Adventures with Julia

October 15, 2017

Map of Hvar Island. We landed at the eastern edge, drove to Hvar on the west coast, then drove to Stari Grad and caught the ferry to Split.

We arrived in Hvar two evenings ago and have had a delightful time.  The weather is continuing to be sunny and warm without being hot; a slight breeze without being windy.  Yesterday, October 14, we enjoyed breakfast outdoors on the veranda for the first time on this trip.

The Hvar City Hall with the Fortress ruins at the top of the hill behind.

A narrow pedestrian street in Hvar.

What a treat to overlook the harbor and the square while having breakfast.

The oldest cistern in Hvar, 1475. The balcony above is also quite old.

Our Hvar guide, Dejana, met us at the hotel entrance and walked with us all around the old town.  Smaller than the cities we have been in recently,  Hvar is very charming, comfortable, friendly and laid back.

The 1461 Franciscan Monastery on the west side of town.

A little west of the central area is the Franciscan Monastery, built in 1461, and the Church of Our Lady of Grace.  Part of the monastery is used as a small museum with some interesting 16th and 17th century art.

Statue of St Francis made by one of the monks who lived in the monastery.

I especially liked another anonymous painting of the Last Supper, which was very difficult to photograph, and a bronze statue of Francis, both from the 16th century.  Also in the museum was a collection of coins from a ship that sunk off the Hvar coast in the second century AD.

Inside the Franciscan church. Note the gravestones that make up the floor.

At one time Hvar minted its own silver and copper coins.   In the monastery, there is currently only one monk, and Dejana says he is hard pressed to keep the place going.  Most understandable.

Another view of the Franciscan Monastery.

An anonymous painting of the Last Supper. I found it interesting for the rich colors, the unique characteristics of each figure, the arrangement of each figure, especially Judas. Sorry I could not get a good photo. the light was not helpful.

A close up of the Last Supper.  The bag of coins Judas is carrying is visible as he reaches for food ahead of others.  His right foot is ready for him to get away.  .

A coin collection in the Franciscan Museum has a 4th century BC coin (top row, 3rd from left) and a 2nd century Ceasar coin (bottom row 2nd from left)

St Anthony the Abbot Church, next to the Benedictine Nunnary. I attended Sunday Mass here with lovely singing.

Up an alley on the other side of the main square is the Benedictine Nunnery, the Church of St Anthony the Abbot and a store where the 7 nuns sell the fine lace work they make.

Lace work made with aloe threads by the Benedictine nuns who live in a Nunnery in Hvar. They pray 7 times every day.

There are not many of them left either, in spite of the fact that Croatia is dominantly Catholic and there are churches all over the country and several in each town.

Fine aloe lace work by one of the 7 Benedictine nuns. It takes 2 months of working 4 hours a day to make one piece.

As we were in Hvar over a weekend, I was able to attend services in St Stephen’s and the Church of St Anthony, where all 7 nuns sang their hearts out.  It was lovely and the church, although small, was full.  In St Stephen’s there was an exposition of the Blessed Sacrament when I happened by, so I stayed for the end of that service.  Just like at home, very few people were there.

A view of Hvar from the bar at the top of our hotel. The Arsenal and theatre are on the far right

Another building, the Arsenal and Theatre, sits on the corner of the square and the harbor opposite our hotel.

Inside the Catholic Cathedral in Hvar. I arrived unexpectedly in time to witness an adoration of the sacred host.

St Stephen’s Cathedral during Sunday evening services. I walked by to get this shot.

Everything is very close and easy walking, except the Fortress at the top of the hill.  We were too lazy to climb the hill, so will see it by car when we depart.

The Hvar Fortress from town.

Dejana was most interested in talking about Croatian wine, especially a particular Hvarian grand cru made by the producer Zlatan Otok.  We promised to try it when we could and let her know what we thought.  Am wondering what she has at stake as she is so insistent about us getting some.  After 3 hours, we agree to end the tour and see her in a couple of days to visit the fortress at the top of the hill, drive to Stari Grad, tour the countryside and the town and catch the 2:40 ferry to Split.

Once on our own, we shared a pizza at a place called Kogo in the middle of Stephen Square.  Then checked out the PO about sending home a box of stuff we have slowly acquired.  Wandered into a shop full of creative and colorful art and bought a cute bird to sit somewhere on our patio.  This is the first piece of “art” we have purchased on this trip.

These Roman arches were uncovered when excavating a waste dump. Currently the site is the Giaxa restaurant (pronounced Tax a). We had a very good dinner there our second evening in Hvar.

Spent the afternoon on our patio relaxing and watching the activity below without having to engage in it.  It is the end of the season and there are many fewer tourists than a couple of weeks ago.  Makes for a more pleasant experience, without having to wait in lines or make reservations or jostle for position wherever tourists gather.  Later we walked along the promenade for a mile or so, saw a number of expensive looking summer villas with large gardens and gates.  Next to the path were many park toys for children including an interesting miniature golf lay out.  Slowly, we walked back in the late afternoon light.

That evening we had dinner at Giaxas Restaurant.  It is located on an alley street, in the rediscovered room with Roman columns that I photographed earlier in the day.  Mark had a whole sea bass and I had lobster and linguini in red sauce.  Even though I had a bib and several napkins, I managed to make a mess of myself as the lobster arrived  unshelled, sitting in the sauce and noodles.   As those of you who know my lobster eating habit will appreciate, I had a grand time eating the whole platter full of food.  Meanwhile, we were a little lonesome with only one other person dining in the place.  Soon there will be no restaurants open.

Vis and Bisevo Islands

Sunday, Oct 15, we were up early so I could go to Mass with the Benedictine nuns at the Church of St Anthony the Abbot and be back in time to be picked up by our boat driver to take us to the island of Vis.  I couldn’t understand a word of the service, but I know the program and the singing was very nice.  I got back just in time to meet Goran, our guide and boat captain,  jump into his boat docked right in front of the Adriana…how fun is that…and head for Vis.

Goran picking us up for our boat ride to Vis

The ride to the island was very rough as we were beating into the wind and the waves.

Goran took our photo as we glided out of Hvar harbor. The Fortress is in the distance.

A couple of bunkers on Vis. We saw several from the boat.

I was very glad when we reached the island and the swells subsided.

Vis was the most westerly Croatian island that was inhabited, but not occupied during WWII.

Approaching a bunker for a ships and submarines.

Because of its location close to Italy, Tito turned it into a Yugoslavian military base during the Cold War.   We motored clear around the small island and saw many heavyduty bunkers and some of the 17 military barracks.

THe entrance to the ship bunker. We were surprised to see such a thing.

The most interesting and unusual site was the fortified ship and submarine shelter.

Looking out from the back of the ship bunker. It was 300+ feet long.

Goran motored all the way into it and talked about how Tito was very proud of his “secure” military base and showed it to Saddam Husain, who liked it so much that he asked to hire the architect and contractor.

From this bunker we rounded the right side of Vis  and headed for the tiny Island of Bisevo.

Vis and Bisevo Islands

We stopped there to visit the “famous” Blue Cave.  This sure is a money maker for the locals, who required us to pay 50 kuna (or $9) to ride a small boat into the cave to see it.

The little boats used to enter the Blue Cave sitting in Bisevo Bay.

The ride was all of 15 minutes.  But, of course, we paid.   And we really got our money’s worth.

Waiting for the swells to subside to get through that hole.

It was exciting and a bit scary to watch the boat man try to negotiate the small boat through the equally small hole.

When our eyes adjusted, this was our first view of the Blue Cave.

We waited several minutes and watched a number of waves roll in and out before the driver gunned the boat forward and through the hole.  With even slightly larger waves the hole would not be negotiable at all.    I sucked my breath as we passed through the hole with the front of the boat just touching the top of the opening.

Lovely colors inside the Blue Cave

Once inside, the boat settled down and our eyes adjusted to the darkness.

The turquoise water in the Blue Cave

Inside the cave, we rode the swells gently up and down.  We could see the lovely iridescent blue in the water.  Light comes into the cave through an underwater tunnel.  It was quite a beautiful sight.

The pretty blue Inside the Blue Cave

We enjoyed our all too short time in the cave, and were surprised how quickly and easily we blew out of the hole when it was time to go.

Getting ready to push out of the cave.

Immediately behind us was a group of 1o waiting for us to return.

Immediately after exiting the hole, right background, even the boat man was jubilant.

Can’t imagine going into the cave in a large group.  Goran said the price in summer is 20 % higher and the wait is sometimes 2 hours long with no chance for only 2 people to go in alone.  Late season has its benefits.  In another week, the operation will close down until next summer.

Komiza villages  built right on the beach. At 1500 residents, it is the second largest village on Vis.  And very sweet it is.

Ten minutes later we were back on Vis at the very small and intimate village of Komiza for a walk about and lunch.

A narrow street in the village of Komiza

The village is quite laid back with only a few tourists.  With 1500 residents it is the second largest village on the island.

A beach in the village of Komiza on Vis Island.  We ate in this building sitting over the water, while looking at lobsters in suspended ore cages.

