Europe 2019 Part 2

As I mentioned the Blog was getting harder and harder to update, so Part 2 will begin with our leaving Krakow and heading to Budapest.

Day 7 Friday September 6th Krakow to Budapest

Today we made our way from the enchanting, beautiful city of Krakow to Budapest, Hungary . Honestly we just fell in love with the people, the scenery, the history and most of all the square!  Sad to leave but on to our new adventure in Budapest.
Stanislov (Stan as he told us to call him) picked us at our hotel in a 6/passenger Mercedes van, lots of room and very comfortable. He was a delight!  Gave us brochures of what to see and do in Budapest, talked all about the sites out the window and showed us beautiful pictures of his family: wife and two children, three year old son and one year old daughter. 

Most of trip was through a small mountain range, not too tall, in the beautiful country of Slovakia.  Stan and his family lived there in a small town called Nitre.  When we asked Stan what his favorite food was in Slovakia, he replied “ my moms”.  He said the Slovakian people are very family oriented and live and work together but always sit  down every Sunday together at the matriarchs table.  Their meals always start with soup, no matter what season it was, followed by a starch and a meat.  Starch could be cabbage or potatoes and most of the time the meat was sausage. 

Stan stopped for lunch at a very quaint little typical Slovakian restaurant and ordered us a traditional Slovakian lunch.  It was delicious.  Dennis had a cabbage sausage soup. I had the traditional soup served every Sunday with the family: chicken with noodles. Next came three dishes with sausage, macaroni and cheese and cabbage all topped with pork crisps. We learned they wasted nothing when they slaughtered a pig.
As we’ve heard before the history of Slovakia had a long and struggling past of fighting, different kings and rulers, and even parts when the country was consumed by another and didn’t really exist for a while. Sounded a lot like Poland and/or Germany. 

We arrived at our Hotel which was situated just across the street from the Danube River, where we could see River Boats docked other Boats giving River Cruises, and a great view of the Buda side of the city. Out our window we had a great view of the Elisabeth Bridge one of the newer bridges connecting the two sides of the city and named for Queen Elisabeth of Bavaria a very popular queen of Austria-Hungary.

On “Gellert Hill” high above the city on the Buda side we could see what they call “The Statue of Liberty” commemorating those who sacrificed their lives for the independence, freedom, and prosperity of Hungary.

We got ourselves settled in our room and then headed to the river where we would take an hour long cruise up and down the Danube to see both sides of the city at night. It was a beautiful night and we enjoyed viewing the magnificent buildings as we sipped a glass of Champaign. The cruise helped give us a little bit of perspective on he city and would help orient us for our tour of Pest tomorrow.

We walked back to our hotel and made our way to the 9th floor rooftop area where we would enjoy our breakfast mornings and a night-cap each evening. It became one of our favorite spots as the entire Buda side of the Danube was visible.

Another day complete.

Pictures

1 Mary and I with our driver Stan who took us from Krakow to Budapest

2 Mary and I on our rooftop lounge

3 & 4 The Hungarian Parliament building at night from Danube

5 Rooftop lounge at night

6 View of Elisabeth Bridge with the Statue of Liberty high on the hill. This was the view from our room.

End of Day 7

Day 8 Saturday September 7th, Visiting Relatives in Romania

As some of you may have heard my Grandmother and Grandfather on my Fathers side were born in Romania. With the help of Ancestry.com and a second or third cousin in Cleveland I was able to contact another cousin still living in Romania. Being that we were so close I made contact and plans to visit him and his family. On Saturday morning with a rental car and a GPS, we started on our adventure.

Romania is about 3 1/2 hours from Budapest through mostly farm land and country roads. It was raining when we left but stopped about 30 or 40 minute. s outside Budapest. We made one wrong turn along the way, but after awhile the GPS finally corrected itself and put us back on track. Everything went along smooth until we got to the Romanian Border. In that it is not part of the EU we were stopped and asked to present documents on the Car, Passports, and a special tax stamp, which I figured out only minutes before we left the hotel. They took everything, asked me to pull over, park, and wait! I wasn’t comfortable handing over my passport, but did so, and after about 30 minutes we were back on our way.

I called my cousin who speaks broken English and he confirmed our GPS directions were accurate. About 30 minutes later, we arrived with my cousin standing in front of his home waving me down. Inside the small courtyard we met my cousin and his wife, his sister and her husband and his Grandmother and Grandfather. They had a table set outside on the patio, and after a few hugs and kisses they started bring plate after plate of food, Amaretto for Mary and some homemade Pear Moonshine for me!

The food was terrific and the conversation with the broken english and Google Translator we were able to get along. A bit later my Cousins Cousin, who would also be mine, arrived having just got home from a vacation with her family. She spoke a bit better English and things got easier. She agreed to show us around Oradea, the town they live in, and we had a great time. It started getting late and with a 3 1/2 hour drive back and the car needing to be returned we said our goodbyes, hugs and kisses and with presents, food and a bottle of the homemade moonshine started working our way back to Budapest.

We had a Great Time!

Again the only problem was once again at the Border, and this time it was the Hungarians that caused our delay. This time after almost an hour we were again on our way. Home safe and sound with another adventure under our belts we had a drink on the rooftop bar at our hotel then headed for bed as i had been up since about 4:00 AM.

Pictures

1 Romona (I think she is my third cousin) and her Mother and Father

2 Grandmother and Grandfather

3 My second cousine and his wife

4 Homemade Pear Moonshine

5 Downtown Oradea

6 Ramona’s Home

End of Day 8

Day 9 Sunday September 8th, Budapest

Our guide Magdi met us at our Hotel with a van and driver, as Budapest is much too spread out to do a walking tour. Magdi would be with us for two days so we started with the Pest side of the City.

Magdi started the tour by taking us to Heroes’ Square built in 1896 to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of the Magyars’ arrival in Hungary. The large square a popular gathering space culminates with a large monument of 14 Hungarian leaders who represent a large part of their illustrious history.

From Heroes Square we walked across the street into the City Park or so called “Central Park”, which isn’t so central. City Park was the site of the 1896 Millennial Exhibition celebrating Hungary’s 1000th Birthday. One of the center pieces of the park is a large man made lake that is only a few feet deep, where you can find small paddle boats to rent in the summer, and frozen used for ice skating in the winter. It can even be drained quickly and used as additional space for large events in that it has a concrete floor.

Another important part of the park is the Vajdahunyad Castle, which is a replica of a famous castle in Transylvania that once belonged to the Hungarian family. Also in the park are several Museums, a Benedictine Chapel, and a monument to “Anonymous” the person who researched and recorded much of Hungarian history in the Middle Ages. The reason it is called Anonymous is because he did not want to be known and ,in fact, the statue of him has a hood over his head so his face cannot be seen.

Down the street i s what is considered to be one of the main attractions when visiting Budapest, The Bath Houses. There were hundreds of people entering the building to soak in 100 degree water that is pumped up from hot springs below the city.

Leaving the City Park we headed for the Jewish Synagogue, the largest in Europe and the second largest in the world with the largest being located in New York City. Inside was bustling with 100’s of tour groups and crews getting the place set up for a large festival. She explained that the main building which was extremely large was only used between April and October when the Jewish population increased, in the winter they moved to a smaller location still on the property

Inside the courtyard there is a Jewish Cemetery where over 2000 Jews, many unknown are buried in a mass grave. It honors those Jews left in the ghetto to die of exposure or starvation during the Nazi occupation. Although it is not customary to have a cemetery next to a Synagogue, this one was established only as a result of historical circumstances. We continued through the museum part of the Synagogue where many relics of the Jewish past were on display. There in the cemetery was a beautiful steel weeping willow (making an upside down menorah) called the “tree of life.” Written on each of the 4000 leaves was the name of one of the victims from the Holocaust.

Our last stop with Magdi was the Hungarian Parliament where Mary and I had tickets for a tour that afternoon. We walked around the building while Magdi explained some of the buildings and gave us a bit of history concerning them. All in all a great first day with Magdi, as we would see her again in the morning for a tour of the Buda side of the City.

Mary and I made our way into the Parliament building and found a small cafe where we enjoyed a light lunch and were able to get off our feet for a few minutes. Our tour cued up at 1:15, and we made our way through the security line, through scanners and metal detectors similar to those at the airport. For some reason I can’t seem to get through metal detectors and get pulled off to the side and checked with a hand held scanner, not sure why since they don’t find anything.

The Parliament Building sits on the banks of the Danube as you may remember from the pictures I posted in yesterdays Blog, only at night from the River. The building is just over 100 years old, and it was inaugurated in 1896 on the 1000th anniversary of Hungary. Our guide had mentioned before leaving us that there was a competition for the design of the building and in the end the designs of the two runner-ups were also built facing the Parliament building. One is the Museum of Ethnography while the other is the Ministry of Agriculture.

The Hungarian Parliament building is the third largest Parliament building in the world, has 691 rooms, 12.5 miles of stairs and stands 315 feet high. The building is built with two identical halves, one used for actual Parliamentary business while the half we toured is simply for tours.

The highlight of the tour and the only place where pictures are not allowed is in the center section where “The Holy Crown” is housed in a glass case guarded 24/7 by two Hungarian Soldiers. We happened to be lucky enough to see the changing of the guard, a short but interesting ceremony.

