The World We Travel

Our Trip to Italy and Germany Fall 2022

Aug 30 In the brand new United Polaris Lounge–waiting for our flight

So soon after Alaska, we’re off again. We caught up with everyone at home, had a BD dinner for Carter and Henry, supposed to be for Sandi as well but she’d just gotten back from an awesome trip to Canada, train and National parks, and had gotten Covid, so she didn’t come. It wasn’t bad at all but she didn’t want to risk infecting anyone..

Also, this was supposed to be with John and Joyce and it was his original idea to go to The Dolomites in Italy then to Germany and we included going to the Passion Play in Oberammergau, this was planned for 2020 but cancelled due to Covid, and we redid everything, replanned it, rebooked everything, got the Passion Play tickets and we’re all set but Joyce has developed a lot of problems with walking. Can’t be solved with surgery and she can only walk short distances, so they decided not to go I was able to cancel all their hotels, but not the Passion Play tickets.

Now here we are–I am enjoying a Mimosa, I wanted an Aperol spritz, but they didn’t have Aperol, the lounge has a full bar, a buffet, a quiet dining area and lots of seating but it is super full. We looked all over for seats and finally just lucked out with some folks leaving. This is clearly a very busy time of day.

The lounge is only for international business class, United has lots of flights.

Weds., Aug 31 Padua

Well, we made it and are now in our lovely and spacious AirBNB apt. in Padua.

After we boarded our flight, we got settled, but no welcome drink! A fail by UA. Then there were some passengers who were not on board, they announced their names, and Austin saw them taking luggage off the plane. The pilot had been urging everyone to get seated quickly in order to avoid thunderstorms approaching. We were able to avoid these but still took off 50 min late–although they were able to nearly make up the time before landing. I started watching “Get Out”, dinner was a delicious steak and broccoli rabe, I had some wine. Then I started “Belfast” before trying to sleep. I’d gotten a bed cover but found it really hard to fall asleep. All in all, I probably slept a little, but not much. I finally gave up and watched the remainder of Belfast, quite good actually. After this, I started the live action, Beauty and the Beast with Emma Watson.

BF was poached eggs, pretty good. During the night, it was also fairly bumpy several times. After takeoff we’d flown slightly west of Manhattan, so a wonderful view, then up the coast of CT–though couldn’t recognize Lloyd Harbor or anything else.

We landed fine and there was a bit of a line for customs, but we didn’t have to wait long. I was trying to book our trains and initially had wifi service, but it went out so we ultimately went to a ticket counter, luckily didn’t have to wait there.

We took the MXP express to Milano Centrale, very crowded with people standing. Then a train to Padua. Got some drinks and a sandwich to share then rode 1st class to Padua.

When we got here, we decided to walk–it was cloudy but not rainy. I had a map I printed and we could pretty easily follow the tram train lines and printed signs. We made it to the Piazza and Giuseppe was here to meet us. He has been so responsive and offered advice and answered questions. The apartment is perfect, very spacious, 2BR, 2 Baths, LR, DR, kitchen, up 1 flight of stairs; he left us some wine and cake–gave us some hints about the area, showed us around and walked me to the TIM store to get a SIM card for Austin’s phone. The apt overlooks a square with AM markets and PM restaurants, but the bedrooms are in the back so quiet.

After I came back with the SIM card, we went out for a little walk. It had been threatening rain and we could see that it had rained, but it had stopped, so just cloudy and warm.

We got some wine, came back, had a little wine then walked to dinner, Based on his recommendation, we went to Pizzaria Ai Duomo about 5 min away, very small, we were early so only one other couple. Only Chardonnay white wine so I got an Aperol spritz and Austin a glass of Prosecco. We shared a large mixed salad then split a pizza with mozzarella, mushroom, ham, sausage, artichoke hearts, very thin crust, and hot out of the oven. Very yummy!

Walked back, there were more folks eating on the square then when we left but the tables were far from filled. Then after a little reading, off to bed.

Thursday, Sept. 1

Woke up to a warm, cloudy, but no rain!–day. We both had trouble sleeping. The bed is OK and temp but time change issues, and there is a bright blue light on the ceiling AC unit which lit up the room and bothered me.

Shower is fine. I walked across the street for coffee and cappuccino and got the “Italian” versions, very small. So went back and got 4 more cappuccinos. Luckily it is right across the piazza, where they are setting up the market at 7AM. With the balcony windows open, we can hear all the activity.

//We had our coffee and the cake Giuseppe left us then went off the visit the Scrovegni Chapel which I’d gotten tickets for while back. Similar to the last supper, you are let into a room then the doors are shut, you watch a video about the frescoes then you are admitted for 15 min. I also had binoculars to see the top ones better.

These were made by Giotto in 1305-1306 and were considered a breakthrough in style due to the 3D depth perception and realistic emotions of the people. Quite stunning, not crowded, so we were able to get good looks. After we were ushered out, we spent a little time in the museum adjacent, mostly Venetian style paintings then walked back to the room. It was very warm and sunny. Austin was feeling slightly upset so we stopped at a pharmacy to get Alka Seltzer equivalent and he rested for a while.

Then back out to go to Palazzo Bo at the University. There was a memorial service being held in the courtyard with a flower draped coffin. We saw several rooms of the university which is celebrating 800 years and has 70,000 students. Its most famous professor was Galileo. When founded, it was not associated with any church so had more freedom of curriculum and courses.

The big draw is a beautiful room with narrow circular spiraling galleries overlooking a small room where autopsies were performed for education. Autopsies were basically illegal in most places. The university received a female and a male body once a year and the autopsies would be performed over several days. If anyone fainted, they could not fall due to the narrowness of the hallway and high wooden barrier walls.

All very interesting. After this, we went to the historic Cafe Pedrocchi. We found a table outside and I had a “small” sandwich with tuna and eggs on white bread, no crusts and “summer coffee” which I though was iced coffee and I had asked this, but turns out to be cold coffee topped with mint whipped cream and it was green. Very weird. Sort of sweet, but not offensive. Really different from what I thought. Austin got iced tea and mixed berries.

We went back to the room to rest for a while then walked to the baptistry. We walked around the cathedral then got tickets for the Baptistry where we had to wait about 15 minutes for entry, so we walked around the block and came back.

We were provided with English headsets then watched a video about the frescoes before going in. Once inside, the headsets delivered commentary while the lighting system was coordinated. Beautiful frescoes and a really great commentary on our phones, not crowded.

After this, we walked to St. Anthony’s Basilica, a pretty long walk. We walked partly along the canal where there were houses, some with balconies over the water.

We were able to go into the cathedral even though there was a mass, and saw St. Anthonys tomb where people were praying and photos of people posted all around–presumably those who were healed. Then out into the beautiful cloisters, then a long walk back.

I’d been having a lot of trouble finding restaurants, many had very limited menus with food we wouldn’t like, many were very heavy on the fish, especially bacalao, dried cod. The one I had settled on was quite a walk so we cancelled that one and eventually we settled on Bacaro Padovano. This turned out to be quite good. We didn’t make reservations and there were two tables available which would be needed later. But all fine. We chose a white wine, Pino Grigio which turned out to be a light rose, but it was good. A little salad to start then we order pasta with pesto, tomatoes, and pecorino and a dish with sliced steak and little slices of zucchini, both were excellent! The pasta perfectly cooked and tasty. The beef, juicy, tender, rare as ordered and even very tasty zucchini all in all very excellent!

Although Austin protested that I was making reservations for 7:30, we basically showed up there at 7:30 and it was fine.

Friday, Sept. 2

We covered up the blue light on the AC unit and I slept exceedingly well last night. All comfy. Up today at 6:30. Another clear, warm day. Sitting here enjoying the sounds of the market setting up outside with the windows open. I walked across the street and got 4 cappuccinos to go, €6.40, very reasonable.

We took our time and walked to the botanical gardens. They weren’t very pretty, almost no flowers, Some old trees, also not very large, they are the oldest botanical gardens in the world and a UNESCO site. We walked over to the large round square Prato de Ville, just to see it then walked back to our square where we had coffee at the little coffee place where I get coffee in the morning. Back out to the train station, where we booked train tickets to Vicenza. Austin told me which track to go to, but eventually we discovered we were not on the right train. I didn’t see the TV monitor and knew we had stops, but it didn’t register until after the first stop that we were going to Venice instead! No one had checked our tickets. Oh well! It was a beautiful sunny day. Venice is lovely and we set out to enjoy it. We walked over a couple of bridges to a small side canal where there was a little cafe with outside tables. Just for the fun of it, we ordered Aperol Spritzes, then shared a bruschetta–really good, thick chewy bread, yummy tomatoes, and soft burrata cheese, plus some spices. Yummy! Then we took a little walk around ending back at the train station.

Booked tickets back to Padua, the trains ran quite frequently. After we arrived, walked back to the room to relax for a while before dinner. Such a lovely place.

Saturday, Sept 3

Had a very nice dinner at La Piccola Trattoria, 6 min walk, a bit north and west, we hadn’t walked this way before. They were just opening up after vacation. There were a few tables outside but we chose inside, a large old room with heavy ceiling beams and old fashioned objects around as decor.

They helped us with the menu–we got a nice white wine, they brought out a large basket of various breads, cracker breads, breadsticks, an interesting type of cracker bread–black, made with squid ink.

