Budpest One

I wish I had a talent for poetry-or any form of artistic expression really- every time I see the above sight, especially from a train. There is something about these slowly revolving silhouettes against a blue sky that has iconic powers for me--a sort of short cut straight from this image to feelings of  hope and awe and pride.   Engineering is magical to me--in that I do not understand it at all, and it requires a sort of vision that seems like clairvoyance.  I did not read my "how things work" books closely enough as a child.  And, while I recognize the need to reduce our energy consumption,  I am hopeful that more and more energy will be gained from non-fossil fuel sources.  As the train rolls along, I am sure more and more of us could  slow down to this kind of life--A life of train travel and softer engagements with mother nature for our energy needs.  

Those particular windmills were on the otherwise not-that-scenic trip from Vienna to Budapest.  Here is the waiter from our first night showing off the "Bull's Blood" wine that Hungary is famous for.  It was good. Have I blogged about wines yet?
Well, I mostly drink reds so here is terribly unsophisticated rundown--because I don't really care about "hints of this or that" .

Austrian:
Blau Frankish--my favorite Austrian.  Nice and strong and seems to be good across brands.
Zweigelt--least favorite but fine.  Can be rather good to bad depending on brand and age.
Blauer Portugieser- too sweet.
St. Laurent- nice. lighter.  better with light meals (and Austrian food is anything but light)

Slovenia:
Refosk--Awesome.  Favorite in all of Europe. Strong Dry.  Taste the Karst.  Yum.

Italy:
All good, solid reds.
Taste just like Italian wines in America. :-)

Prague:
Budwieser (the Original) Beer.  Does anyone drink wine in Prague?

Budapest:
Bull's Blood--really a mix of a few grapes.  Yeah, it's red like blood is red.  Fine but nothing to write home about.
Had one of the smoothest beers ever at the restaurant Menza who brew their own.  Another place where I'd stick to beer.

Beet risotto with goat cheese.  Very very good.  And so pretty.

Hero's Square

A statue of me!!!!!

All my children and the most awesome Doc O (art and architecture) and Herb Czermak (History).
The Budapest trip, whilst set in Budapest, was actually just a huge celebration of our awesome Flow House FAMILY and the arrival of SPRING!  We all were all often arm and arm with each other and all smiles.  This was the weekend when everyone realized that the semester is ending and we have all come to treasure each other (even though the rough times).  

St. Stephan's Basilica.  (Different Saint Stephan than Stephan'sdom--this one is Magyar and a King)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_I_of_Hungary

So, this is his arm.
The bizarre relics we have seen this semester are of untold number.  My favorite is till the tongue of St. Nepumuk in Prague.  

Spring yellows!

The Art Nouveu was strong in Budapest too. 

 

Spring!

 

Bridges over the Danube

 

Gellert Baths---georgeous Art Nouveau baths.  We just looked.

 

Matyas Church

If it seems like I don't know a lot to say about Budapest, that is because two out of three of our guides have no love for Budapest.  It is all neo-something--built up in the 19th century or after WWII.  So, Doc O has no love.
And, as hard as I tried to fill in some gaps with reading, the Spring days took hold and I just enjoyed it at face value. 

From the Buda side.

 

Ljubljana Photos

We had a few hours to kill between trains in Ljubljana.  We ate a great meal for only 9 Euros, walked through the river walk and the market, over the dragon bridge and back to the train station.  I would have loved to spend more time here.  It is very much a mini-Vienna/Budapest.  More intimate- as the guide book says.  

Market

3 rivers statue

Lovers Locks

Dragon Bridge

Two Dragons

Market and River

Dragon

Maya gets silly as we have a little coffee before our train---in the open air cafe....no nasty airport gate.  

Piran 3

Fiesa- a little town down the Northern coast from Piran.  

Beginning of the walk to Fiesa.  That's Croatia in the far background.

  Hrastovlje, Slovenia.

This church was a highlight of the trip for me.  It was in the middle of nowhere.  We had to call a number on the door for the adorably eager care taker to come and open the church for us.  When I asked about a 20 minute audio guide that I had read about in a guide book.  He said, "Yes.  There is.  But if you don't mind my English, I can tell you."  He spent 40 minutes with us answering questions about the frescoes  the church, the region, the town, his family (one of two families who survived a plague in the 16th century), his education in Ljubljana (studying history and geography), and more.  Then, when we went to leave I asked Jarrod to go back and give him a little tip, because he really was a gem and he wouldn't take it.  When Jarrod insisted, he said, "Well, I will give you something for your money," and came back with two bottles of wine from the town's vineyards.  Amazing.
(Oh, and speaking of wine, I fell in love with the Refosk wine in Slovenia.  Yum!)

Straight from Wikipedia: The church has been painted with Gothic frescoes by Johannes de Castua, who finished his work on 13 July 1490.Some of them include letters in the Glagolitic script.^[The most famous of these frescoes is a Dance of Death or "Danse Macabre".They were discovered in 1949 under thick layers of plaster by the academic sculptor Jože Pohlen (sl). 

 

 

 

George and Rachel, who also came to Piran with Jarrod and Gabe.  It is great having students around when travelling.  They really are awesome buffers and motivators for the kids.  And I love them too.

Jarrod with the wine!

The wine from these vineyards.

As I stated in a previous post, Karst regions have amazing caves.  Here we are at Skocjan Cave which really defies description and they don't allow photos.  So, this is as good as it gets.
Particularly interesting were the earlier explorers paths, and the earlier tourists paths from the end of the 19th century carved in the sides of walls.  Scary!
The different formations of stalactites and stalagmites- especially those shaped by wind were fun to contemplate.  I think they grow an inch every 200 years-- better ask Gabe though. Here is a link to some images:
http://www.park-skocjanske-jame.si/eng/skocjan-caves-park_caves.shtml

Gabe, Jarrod, Maya, George and Rachel on the walk out of the caves. 

After the caves, our driver took us to Trieste, Italy for just an hour.  We had the best gelato ever and walked around this square while we ate it. 

Trieste Square

 

Trieste 

This statue made me really really miss my girlfriends--and I already really missed my girlfriends. 

Trieste---Oh this photo reminds me that on the evening that this photo was taken, we were back in Piran, Jarrod and I having a drink while the kids played on the rocks near ocean.  Gabe pushed his luck and ended up falling into the Adriatic--Fully submerged.  He did admit later to staying in for one extra wave before he climbed out.  :-)