Greetings fellow bloggers!
Some have noticed my return from comments. I haven’t posted since 18th September when I announced my blog break. On that post, some may have wondered where I was going, but Eleanor blatantly asked. After all, some of my blog breaks are travel oriented – but not all!
It’s time to confess. This blog break was about travel. Long-time readers know we enjoy cruising – but nope – not this time! However, we did partake in another passion – Europe!
When 2018 started, we’ve never taken a bus tour. Oddly enough, this year involved two bus tours. The first was the 2-week bus tour of many US National Parks in the west. Although I have already posted some initial thoughts about the experience, posts about the those sights are finally in the queue.
Meanwhile, many Americans are acquainted with Rick Steves from his Europe travel shows on PBS. I’m guessing many Canadians also know this American travel guru. Because we know a good number of people who have taken and raved about Rick Steves’ tours, we decided to take one to a past of Europe that is new to us – Eastern Europe.
A couple of notes about the image. The numbers inside the circles indicates the number of nights in that location. We had an extra day in Prague before the tour started. The tour ended in Lake Bled, then we extended it with two nights in Trieste, Italy (red dot & my birthplace) and one night in Venice (blue dot as it was our inbound airport).
Although I hope to do dedicated posts about each stop in the future, below is short adjective for each stop.
- Prague, Czech Republic – romantic
- Krakow, Poland – surprising
- Auschwitz/Birkenau, Poland – somber
- Slovakia (drive through) – naturally beautiful
- Eger, Hungary – quaint
- Budapest, Hungary – grand
- Plitvice National Park (Croatia) – stunning
- Rovinj, Croatia – soothing
- Ljubljana, Slovenia – urban relaxation
- Lake Bled, Slovenia – enchanting
- Trieste, Italy – a time capsule
- Venice, Italy – It’s Venice!
I’ve returned to my normal home routine of ballroom dance, the handbell choir, working at the golf course, and more – so now is the time to return to my WordPress friends.
Before ending this post with a video, I want to announce that Pronouns: The Musical resumes on Saturday, 21 October at 1 am (US Eastern) with Act 10 featuring songs with They in the title. (It’s more difficult than I imagined.)Upcoming acts are Them and It.
Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the song!
The musician playing dock of the bay passed maybe two weeks ago. He gained a bit of fame by performing in the Playing for Change series of videos.
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Ray,
Bummer … thanks for sharing. I imagine he was a local legend.
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Cincy,
Welcome back! Looks like you guys had a wonderful time and that you return refreshed and ready to supply us with your wit and wisdom.
Yay us!!!
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Marc,
Thank you … and good to be back, but I’m still struggling with the jetlag effect.
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Great to have ya back!
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Welcome back from what can only be described as a magical bus tour from the itinerary alone (to borrow another musical description and LOVED that video-what delightful artists). Looking forward to your posts about your tour. While I have not been to many of the eastern destinations, Prague is one of my most favorite cities in the world. And of course Venice…I mean who doesn’t love Venice?! It stole my heart for sure.
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Monika,
Thank you for the welcome back salute. This tour was magical. Because we’ve been to Venice before, our stay there was short because we used it as the airport to return home. I thought I’ve done a post about it in the past, but I don’t think so! The place is unquestionably special!
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I had not expected Venice to be quite as magical as it was and will always be eternally grateful it completely stole my heart. And Prague…gosh, what an incredible place!
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It’s fun to try to get lost in Venice. The little alleys outside the tourists traffic are fabulous. This was our first visit to Prague – and yes – incredible!
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All those little alleyways (both in Venice and Prague) hold such jewels to view. Some of my best photographic memories are from off the beaten path.
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Absolutely! I love the Old City sections of European cities.
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They are the absolute best. Our exchanges have be getting out my photo book to re-stroll through such remarkable hidden gems. Thank you ever so much for planting that seed today!
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My pleasure …. and hopefully my future posts will rekindle some memories.