We started with a pasta dish, small pastas like orzo but larger made with a sausage based ragu–the dish is called Malloreddus Alla Campedanese. Also a small salad of various lettuces and we shared two mains, a pork dish–sucking pig with crispy skin, yummy and very moist with spinach, and sliced steak and green beans. Good but not as good as the night before. It was a calm, quiet room, lovely dinner. Walked back, square lively with diners.

Up this AM, fall-like cool temp, early AM, clear and sunny. Got my 4 cappucinnos brought back the cups to reuse, and we finished off the cake that Giueseppe had left for us–Austin had a banana, and peach.

Shelby said they booked the Disney cruise to Bermuda, yay! Hopefully will get the kids’ passports back in time. It is a Halloween themed cruise so very cool!

//Bolzano

After our coffee and BF–I had the last of the cake, we went out to walk around the outdoor markets, food and flowers and the inside markets in the old building halls, meat, fish, pasta, cheese, lots of yummy stuff.

We packed up, walked to the EuropeCar across from the train station, we had to wait about 10 min for some folks in front of us.

We’d called prior and said we’d be fine with a smaller car, originally I’d booked a station wagon for enough room for the Murrays and us and luggage. So we got a smaller, but still comfortable Fiat. Had to pick it up in the garage a block away, then we were off. Not too hard to get out of town onto the highways until we reached Bolzano. The road was busy and there were numerous slowdowns. We stopped at a roadside gas station and shared a little sandwich, coffee and water As we got nearer, we saw the mountains emerging, very picturesque.

The day was quite warm and partly cloudy. It had been threatening to rain but luckily that held off.

We had a little weirdness in Bolzano as we tried to get to the parking lot and were turned away, but then drove around trying to avoid the ZTL zone, and finally, coming back by the parking lot, we saw cars being let in so we got there, parked underground, very small spaces! Then walked about 6 minutes to the hotel, sunny, hot, and very crowded.

We found it easily and checked in, I was offered a lower price and a room on a lower floor by booking directly with the hotel, but they at first said no BF included, though that should have been but she checked and all good.

Anyway, we were shown to our room, up another flight of stairs, so up 2 floors. Nice room, an apartment with large bedroom and king bed, large bathroom, kitchenette, dining table, living room area with sofa and TV, very nice!

We rested for a while then went out to see Otzi, the iceman, a human found frozen in an area in northern Italy where the ice has been melting. We didn’t have a ticket, but had to wait in line around 10 minutes to get in. The little museum was set up all around the iceman and you walked through it in a linear fishing starting with the discovery of the body in 1991. Initially, they had no idea how old the body was, eventually he was found to be 5300 years old, older than the Egyptian pyramids. The find was remarkable due to the amazing preservation of his body, skin, and articles of clothing and things he carried. He is kept in cold condition identical to those where he was found. Extensive medical analysis, DNA analysis and analysis of his items have revealed much about life in that era.

You are able to see his body through a small window, then separate exhibits of the clothing items, weapons, carrying items, etc. All quite fascinating and very well done and educational. All signs in several languages. From here we walked a little, all roads were pedestrian only, lots of fruit, bread, etc. street markets. We saw the restaurant I’d picked for tonight, then back to the room, warm, sunny and crowded out, lots of dogs and a fair number of babies.

We were given vouchers for 2 proseccos from the hotel restaurant which has outdoor seating in front of the hotel but the restaurant is round the corner. There was a menu on line, but no prices–I checked it out as posted outside, a bit pricy and pricy wine.

At around 6:45, we went down and got the proseccos at the bar but decided not to inquire about eating there.

We walked down around the block to Paulender Stuben–I had a reservation, but they wouldn’t give me outside seating. It’s weird, because all the restaurants seem full, early in the evening, at least the outside seating. Anyway, we sat inside in a booth. We found a nice sauvignon wine from Italy–very tasty then had a mixed salad and an appetizer with 4 different things, a pasta with ragu, spinach ravioli, dumpling, and some tiny gnocchi with speck, oh so good! Yummy! Then a main course of steak with a little rosti and some veggies, good, rosti, very tasty, steak good but not as good as in Padua at Bacaro Padovana which was supremely juicy.

Walked back, pedestrian streets, crowded restaurants, folks out and about.

Sunday, Sept. 4

Slept well, comfy bed, cool room, dark quiet. BF start time 7:30, but open when we went down at 7:15. The hotel is a connected suite of buildings, old, very nicely furnished, simple and elegant. Beautiful sunny day. Simple BF, eggs are extra. Nice breads and rolls, a little fruit, meats and cheeses. Were the only ones there–so very quiet and calm.

//At hotel Hell (!) Ortisei. Had a wonderful day. The weather beautiful, sunny blue sky with some white clouds, very warm. We drove out of Bolzano with no problem, then spent most of the day driving the “Great Dolomite road” and make a large circle counter clockwise before ending up in Ortisei. Very beautiful scenery, impossible to convey in pictures as we were driving through it all day, pine forests, picturesque villages and towns, and large rocky mountains and formations all around. Road was often a series of horseshoe, hairpin turns, with a stick shift (!), but luckily a smaller car than we’d originally reserved.

We stopped at a little place for lunch where we shared a salad with speck and “Gray Tyrolian cheese”, which we didn’t like–a very funky barnyard smell and taste and weird texture, and I had cappuccino and Austin had a lemon soda.

At various passes and area along the route, there were tons of tourists, cars, buses, etc., but we avoided all of that.

We made it to Ortisei around 2:30–checked in–nice room, plan but comfy a little patio, but not much of a view.

Then we took off to take the cable car up to Seiser Alm–there was a 12 min gondola up then short chair lift down to the meadow, lovely views of the rocky mountains, also cows, horses, llamas. We walked around for a while, just lovely views, the walk was in grass and a wide trail–fairly flat, then back to the cable car and gondolas to town. Warm and sunny, but up in the meadow, it was cooler.

Back in the room, washed some clothes, Austin exercised, then we had a glass of wine out on the terrace in the back, then headed over for dinner at Turondot. We walked along the river, crossed the bridge and walked into the main part of town, pedestrian streets, very pretty, a fountain in the square, cute buildings, with balconies and flowers.

Our restaurant was fairly modern, mostly pizza but we chose other dishes, a mixed salad, gyro dumplings, and veal tonnato, super delicious with thin, small veal slices and dabs of the tuna dressing. We had a very nice local sav bland as well. We got a little bread to go with the veal which was so good and then decided to order a passion fruit creme brûlée–so, so good, just yummy!!

Walking back, we noticed people eating outside, no heat lamps, and it was chilly! The streets otherwise were nearly deserted, so totally different than Padua or Bolzano. In the room, kept the patio door open to keep the room cool.

Monday, Sept. 5

The room was cool enough dark and quiet–I tried getting coffee at 7:15 but was firmly told BF is at 7:30! Oh well! BF had meats cheeses, a little lettuce and tomatoes, cereals, fruits, lots of pastries and rolls, some soft scrambled eggs and badly cooked bacon, an airport style do it yourself cappuccino machine.

We left the room around 9:30 to go to the Seceda high mountain plateau hiking area. This involved walking across the bridge to the center of town, up three escalators, through a long tunnel with moving sidewalks and two separate gondolas, the second one very large for people standing; and it traveled up a sheer cliff space. A long trip. But at the top, very beautiful. It was mostly sunny but a bit nippy so we were glad we had our jackets. We first walked along the cliff edge to get good views of Gran Fermeda rock formation, just beautiful, then down some well marked trails, and many with concrete footing to make it easier to walk, past cows, in and around clumps of walkers including a very large hiking group. We stopped at a restaurant where we relaxed on lounge chairs, had cappuccino and enjoyed the sun and the views–we’d been about 1 1/2 miles high at the end of the cable car.

After our rest, we made our way back up to the cable car–a bit of an effort especially considering the altitude. We took the gondolas back down, lovely views, the moving stairs and escalators then walked in the center of town to a little restaurant with tables on a balcony. We had lemon sodas, cappuccino and a small sandwich with speck and brie cheese on a rye roll, very yummy! We did see some amazing ice cream sundaes come out. It was quite warm and sunny. Back to the hotel, our room was still being served so we sat out on their terrace for a while, very warm. Then finally just relaxing in the room. I sent some suggestions to Shelby about the cruise.

//We went to dinner at Sneton Stub after a little wine on the terrace. This was a little bit further than last night’s restaurant, and I got a little mixed up at the end, but we made it on time, lovely walk, not too cold.

The restaurant was nice, small rooms separating the patrons, quiet. Most of the tables were full.

We had a house white sauvignon wine, shared a mixed salad of lettuce, cabbage and tomatoes, then we shared a pasta dish, wide sort of triangle pasta pieces in a ragu sauce and goulash beef in gravy with a few veggies and polenta–very nice! A quiet walk back, a few people out and about, stores mostly closed.

9/6 Tuesday, Rothenburg ob der Tauber

We slept fine, it was again a beautiful, sunny day, lots more people at BF. Packed up, settled the bill and were off to Rothenburg. The drive I originally thought might be about 5 hours but, after leaving at 9, we didn’t get here until almost 3:30. We briefly stopped for a little sandwich and coffee and also to get gas and the Austrian Vignette. The drive was made much longer by construction, several accidents, and rerouting. But we’re here now, an old building in the old part of town, we had made our way along the old and narrow streets and were just about to turn the last corner when we found ourselves in the rear of the hotel at their parking lot–yay!

