Day 11 -- Vienna

We had breakfast in the eating hall of the “monastery” sharp at 8 am. We shared a table with the priest and an Austrian woman from central Austria (a town near the mountains where salt mines are). We had a very nice conversation and a pretty good breakfast with ham, cheese, jam, yogurt, etc.
After breakfast we decided to drive to Schwechat, a little town near the airport to look for a hotel. We were lucky and we found a decent hotel walking distance from the train station and about 15 min from the airport. Then we took the train to Wien Mitte and started exploring. I spent 3 months in Vienna 30 some years ago, but I still remembered the main stuff. We walked to Stefansplatz and saw the cathedral, then along Karntner Strasse, then to the Opera house, Hoffburg, Rathaus and a few churches. Along the way we had lunch, then coffee with lovely Viennese pastry. Then we walked to the Donau and had some wine on the terrace of a restaurant overlooking the river. It was a very hot day so we were tired after the whole day of walking. We took the train back at 9:16 pm and got to the hotel. Lucy and Reni decided to leave at 6 am and we didn’t go to bed until midnight.

Next morning
Lucy and Reni got up at 5 am so that Lucy can catch an 11 am train from Ostrava. We didn’t get much sleep because it was hot and noisy in the hotel and because we went to bed so late. Just so I don’t forget, I want to write down my favorite Slovenian expressions:
Dobrodosli = welcome, but the literal translation is “You arrived well”. We used it a lot to express our satisfaction with the place we stayed in. During the entire trip, we didn’t prebook any accommodations and we were always able to find something good.
Hvala = thank you, but in Polish it means “glory” or something to that effect so it has a particular flavor for us.
Voda s pipy = tap water. At first they always gave us mineral water when we asked for water in restaurants until we learned this expression. Very useful.

Day 10 Kranjska Gora -- Seebenstein

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day. While Lucy was getting ready, Reni and I took one more walk by the lake and took in the view one more time. Then we packed our Wolfie again and drove toward Italy. We decided to cut across Italy before going up to Austria towards Vienna. We first went to see a mountain lake and then stopped for coffee in a little town Travieso (?). The coffee and pastry were delicious. Then we crossed the Austrian border and took a highway towards Vienna. It was about 370 km to Vienna so we decided to drive for about 300 km and then stop for the night. On the way, we were caught in very heavy rain, but as we got closer to Vienna, the weather improved. We got off the highway about 20 km from the city of Wiener Neustadt and ended in a small village of Seebenstein. It’s quite picturesque, with a big schloss (castle) on top of a hill. We asked someone about a pension and she pointed us to a big building near a park. The building was lo9cked so we rang a bell, were buzzed in and the first thing we saw after we entered was a nun and a priest. We were in a monastery. They were very nice and hospitable, prepared us a room for 3 and we were set. It turned out that this used to be a Franciscan monastery, but now the nuns run a nursing home and a pension. After a little rest (Reni and Lucy) and a walk through the village in futile search of internet access (me), we set out to climb the castle hill. It took about 30 min and we were on top. The castle was from the 14th century, and partly in ruins. There was also some kind of a tower from the time of the Turkish invasion (14th century), but we didn’t go there because it was getting late. We walked through the village again, saw several milk producing farms and ended at the railway station and a very nice restaurant there where we had dinner and a bottle of good Austrian Wetliner wine.

