Last night we drove to Wuppertal, the town in Germany where Eric’s dad was born and lived until he came to the states at age nine. Since we were blessed to have a navigation system, we were quickly able to find the street where Gunther lived, a steep strasse with beautiful old buildings curving around the bend. After enjoying the moment, we decided to enjoy some dinner in Wuppertal. A restaurant was not so quickly found, however! We drove through downtown, down by the river and saw the Schwebebahn (we rode that today—it’s like an elevated tram that hangs under its one track which is suspended over the river; it swings sideways when it goes around curves!) We couldn’t find any of the cute restaurants that were so plentiful in other cities.
Finally, we found a spot where we thought we could walk to a café. As Eric parallel parked, we noticed two guys sitting on a nearby bench laughing at us. (I think the laughing was due more to the beer they were drinking than Eric’s parking—everyone parks on the sidewalks over here!) As we got out of the car, they came over to us and started up a conversation, all in German, of course. When Eric said, “We don’t speak much German, English” the reply was “Ohh! 4 to 1!” (The score of the recent Germany v. England world cup game) When I tried to clear up the misconception, “No, we’re not English, we’re American,” the second guy replied, “Oh, sorry for you!” (He meant sorry, the U. S. is now out of the World Cup since we lost to Ghana.) Then the first guy proceeded to tell us in very broken English all the places he’d been in the U. S.--Las Vegas, L. A., the Grand Canyon (“BIG”) and Bryce Canyon (“not so big”). The smell and their slurred speech made it pretty clear that their current bottles of beer had not been their firsts. When they asked us what we were doing here, Eric told them about his dad and said we were looking for a place to eat.
Guy #1 to Eric: Oh, no! You don’t want to eat here! We live here. Ghetto! Walk around the corner and go about ten minutes to city center.
Guy #2 to Carol: You have navigation system? Drive car to Landhaus Dreyer! Food is (puts fingers to lips and pulls them away with a smacking sound). You go there.
Guy #1 to Guy #2: They can walk! Only 10 minutes!
Guy #2 to Guy #1: No! They drive!
As the two Germans began to argue over where we should eat, I decided that wherever we ate, we weren’t leaving our car there with two drunk guys who knew we had a nav system in our rental car. By now Kristen had our map out and they were both trying to show us where to go to find a nice dinner. Guy #2 scrawled out a street name on the back of the map and I spelled out the restaurant name I thought he had said. He nodded and grinned. We hopped in our car and Eric shook their hands and thanked them for being so friendly. “No,” laughed guy #1. “Not so friendly, just drunk!”
We drove away, a bit relieved, and still hungry. In the front seat, Kristen was clicking away at the GPS which shortly responded with, “Calculating route.” “Hey!” she cried, “The place is legit!” “What place?” we asked. “Landhaus Dreyer, the restaurant those guys told us about! It actually shows up on the GPS. Let’s go there!”
Now would you go to a place recommended by two inebriated strangers who mostly spoke a language you didn’t understand in a non-tourist city where you’d never been before at 9:00 at night?
Well, you know us. As we followed the British-sounding directions we laughed to think about what sort of place this might be if we ever did find it. To our surprise, about eight minutes later, we pulled up in front of a very nice German restaurant where we were ushered to an outdoor table under trees glowing with lights and paper lanterns. It was managed by a mother and her twenty-something daughter, our waitress, who switched from German to flawless English when she met us. It turns out she was studying Anglo-Germanic linguistics and had done an “exchange” year in Minnesota (“a one-horse town with five churches!”). We had a delicious dinner with gracious hosts at a great place! God is ALWAYS watching over us!
It's time for....
You guessed it!
Another picture update!!
(So I'm sure you can guess who's writing this. I'll give you one hint: eldest daughter whose name starts with "K.")
Anyway....
We are in the Black Forest of southern Germany! After taking the Autobahn here, we are staying in a small town called Schiltach. It is VERY cute...
And this is our hotel!
It's run by an American woman and her German husband (who is a chef). While we have so much enjoyed being in Europe and experiencing the culture here this month, it is nice to talk to an American who understands why we would like ice in our drinks and why we keep looking for "flat" water (or my favorite term for it: water with "no gas"! hahaha). (On a side note, it is never good to hear "fizzzzzzz" when you open a new bottle of water. We have accidentally purchased at least two bottles of carbonated mineral water, and the stuff pretty much tastes like Sprite without the sugar. ewwwwwwwwwwwwww. No wonder they drink a lot of beer over here! haha) The couple has been great, and the hotel couldn't be any more wonderful.
Its superbness (if that is a word) was only matched by our day today. We went to another little town about 20 km from here called Triberg (pronounced "Tree-berg") and hiked up to a waterfall and through the woods some. Then, we had lunch at this neat place right by the lake and got to watch duck drama (the male was chasing the female and WOULD. NOT. LEAVE. HER. ALONE. AT. ALL.) while we ate Spatzle and potato soup and some traditional French thing that looked like pizza with alfredo sauce.
Then, it was about 5 pm and the Germany-England World Cup game was on. We have caught as many games as possible and as we are in Germany now, we definitely wanted to see this one! But, as our hotel was still 45 minutes away, we figured we'd miss it. Oh well.
As we were driving home, we saw the "Rodelbahn." Lisa, the woman at the hotel, had recommended it to us and we wanted to check it out. Basically, it's a rollercoaster-like thing on the hill. Sounded fun to us! So we pulled in, and guess what!?!? They had the game on there! WOOOOO!! So we ended up watching the last half of the game with 50 Germans, who were obviously thrilled with the outcome. Since the win, people have been driving around town honking, yelling, waving flags out their car windows, hanging flags out their house windows, etc. Excitement kind of like when Butler was in the final few games of the NCAA tourney, but German-style. Pretty cool. We've decided to get some flags for our rental car :)
Anyway, back to the Rodelbahn. It was WAY fun, but I'll let you see that in the pictures. I wish we could bring all of you over here to ride it...it was that fun. We all went 3 times. :)
Okay, it's nearly midnight here and I need to sleep! I've had a cold these past few days so I'm taking lots of cold medicine and Emergen-C and trying not to miss visiting stuff over here :) But....sleep is probably necessary too, at least at some point.
Only 4 more days and we'll be back home! I can't believe it. SO going to miss Europe, but SO looking forward to seeing my Kiwi again.
And beautiful Miss Oreo.
And of course Gracie and Linus too.
Okay, off to bed!
You guessed it!
Another picture update!!
(So I'm sure you can guess who's writing this. I'll give you one hint: eldest daughter whose name starts with "K.")
Anyway....
We are in the Black Forest of southern Germany! After taking the Autobahn here, we are staying in a small town called Schiltach. It is VERY cute...
And this is our hotel!
It's run by an American woman and her German husband (who is a chef). While we have so much enjoyed being in Europe and experiencing the culture here this month, it is nice to talk to an American who understands why we would like ice in our drinks and why we keep looking for "flat" water (or my favorite term for it: water with "no gas"! hahaha). (On a side note, it is never good to hear "fizzzzzzz" when you open a new bottle of water. We have accidentally purchased at least two bottles of carbonated mineral water, and the stuff pretty much tastes like Sprite without the sugar. ewwwwwwwwwwwwww. No wonder they drink a lot of beer over here! haha) The couple has been great, and the hotel couldn't be any more wonderful.
Its superbness (if that is a word) was only matched by our day today. We went to another little town about 20 km from here called Triberg (pronounced "Tree-berg") and hiked up to a waterfall and through the woods some. Then, we had lunch at this neat place right by the lake and got to watch duck drama (the male was chasing the female and WOULD. NOT. LEAVE. HER. ALONE. AT. ALL.) while we ate Spatzle and potato soup and some traditional French thing that looked like pizza with alfredo sauce.
Then, it was about 5 pm and the Germany-England World Cup game was on. We have caught as many games as possible and as we are in Germany now, we definitely wanted to see this one! But, as our hotel was still 45 minutes away, we figured we'd miss it. Oh well.
As we were driving home, we saw the "Rodelbahn." Lisa, the woman at the hotel, had recommended it to us and we wanted to check it out. Basically, it's a rollercoaster-like thing on the hill. Sounded fun to us! So we pulled in, and guess what!?!? They had the game on there! WOOOOO!! So we ended up watching the last half of the game with 50 Germans, who were obviously thrilled with the outcome. Since the win, people have been driving around town honking, yelling, waving flags out their car windows, hanging flags out their house windows, etc. Excitement kind of like when Butler was in the final few games of the NCAA tourney, but German-style. Pretty cool. We've decided to get some flags for our rental car :)
Anyway, back to the Rodelbahn. It was WAY fun, but I'll let you see that in the pictures. I wish we could bring all of you over here to ride it...it was that fun. We all went 3 times. :)
Okay, it's nearly midnight here and I need to sleep! I've had a cold these past few days so I'm taking lots of cold medicine and Emergen-C and trying not to miss visiting stuff over here :) But....sleep is probably necessary too, at least at some point.
Only 4 more days and we'll be back home! I can't believe it. SO going to miss Europe, but SO looking forward to seeing my Kiwi again.
And beautiful Miss Oreo.
