It's a circus!

The circus was in town a couple weeks ago.  And an old-school circus it was -- one tent, set up for the weekend in a vacant lot.. Popcorn and cotton candy to eat.  Camel rides during intermission..

It was here the same time last year and we said to ourselves, "maybe next year."  Now, at 2 1/2, this was the right time for JR to see his first circus.  He really liked it -- he was beaming as he sat in our laps and watched camels, tigers, horses, a clown, a tight-rope walker, and a trained porcupine!  Can't beat that!  JR was clearly enjoying the first half, but lost his focus a bit after intermission -- running up and down the ramp next to our seats became more interesting than the trained tigers.  Go figure.  But all in all it was good family fun.

Norway

Bergen, Norway

Looking out over the Sognefjord after hiking up 300m

Sunrise over the Sognefjord, Balestrand, Norway

Photo-op by the Flam railway train

A very fierce Viking

We found a couple cheap flights to and from Oslo, so we took a recommendation from our friends the Bushes and took a trip to the Norwegian fjords. We stayed in Oslo for a night and then took a very scenic train trip to Bergen -- a lovely little city on Norway's west coast where it rains all the time!

After two wet days in Bergen (it still was a nice city to visit), we took an express boat through the Sognefjord, Norway's longest and deepest fjord, to Balestrand, which has a couple hundred years' history as a retreat in the fjord. After that, another boat took us on to Flam, at the end of the fjord, where we stayed in a rustic farmhouse. The Flam railroad took us back up to Myrdal, where we joined the train from Bergen back to Oslo. Finally, Ryanair back to Krakow. Planes, trains, and automobiles!

Gdansk

On the Długi Targ, in the old city

Sailing boats at the Maritime Museum

JR likes to kiss ears.  The town hall is in the background.

On the Baltic

We visited Gdansk ("Danzig" auf Deutsch) for a couple days last week. We stayed with the Shores, an Olmsted couple in the class after me. Despite only having been in Gdansk for a month, they had already hosted three Olmsted scholars before us. Gdansk is a popular spot! And for good reason. It's a very pretty old city, and being on the Baltic it has the added dimension of having a harbor with a lot of character.

It also has an interesting history. A bit different from Krakow in that it was 90% German up until WWII. It also has a history as a free city, in the sense of being part of the Hanseatic League. For centuries it was a pretty rich and powerful sea port, so it had some autonomy to make up its own rules and govern itself. (That's my reader's digest version -- I'm no history professor.)

Olsztyn with Paweł and Ada

Our friends, Paweł and Ada

Getting friendly with Copernicus

At Malbork Castle, home of the famed Teutonic Knights

This gargoyle's crossing his legs because he's located 100m from the privy. Seriously.  I heard a tour guide say it.

We ate very well.  This was just a snack between meals.. (Note the US and EU flags -- nice touch by Ada's parents!)

After catching our breath for a week in Krakow, we took off with our friends Paweł and Ada to their hometown, Olsztyn, in northern Poland. It was a great trip because we got to see a side of Poland we wouldn't normally see. That is, we were fortunate to enjoy our friends' and their families' warm hospitality on this trip. We met Paweł and Ada's parents, were given tours of their city and the local sights, including Malbork castle and a farmstead museum in nearby Olsztynek, and were fed seemingly every time we turned around! And was JR ever loved on by Ada's parents! I think they're ready to be grandparents!

A few more pics from the trip

Here's a picture that I scanned from our trip to Lake Bled.

And a video of Jill and JR ringing the wishing bell in the chapel on the island in the middle of the lake.

The view traveling from Lake Bled to Salzburg

In Salzburg, with the old town and castle in the background

Trip home

So after the overnight train from Florence (changing trains in Villach, Austria at 4:15 am.. ouch), we tracked down the brake pads finally and got the car fixed the next day.  Our friends and fellow Olmsteders in Ljubljana were awesome and super helpful.  If you have a choice of where your car breaks down in central Europe, I suggest somewhere near the Johnsons.

Anyway, as soon as the brakes were fixed, and I mean within an hour, we got on the road and high-tailed it back to Krakow.  We got in around 3 am, but if felt good to be home.  All told, we spent 34 days on the road, traveled to 6 countries, visited 12 cities, and consumed untold amounts of gelato.  The revised map is posted above!

Now we're gonna hang up our traveling shoes for a couple weeks.  Time to re-learn Polish!

Florence

With a few more days to burn, we decided to visit Florence, where we were lucky enough to have another Olmsted couple, the Flammia's, to stay with. They were great hosts and super guides to one of the most economically and culturally important cities of the renaissance.  I'm very glad we went.

For the trip back to Ljubljana to reunite with our car we took an overnight train from Florence. Luckily we were able to get a compartment to ourselves and JR had no problem sleeping on the train.

I broke the rules and took a picture..

Outside the Duomo.. this is a block from where our friends live!

Rubbing the boar's nose, making a wish..  Mine was that the brakes get fixed.

JR wanted to sleep on the top bunk.  Didn't happen.