Trip to Slovenia, Vienna, and Prague

Carl and I just returned from our first sightseeing trip together to Europe since we arrived in London.

We started out in Slovenia, where Carl's dad, Karl Sr, was born and lived with his grandparents to the age of ten before moving to America with his mother. Karl Sr's grandfather, Aloises, was a master carpenter and craftsman in the small town of Domzale. (That z is pronounced as in Zsa Zsa Gabor.) A cousin of Carl's showed us the original homestead where Aloises lived with his large family and where he did all his carpentry work. That homestead has been added on to and converted into apartments and living spaces for members of the younger generations of that same family. It was heartwarming to sit in the grandparents' kitchen (Carl's female cousin, Anna, is the grandmother) and watch as several of the married children and small grandchildren made appearances from their own homes downstairs or next door to meet us. We could see that everyone was very used to stopping in and having something to eat or drink at Grandma's kitchen. In fact, we were invited to come for breakfast one morning, and we met everyone in that family. They all spoke English, and it was a delight to talk with them.

It was also interesting to note that the grandparents served us each a glass of homemade wine with breakfast. That wine was made from the grapes growing on the arbors all around the compound. Grape vines covered the entire parking area in front of the house as well. We were told that the vines were from the original home and that they were over 100 years old. The stalks of the vines were about nine inches in diameter at the bottom. You can see some of the grapes in the photo below. I looked straight up over my head to take that picture.


In the back yard, there were also apple trees and cherry trees.

They graciously showed us around the entire homestead - including the room that is used for storage now - but that was the bedroom that Karl Sr. used as a child.

Another female cousin of Carl's, Borzene, took us to the local church and showed us the beautifully carved designs in the rows of pews. Aloises - Karl Sr's grandfather - carved every one of them.
In the church graveyard, we saw the family tombstone - that includes Carl's grandmother, (Karl, Sr's mother) Katerina. We all knew her as Grandma Kate. On the tombstone, the family name is spelled URBANIJA. It is pronounced 'Er bahn ee ya' - with the emphasis on the 'ee'.


Below is Anna on the left, and her husband on the right. In the middle is Borzene and Carl. They are standing in front of the door to the original homestead.


This is another view of that same area. (You can see the wide grape vines along the house in front of the cars.)


Below are the original stairs to Karl Sr's bedroom. This house was also built by Karl Sr's grandfather, Aloises.


The next day- Saturday- Borzene invited us to join her daughter, Daria, and her husband and sons, along with other cousins in the family and their children at a day-long family birthday party at Daria's cabin in the mountain. We spent the entire day eating, drinking, and talking with family members. It was a WONDERFUL visit!

On Sunday, as we drove north through Slovenia, we realized how beautiful the countryside is. There were mountains and green forests everywhere.



We purposely took a detour to pass through a vacation destination in Slovenia -- Lake Bled. On the airplane coming over from London, there were several English people coming to spend their vacation there. Carl and I took the 4-mile walk around the lake, taking snapshots of the scenery along the way. The lake has an island in the middle with a castle on it, and there are the hills in the background.

One of the main attractions in the Lake Bled area was the Cream Cake that every restaurant advertised. We each had a huge piece after lunch ... and it was all downhill for the diet after that.

Vienna was our next stop. We arrived in the evening, checked into our hotel, and walked around the nearby square. At 8:30 on a Sunday evening, the square was filled with tourists and street performers. One young man was playing the cello. A young woman was playing the piano. Strands of classical music filled the air. Another young man was blowing enormous bubbles that young children were jumping up to pop. The evening was balmy, the sights were beautiful, and it was a magical place to be.



The next day, I took a picture of another street scene in Vienna -- this one in the daytime.


On Monday, Carl and I took a guided bus tour of the city. Our guide was an interesting man, named Marco. He complained that he had some jet lag because he had just arrived the night before from New York. Judging from his 'performance' on the tour, I would guess that he was an actor. Marco was particularly entertaining because he added a lot of humor to the information he gave us. As he pointed out that the large Ferris Wheel in Vienna (not unlike the London Eye here in London) went around very slowly, he said, "We are NOT GERMAN. If this were Germany, the wheel would go around like a spin dryer. But we are NOT GERMAN. This is Austria. The Wheel goes around slowly, taking 15 minutes to complete the circle. We know how to take our time here in Austria."