It had been a long day so we headed back towards our hotel to relax for a few “Minutes” in that we were being picked up at 3:45 for a wine tasting tour!

The tour leader Michael was waiting at the desk as we arrived ready to whisk us off to the Buda side and into one of Hungary’s 22 wine regions. When we climbed into the bus it was full with, 6 Norwegian Women on a “Blue Holiday” as they called it (more later), 4 other Norwegians but simply a coincidence, a couple from New Zealand and Mary and I.

On the way to the first stop, there would be three, Michael talked about Hungarian Wine making and a bit of its history. The country itself is located between the 46th and 49th parallel which is the same as many of France’s top regions. The regions rolling hills are rich in volcanic soils and limestone, perfect for wine making.

During the reign of the Nazis they took most of the wine production for the soldiers and in that they didn’t really care about quality only quantity and alcohol content the Hungarian producers started to produce a lesser quality wine which when the Nazis left, wine sales plummeted due to the poor taste. Wine producers quickly changed their ways and over the next 20 years or so began making a much better quality and sales have dramatically increased. Even so, they do not produce large quantities so it is rare to find Hungarian wines outside of Hungary.

Our first stop was a small winery called “Anonym” located in Etyek, where we tasted 4 wines, three whites and one red. They couldn’t decide on a name for their winery so they named it ” no name or anonymous”. I was a little skeptical as to whether I would like these wines as most of them were white, but surprisingly they were great! The reds not so much, mostly taste like a Pinot noir.

We sat with the New Zealand couple and found them to be lovely and cute. She’s a nurse for the ICU for liver transplants (a little ironic). That led to a joke by our hostess: a man was told that red wine was good for his heart but bad for his liver. He replied “no problem, I need to drink as much red wine as I can so my heart will be strong enough for my liver transplant.”

The other little antidote that we heard here was that ABC stands for “anything but Chardonnay ( a saying I can wrap my head around )

Next we drove to a tiny little town in the hills and as luck would have it our next stop was in a town having a wine festival! Our tasting was down inside a deep wine cave in a winery called Orosz Gyula. The wine was great and our host terrific. Again four more wines to taste, everything starting to taste better and better.

Our last stop was at someone’s bed and breakfast and winery. Dinner was served (Typical Hungarian) sausages and cheese, chicken with rice and a grape stuffed crepe for dessert. This is where the fun began. First of all the girls and Dennis and I noticed right away that our waitress looked just like Aria ( for you Game of Thrones fans.) The girls were now behaving just like my girlfriends do on an ” all girl vacation”. They explained to us that they have been vacationing annually together for years and as Dennis said they called it a “blue vacation.” A ” blue vacation” is when each girl takes turns planning the vacation, including all details and airline tickets. One important element is that all must attend or no trip. The only thing the planner tells them is what type of clothes to pack. When they get to the airport their destination is revealed. Cool or what? Who’s with me on starting this idea?

So as you can guess we spent the rest of the night toasting to “Girlfriends”!!!

So back to the hotel, taking our normal places on the roof with wine and views of the city.

Pictures

1 Mary and our guide Magdi

2 The main Bath House in Budapest

3 The back of the Parliament building

4 Mary and I with Magdi and our driver

5 & 6 pictures in first winery

7 & 8 pictures in second winery

9 & 10 pictures from final stop where we had dinner

End of Day 9

Day 10, last day in Budapest (Monday September 9)

This was our last day in Budapest. Magdi and our driver were picking us up at our hotel to take us around the Buda side of the city which is hilly compared to Pest. As we had a driver picking us up at 1:00 for the drive to Vienna we got started a bit earlier then yesterday. When we walked outside it was raining, which would make for an interesting day.

We had mentioned yesterday to Magdi that we were collecting flags of each country we visited and she made our first stop a large Budapest style shopping mall. Not your typical shopping mall we saw lots and lots of butchers, seafood stands, cheese, bread, and souvenirs galore. After visiting several floors we finally found a small stand where we purchased our flags. Knowing that we had been on a wine tour the night before, Magdi took us to a large map that showed all 22 of the wine growing regions which gave us a much better understanding of where we were the night before.

Back in the van and heading to Buda where our first stop would be what those living in Budapest call “Their Statue of Liberty” or its correct name “The Freedom Statue”. It sits high atop Gellert Hill and commemorates those who sacrificed their lives for the independence, freedom, and prosperity of Hungary. It is affectionately called the “Bottle Opener” as it is a man holding a palm leaf which from a distance does resemble a bottle opener. It was pouring rain at this point, and we were getting very wet, so I took a few quick pictures and we headed back down the hill.

Back in the van for a short ride to “The Cave Church” which is a church that is literally carved into the side of a mountain, and as is typical in this part of Europe it was a Catholic Church. The Church located inside Gellert Hill isn’t your typical Church with high ceilings and a gilded interior, but is set in a natural cave setting formed by thermal springs. Mass is still held in the church three times every day! The largest Chapel inside was the John Paul II chapel where Mass is typically held, but one of the smaller chapels was the Saint Maximillian Kolbe Chapel.

Leaving the church we headed across the street to get a look inside one of the largest bath houses on the Buda side of the city. The Gellert Spa opened in 1918 offering medicinal water treatments using underground thermal springs. The place was quite busy for the morning with people coming to spend time in the soothing waters.

Back in the van and we headed for the Sandor Palace (or Hungarian Presidential Palace) in the Buda Castle district housing the Office of the President of the Republic of Hungary. It was explained that this is usually the residence as well, but the current President prefers his own home in the Hills above the city.

From outside the Palace we walked along he square to the Church of our Lady of the Buda Castle, more commonly referred to as Matthias Church, honoring one of their previous beloved kings. Again this is a Roman Catholic Church and according to church tradition it was originally built in 1015, although it was reconstructed in the second half of the 14th century and extensively restored in the late 19th century. It was at one time the second largest church of medieval Buda and The seventh largest church of the medieval Hungarian Kingdom.

The sun finally came out and we walked along the cobble stone streets learning more about the History of Hungary. It seems to me that the Hungarian people are still upset about large chunks of their “Kingdom” that were parceled off over the years to the surrounding countries like Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria and Romania.

We finished up our tour and headed back to our hotel where a driver was to pick us up at 1:00 to take us the Vienna.

Our driver Marian arrived at the hotel on time, and loaded our luggage in the car and we were ready to go. Marion was from the Czech Republic and had driven a couple from Prague to Vienna the day before, so was on a return trip. As with all our drivers he was very friendly spoke relatively good English and his primary goal was to make us comfortable and get us to Vienna safely. We had a planned stop in Bratislava and Marian began giving us a little bit of the history as we drove.

Due to a dinner reservation in Vienna we had to limit our stay to about two hours which turned out to be just enough time to get a feel for the city. Marian parked the car then took us on a walking tour of the main square. Bratislava is the capital city in Slovakia. Like Budapest it is situated on the Danube, as well as the River Morava, and with a population of only about 400,000. One of Europe’s smallest capitals but the country’s largest city. We walked through “Hviezdoslav Square” in Old Town, a square that has existed for 1000 years.

One of the prettiest and most unique buildings in Bratislava is the “blue church.” The appealing art nouveau building on a sunny day looks the color of the sky and has its name for obvious reasons. It was really beautiful and reminded me of something Disney would build.

After we walked around a little more and got in the car and finished our journey to Vienna.

Upon arriving Mary wasn’t feeling well, I think it was the ride as we sat in back seat and there were a lot of curves in the road, so she went straight to bed. It was raining that night and we were supposed to go the Ritz Carlton and dine in their rooftop restaurant. But they sent an email cancelling our reservation because of weather, so it was just as well. I found a small Cafe in our Hotel Lobby and grabbed a sandwich for myself and some soup for Mary. Hopefully she will be better in the morning.

Pictures

1,2,3 The Market

4 & 5 The Freedom Statue, up close and from our Hotel room

6,7,8 The Cave Church

9 The Presidential Palace Complex at night from our Hotel

The last 4 pictures were taken in Bratislava, Slovakia

10 Cumil the Sewer Worker, This statue is one of the most photographed in Slovakia.

11 & 12 The Blue Church, inside and Out

13 Mary and I with our driver Marion

End of Day 10 and end of Blog part 2

Europe 2019

On Thursday August 29, Mary and I begin our visit to several Eastern European Countries. It all started after we along with three other couples bid on a one week stay in a house in Southern France. Mary decided she didn’t want to fly that far for a week, so started planning and additional three weeks, two on the front end and one on the back.

Day One August 30, 2019 Berlin

We departed Cincinnati at 9:30 AM, and made our way to Atlanta, our first layover. We spent about four hours in Atlanta before catching our long flight (8 hours) to Charles DeGaul airport in Paris. In Paris we went through customs and then had a three hour layover before catching our final flight to Berlin.

At the airport we were met by a driver that took us to our Hotel for the next four nights, The Westin Grand Berlin. Checked in and with our a few catnaps since Thursday morning we decided to sleep for a few hours before hitting the ground running. Up at 4:00 PM, and getting w well needed shower we set off to explore the City.

