August 4, 2011 - At home

I have decided to try and blog (journal to us older folks) on a regular basis.  I don't expect anyone to read this or care that I'm blogging but in the future I'll be able to look back and see how my days went.

Yesterday was a blah day.  Hot once again... it has been in the high 90's and even up to 108 for over two weeks.  Craig and I are on S4L again and that is going well but is difficult sometimes.  I was hungry yesterday.  I'm hungry again this morning for that matter.  I'm getting ready for fee payment at work which is Monday and Tuesday.  With the new $90 participation fee, people are coming out of the woodwork wanting waivers and such.  Yesterday a man laid into me because I said the waivers aren't that easy to get.  He cursed.  I told him that I didn't appreciate getting cursed at and he apologized and then hung up on me.  Fee payment is going to be fun this year.  Came home and walked at lunch.  Walked again in the evening and then did 30 upside down sit ups plus some planks.  Craig was working on TMT so I went to bed early.

JULY 16 - JULY 20, 2011 SLOVENIA TO GERMANY TO HOME

 

SATURDAY, JULY 16, 2011 – ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT CHRISTOPHER AND TRAVIS

The place where we were staying didn’t have air conditioning and it was warm enough outside that we needed to have the windows open.  No big deal because there weren’t issues with flies but we did have issues with mosquitoes at night.  Apparently lots of mosquitoes.  By now, all of us had mosquito bites and poor Jordan’s face was covered with mosquito bites.  Miserable to say the least.  On a positive note, the bites did dry up within a couple of days.

The only way that the island with the church in the middle of the lake could be gotten to was via rowboat, either a larger boat that someone else rowed (think Venice type of paddle) which cost quite a bit or a rowboat that an individual could paddle.  We decided to go with the smaller rowboat.  T&B’s family went in one boat although Travis tried to put one kid with us because he thought his load would be heavier.   Christopher got stuck with Craig and me.  I think he was really glad that we told Travis that we would still have more weight, even with only 3 people.  It took CB quite a while to get the hang of how to row and we were behind the Thompsons for the trip out to the island but on the way back we pulled way ahead.  Only because Becky tried to row and was getting all kinds of advice from her entire family.  I didn’t envy Becky “getting” to row.

The island was lovely.  We got off the boats and walked to the top of the hill where the church was and could hear a choir singing ever so quietly in the church.  Craig, CB and I paid the money to get into the church and just heard the tail end of the choir’s performance.  Only it wasn’t really a performance.  Apparently individuals and groups make pilgrimages to this church and this choir happened to be one of them.  When they were done singing the individual performers were so moved that they were crying… men and women alike.  There is also a bell pull in the middle of the church and legend has it that long ago a widow commissioned a bell to be placed in the church to memorialize her dead husband.  As the bell was being brought over to the island a storm came up and capsized the boat and the bell hasn’t been seen since.  A new bell was commissioned and it is said that if you ring it 3 times while praying to a saint (can’t remember which one) your wish will come true.  CB rang it and then I did.  I couldn’t decide on what to wish for!  World peace?Too trite.To be thin?Too self-centered.Happiness?Again, too self-centered.  After all of that and more ran through my head I decided to wish for God’s will.  I guess it can’t get any better than that.  Left there to walk around the island.  At one point, we saw a middle aged man wandering around in a very skimpy speedo.  Ewww…  On a totally different note, something that struck me was how the water looked like it was lit from underneath.  It was so surreal.

That afternoon we headed to the beach.  We had a great time.  It was a beach which was kind of a swimming pool/lake combination.  A sloowwww waterslide that Brady enjoyed, several small “pools”, a diving board and lots of rafts to swim out to in the lake.  The water was chilly but very, very, very clear.  There were a couple of huge fish swimming in one of the pools which made me not want to get into that particular area.  Travis jumped into that pool and scared them away… just for fun.  As we were heading back to the car the ducks and swans came up to get some food.  Travis and the kids were feeding them when Jordan got bitten by a swan.  You would have thought the world ended.  The rest of the trip when Travis saw the swan he would call it “Jordan’s nemesis”.