We went in, after parking, our room is on the first floor overlooking the street. It is large with plain furnishings and a large bathroom. After we rested a while, we went out to take a walk. When we first drove in, the streets were fun of people but by the time we went out it was very quiet. It was quite warm in the sun but it was almost 5, so the sun was low and there were shadows. We walked through the streets, past really lovely timbered houses, decked out with flowers, cute little shops, amazing bakeries, into a church, outside the walls, through a little garden with a fountain. It was just lovely, very calm and peaceful.

We had dinner at the hotel after a little wine in the room. We sat outside on their little terrace, very pretty, some garden decoration of a some, blue sheep and candles on the tables. We got a nice dry riesling, shared a delicious mixed salad which had shredded carrots, onions, and paper thin marinated cucumbers. Austin had roast beef with caramelized onions and spaetzle and I had wild boar, although it tasted like beef goulash with spaetzle–very good. Then up to read.

Wednesday, Sept 7
BF started at 7:30 but I was down around 7:20 and the attendant happily brought me some cappuccino. The cold buffet was out and when Austin made it down, we were offered made to order eggs, very nice. Well, all indications were that it was going to be raining today, but, what a surprise–a beautiful, sunny day. We were able to get Google directions which were much simpler getting out of town, we were traveling north to the Wurzburg Residence, a large palace with gardens, about 50 min away. There were no delays in traffic, we were on the highway for part of the time–it ended up being pretty easy to get to Wurzburg Residence. There was a large parking lot right in front, so that was easy. We were going to go on an English tour at 11, so we had some time to walk around the gardens beforehand. Finally, some gardens with flowers, and beautiful trimmed hedges and trees.

The tour was short but informative. The palace was memorable with some really remarkable rooms, painted ceilings, stucco decorations, painted mirrored walls. There was a section showing some of the destruction from WWII and the restoration efforts. Very interesting.

We’d seen several groups of Viking guests so Austin asked the employees and they said the main river is just nearby and they get many river boat groups. So after our tour we made our way to the river, walking through Wurzburg, a lively square, lovely buildings.

We found a little cafe for lunch. The waitress spilled Austin’s raspberry aperitif, the glass shattered and the drink splattered all over my pants. But no problem, my travel pants are very resistant and I was able to just wipe them off. Nothing hurt our phones or my purse. The waitress was very distraught and the manager came right away to apologize and gave me a card for free cleaning, also a new round of drinks, free.

We shared a mixed salad so with free drinks, lunch was very cheap. It was still very warm and sunny, a beautiful day.

Walked back, found the car, paid for the parking and headed back. Our parking place at the hotel was still there. Back in the room, Austin rested and I went out to walk around some more. We’d seen a Viking bus coming back as we drove back and there were lots fewer people around. I walked into a couple of new areas and then tried to take a photo of a famous site here, but it was impossible to get it without people spoiling it. Came back and later we walked out again to find our restaurant for the night which was across the main square. It looked very nice with outside seating and we went in to request that.

Later, after a little wine in the room we walked back. We sat outside shielded from the cars and the square by large potted flowering bushes. We found a nice riesling and shared a pasta dish, large pasta rolled around a spinach filling and cooked in egg, and sauerbraten which came with potato dumplings and each came with a side salad, very yummy! Walked back, lovely evening.

Thursday, September 8

Finally today it rained. Drizzly in the morning, but actual rain during part of our drive.

After BF, we checked out and drove to Dinklesbuhl, parked outside the city wall, walked around–a small and very pretty town, not many people around, nor tourists, but it was very pretty. It was too early for lunch, so we got back into the car and drove to Donauworth. This was supposed to be a “village” from the 12th C and it did have very old buildings but it was more of a town. We found parking near the central area–a man helped us and gave us a “parking clock” to put on the dashboard. We walked around looking for somewhere to eat and finally found a little cafe by the “river” or stream–mostly pizza, but we had a mixed salad with some turkey and ham on a flat pizza “bowl”.

It was threatening rain and as we were walking back to the car it started to drizzle. I had my dry bag but not my coat or umbrella, but luckily, we made it back before the rain began in earnest.

Then it was off to Poltnerhof Wielheim. I’d picked this hotel because it was not too far from Oberammergau and sounded nice. There was a section, very old, but the rooms were in a new section with parking underneath. The room had a little balcony, big bathroom but no fridge, I went down to ask about it and they brought up a little one–our wine was in a small plastic water bottle so it fit.

After we settled in for a while, we went out to walk around the old part of town which was nice–some nice painted frescoes on some buildings. We had a little wine on the balcony before going down to dinner in the old part of the building, a very nice, long room with huge ceiling beams. We found a delicious riesling and Austin had a fish dish with a small portion of trout and salmon and spinach and potatoes and I had venison “steak,” cut pieces for venison and spaetzle and a side bowl of spinach–a lot! And very yummy.

Austin then decided to have dessert–a chocolate “cake” more like a giant truffle and very creamy vanilla ice cream. We waited a long time to pay, I eventually went up to the bar to get our waiter’s attention, then back up to the the room to read before bed.

Saturday, September 10

Well, what a day yesterday. BF was fine in the old BF room. We were already paid so carefully got our car up and out of the underground parking. It was threatening rain and did rain off and on. We left fairly early because I wanted to go to the English introduction to the Passion Play at 10:00.

We made it to Oberammergau and our hotel where we had a parking space, then hung around the hotel for a little while before walking 15 min to the Passion Play theatre.

Before the presentation, we checked out the gift shop where we bought a picture book with music CD for John and a blanket for us for later. We went into the theatre for the presentation and found where our seats were–row 14, seats 30 and 31–they were excellent seats, quite close but not too close and in the middle.

The man explaining the play to us was one of the directors and also played Nicodemous in the play, and he was Muslim. The rules for who is allowed to be in the play over time have changed to allow non-Christians, as well as married women, and older women, who had originally been excluded. Currently, if you were born in Obermmergau or live there, you can participate.

Everyone who wants to participate can, all will be given roles, but not all on stage. Others are behind the scenes, helping with ushering, costumes, etc.

After the intro, we walked back to the hotel–it was cold and sprinkling, then back out to find a snack before the performance. The town was full of people and all the restaurants and cafes were full. We finally just got some little sandwiches and coffee at a bakery and just stood up by a tall table to eat.

Then it was off to the performance. The seats were cosy–we could see well–the two empty seats next to us were sad.

The performance has music with a large choir dressed in black and white and with several soloists, tenor, baritone and soprano, There were also “tableaus”, static scenes with people posed in positions and not moving, like still 3D dioramas. These were scenes from the old testament which were juxtaposed with the scenes from Jesus entering Jerusalem and other events before the crucifixion. The costumes were vey authentic looking. There were crowd scenes with children of all ages, especially Jesus, on a donkey entering Jerusalem with palm leaves.

The scene with Jesus driving the merchants out of the temple also featured animals, sheep, goats, and caged birds which were set free in the ending commotion and flew away,

The first part ended with the last supper and Jesus taken by the soldiers at Mount Olive.

We’d purchased the booklet with the word for word English and it was relatively easy to follow along. There was still plenty of daylight. Our blanket kept us warm. I have sadly, lost my possum wool hat from NZ that I have had forever–it was so warm yet very light and compact. So I had nothing to keep my ears worn, but it was fine.

We exited the building along with thousands more and headed back to our hotel for an early dinner–it was 4:00. We were able to get into our room and unpack a little.

By the time we came back down for dinner, nearly all the other tables were seated and starting to give their orders. It was a fixed price, limited selection menu, as we’d thought it would be. We started with a beef broth with “noodles” sort of like thin strips of cooked pizza dough then Austin had salmon and I had veal which was quite pink plus chive flavored potatoes, very good and a carrot, very tasty. We had berries over vanilla creme for dessert and we had a glass of riesling, which was good.

It had been sprinkling off and on but the walk back to the building was not raining.

We hung out near the rear door of the back stage area where we’d saw musicians and performers, including children arrive before the 1:30 performance. There were several “gates”–doors to enter–we were at B and the lines went quickly.

For the evening segment, a couple on a Viking tour had taken John and Joyce’s seats–they moved because they were in front of someone who was constantly coughing. So we were more squeezed in and the folks in front of us slightly shifted so I was behind a taller person, but I could look around him. I used the binoculars to look closely at the tableaus, it was nice to see them close-up, no one moving.

The second half was more of the story associated with Jesus, mistreatment and interrogation by Pilate, the crown of thorns, whipping him, which caused very realistic blood, carrying the cross through the streets, the final crucifixion which was quite realistic, taken down from the cross, Mary at the tomb and the angel.

Before his sentencing, there was a very large crowd scene with his supporters on one side and those against him on the other and it was quite loud and cacophonous with each side trying to out-yell the other. Herod arrived on a horse and bringing two camels.

It was quite emotional at the end. I had Austin’s little flashlight and was still able to follow the dialogue pretty well. It wasn’t dark until closer to the end.

The play ended with Mary and a few others and some townspeople on stage plus the choirs singing hosannas. The stage went dark and the audience applauded and rose, but the cast did not reappear–probably considered inappropriate given the nature of the performance.

It was quite amazing and I’m so glad we were able to see it. We walked back to the room along the dark streets, buses waiting for folks and tour guides, as we approached the hotel, the crowds thinned considerable.

