We still plan to travel through Japan in late November-early December, so check back in a couple of months for dispatches from the land of the rising sun.
Joe
During the three-month trip I’ll add seven more notches to my list of countries visited, and traverse about 6,000 miles, not counting the airplane rides from LA to London or Tokyo to LA.
I plan to post stories, photos and videos on this blog as often as I can, so keep checking back for updates on topics ranging from the most fascinating sites I encounter to tidbits about life on the fabled railway. I’ll also link to the blog posts from my Facebook page; please share with your friends and let me know what you think - I look forward to your feedback and comments as I travel!
Proshchaniyae for now.
Joe
Proshchaniyae for now.
Joe
A Steamy Visit to the Best of Croatia
A One-Day Tour of Helsinki, Finland
Sofia and Beyond
Below are photos of Aleksander Nevski Church in Sofia, Herastrau Park in Bucharest, Salome in our compartment on the train from Sofia to Bucharest and Bran Castle in Transylvania.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKrherVzjxk&feature=youtu.be
The ferry ride was cool and scenic, and we walked around the island, where locals were picknicking, fishing and lining up for a dramatic performance of "Peter Pan" on the day we visited.
A tip: the 24-hour transit pass, available at the tourist office counter at the airport, was a great deal. For 30 euro (about $37 U.S.) for all three of us, we used the pass for the express bus from the airport to the city center and back, the ferry ride to Suomenlinna and all local transport (trams, buses, etc.).
Helsinki is the first place we've visited on our monthlong trip where the temperatures have dipped into the 70s, which is a nice change. We had one afternoon and evening to sightsee, and we used it to walk around the town center, take a ferry boat out to a ruined fortress on an island, and enjoy a delicious Indian meal.
Helsinki is busy, lively and colorful. Street musicians play everything from New Orleans style jazz to the accordian, and people sit in the cafes, or enjoy picnics in the city's numerous parks. The electric trams and buses are efficient, cheap and easy to use.
However, prices are much steeper than in Eastern Europe. On my "beer-o-meter," Helsinki is at the top, with a draft brew costing $7-$8 - and often not even filled to the top of the glass - compared with $1-$3 in most of the places we've been.
As we walked around the town last night, we were caught in a brief downpour, which felt very refreshing after the summer heat we've endured. Then, it the middle of the night, it rained again, furiously, for more than a half-hour. I enjoyed standing by the open window, feeling the mist on my face.
As we wrap up our trip, here are a few final photos from Romania, including a shot of the family who ran a guest house in Sighisoara, who fed us delicious local dishes, shared homemade wine and eggs from their chickens, and treated us like royalty. Also are shots from a hike we took in the Bucegi Mountains, an ancient fort, and the town square in Braso's old town.
We spent a few days in Bucarest, the capital, which is a large, lively city with a vibrant art scene. We caught a performance by a local jazz singer, accompanied by an excellent guitarist.
Here are a few photos, including the massive government building erected by Romania's former dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, fountains in one of Bucarest's main boulevards, and Peles Castle in Sinaia.
The Parliament building is one of the largest in the world, reportedly second only to the Pentagon in square footage. And Ceausescu bulldozed an entire historic neighborhood to build it, displacing tens of thousands of people from their homes. No wonder he was so despised by his people that he and his wife were executed immediately after the fall of Communism in Romania.
Along the way, we stopped off in a picturesque, laid-back seaside town in Montenegro, called Herzeg Novi, and the rough-edged but friendly city of Nis, in Serbia. The trip required numerous frustrating waits at border checkpoints, and a dizzying change of currencies, which affected everything from our ability to use pay toilets, to buying onward bus tickets.
Over the space of two days, we went from the Croatian kuna to the euro (Montenegro) to the dinar (Serbia) to the lev (Bulgaria.) At one point, I had four different currencies in my pocket, and literally did not have the right change to pay for a bathroom visit. (Nearly all public toilets in the countries we have visited charge a small fee.)
Our first and only near-disaster occurred when we arrived in Montenegro, where we immediately went to an ATM to withdraw euros, and found out our bank had shut off our ATM cards. No problem, I thought, I'll just cash in some U.S. dollars I had stashed in my money belt for just such an occurrence. Unfortunately, that particular Friday was a bank holiday. A friendly local smiled as we tried the door in vain. "Monday," he said. Herzeg Novi also had no money changing bureaus, so it looked like we were stuck.
