Travels with JR, July 2012 ed.

An ice cream break makes the drive more manageable 

Boat trip on the Danube

Our route, working clockwise from the upper right

We're on a big adventure!

After Tom's exams we left Krakow on a 19-day road trip. The map shows our route and stops. We're stopping in several different places on this trip -- and nowhere longer than four days. Europeans think this is strange, but there's so much we want to see, this is how we Americans do it, I suppose.

Spaghetti night..

..tends to be a messy night.

Medal for WWII pilot

I attended a ceremony last Monday to accept a medal from the city of Krakow on behalf of a US WWII pilot, Spencer Felt, whose B-24 crashed not far from Krakow. He couldn't travel here to receive the medal. He and most of the bomber crew were sheltered and hidden from the Germans by the Polish underground army for about six months until the Russians finally reached this area. It's an interesting story. You can find the transcript of an interview with this man if you google "Spencer Felt world war II".

In the photos here I'm sitting next to a ninety-year old Polish pilot who also was honored that day with a medal from the city of Krakow. He flew from England, Africa, and Italy during the war. Also pictured are representatives from the mountain area where Spencer Felt and the rest of the crew were hidden and cared for. The area is Ochotnica, and the men are wearing the traditional garb for that mountain region.

Uncle Jim, Aunt Mimi, and Jamie

Tom's Uncle Jim, Aunt Mimi, and cousin Jamie visited us recently.  We were of course very happy to have them stay with us.  We had a very pleasant week with them here.  Below are some pictures from their visit that they shared with us.

Jamie, Mimi, and Jim on the square

Jamie was patient enough to read to JR.  At this age he doesn't sit that still for too many people.

One of the days of their visit coincided with "Juwenalia", an annual day of student irreverence and fun.  Here's a picture from the culmination of the parade, during which students dress up in costume and march into the city square.

And finally, an obligatory shot of JR having a good time in the park

Still a messy eater

This is what happens when you leave JR for a few minutes and he runs out of crackers to dip in the humus...

Majówka 2012

Hi.  This is Tom.  Recently, while Jill and JR were in the states, I took advantage of a week-long break from classes and traveled through the Balkans with three Polish classmates.  It was cultural immersion for sure.  We were talking in Polish for 95% of the time and travelling the way students do -- cheaply! 

 

The trip started with us all leaving from my friend's house in his parent's Suzuki hatchback (pictured here at a pit stop) and driving through the night to Sarajevo.  Needless to say it was a long night, but driving through Bosnia as the sun rose and seeing minarets sitting on lush green hillsides was a striking sight that I won't soon forget.

Seeing Sarajevo in person was a real eye-opener.  It's in a beautiful location and the tourists have returned, but you can still feel the effects of the recent war.  Especially jarring was the sight of all the new headstones in a Muslim cemetery nearby our hostel.  Nearly all the dates read 1993.  There are also many places where they haven't repaired the damage from artillery rounds.  Some pock marks and gouges are painted red to highlight the battle damage. 

Next we stayed in Mostar.  The 16th century bridge was a famous cultural landmark that the Bosnian Croats destroyed in 1993.  It has since been rebuilt and is an impressive sight. 

After Mostar, we were on to Dubrovnik, with it's beautiful old walled city, which has streets paved in marble.  It's a real gem on the Adriatic coast and has an Italian feel.  When we toured the city walls we used our student ID's to get the "children's price".  I may be the oldest "child" ever to tour the city walls of Dubrovnik..

We also stopped in Kotor, which is an old walled city on the coast of Montenegro.  I see how Montenegro got it's name.  The mountains really are kind of black.  The countryside is beautiful and rugged.  We had some fun times driving on windy roads at night through Montenegro and Serbia. 

Finally, we stayed one night in Budapest on the way back.  We stayed with our friends, the Bushes, for a night.    It was a nice change from the week of bunking in hostels.

  Summing up, it was a great trip and a style of traveling that was very fun for me, but best to do with classmates.  This last picture is of me and my friend Radek sitting at a cafe in Sarajevo, eating sweet Turkish desserts, drinking strong coffee, and talking about Balkan history (in Polish).  Good times.

Birthday cupcake

He's (a little) less messy this year around. Good times.