He also led us through the summer palace of the Habsburgs. He pointed out some oil paintings on the walls of one of the rooms. These were paintings that depicted scenes related to the marriage of one of the sons in the family. One picture showed the bride and groom and family members sitting around the dinner table, while, as Marco pointed out, "200 invited guests stood around watching the royal family eat their dinner. The guests were not given any food." Another painting portrayed a line of over one hundred horses and carriages carrying dresses belonging to a princess from Italy who was coming to attend the wedding. Marco said, "This is an Italian Princess on the move going to a wedding." Well, maybe you had to be there.... but he did keep us laughing!

The picture below shows the backyard from the palace - with its gardens. The inside of the castle had 1500 rooms.



That evening, we attended a concert performance of musical pieces by Strauss and Mozart. Strauss waltzes are among my favorite music pieces in the world. I learned that "The Blue Danube" is considered to be the 'second national anthem' for the city of Vienna.
(According to Marco, though, "The Danube is NOT BLUE. It comes out of the BLACK Forest, and it runs into the BLACK SEA. It could not possibly be BLUE.")

This is the room in which the concert was given. This building had actually been used by the original composers when they were living and making music in the city.


Vienna offered many fine restaurants - with delicious food. Carl and I tried out the local dishes, such as wiener schnitzel and Hungarian goulash. We also enjoyed sitting in the sidewalk cafes, sipping coffee and nibbling on a dessert.
One word of advice about sitting in sidewalk cafes, though: Be sure you do not sit under the very edge of the awning above. If you are as 'lucky' as I was, you might just get splattered by a pigeon who decides to perch on that awning edge to do his business -- all over you. (The waiter said it was supposed to mean good luck. HAH!)

I decided that Vienna is a very special place, though. It is a grand and majestic city.
Any city that celebrates Strauss waltzes as this one does and that erects more statues to artists and musicians than to generals or war heroes is my kind of city. I truly loved it. And so did Carl.



After leaving Vienna, we drove north heading toward Prague, the capitol of the young Czech Republic. Along the highways we saw vineyards, and fields of pumpkins, corn, and sunflowers. There were also green meadows. We drove through several tunnels that went through mountains.

When arriving in the Czech Republic, the change in the language on the street signs was noticeable. The language changed from German in Austria to Czech, a Slavic language.

Prague is a very picturesque city, with a long history; it is another city that was once ruled by the Habsburgs.
The architecture is one of the most striking features about Prague. There are colorful houses, painted and decorated as if in a toy village, all placed along cobble stone streets and sidewalks.
Many of the streets wind up and down the hills in the city.

We enjoyed spending time in the Old Square at one of the many outdoor cafes, having lunch or coffee, and watching the people go by.



This was one form of transportation (bicycle) that was offered in the square.


These people were seeing Prague on segues.



On one afternoon, there was a folk dancing competition, with groups from many different countries performing folk dances while wearing traditional costumes.


At another time, we saw three separate couples dressed for weddings, each with a photographer taking pictures of the couple around the square.



Also in the square was a clock tower that marked every new hour with moving figurines. Crowds gathered before the clock at the top of the hour to view the demonstration.




The Charles Bridge was another major site in Prague.



As we walked along the bridge, we saw many artists and craftsmen selling their products.



There were also musicians performing on the bridge.



Carl and I took a short boat tour on the river under the bridge and along canals in the town.




Our guide on the boat trip told us stories about the bridge and the river. He showed us pictures of the river as it used to freeze many years ago - and the townspeople would skate on it. That no longer occurs because they have added dams to the river to generate power, and that prevents the river from freezing.
He also told us that several movie scenes that supposedly took place in Venice were actually filmed in Prague because it was less expensive to film them here.





The Prague Cathedral was a beautiful sight on the top of a hill that was not far from our hotel.
(Fortunately, we were able to take taxis up the hill to return to the hotel at the end of each day.)




This musician was playing outside the cathedral one afternoon.




This is the view of the main area of Prague from a restaurant only a few blocks from our hotel. It is easy to see how high the hill rises above the rest of the town.



Prague was a lively and fun place to visit.