We showed up at the local tourist office, sweating like longshoremen and a tiny bit desperate. Ana, a kind woman who worked there, took pity on us and withdrew money from her own bank account to exchange for our left-over Croatian kuna, a real life-saver. Luckily, we were able to get ahold of our bank via Skype and quickly resolve our ATM card problem.
We spent a hot, dusty day in Nis, Serbia, awaiting our afternoon bus to Sofia. We checked out a local mall (mostly for the AC) and visited the "Tower of Skulls," the biggest local attraction. The 200-year old stone tower was built by the Turks, who incorporated the skulls of killed Serbian soldiers to intimidate the local population.
Rolling into Sofia, we saw Gypsy slums of tin-roofed shacks, which didn't bode well. But the center of Sofia is very nice, with its museums, monuments, and tree-shaded pedestrian promenades lined with upscale shops and cafes. Our hotel is great, with AC, a restaurant built around a greenhouse, and very friendly staff.
Tonight, we board a sleeper train for Bucharest, Romania. When we asked the ticket agent if the train had AC, she said "maybe," and shrugged. "It's a Russian train," she said, as if that explained everything, even the lack of a dining car or locking compartment doors. Her colleague said to tell the conductor where we wanted to get off; otherwise, she said, we might end up in Moscow, the train's final stop.
Here are photos of a street near our hotel, Sofia's Alexander Nevski cathedral and the Rila Monastery near Sofia.
Also, temperatures continue to soar - yesterday, we walked Dubrovnik's iconic city walls, which offer gorgeous view of the sea and the old town's lovely historic buildings with their orange tile roofs. The mercury hit early 100 degrees well before 9 a.m.
In the afternoon, we huddled in our air-conditioned room and took a nap. Then in the evening, when it was cooler, we ventured out to stroll through the old town once more, and have dinner in an excellent vegetarian restaurant. We had planned to go to the beach today, our final day in Dubrovnik, but the heat may deter us. Instead, maybe we'll find a cool cinema.
We lucked out by arriving for the first night of the annual summer Dubrovnik music and arts festival, and were treated to a fireworks show above the old city, and a concert by a Croatian pop singer in front of a beautiful church. (We enjoyed the music, although we couldn't understand the lyrics, until the band played Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here.") The entire town seemed to turn out for this event, with everyone dressed in their finest clothes.
Tomorrow we set out for the next leg of our trip, traveling by bus through Montenegro and Serbia to tour Bulgaria and Romania. This will be interesting, since some of these countries use the cyrillic alphabet and we won't even be able to read the signs or restaurant menus!
Here are a few photos from Dubrovnik.
At night, we've been cooking dinner in our apartment and eating on the small table outside our room, which is situated in a narrow passage way, next to a local restaurant. As we ate, a group of local kids watched Kung Fu Panda on a laptop set up on a cardboard box. The days are hot and sunny, but the nights pleasantly cool and breezy.
Here are a few photos from Split and Korcula.
We are just up the street from Diocletian's Palace, formerly the Roman emperor's summer residence. Now, within its ancient stone walls are a mix of apartments, shops, restaurants, bars and hotels. The streets are narrow, crooked, and it's pretty easy to get disoriented and lost, as we nearly did the first day.
Along one side of the palace is Split's picturesque harbor, where vessels ranging from small excursion boats to mammoth cruise ships are coming and going all day and night. This afternoon, we will roll our bags down to the harbor and board a fast catamaran ferry for Korcula Island. Then we will travel on to Dubrovnik, Croatia's crown jewel.
Rooms here are pricy because it is high season, we got a pretty good deal on our modern, clean apartment for 90 euro per night, or about $111. Restaurant meals are more reasonable, each night we have dined on seafood and local meat specialties at mid-priced eateries for $40-$50 for the three of us, including beer and wine and appetizers. A large draft beer can be found for as little as $2, and an ice cream cone costs 7 kuna, or just over $1.
All for now, here are a few pics.
But once we arrived in Zagreb, things turned around right away. We were captivated by the city's beautiful historic buildings, shady public squares and fountains, and lively cafe scenes. Locals strolled city streets in the dusk, enjoying the relative cool of the evenings. We loved the large fruit and vegetable market near our hotel, and enjoyed excellent meals, from Italian pasta dishes to fresh seafood. Zagreb has many of the charms of Budapest, but on a much smaller and more manageable scale. Locals seemed friendlier, maybe because not as many tourists hang out there.
