European Vacation
May-June 2014
May 18-19
Leave SFO United @6:55pm May 18
via Frankfurt
Arrive Venice United @5:25pm May 19
Venice Marco Polo airport to Fondamente Nove ferry, hourly $18
Stay in Venice Cannaregio 4887
Started walking from the house to the SCMTD bus station with my pack (I
switched to Natalie’s small black suitcase at the last minute because
I tweaked my back doing bamboo patrol the previous day: her suitcase
has wheels while my black backpack does not). I got the scheduled Hwy
17 express, and it arrived a few minutes early at the Diridion Caltrain
station which let me catch the early Caltrain, otherwise I would most
likely have missed it since I only had 5 minutes transfer time and I
needed to get a ticket. At Millbrae, I took the BART to SFO, but it took
me 2 tries with their ticket vending machine to learn how to decrease
the value of the ticket. I ended up at the airport 3 hours early. I
had lunch, got my boarding pass, went through security, and started
the wait before the 7:25pm departure. You can pack a lot of people in
a 747, and it takes quite a while to get everyone aboard. Uneventful
flight to Frankfurt, except that they kept on California time pretty
much the entire flight, and it was hard to sleep with the 7 televisions
bombarding me with flashing images. Next time, I’ll remember to bring
some eye shades. The plane arrived early, went through passport control:
“where are you going to?”, “Venice”, stamp passport. I took
my next flight to Venice on a Lufthansa flight which left 20 minutes
late because someone had checked bags but not boarded. So we arrived 20
minutes late too. Waited about 15 minutes for my checked bag to show up,
then stood in line for a few minutes to get a ticket to the vaporetto from
the airport to Fondamente Nuove. There Natalie was waiting for me, and
just around the corner was the door to the flat. I was in before 6:30pm
(local time). The flat was in a good location, and consisted of a bright
bedroom, a somewhat dark living room, a kitchen nook, and a bathroom with
a long tub. It could have benefited from a fresh coat of paint, but it
was nice enough although expensive (~$100/day) compared to some of the
other places we would be staying, but this is Venice. We went for a walk,
and around 8pm, we had dinner outdoor at a café. We had some local pizzas
(with very thin hard crusts), mine with shellfish, and Natalie’s with
artichokes, and a ½ litre of house red (fun but more like alcoholic
grape juice). We got groceries for breakfast the next day, and walked
back to the flat. I fell easily asleep, but woke up at 4am. The nights
are short here. Venice must be further north than what I had thought.
May 20
Visit Venice
Stay in Venice
After a breakfast of yogurt and fruits, and a slice of bread with jam,
we took care of business by finding a place in Zagreb, and booking it
(I had already reserved places at Rovinj and Plitvice). We plan to keep
doing that, so that we can stay flexible, but not have to worry about
finding a place at the last minute. We walked to the Piazza San Marco,
and met the hordes of tourists (Fondamente Nuevo which is facing Murano is
surprisingly tourist free). We got there right as the clock was striking
2pm. But we didn’t see the Moors strike the bell, and it looks like
you can no longer go up next to them in any case. Natalie, having arrived
a week before I did, is a master guide through the labyrinth streets of
Venice, and showed me a unique bookstore she had discovered, and the place
where she got a papermachier mask. We walked west along the waterfront
(my whim), and eventually turned inland on a former canal turned into
a street, and we stopped for a byte and refreshments. By that time,
my back was acting up, and we walked slowly back to the flat where I
lied down to rest. Natalie went to get dinner fix-ins.