We had a glass of wine and off to bed.

Today, we had a nice BF in the beautiful hotel dining room, including some wonderful fresh berries.

Then we were off to Wieskirche–a pilgrimage church about 20 min away. This was located all by itself near fields. It was plain on the outside but once inside, jaw dropping in the abundance of painted surfaces and fancy stucco work with gold. Very impressive.

Then we drove to Ettal Abbey. It was sort of sprinkling at this point. We got out and parked, walked over to the abby which was quite large, went into the chapel which was similar to Weiskirche, but a fraction of the paintings and decorations. The weather was not conducive to walking around so we didn’t bother trying to find any other areas to see.

From here, we went to Linderhof Castle, a small castle that King Ludwig actually lived in. It was definitely raining and we needed our umbrellas. We got tickets and walked through the woods up to the palace which was very picturesque. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go inside until our tour group was scheduled, about 20 min later, so we had to wait outside in the rain. The gardens were lovely, with working fountains and pretty flowers and trimmed hedges–although they were not huge. We waited under a small overhang. The rain had nearly stopped when we walked back to the castle for our tour. There were only a few rooms to see but they were over the top decorated with gold leaf on top of carvings, tapestries, precious objects, peacocks, chandeliers, the hall of mirrors–all very gaudy and heavily decorated. Well worth seeing however–he actually lived in this castle, never married and rarely saw people.

From here, we continued driving toward the tiny town of Hohenschwangau where we are spending two nights. Along the way, we drove alongside a beautiful lake in Austria and we stopped here at a hotel to have a little lunch–goulash soup, very yummy and warmed us up, and cappuccino and passionfruit juice and soda. All yummy, but cash only!!! Luckily I had cash.

We drove further to get to our hotel, Alpenstuben. The town was a zoo with people everywhere, buses, horse carriages.

Austin stopped the car and I went into reception, at the back of the restaurant to find out where to park across the street in a lot.

Our room faces the street and we have a castle view. As the afternoon wore on, it got a lot quieter. And the sun came out!

We took a little walk before dinner and got some good views of the castle. I’d gone out a little earlier and gotten more cash from an ATM, then got some coin change and small bills.

We sat outside on our balcony, it was a little nippy, we did a FaceTime with Rachel, all good. Henry had a few kids over yesterday for his birthday.

We ate downstairs in the restaurant, it was a bit noisy, very informal. Had a very nice white wine, shared a yummy mixed salad, then Austin had some baked pork slices with some baked gnocchi, crispy onions on top and salad. Very good, and I had pork schnitzel with fries, also very good, the pork was juicy and the breading very thin. we went down at 7 and were served so quickly that we were finished before 8!

Sunday, Sept. 11

Room is comfy. We kept the door open a little to keep it cooler. It is quite cool outside. It was raining this AM. BF at the hotel restaurant was OK, not great. They had scrambled eggs on the buffet, but it was pretty limited in selection. I had a pretzel instead of bread, which I did yesterday, and some tomatoes and cakes, spek, ham and cheese. They brought cappuccinos to the table and real coffee plus mil for Austin.

Then we took off for Castle Hohenschwangau. It was said to be about 15-20 minute walk, but it was much shorter and we had to wait outside in the courtyard under our umbrellas until the gift shop opened and we could duck in there. We asked if we could go on an earlier tour, but no.

Once inside, we had English hand held headsets which our guide started in each room with an infrared signal. The castle was sort of hunting lodge style, a large billiards table, painted walls, ceramic fireplaces in the rooms, lots of wooden carved wall pieces and moldings. This is the castle where Ludwig grew up and it was occupied until 1913 when the last Prince (Leopold) died and it became open to the public as a museum.

The castle was pretty nice, very homelike for a castle. There were separate floors for the king and for his wide, each with bedroom, reading rooms, sitting rooms, etc.

After the tour, we walked back down into town, the rain had mostly stopped. We just ducked into the room for a short time, then headed up the much longer walk to Neuschwanstein. It was raining again, the walk was much longer, close to 30 min, but before we got all the way to the top, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant, cappuccino, fanta, and we shared a currywurst with fries. Then back into the rain and up to the castle. This is the fairytale castle that Walt Disney was inspired by to build Cinderella Castle. It was, however, never finished. I had actually thought we would see no furnishings, but there were some furnishing because Ludwig actually lived there. However, the decorations were totally different than Linderhof which was over the top decorated in gold leaf, had a mirrored room, modeled after Versailles.

Neuschwanstein was bigger but not at all as elaborate–he lived there alone but there was a large “throne room” with no throne, and a detailed mosaic floor, a large dining hall, his private bedroom with running water and other private rooms, a grotto. Our guide pointed out “secret” door where servants came and went.

We had climbed several flights of stairs to get up to the living quarters and at the end of the tour, back down again. Near the exit was a large kitchen, there was also a dumbwaiter.

The rain had stopped so before going back down, we walked further on to the famous Marienbrucke (Queen Mary’s bridge) where there is a beautiful view of the castle. This bridge had been closed for more than a year for repairs, but reopened recently. It was a really good view from there, and not too crowded. There is an entrance/exit system keeping count of the numbers on the bridge and at times, the wait.

After this, we finally headed back down to town. Along the way, we stopped at a stand by the restaurant and got some fresh, hot “cheese ball donuts”–quark ballchen–super delicious. And the recipe does use the German cheese, “Quark.” After getting back to the room, we had a quick FaceTime with Shelby and the kids, all good, then decided to take the car to a supermarket to get more wine.

But we were stymied because in Germany the stores are closed on Sunday. I was misled by Google which said the store we headed to was open. Looking further into Fusion, they all said closed. Oh well. While driving around, we got more good views of Neuschwanstein, and saw grassy fields with cows.

Back to town, same parking spot across the street, then back to the room to rest. We did have some leftover wine, it should be enough for tonight.

We had a little wine in the room, I’d gotten an ice bucket from the restaurant with ice because there is no fridge in the room–it was too cold to sit outside, so we just sat by the door windows looking out. Then down to dinner. Our food had come so quickly last night, we decided to try to deliberately space it out, but it didn’t really work because were still done shortly after 8. But we got wine and water, then ordered a salad, same as last night–good, then our mains. Austin had roast pork with sauerkraut and potato dumpling, good and I had red deer goulash, chunks of meat in a sauce, and the cheesy gnocchi-type of pasta Austin had last night–very delicious.

Monday, Sept. 12 Salzburg

After BF we left for Salzburg. It was chilly, but finally sunny! A beautiful drive–green fields, cows, mountains, especially near Salzburg. We stopped at a gas station to get another Austrian Vignette.

We left the highway to drive to Hellbrunn where there are trick fountains. We wanted to find a place to get a little food, we weren’t sure there was a place to eat in the gardens–turns out there was–oh well, we drove around for a little while, one small place didn’t work, then we found another little place, basically a store but she had cappuccino, drinks, and some cakes, a little chocolate one and an apricot one–both we shared and sat outside in a little garden–Austin had some rhubarb and soda.

Then to the gardens. We had to join a tour at 2, and had a half hour to wander around the formal gardens which had pools, some flowers, a small square building lined with mirrors which made an “infinity” room when you went inside, and there was a gazebo used in “The Sound of Music.”

Finally, we got to the trick fountains–a fairly small area, some nice fountains–one with a table that throws up fountains, others unexpectedly come on and splash you, a very impressive structure with a large tableau of people in various activities and buildings and animals, when turned on, the people moved around–it was quite impressive, there was also music.

In one grotto, the water was used to create sounds. It was fun. We sent pictures to John because he’d particularly wanted us to see this–they had been here before.

From here, we drove the final several miles in Salzburg to some underground parking, which, at €22 per day was still cheaper than the hotel parking of €35. After walking the wrong way initially, we found our way to the hotel, about 6 min away. It’s quite lovely–The Goldener Hirsch–booked with the travel gent, so we had a €95 credit for food, and we got an upgrade to a junior suite. They took us to our room, which was good, because some things were not obvious: the way the lights worked, the AC, the charger ports in a drawer! Beautiful room, nice sofa and chairs sitting area, old painted cabinets for clothing, large beams on the ceiling, After we settled in we went out for a walk. Beautiful, sunny, warm day.

We’re on a long pedestrian street: love, love, love pedestrian streets. Some typical high end stores, but also some local clothing, with dirndls, etc., a very cool cheese store, wooding carvings, stores with both Christmas and Easter decorations. We got some wine at a small store then came back to the room.

Dinner was at the “casual” hotel restaurant, Hertzl, just next door where we went after a little wine in the room. It was a very comfortable restaurant, the furniture very local, low ceilings, very professional service. I had a 15% discount for one meal, plus we were going to use our food credit.

We found a very delicious Riesling. Then for dinner, we shared a very delicious mixed salad with hand peeled cherry tomatoes, marinated chanterelle mushrooms, some preserved peaches and a wide variety of different greens–yummy!

I had veal goulash with spaetzle, chunks of veal in a creamy sauce. Austin had a very delicious pumpkin soup which didn’t taste like pumpkin but was very delicious, then steak tartar served on two thin pieces of bread and topped with quail eggs, he said it was so delicious, the best meal so far.

Our room was quiet and dark but, a nice touch, although it wakes you up, is that when all the lights are out, if you get up and move around, there are some low lights under the side table and cabinets which come on when movement is sensed–so good for the person getting up but not so good for the person sleeping.