That evening we went to the restaurant recommended to us by a couple of locals.  It was OK but not as good as the first night’s food.  It was also more expensive.  Our walk back to the car was fun though (it always was fun).  CB put Taylor on his shoulders and they ran along.  He got her to hold out her arms and legs so and he held out his arms so that they looked like a spider in the streetlight shadow.  Our after dinner walks were great!

SUNDAY, JULY 17, 2011 – CANYONING AND RELAXING

The morning was our canyoning morning.  Craig was originally going to go and we were going to split into two groups so that someone was always back at the apartment with Brady but Craig decided it was too much for him so he opted to hang out with Brady.  The rest of us piled into a van and headed out.  When we got to the location we had to put on wetsuits that covered all of our bodies… feet, legs, body, arms, even heads.  Donned old tennis shoes that they had for us to wear, helmets and life vests.Then started the hike up the mountain to get to the top of the canyon.  The hike was kinda hard (again I thought that I had gotten pretty much in shape but not so) and at one point we got to a fairly level point and our guide stopped to give us directions.  He tarried until he noticed that I was breathing OK again and then headed out.  I don’t think that anyone else noticed that he was waiting for me to get my breathing back to normal but I did… a good guide.  On the way up the hill, Taylor dropped her helmet and we heard it rolling, rolling, rolling… that’s how high we were and how much on the edge of a drop off.  I was nervous.  At the top of the canyon we rappelled down for a ways. (Sidenote:  I LOVE rappelling but hate heights… go figure!)  From that point on we swam the very cold water, jumped off cliffs, rappelled down cliffs and slid down a waterfall.  It was great!  The kids were scared about rappelling but by the end they did much better.  At one point we had to “on belay” to a horizontal rope and walk on a tiny rocks over to the rappel position.  Truly the rocks weren’t ideal and it dropped straight down.  I wasn’t scared of falling all the way (I trust the equipment) but I am always afraid that I’ll slip and won’t have enough strength to get back up to where I belong.  I made it and rappelled down with no problems.  While CB was waiting for me to rappel he hung off of the rope and let go with his hands.  He told me later he was trying to show the kids that the equipment is totally trustworthy.  Smart guy.  At the end of the canyon we had to crawl out of the water onto the edge of a cliff, step over to our guide who then hooked us up to a zipline and we ziplined down.  To each of us he said, “bye, bye” in his neat accent.  It was cute.  We all really, really enjoyed canyoning and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

That afternoon CB, Craig and I went up to the castle to look around.  The Thompsons opted not to go in because it was expensive and, as I’ve said before, castles are better seen from a distance.  However, Craig got some really nice pictures and we took a walk around the castle.  It was nice to spend some time with just the 3 of us.  We found the Thompsons eating ice cream by the lake.  We sat down with them and had a relaxing time by the lake.  The Thompsons decided to head to a playground but we stayed beside the lake to relax.  CB went running and didn’t come back and didn’t come back so we decided to walk the path near the lake to see if we could find him.  It was a beautiful walk beside the lake.  We didn’t see him so decided to turn around and there he was running toward us.  He had gone 1.25 times around the lake.  He was pooped but I think proud that he had done it.

That night was fantastic pizza.  Yumm.  On the way back to the car CB and the kids had to try perping.  That is Christopher's term for hanging onto a street sign and pushing yourself horizontal (a trick CB’s Spanish Dad, Luis, does).  CB is getting better at it and intends to perp all over Europe.  The kids couldn’t quite do it.  It isn’t easy.