And of course Gracie and Linus too.
Okay, off to bed!
Just a quick update from Eric.
We left Salzburg. Austria this morning and have just arrived in the Black Forest in southern Germany. The train ride out of Salzburg was great, the Munich train station is one to see, and I got to drive on Germany's Autobahn today for the first time ever. Dare I tell you how fast I got to drive? Any guesses?
We will post more soon. Tomorrow looks like a day to hike in the mountains!
Prayers for a great West Virginia mission!
We left Salzburg. Austria this morning and have just arrived in the Black Forest in southern Germany. The train ride out of Salzburg was great, the Munich train station is one to see, and I got to drive on Germany's Autobahn today for the first time ever. Dare I tell you how fast I got to drive? Any guesses?
We will post more soon. Tomorrow looks like a day to hike in the mountains!
Prayers for a great West Virginia mission!
Written by Eric
My sixth grade teacher, Ingrid Bergman, (not the famous actress) was a Sound of Music fanatic. Perhaps she ingrained that love in all her students and even though that has been quite a few years ago, I still love the movie. So as Kristen was planning our route back from Romania to London, she knew that if there was anyway possible, we should stop in Salzburg, where the outside scenes for the movie were filmed and where the actual Von Trapp family lived.
The unique part of our stop here is that we are staying in the actual house of the Von Trapp family. Yes, where Captain Von Trapp and Maria and their children lived. The house was abandoned by the Von Trapps in 1927, was seized by the Nazis shortly afterwards, was bought by a Catholic group after the Nazi regime fell, and then, two years ago, was bought by a family and opened as a bed and breakfast. And we get to stay here. How cool is that! Tomorrow we are going to go on a tour to see all the places in town where the movie was filmed.
(By the way, the oldest child of the Von Trapps was not Liesel as in the movie, but an older son, Ruppert. I guess Hollywood needed a love story in the movie and Liesel and her boyfriend Ralph made a better story!)
We learned lots of interesting Sound of Music trivia while we were here. Ask us about it. I found it all quite fascinating.
My sixth grade teacher, Ingrid Bergman, (not the famous actress) was a Sound of Music fanatic. Perhaps she ingrained that love in all her students and even though that has been quite a few years ago, I still love the movie. So as Kristen was planning our route back from Romania to London, she knew that if there was anyway possible, we should stop in Salzburg, where the outside scenes for the movie were filmed and where the actual Von Trapp family lived.
The unique part of our stop here is that we are staying in the actual house of the Von Trapp family. Yes, where Captain Von Trapp and Maria and their children lived. The house was abandoned by the Von Trapps in 1927, was seized by the Nazis shortly afterwards, was bought by a Catholic group after the Nazi regime fell, and then, two years ago, was bought by a family and opened as a bed and breakfast. And we get to stay here. How cool is that! Tomorrow we are going to go on a tour to see all the places in town where the movie was filmed.
(By the way, the oldest child of the Von Trapps was not Liesel as in the movie, but an older son, Ruppert. I guess Hollywood needed a love story in the movie and Liesel and her boyfriend Ralph made a better story!)
We learned lots of interesting Sound of Music trivia while we were here. Ask us about it. I found it all quite fascinating.
Note: We have been in Salzburg for the past 3 days and just finally got internet this morning. So, the next couple posts are about stuff that happened a few days ago. We'll catch up to now at some point! Later today we are headed to the Black Forest in southern Germany and I'm not sure if we'll have internet there or not. We'll blog if we can!
Tuesday, June 22 - Written by Eric (with picture comments by Kristen)
I always try to live by the adage: You will often get better than you expect.
Croatia was a place that was never on my personal radar screen. If you had asked me where I wanted to go on my sabbatical, it would not have been top on my list. However, by the insightful advice of a friend of Kristen’s, we chose to visit. If I knew anything about Croatia, it was because of the war that took place in the 1990s: the Serbain-Croation conflict. It was on the news regularly in those days. It was the start of the break-up of former Yugoslovia.
The past few days staying in Croatia, for me however, have been incredible. Kristen posted about the “Garden of Eden” like experience at Plitvice Lakes National Park. I don’t think I have ever been at a place that is more beautiful, peaceful, and God-breathed. It really can’t be described, just experienced. Following our day in the park, we drove to and stayed in Zadar, a city on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Many of these old cities, like Zadar, are walled in, fort-like cities with narrow streets and buildings that date back to 1000 AD. Over these past days I got much more than I expected. Croatia is beautiful and the people helpful.
The view of the Adriatic Sea from our window (the Adriatic Sea is right between Italy and Croatia...the mountains in this picture are not Italy (unfortunately) but rather the Kornati Islands, which are a string of barrier islands just off the coast of Croatia) -
The sea organ in Zadar (as waves roll in, different tones sound) -
Enjoying ice cream (which is THE THING to do Zadar!) -
After leaving Zadar, we were scheduled to stay in Zagreb, a larger city in northern Croatia. We arrived later Tuesday afternoon, find our prearranged lodging, needed to take back a rental car, and get some dinner. We successfully found the address of our lodging for the night…But that is when I began to wonder about living by my adage because I was not sure we were going to get better than we expected.
The entrance to our lodging, as you can see, was adorned with full garbage cans. There was graffiti on the walls, and no sign anywhere that indicated where our lodging was. It was ironic to me that the place we were looking for was “Camera Felice”, which means “Happy Room” and we were not greeted by anything that even was close to “happy.” We opened the door and walked into a dark hallway. Coming around the corner was a shorter, older man, mostly unkempt and toothless, emerging from a dark apartment with his finger pointing up in the air. He wanted us to know something, I am sure, because the more confused I looked, the more he repeated himself, and the louder and louder he repeated the same words (in Croatian) and made the same motions.
I went upstairs to find…..nothing. I found nothing that appeared to be a “Happy Room.” I thought that maybe it was time to look for another place to stay. So back into the car we jumped and drove around town. A few moments to gather ourselves again, we decided we would make one more try to find our happy room. Kristen texted her contact there to figure out where and how to get in. No response.
Walking up and down the sidewalk trying to find someone who might know about the “Happy Room”, a woman emerged out of a window. She was on the younger side with a huge afro and big white glasses. She was talking to us. “What have we gotten ourselves into,” I thought. She invited us up to see the “Happy Room.” I still was wondering, “What have we gotten ourselves in to?”
I should always trust my old adage. I should learn to trust God more. What we ended getting ourselves into was a “Sobe.” Sobes in Croatia are rooms that individuals rent in their apartments or homes. We ended up staying in two brightly colored and modernly decorated rooms in the home of a young couple. They had all the things we needed, and more. A bed. Hot water. Clean towels. A small refrigerator. A TV for watching the World Cup. And even a gift for their guests.
We did get better than we expected. We found the “Happy Rooms”! I should learn to believe more often.
Tomorrow it is on to Salzburg, Austria. Seven hours on the train….I am surely looking forward to seeing the mountains!
Tuesday, June 22 - Written by Eric (with picture comments by Kristen)
I always try to live by the adage: You will often get better than you expect.
Croatia was a place that was never on my personal radar screen. If you had asked me where I wanted to go on my sabbatical, it would not have been top on my list. However, by the insightful advice of a friend of Kristen’s, we chose to visit. If I knew anything about Croatia, it was because of the war that took place in the 1990s: the Serbain-Croation conflict. It was on the news regularly in those days. It was the start of the break-up of former Yugoslovia.
The past few days staying in Croatia, for me however, have been incredible. Kristen posted about the “Garden of Eden” like experience at Plitvice Lakes National Park. I don’t think I have ever been at a place that is more beautiful, peaceful, and God-breathed. It really can’t be described, just experienced. Following our day in the park, we drove to and stayed in Zadar, a city on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Many of these old cities, like Zadar, are walled in, fort-like cities with narrow streets and buildings that date back to 1000 AD. Over these past days I got much more than I expected. Croatia is beautiful and the people helpful.
The view of the Adriatic Sea from our window (the Adriatic Sea is right between Italy and Croatia...the mountains in this picture are not Italy (unfortunately) but rather the Kornati Islands, which are a string of barrier islands just off the coast of Croatia) -
The sea organ in Zadar (as waves roll in, different tones sound) -
Enjoying ice cream (which is THE THING to do Zadar!) -
After leaving Zadar, we were scheduled to stay in Zagreb, a larger city in northern Croatia. We arrived later Tuesday afternoon, find our prearranged lodging, needed to take back a rental car, and get some dinner. We successfully found the address of our lodging for the night…But that is when I began to wonder about living by my adage because I was not sure we were going to get better than we expected.
The entrance to our lodging, as you can see, was adorned with full garbage cans. There was graffiti on the walls, and no sign anywhere that indicated where our lodging was. It was ironic to me that the place we were looking for was “Camera Felice”, which means “Happy Room” and we were not greeted by anything that even was close to “happy.” We opened the door and walked into a dark hallway. Coming around the corner was a shorter, older man, mostly unkempt and toothless, emerging from a dark apartment with his finger pointing up in the air. He wanted us to know something, I am sure, because the more confused I looked, the more he repeated himself, and the louder and louder he repeated the same words (in Croatian) and made the same motions.