Tuesday, Sept 13

A beautiful sunny day again! BF is in a lovely room, great service bringing cappuccinos and coffee, fresh OJ, and offer to help with questions (I had my map out). Some good food choices including rosti (like a hash brown cake), giant crepes.

Weds., Sept. 14

Good day yesterday, beautiful and sunny. We started out by walking across the “love bridge” with love locks, to the Mirabell Gardens, very lovely. Then we were planning to join a tour which was mentioned in a document provided by the hotel, we needed to find the main entrance to the palace, this was on the street side, not the gardens side and along the way we saw a wedding party in the palace. We did find the tour, there was a small group of people standing at the main entrance, and this was it.

Unfortunately, the woman spoke only German, we were initially told she would also speak in English, and there was a young woman there who offered to translate, but it became obvious this wouldn’t work as the guide spoke for several minutes and we got barely any information in English. So we decided to leave.

We saw another wedding party as we walked through more of the gardens and over to a gnome garden with large gnome statues. Then we walked along another pedestrian street and went to the cemetery of the St. Sebastian church, which was covered with scaffolding and hidden due to renovation. After the cemetery, we walked further along and then up a very steep hill to the Capuchin Church where we wanted to visit the cloisters but couldn’t get in, good views of the city however.

From here took many, many steps back down, walked across the river then through more streets and alleys until we came to a tiny little place where we had cappuccino, lavender and soda and the most beautiful and very tasty avocado toasts, decorated with lettuce, a raspberry, preserved orange slice, just lovely and delicious, and also expensive! The bill was €34! But very good. A little more walking around then back to the room to rest. Back out again later where we eventually found ourselves at St. Peters where we walked around the cemetery but did not go into the catacombs. We walked back, ducked into some shops, they have some very interesting shops, Bavarian style clothing, dirndls, etc, and beautiful, gorgeous children’s Bavarian clothing. A very interesting cheese shop with many flavors of round Edam cheese, a couple of Easter Christmas shops, with thousands of decorated Easter eggs, many of them actual egg shells, people use these to decorate for Easter, also Christmas and give as gifts. They were beautiful, so fragile.

I had just read that the Disney Wonder was going to Australia, with a pacific ocean repositioning cruise and then got an official email from Disney on that. We are quite intrigued and think we should book the Australia to Hawaii version in Feb. 2024! Would be amazing.

For something different, we wanted Asian food for dinner and the hotel booked a recommended restaurant–Nagano, which was Japanese, mostly sushi and sashimi but some other things as well.

We had a broccolini in peanut sauce to start which was delicious, so good to get some solid green veggies.

Then we had Teppanyaki, brought on sizzling platters, I had chicken and Austin had duck, which was super delicious–tender, crispy skin, no fat, and we shared a “salad” basically a marinated cabbage slaw which was good and some rice plus a nice Riesling. Very excellent!

Today, nice BF as before, very nice servers who are very attentive and already know our preferred drinks. May rain today.

We got a slow start but eventually went to the funicular to go up to the fortress. It was threatening rain but actually never did rain. At the fortress, we toured all the open interior rooms, most of which were displays of military armament, information on battles, a little information on life at the fortress, some authentic room decorations, a museum with puppets. We explored outside, lots of steps up to the highest point with great views out over the city. Walked around the lower levels of the castle area, where folks would be living in a “town-like” environment. All very interesting. Not too crowed, and no rain. It was warming up and still cloudy but the sun eventually peeked out.

Thursday, Sept. 15

After we walked back from the castle, we found a little snack in one of the squares, a pressed ham and cheese sandwich and a plate of olives and cheese with bread.

Most of the rest of the day we rested, caught up on newspapers and email, bought more wine and some stroopwafes to take home as a souvenir, and I bought some super cute little figurines with mice in a canoe and one with a Christmas tree. Late in the afternoon, we went to Mozart’s birth house, but this was quite disappointing as I thought it would be set up as a home in the 1800’s, but it was mostly paintings, letters, and various small items relating to Mozart and his family, really not interesting at all.

It did finally start raining before we went to dinner, but we had umbrellas and raincoats, so no problem. The streets were pretty empty. We ate at Zwettiers Gasthaus, set in a low ceiling room with curved arches, tiny windows. It was packed and they were turning people away. We’d decided to try the famous dessert, we’ve seen signs for it and saw people eating it on our first night–Salzburg Nockerl–clouds of toasted meringue over a berry sauce.

We started with a delicious salad, then I had braised roast beef with crispy onions with bacon wrapped green beans and spaetzle–very good and Austin had “dumpling mystery” with several dumplings and sauerkraut–the ones I tasted had a smoky pork filling, very good. We were pretty full after our main courses but we’d already ordered the special dessert since it took longer to make. Our waiter initially said it would be out in “seconds”, but as we waited and waited, eventually, he said something happened in the kitchen and then it would be out in 5 min, which it was, but it was a long wait. The dessert was good but not sublime, we’re glad we tried it since it is so unique. It was very high and fluffy meringue, very soft and undercooked inside, browned on top and with a red currant sauce on the bottom–served in a very hot dish.

By the time we walked back, it was 9:15, no rain, but virtually empty streets, super nice walking along in a well-lit pedestrian zone, however.

Today, we had the normal BF–delicious as usual, then packed up to leave. Unfortunately, it was raining, but we didn’t have far to go even though we overshot by a bit. Eventually, we got into the well-lit, dry parking area. We paid for the ticket, had no problem getting out of town and headed for Halstatt, a tiny town on a lake and a UNESCO heritage site.

It was raining all the way and also when we got there, but we were able to get into the closest parking lot because there were very few other tourists. We did see several bus groups. We walked around with our rain coats and umbrellas but our feet got damp. The town was indeed super cute in a gorgeous setting on a lake surrounded by mountains. Very sweet wooden homes and buildings decked with flowers. We were unable to find a free place to sit for coffee, so we decided just to start driving again toward Graz and look for another place. We ended up in a town, Leigen, before Graz where we parked for free and found a little bakery in a mall. We shared a sandwich and had cappuccinos then took off again.

Made it into Graz with no problem. Parking in a garage right by the hotel, NH City Graz. We settle in for a while then took off for a walk. It was supposed to be raining, but it didn’t while we were walking. We found our restaurant for tonight–Glockl Brau, then walked around town a little more.

Came back to the room, read for a while, had a little wine then back out again for dinner. Although we’d walked to the restaurant previously, Austin was using his phone to walk there and we overshot a little, but eventually made it, good thing we started early. Glockl Brau is very large and situated on the square with the Glockenspiel. We chose to eat outside, but I got a little worried it might start to rain, but it didn’t even though the weather said it was raining. It was nice outside although a tiny bit chilly, but we had our coats.

We found a nice white wine then Austin had a nice tomato soup and beef tartar which we said was good and I had a nice mixed salad, and a pulled pork, pulled beef bowl with cabbage, “bug” beans, a very dark kidney bean, potato wedges, very nice.

Then back to the hotel. It was a nice evening, no rain. Streets pretty deserted.

Friday, Sept 16

We woke up to rain. BF fine, scrambled eggs on the buffet, salad stuff. BF room had many “business” type folks. We came back to the room and just hung out for a while because of the rain but eventually decided to head out. We went to the main square, then down to the river where we saw “The Friendly Alien” building, then out to “The Murinsel” a weird structure in the middle of the river, then over to Castle Hill where we paid for an elevator up and funicular down. Still raining, but not too bad. Walked around the top of the hill for a while, some views out over the city, lots and lots of church bells ringing as it was noon.

Back down in the funicular then to “Sorger” bakery, same as the one we went to in the mall; sat in the back, had iced lattes and split a little ham and cheese sandwich on a long croissant type roll.

Then back to the room to dry out. I’d asked for a restaurant recommendation from the desk clerk but I sent an email asking for a reservation and they were full, so they found another spot and made a reservation for us–Welscher Stubn, a longer walk–oh well!

It occurred to us that we have rarely had rainy days on our trips. Anyway we were blessed with fabulous weather for the Dolomites and Graz is just a city.

I’ve been looking ahead to Lake Bled and for some reason don’t have the Rick Steves guide book info so I am having to try to recreate what I thought we’d do there,

Saturday, Sept 17

Rain, rain, rain! We’ve never had a trip with so much rain It occurred to us we’ve never had a trip with so much rain, so far, Neuschwanstein, Salzburg, Graz and still more rain.

It was raining when we went to dinner lat night and it was a longer walk, but raincoats and umbrellas kept us dry. The restaurant seated us in a nice room with paintings and long drapes along the walls. It was very nice and peaceful but we were worried because a large table next to us was set for 12, and we were right to be worried. At first a group of 7 came and the general room volume increased, later, another group with one particularly loud man came–it was very hard for us to talk and be heard. We were eating at that point, finally at the end, the final group came–lots of hugs and kisses and full volume sound–painful!

We’d ordered wine and water and decided to have pork cordon blu plus some potatoes and sautéed vegetables. Our dinners came out almost instantly. It was freaky, And they looked like schnitzel, not cordon blu, but there was ham and cheese inside just not the little pat of butter. The sautéed veggies were mostly zucchini. So the food was good, but increasingly disturbing noise volume. Austin decided to have dessert–a dense chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and a spiced plum sauce–very delicious.

