Slovakia - the country of our dear friend Slavo Mulik

We left Budapest on Tuesday (17th) and drove through Hungary and most of Slovakia to the campsite we'd found in the High Tantra mountains. The drive was all back roads so we saw a lot of the small towns in both countries which was very interesting.

The entire time we were in Slovakia we couldn't help but think about our time with Slavo and his sweet wife Jane and their son Steven. Unfortunately, Slavo passed away a couple of years ago but we remember all our skydiving adventures we shared. He operated a drop zone in Ennis, TX and had a number of events in honor of Stefan Banic who was an early parachute designer from Slovakia. After posting some Facebook pictures Jane told us we were just 20 minutes from Slavo's home town Nalepkova where he had recently been honored by his hometown and former paratroopers. One of the disadvantages of only planning your next location a few days ahead of time is you sometimes miss something!

We spent an enjoyable evening and a cold windy night in the area. It was so windy in the morning we had trouble heating water for breakfast!  After packing up the tent for the last time we started the drive north to Krakow, Poland.  We had some amazing views in the mountains, which made up for hitting Krakow right at rush hour! After a few tense moments dodging trams, pedestrians, one way systems and narrow roads we found our way to the parking and then our apartment. John handles most of the accommodation booking on our trips, and is fabulous at finding a great place in the perfect location. We had a great apartment right in the center of Old Town. Such a treat after camping and a long drive. 

Krakow is a beautiful city, and we spent Thursday(19th) walking around and enjoying the sights as well as some great meals.  We mainly visited the Wawel castle and the Jewish Kazimierz quarter; it was heartbreaking to read the memorials to family members who were murdered during the Holocaust. 

We left Krakow on Friday 20th, and drove 465km to Bratislava, Slovakia. This time we were mostly on motorways, which is faster but does have some challenges. We missed a turn somewhere in Poland and had to go through a toll booth and take a quick U turn, which had us stuck in a traffic jam for 30 mins!  We also had to stop at a gas station in both Czech Republic (just driving through) and Slovakia to buy a vignette, which lets you drive the toll roads in those countries. Probably wouldn't have been caught for the short time we were there, but not worth the rather pricey fine!

By the time we got to Bratislava we were both worn out and running on fumes. We still managed to explore a little that evening and enjoyed the capital of Slovakia.  Saturday we drove just an hour to the Vienna airport and flew to London. We had an early morning flight Sunday so we had a hotel at Heathrow airport. In celebration of our last night we went to a local English pub and ate a massive meal washed down by a pint of local Camden Town beer!

We've been home almost a week now, it was a fabulous trip and we are left with many excellent memories and of course photos!

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Magical Slovenia and Amazing Budapest

We camped in Slovenia for several days and enjoyed exploring the area. Slovenia is magical with beautiful lakes and mountains. We spent the first evening at Lake Bled which has a very photographic church on an island. While John took photos Sara took a quick swim in the lake. 

The next day we explored the lakes and mountain roads, and on an impulse stopped to ride the summer toboggan - "Furious Pehta". For 11 euros each we got a ride up the mountain on the chair lift and a fast trip down on the toboggan! It was a lot of fun, and we would have ridden a few more times if we had the time!  We drove on up the mountain road to checkout the views, and found a Russian chapel built in memory of prisoners of war who died building the road during World War 1. 

While driving back to the camp site we amazingly saw a sign for a restaurant recommended to us. We had been searching on Google maps with no success, and the sign suddenly appeared. We ate a traditional Slovenian meal with a huge desert and local beer - wonderful.

On Saturday 14th we sadly left Slovenia (will need to return for sure), and drove the 540 km to Budapest. John is great at selecting places to stay, and after four days of camping we treated ourselves to a nice hotel right next to the river.  After a quick rest and very enjoyable shower, we headed out for night photography. We went to the citadel for some amazing views of the city, finally staggering back to the hotel around midnight. We realized our two nights in the city wasn't long enough so decided to add another night.

Sunday we relaxed a bit and got a late start to the day, heading up to Fisherman's Bastion to explore the area with great city views, monuments and quiet streets. We took the bus back to the hotel for a few hours. We ventured out later in the evening, walking over the chain bridge and risking traffic for John to get the shot he wanted. We found a local Hungarian pub close to the bridge and stopped in for what was meant to a late dinner. Since it was 11 pm the kitchen was closed we made do with beer and desert. We walked back over the bridge to the hotel around midnight again.  Budapest is definitely a night event!

For our last day in Budapest we took a boat ride on the Danube river and enjoyed the great weather.  Then we taxied up to the Buda castle and after ice cream and coffee wandered around the palace and castle area enjoying the evening. We returned to our local Hungarian pub which was very close and were early enough to enjoy a traditional Hungarian meal and beer of course.

Tuesday (17th) we left Budapest and drove to the High Tantra mountains in Slovakia, more to come on the next post!

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Horses, Music and Mountains

On Wednesday September 4th (John's birthday) we headed to Europe again for an adventure, this time with plans to visit Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland.  First stop was Vienna, so Sara could see the Lipizzaner stallions of the Spanish Riding School perform in their traditional riding school in the center of Vienna.

We arrived Thursday afternoon, and settled into our apartment for the next three nights. The location was perfect, right opposite the Hofburg Place which houses the baroque Winter Riding School for our performance on Saturday!  The weather was perfect, so we spent a few hours in the evening walking around the area enjoying the architecture and gardens.  Friday Sara had lunch with some work colleagues, then we ventured out to the beautiful Schönbrunn Palace and gardens and some general wandering around the city.  

Our big day in Vienna was Saturday, starting with a magnificent performance of the Lipizzaner stallions. Sara had always wanted to see this performance in the amazing indoor riding arena built around 300 years ago. The Spanish Riding School has been practicing traditional horse and rider training (dressage) for over 450 years and shows young stallions starting their training, and the fully trained stallions and riders. The show includes the famous "School Quadrille" which consists of 8 horses in formation riding to classical music. The whole performance was mesmerizing, even for people who don't understand the difficulty of the moves. We left with just memories since photos were not allowed, however did pop into the souvenir shop for some items! 

After lunch we returned to the school to enjoy a behind the scenes tour of the facility and stables and horses! Very enjoyable, and Sara could have stayed for the rest of the day if allowed. We ate an excellent traditional Austrian dinner in a restaurant that has been in the same family and building since 1736.  

We finished the day with a classical music performance with music from Mozart and Strauss, including opera singing and ballet. It was a wonderful evening, and John commented the music was so beautiful we should definitely attend the Dallas Symphony more often!

Sunday(8th) was the start of the driving part of the holiday. We picked up our car and headed to Salzburg. The rain from Saturday continued, and it was still pretty wet and cold when we arrived at our guest house, which was in a beautifully converted priest's seminary.  We walked around town in the evening, getting wetter and colder and finally stopped for a great Italian meal and some warmth. Monday morning it was still raining, so we headed to the small town of Hallstatt which is on a lake in the mountains. The weather was still wet and cold, but we took the funicular railway up to the look out point and were lucky to see some lovely views.  We spent the evening wandering around the old town and the weather started to clear enough for John to get some great photos.

Tuesday (10th) we headed into the mountains to start the camping part of our trip, we did stop on the way to buy some warm comforters to use on top of our sleeping bags, given the unusually cold weather! We drove the fabulous Grossglocker high alpine road and found a delightful camp site to stay for a few days while we explored the area. We are currently camping in Slovenia for a few days before heading to Budapest. 

Click HERE to view the photos!