MONDAY, JULY 18, 2011 – GOODBYE SLOVENIA; HELLO AUSTRIA AND GERMANY

Left Bled around 9:00am or so.  Drove straight to Munich where we stopped for  lunch at an expensive but not good restaurant directly across from the Glockenspiel.  Didn’t see the Glockenspiel operate though… don’t know why.  Walked around Munich for a little bit but I just don’t think we are hitting the right part of the city because it didn’t intrigue nor impress.  Drove on to Augsburg which is on the Romantic Road.  I had wanted to drive the Romantic Road but we ran out of time so this was a compromise.  At first we all thought that Augsburg was going to be a bust… the edge of town was really disappointing but once we made it to the city center it was very charming.  Lots of old buildings with a university in the heart of it all and plazas with shopping all around. Very nice.  Craig took a bunch of pictures, we tried a dessert which was terrible and then we headed on.  Got to Travis and Becky’s in the late afternoon.

TUESDAY, JULY 19, 2011 – HANGING OUT AT TRAVIS AND BECKY’S

We went to the market with Becky and had coffee with her at the local coffee shop.  I really wanted to try the cheesecake while in Germany because it is everywhere but I didn’t.  They had some at the coffee shop and I should have gotten some.  We had Doners for lunch… yummm.  I helped the kids make some crafts.  Taylor and I finished her butterfly mobiles and Jordan and I discussed how he could make a mobile for his room.  They really enjoy crafts.  That night Travis and Becky treated us to a steak dinner at the house.  We originally were going to eat under the patio but it was raining so we changed our mind but Taylor really wanted to eat outside so I “sided” with her and we got our way.  I’m glad that we did.  The meal was delicious, the wine was good (Slovenian wine that we purchased as a gift for them) and the company was fun.  At one point Travis said to Brady that they would have a contest to eat some kind of vegetable (can’t remember what) and that caused Brady to eat up with no problem.  Good thinkin’ Trav! 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 2011 – HEADIN’ TO THE STATES

CB and I took Craig to the airport around 10:00am or so and then we headed back to the house to wait for my airport departure.  All 3 adults surfed the internet, ate leftovers and just relaxed in each other’s company.  At one point I was sitting on the couch with Brady and mentioned that I was leaving that day.  He looked at me kinda sad like and crawled onto my lap and gave me big hugs and kisses.  When it was time to leave both of the older kids gave me great hugs, thanked me for working on crafts with them and said that they would miss me.  Brady couldn’t be pried from his DS although Becky insisted he give me a hug which was halfhearted at best.  Oh well... we had our goodbye earlier.  CB dropped me off at the airport where I wandered around kinda lonely and sad.  Not too sad though… I almost cried once but got hold of myself and shook it off.  Flew to Dublin where I stayed overnight in a part of town that the taxi driver recommended I not venture off alone in (Loy was in the States and Wil was busy trying to get around to go to the States) so I stayed in and went to bed early.  Got to the airport in plenty of time the next morning because the plane was an hour late taking off.  Got to Toronto where an agent had to run me and about 10 other people through customs and security in order to make our connection.  Then home.

This trip was incredible and I can’t thank Loy, Wil, Travis, Becky et al for the warm hospitality and generosity that they displayed.  I love them all bunches!!

Trying to catch up!

WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2011 – AUSTRIA

Craig and Christopher went to the airport to pick up our rental car.  The rental car location on base wouldn’t allow us to rent a car to take to Slovenia and the airport location made Craig sign a form saying that he would immediately pay 26,000E if the car were stolen while in Slovenia.  It made us wonder what kind of country we were going to visit. 

Craig, Christopher and I headed off to Austria to spend the night.  The Thompsons were going to meet us in Slovenia on Thursday.  The drive to Austria is only 4 hours or so but typical Burnett fashion it took us much longer.  About an hour out of Stuttgart the entire interstate was closed down for construction with no advance notice so we had to take small back roads.  It was a very beautiful drive along windy highways and through small, quaint towns.  Craig was still experiencing jet lag and kept having to stop at rest stops to take short naps.  Eventually we made it to the German side of the Salzburg area and found our hotel.  It was a very nice hotel with large, modern, clean rooms in a gasthous but it also had a leak in the ceiling so they had to move us.  I had paid a little bit more for the room based on the information that it had wireless internet.  We could get the internet but only if the door were propped open.  Needless to say the door was propped open for most of the evening.  We drove into Salzburg for dinner and again wandered around looking for a restaurant (we did that a lot on this trip).  I had looked at TripAdvisor to see what restaurants were recommended and we were looking for the top rated restaurant for a lower price.  We asked directions two-three times only to find that the place was packed.  We went to another restaurant which was in an upstairs location but it was hot outside and extremely hot in there so we left.  Tried another… same story different location.  Finally ended up at an outdoor restaurant which was a little iffy because of the smoke (Craig kept having to take walks to get away from the cigarette smoke) and because it had been raining off and on.  The meal was OK but not great.  Salzburg just didn’t leave a good impression with me.

THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2011 – ON TO SLOVENIA

We really wanted Craig to see Eagle’s Nest but it was cloudy and rainy so we hit _________ again.  Just walked around there and then took very narrow, windy, beautiful roads to the autobahn just south of Salzburg.  The drive from Salzburg to Slovenia was incredibly beautiful.  Mountains.  Villages.  Houses on the side of the mountains with no visible roads going to them.  It made me think of “Heidi”.  There were also a lot of tunnels ranging from very short to 8km long.  Oh and tolls several high priced tolls.  We were getting close to the Slovenia border and saw a very large, ugly checkpoint ahead… exactly how you would think Soviet Union checkpoints look.  Craig and I were already unsure of what to expect in Slovenia and this made us even more nervous.  We pulled up to the checkpoint and low and behold it had been turned into just another toll booth so we sailed on through.  (Sidenote:  Both Austria and Slovenia in addition to toll roads require vignettes which are permits to drive in the country that you purchase from gas stations and place on your windshield.)  Another long tunnel and we were in Slovenia.  Found our overnight lodging quite easily at about 3:00pm.  The lodging was owned by a family who had turned the upper two floors of their home which was located outside of Bled, surrounded by farm ground into apartments and rooms.  It was clean and fairly nice but again the promised wireless internet was non-existent except downstairs in the lobby.  We checked in and almost immediately the Thompsons arrived and checked into their apartment on the 3^rd floor.  Oh, also, the place smelled like old silage, horses… you know a farm but it was really a strong smell.  After we checked in we took two cars to the summer tobogganing sight.  For the kids’ birthdays and to thank T&B for their hospitality I purchased all of them two rides on the toboggans.  Craig took pictures and I watched at the bottom of hill.  (Sidenote:  Craig just told me the other day that he kind of wanted to go too… I had no idea and feel bad that he didn’t do it.)  All of them had a ball going down the mountain on “toboggans” and we enjoyed our part of watching.  We then went to dinner at a local restaurant.   I can’t remember what any of us had except Brady.  He saw a picture of a trout on the menu and decided that was what he wanted to eat.  It was a whole trout with eyes… the whole works and none of us thought that he would like it.  He ate the whole thing.  He and Craig bonded over dinner and they walked part way back to the cars hand in hand and even skipped part way.  Well the rest of us couldn’t miss out so we skipped too.  It was very sweet and fun.

FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2011 – SLOVENIA – ALL DAY EXCURSION