May 21
Istria map
Pick up car in Venice
Drive to Motovun 142 mi, 2 Hours, 34 Minutes
Visit Motovun
Drive to Rovinj 29.2 mi, 52 Minutes
Stay in Rovinj Villa Rosa
We stuffed everything in our packs to get ready for the first leg of
our eastern Europe trip. We left the flat around 10am, packs in hand
to catch the first vaporetto to the Piazza Marco which is where the car
rental agency is located. The vaporetto was crowded, and people grumpy
because our luggage was in the way. But we made it, and got our Fiat
Punto, set it up with Dax (our GPS), and told it to guide us to Motovun,
our first stop. The car started smoothly once I figured out that I had to
pull up the ring around the stick shift to put it in reverse, otherwise,
the car had an easy clutch, and we were on our way through some small
streets in Mestre before catching the freeway. Lots of truck traffic,
but it got better the closer to Trieste we got. We crossed into Slovenia
(one more country under our belt), and Dax sent us on a different set of
roads than Google Maps did. We drove by some lovely countryside on almost
deserted roads. Eventually, we crossed the Slovenia/Croatia border (add
another country to the tally), and this felt like the first real border
crossing, and both sides stamped our passports. Motovun is a hilltop
city, and we parked as far up as they allowed us to go. The rest is
on foot. The sun was shining brightly during the climb up and down its
rough cobbled narrow streets. They allowed a surprising number of cars
to go on these same streets, which were barely more than one car wide in
many places. Neat ancient small city which has one church and one hotel
on its piazza located at the very top of the hill. It is surrounded by
ramparts which make for an easy walk to admire the view of the red tile
roofs below, and the green rolling hills of the country further out.
Once we were done, we drove down into the town at the bottom, and found a
bank with an ATM to get some local currency (in Kunas), and bought some
refreshment at a local market. Driving the rest of the way to Rovinj
took less than an hour, and we found our studio only after we were
able to locate the right driveway. We ate the left-overs from Venice,
and planned what we were going to do tomorrow in Rovinj.
May 22
Visit Rovinj
Stay in Rovinj
We left the studio, and walked to the old town (which at one time was
most likely an island) eventually reaching one of its 2 harbors. We dipped
our hands in the water, surprisingly clear given some floating trash. We
saw some schools of tiny fish (< 1 cm long) shimmering close to the
surface of the water. We went up to the church at the top of the hill,
admired the rotating St Bartholomew atop the bell tower moving on ball
bearing tracks, so that he acts as a weather vane: the wind was coming
from the sea and blowing inland. The climb up the tower was a blast:
there are old creaky wooden stairs going up and up along the inside
walls of the tower made up of narrow planks. The view at the top is well
worth the effort. You can see the entire city from there (more red tile
roofs), and the blue sea stretching out. There was a jagged grey band
between the sea and the sky, and I was wondering whether I was actually
seeing the coast of Italy in the distance. We went down through the
old city through its narrow streets and rough cobblestones. We rented
some bikes for a few hours and took a ride past the yacht harbor, to
the Golden Cape park on gravel or dirt trails. My bike was kinda short,
so it took much effort to ride. Lots of rocky beaches with a few topless
sunbathers. We went around the cape and came back through paved streets:
much easier going. We got a dinner of sea bass at a restaurant facing
the harbor (called Scuba). Then walked back tired after a long day of
walking around. Our host met us at the apartment to settle the bill.
May 23
Croatia map
Drive to Pula 22.5 mi, 42 Minutes
Visit Pula
Drive to Plitvice Nat. Park 155 mi, 3 Hours, 33 Minutes
Stay in Plitvice Pansion Izvor
We left that morning and drove to Pula, at the southern tip of the
Istrian peninsula, and found the parking lot next to the arena without too
much trouble. We visited the well preserved roman arena, and what else,
took photos. We also visited the “basement” located underneath the
main arena which is now a museum about roman artifacts about olive oil:
amphoras, presses. We went in just as it was starting to drizzle. It
felt cool but damp. Emerging out, it was cloudy, but dry. We stopped
by the model city (a big metal sculpture with the city streets and its
main monuments), and planned our walk. The old city is not very big. At
the piazza, they had an exhibition of black and white photos in front
of the temple of Augustus, the last of 4 roman temples surrounding
the plaza. Small but neat artifacts inside: I especially liked the
medusae. Next we found the roman mosaic, which was discovered recently
six feet underneath the current level of the street remarkably well
preserved. We went through the gate, and completed our circle next to
the model city. Natalie went to get us some pizza slices and drinks while
I rested my back. Then back to the car, and the long drive to Plitvice.