While in Prague, I bought and read a book of 77 Legends of Prague. It was filled with stories about real and imaginary characters throughout the long history of this city. These stories provided a look into some of the old superstitions and folklore of the people in this city that have been collected over the years. They also reflected the basic mores and values of Prague's residents throughout the centuries -- which were similar to those of most western countries. Reading these folk tales and legends about historical figures and events in Prague enriched my visit to the city by adding to my understanding of the culture and history of Prague's people.

By the way, Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention was the front-page story on the English-language newspaper in Prague. Also, the speech was broadcast live on CNN International starting at 3:00am in Prague on Friday. (I was too sleepy to stay awake for it.)

Oxford

On Sunday, Carl and I took a one-hour train ride to Oxford, the home of Oxford University. The town reminded me of a larger version of Georgetown. It was beautiful, the University dominated the area, and there were many stores and restaurants. The streets were filled with students returning for the new semester. More than once we saw a student squeal in delight and run up to hug a friend who had just arrived back in town.


One of the colleges that makes up Oxford University is Christ Church. We took a brief tour and saw, among other things, the large dining hall. We were told that this is the same dining hall that was used in the Harry Potter movies.
UPDATE: I was speaking with a woman whose daughter just graduated from Oxford, and she told me that for the Harry Potter movies, they digitally added in extra rows of tables to expand the size of the room. That would explain why the dining hall looks so much smaller here - and in real life.




Oxford did not have your typical college chapel. In fact, it is a cathedral.




Written near the ceiling was what I took to be the Oxford motto: "Fear God, Love the Brotherhood, Honor the King."

Photos from London Streets

Whenever I leave my flat these days I bring along my camera, so that if something catches my eye - I can take a picture. Below are some of the photos I've snapped.


When Marcia and I were walking through an antiques market area last week, this group appeared and set up a scene to be broadcast on television. The man in the blue jacket is the host of the show, and he was discussing an item (which he is unwrapping from the tissue) with the other man. They talked about the features of the item and how much it would cost. The cameraman shot their entire discussion. They stopped a few times and repeated some of the conversations while the cameraman took the picture from a different angle. There were about ten of us on the street watching them during the shoot. I don't watch the local shows enough to recognize the show's host, but Marcia said she had seen him on television.




Cars are very interesting here in London. They can be decorated to advertise a business or just for personal enjoyment. I wasn't sure which one this was - but I couldn't resist taking the picture. I saw this car twice in two days - so I suspect that there may be more than one - and that it is advertising a business. We were speculating what type of business would use this pattern... a travel agent who arranges safaris?




Below is a pink taxi. Carl and I figured it was pink because the driver is a female. Could she be in business for herself?




Of course, the most interesting sights in London are the people. It is awkward, though, to get pictures of the many diverse individuals walking by. What do you say? "I think you look different (or distinguished or original or unusual) , so may I please take your picture? I haven't the nerve. One day, though, Carl and I were riding home on the bus, so I took advantage of my long distance lens - and the obscurity the bus lent me to snap some folks on the street. The quality of the photos suffer somewhat from being taken in a hurry from a moving bus and through the glass window, but you can get an idea of the variation in dress and style among Londoners.

This is a street cleaner on busy Oxford Street, a main dowtown shopping area. They work hard here in London to keep the streets very clean. These guys can be seen everywhere. Most of them are young and look as if they have come from another county. This man is African. I remember seeing one who looked as if he had just arrived from Norway or Sweden.




This woman is wearing an attractive headdress and bangle earrings - along with her jeans.




Different headdresses are a common sight here, especially among the Muslim population in the area. This family was waiting to cross the street.




This young woman was waiting for a bus. Her clothing and her stance made her interesting to me. It almost looks as if she is looking right at me - but she isn't. She could not see me at all. In fact, this picture's quality is so poor because I shot her through two layers of glass - on an angle.






And this last photo is just of some people taking a rest on a bench while the crowds go by.



I hope to take more pictures in the future of the people I see here. They come from all over the world - and it is fascinating to see how they dress.

More Buskers

Here are photos of more buskers that we have seen on the tube. The music they make is usually a beautiful distraction as you are walking with the crowds from one station to another. Again, you can see that there are special designated locations for them, as indicated by the painted floor. Apparently, there is a main schedule that determines who will be at what location for any given time.