//Here we are in Lake Bled, at the Grand Hotel Toplice, right on the water, our room with a balcony overlooking the lake. It is quite beautiful! We had Bf and got to our car, which was by the hotel in underground parking without getting wet and we drove through the park which was adjacent to the hotel and looked quite nice, but we didn’t walk there due to the rain. The entire drive to Lake Bled, however, was rainy. And when we got here it was raining. After we got to the hotel, they parked our car for us and our room was ready so we were able to unpack and get settled before we walked down the street a little ways to the Park restaurant–very nice–very comfy lounge type chairs, sat by large window doors looking out at the scenery. We had iced cappuccino, Aperol Spritz and we shared a piece of Lake Bled cake–a vanilla custard topped with whipped cream and layered between a filo crust, dusted with powdered sugar–yummy!

Then back to the room to wait for dryer weather. FaceTimed with Rachel–Brock is getting better from the operation and all is well.

Finally, we went out to walk around the lake. It didn’t rain and eventually the sun even came out. It was pretty cold initially, but then warmed up with the sun. So beautiful!

The hotel also dropped off a beautiful fruit plate for us while we were gone. Tonight we’re eating in their fancy restaurant Julijana.

Sunday, Sept 17

Finally, a beautiful sunny day. Last night’s dinner was amazing! The room was beautiful with white tablecloths and chairs, windows overlooking the lake, and very quiet, only a few tables–we later learned there were several large table in the next room, We had a 4 course tasting menu (you could have had 5, 6, 7, or 8!) for €65 each. We declined the wine tasting at €25 each in favor of choosing a bottle of white wine for €39. And bottled water.

They gave us an “amuse bouche” which had delicious bread, butter and pate plus little oyster–from Normandy, France. I did eat it. Frankly, I don’t know why people love oysters so much, you just swallow and it leaves a salty seafood type of taste.

Then our first course was aspen of smoked Zupan trout with yogurt; dried pear ice cream, a little cheese soufflé and drops of dressing, all beautiful and delicious.

Then there was homemade tagliatelle with morels with fried jerusalem artichokes, very yummy. The main course was rabbit stuffed with hazelnuts and wrapped in bacon (2 small rounds), rabbit thigh confit, a slice, and some homemade cooked cabbage with ham and buckwheat gnocchi–very delicious. All was served professionally and the room was serene and lovely. For dessert, there was a cottage cheese panna cotta with a berry sauce and ice cream. Finally, a small tray of chocolates.

Everything was really great and we were stuffed! It was a lovely evening and very memorable meal.

Today was sunny but cold–I had wanted to go to Vintgar Gorge but there ware issues with road construction and parking and there was conflicting information on the work sites. When I asked the hotel clerk when we first checked in, he said we could drive, then yesterday, another clerk said we needed to take a taxi and couldn’t drive, but maybe he misunderstood and thought we wanted to go then, on a Saturday afternoon, but today before BF, the clerk said yes, we could go–first try the parking right at the entrance, otherwise, he showed me where another spot was.

BF was in a lovely, large room with large windows looking to the lake, several large buffet stations set up and a large menu of things made to order–eggs, pancakes, waffles. There were a lot of people there at 7AM. We were surprised. But after, when we were leaving we noticed many of them out with their cars, and the cars were all Jaguars, so there must have been an event today or yesterday.

Anyway, after BF, we took off for the gorge–also if we got there before 9:30, we didn’t need to worry about getting an e-ticket. We drove there, saw the alternate parking spot, saw the road construction, noticed that many signs showed the name of the Gorge crossed out or an “X” by parking. However, there was a steady stream of cars going on the road and there was an alternate way of getting there, so we just followed the traffic and the signs to the gorge, and sure enough found ourselves in a parking lot right by the entrance, and it was only about 9AM.

We were able to go to the ticket office and get our tickets and head straight out. There were vey few other people on the path. It was fairly cold and the sun had not penetrated. The wooden pathways and bridges and steps all were wet.

But it was very beautiful and quite amazing and so quiet that we were mostly alone on the pathways. The water flow was furious and loud. We were able to walk at our own pace, fairly quickly, which was nice. At the end of the gorge was a large waterfall and we even saw a rainbow.

The gorge walk is one way, and we could see why because quite a few areas were very narrow. Also, we learned that the on-line ticketing limits people, but the “limit” is 250 people per 1/2 hour—yikes!

To get back to the parking lot at the beginning, you walk another path which initially winds through some small town areas, very pretty with snow covered mountains behind, then through woods at the top of the gorge, eventually gently winding down to river level. All in all, it was around 2 hours–very nice, really memorable.

From there we drove over to Lake Bohinj, then to a cable car–Vogel which would take us high up into the mountains. This sounded very beautiful–it was €23 each and we squeezed into a large gondola for a fairly long ride up the mountain. The views were beautiful. At the top, it was quite cold and although I thought it would be nice to walk there, it didn’t look that memorable. There was a chair lift which would take you higher, but it wasn’t running and we didn’t want to take it anyway.

So we checked out the views of the snowy mountains, did a short walk, then went into the cafe for a little food. We had cappuccino, beef soup with homemade noodles and buckwheat dumplings filled with soft cheese and with fried “lard” cracklings on top–very yummy, and gorgeous views out of the windows.

Then we headed back down. When we came to the area at the end of the road up, there were crowds of people, cars parked everywhere, and tons of cars pouring in from the road, and someone on a loudspeaker–anyway, we found out later it was the “cows ball”, a large event with music food, cows, etc. Too bad we didn’t know, we could have gone and checked it out.

Anyway, back at the hotel, we rested for a while then Austin decided we should get a rowboat and he would row me around the lake. So we did; the hotel had boats and we weren’t charged. We rowed over to the little island and went around it, we didn’t stop there–then came back. It was cloudy with a peak of sun now and then and a little wind, but we were dressed warmly.

Saw a race of kayaks. Yesterday, when we walked around the lake, we saw a rowing center, lots of rowing sculls there, and a large board showing men who’d won olympic medals in rowing in the past.

Monday, Sept 19

We had dinner at a wonderful restaurant recommended by the hotel, The Old Cellar. It was set up in small rooms, so very calm and quiet. A family business, one waitress was the daughter of the owner.

We found a delicious white wine, they gave us water, delicious bread, a little amuse bouche of pate in a little pastry cup. Then we shared a nice mixed salad. Austin had local trout served with potato salad and I had beef cheeks with extremely creamy mashed potatoes and a little green salad on the plate. Both really delicious.

Walked 10 min back to the hotel. there was till a lot of traffic leaving town, earlier it had been a total traffic jam. It was fairly cold, but no rain,

Today is clear, mostly, a few sprinkles when we had BF–it’s also fairly cold, 48 degrees and Ljubljana is also cold, but should be sunny later, and for the next several days.

Nice BF, eggs cooked to order, plus ham and some wonderful bread.

Monday, Sept. 20 Ljubljana

We had a long day driving yesterday. After BF, we set off for a road trip through the Julian alps, first going norther to Kranjska Gorge, then winding through the Alps over hairpin turns up to Vrsic pass, then back down in a large counterclockwise circle. There were various places to get out to see things and walk around, including the Russian Chapel, built to commemorate Russian POWs who died while building the road, also a spot where you could see a little heart-like hole in the mountain, another where you could see a “face” in the rock formations, The Pagan Girl. There was a viewpoint with the remains of a cable system used to get materials up the mountain.

The drive was definitely twisty with narrow hairpin turns but very little traffic and just gorgeous views–like “The Dolomites” of Slovenia. At the bottom there was “The Grand Canyon of the Soca” but we never found a good place to park or walk. We tried parking along the road but the paths by the river were narrow, full of roots, muddy, and you couldn’t even see the river. So we gave that up.

This entire trip including the onward part ending in Ljubljana was supposed to take 4-5 hours but there was a road closure which rerouted us far, far out of the way, into Italy! We were trying to get back onto what I though would be the “scenic” way via Tolmin Gorge but this was adding a lot to time. Finally, we just decided to go the quicker way per Google and this took us on highways pretty far south into Italy/Slovenia, passing near Trieste and then into Ljubljana from the south. This was highway driving so much easier. Before this, we’d stopped in a little Italian town and had some coffee, lemon soda, a “meatball” and a little spinach pastry torte, sat outside, very warm and sunny!

We found the parking area without too much trouble, just had to circle the block once then parked and walked to the hotel. Hotel Heritage. Close to the water, in a pedestrian zone. Not a very large hotel, the clerk gave us coffee and ice tea and cookies while checking us in, then up in a glass elevator to our room with a glass door on the bathroom, totally see through!! This is pretty disgusting actually, no privacy at all.

I finally decided we could hang a blanket over the door for some privacy, but this is really a stupid design choice.

After we unpacked a little, we went for a walk. It was sunny, but breezy and cool. It was a very lovely city!

Weds., Sept 21

We had a great dinner last night at Hsa Pod Gradem about 10 min walk, back by the castle hill. It was in an old building with small rooms. Once again, there was a large group near us, two tables of six/seven. However, even though the noise level increased substantially, it wasn’t obnoxious like the restaurant in Graz. Our dinners were delicious–we started with a good mixed salad, we had a really nice white Slovenian wine (earlier in the room we’d had some good Slovenian wine as well). For our mains, I had the local sausage, very tasty and bread dumplings, not so good. Austin had wild boar, very good and cheese dumplings, these were really good, not like the ones I’d had before.