I went upstairs to find…..nothing. I found nothing that appeared to be a “Happy Room.” I thought that maybe it was time to look for another place to stay. So back into the car we jumped and drove around town. A few moments to gather ourselves again, we decided we would make one more try to find our happy room. Kristen texted her contact there to figure out where and how to get in. No response.
Walking up and down the sidewalk trying to find someone who might know about the “Happy Room”, a woman emerged out of a window. She was on the younger side with a huge afro and big white glasses. She was talking to us. “What have we gotten ourselves into,” I thought. She invited us up to see the “Happy Room.” I still was wondering, “What have we gotten ourselves in to?”
I should always trust my old adage. I should learn to trust God more. What we ended getting ourselves into was a “Sobe.” Sobes in Croatia are rooms that individuals rent in their apartments or homes. We ended up staying in two brightly colored and modernly decorated rooms in the home of a young couple. They had all the things we needed, and more. A bed. Hot water. Clean towels. A small refrigerator. A TV for watching the World Cup. And even a gift for their guests.
We did get better than we expected. We found the “Happy Rooms”! I should learn to believe more often.
Tomorrow it is on to Salzburg, Austria. Seven hours on the train….I am surely looking forward to seeing the mountains!
From Kristen --
Hello all!! I know we haven't blogged in a few days so I just wanted to let you know that everything is okay and we are alive!
We have one night left in Croatia before taking a train to Salzburg, Austria, early tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. Then, we'll be safely checked into our hotel (which is the former house of the Von Trapp family from the Sound of Music!) by the time of the US vs. Algeria World Cup game!! We are actually on South Africa time here in Europe so we won't even have to figure out and calculate what time the game is on. Yes!
And speaking of the World Cup, it is HUGE over here. EVERY restaurant with TV's has it on. On our last night in Budapest, we were walking to dinner and stumbled upon a viewing party with probably 3000 Hungarians watching the France vs. Mexico game on a jumbo-tron in a square next to the Hungarian Parliament. The energy was INCREDIBLE! Never did figure out who they were cheering for, though, cause it was late and we were hungry! But still, it was very fun to watch them watching the game for even a few minutes.
But anyway, back to Croatia. After taking the train to Zagreb, we picked up a rental car and drove to Plitvice Lakes National Park. (Note: It is quite interesting to drive (or for Dad to drive, as the case may be) a stick shift car when you have only been driving automatics for years, in a city that you've never been to before, that has trams, buses, and cars all sharing the same lanes, and has virtually no street signs, and if there are any signs posted, they are in a language that you not only cannot read, but looks nothing like any language you've seen before, with words that have letters together that look like they should never, never go together!! whew. it was a challenge to say the least. But we have made it all around Croatia so far, which is good.)
So back to Croatia, again. Plitvice was beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I have never seen a place like it anywhere. There are plenty of stories from our day visiting there (some good, some bad--but remember, we all are alive, okay, and healthy!!) but for now I'll just leave you with these pictures cause we're getting ready to get on the road and I am being summoned to get off the computer and into the car. See you in Austria!
Hello all!! I know we haven't blogged in a few days so I just wanted to let you know that everything is okay and we are alive!
We have one night left in Croatia before taking a train to Salzburg, Austria, early tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. Then, we'll be safely checked into our hotel (which is the former house of the Von Trapp family from the Sound of Music!) by the time of the US vs. Algeria World Cup game!! We are actually on South Africa time here in Europe so we won't even have to figure out and calculate what time the game is on. Yes!
And speaking of the World Cup, it is HUGE over here. EVERY restaurant with TV's has it on. On our last night in Budapest, we were walking to dinner and stumbled upon a viewing party with probably 3000 Hungarians watching the France vs. Mexico game on a jumbo-tron in a square next to the Hungarian Parliament. The energy was INCREDIBLE! Never did figure out who they were cheering for, though, cause it was late and we were hungry! But still, it was very fun to watch them watching the game for even a few minutes.
But anyway, back to Croatia. After taking the train to Zagreb, we picked up a rental car and drove to Plitvice Lakes National Park. (Note: It is quite interesting to drive (or for Dad to drive, as the case may be) a stick shift car when you have only been driving automatics for years, in a city that you've never been to before, that has trams, buses, and cars all sharing the same lanes, and has virtually no street signs, and if there are any signs posted, they are in a language that you not only cannot read, but looks nothing like any language you've seen before, with words that have letters together that look like they should never, never go together!! whew. it was a challenge to say the least. But we have made it all around Croatia so far, which is good.)
So back to Croatia, again. Plitvice was beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I have never seen a place like it anywhere. There are plenty of stories from our day visiting there (some good, some bad--but remember, we all are alive, okay, and healthy!!) but for now I'll just leave you with these pictures cause we're getting ready to get on the road and I am being summoned to get off the computer and into the car. See you in Austria!
From Kristen...
It has certainly been an adventure to travel in Europe. And in the past 3 weeks, I’ve learned a few things about how to effectively use bathrooms/toalettes/toilettes/WC’s in Europe:
1) It is nicest to use a train WC when the train is still. Moving is trickier.
2) Don’t flush at the station.*
3) The handle in a train WC, the one that you can conveniently reach while seated, is there for a reason. Don’t hesitate to use it, especially when the train is in motion.
4) Also, don’t stand up while the train goes around a curve. Standing up often requires that you let go of the handle, and remember, the handle is there for a reason.
5) Always have a small supply of TP with you. You never know when you will need it.
6) Train TP is more like paper towels than Cottonelle.
7) Never use a stall that has a broken lock no matter how badly you have to go or whether giant beetles have just run into the other stalls. Wait, find a different bathroom, bring a friend in to guard the door—SOMETHING!—but avoid the stall with the broken lock. Unless, that is, you want very shocked and slightly embarrassed company. Twice.
8) Train WC doors rarely have working locks. Beware.
9) No matter how many times you go to the bathroom before you get on the train and no matter how few milliliters of liquid you drink, you will almost certainly have to go to the WC quite soon after you get on the train. (Perhaps this only applies to me…)
10) Always carry change in your pocket for the bathroom. Rarely will you find a “free pee.”
11) But if you DO find a “free pee,” use it whether you really have to go or not. There may not be another one for a while. **
12) The handle in the train WC is there for a reason. Feel free to use it.
Okay, I think that is plenty for now. Sorry to those of you who were coming to the blog hoping for something insightful, cute, pretty, etc. That will come in time. But for now, I hope you appreciate this very practical advice!***
* Note for astute readers: I know that #1 and #2 seem incompatible and really, they are. Perhaps USE the WC while at the station and then FLUSH after you get going. Or something.
** Greta’s take on things: “Why pay 100 Forint (which is Hungarian currency equivalent to about $0.45) to use the bathroom when you can pay 180 Forint for an ice cream bar…and pee in the woods??”
*** Of course I’m not drawing on any personal experiences when giving this advice. Just things that I’ve heard. ;)
It has certainly been an adventure to travel in Europe. And in the past 3 weeks, I’ve learned a few things about how to effectively use bathrooms/toalettes/toilettes/WC’s in Europe:
1) It is nicest to use a train WC when the train is still. Moving is trickier.
2) Don’t flush at the station.*
3) The handle in a train WC, the one that you can conveniently reach while seated, is there for a reason. Don’t hesitate to use it, especially when the train is in motion.
4) Also, don’t stand up while the train goes around a curve. Standing up often requires that you let go of the handle, and remember, the handle is there for a reason.
5) Always have a small supply of TP with you. You never know when you will need it.
6) Train TP is more like paper towels than Cottonelle.
7) Never use a stall that has a broken lock no matter how badly you have to go or whether giant beetles have just run into the other stalls. Wait, find a different bathroom, bring a friend in to guard the door—SOMETHING!—but avoid the stall with the broken lock. Unless, that is, you want very shocked and slightly embarrassed company. Twice.
8) Train WC doors rarely have working locks. Beware.
9) No matter how many times you go to the bathroom before you get on the train and no matter how few milliliters of liquid you drink, you will almost certainly have to go to the WC quite soon after you get on the train. (Perhaps this only applies to me…)
10) Always carry change in your pocket for the bathroom. Rarely will you find a “free pee.”
11) But if you DO find a “free pee,” use it whether you really have to go or not. There may not be another one for a while. **
12) The handle in the train WC is there for a reason. Feel free to use it.
Okay, I think that is plenty for now. Sorry to those of you who were coming to the blog hoping for something insightful, cute, pretty, etc. That will come in time. But for now, I hope you appreciate this very practical advice!***
* Note for astute readers: I know that #1 and #2 seem incompatible and really, they are. Perhaps USE the WC while at the station and then FLUSH after you get going. Or something.
** Greta’s take on things: “Why pay 100 Forint (which is Hungarian currency equivalent to about $0.45) to use the bathroom when you can pay 180 Forint for an ice cream bar…and pee in the woods??”
*** Of course I’m not drawing on any personal experiences when giving this advice. Just things that I’ve heard. ;)
From Kristen...
I knew when I booked the tickets for the 6:30 am train to Croatia that it would be a tough morning for us.