We had downloaded a few podcasts from Rick Steves, so set out listening to “Berlin City Walk” which started at “Reichstag”, the center of German Politics, The US version of Washington DC. On Saturday we have a tour of the inside, so more later. We also walked along the site where the Berlin Wall once stood, as they have pavers in the roadway to show the exact location. From there we made our way past a few smaller monuments and ended today at the Brandenburger Gate which was the official passageway between East and West.

We decide that our goal was to try and acclimate on day one so we stopped along Unger den Linden at a small sidewalk cafe and had a beer and a glass of wine. From there we headed back towards our hotel in search of a place to sit and have a light dinner. The Concierge at our hotel recommended a small Resturant a few blocks from our Hotel, so we walked over and had dinner. From there we walked around the block to take a few more sites in before heading back to our room to call it a night about 9:30.k

I am writing this having just got back to the room to try and get to at least 10:30 or 11, so as to be sure and get on Berlin time quickly.

Pictures;1 & 2 Pictures taken on plane to Paris

#3 Actual piece of Berlin Wall outside our hotel

#4 Beer and a Glass of wine at sidewalk cafe

#5 & 6 where we had dinner on day one

End of Day 1

Day 2 Berlin, Saturday August 31

After a good nights sleep we woke up about 9:00 and started the day with a great breakfast at our Hotel. As you can see by picture number one, it is my kind of breakfast. Plenty of fresh baked bread and rolls and a great selection of meats and cheeses, nothing needed now till dinner.

After breakfast we headed back to the German Parliament, where we caught our hop on hop off bus that would take us around the city. The bus has an audio tour guide that allows you to switch to the language of your choice, I chose English. Along the way it gave us a great deal of the history and explained what things were like when the wall was up and what has taken place since the wall came down. Way too much detail to go into in a Blog, but if you are interested I would highly recommend reading up on the history.

The majority of the city was destroyed durning the war, so in reality Berlin is a fairly modern city. Along the way we jumped from the bus at CheckPoint Charlie, to spend some time in the Berlin Wall Museum. As chance would have it, directly across the street was a McDonalds, so Mary bolted across the street in search of a Diet Coke!! Much to her disappointment Diet Coke as Europe knows it, isn’t up to the standards of what she gets in the good ole USA.

One of the more interesting parts of the Museum, at least for me, was the various ways people tried to escape to the Western side of the City. From modified cars where passengers were hidden in what used to be a gas tank, in wheel wells, to a hidden area under seats. There were also those that used scuba type equipment to escape via the Spree River, those who simply tried to climb over the wall and barbed wire, and those who fashioned specially made ladders to assist climbing and avoiding barbed wire. However, my two favorites were two brothers made an ultra light from old car parts and a homemade propeller and flew out. Then there was the first Zip Line, using an arrow they would shoot fishing line over to someone on the other side until they felt it safe to hold their weight, then slid down the line to freedom.

After the Museum we jumped back on the hop on hop off bus and continued around the city, getting off near the Spree River, which meanders its way through the city. Our plan was to take advantage of the option Mary had purchased for a river cruise through the city, but we discovered that our boat picked up in a different part of the city.

By this time we were both getting hot, and as we discovered very few places are air-conditioned, I guess Germans like it hot. We decided to walk back towards our Hotel and relax for a hour or so before heading back to the Parliament Building where we had a 6:30 guided tour. On the way back we walked to the subway station near our hotel to check out our transportation to Church on the other side of Berlin for 8:00 AM Mass. We bought our tickets, figured out the schedule and headed to our hotel.

The hotel is well air conditioned so we sat in the bar area, going over plans for later to be sure we had everything. We needed to be at the Parliament Building by 6:00, so after sitting for about 45 minutes we headed back out.

We arrived at our scheduled location and checked in, went through security and were ushered to a second floor to wait for our English speaking guide and a few of the guests who had arrived a bit late.

Our guide took us through the building explaining many of the changes to the physical structure, but more interesting a little history about their Government. Unlike the US, Germany is currently a 7 party system up from 5 not that many years ago. Basically any Party that garners at least 5% of the total votes gets a seat in Parliament. We saw Angela Merkel, the current Chancellor of Germany, office just off the Floor where the Parliament meets. Currently they are on recess, so no activity other then visitors like ourselves.

The Floor is behind Glass windows which can be viewed by everyone that visits the uniquely designed building. The centerpiece is a large domed area that is open at the top, with a walkway that circles up to the top and opens to a large rooftop terrace that offers a panoramic view of Berlin. In the center there is what appears to be a spatial shell with its vertex about 180 feet above street level. Hanging in the center is a cone shaped light sculptor with its 360 mirrors at the core that funnels daylight into the House Chamber.

After our tour we headed across the rooftop terrace to the Resturant Kaffer, where we had dinner reservations. After dinner we walked to the top of the dome, then down to the street where we walked the half mile or so to our hotel. For you fit-bitters we walked just over 17,000 steps today!

Pictures

1 Cone shaped light sculptor with 360 mirrors

2 Plenary Chamber (House Floor)

3 The Bundestag Building (Parliament Building)

4 & 5 Checkpoint Charlie

6 & 7 Breakfast !

End of Day Two

Day 3, Berlin Sunday September 1, 2019

Up early this morning to catch the subway to Sunday Mass. Having purchased tickets yesterday and checking the schedules, we caught the 7:15 train and arrived in Wedding to go to Saint Josephs. We arrived very early and were the first ones in the Church. Even though everything was in German, it was very easy to follow along, as the Catholic Mass is the same wherever you attend.

After Mass we caught the subway back to our Hotel and had some breakfast, then headed back to the room to nap as we are still adjusting to the time. I worked on yesterdays Blog, while Mary got some much needed rest.

I woke Mary up around 11:30 as our next adventure was about a 30 minute walk to a Boat Ride on the Spree River, which meanders its way through Berlin. We got to see many of the sights we had already seen, but from a different perspective. The round trip ride was just over an hour, and as we moved along a prerecorded program explained the sites we were seeing.

The day was absolutely beautiful, with the sun shinning and just the right breeze to keep us from getting too hot, as we sat on the top deck outside. We shared a large bottle of water and simply enjoyed the relaxation and the people watching.

After our Boat ride we had about 90 minutes to get to our next adventure a Bike Tour “The Berlin Wall and the Third Reich”. Although we knew we were close, we did have a bit of a problem locating the meeting spot, and after asking several people on the street, finally resorted to calling. Turns out we were right there but street names are not always that obvious and at times change directions, and it was only a block or so away.

Our Tour guide Daniel was from Brazil, but his Grandparents were from Germany and left during the war when the Fascist were taking everything away from people. During our tour we heard more stories like this and in the end he told us that his Grandparents had lived through two wars, and didn’t want to see another. In the end when the Wall came down, they said they wanted to go back to Germany and live out their lives. In addition to Mary and I we had Linda Stelzleni who was traveling alone from Washington DC.

The Tour started with Daniel taking us to the oldest square and the oldest Church, St Nicklaus. From there we made our way out of the city stopping at several important memorials on our way to the Jewish District. Along the way he was explaining that almost everything that we were seeing had been rebuilt, following the Battle of Berlin, as it was destroyed.

In the Jewish district he pointed out two interesting memorials that can actually been seen all over the city. Small Brass plaques in the sidewalk in front of homes identified those living in the house when they were removed and sent to the concentration Camps by the Nazis. Once he pointed them out we noticed them in many other areas around the city. The other was a row of homes that had been destroyed and when they rebuilt they left out a section and the names of those that lived in that section were painted on he walls of the buildings that were rebuilt, “The Missing Home”.

The next stop was a section of the Berlin Wall that is actually as it was, with the the East Wall and the West Wall standing, with what was called the “Dead Zone” between. On the Eastern side there were plaques in the ground that indicated where someone tried to escape, the date, and whether they were killed or Imprisoned. On the Western side Plaques indicated the names of those that were successful in escaping.

We followed the wall to a large Park that was once the Dead Zone, which has been turned into what is now called The Life Zone. Just above the Park, they moved large sections of the actual Wall where they allow people to Paint Graffiti. The Park was full of people, playing, relaxing, and doing Karaoke! In that the Park was so crowded, our Guide rerouted us to allow our Tour to continue.

From there we continued back to the Spree River which we followed through the Government District on our way back to where we had started. Along the river there are crosses in memory of those who tried to escape by swimming and were either killed or imprisoned.

Our final stop was the Square in which Hitler burned all the books that had been taken from the Library of the University across the street. In the center of the square in the actual spot where the books were burned, there is a glass window on the ground, and when you look down into it you see empty Library shelves!

We turned in our bikes and headed to Dinner at the TV Tower which was put up by the Russians to show dominance, as it was the highest structure in Germany. The Structure at the top where the Resturant is located is shaped like the “Sputnik Satellite”. Dinner was in the Resturant at the top and rotated to give you a full 360 degree view of Berlin. We asked for and received a Great Window seat!

