them turn the clockwork mechanism - not easy in the -8c weather). Then it was time for lunch or tea or something. We couldn't go to any museums or other indoor attractions since it was a monday two days after Christmas and EVERYTHING was closed! Even the restaurant we wanted to go to didn't open until 5pm. So instead, we wandered around until we found a cool little alleyway with a restaurant inside.

I had traditional Lithuanian food (potato dumpling wrapped around a sausage) with a beer. And seriously, what is it about Eastern Europe and jelly? I'm not talking about jam style jelly but food-thickener stuff. Everything here has a jelly glaze, especially desserts. But the potato dumplings looked like a shiny, smoother piece of gefilte fish (and if you don't know what that is, be thankful!). But anyway, while we ate we again looked over our map to see what we wanted to see. There were a few pieces of public art which looked interesting, like a dragon mounted on a wall explaining the legend of the founding of the village and a marble and bronze cat which, if you rubbed its tail, would bring good luck. Unfortunately, we weren't sure exactly where we were in town (remember, we had just stumbled across this place to eat).

Now, as most of you know, I have no problems in asking for directions. I'm not macho in that way. There are many battles to be fought, and wasting time looking for something to prove the competency of the male ego is not one of them. So I pulled out the map and stopped the waitress and asked her where we were so we could find what we wanted to see...

Evidently, they hire for looks at this place, not brains, because while both the waitress AND the hostess were very attractive, neither of them could find our location on the map (and YES, it was there - in fact, the statue of neptune outside the alley was actually LISTED on one of the maps). Seriously, they both looked at the map, tried to find the street name (I showed them the main street we had walked down) and in the end, shrugged their pretty shoulders, tossed their blonde and dark hair (respectively) and flounced away to chatter at the bar. And I couldn't even explain this away with the old 'well, there must have been a language barrier' since I had a NATIVE SPEAKER with me - who, by the way, made the same comment I did about brains and beauty.

We finally did find the Dragon, which was cool, and the cat, which took some doing since the map was 'not to be used for navigation, but for reference only' (and it was nearly covered in snow) and then decided that since it was getting late and the sun, which had, in fact, peeked out for a little bit, was now retreating again, we should make our way back to the station to get back to Palanga for dinner.

In Palanga we had nice meal at the Steak House, where we couldn't order burgers since they had run out of buns, and our waiter, who was new, was more attentive than a cat waiting for you to drain the newly opened tin of tuna. On a side note, when the temperature is below -10 outside, 'dressing for dinner' takes on a whole new meaning!

Walking back to the hotel, it was a relief to know we weren't the only temperature impaired people who visited the sunny seaside in the dark of winter. A number of people were strolling about, including families with small children who, instead of being pushed in strollers, were being pulled on sleds.

Tuesday morning saw us checking out and heading back to the park in the daylight. We did a little bit of shopping, some photo safari adventuring and then realized none of that took up nearly as much time as we thought it would and so, when the snow began to really come down, we ended up in a coffee shop next to the bus station waiting for our ride back to Vilnius.

All in all, while it was fun and interesting to see the Baltic coast, I'd suggest waiting for summer -- or at least sun -- to really make the most of it.

Chateau de Chillon

Switzerland, while nice, is, as I've said, incredibly expensive. And since I'm not sue I'll ever be back here, I wanted to see this castle which is about 45km from Geneva, just outside the Jazz Festival home Montreux. It's also where Byron wrote a fairly famous poem, "The Prisoner of Chillon." about Francois de Bonivard. Evidently this trip was becoming a fair bit about Lord Byron.

The train ride up to the the castle was easy enough, I bought my round trip ticket and castle entrance in Geneva (and saved a few bucks) so I didn't have to worry about that and the stop was about 100m from the entrance so everything was good. Along the way the tracks hugged the shoreline of Lake Geneva and presented some wonderful views.

The castle itself claims to be one of the best preserved castles in Europe and while I don't know how accurate that is, this building is remarkably complete. Most castles you visit which are this old are basically ruins with a weather beaten illustration telling you what used to be there. Not this one! Here you get the rooms, with original (if restored) decorations and wall paintings. I again took advantage of the audio tour and so followed a proscribed path around the structure which takes you into almost every room and across the sentry walks and even up into the castle's keep, which, at 25m, is the highest point around.