Foods and their names

There are just enough differences between the American and British names for some foods that can keep you guessing sometimes when you are shopping or reading a menu or a cookbook over here.

From the beginning, it was easy to note that chips here are French fries. I may have mentioned earlier that potato chips are called crisps. Also, it didn’t take long to understand that on the pub menu bangers and mash were sausages and mashed potatoes.

It did take a little longer, though, for me to realize that biscuits are both crackers and cookies.

I recently bought some biscuits (the cookie –type) that were called digestives. After looking them up, I discovered that they are something like our graham crackers. The ones I bought had a chocolate covering. (By the way – the chocolate bars over here are far superior to what I’ve had at home. Cadbury beats Hershey hands down.)

In my local grocery store, I always saw a sign for fairy cakes, and I wondered if they were sprinkled with magic sugar. In fact, they turned out to be simply cupcakes -- a bit of a let-down for me.

A week ago, when I stopped at a café for lunch, one of the sandwiches on the menu had mozzarella cheese with aubergine served on Panini bread. When I asked the waiter what an aubergine was, he said it was a vegetable, and he made a round shape with both hands. “You will like it,” he said smilingly. Well, he was right. It was eggplant, and the sandwich was delicious.

(Another food which is far superior here is bread. In every corner grocery store, there is a larger variety of breads available than I have ever seen in the States. They have flat breads, seeded breads, flavored breads, whole wheat breads, and on and on – not to mention the basic baguettes that everyone carries. I LOVE the breads over here!)

Earlier this week, when I was using my new cookbook by British chef, Gordon Ramsay, the recipe called for courgettes. Again, I had to look up the word in my American – British dictionary to discover that they meant zucchini. And at the farmer’s market on Sunday, one British woman corrected her American friend when she ordered beets. Here they are referred to as beet roots.

Finally, if you are feeling a bit puckish this afternoon – don’t worry; that means only that you are hungry.

Robbery

Yesterday I heard a disturbing story about a businessman in our neighborhood being robbed and threatened by three young men with knives earlier this week. Apparently, he was emerging from our tube stop at 11 pm, when he was surrounded by three British men in their 20s. One of them held a knife to his back and demanded that he take them to his home. All the stores were closed, and the neighborhood was quiet as he walked the several blocks to his flat. Once inside, they had him lie on the floor, with one holding a knife to his abdomen, while the other two ransacked his apartment. They took everything of value, including his computer, his briefcase, his bank cards and his house keys. They demanded his pin number for the bank account, threatening to come back if it didn't work. He gave them everything, and they later withdrew hundred of dollars from his account. (When asked why they were doing this, they claimed they needed money to pay for drugs.)

When Carl called home from his late dinner meeting last night, I made him promise to take a taxi home instead of the underground.

Olympics in Trafalgar Square

A huge screen has been erected in Trafalgar Square that shows the Olympic Games. On Friday it was a warm, sunny day, and there were hundreds of people sitting on the steps of the National Gallery and along the fountain, and standing all around the square -- to watch Olympic events on the screen.






You can see in the photos that in front of the screen, there is a performance area with a rectangular vertical structure and a blue tarp on the ground. That area is used each evening, when the Games have ended for the day when live performers come to Trafalgar Square and are then broadcast onto the screen. When we were there one evening last week, men and women were performing acrobatic acts on that structure, while their images were projected on the screen.

It's all being called Festival Trafalgar.

Carl's New Office

Carl recently moved to a new office in another Thomson Reuters Building in London. It is located near the Tower of London and close to the Thames River in an area known as St. Katharine Docks.
This morning he took me there to show me around. The new office and the setting are beautiful.

This is the front door to his office building. The words on the brass sign are Thomson Reuters, of course.

This is his office looking in from the door.



This is his view looking away from his desk. As you can see, most of the interior walls are glass.
He needs some pictures and accessories. (His secretary has promised to bring some in for him.)

The best view, though, is through his window.

He looks out onto a marina area, filled with boats and yachts.

Look at this gorgeous view from his window!

We walked down to the marina level, and took a photo of this view looking back up at his window. It would be one of the rounded ones, somewhere in the middle.

Did I mention that Carl really likes his new office?