Day 9 Lake Bohinj - Vogel - Bled - Kranjska Gora

Last night we walked along the lake and in the village until dark, partly in the rain. Then we sat on our balcony on the farm in Stara Fuzina, drank wine and watched the mountains. In the morning, Reni went to the village store and bought some fresh rolls and we asked our hostess to make some coffee and this was our breakfast. The coffee was awful, but the rest was good. We decided that if the weather was good, we would take a cable car (gondola) to the top of the Vogel mountain and hike there for a couple of hours. We did that. The views were spectacular. There are many hiking trails there, but we took a short one for about an hour. When we got down, we drove to Bled, another Alpine lake with a small island in the middle and a spectacular castle perched on a rock on one bank. Bled is a spa town, very different than villages near lake Bohinj. It has a charm and character of a relaxed old world spa rather than a mountain-climbing center. We walked along the lake and then went to a restaurant recommended by the tourist information person -- Murka. It was a Slovenian folk restaurant so we ordered a typical Slovenian dish -- civabcici (grilled rolls of ground pork/lamb) with onion and tomato/paprika sauce and mustard + bread and grilled vegetables, which included grilled carrots, celery, peppers, zucchini, onions, etc. It was delicious, but the problem was that each of us got at least eight of them and there was no way we could eat them all. (We did take a doggie bag). We decided not to cross to Austria yet and go to another mountain village called Kranjska Gora, about 30 km away. It is located in a triangle where 3 borders meet -- Italian, Austrian and Slovenian. When we got there, we drove through town towards a lake and found a lovely little hamlet right at the foot of a mountain with a beautiful view of a mountain range and a lake. The was a pension there so we had coffee on the terrace and asked about rooms, but they had none. Right next to it was a private house with a sign “Sobe” (Rooms for rent). This time we were lucky and rented two rooms with balconies, one with a fabulous view, but unfortunately without wifi. We took an evening walk around the lake and then sat on the balcony, drank nice Slovenian wine, nibbled on the rest of the civabcici, talked and admired the view until dark

Day 8 Kanal - Lake Bohinj

Reni and I got up earlier than Lucy and walked down to town to buy fresh rolls, coffee and cheese. Then we had leisurely breakfast in the garden and got ready to leave at about 10 am. The road from Kanal to Bohinj Lake was along very narrow and sometimes steep mountain roads. Some of these roads looked more like hiking trails than roads for cars. They were very picturesque, though, with mountains and valleys and little hamlets with white churches. About half-way, we came across a wooden shack/restaurant and we decided to stop. They had fresh trout from a nearby brook so we ordered it for lunch. We were very surprised when the waitress brought us two trouts each. They were very fresh and very very tasty. The place was popular with bikers because while we were there, at least 4 groups of bikers came as well. Some were from Germany, some from Austria, some from Slovenia. After lunch, we drove along an even steeper and narrower road to Bohinjska Bystrica and then to the lake. As usual, we stopped in the tourist info office and got an address of a private house that had rooms for rent. We were driving to this house when we decided to ask a woman working in the garden if she had something to rent. She didn’t but she sent us to her friends who had a farm nearby and we rented a room there.

Day 7 Piran -- Kanal

After last night’s excesses, especially the dessert (morski val) and the fact that we went to bed at 12:30 am, we woke up at a quarter to 10 am. We went to the main square and had coffee and lovely croissants in an outdoor café, then went to a sea salt shop and bought some salt souvenirs and then back to the room to pack. When we were already sitting on the bus to the parking garage when Lucy realized that she left her cat necklace in the room. We had to get off the bus and Lucy and Reni went back to look for it. They were lucky that the landlady was there and also that they found the cat. They also cried a little together with the landlady (Anna) who turned out to be a widow as well.
When we got to the parking garage, we changed into swimsuits and went to the nearby beach by Grand Hotel Bernardin. We swam in the Adriatic sea, sat on the beach for about 2 hours and then started on our way.
We drove along the Slovenian wine road through lovely small villages and vineyards on slopes of mountains and hills until we reached the valley of the river Soca. (The river has an amazing emerald green color due to a large amount of chromium)Then we drove along the valley until we got to a little picturesque town called Kanal and decided to start looking for a place to sleep. We were lucky again and found a nice apartment (2 bedrooms, kitchen, living room and bathroom) in a house with a nice garden high above the town for 18 euro per person. The owner, a woman about our age, took a liking to us and brought us a bowl of cherries from her garden and a pitcher if white wine from a local winery. We relaxed in the garden for some time and then walked down to town to a pizzeria. We ordered one pizza, but a very handsome young waiter brought us two. We told him that we only ordered one and he was very apologetic. It turned out not to be a problem because the pizzas were very good and we finished them both. At the end, he brought each of us a cocktail of pineapple, coco and vodka and didn’t charge us for wine to compensate for his mistake. Then we walked some more and ended up in a café for dessert and I am posting it from there.