The castle is built on an island so it is completely surrounded by water (conveniently creating a moat).

The tour starts downstairs in the dungeon, where you see not only where Byron's "prisoner" was chained up for four years, but also where Byron himself scratched his name into the pillar. Then through four different courtyards and a multitude of rooms (including the grand ballrooms and the toilets) you get a real sense of the history of the place and all the people who lived there over the years.

After the castle, I walked the 4km to Montreux, a high end resort town (seriously, if I thought Geneva was expensive!) complete with a casino and a statue of Freddie Mercury who, evidently, considered Montreux a second home). Then a quick train ride back to Geneva and a walk through the city center to pick up some souvenirs and enjoy my last night there.

I even avoided eating out and fixed myself pasta with a cheap, watery sauce back in my hotel.

In the morning I discovered I had picked the perfect time to leave. It was gray and overcast and, by the time I got to the airport, was raining.

I met up with Christie and Meg at the EasyJet check in counter and we headed off together to find food and our flight.

It was a great vacation but I was looking forward to getting home. There was a dog and my own bed awaiting me.

CERN

Friday morning I was excited! This is what I had been waiting for! As soon as I decided on Geneva as a destination (I was originally going to go to Croatia but decided to go there in the spring when it's warm and I can fully appreciate the beach!) I booked a reservation for the grand tour at CERN labs, home of the Large Hadron Collider - this is the place at the heart of Dan Brown's Angels and Demons and where the Internet was invented. And it was the focus of an episode of The Big Bang Theory! Needless to say, even after things like seeing Byron's house and the UN, I was anticipating this being the highlight of the trip!

It took almost an hour to get there (tram and bus) and when I did it did not disappoint. Pulling up, the place looks like a medium size college campus...albeit a college campus with security entrances and armed guards. On the right you could see a huge brown dome. I didn't know what it was, but it was obviously part of the complex. Unfortunately, at least for the time being, the entrance for the tour was on the opposite side of the road so I went and checked in first. The tour was set for 10am and it was 9:50 so I just sat and waited.

In the lobby, on the floor, was a piece of art which would flash every time a stray shot of gamma radiation would hit it. The flashes were randomized so it created some fun patterns and was a nice visual display about how the Earth is constantly being bombarded by the same radiation that caused the Fantastic Four. Neat, huh?

When the tour started, the group of us (about 12 in all) were taken into a small room and shown a video about the history of CERN (which in French originally stood for Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire - The European Council for Nuclear Research) and was founded in 1954. It's an open door research lab. Everything is published and, according to our guide (herself a post doc from UCLA) there is no weapons research happening. If I understood her correctly, basically anyone could take the research and do with it what they will (albeit with a licensing fee - which is how the lab partially funds itself). Research from here has contributed to a number of things we use everyday, from the aforementioned Internet (Tim Berners-Lee came up with it while working on a CERN project called ENQUIRE in 1989 as a way to share data amongst researchers. The Internet is barely old enough to drink and yet, look at all the trouble it's caused!

After our introduction to the labs, it was time to meet our guide who was going to take us to the ATLAS facility. See the LHC had four places along the 27km circumference where the beams cross (yes, in this instance it's okay to crass the beams) and the collisions take place. ATLAS is one of them.

Up until about 18 months ago, tours could still go down into the tunnel and see the inner workings, but ever since they actually started using the thing, about a year ago, you need very special permission and high ranking security clearances to get down there. Once those beams get going they can produce a lot of energy and the CERN folks just don't want tourists getting hurt. Fair trade I say. What we do get to see, however, is the control room and the electronics and models and mock-ups of the interesting stuff happening 100m below our feet. The ATLAS itself is the size of a four story office building so really, not a lot to grasp by seeing it up close. Better to get the perspective to fully understand it.

After the tour, there were two museum style areas with hands on exhibits and interactive learning centers so we could explore and learn more about particle physics and various other aspects of physical science.

Oh yeah...and they have a gift shop!

After CERN, I headed back towards Geneva centre and wandered around a bit. I'd been seeing signs for the Museum of Natural History, which was free, so I decided to check that out as well. The exhibit being advertised was on volcanos, so I thought that might be fun.

Not sure what I was thinking.