Finally, we indulged in some local cake, thin pastry layers with poppy seeds, apples and raisins, not too sweet, pretty good.

Upon leaving the restaurant we were shocked to see it raining, we were not prepared, but I had the dry bag luckily and my waterproof coat. It wasn’t raining too hard and we tried to walk under the colonnades and awnings so we didn’t get too wet.

Today we’re planning a drive up into the northeastern part of Slovenia which is supposed to be beautiful. It is sunny out but cold! 37 degrees

I’ve been having the hardest time trying to book restaurants in Piran, many don’t take reservations, I can’t seem to do it on my own. I asked the hotel for recommendations, many did not take reservations, some did not have good reviews, one did not take credit cards, very frustrating.

Anyway, after numerous emails I think I’ve gotten reservations, one even had to be at 6:30 because other times were booked! This, at the end of September. Good grief!

Thursday, September 22

Another cold, clear day. BF in the small dining room–movie about Slovenia tourist sights and activities playing on the TV.

We had a really nice day yesterday. It was quite cold to begin but warmed up so not too bad.

We got the car in the parking lot then headed northeast to the area of Logarska Dolina recommended by Rick Steves and others. After about 1 1/2 hours, some on small twisty roads getting here, we stopped at the TI Center to get info and maps. We drove along the “Panoramic Road” with various numbered stops and views looking out over valleys with snow covered mountains in the distance. Very beautiful! After driving this high road full of twists, we ended in the Logarska Dolina valley. We paid the €7 entrance fee and drove along the road to the end where we walked up a small hill to see a tall narrow waterfall. Then we were looking for a little lunch, but the hotel restaurant was full of bus tours so they helpfully indicated a small place nearby where we sat outside and had strudel and cappuccino.

Then we headed back, first along a river, but still twisty, turning roads up and over and down mountains. Close to Ljubljana, the “check engine” light came on. Austin drove off the highway and luckily there was a Fiat dealer that I spotted, so we went there. They ended up hooking the car up to the computer and determined that there was possibly a minor problem with the oil, he turned off the warning light, looked at the oil and told us it was OK. Phew!

Hopefully it doesn’t come back on.

We made it to Ljubljana and parked again in the same lot–we had to use cash to pay here before because it did not take Visa cards. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring our one and only Mastercard, so will have to pay cash again.

So I went out to get more cash. We haven’t actually used that much on this trip compared to our last trip in Germany where many places only took cash.

For dinner, we went to Sarajevo 84, a little Bosnian restaurant in a cellar–very limited menu but we got a very nice liter of wine and took the leftover wine back, also grilled chicken served in very delicious, warm and fluffy pita-like bread but much softer and spongy inside and very tasty and some cevapappi (5 sausages of minced meat) also served in bread, plus some red pepper sauce, soft cheese almost like sour cream, and some grilled red peppers. Very delicious! And the entire bill was only €44! Yummy! We walked back along the pedestrian streets and along the river, folks out and about and eating outside! It was cold. But what a lovely city! Just gorgeous and so great to walk around car free areas!

//In Piran

After BF we got the car–it was cold! We drove out of the city with no problem, found a place to get gas, then zipped along mostly highways, crossed the border with Italy and headed up the coast to Miramare Castle, where we paid for parking then walked for a while in their beautiful gardens–finally–some lovely Italian formal gardens with statues and flowers. The “castle” was beautiful and set on the ocean on a promontory of land, just lovely. It was sunny and nice to walk around.

From here we headed into Trieste–found some parking by the ruins of the Roman forum then walked to the famous square–which happened to be full of white tents, some sort of science thing going on. Then we walked over to the little canal and eventually found a little place for some food–after having tried another place but being totally ignored. Anyway, they gave us little bruschettas topped with a little olive or pepper and some potato chips, which neither of us have had for quite a while, then shared a little prosciutto and cheese sandwich on a roll and some apple strudel and cappuccino and lemon–yum, yum.

Walked back to the car and headed out of town to the south to Piran. Had to park in a garage out of town then walked 15 minutes in (could have taken a free shuttle)–found our hotel, the entrance somewhat obscure. Small hotel, our room on the 4th floor looks out over the water. Very sunny and warm out.

We settled in for a while then took a short walk along the sea then into some of the narrow alleys. Found a grocery store for some wine and confirmed our dinner reservation for Sunday night. Walked back along some interior streets but there was some filming going on–lots of people and equipment everywhere and trucks, food, etc.

Friday, September 23 A bright, sunny day.

They are filming a movie here with Hallie Berry and Mark Wahlberg, called “Our Man From Jersey”. We noticed some filming yesterday on a side street and today across the little harbor from us–so many people, supplies, “practice” runs–just for a few moments of a shot–fascinating.

We ate at Pirat Piran last night and had a whole sea bass for both of us. We found a nice wine and water, had a nice mixed salad, some toasted bread, they brought out pumpkin oil. The fish was served whole in a large pan put on a warmer and the waiter deboned it for us, there were also crispy potato slices and some veggies–zucchini, celery, tomatoes.

For dessert, Austin had ice cream with pumpkin oil (made from the seeds–a dark, sort of greenish oil) and salt and pepper, topped with pine nuts–very yummy. We sat in the back of the restaurant against the wall; it was warm and quiet.

Walked back along dark, empty streets. This AM, watching Hallie Berry on the shoot, darting into a boat with a gun.

Saturday, Sept. 24 (auction day!)–sorry to miss. Cloudy today and cold–not supposed to rain until late aft. We had a nice day yesterday visiting the Lipizzaner horses at Lipica.

We made it out of the parking lot fine, after walking from the hotel. Earlier, we had taken a little walk around. They were still involved in filming–lots of activity going on. We could see Hallie Berry as well. It was beautiful sunny day. The Lipica farm was a beautiful ride toward Trieste, then inland. It is a huge farm, started 430 years ago. The horses used to go to Vienna but not now. They breed the horses there and then riders and horses train for 10 years. We took a tour around and saw stables, the area where the maternity boxes and where the foals are born, outdoor riding ring. The horses were mostly outside in the pastures, some in stalls. We saw a random rider and horse training and carriage rides.

After our tour we had lunch on the terrace of a hotel on the property. Lemonade (unsweetened) and cappuccino, then I had a plate of thin sliced salami, spec, bacon, some cheese and olives with bread and Austin had thin sliced beef with sliced truffles. It was sunny, warm, and beautiful!

We took a short walk down the tree lined lane to see the herd of mares and foals. The young horses are not white, but dark gray and gradually turn white as they get older.

At 3:00, there was a performance. All of a sudden there were a lot of people. The performance was divided into several sections with an explanation, and starting with less trained horses to fully trained–after 10 years. It was quite amazing to see how they performed with their legs moving in tandem. Really interesting.

After this we drove back and found a good parking spot–the garage is several levels with very small spaces and narrow ramps. Pain in the neck going in and out. Then we walked back. They were cleaning up all the filming stuff but I think they are continuing to film during the weekend.

We had dinner at Pri Mari, a bit of a longer walk than last night. The restaurant was very unassuming on the outside but once inside, very small and nearly full of diners already. They also had a lot of fresh fish on their menu. We found a good wine, water, bread sticks, bread, mixed salad. Austin had sole in butter sauce, he had to debone it but it was delicious, and I had filet of pork with bacon and sauce–this was good. But what was better were the fried potato wedges which came with it, they were so delicious, so tasty, crispy and soft on the inside–yummy! Then we walked back along dark, deserted streets.

Sat., Sept 24 Our last day in Slovenia

I hadn’t had any definite plans for today and we were waiting to see if it would be raining or not, and it turns out it will be fine most of the day. I considered either Rovinj or Motovun in Croatia, but then realized we would need Croatian currency, they go to the euro next year, so instead I developed a little driving tour. First we drove inland, north of Trieste to a church out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by fort walls, called Church of the Holy Trinity–Hrastovje Church. The walls are covered with frescoes from the 15th C, they had been covered over and were rediscovered in the mid-1900’s. We showed up after a nice drive through the countryside and a little village; there was a bus parked there and when I stuck my head in, the church was full with a group so the attendant indicated we should wait 10 min, so we did, another couple of folks turned up. When the group left, we went in and he turned on an English commentary plus he used a pointer to point to the frescoes being described–it was very helpful, otherwise it was hard to know exactly what we were looking at.

There were biblical scenes, Adam and Eve and onward; Jesus birth and passion, a series of medallions representing each month, some prophets, and finally the “Dance of Death” the most famous frescoes, although they don’t know what it really is supposed to mean.

After this, we went to the little coastal town of Muggia where we parked in an underground garage and walked a bit through the town–saw a bride and groom and when we peeked into the church, we saw the wedding, standing room only!

After this we drove to the small town of Koper. We didn’t target a parking garage but simply drove into town. Then we encountered a road closure with police officer, just nearby was a small lot where cars were parked so we went in there. After looking at the signs I throught maybe we weren’t allowed but we asked the officer and he said OK, not sure if he really understood or just didn’t care, oh well.