It’s funny how Google Maps and Dax have different ideas about the best
roads to take. I had thought we would follow the coast and eventually cut
across (as Google Maps showed), but Dax sent us inland much more quickly
to stick on the more major roads and rejoin the freeway. A much longer
road, but maybe quicker. After a few serious switchbacks going down
into the Plitvice valley, we found our B&B. Nice friendly place. The
host showed us the room, and where we would have breakfast at 9am. He
recommended a dinner place not too far away, and we took his advice. I
had a local trout, and Natalie had a big chicken salad. It’s very lush
country. There were predicting thunderstorms, and they happened mostly
during the night, because the sky was blue with white fluffy clouds the
next day.
May 24
Visit Plitvice Nat. Park
Drive to Zagreb 89.5 mi, 2 Hours, 12 Minutes
Stay in Zagreb Queen Helen
We had a good hearty breakfast with scrambled eggs/omelet with cheese,
really tasty white bread with butter, several types of jam, and a plate
of cheese and meat, all that with coffee. We left and 20 minutes later
we were at the park. We got our tickets, and walked down to catch the
train (really a bus with several trailers) which took us to the top
to the string of lakes. I got a big bottle of water, and we started
the walk down along a series of boardwalks. Waterfalls everywhere. If
you loves waterfalls, then this place is a must. There are multiple
lakes at different levels, so the paths are either horizontal or steep
(mostly down at first). At the end we had to climb back out of the gorge
to rejoin our train to the parking lot, and we drove uneventfully to
Zagreb, two hours away. We found the apartment, and connected with the
host without too much trouble. We left the car parked on the street
(free on weekends). We also did a bunch of laundry (air dried).
May 25
Visit Zagreb
Stay in Zagreb
We visited Zagreb: we walked to the old city, and visited two museums:
the first about Croatian naive art, and the second about broken
relationships. We had fun watching the changing of the guards, a
ceremony made-up for tourists. We toured the cathedral, as it is being
renovated. We had lunch in semi-permanent restaurant tents set up in the
middle of an inclined street. We found the sun sculpture (a big golden
globe graffitied all over), but didn’t get to the planets. Natalie
went in search of the statue of Tesla, while I walked back to the flat.
Once back, we called the host to move the car inside, it was a tight fit.
May 26
Hungary map
Drive to Budapest 215 mi, 3 Hours, 13 Minutes
Stay in Budapest Fortuna Apt
It poured buckets when we were ready to leave. We drove to Budapest,
stopping shortly after the border to get some “vignette” to allow
us to drive on the freeways for 10 days. We had trouble connecting with
the host, and we got a parking ticket while waiting (even though street
parking was free, it was not free one street over). We spent a good chunk
of the evening translating the ticket with Google translate: a surprising
useful tool with such an obscure language. In brief, we’ll need to go
to the post office to pay the fine. The amount increases sharply after
5 days. The flat is on the 4th floor, but it had a rickety elevator. It
consists of one nice big room painted bright yellow with one double bed
and a sofa bed, a small kitchenette, and a small bathroom next to it. We
could keep an eye on the car from the balcony.
May 27
Visit Budapest
Stay in Budapest
We visited Budapest: the synagogue, the opera foyer, the House of Terror
(a museum about the impact of the Nazis, and the Soviet invasion). We took
the metro to the Szechenyi baths, and had a nice dinner at a restaurant
just off the park (paprika chicken on gnocchis; as Natalie said: real
Hungarian food in Hungary), before soaking in the pools maintained at
different temperatures. Natalie made friends with some american lawyers,
which was productive in formulating her future goals. Then we took the
metro back to the apartment, and found the car wedged in between 2 others
with just a couple of inches on either side. Fortunately one would move
before we had to leave.
