Punat, Croatia

Seafood dinner (for two)

Can you spot our car?

Swimming in the Adriatic -- it was pretty warm in the bay

All suited up

Sunset in Punat

The next stop on our trip was the small seaside village of Punat on the Croatian island of Krk. The seafood was great and the people were very nice.

There were a lot of German tourists there, probably spending six weeks there by the look of them. Lobster red being the look. We were spoken to in German about as often as English. Good practice!

The beaches were typical for Croatia -- pebbly and/or a concrete slab. No white sandy beaches like Florida. But, on the plus side the water was crystal clear and the surrounding hillsides just stunning. The best part of the apartment we rented was its balcony, which overlooked the water. Oh, and it was right next door to a gelato shop. What a place!

Ljubljana

Looking out from the castle in Ljubljana

Postojna caves

After taking the rail into the caves, we had a 45 min walking tour

The Pot -- a memorial trail marking where the occupying Italian Fascists fenced off the city from the countryside during WWII

After Budapest we spent two nights in Ljubljana, Slovenia, staying with our friends the Johnson's, fellow Olmsteders. They were cool enough to give us a tour of the city, including the lovely old town and the castle.

Slovenia is a beautiful country. We highly recommend it. Ljubljana is a relatively small city (quarter million or so), but is very pretty. And, like the rest of Slovenia that we've seen, it seems to be nestled in amongst scenic hills and mountains. On our way from Ljubljana to Croatia we visited the Postojna caves -- very cool. It has 5km of caves that you can tour, via a rail and on foot. A huge win -- thanks to Paweł, one of my Polish friends, for the suggestion.

Budapest

We rented a "special bike" for a trip around Margit Island

At the Mattais Church, with its Gothic styling and tiled roof

At the Fisherman's Bastion -- an eleven year old black eagle

This was cool -- a children's railroad.  It's a 16km long, narrow-gauge rail that was built in the 1950's.  It runs through the wooded hills on the Buda side of the river, so it was a good way to avoid the heat.

The city authorities were no-kidding distributing water packs it was so hot!

Next on our trip we visited Budapest. We stayed at our friends', the Bushes, apartment, on the Pest side of the city. Like us, they were off traveling during their summer vacation. (But, wiser than us, they were in the Alps where it was cool instead of in the city where it was Africa hot.).

Anyway, one of the (many) cool aspects of the Olmsted program is you have colleagues in different cities you can stay with. And this time, as an added bonus, the Bushes arranged for us to use their babysitter. Twice. Wow, a two date nights in a row! We hardly knew what to do with ourselves.

Bratislava

The St. Elisabeth Church (aka, Blue Church) -- art nouveau 

Jill was pretty pleased that JR was dressed to match..

JR liked how his voice echoed here in Bratislava Castle, which was recently restored

We took a boat trip on the Danube to this location, Devin Castle

Saying hello to one of the interesting statues in Bratislava, "The Watcher"

We spent two days of our trip in Bratislava. That was just about enough when it comes to sightseeing. There were some interesting sights though, and the old city is pretty.

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.