The houses are built literally on the beach with very little area for cafe’s and shops.  Goran took us to his favorite place, which was barely open with us as the only guests.  I had a small, grilled sea bream.  Mark had tagliatelle with black truffles and Goran had delicious squid–I know because he gave me a taste.

My fish was excellent too.  It was all so very fresh.  We walked out of the restaurant and stepped onto the boat and motored to another small island for a visit to the Green Cave.

The entrances into the Green Cave.  Goran could have brought us here in his boat, but is not allowed to now that they are set up to charge people for the privilege.

It was just as expensive as the Blue Cave, but not exciting and not very green.   Very overrated.

Looking into the water in the Green Cave.

This is as green as the Green Cave got. Once we were in the cave the boat man told us the color was only green between 11am and noon when the sun entered through a particular hole in the cave.  Sounded like a rip off to me.

The reflection through the water in the green Cave.  I rather like the shimmer in the image.

Goran stopped at a couple of popular swimming bays and beaches, but we were not in the mood to swim.  I compromised and put my feet in the water.  Cold as Lake Tahoe, but prettier water.

Another bunker on Vis, a bit closer, but hard to get centered with all the wave action.

We spotted a couple more bunkers and then we motored back to Hvar with the wind and waves at our port side.   The ride was not nearly as rough as going out to Vis.  When Goran docked at the harbor in front of our hotel, we jumped off and bid him good bye.  We were his last guests of the season.  He had been fun and pleasant and quite handsome.  In fact, several of our male guides and Croatian men in general have been rather good looking.  Single ladies take note!

Mark and Goran bidding each other good bye.

We relaxed at the Adriana and had dinner at The Top Restaurant, 3 floors above our room.   The food was quite good.

Today, October 16, 2017, we met Dajana, our guide from two days before, and stopped first at the grocery store to buy the wine we have tasted several times at her recommendation.

Mark buying the Zlatan Otok Grand cru that Dajana kept pushing. We did enjoy it and he got it a a very low price compared to the restaurant prices.

Locally produced in small quantities on Hvar by a company called Zlatan Otok, it is a very tasty Grand cru.  Mark bought 2 bottles.  Unfortunately, it is hardly available anywhere except Hvar Island.

An 1808 canon from the time Napoleon’s Army overran the island in the early 1800’s.

Then our driver of the day, John, took us up to the fortress or Fortica as it is called locally.  The original foundations were started in the 1^st century BC to protect the Illyrian people living on the hillside.  Construction of the present-day fortress was begun by the Venetians in 1282 and completed, with the proceeds from salt sales, in the 16^th century.

The fine view of Hvar and its harbor from the Fortress.  The nearby chain of islands on a happily clear day.

The sign over the gate indicates the year 1551.  In 1571, the fortress saved the lives of nearly all the local people who found shelter there, when the Turks attacked the town, plundering it and setting it on fire, but not succeeding in conjuring the fortifications.   Several years later, at 3:30am on October 1^st, 1579, a thunderbolt struck the gunpowder store, causing a major explosion and damage to the fortress as well as the town below.

The Hvar Fortress walls facing the city.

Centuries of repairs and modifications followed.  At the beginning of the 19^th century, under Austro-Hungarian rule, a large new barracks was built and occupied where the damage had been.  In the late 19^th century, Hvar lost its strategic importance and Fortica was abandoned.

The view of Hvar from the top of the Fortica was very pleasing.

The abandoned hillsides on the way to Start Grad, where vines and lavender used to grow. The years of effort piling rocks is most evident.

From there we drove to Stari Grad, where we caught the ferry to Split.  Along the way Dajana talked a lot about the agriculture on the island.

Stari Grad in the distance. It is the second largest town on Hvar Island and, at one point, the most important. There is an organized city structure, a much better harbor, the agricultural plain and the ferry terminal.

Thousands of hands have moved millions of rocks over the centuries to provide land for olive trees and grape vines.  Rock walls are evident literally everywhere.  In the 19^th century there were 5000 hectares of grape vines.

Stari Grad and its harbor.

Stali Grad city hall is the middle building. The others are empty and waiting for investors.

Then in 1910 phyllloxera, a grape vine pest, attacked and killed the vines in Europe and eventually on Hvar as well.  Today there are only 500 hectares of vines.  In 1926, lavender was planted experimentally and became hugely successful, in spite of the tremendous hand work needed to harvest the lavender crop.

A charming, but deserted street in Stari Grad

After several successful years, however, the island sustained heavy fires damage during three different dry seasons and whipped out the lavender crop each time.

Excavations of the Greek city of Pharos from 300BC.

No one had the energy to replant after the third fire.  Meanwhile, there are 400,000 olive trees on the island, 200,000 of which are untended.

St Stephen Church built in 1605. JPII’s profile is on the door mantle from when he visited the town.

The population, which was totally agrarian until tourists arrived, has now switched to managing tourism and largely gotten away from agriculture.

Another charming alley with no people.

Our first stop in Stari Grad was the post office to mail the items we did not want to carry home.  As Mark had already purchased a box, filled and sealed it in Hvar, the PO stop went smoothly.

We wandered around the nearly deserted port town for a couple of hours.  The most interesting things we saw were some remains of the original Greek settlement, Pharos, founded in 384 BC.

St John and St Mary Church from the 5th and 6th century AD.

The city has been continuously occupied for 2400 years and is now a UNESCO World heritage site.  Illyrians were the first inhabitants well before the Greeks.   The Greeks came and were followed by the Romans and then the Croatians.  The main attraction of the town in centuries passed was the agricultural plain next to it.

A corner of the agricultural plain. It is the most fertile patch of ground (70 acres) on all of Hear Island.

It is basically a large flat area (70 acres I was told) that contains fertile soil with few rocks.  It is the largest growing area on Hvar Island.

About buildings, we saw only the exteriors including of the Church of St Stephen, built in 1605 and the exterior of the Church of St John and St Mary, built during the 5^th and 6^th century AD.

Justina, the Czech lady we met working in her studio on palm fronds she was creatively converting into fish with personality.

While walking down an alley we encountered a pretty, Czech woman artist, Justina,  working on a palm frond she was making into a piece of art. We walked into her colorful shop and were captivated by the creative “fish” she makes from the fronds and has hanging from the ceiling.  It was not long before we agreed to buy two “fish” to hang from the ceiling in our lake house bathroom.  As it was the end of the season, she discounted the price and agreed to send the art to us.  Now we have two fish and a bird as our art purchases from this trip—both from the island of Hvar.

Getting on the car ferry in Stari Grad. There were not many passengers the afternoon we rode it.

Soon we said good bye to Dajana and boarded the ferry to Split.   The ride took just under 2 hours.

Our “Pope mobile” ride from the Split ferry terminal to the modern Judita Palace in the Old City and next to Diocletian’s Palace of 4th century AD.

When we walked off the ferry, we were met by our hotel porter, Andria.   He was very entertaining as he put our bags into a golf cart he called a pope mobile and regaled us with the ins and outs of transporting us several blocks to his establishment, the Judita Palace, deep inside the old city.

The ground floor palace entrance to the Judita. It is used as a public coffee bar.  We walked up the outside steps to the First floor hotel.  Can’t explain the green color.

It was a most unusual place.  Old and funky looking from the pedestrian street, a coffee bar on the ground floor, an open air walk up to the first floor where there was a tiny lobby, a few rooms, of which #2 was ours.  There was apparently only him to do everything.

The tiny Judita Palace lobby about 10 steps from our room.

He carried our bags, let us into the room, explained the details of the place, took our passports and checked us in, served us a bottle of white wine, handed us one real key, brought extra pillows and made dinner reservations at a place he picked, called Portofino. He also gave us the WiFi information we needed and told us it was only good for fun activities and not for work.  If we work the WiFi will self-destruct.  He had me laughing from the minute we met him at the ferry until he finally left us alone.

Our room in the Judita Palace. Note the crochet table cover.

We rested awhile and then walked to the restaurant, 3 minutes further into the Old City of Split.  This Old City is very large and, at the same time feels small.  The alleyways are narrow with 5 story buildings on both sides, giving me the feeling of being cramped and intimate at the same time.   Unlike Stari Grad, which was deserted and Hvar, which was about to be deserted, this city is vibrant and full of people.

The alley to the Portofino Restaurant.

The Portofino was very busy with patrons.

The plaza in front of the Cathedral. Musicians were entertaining the crowd that had gathered after dinner.

Mark had to wait in line to buy ice cream after dinner.  Street musicians drew a good size crowd near the cathedral.  Shops were open and had customers.  Outdoor coffee bars were full of people.  Everyone seemed to be enjoying being outdoors in the balmy weather.

October 11, 2017

Entering Bosnia.

We had planned to drive ourselves to Mostar, but the plans got complicated and Mark chose not to drive.  A driver named Mario picked us up at 7am and off we went toward the narrow stretch of Bosnia that touches toe sea and was given to the Ottomans by Dubrovnik in the 17th century to keep relations good and promote trade.

Outside venue at Medjugorje. Imagine the place full.