First, everything is in French so actually understanding a lot of what I was looking at was not terribly easy.

Second, the volcano stuff was mostly photographs. Granted, they were cool photos but I didn't quite get a lot of science. There was some, sure, but mostly just cool pictures.

and Third...I HATE Natural History Museums. To be fair, I don't mind the dinosaur bones and geological formation stuff, but taxidermied animals give me the heebie jeebies! I just don't like 'em. And here there were three floors almost completely filled with diorama after diorama after diorama. I probably spent a good 30 minutes there, avoiding the critters and seeing the more historical stuff and then I got the hell out of dodge!

On the plus side, though, I did find a grocery store so I could pick up some food to prepare back at my hotel, which I did when I got there.

Of course, that night, two friends from the same program which brought me to Hungary happened to also be enjoying vacation in Geneva so we met up for a wonderful Swiss dinner of cold cuts and cheese fondue. It was delicious and certainly something I never would have done on my own.

Let me just take a minute to say that while I'm not opposed to nice dining, it's just not something I enjoy doing on my own. And since I most often travel on my own, I end up eating a lot of fast food and quickie meals. For me, eating is a social event and I have no problem spending money when I'm enjoying the company, but on my own, I'd rather just eat and get back to what I was doing - there's often lots to see and do.

That said, dinner with Christie and Meg was fabulous. We met up at the train station and found (with suggestion from the concierge at the Warwick Hotel) a great locals place with a friendly waiter and perfect atmosphere. Christie and I even had a beer!

After dinner we went for a nice long walk along the lakeshore and past the flower clock and to the square with the lighted pavement pieces.

I'd decided I was going to go up to Montreux the next day to see Chillon Castle but they girls decided to stay in town and explore Geneva and France some more. We said we'd either meet up for dinner on Saturday or at the airport on Sunday (we were on the same flight back to Budapest). So after a spectacular evening, we said good night and each headed our separate directions for whatever adventures awaited us the next day.

On a clear day you can see... Mont Blanc

So Thursday I woke up early and headed out. After my long walk the day before I figured today was a day of standing around and looking at things. I already knew I was going to go to the Fondation Martin Bodmer, a rare book museum which seemed to be open only Thursdays between 2 and 6pm and the odd Friday so this was going to be my only chance. So the question was, what do I do with my morning?

Well... Geneva, in addition to being home of knives and neutrality, is home to the European headquarters of the United Nations and, according to the map the nice guy at the tourist office gave me, this was one of those "must see" places and I thought I could figure out how to get there, so it was off to the UN for me!

Of course, when I got there, there was a huge line and most of them were tour groups (and of course, no English signs)so I got in the back of the line and prepared to wait for my turn. A girl got into line behind me who also didn't speak much English (she lived in France, which, as you may or may not know, almost completely surrounds Geneva - In fact, my hotel was in France so I was crossing international borders just to go to bed at night). We exchanged a few words but nothing much... I told her I lived in Hungary and explained a little bit about my tiny village and she smiled, which I thought was nice. Then the guard looked at us, asked how many we were (We each told him "1") and then pulled us in front of the groups and sent us inside. Of course, there were no instructions on the inside so we stood for a few minutes until I went up to a lineless window and asked about the tour. Sure enough, that was where we had to go. So I called my new friend over and we signed up for a tour. Being the UN, we had to show passports in order to get in, so I pulled out mine, and that was fine, but when she did, I noticed her passport was Hungarian! Her indulgent smile when I was describing Mezotur wasn't due to any type of communication gaps... she knew the town! She was in France working for the semester and would be going back to Hungary at the end of the year! The whole world is Hungarian if you look! At this point, we exchanged names, Her's is Zsuzsa, and we became tour buddies!

The tour itself was pretty interesting. We got to see a number of meeting rooms and chambers, which, to some, may not be all that interesting, but then again, what do you expect from the UN? All they do there is hold meetings. For me, I gotta say, there was a slight catch in my throat when we walked into the main chamber and saw the huge United Nations logo on the wall. No, this isn't where Kruschev took off his shoe, but it was still impressive. World policies were decided in these rooms.

We also got to see a bit of the old building which was the original headquarters of the League of Nations, predecessor of the UN. On the bridge to the old building we could look out and see Mont Blanc. The guide said it was unusual since the sky was usually overcast, but today was brilliant - sunny and relatively warm.