After dinner, we had one additional adventure, a trip to The Ice Bar! Inside we had our first drink in what they called the warm Bar, and it was very warm, as I don’t think Berlin is much into Air Conditioning. As we sat and had our drink, Music Videos, featuring mainly American Groups, were blaring on a couple of Big Screens. Finishing our drink we were brought to the Coat Closet, put on down jackets and gloves and made our way into The Ice Bar, at -10 degrees Celsius it wasn’t as cold as I anticipated, reminded us of a Cincinnati Winter. They served us two additional “Shots”, Sambuca for Mary while I had Tequila, both served in ice glasses. Around the room were several ice sculptures and ice tables and chairs. We had a Great Bartender in the Ice Bar from Uruguay who had only been in Germany a few months.

With our last adventure in Berlin, we walked back to our Hotel

Pictures of Day 3

1 Bike Tour, stopped at entrance to Jewish Quarter with Linda and guide Daniel

2 Resturant where we had dinner

3 Mary and I in The Ice Bar

4 Dinner in Sputnik at Fenster

5 Memorial to those who were dragged from their homes

6 Plaques in front of homes naming who, when, and where they were sent

7 Bullet holes in wall of home in Jewish Quarter

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End of Day 3, Good bye to Berlin in the morning and off to Krakow

Day 4, leaving Berlin headed for Krakow, Monday September 2

Our Day Trip car driven by Sabina picked us up at our Hotel at 7:00 AM for the 5 hour or so drive to Krakow. Sabina is from Krakow and had left there at midnight on Sunday, driven to Berlin, and now was taking us back to Krakow. I did notice the several cans of Red Bull and the temperature in the car was a bit chilly. Mary was nervous and had her Ugg boots and sweatshirt on almost immediately, but after an hour or so drifted off to sleep.

It was interesting to see the Polish Countryside as it really looks much like driving through the heartland of the US, Farm after Farm growing corn. We arrived in Krakow about 1:30 after several pitstops, mainly for Sabina who was downing the Red Bull’s. Partway through the trip she began to converse and we learned she was new to Krakow having spent most of her life in the North by the Polish Sea. We also learned she had been a Police Officer for over 10 years, but gave it up because of the lack of pay. Now driving for a living she can support herself and most of all enjoys meeting people.

Our Hotel is on the main Square in Old Town Krakow, The Wentzl. Our room is on the second floor and faces the Square. After getting ourselves settled we headed out to the Square and due to the fact we didn’t have anything planned we found a company that using four seater Golf Carts, took us on a three hour tour of Old Town and The Jewish District. Paul our driver was born and raised here in Krakow, loves it and gave a great tour stopping at several of the countless Catholic Churches in the area, I think he mentioned there were 30! Being that 98% of Poland is Catholic, I guess they have the people to support that many.

After our tour and as we started to our hotel it started to rain and the temperature dropped. Since arriving the Sun has been shinning and the sky blue, but based on forecast the next few days will be different.

Back at the hotel we had time to freshen up and head out to dinner at Pod Anoliami, a restaurant. recommended by the guide who will be giving us our Tour tomorrow. It was just a few blocks from the Hotel, so we grabbed an umbrella from the hotel and walked to the resturant. A quaint place, Family operated and with a great deal of character. Food was more or less indicative of the area, but we decided on a California Wine, as most of the ones in the past few days have been questionable.

The Resturant had a wood burning grill where all the meats and fish were cooked. The food was great, as was the service. After our meal we took a look at the lower level which was talked about in the reviews we had seen, and part of us wished we had eaten downstairs, but where we were was good as well.

After dinner we walked back to our Hotel with a light rain still coming down, and settled in for the night. Me writing our Blog and Mary playing on her iPad.

The Pictures

1 Mary and I at our table in Pod Anoliami

2 The Wood Grill inside the restaurant

3 & 4 The story of Pod Anoliami ( Under the Angles)

5 Picture of John Paul II on the side of a Church Building

6 Our ride around the city

End of Day 3 and another 13,000 steps 😎

Day 4 Krakow

Mary here. Today was a long day with a lot going on. Got up early to catch breakfast at our hotel as our guide was picking us up at 7:45am. Magda, our guide, was there on time to take us to The Salt Mine about 30-40 minutes from our hotel. Pretty incredible place. Dozens of statues 400 feet under ground (800 steps) carved out of pillars and blocks of salt! Even the stairs and walls are made of salt. Our guide invited our tour to actually lick the walls or surroundings of which I thought “Are you kidding me?”

Dennis will add pictures so you can see. There are even two churches down there and they hold services every Sunday morning. They also have banquets and many weddings throughout the year.

The Poles are really into their legends and they just happen to have one about the salt mine. Seems there was a princess Kinga of Krakow in the 14th century that married a Polish duke who ruled Krakow as Boleshaw the 5th.

Her father wanted to give her a dowry but she refused and instead asked for a salt mine for the prosperity of Krakow. Her father bought her the largest mine in Hungary. She wanted to move it to Krakow, but couldn’t. So with divine advice she threw her engagement ring into the mine shaft. On her way home to Krakow, she stopped and suddenly had her attendants dig in the ground. They unearthed a stone that turned out to be a large chunk of salt. When they cracked it open there inside was her engagement ring.

Kinga had brought a salt mine to Poland. She became a saint in 1999 and was named patron saint of mines. There is a statue of St Kinga carved and displayed down in that mine today.

Dennis here, After the Salt Mines we headed towards the Divine Mercy Sanctuary back in Krakow. This is a Catholic Basilica dedicated to Divine Mercy devotion and is the resting place for Saint Faustian Kowalska canonized by St. John Paul II on April 30, 2000. Throughout her life she was said to have visions of Jesus Christ and have conversations with Him. It is said that during World War II John Paul II, then Karol Josef Wojtyla, prayed at this site everyday. The Basilica was built between 1999 and 2002, and attached is a tower that offers great views of the city. Inside the small original Church we listened to a recording about the life of St. Faustino and we were able to see just a few of her personal belongings inside the room where she lived.

Leaving The Divine Mercy Chapel we headed the short drive over to the St John Paul II Center. The Complex was started in 2008 by Cardinal Stanislaw and no completion date has been established. People from all over the world contributed to the building of this site. The Center is essentially a city within a city for hosting conferences and accommodating Pilgrims. Among the facilities are a Hotel and Conference Center, Rehabilitation Center, Meditation Park and a Pilgrims House Cafe serving the Pope’s beloved “Kremowka Cake”, basically a cream cake with Milk, sugar and lots of eggs. No we didn’t have one as the Cafe was not open. In the main Chapel under the altar there is a drop of St John Paul II’s blood encased in a gold vessel.

Finishing up at the Center we headed back towards Krakow, but with a much needed stop at McDonalds for Mary. Funny, our guide, Magna, had never been to a McDonalds and we had to explain to her how to use the drive through. From there we headed back to our Hotel. In that the area around the Square where our Hotel is located is off limits to cars, Magna dropped us off a few blocks away and we walked back through the busy streets.

Back in Krakow we decided to walk down the street and visit Wawel castle and the cathedral. Well, we were out of luck because the castle closed at four. We were able to see most of the cathedral (and a lot of dead royals tombs) and St. John Paul’s small museum. Decided to end our day while we could still keep our eyes open and walked to our hotel. We were pretty exhausted by now and Mary just wanted to sit in a cafe with a glass of Prosecco and people watch. So we did for a couple of hours. Then hunger got the best of us and so again we walked all around the Square to look for a good place to eat, to only end up at the Italian restaurant just below our hotel. Surprisingly good! Who knew?

Pictures

1 Kinga of Krakow accepting Sal Mine from her Father

2 One of the plaques depicting the year in which this area was mined.

3 Carvings in mine completely done in Salt

4 Chapel in Mine

5 Ball Room for Weddings about 450 feet underground

6 St John Paul II Chapel in Center

7 & 8 Pictures of the outside of St John Paul II Center

9 Blood of St John Paul under Altar in his Chapel

10 Mary and I in front of Donor Wall, people from all over the world including the USA

11 It’s 5 o’clock somewhere, Drinks on Square in front of our Hotel

12 & 13 The Divine Mercy Chapel

End of Day 4, This was a 20,000 Step Day!!

Day 5, Wednesday September 4. Krakow

The day started with breakfast at The Hotel Wentzl where we have been staying. A great 4 story old hotel that has been modernized with elevators and air conditioning, situated right on Old Town Square, more or less the meeting place for everyone. During the day the square is bustling with people, horse drawn carriages and walking tours in almost every language.

In the Square there are two Churches, St Mary’s Basilica a larger Church on the opposite side of the Square from us, where every hour bells chime out the time. Right after the chimes sound the hour a volunteer Trumpeter (a Fireman first; a Musician second), plays a “Begnal” song. According to legend a town watchman (in the tower) saw the enemy approaching, sounded the alarm by playing this song, and before he could finish was shot through the neck and was killed. So, even today, as the hour strikes, the bells chime and the song plays, the Trumpeter ends suddenly part way through the song.

It wasn’t until seeing and hearing it several times that we realized there is an actual live person (Fireman or Musician) who comes out the upper window and plays the song.

The second Church is St Adalbert or The Church of Wojcoiech, one of the oldest Churches in Poland is said to be the smallest. Both Churches equally beautiful, offer daily and Sunday Services.

Our driver for the day, only known to us as Marta’s husband, picked us up at 9:00 AM for our 1 1/2 hour drive to our guided tour of Auschwitz and Birkenau. The day would turn out to be a sobering one, but something everyone who has the opportunity should visit given the chance. We were told by our guide that all Polish children in eighth grade are required to visit both these places.