That stretch was about 45-minutes from Dubrovnik.  Passing into and, 12 kilometers later, out of Bosnia, was pretty slick.  A quick look at our passports and off we went.

The church filling up for the 10am English Mass. The church was overflowing before Mass started. I’m guessing 500 people at least.

After another hour we passed into Bosnia again, got our passports stamped this time, and headed for Medjugorje.

A priest talking about the apparitions at Medjugorje. He was trying to console those who believe the site should be approved by the Pope as a shrine.

We arrived there at 9:30 in time for the English Mass at 10am.   At first it looked like there were very few people around, but the church filled up and then overflowed with people.  I am guessing about 500 were present for the Mass, along with 15 priests on the altar.

The priest getting ready to start Mass. There were 15 priests on the altar to assist with communion.

It was an ordinary service except for the comments by a priest who talked about the apparitions at Medjugorje before the Mass. I heard that Mary appeared as a “white form with a child in her arms” to 6 children on June 24, 1981 and some  more times since then to some of the children, who are now adults.  One of the women, Vicka Ivankovic, claims to have talked Our Lady and prayed with her.  She was given a mission to pray for the sick and says she continues to have daily apparitions.   At the time, they told only their families and the local priest, who believed them.  As word got out, people started to come to the hill where the apparition occurred and eventually the Yugoslav authorities heard about it and put the priest in prison.  There was not much else they could do and more and more people came to the site.  A small church was built in the mid 80’s and was later replaced by a large church and an outdoor altar, with seating for thousands.  I did not have time to climb the hill, but did light several candles for a number of people, victims of the fires and my parents.   I passed a priest and asked about a blessing.  He gave me one right on the spot.  He also suggested staying to meet one of the children (Vicka) who received the apparition.  Too bad we had no extra time.

At our lunch spot with the bridge in the background. Mirna really knew her way around.

Back on the road, we arrived in Mostar at lunch time and met our city guide, Mirna, who took us directly to a restaurant with a table facing the famous Old Bridge, or Stari Most.

A pedestrian street in Mostar.

I don’t remember what I ate, but the view of the bridge was super.  There was even a boy sitting at the top waiting for someone to pay him 25 EU to jump.  No one did while we were there.

This is the new bridge built in 2004, as an exact copy of the original bridge built in 1566.

The bridge was built in 1566 and withstood everything until it was bombed in 1993.  In 1991 the Croats and Bosnians voted to leave Yugoslavia and fought Montenegrins and Serbs who wanted to stay.  The war got messier when the Catholic Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims turned on each other in May 1993.   Mostar and Sarajevo took the brunt of the fighting, although Dubrovnik was bombed too.  95% of Mostar was destroyed.

The Neretva River passing under the Old Bridge.

Finally, in November 1995, the Dayton Peace Agreement was signed, ending the war.

Julia and Mirna, our Mostar guide, walking over the Mostar Bridge

Now, with the help of UNESCO and many countries, the city is largely restored to look just as it did before the war.   However, the population is not the same.  There were 130K in 1991 and as of 2013 the population was 113K.

Another pedestrian street on the other side of the bridge in old Kotor.

As she showed us around the town, we asked about the current political situation in Bosnia. She confirmed that the country has 3 presidents: one for each religion; Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim.  They are voted into office for a 4 year term and rotate acting as president every 8 months during the term.   According to Mirna, nothing gets accomplished, even though they are friends.

The produce market in Mostar. This lady shelled walnuts to sell.

Pretty weird, but what the hay.  Not much is getting done with one president either.

We walked through the pedestrian streets, on both sides of the bridge and took several photos of the bridge from different vantage points.  Mirna knew all the good spots where tourists would not be.  She is 24 and getting married this Saturday.  Everything is ready and she seemed very relaxed.  She knows everyone in town and they were all congratulating her as we passed.

In one shop there were several photos and a video of the bridge being blown up and the city being devastated.  It was hard to imagine that it all got put back together again.  The original bridge was designed by a Turkish architect, took 2 years to plan and 6 years to build.  So this time they did it the same way with a Turkish architect and the same amount of time to build it.  It is 29 meters long, 25 meters from the top to the water and 5 meters wide.

The Neretva River passing through the middle of Mostar. Longest river in the region.

The bridge crosses the Neretva River, which is the longest river in the Balkan region and flows through Croatia its last 20 kilometers to the Adriatic Sea.

We left Mirna about 4pm and Mario had us back in  Dubrovnik by dinnertime.  It had been a long day and we did not feel like walking into the Old City, so we ate dinner at the hotel.  For me it was a special day being able to visit Medjugorje and pray for many people, even if the apparitions have not been sanctioned by the Pope.

October 9, 2017

Map of Montenegro.  Sveti Stefan is very near Budva, on the Adriatic.  Kotor is just up the road.  We crossed the fiord just north of Tivat and headed for Croatia.

We departed Sveti Stefan at 10am this morning and headed northwest to Dubrovnik with a new driver, Maro from Croatia, and guide, Alma from Montenegro.  They both spoke good English and neither of them smoked.  We were happy campers and got along with them right away.

Alma jumped right in talking about Montenegro.  It is the size of Connecticut, has 650K people, and has everything from the water sports on the Adriatic Sea to high alpine sports in the mountains, which get to 8,200 feet, and every activity in between.  She loves living here year around.  The only thing she does not like are the taxes, which take 20% of her income and sales tax, which take 19% on everything except flour and cooking oil.  She does get free health care and free education through university.

The fiord from Kotor near where it enters the Adriatic Sea.

We could see there is a lot of beauty packed into the tiny country.  It even has a fiord that was an ancient river bed and provides deep water access to ships coming up river from the Adriatic Sea to Kotor, the historic, walled, UNESCO city at the end of the fiord.  We are headed there, but will first make a stop at an olive farm, half an hour from Kotor.

Olive fields and the many stone walls around them.

It is a family owned and operated olive farm called Lustica, for the name of the region.

John Moric showing us the old olive press he used until 6 years ago.

The Moric family is in its second generation of olive farming and John, the middle son, runs the tourist operation, which represents about half of the family income as far as I could tell.

Mark inspecting the modern olive press equipment.

Although they have 1000 olive trees, some of them hundreds of years old, the harvest is not always successful and some years there is barely enough for their own use.  They are gradually increasing the number of producing trees and the number of tourists.  John showed us the modern pressing equipment his family uses to make oil today and then showed us the old-fashioned way they made oil as recently as 6 years ago.

The first generation of Morics enjoying his retirement.

They still have the donkeys, now retired, who used to turn the grinding stone.   The facts of the matter are:  6-8 kilo of olives make 1 liter of oil.  At 10 years of age an olive tree should produce 30 kilo of olives.  So, a good tree could produce 5 liters of oil per harvest.  This farm does only 1 press of the olives to insure the best virgin oil, with the lowest acidity, no more than .8% maximum.

John had us taste the oil after letting it warm in a small cup in our hands.  He said it should have a peppery taste if it is very fresh.

One of the Moric family olive orchards.

I have never tasted olive oil straight before and was very surprised at how peppery it was.  So much so, that I coughed a lot before my throat settled down.  He insisted we have a “snack” in his old press room, so we obliged, even though we were not hungry.  We met his father and I saw his mother through the kitchen doorway.  Seems like a nice family trying to make a successful business together, however, none of the three boys, all men in their 30’s, is married yet.  They better get courting if they want a third generation.

The high walls stand out as we enter Kotor.

Then we drove on to Kotor to see the walled city.  Alma was fully informed and showed us all the important buildings inside the Old Town, including St Triphon’s Cathedral, one of the oldest Catholic Cathedrals, 1166, but severely damaged by earthquake in 1979; and the oldest building in the Old town to have survived all damage through the centuries, St Luke’s Church, built in 1195.

The main square and clock tower in Kotor.

St Triphon Catholic Cathedral, 1166

Apparently the 1979 quake collapsed much on the Old Town again and reconstruction is still going on.

In the 9^th century, the Byzantines began building defensive walls high up the mountain behind the town and the Serbian Empire continued the walls in the 12^th and 13^th centuries.

Inside St Triphon Catholic Cathedral.  The gothic altar is from 1364.

The Venetians arrived in 1420 and Kotor became the 3^rd most important trading port along the Adriatic.  The big commodity was salt.  At that time only 800 people lived inside the city walls and all of them were from wealthy families who could afford to build large stone houses.

This gold plate decoration behind the altar is a masterpiece of gold work in the 1400’s.

A narrow street inside the old town.

The whole town was very impressive with fine buildings, charming crooked streets, several piazzas, churches, cafes and shops.  Totally a crowded tourist Disneyland while we were there.  Alma told us the town is lived in by locals, who leave during the summer and rent their homes to tourists.  I would too. Three cruise ships were in port and packed the place.

St Luke’s Church, 1195. It has survived all earthquakes and is the oldest building in Kotor.

Having never heard of St Triphon, Alma explained that he was a 3^rd century Turk who refused to renounce his religion and was beheaded by the Romans.  Somehow, his body was on a ship full of relics that departed Istanbul in the 9^th century.  The ship came into Kotor to avoid a storm and a wealthy nobleman bought the body to put into a cathedral he was building.  Every church had to have relics, so Kotor got St Triphon.