After the tour, Zsuzsa and I said good bye (she had to get back to work) and I headed off, camera in hand, sweatshirt in bag, to walk along the banks of Lac Leman on the way to catch my bus to the museum.

As I said, the weather was beautiful. UN workers were jogging or eating or working in the green park which paralleled the water and I was just enjoying the sights and sounds. At one point I looked inland and saw a mansion of sorts with some people sitting in front eating or reading, but that wasn't unusual. What was unusual was the two parabolic dishes set up on either side of the courtyard. Now, I've been to enough science museums to know that's an experiment in sound waves so unless the owner of this particular mansion was a HUGE science geek, this was probably some sort of exhibit hall.

I was right.

And it was free (something I was coming to realize didn't happen often in Geneva, where a Mcdonald's meal can run you $12) so I went in. I figured I had a few minutes to spare.

The museum had an exhibit on force so there were a lot of gears and pulleys and water wheels on display. And then their permanent displays were all on the history of science so overall, a very cool, very informative hour or so (I could imagine this would be a place to bring the kids on a rainy weekend). Then it was time to move on.

I stopped at the lighthouse across from the Jet D'eau and saw some interesting sculpture and then found my bus to get out to the Bodmer.

The Bodmer is in a suburb, I guess, called Cologny, which seems like the Bel Air of Geneva. Lots of big houses with lake views! And the Bodmer itself? Amazing! It's actually open more than just thursdays and it's a beautiful facility, really well designed. The special exhibition they had going on was on medical texts dating from the 800s (scrolls) up through the 1600s (William Harvey On The Blood). I got the audio tour (and the teacher discount, which doesn't really exist but he gave it to me anyway) and this was the only downside... there were about 250 items in the exhibit and the audio guide talked about maybe 175 of them in significant detail. It was fascinating but
a bit overwhelming at times. And once I was done seeing the special collection I had a look at the permanent items, which included several Shakespeare pieces (a First Folio amongst them) and a Gutenberg Bible! Very impressive, I must say. I was there for a good three plus hours and probably could have gone back for more on a different day to see more of the collection.

The bus to and from this area doesn't come very often, so when I finally left the gallery, I had a bit of time to wait. I decided to get a coffee in a little shop just up the road from the bus stop. While talking to the girl working, she mentioned the beautiful sunset and that I should go to a park just up the road to really get a good look at it. I checked the bus schedule, another one would be coming along in a bit so I had time to go for a walk.

As I made my way to the view point, I passed a bunch of really nice houses, one of which had a plaque on the wall outside proclaiming Lord Byron had stayed there in 1816...

Villa Diodati!

The Villa I really wanted to see and all of a sudden, here it was, right in front of me. Needless to say I was pretty damn excited! So pictures were taken of the house and the sunset and I eventually made it back to the center of town where I made it back to my hotel.

Day two in Geneva proved to be a huge success. I couldn't wait to see what Friday would bring!

Geneva

This entry actually starts on Tuesday, November 2nd with a lot of travel. Malev, the Hungarian Airline, is okay. Nothing fancy but then there doesn't need to be. I made my flight (not as easy as it sounds, I got confused at the gate - there's a difference between Gate 22 and Gate 22A - and they took me into a special room to make the power cord of my computer wasn't a bomb) and made it back to Budapest easily enough. I even felt like a native as I was able to help some newly landed folks find their way to their destinations.

My own destination, though, was a different terminal (which was only accessed by public transportation or a more expensive airport shuttle). At the terminal I waited in line for the check in gate to open and then hung out in the cafe downloading TV shows courtesy of the free wifi. And then when they called for the flight, I had to jam everything into my one carry on. See, EasyJet is very cheap, but that's because they skimp on everything. Everything! Checked luggage is extra. Drinks on board? Extra. I think even the electronics on the plane are cheap since on both Malev flights I had my iPad working (reading or watching) during take-off and landing and no one said a word. EasyJet? Made me shut it off.

Anyway, we landed in Geneva and I made friends with a local who promised to get me to the train station. In exchange, I found a free ticket for the train to get us into town.