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No doubt they will. I’ll be leaving my picture books out for repeated trips back. 😊
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🙂
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I’ve read somewhere that of all the eras of recorded history, ours is the least violent. I can believe that, the Afghanistan war notwithstanding. It is evidence of this, I submit, that one can take such a bus tour of sites that were previously inaccessible to Westerners. Like it or not, the world is becoming ever more connected. I look forward to learning more about your travel, including, hopefully, whether you perceive English is continuing to gain ground as the interconnectivle language.
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Jim,
We cruised the Baltic in 2012 – and to think we were in St. Petersburg for two days seemed surreal … and now to visit many of the countries behind the Iron Curtain today was a similar feeling. English in all cities is like the rest of Europe – very available. The front desk attendants at every hotel were solid. So yes – English today is the Latin of old …. and even more so.
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Welcome back, Frank. So very happy for you and Mrs. Right Angle! What a wonderful trip you partook and looking forward to reading about it.
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Dale,
Thanks for the welcome … and a wonderful journey indeed. I typically do posts that follow the trip, but (because of a special occasion), I will be stepping out of that routine on my next post (Tuesday evening). Hmmmm …
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Hmmmm indeed…
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Ready for the return of Pronouns: The Musical?
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Impatiently waiting…
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You’re docked, but not sitting, once again. YEA!
Trip looks fabulous – always wondered if his tours match all the marketing. Steves’ books get well worn with use.
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Mouse,
Of our local friends, we’ve never heard a bad thing about them … and some of the friends have done more than one. A couple on this tour was on their fifth! Yes – love his books, so we’ve used them on our trips.
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Welcome back, aFrank. Vacations can be rejuvenating. I’m sure you’re happy to be back. I enjoy traveling but I’m always grateful to return to my place of peace : home sweet home. Looking forward to reading about your adventures.
Isadora 😎
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Isadora,
Hello Florida! This was a wonderful trip, and my first post about it goes up tomorrow night. Cheers to both the joys of travel and being home!
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Welcome back Frank and what a beautiful part of the world to take your travels to..
❤ 🙂
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Sue,
Thank you … and beautiful it was. You will love my next post, so check your Wednesday morning.
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Welcome back, Frank. I would also like to see Eastern Europe. Looking at the adjectives you had a great trip.
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John,
Thank you, and good to be back. Fascinating places for sure – and to think much was behind the Iron Curtain not too long ago. Every place was unique, which is a good thing.
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🙂
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You’ve been on quite a journey. I hope it was wonderful. Good to have you back! 🙂
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Holly.
Quite the journey indeed … and all the tour stops we new to us!
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Thats anazing! Good for you.
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Frank I wish I could get back to a regular post… but as we continue to improve on the golf course, time is just not there for me… I still like to keep up reading the regulars even though I don’t always comment. Apart from the fact that I also manager the farm now with 350 head of stud cows and bulls also 14 different species of wild life totalling 300 head. Keeps an old guy very busy, but I love it. Up before the sun and most evenings home after it goes down..
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Bulldog!!!!
Wow … I’m touched by your mere presence! Thanks for your update. You unquestionably are keeping busy, so that’s a good thing … and loving it is makes it that much better. I’m glad you keep up when you can. By the way, I hope you stop by Wednesday for the next post. You’ll love the photographer’s paradise!
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Your bullet point summary of your tour is inspired. I am seriously interested in why people travel and how they report back. And I have long been intrigued by Slovenia.
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Rachel,
Coming up with the short descriptions is a challenge in itself, so thanks for the news that you got something from it. I foresee dedicating a post to each location. I generally try to keep them simple and not too long. On the other hand, the number of nights on the map may also serve as a guide to the number of posts. I’ll figure that our once I start studying the pictures. Slovenia is unquestionably beautiful, so keep thinking about it! Have you ever been to any of the surrounding countries?