Day 6 -- Piran

After a nice breakfast in the A Hotel, we packed our belongings again and decided to drive to the Slovenian (very short) Adriatic coast. We were a little concerned that it may be difficult to find accommodation for Saturday night, but we decided to go anyway. In spite of pretty heavy traffic on the highway, we got there in less than 2 hours. Unfortunately, we couldn’t drive into the town of Piran because only people who live there and have a special permit can drive inside the city. We had to park the car in a huge parking structure and then walk into town (about 10 minutes). On the way we stopped in a tourist office and rented a room in a private house right in the center for one night. We met the owner by the Venetian house in the main square and followed her into the house. We left some belongings there and then needed to go back to the parking garage to get some stuff for the night, but on the way we decided to fortify ourselves with some food and beverage. We stopped in a little restaurant on the way and had a plate of fresh grilled sardines with potatoes (delicious) and a carafe of local white wine. Then we walked along the harbor to the garage, took some things from our suitcases and took a free shuttle bus back to the center.
In the afternoon, Reni wanted to go and sit by the sea, and Lucy and I went to explore the town. Piran is a such a picturesque town. It’s a just as beautiful as Rhodos or Sorrento, but without the hype or crowds. It is located on the tip the Piran peninsula and it dates back to Greek times, but today’s town is based on its medieval structure with winding narrow streets and with visible Venetian influences. Lucy and I started out explorations from the church of St. George with an amazing crucified Jesus from the 14th century. It’s a remarkably beautiful sculpture. After the church, we decided to explore the ruins of the castle, the highest point in town. When we climbed the hill, then three flights of stairs, then a ladder, we had a fantastic sight of the whole tip of the peninsula with red roofs of houses, steeples of churches and the setting sun. It was breathtaking. In the evening, we walked around the tip and found another fish restaurant where I had mussels and Reni and Lucy had a fish platter for 2 -- squid, calamari, scampi, sea bass, etc. Huge. After that, we went to another place for dessert and Reni and Lucy had a dessert called “a sea wave” (morski val)-- ice cream, nuts, whipped cream and Baileys =. Enormous, I had to help them.

Day 5 -- Ljubljana

After breakfast, we packed the car again and set off to Ljubljana. Before we went, we looked for a place to stay since we didn’t have anything pre-booked. The B&B that was recommended in a guidebook I read in California was all booked, but Lucy found a nice looking hotel that was only 2.5 km from the center and reasonably priced so we made a reservation there. The drive to Ljubljana was easy -- only about 70 km so we got to the hotel around 1 pm. It turned out to be very nice, but maybe a bit further from the center than desired. They showed us how to walk to the center and so we did. They told us it was a nice stroll along the river, but it turned out to be 1/3 along the river and 2/3rds along pretty busy suburban streets. It took us more than an hour, but we got there and were not disappointed. Ljubljana turned out to be a great city -- vibrant, young, alive, with beautiful old architecture enhanced with modern touches. On the way to the center, on the river bank we encountered a little outdoor library stand, a project called “Library under the Trees” -- boxes of books, a few comfortable lawn chairs and a person who looks over it. They have 5 of them in the city. You can sit and read or borrow a book to take with you. I love this idea and want to start something like this in Huntington Beach.
Our first stop in the city was in an outdoor restaurant (one of hundreds) to have lunch/dinner. We had a one of the "menu of the day" combos -- lentil soup, pasta with veggies, salad and desert for 6.5 euro. Then we walked to the castle, the highest point in the city. The castle was fantastic -- the medieval structure again combined with very modern touches -- glass and metal -- light and airy. Instead of trying to renovate and recreate the original look, they enclosed the original structure in beautifully designed glass and metal enclosures.
After that we walked through the city, Vodnikov trg, Mestni trg, Stary trg -- we admired the market designed by Plecnik and a series of bridges -- Dragon bridge, Shoemaker’s bridge, triple bridge and others. There so many bridges here, and all along the river -- hundreds of cafes, restaurants, bars with lots of young people having a good time. We walked and walked until finally at 9 pm we sat down in one of the restaurants on the river bank and ordered a bottle of wine and became part of the local night life. Lucy was all stressed out because she thought that the waiter said that we couldn’t just have wine without food. It took a lot of persuading and quite a bit of wine to calm her down. At about 11 pm we started walking back to our hotel. We would have taken a cab, but there were no cabs in sight so we walked along a very crowded river bank and then along very empty and dark streets until we reached our hotel and collapsed in beds.