I found my tram and headed towards my hotel. I was a bit nervous but ultimately, it was fairly easy to find. It's not bad, and for Geneva, relatively inexpensive. Not hostel cheap but not bad. I got in, sorted everything out and got to bed. I knew Wednesday was going to be a long day.

So I woke up and headed out to explore a city built on anonymous banking, knives for a neutral army and chocolate worth starting wars over (except they have those cool knives so no one ever does!) First things first though, as always in a new city, I hit the information desk and got some maps and brochures.

Look, I freely admit it, I like being a tourist! There, I said it! and I'm not gonna apologize for it, either. I like seeing the things everyone wants to see (at least the first time I'm in a place). When I get back from somewhere, and I tell someone where I've been, they are for sure going to ask "Did you see...?" And while I'm not gonna always be able to answer yes, I'd like to at least some of the time. So anyway, I'm at the information center and they guy gives me a map with a walking tour laid out. Now, those of you playing at home might remember the last time I went on a walking tour suggested by the guy at the information desk so I was pretty much prepared for anything.

"Thankfully, it wasn't nearly so dramatic. Instead, after a few missteps early on, I followed the path and saw most of Old Town Geneva. Naturally, I stopped and did a few tours along the way. The first was in place called Maison Tavel, literally "the Maison House."

It's one of the oldest houses in Geneva and they've done the museum up right. Some very cool stuff showing the ways various owners had changed things, how people lived during various centuries and of course, the room of doors. There was a room with doors, old pub signs and a number of keys and locks. Awesome! They also had some of the original stone pieces which had been rescued from outside and had been restored, but they didn't want them in the weather, so the ones outside were fakes while inside we got the real deal - close enough so you could really examine 'em, too. One of them looked like a 3D rendering of a playing card figure.

I also walked through the Promenade de la Treille, home to a beautiful double row of chestnut trees and the longest park bench in the world. This was the 16th century equivalent of lovers lane. Come to think of it, this may have been the original. The centerpiece of old town (but not the symbol for the city) is Cathedrale St-Pierre. No pun intended, but it towers over the city. It's on the highest hill and the two towers (separated by the gothic bell tower) can not only bee seen from almost everywhere, but they themselves offer a commanding view of the whole valley. How do I know this? Easy, I paid the four Swiss Francs for the privilege of walking up the 170 steps to the top. I did get some great pictures of the city from the balcony around the north tower and some interesting graffiti from the display room at the top of the south tower. Continuing my walk, I went to the Espace Rousseau (birthplace of Jean Jacques Rousseau, philosopher/writer), saw a great park where people (and small children) were playing large size chess and I ended with the Flower Clock.

The one thing, besides the church, which can be seen from anywhere in town is the Jet d'eau - a huge plume of water which rises over 400 feet into the air, releasing over 100 gallons a minute. THIS is the symbol of the city. And it's pretty spectacular. It runs most days until dusk, only being turned off for inclimate winds (over 12km/h). My first time seeing it up close (and yes, you can walk right out to it) there was a rainbow and it cast a beautiful mist over a nearby lighthouse.

Since it was still early-ish in the afternoon, I decided to take a boat tour up into Lac Leman. It wasn't the best as far as tours go, but it did give a nice overview of things on the shoreline. I did, however, miss Villa Diodata, the house where Byron wrote part of Childe Harold and the location of the infamous dark and stormy night where Mary Shelly came up with the idea for Frankenstein. I was kinda bummed about missing it since, as far as literary events go, those were a couple of biggees and the villa itself is in private hands and not open for visiting. So having missed it here I didn't think I'd get the chance to see it this trip.

On the other side of the lake was the facade of the UN and a number of other entities (WHO among them). I was hoping to get up to see those, so pictures were also in order. and then there was the Little Mermaid of Geneva. Still not entirely sure on the story behind this one, but it's a nice sculpture in front of a great house. In fact, there's a number of fantastic sculpture pieces scattered around town. Europe has a thing for public art and I can't really say I disagree.

After the boat ride, I wandered the streets, just taking in the sights. It's a lovely city... well the old town is. Out in the suburbs it's the same as anywhere else but the main drags are incredibly expensive shops with names I've heard of but can't afford.

Not a bad first day.

Heidelberg

Here in Europe, at least in some parts of it including Hungary, this week was fall break. This meant I had a whole week off from work and I was going to take advantage of it. My first stop was Germany.