Although we have all learned in school and read books, and even seen movies centered around this place, nothing can move you more then to actually to walk in the steps of those that were sent to these “Death Camps”!! It is extremely hard to understand how anyone could do the things they did to these human beings and think that it was ok!

A brief History

We learned that the Jews sent here for extermination by Hitler and the Nazis. They were told they were being relocated. They were allowed to pack a bag each with personal belongings, which made them “feel” safe, and eliminated what could have been uprisings. When they arrived at the station they were literally stuffed into box cars that had been used for cattle, most not even being able to sit. For some the long trip could have taken days in which they were not given food, water, or stops to go to the bathroom. Many died along the way. It is extremely hard for me to imagine the stench inside that box car stuffed with people for days, especially in the summer.

Upon arriving at their final destination, Auschwitz, and later Birkenau , they were unloaded onto the “sorting” platform, and told to leave their luggage which would be brought to them later. The sorting process, a sought after position for the Guards because they earned special perks for that duty, was to separate the weak, sick, young children, and handicapped. These were sent in one direction and Men, older boys and strong able women in another direction. One bringing hard labor and eventual death. The other death in the gas chambers. We saw the very openings that they dropped the gas pellets in to exterminate the people. It was sickening!

Auschwitz was the first of the Nazi Death Camps in Poland prior to Building the larger Birkenau. Birkenau was built because Auschwitz couldn’t exterminate enough people fast enough. It also limited the number of “Prisoners and Jews” that could be kept and gassed and burned.

The tour started in Auschwitz, where we walked through the barracks that had housed the thousands and thousands of prisoners, but mostly Jews, who were sent here to be exterminated. We walked through and saw where 100’s of prisoners slept on the floors of a room no larger then 20 x 20. We were told of a typical day where they would be awakened at 4 or 5 in the morning, given a rancid tea mixture and then led out for hard labor in various areas. They would work 11 or 12 hours a day then be led back to their barracks, no washing, just a moldy piece of bread and soup made with rotting vegetables for dinner.

The Nazis plan was to murder them by being gassed, shot for not working fast enough, exhaustion or starvation. Most prisoners of war brought to Auschwitz were told simply that the only way out of this place is by Death. Looking at the pictures of prisoners on the wall and their statistics , few lived a year, most died in less than a few months.

In Birkenau we saw the actual crematoriums, designed to gas at least 700 men, women and children at one time. But we were not able to tour them, just view them, because they were reduced to rubble. The Nazis blew them up to eliminate the evidence of a crime.

We saw the sorting platforms, the railroad cars and the barracks for the “victims” . The camp was enormous.

Our guide was an incredible person. Her tour was very emotional for her and us. She never referred to anyone in the camp as being killed, everyone was murdered. It was very easy to understand and agree with her passion after having been shown the evidence of such an atrocity.

We returned to Krakow and both of us wanted and needed to just sit on the Square, relax and people watch. So after a few Proseccos we called a taxi for our dinner. I found this little “castle ” just about 5k out of town with a view of Krakow and the Vistula River. We both enjoyed a beautiful night, a great meal and a lovely end to our day.

Pictures

1 Front of our Hotel

From bottom right window, up one and one left was our room

2 Saint Mary’s Basilica

Trumpeter appeared in top right window of the left tower

3 Saint Adalbert Church

4 Piles of shoes from the murdered Jews

5 The Killing Wall where Jews and Prisoners were executed

6 By the numbers

7 Box Car used to transport Jews from Cities around Europe

8 Original Gas Chamber in Auschwitz

9 View from our Table that night for dinner

End of Day 5

Day 6, Thursday September 5 Last Day in Krakow

Today we got up early again for our tour of the years of communism in Poland. Our guide, Klaudia, even picked us up and drove us in a car from the 60’s called a Trabant. I told her it reminded me of being 16 again and running around in my 1957 Volkswagen Beetle. It was made of plastic and tin and had a two cycle engine, somewhat like riding in a motorcycle with a cardboard body. Very noisy, very smelly and very uncomfortable, but it was the exact same car that a family in Poland could purchase during the communist era.

The Polish people have such a long and changing history. It is very hard to keep together and remember. There were plenty of battles, kings, royals, different rulers from different countries and, of course, legends. Their history spans thousands of years not just a little over 200.

We already learned about the era of the Nazis and WWII. So today we took a tour of Nowa Huta, a city built to promote communism “at its best” to the world. Throughout history most Polish people were farmers or raised livestock. But Lenin had a “better idea” for their lives. He took away their farms and built them a brand new huge city with shiny apartments buildings that were exactly alike. So many amenities that you never had to leave your neighborhoods. They had parks, a lake, theaters, supermarkets, and hospitals. All you had to do was work 14 hours a day for very little money in the steel mill in your city.

One of the forbidden buildings in Nowa Huta was a church. But the people rebelled and after many years they were allowed to build a church with their own money, of course. But not before all their bonuses at work were taken away long enough to erect a huge bronze statue of Lenin for their Square.

We toured their church that they built themselves with their own hands, materials and money. It was beautiful.

Today the city still exists, the steel mill still stands, but it is not the bland, cookie-cutter shaped gray city that it was then. Instead it is a bedroom community to Krakow with lots of trees,color, and happier people.

After visiting Nowa Huta, Klaudia dropped us off close to the Old Square, as you cannot drive very near the area without a special sticker or you will be fined. From there we walked back to our hotel, picked up and dropped off a few things and headed to “The Milk Bar” or “Bar Mleczny”. The first Milk Bar was opened in Krakow in 1948 during the communist era where you originally went to enjoy a small glass of (you guessed it) Milk with a straw. Run by the Government this was the Communist Party’s attempt to popularize milk as opposed to moonshine. They began serving hot meals for a very reasonable price and in some cases meals at the Milk Bars were often included with a workers salary.

Over the years they expanded their menus and included hot as well as cold meals and side dishes. Today they still remain popular and the menus changes daily. When you enter there is a large handwritten menus board listing all the dishes and their price. When the price has been erased it means the selection is sold out. Mary and I each had a sandwich, (as the potato pancakes were out), a salad and a bottle of water each for the equivalent of about $5.00.

After lunch we walked to the Train, and headed to our next stop Schindler’s Factory, which was the subject of the movie Schindler’s list. It was an experience getting there, but a little old lady in the seat next to Mary could sense we didn’t know exactly know where we were going, looked at the address and told us where to get off the train. From that point it was a bit more difficult as we forgot our map and nobody seemed to understand or want to help. Finally after a UPS Driver and a student who was walking past us we finally found where we were headed.

We thought we had purchased a guided tour but we were mistaken and there were no guided tours, so we were on our own. In that most everything was in Polish with some English we got through but in reality it talked more about the persecution of the Jews and Auschwitz, which we had seen going to the actual place and very little about Schindler, so we were a bit disappointed.

Finished we made our way back to the train station and back to the Old Square. Next up and the last event in Krakow was a Vodka Tasting with friends from West Chester! Long story but Mary discovered another couple from our neighborhood were going to Eastern Europe about the same time and our schedules overlapped twice, once in Krakow the other in Prague.

After getting lost we finally met our friends and our guide Maurycy (told us to call him Maurice), only about 100 yards from our hotel. This is a story for another time, but feel free to ask when you see us next time.

Maurycy is an Engineering student at the local University and does these tours to earn money for school. Not only did we taste a number of different Vodkas but he had set up food pairings and several stories that he had heard from his Grandfather who he now lives with in Krakow while in school.

What was truly amazing is that Mary actually gave most a try and actually liked some of the flavored Vodkas. Through out the evening we visited two Restaurants, a Vodka Bar that filled your own bottles with the Vodka of your choice, and ended the evening at a Speakeasy Called Mercy Brown, where we tried Bison Grass Vodka and a Bison Grass Vodka Cocktail.

Maurycy sent us a recap explaining each of the Vodkas we tried as well as the Food he paired with each. If anyone would like the details feel free to email me and I will be happy to send to you.

We finished up the night and walked back to our Hotel, streets still bustling with people. Krakow is a Great City and if you ever have the chance to go you will not be disappointed.

Pictures

1 Nowa Huta Map

2 Mary with our guide Klaudia standing next to our “Ride” a 1950’s era Trabant

3 Mary and I with our Trabant next to the Nazi Steel plant where the people of Nowa Huta worked

4 Milk Bar where we had Lunch

5 Typical menu board, no picture so I dropped in a screen shot from Internet

6 Vodka Tasting, Mary with Terry and Janie Rasta and our guide Maurycy

7 Vodka Bar, Fill your own bottle

8 Getting ready for dinner at final resturant

9 Our Waitresses

End of Day 6

Updating the Blog has become very slow due to pictures so I am ending this one and will begging another Europe 2019 Part Two! See you soon

Tuesday June 30

Today we were up early again, as we had at least a five hour drive from Banff to Glacier National Park.  As we were getting the car packed and checking out we talked about how we could have used a few extra days as we really didn’t get the full experience of all the cities we visited.

Just down the street we made a quick stop to take a couple of pictures at a spot that Gypsy had said was one of the most photographed spot in Banff.  It was a small park with flowers everywhere, and at the spot suggested you viewed the gardens with the Canadian Rockies in the background.

