Thursday in Slovakia, Friday in Croatia

"You need to speed it up!",  Kathy said to me as she finished proofreading yesterday's post. "Just because you took a picture doesn't mean that you have to write a paragraph about it." I guess she's right; if I keep this up, I'll spend our whole vacation in the hotel in front of the computer. So, from now on, as Joe Friday famously said, "Just the facts, ma'am, just the facts."

Like many European cities, Vienna has a city-sponsored bike rental program, Wien-rad. You download an app, NextBike, and you can check out bikes at spots all across the city. NextBike works in several other cities as well. It took me about a half hour to register, sitting at a café across from one of the famous Ankeruhr Art Nouveau astronomical clock. ("No, honey, I'm not explaining every picture. I didn't even mention the war memorial next door, and I took a half-dozen shots of that. It commemorates the ... Right. Speed it up.")

We walked several blocks to the canal-side tram stop where we checked out two bikes, and started in the direction of the Danube. The bikes looked like some of the sleeker new electric bike models that have been appearing in California in the last year, but they were not. The first thing Kathy asked was "How do I turn it on?" She was disappointed when I told her that you sit on the seat and push on the pedals.

If you look at the picture on the bridge, you'll notice the Viking River Cruise ship SAGA parked on the quay. That was only one of fifteen Viking River and Alma Cruise ships parked in Vienna that morning. As we rode our bikes down to the river, we passed tour group after tour group walking into Vienna from the ships. It somehow seems different from the ads on Masterpiece Theater.

Kathy and I both love riding bikes, but we had other plans for the rest of the day. So, after two hours (total cost, 4E for two bikes), we returned the bikes by locking them up at a U-Bahn station. We then caught a ride to the train station, and purchased two 18E Bratislava tickets to visit Patrick and Ivetka Higgins at a Calvary Chapel in Slovakia. (I Googled for Calvary Chapel Bratislava and found that there have been Calvary Chapels in Bratislava for centuries.)

A few days before we got here, Patrick texted us to let us know that he had been called out of town to Barcelona, but that his wife Ivetka and their sons would love to meet. Gabriel, who is starting University in Computer Science next week, spent the afternoon showing us around town, until David got out of high school and Ivetka got off of work. We walked all around the old town and I took lots of pictures.

Around five o'clock we met David and Ivetka in front of the Presidential Palace and they walked us over to the building where their church meets. It's a part of the University and they were invited to use one of the auditoriums for free. Since it wasn't Sunday, we couldn't go in, because classes were in session, but Gabriel took our picture out front.

We asked everyone what they wanted to eat, and they all voted for their favorite burger lounge, with great views of the city.

We all had burgers. ("No honey, I didn't promise to skip the food pictures.")

Ivetka insisted we try a Slovakian Kofola, a nostalgia item that survives Communist times, when capitalist Coke wasn't permitted in the country. It definitely has its own flavor; perhaps a little Dr. Peppery.

Kathy and Ivetka had already met at one of European Refresh conferences that Calvary Chapel hosts each summer. Kathy has done book reviews, and the first thing Ivetka said when we met was "I know you. You're the book lady!". So, they enjoyed catching up on the bus back to the train station, where we sat and talked until our train back to Vienna arrived. We got back to our hotel around 10:00 pm.

Two Tickets to Dubrovnik

Today, we're flying to Dubrovnik in Croatia. We got to breakfast right when they opened at 7:00am, and had one last terrific breakfast at Pension Nossek. We'd packed the night before, so we were on the U-Bahn before 8:30 am to catch our 11:00 am flight. All went well, and we arrived in plenty of time. Although this time I did get intimately patted down when I forgot a comb in my back pocket going through security.

Whenever we travel, we always try to read books or watch movies to "get in the mood". For Vienna, we watched Hellen Mirren in "Woman in Gold", and, as a result, Kathy picked up a Klimt scarf when we were here. For Croatia, I put four or five books on our Kindle. The first one I read was "Two Tickets to Dubrovnik" which was fascinating for it's detailed information about Dubrovnik (such as the Lokrum Island curse). The plot, however, kind of peters out at the end. I thought of the book as we stood waiting in line to get on the plane.

We caught the airport shuttle into town and found our hotel (the Scalini Palace), checked in and went looking for lunch. If you've never watched one of Phil Rosenthal's series on Prime or Netflix, (I'll have what Phil's Having, or Somebody Feed Phil), then you're in for a treat. I copied down the names of all of the places he ate on the Croatia episode, and was thrilled to find our hotel was two doors down from Barba, where we stopped for an Octopus Burger. (Delicious.)

