Lorrie in Europe

 We’ve arrived in Podgorica, Montenegro after a pretty long bus ride but it was a really pretty trip along the coast so that helped the time pass more quickly.  Crossing the border into Montenegro was pretty quick too.  We just had to wait for the bus in front of us and then when it was our turn everyone had to get off the bus, go one by one up to the customs window (this is Croatian customs by the way-as we’re leaving the country you have to check out).  Once passports were stamped at this window it was a short walk across the border (just a couple hundred yards) to the next customs window where once again passports were stamped.  This time it was the Montenegrin customs officers checking us into the country. The coast of Montenegro is pretty but honestly, I did’t see anywhere that called me to stay there.  The beaches are small and rocky (that seems to be the norm everywhere here) and there are way too many people!  Everything is crowded….houses are ...

 Well we’ve taken a little sabbatical from all things techno for the past couple of days.  But….we are back now.  :-) We left Sarajevo at 10:00 on the morning of the 26th (Lynda’s 75th birthday) with our driver Kemal.  We knew it would be a 5’ish hour drive to get to Cavtat in Croatia so the plan was that we would take a short coffee break before we crossed the border out of Bosnia & Herzegovina.  It was a lovely little stop where there were only locals including a few gypsies (the first we’ve seen in our travels to date). Kemal explained that it is common for locals to give the kids a few marks as they’ll be trying to get enough for an ice cream or some other treat.  It became clear very quickly that we’d have to give each of the three kids their own coins as there was seemingly no love lost between them.  LOL. Kemal took care of it in their own language and everyone went away happily.   It was a beautiful drive!  A similar one to that w...

 Sitting on the bed in our TINY room in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina typing this on my lap.  LOL. This room is the smallest we’ve had so far and yet it has a character all its own.  We are directly across the lane from an Irish Pub where the singing and carousing goes on late into the night.  We were super grateful to discover that the windows on our room when closed virtually lock out ALL the noise!  Our two tiny beds are each against a wall and there is just enough room between them to side step to the end where you can actually turn around.  Yep….it’s pretty small!  And the other interesting thing here is the shower (which is also tiny) where the shower head is stuck to the wall at about hip height.  What kind of tiny people stay here!? LOL. Alls well that ends well though and we can both say that we are clean (enough at least)  Oh ya….and the stairs up to our room are just one flight but….it is like a ladder with rungs that are doub...

 Holy!  Where did that week go?!  We haven’t really covered a lot of ground geographically since my last post but boy oh boy have we seen and done a LOT!  Tonight will be our last night in Croatia for a bit but we really feel like we’ve experienced a fair bit of it.  We loved our time in Zagreb where the little courtyards down seemingly random alleys were home to caffes and bars (just for drinks) as well as bakeries and other businesses.  Our accommodation being right across the street from the Canadian Embassy was kind of cool - we got to see the Canadian flag flying every time we went out (we were there 3 days).  We located the BEST bakery right at the end of our block and a perfect caffe for coffee where we could take our baked goods to eat with our cappuccino at a sidewalk table while we watched the world go by along with a lot of other people. One thing we’ve learned during out time in Croatia is that (particularly along the Dalmatian coast) there...

 3 countries via two taxis and two trains today!  Getting up to the train station this morning was a challenge.   Right off the bat we had to haul our cases (and ourselves) up two flights of stairs just to get to the station from the road.  And no…..there was no elevator anywhere!  Left Budapest from the Deli Station at 9 a.m. and were supposed to make a connection (6 minutes only!) at approx 2/3 of the way through the trip.  Unfortunately our first train presented some challenges.  Initially, it didn’t list Zagreb (or the connection point) as a destination so that was confusing but ultimately we located it just in time at track 6.  But…..again…..the gremlins were at work and the car our reserved seats were in was not attached to the train!  We were supposed to be in car 421 but…..ended up having to simply “find a seat” in any car we could.  We ended up in 422 and it turned out to be a great trip!  There are 6 seats in each compartm...

 Happy Mother’s Day,  :-) Just back into our room in Budapest Hungary after Another full day!  Every city has it’s own unique beauty but I have to say…..Budapest might take the prize.  One reason for that might be is that our room is actually right on the Danube and across from the Parliament building so that is the view i get (fully lit up and breathtaking) when I glance out the window as I’m typing this post.  Yep….we’re staying in a floating hotel…..thought we’d try something a little different and we love it so we’re booked in here for two nights. The train between Bratislava, Slovakia and Budapest, Hungary today took about 2 1/2 hours and was very comfortable. We had reserved seats in a compartment with room for 6 but we had it all to ourselves for most of the trip.  The compartment was air conditioned and the train was very smooth and quiet.  As we passed between Slovakia and Hungary it was more farmland and small villages. Budapest train station...