The altar paintings inside the little church.

There are 1500 steps to climb to reach the top of the defensive walls surrounding the old town of Kotor.  We had thought to climb them, but when we saw the condition of the rocks along the path – smooth, uneven and slippery – we chose to walk up the hill about a hundred steps, have a view from there and walk back.  It would have taken more than an hour to go up and even longer to come down and the payoff did not look worth the effort.

Looking down on Kotor from about 200 feet above town. Can see 2 ships in the Kotor harbor.

The 15-minute car ferry crossing to get across the fiord to continue north west to Croatia

We said good bye to Alma and left with Moro for Dubrovnik.  The weather was lovely all day and we enjoyed the scenic drive around the fiord, the ferry ride across the fiord that saved an hour of drive time and connected us more closely to Croatia, the speedy border crossing into Croatia and the short drive into Dubrovnik.  We were at our hotel, the Excelsior, by 5 with time to wander through this old town and have dinner at a seafood restaurant called Posat.  Great fish and good view of the fortifications, but the place was a bit too pretentious for our taste.

Entering Croatia. The locals call it Hrvatska.

We have experienced one fortified city after another on this adventure and have noticed that the walls and the old towns become larger and stouter with each passing town.  Dubrovnik, however, is in a class of its own.  The walls are huge, thick and very imposing.  There is a draw bridge and a complete city within the walls.  The place is crawling with tourists.

We went to bed having had a very nice 24^th anniversary day.

October 7, 2017

We are finally at our rest stop in Montenegro, The Aman Sveti Stefan near Bodva.  I am days behind, but will try to catch up one day at a time.

Entrance to our Hotel, the Mangalemi in the middle of a UNESCO protected “museum city”.

On October 4, 2017, we left our hotel in the UNESCO protected “museum city” of Barat, called the Mangalemi Quarter, and drove to the top of the hill to visit the castle and check out the view.  The castle was not very impressive, except for the insurmountableness of the place.  No wonder it was never concquered.  However, the views from there were terrific.

Barat Castle walls at the top of the Mangalemi Quarter.

Mark in a Barat Castle archway.

View of Gorica and Gorica Bridge from the castle. Sure easy to see how difficult it would be to conquer this castle.

View of Barat and the Drean River, Albania’s longest. The White Drim meets up with the Black Drim River from Lake Ohrid before reaching Barat and flows into the Adriatic.

View of Barat town square with the church and the mosque on either side.

Walking doe the hills from Barat castle, we passed this woman selling her hand made crochet work. Notice how steep the street is. Imagine walking up it when it is slick from rain.

Entrance to St Mary’s Cathedral

St Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral, from 1797. In the center of the Barat Castle grounds.  Still an active church.

The iconostasis in St Mary’s Cathedral

Detail of the wood work around the icons. I took this photo when the guard was not looking.

16th century Onufri painting of St Theodore Tirana & Stratilati. In the Onufri Museum of icons in Barat. Known for its early and unique use of red.

16th century Nativity of Jesus by Nicholas, Onufri’s son. In the Onufri Museum of Icons.  No surprise he used the same reds.

An anonymous painting of the Last Supper. I liked this painting for its interesting change of seating from Leonardo’s.

Woodwork in Onufri Museum of icons.  The find detail can be found in many church  iconostasis.  Was nice to be able to get up close.

Passing an oil field on way to Apollonia from Barat. Gentle terrain and grass most of the way.  We were surprised to see oil derricks in Albania.

Map of Apollonia.  THe city was founded by Greek colonists in 588BC.  It was a major city between Rome and Istanbul.  Octavia was here when he got word that Caesar was dead in 44BC and went to Rome to become Octavia Caesar and then Emperor.

The most outstanding monument in Apollonia, called a Bouleuterion, a Greek style council house from the 2nd century AD

Mark sitting in the Odeon, or small covered theater that held 650 people.

A plan of how archeologists think the theater may have looked.

A fuller view of the Odeon.  Used for theater performances, public meetings and educational courses, as Apollonia was an important academic center under Emperor Octavian.

Remains of 3rd century BC covered promenade, or stoa, with 17 niches.  Apollonians created their own coins and had a commercial port on the Adriatic via the River Aous, which got diverted during a major quake at the end of the 3rd century. Without the port, the city lost its importance and was abandoned by the 6th centuryAD.

Foundations of a building dating back to the 4th century BC in Apollonia. French archeologists began excavating Apollonia in the early 20th century.

St Mary’s church near Apollonia.

St Mary’s Monastery. Now a museum housing artifacts from Apollonia.

Mark inside what was the monastery refectory. Nice space.

Inside the still active St Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral.  Unusual contemporary iconostasis and chairs.

After visiting the castle we descended the hill and checked out the Icons in St Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral.

This Cathedral is still active and surprised me with the chairs and gilded pulpit.

The iconostasis was pretty nice and I was able to get a photo of it and the incredibly detailed woodwork that surrounds every one we have seen and not been able to photograph.

The Onufri Museum of Icons is next to the Cathedral and contained some pretty impressive paintings.  I have included my favorites here.  Although we have seen lots of red color in old paintings, there is something different about the quality of the color used by Onufri and his son.

The Last Supper was by an anonymous artist unfortunately.  But it was delightful just because it was different.  Judas has no halo and is the first one in the image to go for the food.  Somewhere in the bible we are told that Jesus would know his accuser because that person would reach first for the bread.

There was a finely carved work of art I could not pass up.  Mark liked it too.  The wood is almond and it is carved in 3 dimensions.  It had been a ceiling medallion.

Finally, we departed Barat and headed for Apollonia, the ancient city founded by Greeks in 588BC.  TO get there we had to drive through rolling green hills, acres of hot houses full of tomatoes, oil fields and a town called Fier, which I think you can find on the map west of Barat.

We skipped lunch that day and ate almonds and Kind bars we brought from home.

We had a warm sunny visit to Apollonia and really enjoyed something different from churches and monasteries, although we did not get away from them in the end.

Under each photo I have included information that tells you about Apollonia.  There were a lot more artifacts than I have presented, but these are the ones we appreciated.  Hope you enjoy them.

After leaving Apollonia, we drove directly to Tirana the capita of Albania.  The city traffic was terrible and it took over an hour just to get to our hotel once we entered the city.  Finally we arrived at The Rogner, in the heart of the city. It was a wonderful hotel. Perhaps the best we have been in because of the comfort it offered rather than fancy stuffiness.  Our room had a good bed, good lighting, a comfortable sitting area, good food in the breakfast cafe.  We took Elvis’s suggestion to eat Italian food in a place called Padam, 2 blocks away from the hotel.  It was a fancy place and we were the only customers at 7pm.   The pasta was too rich for me but Mark liked it …. Tagliatelle with 30 year old parmesan and white truffles.

It was a pleasant evening as we walked back to the hotel.  We are both so tired after each day, however, that all we want to do is brush our teeth and fall into bed.

If you were looking for the some night life on this trip, you will find precious little.

A huge urn found at Apollonia and displayed in the museum.

A metal shield found in Apollonia. Was found in hundreds of pieces and reassembled.

Close up of the metal shield. We were fascinated by the facial expression.

Sandals found in Apollonia. Imagine who wore them and when.

October 2, 2017

One of two bridges filled with statues of people important to Skopje.

A gypsy posed for me on my morning walk on the bridges.

Decorated Mosque in Tetovo from 1439. Built by two sisters. Paintings date from the 19th century. Very colorful mosque.

Inside the Decorated Mosque. Even more decoration and color. Very unusual.

We stopped in the town of Tetova an hour out of Skopje to see the “decorated Mosque”.  A very unusual mosque in mint condition.  We enjoyed looking at it with the 1970 colorfully restored painting everywhere.

After another couple of hours driving through hills and valley, we came to Lake Ohrid and the city of Ohrid, where we stayed at a hotel across the street from the lake.  It is considered the most beautiful city in Macedonia and is certainly most charming and pleasant to be near the crystal clear water.  We compared it very closely to Lake Tahoe.  It is 22×10 miles (Tahoe is 22×12), 74 miles around (Tahoe is 71), the clarity is 66 feet (Tahoe is 70) and both lakes have one main outlet. The big differences are that it is at 2274 feet in elevation (Tahoe is 6200 feet) and it is 5 million years old (Tahoe is 2 million year old).  The residence time of a drop of water in Tahoe is 650 years and in Lake Ohrid it is only 70 years.  We were really impressed with the clarity of the water.

The pedestrian pathway on Lake Ohrid.

The narrow cobble stone road up to the fortress. Traditional medieval houses.

After lunch we drove to the top of the old city Fortress and walked down to town.  The old walls were impressive as they made nearly a complete circle.  The view from there was quite pleasing.  Tzar Samuel built the Fortress in the 11th century and it is no wonder he enjoyed living there for 30 years.  Having won a number of battles against the Byzantines and been mean to them and his own citizens, he eventually made the Byzantine’s so angry that, after winning the “Battle on the Mountain” in eastern Macedonia, they blinded 14,000 of Samuil’s troops, except for one eye in every 100 soldiers, so the one eyed man could lead the rest home.  Samuil was so distressed that he died of a heart attack.  Pretty gruesome tale.