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Your map is very clever. I have been through The old Yugoslavia on a train in 1961, lived in Geneva, visited Italy and Germany and that’s about it for those areas.
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Thanks for sharing, The map is a Rick Steves map of the tour.
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It sounds like you had quite a vacation trip!
My father’s father sailed from Trieste (after getting there from Kiev) to the U.S. around 1905.
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Merril,
Definitely a fantastic trip … and cheers to our connection with Trieste. In 1905, it was a major port for Austria-Hungary, so his travels makes sense.
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Welcome back, Frank. It sounds like a full and amazing trip. Looking forward to reading more about it. 🙂
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Robin,
Amazing is a good description for this trip. A fascinating part of the world!
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Looks like a great trip! Thanks for the video too.
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Patti,
We had not visited this part of Europe, and it impressed us! Fascinating in many ways.
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Welcome back to blogging and the USA! It looks like it was a grand tour. Thanks for the mini-description.
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Jo,
Thank you … and the tour was grand! … and the tour itself was very well done.
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What a grand tour Frank. I shall indeed look forward to reading more of your adventures.
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Pauline,
A grand tour indeed. I can tell you this – you won’t have to wait long for a post about this trip.
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As I said in my reply to your comment, how nice to hear you again, well come back dear Frank. Right now I am listening to this song, and also writing too…. Seems that it would be exciting to follow your next posts dear Frank,.. But you came very near to us, why didn’t you visit us too!
Thank you, have a nice day, Love, nia
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Nia,
Glad you enjoyed this song and it’s tribute to street performers from around the world. It’s worth listening and watching more than once. 🙂 Istanbul is a place that I really want to visit someday!
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Did you happen to run into my cousins? They traveled this same route about the same time. I’ve been seeing their photos and hearing of their adventure. I will now await hearing about yours! I’m sure it was truly wonderful!
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Debra,
I didn’t see anyone with an “I’m Pasadena Debra’s Cousin” T-shirt. 🙂 … Where they are the Rick Steves’ tour? There were multiple Californians on the trip!
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Hello Frank!
Welcome back from your awesome adventure. You sure get around. Looking forward to all upcoming posts about your travels. I also look forward to THEM!
Great rendition of Dock of the Bay. Thank you!
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Resa,
It good to be back. Thanks for the welcome. This trip was wonderful in so many ways – especially the diversity of the places we visited. Cheers to On the Dock of the Bay!
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aFa: What a spectacular trip. For decades, when travelers say they have been to Europe, they have meant Western Europe – France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland – but not Eastern Europe. The fall of the Soviet Empire opened up a whole new side to European travel. Other than Venice, I have not been, but would like to go, to the other spots in your trip.
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C-A-L,
These countries have an interesting history – especially in past 100 years. Each seemed to embrace western life, although some are politically moving toward the Right and Russia – but time will tell. Bottom line – yes – a spectacular trip and we are glad we went.
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Today I completed my backward journey through the AFA posts I missed while in Hilton Head searching for the Holy Grail of golf swings. I will spare you the details, but know that I plan to contact Cincinnati Enquire sports columnist Paul Daugherty to report my results, given his lifelong quest for the same.
As to your post, it ranks among my all-time favorites, partly because I share your passion for Europe and secondly because I can’t wait to hear the individual city reports you’re promising to share in the future. By the way, I liked the list of adjectives for the cities you visited, and I found your reference to traveling behind the former Iron Curtain intriguing and thought provoking.
Being a big fan of Rick Steves, I look forward to hearing more about his company’s tours. I’ve taken many of his recommendations for hotels, museums, restaurants, and trains during my European travels, but I’m curious to see whether his way of travel could overcome my aversion to bus riding brought on by the 2681 bus trips I took with band students during my teaching career.
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Tim,
Besides posts about individual stops, I’m also preparing a post about his tours. At this point I can assure you that the bus was not yellow and the passengers were not teens. Meanwhile, sorry to see you’ve given up on embracing my approach to golf.
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