During the day, the town is absolutely mobbed with tourists, (and, as we found, at night as well). Since we weren't Game of Thrones fans, (alternatively boring and perverse), we bought a three day city bus pass and left the hordes behind to see the "real Dubrovnik.

Our strategy is simple: pick a bus and ride it to the end of the line (and then back, of course). Line 1A took us to the Communist era planned community of Mokosica, north of the city. When we pulled into the turn around at the end of the line, we were surprised to see a mural with the Confederate flag and a poster saying "White Boys", followed by increasingly sinister images that we didn't understand. We looked at each other and thought "What have we gotten into?" At the beginning of the mural was painted the word "hajduk". I asked Google Translate, what that meant in English, and it helpfully told me that in English it meant "hajduk". Later, I spent some more time Googling, and found out that the mural was in support of a soccer team, Hajduk-Split. They use the Confederate flag because they are from the south of Croatia and their team is nicknamed the "white boys" since they have white jerseys.

Still, kind of a disconcerting way to end the day. On the way back to the old town, we stopped at Tommy Hipermarket and picked up some sparkling water, and were in bed by 8:00 pm. Unfortunately we weren't asleep until 2:00 am, since on the other side of our hotel is the Gaffe Irish Pub, and the pubsters were having a good old time.

Tomorrow we'll get up early and explore the Old Town before the tourists arrive.

Wednesday in Vienna

 

Both Kathy and I really love a hearty hotel breakfast in Europe. We weren't disappointed at Pension Nossek. There was orange juice, cappuccino, great bread, meat, cheese, butter, jam, and fried eggs. The bread never disappoints, but I am always disappointed when I can't find something similar at home.

On our first full day, Kathy ordered scrambled eggs. After I had my rolls and meat, I went back to the room to use the facilities.  I didn't realize that she'd ordered some for me as well, so Kathy sat at breakfast for a half-hour, wondering why I didn't come back, while I waited around the room, wondering what was taking her so long. 

Fortunately, we had our phones and she finally texted me and asked where I was. When I got back to the breakfast room, the eggs were a little cold, but still fine. I may have had another roll and some yogurt as long as I was already there.

I liked these stained-class windows in our hotel...

... as well as the, unfortunately non-working, drinking fountain. 

In Austria and Germany, Art Nouveau was called Jugendstil, or "Youth Style". Graben Street has several fine architectural examples, including touches at our hotel.

As we set off after breakfast, our first stop was the last remaining Art Nouveau underground WC, located just under our window.

Kathy went into the Dammen and took a few pictures...

while I visited the Herren, where they had an exhibit of the patent for the first waterless urinal. 

Right around the corner from our hotel is the baroque St. Peter's, whose dome we can see from our hotel window, over the top of the Hermes store.

Before I get to St. Peter's, let me say a few words about the pagan gods worshiped in Vienna, of whom Hermes and Yves St. Laurent are especially revered. Their acolytes line up on the street before dawn, hoping to be admitted once the doors our open for "shopping". Only a few are admitted at any one time, and the lines go on throughout the day. I never discovered the reason, and certainly never saw anything like this at home, where their followers are no less devout.

The interior of St. Peters is Baroque. According to Wikipedia,  Baroque was an artistic style encouraged by the Catholic Church as a means to counter the simplicity and austerity of Protestant architecture, art, and music. 

The church is named after St. Peter, and there is a fresco of the Biblical story of Peter attempting to walk on the water, on the ceiling as you enter.

There is a lot of gold and a lot of emotion. Rick Steves (a Protestant), says that Baroque was the emotional response to the cold logic of the Renaissance. 

Here is some of that emotion ...

... and here is some more of that gold...

... and just little bit more. It seems to me that St. Peter always gets the biggest and most impressive churches (just consider St. Peters in the Vatican). So, I was pleasantly surprised to see that in Vienna, St. Stephen is number one. They even gave St. Stephen his own subway stop, so there.

Of course, the downside is that you have to pay to go inside the Gothic St. Stephens, while the Baroque St. Peter's is free. Kathy and I paid the 6E each and tried to listen to the audio narration from my Rick Steves' Pocket Guide to Vienna, using my phone and sharing a single pair of earbuds, which was a disaster. Each time one of us would turn to look at a relic, it would tear the bud from the ear of the other.