Many people live in the houses on the old road to the fortress.

The 11th century Tzar Samuil Fortress. He built and occupied the fortress for 30 years when the Byzantine succeeded in wining a battle against his troops in eastern Macedonia and sent 14,000 of his soldiers home blind. Samuel died of a heart attack. The fortress was never reoccupied by the Byzantines, but was later, by the Ottomen’s.

View of Ohrid from the 11th century Fortress.

St Sofia Cathedral. Built in early 11th century before the church split in 1056.

We descended the hill a couple hundred feet and came upon the 9th century St Clement Church.  Clement built the church and died there early in the 10th century.  He is the patron Saint of Ohrid.  The paintings we saw were original 11th century frescos.   When the Ottoman’s conquered the Balkans in the 15oo’s, they white washed many churches and turned them into mosques.  This was no exception.  The result was that when restorers began their work in 1970, they were able to uncover the original frescos.  Beautiful to see the original colors.  Again we had to sneak to get a couple of photos.  Mark got the best one.

Another aspect of Balkens that is important has to do with the alphabet.  Prior to the 9th century, the Balken peoples had used the Greek alphabet.  In 905, St Naum and St Clement were students of St Cyril and his brother St Methodius, who together had created the Glagolic alphabet.   Later St Clement, created the Cyrillic alphabet, which was shorter and easier to use than Glagolic, which had 50 letters, while Cyrillic has 33 letters. Today it is still used in Macedonia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Serbia and a small part of Bosnia. Clement also founded Preslav Literary School, the first university in south eastern Europe in Ohrid.

A little further down the hill and we came upon 11th century St Sofia Cathedral.  Restored in the 14th century, it too was white washed by the Ottoman’s and 60% restored in 1970.   As it was built prior to the 1055 schism in the church, there are frescos of several popes in the building.

11th century frescos in St Sofia Cathedral. The Ottomans used the church as a mosque for 500 years. In 1970 the restoration began and the frescos, including those of several popes, came to light.

St Clement, the patron of Ohrid, holding the city in his hand.

Finally, we reached the bottom of the hill and entered the public square where we found a statue of St Clement.  It was s short walk from there to our hotel, the Villa Dea.  We enjoyed the location of our room and sat on the balcony until nearly dark.  Then we walked to a local cafe for a nice meal of  lake trout.  It was nice to have a pleasant evening out.

View from our deck at the Villa Dea on Lake Ohrid, Macedonia. Me in my new, warm sweater.

Albania is mostly atheist, according to Elvis.  The Albanian dictator, Enver Hoxha, who ruled from 1945 – 1985 declared Albania as the first atheist country in the world in 1967.  He destroyed 2000 religious buildings, killed 7,000 people and imprisoned 40,000 others.  In 1991 the law changed.  Now religion is allowed and people are free to worship as they please, however religion is not taught in public schools and muslim women are not allowed to be covered in public schools.  There are 4 religions currently practiced in Albania: Orthodox Christian, Sunni Muslim, Catholic and Bektashi, a muslim sect.

Albanians pay a flat tax of 10%.  They get free education through high school, and free health care.

More later.

September 28, 2017

Sofie, the capital of Bulgaria, is named after the Church St Sofia from the 4^th century.  The name also means “Wisdom”.  It became the capital on April 3, 1879 and has a population of 1.2 million.  Bulgaria is a member of the EU, has a population of 7 million, and like all over Europe, is shrinking slowly.    From our hotel window in the middle of the city, we can see the University of Sofia down the street, the Embassies of Austria and Italy across the street and the Nevski Cathedral through a tree.   Philip, our Bulgarian guide, picked us up at 10am and began telling us about the city and the sites.

St Alexander Nevski Cathedral, built in 1877 after liberation from the Ottomans.

First we visited St Alexander Nevski Cathedral, which was built between 1880 and 1912 with donations from wealthy Bulgarian people.

The icon wall in the Christian Orthodox St Nevski Cathedral.

When there was not enough money coming in, the state held lotteries to get it completed.  It is a Bulgarian Orthodox church with Greek Byzantine influences.

National Drama Theater built in 1907 and refurbished in 2004.

There are many beautiful details, but no seats.  We have learned that no orthodox church has seats.  People come and go and remain standing while they are there.

The fourth largest Synagogue in Europe. Built i9-9-1909. Only 4000 Jews in Bulgaria today. Many moved to Argentina in 1942.

Then we passed by the Russian Church, stopped at the National Theater with a large fountain in front and saw many pictures of the recently completed renovations in 2004. For no good reason, it is not open.

We drove by the Palace of Justice, and St Nedelya Church where on April 16, 1925 the Communist Party bombed it during a funeral service for a general of the King’s army, killed 200 people and injured 500 more.  Three perpetrators were hanged within a month.  A real terrorist attack.

Roman ruins from 6th century AD. The city was called Sardica and Constantine the Great lived here in 297AD.

Then we stopped to see the ruins of ancient Serdica (2^nd to late 5^th century), the first name of the city of Sofia.  The ruins were discovered in 2008 while the city was excavating to connect two metro stations.

We walked a short distance to the Sofia City Center Mineral Water Spring and drank some of the pure water.  Watched as many people filled up containers of this water.

Then we walked to the Sofia History Museum, which had been the Public Bath until 30 years ago.  It was no longer being used and Philip was sorry about the closure.

THe History museum that used to be the pubic baths utilizing the warm mineral springs that bubble up all over the city.

We drove by a tall pedestal with a statue of Sofia, that used to have Lenin on it, then headed out of town to Plovdiv.

The remains of the east gate of ancient Philippopol.

The drive to Plovdiv took 2 hours through rolling green countryside that is considered a plain rather than a valley.

Entering the gate to the old town. Passing by a rich medieval merchant’s house.

Just before entering the city we stopped at a roadside chain restaurant called Happy.  The food was just passable.  Once in Plovdiv, we parked the car and walked to the East Gate of Philippopol, a relic from the 4^th century BC.

Another rich merchant’s house. This one housed a museum of medieval artifacts. Attractive architecture.

Then we walked through the old city, which was built on three hills also in the 4^th century BC.  We passed under a 2^nd century arch and up into the neighborhood of mid-19^th century merchant houses we saw and visited.   The area had been very prosperous even though the city was under ottoman domination.

The formal sitting room in a merchant’s home. Used for making business deals.

In one of the houses was a museum where we saw their local history depicted.  The people in some of the photos were even dressed in Ottoman clothing.

Entrance to Church of St Konstantine and his mother St Helena. Built in 1832.

The dominant industries were tobacco and rose oil, followed by woolen fabrics, rice, vegetable, honey farming and vineyards.   Further up the hill we visited the Constantine the Great and, his mother, Helena’s Church built in 1832.

Iconostasis in Konstantine and Helena Church. Very lovely work. All gilded, hand carved walnut.

Got nice images.  The iconostasis, or place for the icons, was made of walnut with gold leaf covering it.  Quite special.

Ruins of a Roman theater 100-200AD. Plovdiv in the distance.

We passed by the home of Boris Christov (1914-1993), reputed to be the best base opera singer in world.  Phlip played some of his singing for us right on the spot.  Quite rich and deep.  Then we arrived at the ancient Roman theater dating from middle  of the first century AD.   A concert rehearsal was underway.

Model of the 41BC sports stadium in ancient Philippopolis based on small sections found.

The acoustics were pretty good considering the dilapidated state of the theater.  We could see down into the center of Plovdiv from the top of the theater.

Small part of the roman sports arena uncovered while digging an underground train route. This excavation led to the model.

From the theater we walked down the hill to the 1423 Friday Mosque and on to the 2^nd century AD roman stadium, which was only discovered in 1968.  They calculate it held 30,000 people in its day and was used for sports, not for gladiators.

Then we walked down the world’s longest open air shopping mall and stopped in front of a bronze statue of  Milyo, who was a homeless character in the neighborhood until the mid 90’s.  We continued walking through the mall to the end.  I found a sweater I wanted to buy, but the store would take only cash and we had only a cc.  So, no purchase.  Oh well, maybe the weather will improve.

Me in my cold weather uniform and Milyo in the Sofia outdoor shopping mall.

At the end of the mall, we got back in the car and headed back to Sofia.

Phillip dropped us off at an Italian Restaurant near our hotel and had a super pasta dinner we ate with enthusiasm.

September 29, 2017

Entering Rila Monastery

Today, we drove an hour and 40 minutes through the countryside south of Sofia to Rila Monastery in a canyon of the Rila Mountains, named by the Thracians in pre-roman times, because the hills were Rila, or “full of water”.  We came around a bend in the crooked mountain road and suddenly we were at the entrance to the monastery.

Rila Monastery, rebuilt in 1862, as seen from the entrance.

Established in the 10^th century by St Ivan of Rila, the monastery is Bulgaria’s most impressive example of National Revival architecture.

