Friday, August 31, 2007

Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia

From Scandinavia we went south to Berlin, Germany. We took a night train that went onto a ferry across the Baltic Sea to Germany. We then continued our journey south back to Bulgaria, into the Communist territory. We went to Berlin, Freiberg, Prague, Munich, Dauchas, Innsbruck, Ljubljana, Zagreb, and then boarded a 20 hour train to Sofia. On the ferry boat crossing the Baltic Sea.

Checkpoint Charlie
The Berlin Wall border line 1961-1989.
Gordon met up with a classmate, Simon, from when he attended university in Konstanz.Simon and his girlfriend, Samara, had us over for dinner while in Berlin. The tourist stricken old town streets of Prague.
I enjoyed petting the horses pulling the tourist carriages when they were on their off time. Their noses are so soft and they were so big and strong. I miss being around horses.
There was a talented old man in the old town of Prague playing for the passers-by. He played the saxaphone, trombone, and bellowed his lungs out every chance he got to sing along.
The Isar River that winds through Munich.
The "Work Creates Freedom" greeting that the prisoners read when entering the Dauchas Concentration Camp.

The security barrier of the Dauchas Concentration Camp, apparently some prisoners tried escaping, I wonder why?
The "Bath House" aka gas chambers, where thousands were killed because they were unfit to work...?
The Crematorium.
Something a little lighter to ingest, consumerism- we went to the BMW museum in Munich.
And then our last meal in Germany was a bratwurst.
Another beautiful, mountainous, and rainy town we visited- Innsbruck, Austria.
Gordon bought a Mamut rainjacket on sale after selling his Patagonia rainjacket to a fellow shopper (Leonardo) in the store, who then invited us over for dinner. A lovely view from the train on our way into Slovenia from Austria.
The streets of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
The narrow winding cobblestone alleyways.
Another tango dancefloor with live music we were able to observe on our trip, next to the Sava River.
We stopped for a few hours in Zagreb. We decided we were done with traveling and would take a night train to Sofia that left Zagreb at midnight and arrived in Sofia 20 hours later. We unexpectedly met Leonardo's brother Manuel in the park and joined him and his Croatian friends for a stroll about the city and dinner.

A train worker "tinging" the wheels of the train as we waited for a "problem" to clear up somewhere ahead of us on the tracks.

These tired feet were ready to be home already.

Gordon got into some trouble with the border police in Slovenia and in Serbia for speaking their languages. In Slovenia he was asked for a credit card and an alternative picture ID and repeatedly asked for his Slovenian passport while the officer eyed his passport with a magnifying glass and requested three other colleagues verify it was him before returning it to Gordon. The officers in Serbia were a little more relaxed about it, but still questioned his citizenship. ha ha ha, A good end to our trip, yes, Gordon speaks the Eastern Slavik languages quite well!

2 comments:

  1. Gordon/Dusty: We enjoyed meeting you all on the train from Salsburg to Lake Bled. In reading your blog, it's good to know the rest of your trip went well. What a summer you've had. How's school and the new headmaster? Our stay in Lake Bled was too short..what a beautiful and interesting part of Europe. The rest of our trip to Venice went well and Venice was very different, historic, and we're glad to have had the visit. Your pictures of your summer are very good and your comments add to the enjoyment. Better close for now and let you get to your lesson plans, etc. Have a blessed day. Bill/Jeannine Heavin, Houston, Tex

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  2. For sure Gordon is a US Citizen. I'm sure he was up last night late... watching the Boston Red Sox loose one of their play-off games. I tried to get Dad to call him to console him ... his team may not be in the World Series. Ooohhh Gordon we are so darn sorry. Looking forward to having you home here in Oregon, USA this next Summer. Mom Becker :-)

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