Behind the altar is a painting commemorating the stoning of St. Stephen, as related in the Book of Acts. Here's what Rick Steves had to say about it in the guidebook. "Stephen, having refused to stop professing his faith, is pelted with rocks by angry pagans." I guess it wouldn't do to have a guidebook to Austria that said he was being pelted with rocks by angry Jews. 

That led to Kathy and I stopping and having a conversation about exactly who instigated Stephen's martyrdom. After that, it was kind of hard to pick up the thread again from the guidebook, which was a little hard to follow. We looked for Mozart's baptismal fount, and found the tomb of Frederick III instead.

On the back wall was portrait of Pope John Paul the II I think.

On one side was an impressive carved wooden screen ...

... while on the floor, there were some interesting Hapsburg and Crusader motifs. It was nice having the guidebook to explain what everything meant, but, to tell you the truth, it was just as rewarding to me just to enjoy the artwork in St. Peter's, even without the backstory.

Since we had a few hours until lunch, we got on the Ringstrasse tram which circles the city center, and got off at the Hofburg palace. Both of us had to use the restroom, we couldn't find a public WC on Google Maps, so we walked into the library where they were having a large academic conference. I was a little nervous, since everyone was in suits and ties, and we really couldn't blend in. Nevertheless, we convinced ourselves in our minds that we were inconspicuous, found the restroom, and didn't get arrested or ejected.

The Hofburg Palace is, of course, no longer the home of the Emperor, but has been repurposed as government buildings and museums. The architecture and statuary is impressive. I assume that this is Cane and Able. The traffic sign even adds meaning.

Kathy wanted to stop by the Spanish Riding School. We watched a video, and considered going to a training session on Thursday, but decided against it. Outside, on the way to lunch, we found this statue which reminded Kathy of me. (I assumed that she meant the one in the upper-left with the cool beard, but, when asked, she was non-committal.)

Because we had such a big breakfast, it was hard to eat lunch at eleven or twelve. After traipsing around Vienna all morning, we were surprised to see that it was almost three and we were both hungry. We found a table at Reinthaler's Beisl, just around the corner from our hotel. I had the spätzle (a German mac'n'cheese), while Kathy had a spinach dumpling with salad. Neither of us were very impressed.

One thing that Kathy and I really enjoy is having a meal with our Calvary Chapel missionaries. Brian and Djudji Herrington have been in Viienna for years. Brian is an American, but Djudji was raised in Vienna. In addition to working at the Calvary Chapel in Vienna, they both teach in an American school on the outskirts of town. Last July, when they were visiting in the States, we got to take them out to the Golden Olive in Huntington Beach, one of our favorite restaurants.

Before we left for Vienna, we contacted them and arranged to meet them again. Since school had just started, we found that two of their children were sick, so one parent would have to stay home. Djuji volunteered to take the two youngest girls, Esther and Shoshanna, into town so we could get together for dinner.

Both the two girls and I had Wienershnitzel, and it was excellent. (As was the "potato salad"; delicious). Kathy had chicken livers; she was not impressed.

After dinner, we got some gelato and walked back to St. Stephen's, impressively lit up, where Djuji and the girls caught the U-Bahn for home. Tomorrow, we're going bike riding, and visiting Ivetka Higgins in Slovakia. 

First Stop Vienna

 

A little more than 20 years ago, Kathy and I made our first trip to Europe. On that trip, I kept a written journal, which I just found and re-read last week. On September 12th, 2007, we arrived at LAX only to be given a flyer on check-in reminding us that our carry-on luggage had to weigh less than 18 pounds, or it would be taken away from us at the gate, and we'd be charged $133 excess baggage for each piece. Since the entire price of our flight was only $235, I freaked out. In addition to our two 28-pound carry-ons, Kathy had also brought a tote filled with books for the students at the Calvary Chapel Bible school in Siegen Germany.

When we got the flyer, Kathy calmly distributed all of the books to our two carry-ons, and then carried our now 35-pound bags to the front of the line where she asked "can we carry these on"? The clerk weighed them, did a double-take at the weight, shook her head, and said "sure". I started to tell her, "but the flyer you gave us said...", caught Kathy's eye out of the corner of my own, and shut up.

You would think I'd have learned my lesson. But no!