We were picked up by T’Osh  (I have no idea how to really spell his name) at 9:00am from our apartment.  It was rainy and chilly.  Our first stop was a lake about ½ hour away.  The water was extremely clear and trout could be seen swimming around.  After messing around there for a little bit, we hopped back into the van and into the mountains.  We drove for about another 45 minutes and arrived at a waterfall that was beautiful.  Travis and the kids kind of worried T’Osh because the rocks were slippery from the rain and they were crossing over the stream to get to a hill to climb but they all survived with no mishaps.  Next stop was a small chapel that was built during WWI by POW’s to honor prisoners who were killed by disease, starvation or avalanche while building the road over the mountain.  It was an extremely small chapel and we couldn’t go inside because they were doing repairs for an upcoming celebration.  In fact, when we pulled into the parking lot there was a car that had pulled in immediately before us that had brought officials (T’Osh thought that they were Russian) to inspect the work.  The women were dressed in clothing that would have been popular for our working females in the late 70’s/early 80’s… very tailored, uptight looking.  On the way up the mountain we saw to different herds of sheep who had taken refuge from the pouring rain under a __________ and under a bridge.  It looked so funny to see those sad looking creatures staring out at us from under the bridge…. Billy Goat Gruff.  Drove on to hike at the top of the mountain but when we got out of the car it began to pour.  We were all soaked by the time we got into the small coffee shop.  In fact, there were a lot of people in the coffee shop who were soaked.  We debated about stopping for the day but we knew there wouldn’t be another opportunity to have the Excursion Day and T’Osh was hoping the weather would break.  He said that quite frequently on one side of the mountain it can be bad weather but on the other clear.  Eventually it did clear up but never quite completely (except when we went river rafting).  So we took our hike and saw an abandoned, cement gondola shed at the very top of the mountain that was used (in addition to the road the prisoners built) to transport goods to the front line.  Saw a lot of sheep poop which Brady kept talking about.  I told Becky that the poop is probably what he will remember when he is grown up.  After our hike we got back into the car and drove on for lunch.  At a nice lunch in a small town and then the adults went river rafting.  The water was down quite a bit but we didn’t have to push like we do when the water is down in Iowa.  In fact, we still got some OK rapids.   There were about 10 rafts going down the river pretty much together.  At one point, all of the rafts stopped so that we could all scramble up on a big rock and either slide down one of the upside down rafts or jump into the water.  There were so many people on the rock that it reminded me of footage of walruses all crammed onto a rock… pushing, barking, laughing to each other.  I slid down the raft and the water was COLD!  While we rafted the kids hung out with T’Osh who took them to a park, bought them ice cream (with T&B’s money) and let them play in the icy cold river.  Taylor was heartbroken that she couldn’t go with us on the river rafting (she cried hard) but by the time we were done she was happy again.  Again we headed off and this time it was to a train.  T’Osh pulled the van onto the train which was open air.  He opened the back tailgate and we had snacks, beers and water.  We got to stay outside of the car while they changed the engine but then we all had to load into the car.  T’Osh let Brady “drive” and it was a hoot.  Craig got video of the ride.  There is little Brady sitting at the wheel while the outside world is whizzing by just like he is driving.  We had the music up loud (Slovenian folk music at first) and we were all laughing and talking.  We went through several tunnels.  If they were short enough and the ventilation was good we would leave the windows and side door open.  If it was long, T’Osh would close the windows while Christopher would slide shut the side door.  The last tunnel was very long, pitch black and stinky.  As we entered the tunnel T’Osh said he had saved a special song for the tunnel.  It was “Thriller” by Michael Jackson.  We all laughed and started dancing and singing.  When it ran out Christopher said something about Abba (can’t remember what) and up came “Take a Chance on Me” by Abba.  It was a fantastic ride.  After the train we stopped at one more lake and then headed back to Bled.  It turned out to be a great day!

Tuesday, July 12th, 2011 - Eslingen (spelling?) Germany

Becky wasn't feeling well so Craig, Christopher and I walked up to the bakery for pretzels and then walked on to the local market that is held every Tuesday morning in Schonaich.  We purchased some olives and cheese.  Yummmm.  After lunch Christopher drove the three of us to Eslingen for a walk around.  The large town is surrounded by vineyards on very steep hills.  It looked like how I picture Italy.  Eslingen also has a very old wall on one hillside with many, many stairs to the top.  Christopher and I think that there were probably 1,000 stairs.  We climbed to the top and enjoyed a leisurely stroll through a park and then had a beer at a bier garten.  Walked back down to the charming, older part of the town and then headed home.  Becky had made another delicious dinner.  (Sidenote:  Taylor loves to cook and always wants to chop the vegetables.  Taylor's specialty is Bruchetta.)  We had an early night.