Church of the Nativity inside Rila Monastery

The monastery flourished until the Ottoman raids destroyed it in the late 1400’s.

Hrelio’s Tower from 1334, with portico added in 1844. the tower is the only ancient structure in the monastery.

The Russian Church sponsored its renovation, while the monks played a crucial role in preserving Bulgaria’s language and history during the repressive years of Ottoman rule.

A panoramic view of the Arcades of the Nativity Church.

Devastated by fire in 1833, the monastery was rebuilt with funding from wealthy Bulgarians and public raffles.  There was a call for national pride at a time of hope for liberation from the Ottomans.

In some ways Rila Monastery is similar to the round fortified churches in Harmon and Prejmer in Romania in that a four story structure containing 300 monk cells surrounds the church.

St Michael removing the soul of a sinner. (First image on right side of portico.)

However, this place is not fortified unless you consider the mountains surrounding the monastery closely on all sides a fortification.

Another shot of the right arcade showing the ceiling paintings.

Once inside the compound, we saw well maintained and nicely painted buildings and a spectacular church in the center, called the Church of the Nativity.   Next to the church was an old brick tower dating to 1334, which had not burned and was called Hrelo’s tower for the man who paid to have it built and lived in it until he was killed by the Bulgarian King for being a traitor.  Apparently, he was very rich and owned much land including the monastery grounds, which were on his land.

St Peter opening the gate to heaven where John the Baptist, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are waiting. The rivers flowing out of heaven are named the Fison, Geon,Tigre’s and Euphrates on the painting.

As his land bordered two countries, he was considering which country to ally with when he picked the wrong country and was killed.  A portico was added to the tower in 1844 while the monastery was being reconstructed.

The tower and the monk cells are interesting, but the Church is by far the main attraction.

The Last Judgement with Jesus at the top, the good people and angels on the left and the sinners and devils on the right. There is a lot to see in this painting.

The open arcades on two sides of the church are quite spectacular for their color, design and stories.  Knowing we were not allowed to take photographs inside the church, we took many photos of the scenes on the arcades.

The story of the rich man refusing to give food to the beggar.  On the left, the rich man is in hell and the beggar is in heaven.

It was very cold and we were way underdressed for the crisp mountain air at 3700 feet.  Finally, we went into the dark church.  Such a shame that no photos are allowed.  We could see many frescos that all were dark from years of candle smoke and a huge, fantastic wall of gold leafed iconostasis.  All the work was completed by a team of master artists between 1839 and 1842.

The left image shows what happens when you tell the truth. THe right image tells what happens when you spit out lies and snakes.

This story shows the devil happily leading people to gypsy fortune tellers. Not a good sign.

The church contains two chapels, one freshly cleaned called the Chapel of St John and the other shrouded in scaffolding for cleaning and renovation called the Chapel of St Nicholas. What a difference a good cleaning can make.  The frescos and gold leaf glistened in the cleaned chapel with daylight streaming in the window.  The reconstruction was completed in 1862, but years of dirt and candle smoke and lack of electricity have made the interior walls difficult to appreciate.

St John,”Ioan”, of Rila. He founded the Monastery and was its first Bishop from 930-946AD.

There are murals adorning the church walls illustrating characters and stories from the bible that must be magnificent, if we could see them clean and in good light.  Anyway, as I could not take photos, you cannot see them anyway.

After a couple of hours, we had seen enough and needed to get warm.  We warmed up as we drove back down the mountain to another roadside restaurant for a bite to eat.  I had fried trout that tasted super and reminded me of our ranch trout as it was served whole.

The tiny Boyana Church in SW part of Sofia.

We had one last sightseeing stop for the day, the tiny Boyana Church on the south west side of Sofia.  It is not even in our guide books, but Philip was certain we should see it.

The oldest and smallest part of the church from the 11th century. Wish I could show you the images inside.

What a gem it was.  Built in three stages in the 11^th, 13^th and 19^th centuries, it has been listed as a UNESCO site, one of only 10 in Bulgaria.  The church is renowned for its frescos dating back to 1259 and painted by an artist exceptionally talented for his time.

The center section of the church was built in the 13th century, is twice as large as the first and full of frescos, some as good as the earlier work. The last section, built in the 19th century, is an entry room with very little art.

So much so that some scholars consider him a precursor of European Renaissance art.  The faces are much more shapely and colorful than other flat work of the day and the figures are fluid in their poses.

Again we were not allowed to take photos inside the building and we were given only 10 minutes to see the art.  Distressing.  So I bought a book.

Mark felt like staying in the hotel so we had Thai food in the hotel dining room.  The soup was excellent.  Not so much the crispy duck.  Then up to our nice room to read and work.  I have really liked Sofia as a city and would like to have had more time here.  There are few high rise buildings and the city is really spread out in all directions.  There are hills on the south side of the city that are full of houses.  The other sides are flat with much development into the plains.  Like every other city we have seen on this trip, Soviet stye housing blocks abound.  No one likes the architecture or appearance of the buildings, but they are solidly built, reasonably spacious and full of people, who are glad to have a home.  Most people own their apartment and can do what they want inside it.  However, they can do nothing to the outside or to services like plumbing, heating and electricity beyond their own walls.  Everyone would have to vote together to get work done to the whole building and that seems to be an impossibility.  If only they had CC&R’s like we have.  Seems like a good communist idea to me.

Good night for now.

First I must apologize for misspelling Romanian several times in the previous post as well as our guide’s name, which is Aurelian.  Normally, I have Mark spell check for me, but I was in too big of a hurry and he was asleep.

September 25, 2017

Yesterday, the 24^th, we woke up in Sibiu, Transylvania.  It is a town of 30,000 situated in a large plain with low hills all around in the distance.  Our hotel is right in the middle of the Old City with the town square about a block away.  The local festival is in full swing in the square.  Before going to bed last night, we wandered around the festival and were surprised by the huge crowds of people reveling in the temporary tented, beer hall and singing away like a bunch of drunken folk at a German brewfest.

The crowd inside the Beer Hall tent at the Sibiu festival.

Outside the tent were hundreds more people buying treats and riding the spin, tilt and upside-down rides I never do at home.  It was quite a lively scene.  It did not take much for us to head for home and bed.  Are we curmudgeons or what?

Typical Sibiu architecture, including eye brows in the attic to let in air.

The next day, being Sunday, we walked around area until time to go to Mass. We looked at a 500-year old building in the square called Haller’s House.  It has old original frescos high on the outside wall.  Other buildings had “eye brows” in the roof to allow for air flow into the attics.  I entered the Catholic Church in time to miss the Romanian sermon.  After communion, I joined Mark and Aurelian, who told us Romania is the only Latin country in Eastern Europe.

Services in the Romanian Orthodox church.

We dropped into a Romanian Orthodox service.  The place was packed.  Obviously, Romanian Orthodox is the dominant religion in Transylvania.  Everyone just stands around and listens to the sermon.  There were lots of nice frescos on the walls.  We walked around taking in the 19 towers and stone walls that fortified the old city.

One of the 19 guild towers.

Another of the 19 guild towers on a city street

Each one was maintained by a professional guild- such as tailors, tin smiths, bakers, gold smiths, metal workers, etc. Beyond the first set of walls are two more.  The city was very well fortified in the 13-1400’s.

The fortified wall of Sibiu

Then Aurelian took us to a park outside town, that is called Astra Muzeul.  It is an outdoor multicultural museum that is the largest of its kind in Romania.  It consists of 130 hectares ( 321 acres) populated with 480 original houses brought in from around Romania.

Our ride in the outdoor Astral Museum

It was started in 1905 by one man and taken over by the government in 1963.  Aurelian rented us a horse and buggy to ride around the site and visit as many houses as we wanted.  It was very charming.  Most of the houses are in the 200-year old range.  We encountered a wedding festival while there and enjoyed the performance.

Two of 480 different houses brought to this park in 1905

Mark actually making sound with this horn.

A gypsy house and cart.

A floating mill that went village to village.

A wedding performance at one of the houses.

Sibiel. A village that collected immature paintings on glass during a time when churches were not allowed. THe collection has become a tourist attraction.

One of the paintings up close

After leaving the museum we stopped at a small church in a place called Sibiel.  In it were many paintings on glass done by townspeople during the 18th and 19th centuries  when they were not allowed to worship in their Orthodox churches, which Maria Teresa had closed during her reign.  So, they made their own immature paintings and hung them in their homes.   They were very sweet and I could not help but take some photos.  Then we drove back into Sibiu.

A typical village along the road to Sibiu.

At 6pm, we attended an organ recital at the Romanian Orthodox Church, also known as the Black Church.

Attending an organ performance In side the Romanian Orthodox Church in Sibiu.

The organ was quite good and the organist very special.  We listened to one Bach piece neither of us liked. After that, the pieces played were gradually more appealing, especially a piece by Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911).  We also liked a piece by Seth Bingham (1881-1972) composed in 1923.  Church programs last only an hour we have found and that suits us perfectly.  We went to dinner at a place called Jules and had pasta.  Good to get away from Romanian food.  We are mostly feeling better, but I am still coughing a lot.  Sure am getting tired of being tired and achy.