May 28
Drive to Bratislava 124 mi, 1 Hour, 53 Minutes
Visit Bratislava
Drive to Vienna 49.2 mi, 51 Minutes
Stay in Vienna Cozy apartment at the UN City
We put our bags in the car, and walked to the nearest post office to pay
the fine of 6,600 forints (about $30), and the woman wrote the amount in
cursive in the proper place. Then we stopped at the big covered market
and wondered around; lots of stuff, including chains of paprikas and
garlic, butcher shops with hanging sausages, embroidered tablecloths,
and any tourist items you might want. Afterwards we peeked at the Danube
next to it, and found a bee swarm on one of the pillars of the bridge.
We drove on to Bratislava in Slovakia. Most of the road is in Hungary.
Slovakia has a small compact old town, and we walked through it
searching for the funny statues. My favorite was the guy peeking out of
a manhole. We took the elevator to the top of the UFO bridge for great
views of the city and the castle (which we did not visit). At the church,
we stumbled on a choral group rehearsing. Then we drove to Vienna, and
wondered whether we needed to get a Slovakian vignette for the 10 miles
of freeways before the border. We got a 7 day freeway vignette once in
Austria. We had lots of trouble connecting with the host, and ended up
having to go to their house to pick up the keys. There were multiple
addresses given on the site and in the email, and they all turned out
to be incorrect. The apartment was in a big complex of apartments,
and was ok except for the lack of curtains in the bedroom.
May 29
Visit Vienna
Stay in Vienna
It rained all day when we visited Vienna. My raincoat was too plasticky,
and I got as wet inside as outside. We took the metro to the city,
and visited the Sisi museum, the Silver Collection, and the Imperial
Apartments in Hofburg. Nice stuff, including fancy napkin foldings,
but what a crowd! Later, we climbed the small spiral staircase in one
of the towers of the cathedral for an overview of the city. Still later
we walked by the opera where a jumbotron was showing a live performance
of the Tales of Hoffman. All this in the rain.
May 30
Slovenia map
Visit Vienna
Drive to Ljubljana 235 mi, 3 Hours, 33 Minutes
Stay in Ljubljana Apartments Peter
Got up, and got ready to leave the apartment with just a cup of coffee. We
found a parking lot close to the metro, had a pastry, and took the metro
to Schönbrunn Palace. I had forgotten the brochure, and we had another
stroll into the center of town to find a TI to figure out the correct
metro stop. Immense crowds at Schönbrunn Palace, especially countless
tours which blocked the narrow passageways, and people stopping in the
middle listening to their audio tours. Neat place otherwise, reminding me
of the palace at Versailles, but with many more of these huge porcelain
stoves which kept the place warm. It was cloudy, but no rain though.
We took the metro back to the parking lot, paid the 3 euros, programmed
Dax with the address in Ljubljana, and off we went. Dax took us to
another house also number 11, but the guy must have done this before
because he pointed us to the correct house. We met Peter’s mother
who knew no english, but showed us the place we rented for 2 nights:
a small studio with bunk beds on one side, and a regular bed on the
other side painted bright orange. Minimal cooking area, but a nice
bathroom. We met Peter shortly after. He showed us the nearest market
(where we went next to grab breakfast items), and the nearest restaurant
(where we had dinner). We made plans on how to spend our days here.
May 31
Visit Ljubljana
Stay in Ljubljana
We took showers, and had breakfast before taking the bikes to visit the
old center of Ljubljana. We locked the bikes to a tree, then walked around
the central market past the many bridges. We took the funicular up to
the castle, visited the museum, and looked at the great views from the
top. The Julian Alps rise up pretty abruptly to the north. We also saw a
computer animated 30 min movie about the history of the place which was
neat, as it went from prehistory to the Romans, and onward. We came down,
watched people along the banks while having dinner and some beer. Then
we did another short walk through a park having a rally about marijuana,
and partook of the 2nd hand smoke, before biking back to Peter’s.