It'd been a while since I'd been to Heidelberg - almost a year in fact. So I was a bit nervous. I was nervous flying in and nervous on the Lufthansa Bus for the 50 minute ride from Frankfurt...

I needn't have been.

When Claudia and David pulled up She was smiling and David was waving his arm like a crazy kid so all was good. We hugged hello, piled into the car and headed for their new place. Truth be told, it wasn't far from the old place and yet, even though the old place was right across from the river and a grassy area, here we started my stay by trying to rescue a hedgehog who was wandering the streets!

Our good deed done, we headed inside, put the child to bed and then talked until 3 in the morning. It was good. It had been too long since we'd actually spoken and I missed it. Of course, somewhere in that conversation (or maybe it had been in a text exchange leading up to the visit, I don't know) I said I would get up on Saturday morning with David so Claudia could sleep in. This was okay. I get up early anyway and it would be fun to take David to the bakery and get rolls for breakfast and hang out.

Except of course, nothing works the way you think it will. Sure, I got up and D. and I went out to the bakery (he even told me the right one to go to) and we got our rolls and headed back home...which was locked. No problem, I had taken the extra key. Except I had left the other key in the lock on the inside and that trumped my key on the outside so we were locked out. No problem, we would just ring the doorbell and wake Claudia up.

Needless to say, D. and I grabbed a soccer ball from the basement and ate our rolls on the field while we kicked a ball around for an hour. By the time we were finished, we were able to get back in the house and on with the rest of our day, which was rather domestic, really. We went downtown, did some shopping, had a pizza and then headed for home (with a stop at Woolworth's to get D. a set of devil bunny ears and German colored sweat bands. The kid's got style, I'll give him that!

Also on Saturday I took a shower. Now normally this isn't news but this was the first real shower I'd had in 2 1/2 months and it was glorious! Claudia's new flat has a really modern bathroom, complete with heated tile flooring. Honestly, I probably spent twice as long as I should have letting the water run over me and then standing in bare feet on the tile.

So then, Sunday was a day for rest and relaxa---what am I saying? With an eight year old, R&R is a myth on the scale of Greedo shooting first! Instead, on Sunday we decided to go up the mountain to visit this little fairy-tale amusement park D. had been wanting to see. We rode the funicular up (and let's face it, funicular is fun to say - even has "fun" right there in it!) with the proviso we would walk down. Of course, on the ride up, David decided he was going to be like Joe Strummer on the "Rock the Casbah" video - he just did not want to be photographed! This led to some great shots of him with his stripy hat pulled over his face, though, so I think it was a win/win.

The park was nice... and D. liked it so that was good. For the adults it was a little weak. The totally unsafe bumper cars were a blast and the pedal operated dragon was fun, but like I said, he had fun so that was the point... Then came the walk down.

It was long and tiring and we kept having to get out of the way of the crazy people riding their bicycles down the mountainside at serious breakneck speed. I swear it's amazing one of them didn't take a total header and destroy something. We spent the evening at home, playing games and just chilling out.

This was good since Monday morning (All Saints Day - a National Holiday) was going to be an early one. D. was starting a camp during his fall break from school (he had it too) and Claudia and I were heading to Baden Baden (about an hour away) to check out the Miró exhibit at the museum there.

Baden Baden is beautiful beautiful (I had to... you know I did!) It's like the Sedona of Germany (with healing spas instead of lay lines) and thankfully, all the shops were closed because we couldn't afford to walk in, let alone actually buy anything.

The museum itself is amazing. Really well designed, light and easy to see everything. And Miró...what can I say? I've always enjoyed his work, but now I have a much greater respect for him as a man. Of course, since everything was in either German or Spanish, I couldn't understand anything. Claudia got the audio guide and would listen and then tell me the salient points so I could get most of it. It was fun, though, to play art critic before she listened and then see how close we came. We actually did pretty well.

Monday night was another evening of games (They had some very cool games - one where we built medieval villages and one where you had 9 blocks of wood and had to create structures from a design on a card within a time limit).

Tuesday morning and again, we were up early, but this time it was so I could grab a cab to the bus to the airport. My vacation was only half over and, after a brief stopover back in Budapest, I was heading to Geneva, Switzerland!