Day 4 Logarska Dolina

We woke up at about 9 am and went to breakfast. It was fabulous. What a a contrast with the Ptuj breakfast -- wonderful freshly brewed coffee, several cereals + yogurt, home made cheeses and sausages, eggs made to order and fresh bread, rolls and sweet mini croissants. A feast.
After breakfast, we decided to do some hiking. We went down the valley to a little information kiosk at the base and asked the girl there to recommend a trail for about 4 hours. She recommended an easy train to Rinka Waterfalls (about 1.5 hrs one way) + a continuation to the the top of the Okreslij mountain for an additional hour. We decided to give it a try. It was a very pleasant trail through the woods and meadows, but there were traps a long the way -- we had to stop every now and then to read ethnographic explanations, then we encountered a mountain hut/restaurant and had to stop for a beer, then we stopped to discuss important issues, admire flowers, have a little snack, and so on and on and on. The fact is that the 1.5 hr trail took us more then than 4 hours to complete. We did get to the Rinka waterfall, but it was too late to continue. The waterfall is spectacular . It is the longest waterfall in Slovenia -- 90 meters long. Next to the waterfall, high on the mountain slope is a little bar called the Eagle’s Nest so we decided to go there and reward ourselves with some coffee for our effort. As we were drinking our (very good) coffee, it started to pour and a group of Slovenian hikers took shelter there too. We had to wait for about an hour for the rain to subside. In the meantime, we saw how they transported beer from the base of the mountain to the top of the Okreslij mountain’s hiker’s bar -- via a yellow aerial container. Beer must be an essential commodity for Slovenian hikers. We started walking down at about 4:30 pm and made it back to the farm at 6:15, just in time for another huge dinner.

Day 3 Ptuj -- Logarska Dolina

We got up this morning and it was raining. We went down to have breakfast (at about 9:30) and discovered that there wasn’t much left for us after a group of hungry French motorcyclists consumed almost everything. Even all the coffee was gone and there was no black tea, just herbal teas. No caffeine. Needless to say we weren’t happy. The owner was nowhere to be found so we had to make do.
After this meager breakfast we packed our stuff back in the car and started to walk around Ptuj. The first settlements there are actually from Neolithic times. There were three Mithraic temples in 3 different places in Ptuj and Lucy was determined to see the first one, which contained a beautiful sculpture of god Mithra being born (from 2nd century AD). We went on a quest to find it, first into the local museum where we were told to call and make an appointment with a family who have the key. After numerous unsuccessful tries to call, we went back to the museum and were told that we should just go to Mithra 3 where we can find out where Mithra 1 is and get someone to open the temple for us. Since it was a little bit outside the city, we decided to first see the castle and then stop at Mithra on the way out. That’s exactly what we did. It took three tries to find Mithra 3 in a little street without any signs pointing to the temple. The family who were supposed to have the key, were not at home and a woman we asked in another house was visibly unhappy and complained about the museum sending people without a guide. She also told us where to find Mithra 1. After asking again, we found the house of the person who supposedly had the key to Mithra 1, but there was a sign on the house “I went to the market, please wait.”. Reni and I were ready to give up, but Lucy was driven and wouldn’t think of leaving Ptuj without seeing the temple. We started looking around at two garage/shed structures full of what looked like antique sculptures and wondered if these were the ancient Roman remnants. We were even considering putting one in the trunk when the woman appeared. She told us that the temple itself was in a different place and she got in the car and drove with us to the temple. We parked in a field near some trees on one side a a pig sty on the other and walked through a muddy field in terrible stench until we reached a clearing with a small building that contained the temple. She then had to go to the farmhouse to get the key and let us in. The building contained the walls of a small temple and amazingly well preserved marble sculptures. The woman told us about the neglect of these Roman temples and how unhappy she was about what was happening to them and the condition in which they were kept. Apparently, the museum doesn’t have money to exhibit them properly. I offered my help in trying to find some foundation funding. These unique works definitely deserve better care and more exposure.
After visiting the temple, Lucy was finally satisfied and we started driving towards Logarska Dolina in the Savijnski Alps. We got there in about 2 hours and found a room with board on a farm owned by the Plesnik family. It’s a beautiful place. The views are amazing. We took a little walk and then had an enormous dinner cooked by the male farmer.