June 1
Drive to Bled 35.1 mi, 43 Minutes
Visit Bled
Drive to Venice airport 176 mi, 2 Hours, 44 Minutes
Stay in Venice (close to airport) B&B da Geta
We left Ljubljana, and drove to the Julian Alps. First through Lake Bled,
then stopped at the next lake Bohinj. We took the tramway up Mt Vogel
(it is a ski resort in winter). Once again, splendid views all round. We
had a drink and some munchies (apple strudel) at the top. We then took
the tramway down, and rented a canoe for an hour ride on the lake. We
went up the pass where only the hairpin turns are cobbled for additional
traction. Once on the other side of the pass we drove back down to Italy,
and tried to find our B&B. We also did a bunch of driving to find an ATM
since the B&B wanted cash. After some confusion, we found both, and went
back out to dinner, having some Italian pizzas. That’s most likely
where I lost my jacket and little camera, so I don’t have any photos
of the Julian Alps, and the photos I have are only the low-resolution
photos that I uploaded to Google Photos.
June 2
Belgium map
Return car to Venice airport
Fly Iberia IB5163 Venice 9:25am to Brussels 11:05am
Pick up car
Visit Grand-Place, other Brussels sights
Drive to Liège
Stay at Hélène’s
We woke up early to take the plane. We had a continental breakfast at the
B&B, then took the car to the airport. We could only find a self-serve
gas station with no attendant which only took bills, and no change,
so it was a guesstimate and the car did not help by having a wildly
inaccurate gas gauge. So now we have a credit of 35 euros which we will
never be able to use. It might have been cheaper to let the rental company
fill it up. But we returned the car with no other issue, and caught the
Vueling/Iberia flight to Brussels with no further misadventures. Once in
Brussels, we picked up the one-way rental car to Amsterdam. We stopped in
the center of Brussels, had some sandwiches not far from the Grand-Place
which we saw afterwards. We got a map of Brussels at the TI, and walked
to see Manneken-Pis, the royal Palace, and further to the EU (one of
Natalie’s requests). We looked inside the St Michel and Ste Gudule
cathedral where royals ceremonies are performed. We drove to Liège,
and arrived to Hélène and Dany’s house shortly after 6pm. We got a
warm welcome, and ate dinner outside with them and later Luc.
June 3
Liège
Visit Liège
Stay at Hélène’s
We got up late (thankful to have a break from the constant travel), and
had breakfast (with pain d’épices, and Liège waffles). Hélène drove
us to see the new Gare des Guillemins, and dropped us off at the bottom
of the Ramparts. We hiked up to get a panorama of Liège, and walked
down the 600 steps of the Montagne de Bueren. Afterwards, we stopped at a
café next to the Perron, and had some beer and fries. We returned to the
house passing the Palais des Prince-Évêques, the opera, the cathedral,
l’Église St Jacques with its beautiful ceilings, the quays, and the
Palais des Congrès. It was starting to drizzle when we got back. Eric
was there with his 3 kids: Hugo, Zoé, and Nathan. We had a family dinner,
and watched a program about Ukraine on their television (in French).
June 4
Visit Verviers, Eupen
Stay at Hélène’s
We drove to Verviers to see the famous round-about named after my Dad
next to the train station. I made the mistake to park in the long-term
parking which is reserved for those taking the train. Normally you pick up
a ticket at the gate, but nothing came out. In addition, you cannot get a
token to get out if you do not have a train ticket. After some arguing,
I got a ticket which I exchanged for a token, and we were able to exit
the parking lot. Whew! We drove to Spa, but I did not recognize much
of anything, and there were enough road work, to make us keep going,
so we went to the Chocolaterie Jacques in Eupen where I got a cup and
some chocolate bars to give away (and a few extras). We drove back to
Liège, and had dinner with Dany, Hélène, and the 3 kids. Eric came
by after his work. We packed everything for the next day.