We are not early risers. Generally, we are night people. Most of you reading this probably know that Dad routinely stays up late doing graphics work, Mom stays up late grading papers, Greta does homework til fairly late, and I…well, I stay up late doing stuff. I am happiest when I get to bed around 1 am and get up at 8-9ish.
Did you catch that? Things are ideal for me when I go to bed late (or quite early, as the case may be) and get up mid-morning. Not 6:30. To me, the only good reason to get up that early is to get a chicken biscuit as soon as Chick-fil-A opens. And even then, they serve breakfast til 10:30, so why set the alarm so early?
Anyway, there are no Chick-fil-A’s in Budapest (or anywhere else in Europe for that matter…do you know what I’m already planning to do on the way home from the Indy airport when we get back?!?) but there was a 6:30 train from Budapest’s Keleti Pályaudvar station to Zagreb’s Glavni Kolodvor station (gotta love those names!) and we needed to take it.
Yes, I had considered other options:
1) Drive a rental car. No, all of the international car rental companies in Croatia folded last year so there is no way to do a one-way rental into the country.
2) Fly. I might have done this if we weren’t on a budget! Tickets ran anywhere from $400-$1200 per person. Ouch.
3) Walk. This option certainly was cheaper than the previous one and had the added bonus of helping to work off all the palacsintas (Hungarian crepes) consumed in the past few days. But, we opted not go with it as Zagreb is kinda far from Budapest. And, we have a lot of luggage. Still. Even after dropping off all those puppets.
4) Take a train later in the day. This would have been a super plan…if there had been any trains that went from Budapest to Zagreb in a reasonable amount of time. The 6:30 one was direct and arrived in Zagreb at 12:59 pm while other ones that left later in the day took MUCH longer. I even found one that took 19 hours through Bosnia and Serbia. Uhhh…
So the 6:30 one would be our train by default. Not ideal, I thought, but we’ll just go to bed early and get some sleep, get up, catch the train, and then sleep some more en route. It will work. Not the most perfect situation, but definitely do-able.
And yes, we did go to bed early! Any guesses on the time?!?
8?
9:30?
10?
Later???
Well…..Gret went to bed first just before midnight, followed by the rest of us by 1-ish. Oops. So much for getting a full night’s sleep!! The alarm came quickly at 4:30 but still, no problem, we thought, we’ll just sleep on the train.
Uhhhhh. Think again!
Just as we’d settled into our seats in our little couchette-like compartment (no beds in this one, though) and the train started to move, the conductor (who had already checked our tickets a few minutes before) returned. He turned to Dad and said two words: “No sleeping.”
Immediately, I was confused.
WHAT?
No sleeping? Huh? Why would that matter?!
I am tired.
I would really like to sleep.
So would the rest of the family.
And why would sleeping matter?
This isn’t even an airplane where you have to turn off and stow everything. It’s a train! And regardless, they let you sleep on planes!
The conductor, noticing our obviously confused faces, repeated himself. “No sleeping!”
Dad, still puzzled, turned to me. “Do you understand?”
What I thought and what I said were two different things. Of course I UNDERSTAND the meaning of “no sleeping” but I have no idea why that matters or why we can’t sleep. “Ummm, no…”
The conductor turned to his co-conductor, a female about my age, who shook her head at him. I don’t know what that means in Hungarian, but apparently something, because he quickly turned to us and said, “Ticket okay.” And then shut the door to our compartment and they both headed down the corridor.
It took a minute but quickly we all burst out laughing. No sleeping?!? How can he make us not sleep?? If I am tired (and I AM tired!) there’s pretty much no way he can make me not fall asleep.
Mom, who had been resting with her eyes closed at the time the conductor visited us, mentioned that she wasn’t sleeping but just resting her eyes. Okay, normally that would be fine Mom, but NOT ON THIS TRAIN! You look like you’re sleeping! And that is not allowed! You can only rest your eyes one at a time! But then there’s probably no winking on this train either, so even that may not work!
We never did figure out what he really meant, but we certainly had a good laugh thinking of all the things he could have been referring to.
I’m sure he didn’t mean “no sleeping.”
But if he did, then he’s not very good at enforcing the rule, because as I’m typing this (still on the train traveling though a station called “Siófok” in western Hungary) the other three members of the family are….shhhh…sleeping!! Or perhaps they’re merely resting their eyes. Yes, surely that must be it, because I’m sure they would never partake in such a forbidden activity as SLEEPING!! ;)
I knew when I booked the tickets for the 6:30 am train to Croatia that it would be a tough morning for us.
We are not early risers. Generally, we are night people. Most of you reading this probably know that Dad routinely stays up late doing graphics work, Mom stays up late grading papers, Greta does homework til fairly late, and I…well, I stay up late doing stuff. I am happiest when I get to bed around 1 am and get up at 8-9ish.
Did you catch that? Things are ideal for me when I go to bed late (or quite early, as the case may be) and get up mid-morning. Not 6:30. To me, the only good reason to get up that early is to get a chicken biscuit as soon as Chick-fil-A opens. And even then, they serve breakfast til 10:30, so why set the alarm so early?
Anyway, there are no Chick-fil-A’s in Budapest (or anywhere else in Europe for that matter…do you know what I’m already planning to do on the way home from the Indy airport when we get back?!?) but there was a 6:30 train from Budapest’s Keleti Pályaudvar station to Zagreb’s Glavni Kolodvor station (gotta love those names!) and we needed to take it.
Yes, I had considered other options:
1) Drive a rental car. No, all of the international car rental companies in Croatia folded last year so there is no way to do a one-way rental into the country.
2) Fly. I might have done this if we weren’t on a budget! Tickets ran anywhere from $400-$1200 per person. Ouch.
3) Walk. This option certainly was cheaper than the previous one and had the added bonus of helping to work off all the palacsintas (Hungarian crepes) consumed in the past few days. But, we opted not go with it as Zagreb is kinda far from Budapest. And, we have a lot of luggage. Still. Even after dropping off all those puppets.
4) Take a train later in the day. This would have been a super plan…if there had been any trains that went from Budapest to Zagreb in a reasonable amount of time. The 6:30 one was direct and arrived in Zagreb at 12:59 pm while other ones that left later in the day took MUCH longer. I even found one that took 19 hours through Bosnia and Serbia. Uhhh…
So the 6:30 one would be our train by default. Not ideal, I thought, but we’ll just go to bed early and get some sleep, get up, catch the train, and then sleep some more en route. It will work. Not the most perfect situation, but definitely do-able.
And yes, we did go to bed early! Any guesses on the time?!?
8?
9:30?
10?
Later???
Well…..Gret went to bed first just before midnight, followed by the rest of us by 1-ish. Oops. So much for getting a full night’s sleep!! The alarm came quickly at 4:30 but still, no problem, we thought, we’ll just sleep on the train.
Uhhhhh. Think again!
Just as we’d settled into our seats in our little couchette-like compartment (no beds in this one, though) and the train started to move, the conductor (who had already checked our tickets a few minutes before) returned. He turned to Dad and said two words: “No sleeping.”
Immediately, I was confused.
WHAT?
No sleeping? Huh? Why would that matter?!
I am tired.
I would really like to sleep.
So would the rest of the family.
And why would sleeping matter?
This isn’t even an airplane where you have to turn off and stow everything. It’s a train! And regardless, they let you sleep on planes!
The conductor, noticing our obviously confused faces, repeated himself. “No sleeping!”
Dad, still puzzled, turned to me. “Do you understand?”
What I thought and what I said were two different things. Of course I UNDERSTAND the meaning of “no sleeping” but I have no idea why that matters or why we can’t sleep. “Ummm, no…”
The conductor turned to his co-conductor, a female about my age, who shook her head at him. I don’t know what that means in Hungarian, but apparently something, because he quickly turned to us and said, “Ticket okay.” And then shut the door to our compartment and they both headed down the corridor.
It took a minute but quickly we all burst out laughing. No sleeping?!? How can he make us not sleep?? If I am tired (and I AM tired!) there’s pretty much no way he can make me not fall asleep.
Mom, who had been resting with her eyes closed at the time the conductor visited us, mentioned that she wasn’t sleeping but just resting her eyes. Okay, normally that would be fine Mom, but NOT ON THIS TRAIN! You look like you’re sleeping! And that is not allowed! You can only rest your eyes one at a time! But then there’s probably no winking on this train either, so even that may not work!
We never did figure out what he really meant, but we certainly had a good laugh thinking of all the things he could have been referring to.
I’m sure he didn’t mean “no sleeping.”
But if he did, then he’s not very good at enforcing the rule, because as I’m typing this (still on the train traveling though a station called “Siófok” in western Hungary) the other three members of the family are….shhhh…sleeping!! Or perhaps they’re merely resting their eyes. Yes, surely that must be it, because I’m sure they would never partake in such a forbidden activity as SLEEPING!! ;)
Written by Eric
Oops...I forgot to write that the next four blog entries, though posted by Kristen, are written by me.
Sorry for the delay in getting the stories out to you but we had computer problems, that are now solved, as you will hear about below.
We are finishing up our time in Budapest and will be on our way to Croatia on Friday.
Thanks for your prayers and comments!
Oops...I forgot to write that the next four blog entries, though posted by Kristen, are written by me.