Monday - July 11th - Schonaich - Craig arrives

I'm blogging several days after the fact so I can't remember the weather.  I believe it was partly sunny and a good temperature.  Becky, Christopher and I went to the airport to pick up Craig around 11:00am.  He had arrived before we did (thanks to me thinking he got in later) and had wandered around looking for us.  I felt bad but I know that the British Air website had a later time posted for their arrival.  Oh well...  Craig napped in the afternoon while we hung out at the house.  I started working with Taylor on making butterflies for a mobile for her room.  That night we went to Travis' favorite German restaurant and had a delicious meal.  The decor was really neat.  All white walls, white curtains which we tied back with very simple brown, earthy ties, white napkins... all accented with brown, earthy tones.  (Sidenote:  they always have the silverware on the table along with napkins either on a plate or in a container.)  We went home and Christopher mixed us up some Cosmopolitans.  We sat on the balcony and laughed and had a great time.  We went to bed around 11:00pm.  It was a really fun evening.

Triberg, Germany - Friday, July 8th, 2011

Again we used Travis and Becky's car.  This time we headed to Triberg, Germany which is in the Black Forest.  Again, a beautiful sunny day with the windows down, music up and beautiful hilly, treed countryside around us.  We hiked to the top of the waterfall which was beautiful (looked like a movie set).  We then hiked down to the ropes course.  We so enjoyed it.  Christopher was wonderful with me.  He knew that I was nervous so he decided to go on the easy 2nd level course with me.  He led the way physically and emotionally by telling me how to negotiate each leg of the course plus telling me that I could do it.  He could definitely be a coach of some kind.  I went through the 2nd level course twice while he moved up to the highest level of 5.  On my 3rd time through he talked me into going on level 3.  I did it!  There was one portion that he thought was the hardest out of all that he did on that particular course.  

We then went into Triber and had some donors (kind of like a gyro) and then headed on small roads to Rottweil.  I'm starting to sound like a broken record but it was another quaint, 1400's town.  We walked around for a while and then headed back to pick up Travis.  We should have been 15 minutes early to get him but we got stuck in a stau (traffic jam) and we were half an hour late.


That night their small town had a festival so the family plus a friend and her kids walked down to the festival which was 2 blocks away.  We drank beer, ate German pizza, ate steak sandwiches and had a fun time.  There was a live band that was playing American music.  We had a good time and their friend, Terri, is a nice, fun person.

Sunday, July 3, 2011 - Prague

We woke up to cloudy skies and chilly weather (again).  We hiked across the city (lots and lots of walking on this trip) to the Hop On/Off city tour.  Hopped on to the huge castle on the hill... if I remember correctly it is the 2nd largest palace/castle in the world.  It was very windy, rainy and cold on the hill.  We didn't want to pay for a tour but we did want to see the changing of the guards at 12N so we hung around (we had to wait for the next bus anyway).  We crowded to the gates to watch the changing of the guards.  Becky put Brady on her shoulders and he kind of told us what was going on because Becky and I couldn't see much at all.  Taylor was standing on a pillar so she could see as well.  Jordan, Travis and CB had split off and were in a different section.  The changing took about 20 minutes or so.  Towards the end this woman pushed her way through the crowd to get to the very front... this was after we had all been standing there being very polite and patient.  As she pushed through Becky exclaimed "excuse me" in a sarcastic tone.  The woman just looked around and smiled brightly at us.  This same woman almost knocked an older gentleman down but she just smiled at him also and kept on pushing.  I guess to her credit, she made it clear to the front and had an unobstructed view.

Next stop was the monastery where we ate a tasty lunch of Czech food.  Again, no vegetables.  Again, beer.  Walked around there for a while and then hopped back onto the bus.  Walked around the city looking for a snowglobe for Taylor and just to see the sights.

Some facts about Prague (at least facts according to our tour guides).  Even though Prague has a large amount of beautiful cathedrals and churches the Czechs are 60-80% atheists (this percentage changed from tour guide to tour guide).  I wrote earlier about how much beer they drink.  The average Czech earns 900E per year and some of the villas we saw would cost 2 million Euros to purchase and another 2 million to renovate.  

That night we walked around looking for a