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The "Rich Hotel", Proprod, Slovakia – Before this trip, I couldn’t have told you the difference between Slovakia and Slovenia. Now, I’ve been to both!! (My wife would like me to insert here that she is amazing and has changed my life. Both of which are true.) We arrived in Slovakia by way of a night train from Prague, Czech Republic. Slovakia is very poor. It seems it has been left in the same state that the Soviets found it in. It is like they have been trapped in a time vacuum. One exception: the hotel we stayed in. When Jess plans a trip, it's usually fast paced. Our first European trip together (to Spain and Portugal) was an intense, blitz. Because I requested a more relaxing pace for future trips, she slowed down the pace the next year when we went to Italy. And this time, she actually planned out days where we would do nothing but relax. It was a great combo of two or three busy days, followed by one or two relaxing days and then repeat. I couldn’t have been happier. We stayed in a 5 star hotel for a couple of nights (at the Slovakian price of a 2 or 3 star hotel in the US). It was just what the doctor ordered. Of course, I also got a massage… from a man… a little unnerving but not bad. At least it didn’t move. As Jerry says, “That’s the test”.
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Budapest!! - What a surprise of a city! It was amazingly beautiful AND incredibly friendly. We stayed in an apartment that was owned by a guy in Boerne, TX. It was very clean and comfortable. While we saw many interesting things (views of the city from surrounding hills, Horror House from Nazi and Communist Occupiers, etc.), my favorite were the baths. They were so relaxing. Several different water temperatures and a wonderful day to relax. Nice and cool and sitting in steaming water. Jess and I stayed there for probably 4 hours.
- Bled,
Slovenia and Lake Bled – We left Budapest for Slovenia, and it was a journey to
get there, but it was worth it!! We went
to Lake Bled which is an alpine lake with crystal clear water. In the middle of the lake is an island with a
cathedral. Jessica and I jumped right in
and while it wasn’t the coldest water I’ve ever been in, it was enough to make
your belly button pucker up. Later,
Jessica convinced me to book a fly fishing guide. I did and it was worth it. The next day we went out to a local river and
I caught about 7 or 8 trout in excess of 15 inches. The highlight of the day was my first brown
trout and on a dry fly to boot! A double
first!!!
- Rovinj, Croatia – This was just a quaint little Croatian town. Not a lot different than other towns that we have visited except with one BIG EXCEPTION!! It has the greatest beach ever!! We spent the entire day doing nothing. Sitting on the beach. Swimming in crystal clear water of the Adriatic. Sleeping. Reading. It was a much needed break. At the end of the day, we jumped back on the bicycles and headed back to the hotel. That was the night Jessica got sick and it has been a bit of a struggle ever since.
- Plitvice Lakes National Park - WOW - I'm just going to show the pictures.
Those were the highlights for me. We’ve done other things but these were my personal favorites. The things I would do again if convenient. Now, while you may not know me, I am known in my group of friends for telling stories. I thought I would finish this entry with one.
Jessica had been dealing with a GI bug (or maybe food poisoning) for a few days towards the end of our trip. She had gotten mildly (tolerably) better while in Sarajevo and then yesterday for our trip to Montenegro, but our last night in Dubrovnik she started having diarrhea again. Not good - especially considering how we had a long, international flight the next day. She was concerned that she would be even more miserable if she continued to be sick on the airplane home. Well after normal business hours in the US, much less Europe, I decided to see if I could find a pharmacy that was still open, and, to my surprise, discovered that there are actually two 24 hr pharmacies in Dubrovnik. Can you believe that? One is in the Old Town and one is in the Port area. One problem. They alternate weeks being open all night. We are staying in the Old Town, and it just happened that this was the Port’s week to be open. I walked to the pharmacy in the Old Town anyways, hoping by chance I could catch them open, but no luck. This walk through the old town did have one (awkward) bonus, though. Game of Thrones is being filmed near by. I had been hoping to run into some of the actors, and was actually wearing my Game of Thrones t-shirt with my favorite character on it (Tyrian). However, I soon regretted my choice of clothing and instead felt self conscious and awkward wearing this shirt as it has the word "Imp" written on it...because instead of running into the actor who plays Tyrian I kept passing a ton of other midgets (apparently that were there as actors for one of the scenes)...but whatever... Running out of options, I decided to ask our Hostel owner if he might have a secret stash of antidiarrheals lying around. He helped, but not in the way I expected. He offered to ride me on the back of his scooter to the Port and back. I gratefully accepted. All I can say is that you haven’t really lived until you’ve ridden on the back of a scooter with a European man at the helm and afterward you don't want to. He flew without wings. He pegged the motor out. We ran red lights. We weaved in an out of traffic. We barely avoided rear ending a mini-van that decided to stop in the middle of the road to park. Luckily, we were able to avoid rear ending it by swerving between the van and the traffic bollards on the other side (rather than just stopping - because apparently the brakes weren’t functioning to their fullest capacity). In the meantime, I feared I might be breaking him in two with my thighs... not a feeling I have ever experienced before - or ever care to again. As I clung to life by the small handles next to my seat, he drove one handed in order to free his other hand to smoke a cigarette. It was a harrowing experience that, while I’m glad I lived to tell about it, I’m not sure I could survive again. Luckily, God is good. He has to be because I was pleading with him most of the ride...
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