Beautiful beach

We have thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Saint Raphael and Frejus.  We have had beautiful blue skies, plenty of opportunities to swim in the Med, lots of time for tanning, a little shopping, long walks to explore the Roman ruins in the town of Frejus including a coliseum under renovation, delicious dinners, chocolate croissants and cappuccino for breakfast, an outstanding fireworks display followed by a downpour that completely soaked us to the bone, another fall by me that left my lower leg scraped up, the departure of a tall ship from Saint Raphael harbor, a good looking young man for Amy to gaze at while Mark viewed the babes on the beach and even the BBC!  What more can one ask for?

 The Belem heading to Toulon

Sunbathing on the beach in Frejus

OK, I thought of one thing:  trains that actually show up on schedule.  We left around noon today to go to Milan.  We know that the train that goes around the coast is beautiful but very slow.  However, what we didn’t anticipate is that scheduled trains just don’t arrive at all.   Now we know.  So our trip to Milan involved 4 train changes and way more time than we planned.  Of course, there is usually a silver lining if you look.  We found ours in meeting the lovely Mintz family from England.  Jared, who is 7, even knew magic tricks to keep us entertained.  Amy met two girls her age from Canada, so that was nice for her too.

We will be in Milan for four days before we bid Amy farewell on September 2 for Seattle.  We will meet her again for Christmas. 

We hope that those of you who were affected by Hurricane Irene are safe and that you did not encounter damage.  Wishing you well.

Greetings from the Mediterranean.  We spent 2 nights in Cannes. We found the red carpet and hand prints from many stars.  I was surprised that Jack Nickolson's hand print was so small but Sylvester Stallone's hand print was just as large as I expected.  

Monique and Denis with us in San Raphael

We were absolutely delighted to meet our dear friends Monique and Denis in Saint Raphael, about 20 miles South of Cannes .  I have known Monique since I was 8 when I traveled with my parents to Belgium.  Monique's husband Jean, was a business associate of my Dad's.  Monique is like an aunt to me and I love her dearly.  Although our get together was way too short, it was wonderful to spend time with her and Deny.  

We are enjoying swimming and eating.  Amy and I are catching up on our beauty sleep and lolling at the beach.  Mark has been very patient but does not like sitting around so this part of the vacation has been a bit of a challenge for him.  

Amy had a wonderful time on her 28 day trip with GAP Travel.  She declared she had the best time of her life.  It is such a pleasure to share our love of traveling with her.  


Not much to report from this end but for all my East Coast family and friends it certainly sounds like you are having a stressful time: an earthquake and a hurricane all in less than a week.  Please keep us posted.  

Annecy, France

Hurray, I think I have finally figured out how to get this blog up and running.  

Once again, childhood memories came to the forefront as Mark and I made our way from Salzburg through Switzerland to Annecy, France, a small town on Lake Annecy, about 30 miles south of Geneva.  My parents had brought me to Annecy when I was a child.  I remember swimming in the freezing cold lake.

Annecy is a beautiful town.  On the evening we arrived, we strolled to the old town by way of the canal and found many open-air restaurants a buzz with French chatter.  Annecy is a favorite vacation spot for the French.  I think Julia Child would be happy here.  The food was magnificent:  butter, cheese, more butter---rich, ever so rich.   After dinner we happened upon a large crowd enjoying a French band playing classic rock and roll songs.  We stayed and danced.

The next day we hiked up to Chateau Annecy, an old castle that has been converted into a museum but I fancied the old town more and we spent time leisurely exploring the old streets and the lakeshore. 

We also received another lesson:  when the train schedule says to make a reservation, just do it!  Instead of booking our train from Annecy to Genoa, Italy, when we arrived, we waited until the day before we wanted to leave and then had quite an adventure.  We were told that the trains from Annecy to Genoa that run via Milan and Torino were sold out.  Since we had already booked our hotel in Genoa that was not a satisfactory answer.  So we left the train station and went to a Thomas Cook Travel agency where we found Marilyn, a very helpful clerk.  We looked at a map and decided to see if we could travel through Lyons to Nice.  Happily that was all possible so we are now on the train.  Trying to explain all of that to the clerk at the train station certainly tested my French skills. 

If you ever make it to this part of the world, put Annecy on your trip list. 

Amy is scheduled to meet us on Sunday.  I look forward to her travel tales.  

What's not to like?  A chocolate crepe with nuts, coconut and whipped cream.

Annecy at night with fabulous rock and roll music inside the chateau.

Vienna without the waltz

We are back on the train again, which is good since it seems that it is the only time that I sit down to write this blog.  We are having a wonderful vacation and though it seems that we have a long time ahead of us, I am surprised how each day seems to go by quickly.   We have decided to revise our plans a bit.  We have decided that two nights is just too short a time to even get acquainted with a town so we have modified our itinerary to try to make each stop at least three nights.  With travel time, it actually means we really only have a little over 2 days to play in a town. 