From Zagreb, we visited Plitvice Lakes National Park, a bus ride about two hours away. The park consists of a chain of lakes with crystal clear water, that shines turqoise and emerald green in the sun. Visitors tour the park on trails, and a system of raised wooden walkways. The lakes are interspersed with dozens of waterfalls, some towering, some just a few feet high, which fill the park with the soothing sound of rushing water.
Here are few photos from Zagreb and Plitvice.
Our Budapest highlights included: walking on the grounds of Buda castle near dusk, admiring the sweeping views of the city below, including boats on the Danube and the massive yet intricate Parliament building; soaking in the city's famous Gellert thermal pools; bicycling around shady Margaret Island, and watching the locals try to stay cool; and cheering on Spain in the European championship game at an open air cafe in the very touristy, but lively, Vorosmarty Square in central Pest.
Also, meeting some very nice American ex-pats at a Fourth of July picnic, held in a beer garden in City Park, a sprawling recreational and cultural oasis in the northeast quadrant of the city. The party was held in the shadow of the park's George Washington statue, a fitting location.
Along the way, we became experts on using Budapest's excellent public transportation system, including the Metro, buses and electric street cars. And lots of walking.
Now it's off to Zagreb, Croatia, by train.
I should have gotten it together more quickly; but my first attempt to put the book on Kindle failed when the file became corrupted, and I didn't learn about it for several months.
The process of creating a Kindle book is a bit daunting for a novice, as it involves starting out with a properly formatted MS Word document, than going through three different conversions to reach the Kindle format. Luckily, Amazon does have a fairly usable and simple guide to the process on its website, which I tried to follow religiously.
Here are four tips for getting the most of your entertainment dollar in Vegas.
1. Battista's Hole in the Wall. This throwback Italian eatery boasts framed photos of celebrities with the owner, an amazing collection of miniature booze bottles, a wandering accordion player, and good food at reasonable prices. Battista's is just off E. Flamingo Road, about a block from the Strip. The menu is listed on signs on the wall, and complete meals run from $22 to $38, including soup or salad, garlic bread, a carafe of house wine and a cappucino. Try the steak pizziola for $28, it was delicious!
2. Ellis Island Casino and Microbrewery. Try a prime rib dinner with all the trimmings (including a 20-ounce microbrew or home-made root beer) for $12.99, or a steak dinner for $7.99 (not on the menu but ask the waiter.) A block behind Bally's. Microbrews, which some in light, dark and amber, cost about $3. The casino is a bit smoky, but the restaurant is non-smoking.
3. The Cosmopolitan. One of the newest casinos on the strip, the Book and Stage lounge offers free, top-flight entertainment. We caught a Washington, D.C.-based jazz combo called The Funk Ark (http://www.thefunkark.com/) while sitting in comfy leather chairs, each with its own footstool. Just watch the bar tab; martinis run $16.
4. Tamba. A great Indian restaurant tucked away off the Strip in the somewhat tacky Hawaiian Village shopping center, next to the Polo Towers. Try the lunch buffet for $12.99, you won't need to eat again that day. All manner of veg and non-veg entrees, along with delicious, fresh-baked naan bread.
Although this blog is geared toward travel with children, we parents have a right to get out once in a while, right?
Over the past three weeks, Ava, Salome and I have taken our story on the road, we have made presentations about the book and our world trip, tips, etc., at the Pine Valley, La Mesa, Vista and Rancho San Diego county library branches, as well as the Oasis adult educational program in Mission Valley. The talks were well-received, and we loved talking about our travels! We want to thank the county library and Oasis for inviting us.
As the long-winded member of the family, I did most of the talking, but Salome was kind enough to read excerpts of her journal, which are included in the book. Ava and Salome answered questions, when I stopped talking long enough to give them a chance.
We were gratified by the attendance at the library talks; people were interested in what we had to say, and they shared some of their own travel tales. Some folks traveled across the county to attend our presentations. We also want to thank everyone who came to hear us talk.
http://tinyurl.com/25jjnag
http://tinyurl.com/27ulp9w