We walked into town and discovered a fair going on, lots of little tents and folks cooking and serving food–desserts it seemed, ultimately we learned it was specifically a “sweet” based festival. There was a female group of performers dressed in “cowboy” style and lots of people all around. We walked around a little, then had to find somewhere for lunch, we eventually came back to the square where we sat inside in a cafe on the main square–cappuccino, ice tea and focaccia–thick bread topped with prosciutto and cheese then off we went.

We found a good parking spot in the Piran garage, then walked back into town. I spent some time buying to figure out if we could return the car to the Venice airport instead of the parking garage closer to Venice proper–because there would be no one there to accept the car and also could we bring it back late. I called a lot of numbers, some which didn’t work and one was a UK customer service center–all no good.

Finally I tried calling the Voice airport number directly, they answered and we got it all arranged, yes to go to Venice airport and €12 only for 2 more hours so we could have a nice BF with no hurry, then we can take a water taxi from the airport to Rialto Bridge to the hotel.

Dinner at Porto Mariana at 6:30–a small restaurant tucked away down a side street. We had a very nice mixed salad, all shredded with mozzarella cheese, homemade dressing, very good; fresh, hot bread–made from pizza dough. Then Austin had penne pasta with truffles and I had a pizza with buffalo mozzarella, karst dry prosciutto, tomatoes. Very delicious.

Not really raining when we left–but everything pretty deserted.

Monday, Sept. 26 Venice

Yesterday after BF, we headed off for Venice. I’d spent some time and lots of phone calls (many to nonworking numbers) to see if we could return the car to Venice airport instead of the Venice parking garage and also return it later so we didn’t have to rush. I finally was able to reach the airport number and they said we could pay for an extra two hours for €12 and return the car to them. So we had a more leisurely BF. It was raining, off and on pouring, when we left. Since it was raining and we had our luggage, we decided to use the bus shuttle to parking and could wait under shelter; then at the end, for the walk to the garage itself, it was only drizzling.

During the drive, it was raining the whole time–sometimes heavily. About an hour away from the airport, the car warning light, check engine, came on again and Austin had a hard time accelerating. Luckily due to the rain, we weren’t traveling at a really high speed. We didn’t know what to do but finally exited the highway and found a place where there were stores/buildings to park. Luckily, when we turned off the car and turned it back on, it responded normally, but it was quite a worry getting to the airport. Then we needed to get gas and had a hard time finding a station near the airport–the self service rejected our Visa cards, finally at another station a women told us they’d been having trouble using Visa cards. So we ended up paying €40 cash; luckily I had enough since I’d gotten more cash in Ljubljana. Turning in the car was very quick and easy but I later realized we didn’t get any kind of receipt.

To get into Venice we only had to walk over to the parking lot building go down to level 2 and out to the pier. We bought our Agiluna tickets there €15 each and stood in a long line for the boat. We got on it and it took a different route than the web said, but eventually we realized the entire boat was going to Rialto bridge so there were no other stops. Anyway we got a little water tour of Venice for about an hour.

Using the phone and the directions generally from the hotel, we made it. Hotel Ai Reali a Small Luxury Hotel, the lobby and furnishings were very fancy but the room they put us in was terrible. There is no natural light–the window had an opaque shade and opened onto wall! So we went back down to complain and the only thing they offered was to move us to a “marginally” better room tonight or we could pay more for a Jr Suite. It is already pretty expensive at €280 per night so we didn’t want to pay more, so probably will move. Overall very disappointing.

It was fairly late for lunch so we went out to find a place for food and found a little pastry shop where we shared a “toasted” sandwich of ham and cheese, cappuccino and lemonade.

Back to the room to unpack a little, then off for a walk. We were heading toward the far eastern section where there are gardens and some of the Venice biennial art exhibit.

Along the way various twists and turns. We ended up at the end on the “wrong” side after walking alongside some huge deserted buildings but then Austin discovered there was a free shuttle across the little canal to the other side, which we took.

We were able to see some of the art exhibits, inside and out. Interesting. Then we made our way back, heading into the crowds–many big crowds with folks holding cruise placards. We avoided San Marco Square and were trying to head to the hotel when Austin’s phone died–yikes–did not have a clear idea of how to get back to the hotel! I had the cover charger but it didn’t seem to be working for a while. Finally, we made it to some areas we recognized and we asked a gondola driver for help with directions and he told us but also Austin’s phone finally did come alive,

So we made it back, settled in the room for a while; had a little wine then set off for dinner at a square nearby–Santa Maria Formosa.

There was a lot of seating outside but we chose inside. I’d chosen restaurants based partly on how close they were to the hotel, but also if we could find something we wanted to eat. And tried to find reasonable prices–it’s expensive in Venice!

We got wine, €45! And then Austin got veal cheek with polenta and some grilled veggies, eggplant, zucchini, red pepper and I got lamb shank with potatoes and also a side salad,

The service was good and food good, No problem getting back, dark streets but no rain.

Good night’s sleep, comfy bed, good temp, dark, nice bathroom, large, lots of marble, nice large shower.

BF was OK. It didn’t start until 7:30 so I went down close to 7 to see where I could get coffee and the desk clerk told me the BF attendant would make me some, so I got a cappuccino to go and sat in a little room off the lobby until close to 7:30 when I went up to get Austin, I did notice someone was getting food prior to that. Tomorrow we have to leave at 8:15 to get to the airport for our 11:00 flight. We’re going to take an expensive private water taxi for €150, but it gets us there in 30 minutes vs having to get the public water bus to the bus station then the bus to the airport–at least an hour travel time if not more. This hotel is in a small canal so we can get the water taxi from the lobby–also it may rain tomorrow.

BF had rolls, fruits, cereals, salad stuff, lots of sweet things, meats, scrambled eggs, they charged more if you wanted eggs made to order, but at least they didn’t charge for the cappuccino.

After BF we walked to San Marco Square–it wasn’t yet extremely busy but there were long lines for the basilica. Then we walked over to the Accademia where we going to see part of the Venice biennial, an exhibit by Anosh Kapoor. I’d read a long time ago about the Venice biennial and just recently a long article about Anish Kapoor in the New Yorker. He has some very famous pieces, many of them resin colored with much red and black, some pieces the darkest black only to look like a three dimensional void, some highly polished stainless steel discs which distort the reflections–these were very cool, and several other very site specific odd pieces red and black predominating.

The first part of the show was at the Accedemia and the second at Palazzo Manfrin. To get there we caught a water bus at the Accademia stop to the train station and had a short walk from there.

After this we walked over past the train station and past the bus station to the little restaurant on the canal where we’d had lunch when we ended up in Venice on the train from Padua. Had bruschetta and a final goodby Aperol Spritz. It was warm and sunny. We’ve been lucky here because it had been predicted to rain both days, in fact the entire trip has been mostly rain free and when we’ve had rain we’ve worked around it or it didn’t bother us. Graz was really the only place that we were pretty much wiped out with the rain. Even so, we were still able to take a couple walks, take the funicular up to the walls above the city and eat dinner outside one evening.

After enjoying our lunch break we walked over to the bus station and caught the water bus back to San Marco, but the line we took, went around the outside and to the south of Venice, not down the Grand Canal, so we got a little slice of life and different views of Venice than we’d seen before.

We walked through San Marco Square and briefly thought about going into the cathedral but there was a very long line and no skip the line tickets were available for the reminder of the day. So we walked back to the hotel. Settled in, read, etc. I went out to find a little souvenir for Rachel–something of paper made in Italy as she’d brought me back that after their honeymoon in Italy where they went to Venice.

Tuesday, Sept 27 Off to Newark

We had a nice dinner last night at a small restaurant near the hotel, Da Carletto. We started with a mixed salad after having found a nice wine. Then, finally, we had some good Italian pasta, spaghetti carbonara to share–good, but not as hot as it should have bene.

Then Austin had a sea bass in a delicious sauce and I had beef filet in a green peppercorn sauce–just delicious! Not very much meat, but sufficient since we’d had pasta.

Then a quick walk back, tucked into the candy store, but didn’t get anything.

Up today at 6:30, down to BF at 7 where we got coffee and Austin grabbed a croissant. Gradually more food came out, I had a chocolate croissant, then finally some scrambled eggs and ham. At 8:15 we left, taking a private water taxi to the airport–€150, picked up right at the door to the hotel. Super convenient! It wasn’t raining but would have been fine if it had been, we wouldn’t get wet. Traveled through Venice on some small canals, then over the lagoon to the airport, to the water taxi terminal which is sheltered, then people mover sidewalk all the way to the terminal. Long line for security even though we were able to get into the “priority” line, but we were here by 8:40 for our 11:05 flight.

After security we went up to the Marco Polo lounge which seemed to serve all airlines plus priority pass. It was pretty large and not overly crowded; a food buffet and they made you cappuccino. We’re sitting right where we can see our plane.

This (Venice to EWR) is a new route for United and I was lucky enough to snag nonstop award tickets.

//It’s a long flight back even though we had good headwinds. I watched “Spencer” about Princess Diana, a little hard to follow because no subtitles, then “Northmen”–a very authentically produced “saga” set in AD800, filmed in Iceland, lots of blood and gore but the production was made to be very authentic, clothes, weapons, housing, ships, etc, then the latest “Top Gun” with Tom Cruise, very good, then the end of Beauty and the Beast with Emma Watson, I’d started it on the way over.

The flight was very smooth–would have been good for sleeping. We got right out, customs very short–they merely look at your face and give you a receipt, then right out to Rick waiting for our ride back.

Super great trip!