Sorry for the delay in getting the stories out to you but we had computer problems, that are now solved, as you will hear about below.
We are finishing up our time in Budapest and will be on our way to Croatia on Friday.
Thanks for your prayers and comments!
You have to understand the Lohes. You can’t be around us very long to know our great love of Apple computers. You also know that we miss all of you. That makes our need to share our experiences with you tantamount. We love your comments.
Arriving in Budapest after a 17 hour train ride, we discovered that our computer charger was not working. It was a somber moment as we thought about its implications. No more blog. No more comments. No more facebook to see what is happening with you. No more email. It was not a good morning.
We have a goofy phone with us. We can text but we cannot call unless someone calls us first. But the realization of a dead charger prompted Kristen to think about all the people she could text at 12 pm Budapest time. That is 6 hours ahead of Indiana time. So while your name may have passed through her mind, aren’t you glad she didn’t text you?
Kristen had a thought. Text Marie. (A friend of hers from Butler.) Surely Marie would get the text when she awakened at a reasonable hour and she would get back to us. What we did not know is that Marie’s phone would awaken her with every text. Marie was prompt to call us. A new charger for an Apple computer? No problem. A new charger for an Apple computer in Budapest? It was a challenge Marie welcomed!
Marie googled. Marie emailed. We waited. We bemoaned the possibility of no communication with you for the rest of the journey. Marie got an answer back and repeated what they told her, “Go to Star-King in Budapest. They can help you. They are located at a shopping center on Kerepesi út.”
But where is that? Well, after asking a young-looking guy selling sausages at the Central Market (where we were finding fruit), he told us it was right by the train station. You know so often God provides answers even before we need them. Two hours earlier we had arrived in Budapest. The first place we landed in this new country was…guess where? The train station! “Sure, we know where the train station is. We were there this morning.” Off to Star-King.
We found Star-King. It is an authorized reseller for Apple. They had exactly what we needed and we are again charged and ready to write and Facebook. And if you need to find anything in Budapest, just remember Marie. She can find it all, even early in the morning!
(Thanks, Marie!)
Arriving in Budapest after a 17 hour train ride, we discovered that our computer charger was not working. It was a somber moment as we thought about its implications. No more blog. No more comments. No more facebook to see what is happening with you. No more email. It was not a good morning.
We have a goofy phone with us. We can text but we cannot call unless someone calls us first. But the realization of a dead charger prompted Kristen to think about all the people she could text at 12 pm Budapest time. That is 6 hours ahead of Indiana time. So while your name may have passed through her mind, aren’t you glad she didn’t text you?
Kristen had a thought. Text Marie. (A friend of hers from Butler.) Surely Marie would get the text when she awakened at a reasonable hour and she would get back to us. What we did not know is that Marie’s phone would awaken her with every text. Marie was prompt to call us. A new charger for an Apple computer? No problem. A new charger for an Apple computer in Budapest? It was a challenge Marie welcomed!
Marie googled. Marie emailed. We waited. We bemoaned the possibility of no communication with you for the rest of the journey. Marie got an answer back and repeated what they told her, “Go to Star-King in Budapest. They can help you. They are located at a shopping center on Kerepesi út.”
But where is that? Well, after asking a young-looking guy selling sausages at the Central Market (where we were finding fruit), he told us it was right by the train station. You know so often God provides answers even before we need them. Two hours earlier we had arrived in Budapest. The first place we landed in this new country was…guess where? The train station! “Sure, we know where the train station is. We were there this morning.” Off to Star-King.
We found Star-King. It is an authorized reseller for Apple. They had exactly what we needed and we are again charged and ready to write and Facebook. And if you need to find anything in Budapest, just remember Marie. She can find it all, even early in the morning!
(Thanks, Marie!)
Do you know what a “couchette” is? I didn’t. At least I did not know what the word meant. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend 17 hours in one even if it was with three of my family members. But we looked on it as an experience. Actually it was the only reasonable way to get out of Romania. Plane tickets out of Romania are incredibly expensive. So the best option: 17 hours overnight on a train.
There are some options in traveling on a train. Seats that face forward. Seats that allow you to ride backwards. And couchettes. Couchettes are those little rooms on a train where you can fold the seats down far enough so that you can sleep on them. Since we were leaving at 7 pm and were going to ride through the night, we opted for a couchette. And I would opt for one again. However, it is quite an experience.
There are 4 person and 6 person couchettes. If there are not 6 in your group, and you are in a 6 person couchette, you share this small room (and I do mean small) with people you do not know. (I guess it is a good way to get to know people but…) Since we were going to be in this room for 17 hours, since we were traveling internationally (from Romania to Hungary), and since we were sleeping, we opted for the 4 person couchette. No strangers!
There was a small unit that cooled the air. There were three seats on one side and 3 on the other. There was a place to store luggage on the top rack and there was an electrical plug. So getting to spend 17 hours together “very closely” as a family was both fun and a challenge.
The scenery for the first 3 hours as it was getting dark was great. Climbing out of Bucharest on the plains in the east of Romania where the topography is flat, to the west where the Carpathian mountain range runs is quite dramatic. Dramatic also means challenging for trains and the climb up and down the mountains is quite a challenge.
Once we conquered the “changing to get ready for sleep” challenge, Greta and Kristen climbed up to the top bunks. Sleep was welcomed and rather somber. I think I woke up a bunch throughout the night but first really remembered the knock on the window of the couchette at 5 am.
“This is the porter. Get your passports ready. Get your passports ready.”
They checked our passports at 5:34 am at the Romanian border and again at 5:54 once we were in Hungary. I still can’t tell the temperaments of the border patrols. They always ask lots of questions and never smile. At least this time they didn’t ask if I was traveling with three wives. (See earlier post!)
I never really got a straight answer but our train was 3 hours late getting into Hungary. The extra time allowed for some extra dozing, folding up the sheets, stuffing away the comforters, packing things back into our suitcases, and eating cereal out of a plastic cup.
The dictionary defines couchette as a sleeping berth in a passenger compartment that can be collapsed to form a benchlike seat for daytime use. Eric’s definition: Couchette – a very small room on a night train; an experience everyone should have, at least once!
There are some options in traveling on a train. Seats that face forward. Seats that allow you to ride backwards. And couchettes. Couchettes are those little rooms on a train where you can fold the seats down far enough so that you can sleep on them. Since we were leaving at 7 pm and were going to ride through the night, we opted for a couchette. And I would opt for one again. However, it is quite an experience.
There are 4 person and 6 person couchettes. If there are not 6 in your group, and you are in a 6 person couchette, you share this small room (and I do mean small) with people you do not know. (I guess it is a good way to get to know people but…) Since we were going to be in this room for 17 hours, since we were traveling internationally (from Romania to Hungary), and since we were sleeping, we opted for the 4 person couchette. No strangers!
There was a small unit that cooled the air. There were three seats on one side and 3 on the other. There was a place to store luggage on the top rack and there was an electrical plug. So getting to spend 17 hours together “very closely” as a family was both fun and a challenge.
The scenery for the first 3 hours as it was getting dark was great. Climbing out of Bucharest on the plains in the east of Romania where the topography is flat, to the west where the Carpathian mountain range runs is quite dramatic. Dramatic also means challenging for trains and the climb up and down the mountains is quite a challenge.
Once we conquered the “changing to get ready for sleep” challenge, Greta and Kristen climbed up to the top bunks. Sleep was welcomed and rather somber. I think I woke up a bunch throughout the night but first really remembered the knock on the window of the couchette at 5 am.
“This is the porter. Get your passports ready. Get your passports ready.”
They checked our passports at 5:34 am at the Romanian border and again at 5:54 once we were in Hungary. I still can’t tell the temperaments of the border patrols. They always ask lots of questions and never smile. At least this time they didn’t ask if I was traveling with three wives. (See earlier post!)
I never really got a straight answer but our train was 3 hours late getting into Hungary. The extra time allowed for some extra dozing, folding up the sheets, stuffing away the comforters, packing things back into our suitcases, and eating cereal out of a plastic cup.
The dictionary defines couchette as a sleeping berth in a passenger compartment that can be collapsed to form a benchlike seat for daytime use. Eric’s definition: Couchette – a very small room on a night train; an experience everyone should have, at least once!
We were headed out of Romania and had to catch a train in Bucharest. A 7 pm train out to Budapest, Hungary. Trying to find a parking place near the train station is difficult. The 100+ degree heat made finding a parking spot seem even more difficult and driving a big van makes it even more challenging finding a space. Carolyn was our faithful driver. I have seen a lot of crazy drivers, but Romanians take the cake for me. (Nice driving always, Carolyn, you are incredible! I must admit, you are one of those crazy drivers!)
Coming around the corner, there was a spot and there was a younger man standing in it. “Surely he is saving it for someone,” I thought. But a bright, big smile welcomed us into that parking spot. I stepped out and he approached me. I tried a few words to see if he was friendly or something else. The smile grew bigger. He pointed to my sun glasses and with one motion put his fingers together on his lips and then pulled them away making what I guess is the universal sign for “sweet!” he made the motion again. I guess he liked the glasses. I took them off. He examined them, made the sign again, and handed them back to me. I smiled and shook his hand.