Despite the advice we received in Cesky Krumlov to take a shuttle to Vienna, we decided to take the train.  We had two transfers and also an unexpected bus detour due to rail construction.  Although our choice took us a little more time, it was seamless and far less expensive. 

For some reason, I found myself quite disoriented in Vienna.  We walked and walked, often overshooting our destination or just plain making an error.  I also decided to slip on a curb by the side of tram tracks as we were exiting the subway on the way to the train to Salzburg.  The weight of my backpack pushed my head to the pavement as I fell ever so slowly.   My knee was bloody but the speed of the descent kept my head from getting badly banged up.  Another lesson learned:  don’t rush to the train, watch out for sloping pavement and by all means, don’t fall when you are carrying a 25+ pound backpack. 

So you can now see why we didn’t waltz in Vienna. 

Beautiful Schonbrunn palace

Not sure what she was advertising but I couldn't resist!

Despite our disorientation and my clumsiness, we enjoyed our visit to the gardens of Schonbrunn and Belvedere palace, our rather circuitous walks around the central district, the fine museum on the Romans ruins in Vienna, the delicious meals we enjoyed each evening, and the amazing breakfasts at the Hotel Prince Eugen.  

A River Runs through it: Praha and Cesky Krumlov

The Czech Republic is a beautiful place.  The rolling hills of the countryside remind me of Pennsylvania though the landscape is more open.  

We arrived in Praha from Berlin on Saturday in the late afternoon.  The train ride was about 3 ½ hours and took us beside the Elbe River.  Praha is a lively city that straddles the Vltava River.  We saw gypsies when we exited the station.  Karolina, Ivana’s niece met us at the station and gave us an excellent orientation to the town before taking us to the apartment where we stayed.  We stashed our stuff and walked to the Old Town.  It was jammed with tourists.  As Karolina had explained it is easy to get lost here.  The cobblestone streets are like a maze, with passages here and there leading to who only knows where.  The city map is of minimal help.  Better to use your nose and just guess.  With camera in hand, we marveled at the architecture and the statues.  Day 2 we experienced Mother Nature’s tears and got soaked as we continued to explore.  I had hoped to leave the rain stateside. 

On our third day, the skies were with us and we got an early start.  Praha offers tip only tours, so we took a morning tour of Old Town and the Jewish ghetto.  Praha was taken over by the Nazis in 1938, a year before the official start of World War II.  At that time, the Jewish ghetto housed more than 120,000 people.  By the end of the Nazi occupation, less than 10% of the Jewish population survived.  Our afternoon tour guide took us to the Castle District.  Her parents escaped Communism with their 3 children in the early 1980s.  Their daughter, our guide, had been raised in Australia and had returned to Praha after marrying a Czech.  She said it is much more difficult to find work and make a comfortable living here than it is in Australia. 

The United States is such a young country compared to so many of the countries in the rest of the world.  This seems to be reflected in the countenance of the people.  We also noticed this is Berlin.  Although the Czechs smile more easily than the Berliners, there is still a reserve that may indeed be a remnant of a society that has been so often invaded and massacred.

From Praha, we took a bus three hours south to Cesky Krumlov.  This is one of the most picturesque villages I have ever seen.  It is like a miniature Praha with buildings dating back to medieval times.  As in Praha, a castle overlooks the town but this castle has a vertical rock base.  It’s hard to imagine being a worker suspended from such a height as they laid the castle’s foundation. 

Amy had been in Cesky Krumlov before we arrived and had canoed the river.  The river won and she lost a shoe as she capsized.  Brr—it looked cold!  When I was sharing this story with my friend Barbara, she said her son and daughter-in-law had also fallen in the river when they rafted it.  But it seems that everyone who plays on the river enjoys it.

Cesky Krumlov is truly magical.  Unlike its big sister Praha, it is manageable by foot and even if one gets lost on the little lanes, getting back to your destination is not challenging.  Our room and breakfast at Pension U Mrazku (http://pensionumrazku.krumlov.cz) was delightful as were the innkeepers, Marek and Eva.  We toured the town, the castle tower, museum, and gardens, along with the Josef Seidel’s home and photography studio and the Cesky Krumlov regional museum. We thoroughly enjoyed garlic soup (Jenny, you need to make this!) and a medieval dinner of steak and ribs grilled on an open fire.  We even had the good fortune to meet three Hungarians who joined us for a beer after dinner.  Their tales of life in the Soviet block fascinates me.  Two nights is too short to be in such a paradise.  If you go, plan to spend three or four nights to explore the town at your leisure.

 View from Praha Castle

 Cesky Krumlov is magical!