June 5
Ireland map
Drive to Amsterdam, drop off car
Fly EasyJet 6772 Amsterdam 1:05pm to Belfast 1:40pm
Pick up car, drive Antrim coast to Giant’s Causeway
Stay in Ballycastle at Giants causeway ballycastle
We left by 9am, and got to Amsterdam around 11am, 2 hours before our
flight to Belfast. Uneventful flight via EasyJet. We picked up the car and
ended up with a fancy Audi. But because the credit cards do not cover the
deductible, I got the full insurance. It’s amazing how cavalier they are
about this; they told me something like: since you have full coverage,
you can wreck it, and you won’t owe us anything! Driving on the left
was disconcerting, and having cars and big busses zip by on your right
is challenging. I hit the left curb a few times. We went up the Antrim
coast, very nice scenery reminiscent of Hwy 1 in California. We stopped
to walk a bit in Ballycastle. Our B&B was just outside town. We checked
in and discovered bunnies hopping in the grass from the window in our
2nd floor room. We drove back to Ballycastle, and I had my first pub food
(fish and chips) with a Guinness. Before going back we drove down a one
lane road to Kinbane in front of the B&B. Even though it was after 9pm
it was still daylight. The sun set around 10:30pm. Then we turned in.
June 6
Visit Giant’s Causeway
Drive back to Belfast airport
Drop off car
Bus to Belfast/Dublin
Stay in Dublin at Dublin city centre 2 bed apartment
Daylight broke at 4:30am because we are so far north. We had the fancy
B&B breakfast with several types of sausages, an egg, potato and soda
bread, with juice and coffee. We checked out, and went to the Giant’s
Causeway. We took lots of photos, and Natalie reconnected with one of
the park people. She got stung with nettles while climbing around. We
drove back to the Belfast airport to return the car by 2pm (which is
when we picked it up the previous day). We took the bus to Belfast since
the airport is quite a ways outside the city. We made the connection
to another bus for Dublin, and arrived around 5:30pm. We walked to the
apartment. It’s a funky little apartment with 2 tiny bedrooms bright
because of the skylights but not much bigger than the beds, a decent
size kitchen/living room, but somewhat dank because it is Dublin. The
bathroom is tiny with a phone booth size (or smaller) shower which made
it hard to wash your feet. We went out to buy food for breakfast and
ate at another pub which Natalie knew.
June 7
Visit Dublin: book of Kells at Trinity College
Stay in Dublin
We got a late start, and went to Trinity College to view the book of
Kells. We had lunch in the park, and strolled by St Patrick cathedral,
and Christ Church cathedral with its bridge connecting its two sections
over a street. We continued to the Brazen Head Pub where we had booked
an evening of folk tales, music, and food. At the common table, we met
a somewhat clueless american woman who had managed to tally a $500 cell
phone bill from Ireland. Natalie helped her set up her wi-fi. It was a
pleasant evening but not worth the 3 stars given by the guidebook.
June 8
Visit Dublin: Kilmainham Gaol, Guinness Storehouse
Stay in Dublin
On our last full day in Dublin, we took the bus to Kilmainham Gaol which
is preserved to tell the events surrounding the fairly recent break from
Britain (1916). It certainly brings to life (and death) these recent
events still affecting their current government. From there we walked
to the Guinness Storehouse to learn how to pour a glass of Guinness at
the Guinness Academy (and drank it, of course). There is a great view of
the city from the 7th floor. We continued to walk to Natalie’s former
neighborhood, and had dinner at one of her favorite pubs (The Headline
Bar): much quieter than the one downtown. We took the bus back to the
apartment, and had some Ben&Jerry ice cream.
June 9
Bus to Dublin airport
Fly United Dublin 12:55pm to Newark to SFO 7:45pm
We had a quick breakfast, packed, and took the bus to the airport. We
were there at about 11am, in time to go through the numerous security,
and custom checks. The Irish have an agreement with the US, and US custom
is done in Ireland. I’m typing this as we fly over the Atlantic, and
are just reaching Canada. One more flight and we’ll be in San Francisco.