Monday market in the fields an hour out of Sibiu.

Today, Monday, we departed Sibiu for Brasov with a number of interim stops along the Transylvanian country side.  First along the way was the Monday animal and clothing market we stumbled upon a few miles out of Sibiu.

A gypsy woman

It was fun watching the farmers horse trading and the Gypsies handing out with their colorful outfits and funny looking hats.  That stop, enhanced by fair weather, was good for an hour.

A farmer at the market

Gypsy men with unusual hats

The countryside drive was very scenic, with rolling hills, corn and other grains filling the fields and many small villages dotting the roadside as we passed.

Another gypdy woman

The clock tower in Sighisoara

Our big stop for the day was the old city of Sighisoara.  It is reputed to be one of the most charming towns in Transylvania.

Close up of the ancient, but still working clock.

A scene in Sighisoara, a UNESCO site

The whole town is designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.  I liked the town, but must admit, I liked Sibiu better.

Another guard tower in Sighisoura as we climbed to the top of the hill.

The only colorful painting in the Church at the Top of the Hill. I liked the facial expressions.

The interesting parts included a 175-step covered walk up to the “Church at the Top of the Hill”, which was burnt and rebuilt and very plain.

THe hillside cemetery belonging to the Church at the Top of the Hill

However, the cemetery was wonderful as the graves clung to the side of the hill.  Most were so old I could not make out any dates.

Street scene in Sighisoura.

There were many from the 1900’s that looked like the people had been buried on top of old graves and added new stones.

The house where Count Dracula was born.

Back down in the town square, we had a wonderful bowl of Transylvania Pork Soup.  That hit the spot.  Right near the square was a house marked with a sign designating the place where Count Dracula was born.  Aurelian promised more info about Dracula later tomorrow.  The name Dracul, which means “devil” was the name of Dracula’s father, Vlad Dracul. “ Dracula”means “of the devil”.

The 13th century commodities Exchange in the Town Square in Brasov.

Back in the car we drove past another old castle fortification and took a photo from a distance.  Fortified towns in Transylvania are so common that many do not even get noticed.  We arrived at our hotel, Bela Muzica, in Brasov about 7pm.  Had dinner at a Romanian restaurant near our hotel that specializing in meat.  We had pork ribs.  They were ok, just not what we hopped.  I also had grilled vegetables and they were super.  Then we walked back to the hotel, flossed like mad and dove into bed.

Aurelian and me standing in the narrowest street in Europe.

This morning, September 26, we had another unsatisfying breakfast similar to the last several in our Transylvanian accommodations—cold cuts, cucumber, sliced tomatoes, steamed mushrooms and sausages and overcooked eggs.  Fortunately, they usually have yogurt and some fruit, although not always fresh.

The Romanian Orthodox “Black” Church in Brasov. A block from our hotel.

Ecatorina Tower in Brasov. Looks a bit like a fairy tale.

Anyway, we met up with Aurelian and headed out of town to the Bran Castle, to learn the history of the place.  It was built in the mid 14^th century as a fortress between the two territories of Transylvania and Wallachia.

The Black Tower in Brasov that has been painted white and had a glass roof added. Rather unusual, I thought.

The view of Brasov from the top of the Black Tower

The city walls of Brasov

THe Bran Castle a few miles from Brasov.

Its presence supported the trade opportunities over the Carpathian Mountains of the local citizens of the nearby town of Brasov.  The fortress began losing importance during the 1800’s.

Ileana, Queen Marie’s daughter, who took over maintaining the property after her mother, Queen Marie, died in 1938.

In 1920 the City of Brasov gave the property to the new sovereign of Great Romania.

A pleasant living space inside the castle.

Another nice room.

This was the opportunity for Queen Maria and her architect to remodel the fortress into a comfortable home, which she did: including electricity, plumbing, heating, sheet rock and paint.

A pleasing stairway

Glorious times were spent there by the royal family until the Queen died in 1938.

Keeping an eye on potential enemies entering the neighborhood.

The Queen’s daughter took care of the property until 1947, when her uncle, King Mihai abdicated the throne.

Climbing up the narrow “secret” stairs inside the castle

In 1957, the castle was turned into a Museum and opened to the public.  What we saw today was the museum, with many of the Queen’s mementos and photos placed around the building.

Queen Marie and daughter Ileana

It was fun to walk around as almost every room was on a different level from every other room.  Without directions, we would surely have gotten lost in the many small rooms.

The castle from ground level.

The Count Dracula story is an altogether different version about the property.  The Count probably never set foot in the place and his story is pure myth.   Launched in 1897 by the Irish writer, Bram Stoker, the novel “Dracula” imagines the story of a vampire who lives in a castle in the middle of the Carpathian Mountains.  The actual Prince Dracula, who did grow up in Transylvania, was the son of Vlad Dracul, whose name meant “devil, and was a nasty character who reputedly impaled people who crossed him, may have deserved the reference to the devil.  The association of the Castle with the Bran name is purely theatrical as far as I can tell.  The castle certainly looks like the setting for a great novel and a lot of money is being made as a result of the book. Aurelian told us It is considered the most popular books ever written, next to the bible, until Harry Potter. Don’t know, neither Mark nor I have read it.  Anyway, google Dracula if you want to learn more.

The countryside near the castle.

After spending time in and around the castle, we drove up into the mountains for a lovely picnic lunch.  The intent was to go for a hike, but the day was cold and windy, so we found a lovely spot high in the hills and ate our lunch in a little hollow.

More country scenery. Pretty in spite of the cold, overcast sky and wind.

Slowly we drove down the scenic mountain and back to Brasov.   Except for the cold and overcast sky we had had a very nice day.  Back in our room, we hung our in our small patio for a couple of hours, then walked to the Black Church for another organ concert.  This time there were 4 organs being used at different times.

A village at 1000 meters with a lovely setting

During the final piece, two of the organs were played simultaneously for a very unusual and interesting sound.  The third piece was by Johann Pacabel, Ciacona in f –fa  minor.  Mark and I both really liked it.  The organ used for that piece sounded soft and melodic.

The Romanian Orthodox “Black” Church in Brasov. A block from our hotel.

One of 4 organs we heard inside the Black Church.

After the organ performance we walked into the square for dinner in a modern Italian restaurant called Prato.  We were both very satisfied with our meal.  And now Mark is asleep and I am about to quit.

September 21, 2017

Budapest market Hall

Today was a whirlwind in rain.  Mariana, our Budapest guide for the day, picked us up at 10am with a car and driver.  Good thing.  Can’t imagine how we would have seen much walking in this huge city in the rain.  As it was, we saw many buildings through rain drops.

Our first impression upon entering the building. Wow!

Our first stop was the 19^th century Market Hall.  It is an incredible facility with soaring metal columns, high walkways and attractive produce shops full of fancy fruits, vegetables and other edibles.  Our Hungarian friend, Annamaria Sauer, gave us several tips about what to do in Budapest.

Making the dough for fresh Langos.

Our order of Langos with garlic, per Annamaria’s instructions.

The first was to buy and eat Langos with garlic.  So Mariana took us to the second level where we found much prepared food and Langos being freshly made.  Thanks for the idea Annamaria.  We really liked it and thought of you as we gobbled it down.

Eating the Langos with garlic. It was very tasty and we gobbled it up.

Gorgeous food selections in the Market Hall

We also had some hot, puffy cheese scones.  They were good too.  We saw many prepared Hungarian dishes ready to take home for dinner.  This was a popular place for both tourists and locals.

We drove around many streets and buildings, including the Great Synagogue, and Heros Square, that were not worth stopping for in the rain.  Saw several interesting art noveau buildings.

The Great Synagogue; the largest in Europe.

Went into the Music Academy with beautiful tile work inside, and the opulent Szechenyi Spa.  We visited the Lizst Museum, which was his home during his later years.  Lizst had an interesting piano desk in his living quarters that he used for composing.  Mariana was very interested in café’s and told us it was a popular Budapest pastime at the turn of the century, when dwellings were very small, cramped and cold.

An art Nouveau building

An old building interestingly resurfaced.

The famous Szechenyi Spa with 23 different pools and beautiful mosaics.

Café’s proliferated for different groups of people, who would hang out in several different ones every day.  The one we visited was the New York Café, in the Boscolo Hotel.

The New York Cafe with every seat full at lunch time.  Huge opulent place, a bit like the Palace Hotel Dining Room in San Francisco.

It was built by the New York Insurance company and is the most popular café in the city.  Huge and grand, it was completely full.  Not exactly your local neighborhood café.

The Music Academy with with a sculpture of Franz Liszt mid way up the building.

The magnificent tile work inside the Music Academy

Detail of the tile work

Lovely interior of the Old Opera House.

Paused to look at the “Bee Hive” building with artistic bees climbing up the wall.

Franz Liszt Home and Museum. A working desk fit for a composer.

We took a photo and left.  We tried several times to visit the House of Terror, but the line was so long, we finally gave up.  Did not want to spend an hour standing in the rain waiting.  The building was used by Fascists prior to WWII.  After the war, it became the headquarters for the Communist Party.  It was used by both organizations as the most notorious prison in Hungary.