I am rather good at figuring out what people are feeling and I was getting the feeling that I had made a friend. I tried some more words and he shook his head. I tried a few more. He made the same head motion. The using his fingers he pointed to his lips and to his ears and then shook his head. Ah, he is deaf and mute, I realized. At least at this point my not really knowing Romanian was no longer an issue. Sign language works in every time and place.
He pulled out his wallet. I thought, “This is a switch. A guy on the street is about to give me something from his wallet.” He pointed to three pictures. His picture. He wrote on the dirty window the number “32.” A picture of a woman. He made a motion to his heart. His wife. Same window. The number “24.” He pointed to her, his ears and his mouth and then shook his head. “Ah, she is also deaf and mute,” I surmised. Yes, he nodded his head. And then he pointed to a picture of a young boy, again to his heart, and this time he took his hand, pointed to his own ears and mouth and then made the hand gesture, you know, the one that indicated “blabby.” And he smiled the biggest smile as yet. He and his wife are deaf and mute but his boy is not. He pointed up in the sky. Now he was talking my language. I pointed up to the sky too.
For just a moment I though about how incredible this was. Here I am in Bucharest, Romania, in 100+ degree heat, standing in a parking lot talking to a man I just met, a man with whom I cannot speak and know we are praising God. That is the way it is supposed to be, isn’t it?
Our pointing up to the sky repeatedly prompted him to open his wallet. What was he up to now? From his wallet he pulled out two cards. Both were from his church and both were celebrating God. Though I could not read the Romanian words on them, he handed them to me. I looked at them and then looked at him. Together we pointed up to heaven. And then with the biggest grin yet, his fingers drew to his lips and away. God is “sweet.”
We had to get some food before the train trip so our “conversation” had to end. But I tell you for a brief time on a Romanian street two guys from two different sides of the globe got to celebrate the “sweetness” of our God.
Coming around the corner, there was a spot and there was a younger man standing in it. “Surely he is saving it for someone,” I thought. But a bright, big smile welcomed us into that parking spot. I stepped out and he approached me. I tried a few words to see if he was friendly or something else. The smile grew bigger. He pointed to my sun glasses and with one motion put his fingers together on his lips and then pulled them away making what I guess is the universal sign for “sweet!” he made the motion again. I guess he liked the glasses. I took them off. He examined them, made the sign again, and handed them back to me. I smiled and shook his hand.
I am rather good at figuring out what people are feeling and I was getting the feeling that I had made a friend. I tried some more words and he shook his head. I tried a few more. He made the same head motion. The using his fingers he pointed to his lips and to his ears and then shook his head. Ah, he is deaf and mute, I realized. At least at this point my not really knowing Romanian was no longer an issue. Sign language works in every time and place.
He pulled out his wallet. I thought, “This is a switch. A guy on the street is about to give me something from his wallet.” He pointed to three pictures. His picture. He wrote on the dirty window the number “32.” A picture of a woman. He made a motion to his heart. His wife. Same window. The number “24.” He pointed to her, his ears and his mouth and then shook his head. “Ah, she is also deaf and mute,” I surmised. Yes, he nodded his head. And then he pointed to a picture of a young boy, again to his heart, and this time he took his hand, pointed to his own ears and mouth and then made the hand gesture, you know, the one that indicated “blabby.” And he smiled the biggest smile as yet. He and his wife are deaf and mute but his boy is not. He pointed up in the sky. Now he was talking my language. I pointed up to the sky too.
For just a moment I though about how incredible this was. Here I am in Bucharest, Romania, in 100+ degree heat, standing in a parking lot talking to a man I just met, a man with whom I cannot speak and know we are praising God. That is the way it is supposed to be, isn’t it?
Our pointing up to the sky repeatedly prompted him to open his wallet. What was he up to now? From his wallet he pulled out two cards. Both were from his church and both were celebrating God. Though I could not read the Romanian words on them, he handed them to me. I looked at them and then looked at him. Together we pointed up to heaven. And then with the biggest grin yet, his fingers drew to his lips and away. God is “sweet.”
We had to get some food before the train trip so our “conversation” had to end. But I tell you for a brief time on a Romanian street two guys from two different sides of the globe got to celebrate the “sweetness” of our God.
From Eric --
What comes to mind when you hear the word, “Transylvania?” Vampires and Dracula? That is what I always thought. But after a visit to Transylvania, I want you to change your image to something very much opposite. Transylvania is in western Romania. The image I want you to have now is “the Garden of Eden.” It is a mountainous region with patches of trees, sheer cliffs, velvety green fields, farmers cutting their grasses with scythes, mountain top peaks, beautiful rivers, and castles. It is the kind of place where you just want to sit for a while and ponder how God could have made such a beautiful place.
As for the castles, we visited two. One named Peles (pronounced “pell-ESH”) and one named Bran (“Bron”). Peles Castle is an ornate, Tudor style castle built by a Romanian King named Carol I from the late 1800s until 1914. One of the unique features of the castle was that the King built different sections of the castle in the various styles of cultures from around the world. Interestingly, he believed that few Romanians would get to travel the world to see its style and culture, so he wanted to bring it to the people. At his own expense, he built this impressive castle.
The second castle was my favorite of the two: Bran Castle. It dates from 1212 AD and has a rich history. Built along one of the routes of the ancient world, it has links to an ancient just but fierce king. His reputation led the castle to be identified as Dracula’s home though the author of Dracula, Bram Stoker, has never mentioned Bran Castle.
These pics were added with the help of Google...but we will add some of our own soon!
What comes to mind when you hear the word, “Transylvania?” Vampires and Dracula? That is what I always thought. But after a visit to Transylvania, I want you to change your image to something very much opposite. Transylvania is in western Romania. The image I want you to have now is “the Garden of Eden.” It is a mountainous region with patches of trees, sheer cliffs, velvety green fields, farmers cutting their grasses with scythes, mountain top peaks, beautiful rivers, and castles. It is the kind of place where you just want to sit for a while and ponder how God could have made such a beautiful place.
As for the castles, we visited two. One named Peles (pronounced “pell-ESH”) and one named Bran (“Bron”). Peles Castle is an ornate, Tudor style castle built by a Romanian King named Carol I from the late 1800s until 1914. One of the unique features of the castle was that the King built different sections of the castle in the various styles of cultures from around the world. Interestingly, he believed that few Romanians would get to travel the world to see its style and culture, so he wanted to bring it to the people. At his own expense, he built this impressive castle.
The second castle was my favorite of the two: Bran Castle. It dates from 1212 AD and has a rich history. Built along one of the routes of the ancient world, it has links to an ancient just but fierce king. His reputation led the castle to be identified as Dracula’s home though the author of Dracula, Bram Stoker, has never mentioned Bran Castle.
These pics were added with the help of Google...but we will add some of our own soon!
Written by Eric on Sunday night - June 13
We have now officially finished our week of puppetry at the Mission of Mercy School. Wow, what a great week of learning and sharing with students and staff. 220 hand puppets and almost all of the 40+ mouth puppets were made into beautiful creations for God. While we would love to show you the faces of the kids who made the puppets, we are not allowed to post any of them on line. You can, however, see some of the puppets posted below.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were spent making puppets and constructing a stage. From 8 am until 6 pm busy hands were making great creations. By Thursday we had made most of the puppets and so we spent the last two days practicing and performing puppet songs and skits. It always amazes me how God can take people who do not speak the same language, can take simple colored material, and work it all together to change lives. All week there was great energy among the staff and students at the school. From kindergarteners to high school student, they all excelled at the making of the puppets. Seems like most of the people here focus so much on their academic studies (even here at the school) that they do not take the time for creative arts. And so this week, their creative side flourished.
Thursday early afternoon was the time for the staff and the Lohes to practice a couple of songs that we would present for the children. We decided to do two songs that we had brought, both of which were in English. We tried and we practiced and practiced but we were having trouble getting all of us English and Romanian speakers to get the English songs correct. But as God so often does, He uses someone to make a suggestion that just makes everything work well. We practiced the song again. I don't know if this time somehow it let out all the stress of the week or it was such a neat thing to finally experience people from across the globe together praising God, but this time the puppets sang and danced.... and the humans cried. It was indeed a beautiful God moment of joy, unity, and satisfaction.
Thursday afternoon brought lots of the younger children and Friday morning brought many of the older ones. We acted out the parable of the Good Samaritan with hand puppets, did a mouth-puppet skit in Romanian about not littering and a song about frogs, used mouth puppets for the staff to do two English songs, and finished off each show with a Romanian song entitled "Isus Iubeste", celebrating how much Jesus loves us. (You'll get to hear it when we get back!)
So often God uses the simple to teach us the most profound things in the world. It happened again this week. Beautiful colored material offered to God by the people of CrossRoads is now changing the lives of children here in Pitesti. What a great and awesome God we serve! For this, the Kingdom will never be the same. Thanks for all your sewing and prayers!