Back on the Trans Canadian Highway towards Calgary where we would head south towards the USA.  This stretch of the highway was fairly boring, so we made fairly good time, stopping quickly for gas and a quick bite to eat.  Once we started south, the road was two lanes most of the way, until we went through Canadian then US Customs.  I was traveling with a case of beer that had been with us from Cincinnati (Craft Beers from our son to share with his cousins), and I hadn’t thought about it until US Customs asked if I had any alcohol. I figured the best policy was to tell the truth, so I mentioned the beer, and waited….All was good and we were on our way.

We entered Glacier National Park and got to our hotel (if you can call it that, more later) and discovered our room wasn’t quite ready.  We had a lake cruise at 2:00, but had to change it since we were running late so next one was 4:00, which meant that we would not be able to hike to the falls. The lake was only a few miles away so we sat in the lobby area, the only place where there was internet, and waited for our room.  When our room was ready we checked in and drove across the street to our room.  Picture a 1960’s Motel where you park outside your room with the main thoroughfare right outside your door!  The room had a queen bed that almost touched the wall on three sides, a bathroom smaller then one you might find in a motorhome, and a tube TV.  We were serenaded by 18 wheelers all night.  What would you expect for $200.00 a night in a National Park, we must be spoiled. Should have booked earlier.

We thought it a good idea to start heading toward our lake cruise (about 7 miles away) as there was so much road construction in Glacier.  The park barely opened the Going-to-the-Sun Road about 2 weeks ago so they were busy improving and fixing it while they could.  We had some delay but still made it on time.  We took a very relaxing, very beautiful boat tour of St Mary Lake.  St. Mary Lake is over 9 miles long and 300 feet deep.  It is the second largest lake in Glacier, Lake MacDonald beating it out by 1/10 of a mile.  It is surrounded by soaring mountains and dense forests.  The cruise was 1.5 hours and we enjoyed views of Sexton Glacier and several waterfalls, Wild Goose Island and the rugged skyline.   The famous opening shot of the 1980 movie “The Shining” was shot at St Mary Lake.  We also learned that the second of two “Triple Continental Divides” is located in Glacier National Park,the first we saw was in the Canadian Rockies.

Approximately 150 glaciers were present in Glacier National Park in 1850; today there are only 25 left.  It is predicted that by 2020 or 2025 they will all be gone.  We also saw alot of devastation of the forests surrouding the lake caused by fire and a small little pine beetle.  It was kinda sad.

We went back and had a dinner in the Lodge, which was the only game in town.

  
  
    

Entering Glacier National Park

  

Sexton Glacier

  

St Mary Falls

    

  

Our Beautiful Room at St Mary’s Lodge

   

  

   

Monday June 29

We were up early and packed the car as we were heading to Banff, which would be our final destination for today.  We checked out of our hotel and headed towards Maligne Lake which is located about 35 miles West of Jasper on a two lane road (wow something different :).  We had a 10:00 AM Lake Cruise that Mary scheduled several months ago, and needed to get there about 30 minutes early to check in and get our tickets.

As is fairly typical as we were in route we noticed a traffic jam ahead, which usually means there has been a Wildlife siting.  We pulled over got out and walked towards the on lookers, and there in the meadow below the road was a Brown Bear feeding.  We snapped a few pictures and back on the road towards the Lake.

Lake Maligne is the longest Lake in the Canadian Rockies and has that brilliant blue color as it is Glacier fed. At its deepest point it is 318 feet deep, and it is fed and drained by the Maligne River. The river takes its name from a French word meaning wicked. That name was given to it by Father Pierre Jean DeSmet to describe the turbulent waters that flow from the lake.

Our lake cruise took us to the far end of the lake as the guide pointed out the three Glaciers that are visible from the lake, The Queen Elizabeth Mountain, a mountain which she has never seen, and finally Spirit Island. Spirit Island is said to be one of the most photographed locations in the world, made famous by Kodak. A large picture of the view from Spirit Island is in Grand Central Station in New York.

As we headed back towards the city of Jasper after our cruise, we again came upon a large traffic jam, and another Brown Bear. The difference was that the Bear was walking along the side of the road ignoring the cars as well as the people outside their cars snapping pictures. My sister-in-Law Connie jumped out of the car before it stopped and started snapping pictures on her cell phone! It wasn’t until the Bear made a motion back in her direction that she quickly jumped back in the car.

Into the city of Jasper for gas and a quick lunch. Mary had read on Trip Advisor that the best place for lunch in Jasper was Patricia’s Deli, and that the Chicken Sandwich was the ticket. We hunted around found the Deli and were treated to a great Sandwhich as well as entertained by the owner and his two assistants behind the counter.

The owner was a hippie right out of the 60’s and the girl assisting him behind the counter had more tattoos and piercings then I have ever seen. When we asked for the chicken sandwich she asked if we were adventurious to which we replied yes, and she made up her own special sandwich, it was very good.

Back in the car and off to our next stop Lake Louise just outside Banff. We had to drive back the Columbia Ice Fields Highway as it is the only road between Jasper and Banff. The scenery was just as breathtaking, and even though we saw the same mountains and ice fields, the weather was overcast and the view was much different.

We got to Lake Louise, and walked around the hotel and the side of the Lake taking in the view of the mountains and lake that seemed to be one. It is said that this is one of the most beautiful Lakes in all of Canada. Again, being fed by the ice fields and Glaciers above the water was very blue.

Pictures taken we had to head towards tonights hotel, as we had a dinner reservation at the Banff Springs Hotel. When we arrived at our hotel we came upon our first snafu, Jim and Connies reservation had been mistakenly cancelled. After several tense moments they were finally able to clear up the foul-up and we went up to our rooms to get ready for dinner.

As we were standing waiting for the Bellman to get our luggage and cars squared away for the night, Luke the head bellman started talking, turns out he is from Australia, and as we learned while there a couple of years ago, they are very friendly people. We asked about directions to the Banff Springs Hotel to which he responded if things slow down, I can drive you over as the parking is limited.

Dressed for dinner we went downstairs and Luke had gotten busy, but not to worry he made arragements for Bob the Concierge to drive us. Off to dinner and the Banff Springs hotel, a gorgeous hotel and a table by the window. Food was great, service even better. Towards the end of our meal the manager came over and asked if everything was to our satisfaction, then proceeded to talk with us for about 30 minutes telling us about this great old hote.

Dinner over we were the last to leave the restaurant. We called Bob the concierge to get a ride back and a few short minutes later, Luke showed up to get us. On the way back to the hotel he asked about the wildlife we saw and then jumped into his encounter with a Grizzly Bear. He had been working the front of the hotel a couple of months earlier and had gone to pick up some firewood just beside the Hotel, and when he got up the stairs near the road that runs in front of the hotel he meets a Grizzly just across the street. All the things he heard about what to do ran through his head, and playing dead was not one he wanted to try, so he stood tall made noise and the Grizzly moved on!

Another great day, tomorrow we head back to the good old USA and into Glacier National Park.

Bear feeding in Meadow

Mary and I with Lake Louise in background

Patricia’s Deli

View from Spirit Island

Sunday June 28

We grabbed a quick breakfast at the Residence Inn, then hit the road.  We jumped on The Trans-Canada Highway, and began our trip towards Jasper which is where we would stay tonight.  Getting through the city was slow, as even though this is a Highway, it takes you on city streets where the speed limit is low, with a great deal of construction. I guess when you only have four or five good months of weather to fix roads you do what you can. Calgary had a beautiful skyline and seemed like a city with a lot to offer (oh well, another time.)

As we exited the western side of Calgary, we passed directly in front of The Olympic Village, from the 1988 Winter Olympics.  From the highway you could see where they held the Ski Jumping and Luge Runs, It was a great facility.

We entered the Banff National Park and began the climb towards the Columbia Ice Fields, our first scheduled stop.  Along the way you could see the Canadian Rockies on both sides of the highway pushing 10’s of thousands of feet into the sky, what a site!  Unlike what I remember of the Colorado Rockies, these appeared to be mountains of stone that ran continuous without many valleys between.

What I thought was interesting was that every few miles there was a bridge over the road we were driving. but nothing leading to or from.  I finally realized these were bridges built for the anmals that migrated to limit the mishaps with the car and truck traffic.  We kept our eyes open but no sightings yet.

Mary had downloaded a couple of Apps, called Gypsy, which is the Gaper Guide of the Canadian National Parks.  It was not nearly as good, and as we discovered,  only works in one direction.  It did point out places to stop to hike and or take pictures along the road and we took them up on several.  All in all a pretty good app, but we were spoiled by our Gapper Guide.

The Columbian Icefields Parkway runs 173 miles and connects Banff National Park with Jasper National Park , it is absolutely the highlight of the Canadian Rockies!  The scenery was breathtaking!

We were warned by Gypsy that the site of the Columbia Ice Fields just around the corner was awesome, and she was right.  As we rounded the turn, high up on the moutain above was a huge glacier callled Athabasca Glacier that seemed to go on forever.  It is a 4 1/2 mile tongue of ice flowing from the immense Columbian Ice Field almost to the Icefields Parkway.   We made our way  to the visitor center to pick up our tickets and found out that they had sold out our bus and we needed to take the next one 30 minutes later.  This put a little crunch on our time, but nothing we could do, so we grabbed something to drink and a snack and waited.