Ducked into another art nouveau cafe.

After driving all around Pest, we crossed the Chain Bridge to the Buda side and drove past the old palace, and up the hill to St Matyas Church.

Crossing the chain bridge to the Buda side of the city.

Matyes Church with more gorgeous tile work.

It was a beautiful building with a variety of interiors due to the occupation of the Ottomans, who made it into a mosque for 150 years.

The Madonna and Babe in St Maytas Church

Later it was destroyed and rebuilt by Franciscans in the 1600’s.  Damaged again in 1723, it was rebuilt in Neo-Gothic style in the late 1800’s.  It houses a baroque Madonna and a Black Madonna.  Next door to the church is the Hilton Hotel, which has incorporated ancient Roman ruins into the structure.  Well done.

Roman ruins carefully configured in the Hilton Hotel.

Late in the afternoon, we made one last pass at the House of Terror and gave up.  The line went around the building.  We had no time to spare.  Back at the hotel, we said good bye to Mariana, changed clothes and walked quickly to dinner at a fine restaurant that came highly recommended, called Rezkakas.  It lived up to its reputation.  We finally had a good meal.  Mark had goulash soup and foie gras and I had venison.  How’s that for Hungarian food.  Then we grabbed a cab and went to the Bela Bartok National Concert Hall for a performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.  The theater is quite new and modern and so was the production of Don Giovanni.

Bela Bartoc National Concert Hall from our nose bleed seats.

Sadly, our seats were high and in the back, so it was difficult to see faces and actions.   The acoustics were very good.   We had read the synopsis thankfully, but the supertitles were in Hungarian and we could not keep up.  Besides the 8 singing parts, there were a dozen figures on stage all in white costumes and powder, who either held statue-like poses, or behaved quite sexually with each other.   They kept us entertained when we could not follow the singing.  By intermission, Mark had had enough, so we caught a cab back to the hotel and bed.

Sunday, September 17, 2017

I walked through the square to the pretty Church of St Mary for 8am Mass.  Could not understand a word, but knew the routine.  The organ music was not inspiring and neither was the cantor.  Maybe that is why there were so few people.  After communion, I walked back to the hotel and met Mark and Marta and our previous driver, Magic.

Square in Jewish District. Green house belonged to Helen Rubinstein. She was born there.

First we drove to Krakow’s former Jewish District, Kazimierz.  In the main square we saw the birthplace and home of Helen Rubinstein.

Old Synagogue in the square. Men enter through brick door on right, women through yellow door  on left.

We visited the Old Synagogue from the 16^th Century and the Remu’h Synagogue and the cemetery behind it.  We saw Remu’h’s Tombstone and all the stones, prayers and messages left there by many worshipers.  The cold dreary day was a perfect setting for our visit.  We are both under the weather, but might as well keep going.  We also visited a couple other synagogues.  Did not get the names.

Remu’h Synagogue. Remu’h was reputed to be a miracle worker.

People praying inside Remu’h Synagogue.

Remu’h’s tombstone. Filled with stones, layers and messages from a devoted following.

Wall made from broken pieces of tombstones. Very symbolic and touching.

New synagogue has elements of Christian churches with Tablets near the top.

Unusual stained glass in new Synagogue.

Scene location in Old Jewish District seen in Schinders List.

Surface scene of gas chamber in Birkenau. Underground room for removing clothes is on right. Gas chamber is in right background. A group of visitors is praying under the umbrellas.

Then we drove 1 ½ hours to Birkenau, the place where most of the captives, both Jews and others, lived and died.  It was raining, but we had umbrellas and the weather suited the dreary setting.  Magic drove us to the back end of the camp, so we walked only one way through it.  We started at the place where the Jews were made to take off their clothes, and walk into the gas chamber, where they thought they would be getting a shower.  Once they were dead, camp prisoners moved the bodies up and into the cremation chambers.

Just beside gas chamber were crematoriums. In January 1945, the Germans blew them up to remove evidence.

Nearby was a memorial to the deceased with bronze plagues printed in all the languages spoken by the victims, including English…..23 I think.  Many of the plaques had long stemmed white roses laying on them.  From there we walked through the center of the camp with barbed wire fences and brick barracks on either side.  Marta told us 600 people were assigned to each building, with bunks three levels high and 5 people to a bunk.

Memorial to the victims included bronze plaques in all the languages spoken by the deceased, including English.

In the early years, the RR tracks came just to the entrance to the camp.  Later the tracks were brought inside the camp so people did not have to walk so far to the gas chambers.   There were a couple of old box cars sitting on the track, like the ones used to haul 80 Jews at a time.

Birkenau barracks with high voltage fencing.

Not all the barracks were brick.   Many were wooden.  They had been stalls for 52 horses back in Germany and were disassembled and brought here for housing for 600 Jews each.  We walked into two of them.  One was a rebuilt latrine showing how hundreds of people could use the bathroom at the same time.  We were told that the Jews were allowed to use the latrine only twice a day.  In the middle of the night, they did what they had to do right in bed.  Can’t imagine being on the bottom bunk.

The track inside Birkenau with proof that we were there.

Then we went into another barracks that had bunk beds for 600, with two fireplaces at either end of the building.  Only problem was lack of fuel.  So there was no heat anyway.  The worst time of the year was summer because the stench was so bad.  We passed through the Birkenau entrance and drove to a nearby restaurant for Polish lunch.  I had mushroom soup.  Not the best, but mushrooms are in season, so fresh….I hoped.

The people lined up to be sorted – young and old and pregnant women to gas chamber; healthy and strong to work camp.

What the barracks looked like on the inside.

A converted wooden barracks used for mass latrines.

A train load of prisoners arrive in Birkenau.

After the people have been sorted, their baggage is still waiting by the tracks.

Marching to and from work in step to the music. Sketched by an inmate.

Th band playing while the men return from work carrying the dead with them. Every body had to be accounted for at the end of the day.

Then on to our appointment to visit Auschwitz.  It was intended for 3:15, but we got in early at 2:45, a blessing.  Here we visited a series of barracks, which had originally been barracks for the Polish Army.  Initially Poles (150,000) were imprisoned in the camp and died there, then they were joined by Soviet POWs (15,000), Gypsies (23,000),  and other nationalities (10,000).   Different barracks held luggage, shoes, glasses, brushes and hair – lots of hair that was made into rough fabric.  That was the hardest for me to see…..thick blond hair still in braids.

Statistics about the number is prisoners in Auschwitz.

We saw rooms where prisoners had been made to stand 4 together in a tiny cell, so they could not even sit down.  After 12 hours, many did not survive.  Other rooms had no air and caused prisoners to die from suffocation.  The first experimental gas chamber was started in one of the barracks here.  It took awhile to learn how much Zyklon B was needed to kill people quickly.  The first attempts caused some people to linger for days.  How horrible was that?

“Work makes your free”. The sign above the Auschwitz I entrance.

Old Polish Barracks where several hundred women were held in 2 upstairs rooms and used as human guinea-pigs for sterilization experiments from 4/43 to  5/44.  Some were murdered for autopsies to be performed.  Those who survived were left with permanent injuries

Tattooed numbers started being given to camp workers during 1943 to identify people and later, bodies.

Another room was dedicated to Father Maximilian Kolbe, a Catholic priest,  who sacrificed his life for another prisoner.  There were three Easter size candles given by each of the three popes who have been here, John Paul II, Benedict 16 and Francis.  The priest has since been  canonized.    Between 2 of the barracks was a wall where prisoners were stood and shot – the death wall.  The barracks windows were boarded up, but the sound was still evident.  In another place,

The wall of Death. Notice boarded windows on left, so you could hear, but not see.

Public Hangings took place.  One thing we did notice, was that Birkenou was out in the middle of empty fields, while Auschwitz was in the middle of the town.  You could not have lived there without seeing, smelling and hearing what was going on.  Anyway, none of this is news to most of you, but it is a painful and important reminder.

Memorial to Father Maximilian Kolbe, who volunteered to give his life to save another prisoner from forced starvation as a result of collective responsibility for escapes.  The candles left by Popes John Paul II, Benedict 16 and Francis.  Father Kolbe has since been canonized.

A special photo of these twin girls. Many survived because they had been used for experiments.  About 237,000 children were deported to Auschwitz.  Nearly all of the were Jewish and perished.  On January 27, 1945, the Russians liberated 65o children, of which 450 were under the age of 15.

Thousands of pairs of shoes.

Dishes for cooking and eating.

Another long day and we are back at the hotel at 6:30.  Still raining.  We walked around the corner to another restaurant and had a Polish meal – piroghi for Mark and Poultry liver with apples and onions for me.  I like liver, but could only eat half of the portion.  Mark said I had a henhouse full of chicken livers.

Gas chamber in Auschwitz where 600 were killed at a time once they got the drug dosage worked out.

One of 4 holes where Zyklon B was dropped into the chamber and the holes then sealed.

It felt so good to go to sleep listening to the rain pounding on the skylights that cover our ceiling.  We are, unfortunately, not recovering quickly from our colds.