We have now officially finished our week of puppetry at the Mission of Mercy School. Wow, what a great week of learning and sharing with students and staff. 220 hand puppets and almost all of the 40+ mouth puppets were made into beautiful creations for God. While we would love to show you the faces of the kids who made the puppets, we are not allowed to post any of them on line. You can, however, see some of the puppets posted below.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were spent making puppets and constructing a stage. From 8 am until 6 pm busy hands were making great creations. By Thursday we had made most of the puppets and so we spent the last two days practicing and performing puppet songs and skits. It always amazes me how God can take people who do not speak the same language, can take simple colored material, and work it all together to change lives. All week there was great energy among the staff and students at the school. From kindergarteners to high school student, they all excelled at the making of the puppets. Seems like most of the people here focus so much on their academic studies (even here at the school) that they do not take the time for creative arts. And so this week, their creative side flourished.
Thursday early afternoon was the time for the staff and the Lohes to practice a couple of songs that we would present for the children. We decided to do two songs that we had brought, both of which were in English. We tried and we practiced and practiced but we were having trouble getting all of us English and Romanian speakers to get the English songs correct. But as God so often does, He uses someone to make a suggestion that just makes everything work well. We practiced the song again. I don't know if this time somehow it let out all the stress of the week or it was such a neat thing to finally experience people from across the globe together praising God, but this time the puppets sang and danced.... and the humans cried. It was indeed a beautiful God moment of joy, unity, and satisfaction.
Thursday afternoon brought lots of the younger children and Friday morning brought many of the older ones. We acted out the parable of the Good Samaritan with hand puppets, did a mouth-puppet skit in Romanian about not littering and a song about frogs, used mouth puppets for the staff to do two English songs, and finished off each show with a Romanian song entitled "Isus Iubeste", celebrating how much Jesus loves us. (You'll get to hear it when we get back!)
So often God uses the simple to teach us the most profound things in the world. It happened again this week. Beautiful colored material offered to God by the people of CrossRoads is now changing the lives of children here in Pitesti. What a great and awesome God we serve! For this, the Kingdom will never be the same. Thanks for all your sewing and prayers!
From Eric --
One of the things that Carolyn commented about when we arrived was the extraordinary number of stray dogs in Romania. You know how that goes. Comments like these are always based on the eyes of the beholder. Stray dogs. One here and one there, I thought. OK, I can handle that. I often see stray dogs here and there in Indiana. Wrong. In the states, most households own a dog. In Romania, few own dogs. However, all parking lots have their stray dogs. So do shopping centers and schools and roadways and parks and streets and alleys. Lots of stray dogs. In fact Carolyn has been bitten 5 times since she has been here for 15 years. Given my astute mathematical skills that works out to once every three years. Not good odds for Carolyn but since I will only be here for 9 days, I am rather safe. (You can figure out the odds, if you have nothing else to do!) Rather safe I thought……. Really low odds of getting bitten. Low odds I thought until last night…..
Last night we decided to walk to the local grocery store to get one of those baked chickens for dinner. Aren’t they great and quick and easy? Just the same way here in Romania. We picked out 2 nice juicy ones, they got wrapped in paper, and put in a plastic bag. Yummy and hot!
As we got to Carolyn’s parking lot, she saw some of her friends that she wanted us to meet. So we stopped to meet them. Not wanting to push my odds with the stray dogs, I always take the circuitous route avoiding the most stray dogs. Standing there doing the common introductory courtesies, “Hello” and “Great to meet you”, and “Why are you here in Romania?”
Here is the pressing question for this story: Do you know what you do not carry across the parking lot in Romania?
As the conversation in the parking lot proceeded, I noticed something. Dog after dog after dog was getting up and walking closer and closer to me. I now know what you don’t carry across a Romanian parking lot: Two, hot, juicy, cooked, smelly, yummy chickens. Do you know what stray dogs like more than ever at dinner time? Cooked chickens are at the top of the list. No, I did not get bitten and neither did Carolyn. But my greatest accomplishment last night was smuggling two cooked, deliciously smelly chickens past the parking lot stray dogs. (OK, OK, we admit, we saved the chicken skin for the dogs and well after I went to bed, Carol, Kristen, Greta and Carolyn threw the chicken skin out the window to the dogs. Maybe they will remember next time and be nice to Carolyn the next time they get ornery!)
Note from Kristen: Tomorrow morning, we head into the mountains near Peles (I think). Internet access may be limited so if we don't post for a couple days, that's why! But I'm sure there will be many good stories after that. Stay tuned! :)
One of the things that Carolyn commented about when we arrived was the extraordinary number of stray dogs in Romania. You know how that goes. Comments like these are always based on the eyes of the beholder. Stray dogs. One here and one there, I thought. OK, I can handle that. I often see stray dogs here and there in Indiana. Wrong. In the states, most households own a dog. In Romania, few own dogs. However, all parking lots have their stray dogs. So do shopping centers and schools and roadways and parks and streets and alleys. Lots of stray dogs. In fact Carolyn has been bitten 5 times since she has been here for 15 years. Given my astute mathematical skills that works out to once every three years. Not good odds for Carolyn but since I will only be here for 9 days, I am rather safe. (You can figure out the odds, if you have nothing else to do!) Rather safe I thought……. Really low odds of getting bitten. Low odds I thought until last night…..
Last night we decided to walk to the local grocery store to get one of those baked chickens for dinner. Aren’t they great and quick and easy? Just the same way here in Romania. We picked out 2 nice juicy ones, they got wrapped in paper, and put in a plastic bag. Yummy and hot!
As we got to Carolyn’s parking lot, she saw some of her friends that she wanted us to meet. So we stopped to meet them. Not wanting to push my odds with the stray dogs, I always take the circuitous route avoiding the most stray dogs. Standing there doing the common introductory courtesies, “Hello” and “Great to meet you”, and “Why are you here in Romania?”
Here is the pressing question for this story: Do you know what you do not carry across the parking lot in Romania?
As the conversation in the parking lot proceeded, I noticed something. Dog after dog after dog was getting up and walking closer and closer to me. I now know what you don’t carry across a Romanian parking lot: Two, hot, juicy, cooked, smelly, yummy chickens. Do you know what stray dogs like more than ever at dinner time? Cooked chickens are at the top of the list. No, I did not get bitten and neither did Carolyn. But my greatest accomplishment last night was smuggling two cooked, deliciously smelly chickens past the parking lot stray dogs. (OK, OK, we admit, we saved the chicken skin for the dogs and well after I went to bed, Carol, Kristen, Greta and Carolyn threw the chicken skin out the window to the dogs. Maybe they will remember next time and be nice to Carolyn the next time they get ornery!)
Note from Kristen: Tomorrow morning, we head into the mountains near Peles (I think). Internet access may be limited so if we don't post for a couple days, that's why! But I'm sure there will be many good stories after that. Stay tuned! :)
From Eric --
In Indiana land, when you have to get some hardware, you have three main choices. I don’t even need to mention them. (If you don’t know, volunteer to fix the sink the next times it leaks and you will easily find out the answer.) Today I went to take back some material that had been purchased for the puppet stage that needed to be returned. The name of the store here was OBI. It was a great store but a bit eerie. This store had one predominant color. Lowes is blue. Menards is green and red. And Home Depot is bright orange. OBI is all one bright color. One bright color. One color that pervades every cart, sign,
advertisement, clothing of the employees, and floor. Bright, ever-present orange.
The last time I returned something in the states, it was a rather quick, two minute, “sign here and we will return it to your credit card” transaction. Here it was a much longer process. Each item was checked and rechecked. Each item was hand written down on a paper with all the serial and skew numbers. Then, they called the manager of each department to come up to the return desk to approve the returns. Kind of a lengthy process. But the time was so worth it as I learned about how great it was to participate in this process today.
Following the fall of communism in 1989 here in Romania, home supply stores were not in existence. And they were not around for many years later. Here one could not just decide to do a home repair project on Saturday and go down to your local orange store and get what you need. You had to plan and wait and wait. Only recently had OBI, a German based store, come to Romania. And even more recently have they allowed you to return things for exchange or credit. Carolyn told us that 15 years ago when she came here it she needed a light bulb, you could go down to the local store and see if they had any light bulbs. If they did, then you had to test it in the store because you were not allowed to bring things back (even if they didn’t work).
So what seemed like a rather routine process today really was a great experience of a freedom that is new for Romanians and should always be cherished as a blessing for those of us in the states who can jump in the car and get or return whatever you need today at your local orange, red and green or blue store.
Time for the second patch of photos!
Greta and me in Prague. This was taken shortly after we arrived. We just couldn't get over how cute all the buildings were!! From here, we went off to find a traditional Czech dinner.
This is Greta's Czech dinner: bits of pork with cream sauce and dumplings.
Mom and Gret in the kitchen of our apartment in Prague.
The day we arrived and the our first full day in Prague were rainy and cold. Nevertheless, we went out to enjoy the city. This is a typical Czech street. SO CUTE!!
This is Wenceslas Square which used to be (a looong time ago) the equine market. Since then, it has been the site of many revolutions and protests, including the Velvet Revolution in 1989 where 250,000-300,000 Czech filled this square.
At the top end of Wenceslas Square sits the Czech National Museum (see previous post for a picture). Inside, the ceiling looks like this:
It has rooms and rooms full of rocks, minerals, paleontology stuff, and stuffed animals.