Time to go, we boarded a bus that would take us partway up the mountain to the staging area for the Snow Cat. Arriving at the halfway point we made our way from the bus to the Cat.  “The Cat”  is a huge specialty vehicle with six huge tires about 6 feet tall and about 4 feet wide.  Our driver along the way up to the Glacier told us the Glacier we were about to walk on was over 1000 feet thick.  We got out and walked along the ice.  There was a small stream coming from under the glacier where you could fill your water bottles and drink ice water over 100 years old.

The glacier we were walking on is one of five glaciers in the area.  All were huge and impressive;  The North Face Glacier, The AA Glacier, Andromeda Glacier, Athabasca Glacier and the Ice Dome Glacier.  From our vantage point we could also see one of only two triple continental divides.  A triple continental divide is an mountain peak where the water flows in three different directions to three different oceans.  In the case of this one–western water flow ends in the Pacific Ocean, eastern to the Atlantic Ocean and northern to the Arctic Ocean.  The only other triple continental divide is in Glacier National Park in Montana (more about that later).

Our next stop was Athabasca Falls, just 19 miles south of Jasper.  These powerful falls were created by the Athabasca River is compressed through a narrow gorge, producing a violent torrent of water. Very dramatic, very impressive, very LOUD!!

We then traveled through the town of Jasper and decided to check in our hotel before our last adventure.  Probably a mistake.  Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge was spectacular!  It sits on a small lake with little cabins right on the lake edge.  We saw the verenda with people relaxing and having drinks and it was pretty difficult not to stop and rest awhile and enjoy the ambiance.  But we needed to finish our fun day.

So on to the Gondola to ride up 3191 vertical feet to the steep flank of Whistlers Mountain to an impressive overlook of the townsite and surrounding mountains.  We hiked a trail but not making the top as we were time restricted and the verenda at the hotel was calling our names.  Views were breathtaking and so worth the trip.

Back at Jasper Park Lodge we went back to our cabins to clean up for dinner, and as we walked up on the Porch were visited by a Mother Elk with her two babies.  They ate the grass around the cabin as we looked on, and even when I snapped a few pictures they were not fazed.

We finally made the verenda, had a light dinner and relaxed after a long day of sightseeing.  Our cabin was right on the lake and very modern and comfortable and beautiful.  It even has a golf course.  Note to self: come back soon!

  

  

  

  
   
 

Saturday June 27

Today is a travel day, and a long one.  Depending on who you believe it is between 10 and 12 hours from Yellowstone to Calgary Canada, our next stop.

On the road today just after 7:00 AM, as the gas station in Yellowstone didn’t open until 7:00, and not sure where the next station might be so playing it safe.  Filled up and ready we start our trip north, exiting the West entrance to Yellowstone.

We saw a few more bison (yawn) just outside the park but we encounered no other critters that day.

I mentioned the Gaper Guide a couple of times, so in that not much to say today thought I would explain.  Picture a Garmin or Tom Tom, but instead of telling you how to get somewhere, it tells you about your current location.  As we drive, using GPS coordinates it will come on and tell you about where you are, what you should be seeing and what is just ahead.  We picked up the Gaper Guide in The Grand Tetons and used it until we exited Yellowstone, the only areas they currently cover near us.

In additon to your surroundings it also gives you some history on the discovery and how the area was formed.  An example is that the Grand Tetons were formed by a shift in the tectonic plates deep inside the earth, one moving up while the other moved downward, causing the high peaks and the valley.  Yellowstone on the other hand was formed more by volcanic erruptions.

It really was amazing, as the Guide knew things that had to be fairly recent, such as a warning to beware of a Grizzly mother with her Cubs.  We drove another quarter mile or so and on the side of a road was a temprorary highway sign blinking warning of the same thing.  It would announce that a certain wildlife is sometimes visible in the area, and on some occassions we actually saw them as we rounded the corner.

The other thing it did was offer what the guide referred to as Fun Facts.  You could push a button and it would offer something unique about what you might be seeing.  One interesting fact was that at the continental divide, where water on the West side flows to the Pacific and on the East side flows to the Atlantic.  However in Yellowstone there is one Lake Isla that straddles the divide and flows opposite!!  The east side of the lake flows to the west to the Pacific Ocean and the east side flows to the Gulf of Mexico.  A real marvel!! 

As we exited Yellowstone the guide came on thanked us for visiting and for using the guide, then directed us to the nearest drop-off site.  Well worth the price!

 The drive through Montana was long and boring, and the roads so straight I felt like taking a nap 🙂 .  The speed Limit was 80 most of the way, going down as we approached towns or cross traffic. We made it into Canada ok and then headed toward Calgary, but I must say we are spoiled in the US when it comes to our highway system. The main highway north and south in Canada was a divided highway with a great deal of cross traffic and a maximum speed of 110 Kilometers per hour, or 65 MPH.  I pictured Montana with a lot of cattle and horse ranches.  I was surprised to find it just rolling farm land as far north as Alberta Canada.

One of the prettiest sites was the canola fields.  Long beautiful golden fields. They use the seeds for canola oil and ethanol.  Didn’t expect to see that in Montana or Alberta!

We checked into the Residence  Inn, and actually had access to wifi!  We walked across the street to a restaurant called Moxies, which was recommended by the front desk at the Marriott.  It turned out to be a nice place with a great many different options.  We finished up and headed back to the hotel for the night.  In that tomorrow would be a fairly long day with a couple of timed events, we needed to hit the road early.

Friday June 26

Our last day in the Park, so we hit the ground running.  We met in the Lobby at 6:45 AM and headed towards Mammoth Hot Springs to take a Ranger guided tour.  We got in the car, turned on our Gaper Guide (more about this later) and took off for the day. In that we would be quickly moving today we elected to divide up “Jobs”.  I was responsible for driving and later writting The Blog, Jim was and Jim was responsible for the binoculars, keeping a sharp eye out for wildlife.  Connie was made our Scribe and took copious notes documenting where we go and what we see, and Mary was my proof reader, correcting spelling and gramatical errors.  A Truely Team event!

Immediately as we got on the road, we passed Betty (yesterdays guide) at her first stop.  Shortly therafter we ran into a small traffice Jam (or should I say Bison Jam), as cars pulled over to get a look at one of the 5100 Bison in the Park. We passed the “Bobby Sox Trees” named that because, due to the chemicals they are absorbing from the hot springs have begun the Petrification Process and they appear to be wearing knee high sox.

We passed the Grand Prismatic Geyser that was going strong,  and because the temperature was still on the chilly side, spewed steam high into the air. We made our way through the Yellowstone Caldera and Steamboat Geyser, the tallest in the park, but nicknamed “Old Unreliable” in that you never knew when it might erupt.

We passed up The Paint Pots because the guided Ranger tour in Mammoth Hot Springs started at 9:00 AM and we didn’t want to be late.  We planned to return later. There was Major roadwork  being done on the road to Mammoth Hot Springs, but everything seemed to be going in our favor and we made it through with very little delay.  We arrived at the ranger station, checked in and then made our way to the starting point a couple of miles up the road.

We met Ranger Cecelia in the Parking Lot and walked through the Hot Springs learning how they are formed and how you can estimate the temperature based on the color.  Only certain organisms can live based on the temperature and they all have a unique color.  Some live in water that is at the boiling point!

One of the Hot Springs “Minerva” was used in one of the Star Trek Movies as Spock’s home planet of Vulcan!  This particular Spring was all but dried up, with very little water flowing today.  One of the largest Springs flowing today is Angel Terrace and it was something to see, with hot water being pushed up from several miles below the surface.  Geologists  say that it takes roughly 100 years for ground water to make its way down and then back, so the water we see bubbling out today is most likely from rain that fell over 100 years ago!  

We learned that one of the byproducts of these hot springs is Travertine.  Over millions of years the limestone and the hot water push up from inside the earths crust and deposits “extreme files” which form the Travertine.  The color is determined by the “Thermal Life” or those organisims that live in the extremely hot water.

We stopped at The Canyon Fountain and Grill for lunch, sitting at the counter and talking about life here with the lady taking our order.  This area opens around mid-May and closes mid-September due to the harsh winters.  The outdoor adventure store located next store, remains open until the first week of November, and a small section of the Visitors Center stays open year-round because of the snowmobiles that frequent the area. In the entire Park, only The Old Faithful Snow Lodge, and the Mammoth Springs Hotel remain open year-round.

Back on the road we headed back toward The Old Faithful Inn, as we wanted to take a tour of our hotel at 3:30. We met Rachel our tour-guide at the large fireplace where she explained some of the history about The Old Faithful Inn. Built in 1903 at a cost of $125,000 which in todays dollars would be about $5,000,000.  However Snowlodge built in the 80’s was built at a cost of $20,000,000, so The Old Faithful Inn was a deal!  The Inn was built without great insulation and as such could only be open in the milder months.  In the early days you arrived nearby by train, then made the rest of the journey by stagecoach.  Cars were not allowed into the Park until about 1925, because the man that owned the train and stagecoach pushed hard not to allow their use.