On Monday, our son Judah drove us to LAX. The airline said to be there three hours early, so I though that we'd best be careful and get there four hours early, just in case. This time, the airline sent us an email, saying that our single carry-on had to weigh under 8KG or 18.6 pounds. Once again, I fretted all the way to the gate, while Kathy was still calm and serene (although perhaps I detected a bit of irritation at arriving at the airport four hours early).

TSA security was perfunctory We had to remove our shoes and belts, etc., but the lines moved fast. When we got the scanner, they pulled Kathy and I aside, along with three or four other people. I'd heard about SSSS, and I was sure that we were selected for this enhanced security screening. I almost turned to Kathy to say "See, aren't you glad we got to the airport four-hours early?" Instead, the TSA agent just passed us through and said, "We don't need to scan you." Once again, Kathy was right and I was wrong. 

Since we were there so early, we had time for a nice lunch at PF Chang's. We hadn't eaten there for several years, but it was just as I remembered; like Panda Express, but four times more expensive. After lunch we walked down to our gate (still a half hour before boarding). The boarding was very orderly, with each boarding group lined up separately, rather than the more typical stampede to the gate whenever a boarding group was called.

We were the first in line for our group, and when we were called forward there was another surprise. We both had our phones out, with our boarding passes, but, instead of showing a boarding pass, each passenger was asked to stand in front of a camera, had their picture taken, and was let onto the plane. Perhaps the airline is using facial recognition to identify the passengers from when they had their passports scanned before going through security.  I find that scary; like talking in your living room about taking a vacation, and having every Website you visit the next day show ads for travel agencies. It makes me think that Phillip K. Dick's Minority Report was prescient.

Austrian Airlines' current slogan is "the charming way to fly", and I have to say it really was different from other airlines I've flown on. It's true that we do pay a little more to fly "premium economy", mainly because at six-five, I need to have at least an inch between my knees and the seat in front of me. In regular economy that gap is measured in negative numbers. 

On Austrian, in addition to the extra leg-room, the service was outstanding. Before we took off, the flight attendant went around to each passenger and personally welcomed us on board. There were printed menus for the meal service (something I remember from the Cunard line, when I was ten years old.)

The meal itself was very good (cheese tortellini). Before dinner, the stewards covered each of our trays with a white linen table cloth. Along with linen napkins and real silverware, instead of plastic knives and forks, it felt like a real meal. They even fed us again (breakfast) right before we landed. (A few of you have asked that I take a picture of each meal, but I forgot breakfast.)

Despite the great service, though, flying is still brutal. I got a little sleep, but Kathy never slept at all. (I did see a really good movie: "Jerry and Marge Go Large", staring Brian Cranston and Annette Benning. I highly recommend it.) 

We landed right on time at 11:30am (2:30 am on California time). The trip through passport control was quick and painless. In fact, it was so fast and painless that we were too early to get onto the train into the city center. I bought a 72-hour transit pass from WienMobil, and pre-authorized the start time for 1pm, figuring it would take us that long to get though customs and passport control, and so the pass would still be valid when we needed to get back to the airport on Friday for our flight to Croatia.

Perhaps I'm a bit too cautious, but rather than taking a chance on getting fined for having an invalid ticket, I went and bought a second, one-trip ticket from the machine. (Just tap your credit card; it works like a dream.) In the airport, there were a lot of signs directing visitors to buy a ticket on the 16E per-person, non-stop CAT or City Airport Train. Our Rick Steves guidebook told us we could ignore the signs and just get a ticket for the S-Bahn train, which takes 10 minutes longer, but cost us 7E total for the both of us. (We got a senior-citizen discount).

Once at the train station, we had to switch to the U-Bahn (subway) which was painless. The subway let us out at the Herrengasse station. After a few false-starts with Google Maps, we found our way over to Kohlmarkt, a street lined with shops selling Prada, Fendi, Gucci, and jewelry. Walking past them and looking in the windows, I wondered why the rich don't order their Rolecks from Amazon like all of the rest of us.

Around the corner, we came to Graben, (which means ditch), where our we found our hotel right in front of an outsized sculpture of a pair jaws with teeth. Maybe tomorrow I'll be more lively, and find out the story behind the sculpture.

I always like staying at "characteristic" European hotels. The Boutique Hotel Nossek is right on Graben. Apparently they are trying to "upscale" their image on Booking.com, since the original name was Pension Nossek, and it's still called that on the WienMobil app, and, on the front of the building.

Nevertheless the hotel/pension is just what I like: a small working elevator, since the rooms are on the upper floors and I'm 73, high-ceilinged rooms, air conditioning, an updated bathroom, and a great view out of our window over Graben itself.