The next day was beautiful, sunny, and warm. This is Dad standing by the Vltava River with Prague Castle in the background.
Old Town Square:
We took a walking tour of Prague Castle one afternoon. Our guide was a guy named Colin, who was originally from Scotland. At one point while we were walking between sites, he asked me where we were from. "Indiana" (I have learned that I shouldn't respond "America" as our accent has already given that away! so Indiana it is.).
"Indiana, really?" he replied.
"Uhh, yes.... my Dad's family is originally from Germany, but....."
Colin: "Ah, so you are German."
Me: "Well, uhh, yes kinda."
Colin: "So you're not from Sweden? You look Swedish."
Me: "No, not from Sweden."
etc....
At the end of the tour, he was saying goodbye to everyone and turned to us and said, "Okay, goodbye Swedish-looking Americans! Enjoy Prague!"
I thought this was fairly funny and amusing. Not sure if it will be funny via the internet, but it was definitely funny in person. Since then, Dad has been occasionally using a fake Swedish accent and referring to some (unknown and definitely made-up) great-cousin Sven. I'm sure you can picture that exactly. ;)
Anyway, the tour was very informative and interesting. Prague Castle is huge and it took about 4 hours to tour it. About halfway into the tour, we stopped for a break to get food, drinks, use the WC (bathroom), etc. As Colin gathered us at the end of the stop, a woman came out from a store, handed him a package of almonds, smiled, and went back in her store. I didn't think much of this seemingly simple exchange until Colin explained its significance.
As Dad has said in previous posts, the fall of communism only happened 20 years ago, so the thinking that comes with that kind of existence is still very prevalent in the Czech Republic. While we, in America, understand "commission", Czechs really do not (or do not understand it very much). Apparently, Colin had previously talked to the woman shop owner, asking her if he could have a free snack since he encourages over 50 tourists a day to stop in her store to buy snacks (meaning a lot of business for her!!). "No" was her quick response. Really? She couldn't spare a small bag of almonds when he brought her several hundred Crowns of business every day?? Well, by communist thinking, no. In fact, she didn't really even want all that extra business! During communist times, everyone had a job and was paid a certain amount no matter how much work they did, how well the business did, etc. So that thinking still exists. If Colin brings her so many more people, that means a whole lot more work! She doesn't really want extra work, and doesn't really link extra work with extra pay. He then explained that she must have reconsidered, and decided to give him the almonds anyway. Slowly, the thinking is changing. It has been so interesting to see how communism has so greatly affected eastern/central Europe, and continues to affect it now, even after its fall.
A view of the city from Prague Castle:
Mom at one of the gardens at Prague Castle:
St. Vitus Cathedral, which sits at the middle of Prague Castle:
The inside of St. Vitus Cathedral:
Mom and me at St. Vitus:
The famous "mille fille" (aka chocolate chick-peas!! haha):
A view of Prague Castle at night from the top of Petrin Tower:
Petrin Tower. It is a 1/5 scale version of Eiffel Tower. Supposedly, the top of it is at the same height as the top of the real Eiffel Tower in Paris....but in Prague, you must count the hill it sits on too!
After Prague, we took a plane to Munich (see the story about Dad's supposed 3 wives) and then another to Bucharest. This was taken the next day in Pitesti at the school where we are working on puppets!
The school sits up on a hill and has a great view of the city below it. Also, it has some of the most beautiful roses I've ever seen.
This is Gret, Mom, Carolyn, and me during our lunch break on Monday
We have taken so, so, so many good pictures of the kids this week and I would love to post them. However, by Romanian law I am not allowed to. So instead of pictures of the kids, here are pictures of their incredibly cute, incredibly creative, incredibly amazing hand puppets!!
Okay, it's nearly 6:30 pm here and we're headed to dinner before going to a show (not really sure what type of show though - I think it might be Romanian school kids doing dancing or something, but I'm not really sure).
But before I sign off, I just have to say how much WE MISS YOU ALL!! It has been great getting to see everything and I have loved being here and meeting people, but I really, really miss you guys at home. (Oh, and I miss Chick-fil-A too. Anyone have a good method for overnighting chicken sandwiches halfway across the world??) Thank you for all the comments! WE LOVE YOU! :)
Greta and me in Prague. This was taken shortly after we arrived. We just couldn't get over how cute all the buildings were!! From here, we went off to find a traditional Czech dinner.
This is Greta's Czech dinner: bits of pork with cream sauce and dumplings.
Mom and Gret in the kitchen of our apartment in Prague.
The day we arrived and the our first full day in Prague were rainy and cold. Nevertheless, we went out to enjoy the city. This is a typical Czech street. SO CUTE!!
This is Wenceslas Square which used to be (a looong time ago) the equine market. Since then, it has been the site of many revolutions and protests, including the Velvet Revolution in 1989 where 250,000-300,000 Czech filled this square.
At the top end of Wenceslas Square sits the Czech National Museum (see previous post for a picture). Inside, the ceiling looks like this:
It has rooms and rooms full of rocks, minerals, paleontology stuff, and stuffed animals.
The next day was beautiful, sunny, and warm. This is Dad standing by the Vltava River with Prague Castle in the background.
Old Town Square:
We took a walking tour of Prague Castle one afternoon. Our guide was a guy named Colin, who was originally from Scotland. At one point while we were walking between sites, he asked me where we were from. "Indiana" (I have learned that I shouldn't respond "America" as our accent has already given that away! so Indiana it is.).
"Indiana, really?" he replied.
"Uhh, yes.... my Dad's family is originally from Germany, but....."
Colin: "Ah, so you are German."
Me: "Well, uhh, yes kinda."
Colin: "So you're not from Sweden? You look Swedish."
Me: "No, not from Sweden."
etc....
At the end of the tour, he was saying goodbye to everyone and turned to us and said, "Okay, goodbye Swedish-looking Americans! Enjoy Prague!"
I thought this was fairly funny and amusing. Not sure if it will be funny via the internet, but it was definitely funny in person. Since then, Dad has been occasionally using a fake Swedish accent and referring to some (unknown and definitely made-up) great-cousin Sven. I'm sure you can picture that exactly. ;)
Anyway, the tour was very informative and interesting. Prague Castle is huge and it took about 4 hours to tour it. About halfway into the tour, we stopped for a break to get food, drinks, use the WC (bathroom), etc. As Colin gathered us at the end of the stop, a woman came out from a store, handed him a package of almonds, smiled, and went back in her store. I didn't think much of this seemingly simple exchange until Colin explained its significance.
As Dad has said in previous posts, the fall of communism only happened 20 years ago, so the thinking that comes with that kind of existence is still very prevalent in the Czech Republic. While we, in America, understand "commission", Czechs really do not (or do not understand it very much). Apparently, Colin had previously talked to the woman shop owner, asking her if he could have a free snack since he encourages over 50 tourists a day to stop in her store to buy snacks (meaning a lot of business for her!!). "No" was her quick response. Really? She couldn't spare a small bag of almonds when he brought her several hundred Crowns of business every day?? Well, by communist thinking, no. In fact, she didn't really even want all that extra business! During communist times, everyone had a job and was paid a certain amount no matter how much work they did, how well the business did, etc. So that thinking still exists. If Colin brings her so many more people, that means a whole lot more work! She doesn't really want extra work, and doesn't really link extra work with extra pay. He then explained that she must have reconsidered, and decided to give him the almonds anyway. Slowly, the thinking is changing. It has been so interesting to see how communism has so greatly affected eastern/central Europe, and continues to affect it now, even after its fall.
A view of the city from Prague Castle:
Mom at one of the gardens at Prague Castle:
St. Vitus Cathedral, which sits at the middle of Prague Castle:
The inside of St. Vitus Cathedral:
Mom and me at St. Vitus:
The famous "mille fille" (aka chocolate chick-peas!! haha):
A view of Prague Castle at night from the top of Petrin Tower:
Petrin Tower. It is a 1/5 scale version of Eiffel Tower. Supposedly, the top of it is at the same height as the top of the real Eiffel Tower in Paris....but in Prague, you must count the hill it sits on too!
After Prague, we took a plane to Munich (see the story about Dad's supposed 3 wives) and then another to Bucharest. This was taken the next day in Pitesti at the school where we are working on puppets!
The school sits up on a hill and has a great view of the city below it. Also, it has some of the most beautiful roses I've ever seen.
This is Gret, Mom, Carolyn, and me during our lunch break on Monday
We have taken so, so, so many good pictures of the kids this week and I would love to post them. However, by Romanian law I am not allowed to. So instead of pictures of the kids, here are pictures of their incredibly cute, incredibly creative, incredibly amazing hand puppets!!
Okay, it's nearly 6:30 pm here and we're headed to dinner before going to a show (not really sure what type of show though - I think it might be Romanian school kids doing dancing or something, but I'm not really sure).
But before I sign off, I just have to say how much WE MISS YOU ALL!! It has been great getting to see everything and I have loved being here and meeting people, but I really, really miss you guys at home. (Oh, and I miss Chick-fil-A too. Anyone have a good method for overnighting chicken sandwiches halfway across the world??) Thank you for all the comments! WE LOVE YOU! :)
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