After the tour of the Inn, we cleaned up and got ready to head back over to The Yellowstone Hotel for a sunset tour up on Lake Butte, overlooking Lake Yellowstone.  We once again boarded one of the Park’s Yellow Busses with our driver and Guide for the evening, Michelle. We traveled the area looking for wildlife but with exception of Bison, a few Elk, Deer, and a Grouse we didn’t see anything new.  We had high hopes of seeing a Wolf or a Bear, but no luck.  The last stop at about 9:00 PM was the top of Lake Butte where we were treated to a Great Sunset, a view of Lake Yellowstone, and 70 miles to our South. 

We left the Butte and headed back to the Yellowstone Hotel where our car was parked and about 10:00 PM started the one hour drive back through the Park to The Old Faithful Inn.  No dinner tonight, everything closed.  Back on the road tomorrow at 7:00 AM as that is when the gas staion opens.

Another Long Day, but well worth it!   Not looking forward to tomorrow as we have a 12 hour drive to Calgary Canada.

   

  

  

    
               

Thursday June 25

Today is a long day and we hit the ground running, meeting in the Lobby of The Old Faithful Inn at 5:45 AM for a Photo Safari Tour.  We met our guide, Betty, who we come to find out, is a professional Lanscape and Wildlife Photographer.  Unknown to me , Betty was there to point out some great spots for photgraphs but also to help us with taking pictures.  I have owned my Cannon Camera for a few years, and Betty taught me some great techniques.

Betty first took us to The Kepler Falls where she showed us a technique to take pictures of rapids so that the picture almost looks as if the water is moving. Next we stopped at a wooded area where she showed us a few tricks to do with shadows and movement.  All in all this was a great experience for me, and I have begun to use some of the techniques she showed me as I made my way around the Park.  The tour with Betty took about 5 hours, so we were back at the hotel by about 11:00, picked up our car and went to see the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

I can’t tell you how awe inspiring Yellowstone Park is, and the pictures do not do it justice.  The scenery, the animals, and the numerous Geysers, Hot Springs, and Thermal Pools are fantastic!  It seems as if no matter where you turn, you can take a picture, and although as you look at them they all look alike, it couldn’t be farther from the truth.

We left the hotel and took the road towards the South entrance, and made our way to Yellowstone Lake through the West Thumb Geyser Region.  We stopped and had lunch at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel built in 1897, the oldest building in the Park.  It is a turn of the century hotel, and most rooms have a great view of the Lake. As we sat having lunch, a huge Bison made his way across the lawn of the hotel, feeding on the grass.  

Next stop was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the view from Artist Point, one of the more famous spots.  It is said that many of the pictures you see of Yellowstone Falls are taking from this location.  It wasn’t difficult to see why, the view was breathtaking.  We hiked about a quarter of a mile on the path to get a better look at the Lower Falls.  We noticed a large number of people viewing the falls from a vantage point closer, but on the other side and decided to return tomorrow.

The final planned stop was LeHardy Rapids named for an early explorer whose boat was caught in the rapids and overturned, he was fine but lost a great deal of his gear. This is an area where the Cutthroat Trout make their way up stream to  spawn near Fishing Bridge (where you can’t actually fish).  We had hoped to get a glimpse of a Trout making his way upstream through the rough water, but no luck.  I was however able to get a couple of shots of the fish as they swam close to the surface. 

As we made our way back to The Old Faithful Inn, we had several opportunities to see Bison up close and personal, a Large Elk with a full set of antlers, and by chance stopped at a lake Betty had mentioned and saw two pair of Trumpeter Swans. I was able to pull out my newest lense and get a nice closeup of the swans, even though they were over a quarter mile away. You cannot believe the amount of wildlife that can be seen just driving along the park roads, absolutely amazing!

In that we had a little extra time we made a quick stop at Fishing Bridge to see where the cutthroat trout we had seen earlier were heading. We couldn’t stay long because we had dinner reservations at The Old Faithful Inn dinning room.  We had a Great Meal, enjoyed talking about our day, and were already excited (and sad), about Friday, our last day in the Park.  Tomorrow was another early day, 6:45 AM in the lobby.

 

Kepler Falls

  

Fun Shot looking from the grounds perspective

  

Bison Jam

  

Jim, Connie, Mary, and Dennis on Yellow Bus

    

Wednesday June 24

This morning we left the hotel at “Kingery” time (for those who don’t know that would be 4:45 AM), and took the short cut to Moose.  Now the short cut is a 10 mile two lane road, about 4 of those dirt, and through what is said to be wildlife alley.  In that it was very early and still somewhat dark we took our time and looked for any animals that might have made their way down to the river to feed and drink.

We arrived at our meeting place for our raft trip down the snake river, met the rest of our group, and loaded into a van for a trip upstream where we would put into the river.  On the drive our guide gave some saftey instructions and explained what wildlife he had be seeing and those he hadn’t seen.  Into the river we went and started our ten mile trip down the river.  It was still a bit cold, about 45 degrees, but when the sun started to rise it warmed up quickly.

As we moved downstream with the current, and an occassional paddle assistance by our guide to keep us on the right part of the river, someone asked about Bears.  The guide indicated he had not seen many in his years of running the river, and not five minutes later there on the shore was a Black Bear digging into a rotted tree looking for insects!  Then not a minute later another appeared on the bank walking through the brush.

As we floated along we saw the bears, many species of birds that were native to the area, a couple of Beavers, Deer, and two Bald Eagles!  In addition to the wildlife the scenery was spectacular, the Teton Mountain Range with their snow covered peaks, Glaciers against the blue sky. Our guide kept telling us we were entering Moose area, but we never did see one during the entire float trip.

The float trip was a real highlight in the Tetons.  It was slow and lazy and very peaceful.  It felt like nature walked up and slapped us in the face.  The stunning scenery, the rhythm of the current and the beautiful wildlife at every corner was awesome!  A time we will carry with us for a long time.

With our rafting trip complete, we got back in the car and headed on the short cut back to Teton Village.  We made our way to the dirt road, and as we rounded a turn we saw lots of cars stopped.  This could only mean one thing, Wildlife of some type was spotted and everyone was taking pictures.  When we got closer  just feet from the edge of the road was a full grown Moose feeding.  We took pictures and although close enough to touch her we  thought better of it and passed.   Not a half mile further we encountered two more feeding along the road, so what we could not see on the river we saw up close in the car.

Back to the hotel we had a quick breakfast checked out of the hotel and started the 73 mile drive to Yellowstone and the Old Faithful Inn.  The speed limit in the National Parks is 45 mph and in many sections it is reduced to 25 or 35, so the trip took awhile.  We plugged in our “Gaperguide”.  It is a GPS unit that tracks our positon and gives us a narative as to what we are presently seeing or what is coming down the road.   It was great in that it would alert us to something worth seeing that was coming up so we could pull over and have a look.  This made all the difference in the world and will be with us until we depart Yellowstone.

We arrived at The Old Faithful Inn, checked into our room, then set out to explore the area around the Inn, which includes Old Faithful and the other Geysers.  It appears that Old Faithful is not as faithful as she was and now errupts every 90 minutes give or take 10 minutes.  In that the next erruption was close we elected to stand around with the throngs of other people awaiting the “Big Show”.  Well it errupted about 10 minutes early, and I must say it was not as impressive as I had always heard.  In fact there was another Geyser nearby called Beehive that errupted as we waited for Old Faithful that I thought was much more impressive.  We walked the 2 mile loop through the Geyser Fields and Sulphur Pools then back to the hotel.

The geysers, springs and pools of Yellowstone are a site to behold.  We walked for about an hour amongst the geyser field and were treated to many unbelievable sights.  Geysers bubbling, erupting, steaming or just very still clear, clear hot (very hot!) water.  Hundreds of them!  All of them coming up to the earth’s surface from a steaming cauldron just a few feet under us.  A very scary thought indeed.  I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.

In that we had been up since 4:15 we decided to have an early dinner at the Snow Lodge, which is the hotel just behind ours.  Dinner done we walked back to our hotel and sat for one last drink in the Lobby of The Old Faithful Inn before retiring back to our room about 8:30 as we have a picture taking tour that meets in the lobby at 5:45 AM.

Later that night I stepped outside the front of our hotel and “what do you know”  Old Faithful was spitting up again.  This time it was spectacular!  It must have spouted 200 feet in the air!  I was so glad I was able to see the power and beauty of such an icon.

Just a note, there is no internet in our hotel, and I will need to make my way back over to the Snow Lodge, so I am not sure I will be able to get things complete as we have a late night tomorrow.
   

 

Mary, Jim and Connie on Snake River Raft

  

Bear looking for insects on River Bank

  

We arrived at Yellowstone National Park

  

First stop, Old Faithful

  

There She Blows!

  
      

Tuesday June 23, Additional Pictures

Here are some additional pictures that will tell the story as to the rest of our day.

 

Picture of our hotel from back. Our room is in the center section third one on right

  

Mount Moran as seen from Jackson Lake

  

Water from Glacier feeding the lake

  

Bald Eagle

  

I made it to the top of Inspiration Point

  

Elk grazing in the meadow

  

Moose eating his dinner

  

The Deck,