Wow!  A lot can happen in a day! We said good bye to the beautiful little town of Cesky Krumlov this morning at 9:45 when our taxi picked us up right at our door.  The train pulled out at 10:38 and 45 minutes later we were in another Cesky but this Cesky was where we’d buy another train ticket that would get us the rest of the way to Vienna, Austria.  In total we’d need three tickets to get there.  Where the first ticket on the regional train had cost us only about $3 each this next combo bus/train ticket would cost us closer to $67 each!  I guess Austrian trains are more expensive than the ones in Czechia.  We knew we’d have to change from bus to train and of course everyone assured us it was super easy…..right…..that’s because they all have done it many many times.  When it’s your first time and you don’t even realize that Vienna is actually Wien Hbd on all the signs….it gets a little more complicated.  Thank heaven for kind people who are willi...

 Whew!  Thought the whole blog site was toast as I wasn’t able to access it earlier.  Glad to see all my blogs are still here for future reference.  :-) May 7th was a super lazy day as it was raining till mid afternoon and we were still tired from the travel and walking we’d done the day before.  So…..after breakfast it was a snoozing and movies kind of day.  But once the rain stopped we ventured out cuz that meat and cheese breakfast only lasts so long.  LOL Made good use of the metro subway whenever the rain started up again and honestly…we’re liking this free public transit thing.  Picked up the red subway line at IP Pavlova which was just around the corner from our hotel.  From there it was just a single stop to the Muzeum station which is where Wenceslas Square is (and the museum of course) can be found.  It is also where the store PriMark is and that is where Lynda was able to find a new suitcase so she isn’t going to have to drag ...

 Arrived last night at our accommodation (Hotel Tivoli) around 7 pm after 30+ hours of travel so we were pretty beat.  Not too tired to head out to grab a beer and a bite to eat at a little restaurant on the corner though.  We can already see that we are in for a diet of bread and meat and cheese (and beer) in this part of the world.  Don’t get me wrong….no complaints from either of us……we both love that kind of diet!  LOL But before I get too far into what we did today, I need to say that Lynda’s suitcase was literally destroyed on the trip here.  It must have fallen off a trailer and been driven over multiple times!  All four wheels are not where they belong and the body of the case of so smashed in on every side, as well as the bottom.  Only the top is sort of okay which is fortunate as that is where her baggage tags were!  The good news is that her suitcase had an inner shell that kept all the clothes inside the case so she didn’t lose an...

 Hmmmmmm…….I guess we should have figured out what we were going before our trip was underway? LOL. Although this does make the adventure all the more adventurous.  :-) We were sitting near the big aquarium and had comfy chairs and a table to spread the map out on when out of the corner of my eye I spied some rapid movement!  For those of you who know me you’ll know that mice are my nemesis and so….in very short order we had moved to our gate (about 5 mins away) where we found another table we could spread out on.   Having had our flight time bumped up by 3 hours turned out to be a gift as we’ve had all this time to be able to begin to plan a route to follow….or at least to “sort of” follow.  At this point we know we’re landing in Prague and from there we will go to Vienna and then to Bratislava and then to Budapest before heading to Ljubljana……or at least that is the general direction we are thinking will work for us that first week and a half.  As we look...

Guess I’d better get packed!  

 Well…..we are at it again. ✈️ Lynda and I are heading to Eastern Europe in celebration of her 75th this month and me having recovered from 4 joint replacement surgeries over the past 3 years. Look out Europe! 🤣 Here we are just 3 days prior to leaving with maps and guide book spread out on the table trying to figure out where we should go and what we might see/do during the two months we will be on the road. At this point we know we will leave from Kelowna and land in Prague (via Vancouver and Frankfurt) two days later. We’ve booked accommodation in Prague but beyond that we are going to let the fates direct us for the most part. We do know that we will fly out of Tirana, Albania on July 1st so we have to head in that general direction.  This blog is #15 on my blogspot profile and will once again act as a bit of a journal for us so we can revisit our adventures in the future. It is also an invitation to any of you who’d like to join us for this crazy journey. My sister said ...