When we got to our room, there was nothing we wanted to do more than to fall right into bed. However, we realized that we needed to stay awake as long as possible, so we didn't wake up tomorrow at 3am. (Well, that didn't work. I just couldn't finish this last night, and, as you've guessed, it's now 3am.)

We decided to break out our guidebook and take the Rick Steves Vienna City Walk. Since it started at the Opera, we picked it up on step 11 at Graben, right outside of our hotel. As I mentioned, Graben means "ditch" and is the site of the moat from the original Roman military camp. During the 19th century, at the height of the Habpsburg Empire, over 200,000 people lived here inside the city walls. Today, there are 20,000 (plus the 300,000 tourists).  

Until the 1970s, Graben was a busy, 3-lane street, but, after the construction of the subway, it was turned into one of Europe's first pedestrian-only zones. (I did mention the 3,000,000 tourists, didn't I? I can't imagine the area with cars, but at least the horse-drawn carriages survived.)

Down the street, we found the Holy Trinity plaque column. In 1679 Vienna was hit with the bubonic plague, and about one-third of the city died. (That makes Covid look like nothing.) Emperor Leopold I vowed to erect this monument if God would spare the rest of the city. This became a model for cities through the empire that were struck with plague.

A few blocks further down the street is St. Stephen's Cathedral. Like other massive gothic cathedrals in European city centers, it's hard to get far enough away to get a good picture.

To make it easier to get a picture, in 1990, architect Hans Hollein constructed the Haas Haus across the street, with a glass curved façade, designed to echo the Roman fortress of Vindobona whose ruins were found nearby. The glass reflection allows you to take a picture of all of St. Stephens, but you have to do it at sunset. 

When we reached the Opera, I have to admit that I was disappointed. There are so many imposing, monumental buildings in Vienna, that I expected the Opera to be more impressive. We actually walked almost all the way around it looking for the front.

By this time, we really were knackered, and so we decided to leave off on the Rick Steves Vienna City Walk and instead take the Rick Steves Ringstrasse Tram tour, so we could sit down. Rick is one of the world's most popular travel writers, and, unfortunately for us, the other 3,000,000,000 tourists in Vienna all had the same idea. Rick starts the tour by saying "try to get a comfortable seat on the right-hand side". We were lucky to get standing-room only at the front of the car. 

We rode for one stop and got off. Not so restful. We crossed the street and picked up the tram going the opposite direction. Surprise, the trams on the non-Rick-Steves-tour really are uncrowded and charming. By now it was 5:00 pm and we were both hungry. I hadn't made reservations for dinner, so I pulled up Google Maps and went looking for something to eat.

We ended up at SchnitzelWirt on Neubaugasse with more than 15 different schnitzel dishes. (I've always loved Wiener schnitzel, since I first had it when I was 10; at least once I got over my initial disappointment that it wasn't like the Wienerschnitzel I was used to at home.)  The restaurant was rated 4.5 with over 7,000 reviews, so I was really looking forward to it.

The restaurant was outside the old-city ring road, and we really felt like we were leaving the tourists behind and entering a real neighborhood where the average Viennese citizen lived. There was also a lot more graffiti, unlike downtown. Kathy ordered the vegetarian plate, while I had the turkey Cordon Bleu.

The Austrian "mixed salad" was delicious, (I forgot to take the picture before we started eating), but the schnitzel itself wasn't as good as I remembered. Perhaps that was just because we were so tired. The portions were huge and I took half of my schnitzel back to the hotel and put it in the refrigerator. I'll give it another chance after breakfast.

Walking back to the hotel, we stopped for some gelato (now about 1.50E a scoop, and as delicious as I remember). Along the walk we couldn't help but comment on all of the flower shops, here in the urban center. 

When we got back to our hotel, we tried to stay up until 8:00 pm, but fell into bed at 7:30. I woke up at 3am and finished this entry. It's now 6am and Kathy's still sleeping, thank the Lord. I might lay back down for an hour or two.

It's Back to Europe this Fall

 I'm supposed to be sitting at my desk, writing lessons and exercises to teach students how to program in C++. Instead, I'm dreaming about Europe, spending hours looking at restaurant menus, Googling for excursions, and reading travel blogs.

Here are the countries we plan to visit in Fall '23. I'm taking time off from school, and we'll have almost a month: from September 18th to October 16th.