Day 2 Schwarzl Winery - Ptuj, Slovenia

We got up before 8 am because we were told that breakfast was at 8, and went down to the breakfast room. Our table was ready. We were served two kinds of cereal, village-made yogurt, village baked bread and warm rolls, home-made sausages, cheese and coffee + apple and orange juices to drink. It was all very tasty. After breakfast, we packed, paid for our room and decided to walk part of the Sudsteirische Weinstrasse. We packed the car and left it in the parking area and started walking towards the village of Ratsch. It was a very pretty road among wineries and hills, but it was very hot and sunny. We made a 5-6 km circle, got in the car, and drove to the village of Gamlitz. We walked around Gamlitz, then had coffee and some local pastry and then drove across the border to Slovenia. The oldest city of Slovenia, Ptuj, is only about 50 km from the border. The city www.ptuj.si was established in Roman times and has some interesting historical monuments from from Roman and post-Roman times, including a castle on a hill, a few churches, town houses and charming narrow streets. It also has hot springs and a river that goes through the city. We found tourist info, who recommended a place to stay, places to eat and to visit. We rented a great room in a pension Sliac, then had dinner in restaurant Ribic (we had grilled fish, but we were not thrilled about the service or the food) and a carafe or the local riesling (very good). After dinner we walked through the historical part of town until the sky became very, very dark. A few minutes after we got into our room, a big storm started. We had a little water disaster in the bathroom (not related to the rain, but to Reni trying to cool a bottle of beer) and as a result the owner came and we had a long talk about the history of this house, which was dates back to 11th or 12th century and was in his family for a long time until the communists took it away. His grandma got it back and he inherited it, but it was in ruins. He did a very good job renovating it.

Day 1 Ostrava - Weingut Schwarzl, Austria

I took the train from Warsaw to Ostrava on Sunday and got there at about 2 pm. My two friends, Reni and Lucy picked me up at the train station. We drove about 15 min to Reni’s house. It was very hot and we spent the afternoon sitting outside, eating and drinling wine until a big thinderstorm came and we had to take shelter inside.

On Monday morning we got up, had breakfast outside under the big walnut tree, packed the car and embarked on our adventure. First we drove to Olomouc to pay a short visit to Reni’s daughter, Kami. We spent about an hour in Kam’s house playing with her little daughter Anicka who is 2.5 years old. From there we drove towards Brno, Vienna, Gratz until we reached the Sudostereische Weinstrasse, a wine growing area on the border of Austria and Slovenia. Kami’s husband recommended that we spent a night there and walk the wine path between the lovely rolling hills. We drove up and down several hills, through picturesque little villages until we finally decided to stop and ask about a room for the night. The first place we stopped had guest rooms, but they were all rented. They sent us to a house down the road and we were able to rent two rooms for the night there. We were lucky because it turned out to be a great place, a little winery called Schwarzl that not only had great wine, but also very personable fairly young owners who made us a lovely dinner of home made sausages, ham, vegetables, cheeses and pork fat (schmaltz) with fantastic dark bread from the village bakery. All this and a bottle of their wine and we were in heaven. A couple of Austrians from Linz were also staying there (for the 5th time), a man and a woman. When we finished our supper, he invited us to sit with them outside. Then he confessed that he loved to sing and wanted to sing some songs to us of an Austrian singer Reinhart Fendrich. He brought his car from the parking area and parked it close to the table, put on a CD and started serenading. Once he started, he couldn’t stop and the singing went on and on. The owners joined us at the table and we tried to converse in a mixture of English, German, Czech, Polish, and whatever else. It was dark, we were getting sleepy, the Austrian wanted to treat us to another bottle of wine, but we politely excused ourselves and went upstairs to our rooms and called it a night. It was an eventful first day.

Preamble

27 days travelling (Poland, Rome, eastern Mediteranean) was not enough for Bo so she added on a 12 day road trip with 2 girl friends.