Adventures of Lydia and Joe

Tickets purchased; trains, planes, automobiles and a ferry booked; hotels, inns, and generous friends and family reserved; looks like we’re going. And now we have two grandchildren to visit, Katherine in Madrid and Garrett in Valparaiso near Chicago. New destinations are the Cornwall and Devon areas of England and the island of Malta. We will visit Sally and John (she and I went to high school at St. Andrew’s) in John’s ancestral village near Linz, Austria; return to Crestet in Provence; return to Rome for what promises to be a very special tour of the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican gardens; return to Vernazza in the Cinque Terre in Italy; and finally finish by whatever means possible our last segment of the Camino de Santiago in Spain. We will also visit Katherine in Madrid and take her on a whirlwind weekend to see some ancient Banales sights and visit our Banales family in Navarra. Sadly, we will not return to Ireland nor to Lourdes this time.

We will return home via Chicago to spend a few days with Garrett at University of Valparaiso in northwest Indiana.

I hope to be faithful to this blog. I appreciate you readers and welcome your feedback and suggestions. We’ll see how the adventure unfolds. In these uncertain times we will do our utmost to keep safe. Your prayers are always welcome!

See you again on Sept. 4th with the first update from Bath, England.

Looks like we will be going to visit Katherine in Madrid in October. Of course there will be many plans made and changed before then. Until we buy the ticket, I will have a hard time believing we are going back. But I’m still pondering many ideas. Do I return to volunteer at Lourdes? is a big one. Where haven’t we been that we’d like to go? Can I get myself in shape to walk the final segment of the Camino? Is it possible for Joe at 82 to walk the Camino? And of course one must consider that anything can happen at our ages in the next ten months. Meanwhile, I have been faithful to the treadmill for the new near. Hope, pray, act!

June 9, 2013 Kerry, Here We Come

We checked out about 11 and would have gotten to Kenmare, Co. Kerry early except that we had to go back to the Wineport to retrieve Joe’s forgotten sweater. Then just as we’re about to leave, I couldn’t fine the GPS. I couldn’t remember what I had done with it but I thought I had it with me when I was getting directions at the front desk on how to get to Coosan and the Mass. We looked everywhere. I had to search through my just-reorganized luggage as well as the room where we looked in every drawer and cupboard. I was so annoyed. Finally, we reported it lost at the front desk. They were very sympathetic but nothing had been turned in. I gave my name and number, should anything turn up. I dejectedly returned to the car. I thought I’d give one more look in all the places in the car it could be. I rifled through the glove box one more time and, miracle of miracles, there it was behind the maps. Now I felt embarrassed but happy. When we got to the Wineport for the sweater, we asked them to call the Golf Club to tell them we’d found the GPS. I was too chicken to call!
We had gotten good directions from Fr. Declan on a new way to go to Kenmare, so we followed them and they were perfect. We bypassed Galway and Limerick which cut off a lot of time. We were going to stop at Dirty Nellie’s for lunch at Bunratty Castle, but the motorway passed it by so we kept going. We did have lunch in Adare although it was hard to find a place to park because so many people were out enjoying the weather.
We arrived at John Dito’s place in Sheen Woods about 5:15 PM. It was good to see a familiar face. He was so generous to invite us. I presented John with a little birthday remembrance to mark his day, the 8th of June. Then he surprised me with a birthday gift – a Kenmare magnet and a sweet pendant necklace with shamrocks in it.
We went to the Lime Tree as planned and had a delicious dinner. Joe had Salmon and I had lamb prepared two ways – 2 lamb chops and a pot of Shepherd’s Pie. When they brought out dessert, it had a candle and the staff and Joe and John sang Happy Birthday to me. A very nice evening.

June 8, 2013 Mass and Dinner with Declan

The day dawned brilliantly and we had a delicious breakfast. I love Irish porridge and the way they scramble eggs and serve them with broiled tomatoes. Then we had to check out, reluctantly and make our way to the Glassan Golf Club and Hotel. It was just a short drive around to the other side of the bay. So now we were on the sunrise side instead of the sunset side. Except for the original house which is now the golf club, it’s a new building and very attractive. It sits on a large piece of land with the golf course spread out around it all the way down to the lake. Lots of wide open space. People were out on the veranda enjoying the sun. It made me giggle that suddenly every person in Ireland was dressed in shorts and sandals; the women had on summer tops or strapless dresses. I saw one man with legs so white they were almost blinding. The golfers were slathering on sunscreen. Some of the women had bright red sunburned shoulders and legs. It made me appreciate how blessed we are to have sunny weather most of the time. The staff greeted us so warmly and got a room for us even though it was before noon. We had a large room with a view of the lake. We had lunch in the bar and watched a bit of a rugby game.
It was actually too hot to sit outside for very long without shade. The Irish seemed to be enjoying it, but this Californian couldn’t take it! So I got my trusty iPad and keyboard and went to one of the bright lounges to catch up on this blog while Joe went for a walk.
We got ready to go to 7 PM Mass at Our Lady of Peace and arrived around 6:40. Declan greeted us as he was walking over to Mass. The lack of participation of the laity really surprised me. Declan did all the readings, there was only one altar server, and they were short on Eucharistic minister. Later, Declan explained that because of the fine weather, the reader was having a Barbecue and the kids were scattered to activities in the sun. He also said that about 50% of the usual congregation weren’t there.
After Mass we followed him to the Wineport where we had a good dinner and a lively debate about gun control. Following a lovely sunset, Declan left about 11 pm and we made our way back to the Glassan Golf Club and Hotel for a good sleep.

June 7 Ancient Irish History Visited

We arrived at Newgrange Lodge last night after a series of wrong turns. Fortunately it stays light in Ireland until about 11 o’clock so we were not driving in darkness. The Newgrange Lodge reminded me a lot Sequoia Lake for some reason. It’s out in the country and has several common rooms with comfortable couches. The kitchen is open all the time for coffee or tea. All the staff are very friendly and helpful. The room was a surprise in that it had two beds, but they were end to end. One was a double and one a twin. There was only one plug so Joe had to sleep there. The bathroom was adequate but the ceiling was occupied by a couple of spiders which I didn’t see until I was just about to step in the shower. So I 86’d the shower and got dressed for breakfast. Our mission today was to go to Newgrange, an ancient passage tomb and possibly the seat of the beginnings of the Irish people. The girl at the desk made the arrangements for us, so after a breakfast of coffee, toast and fruit we packed up the car and went to the site. The day was absolutely gorgeous which made the site even more attractive. Green hills, sheep and cows in their respective pastures, river flowing gently, wild flowers everywhere. We had a guided tour with about 25 other people. The way into the center of the tomb is very narrow and low. I realized that the lady I saw outside wandering around was probably too big to fit through the passage. I was very grateful I could fit, and my resolve to lose some pounds and inches was reinforced. Once we were all inside, the guide informed us about the carvings on the rocks. She then demonstrated how, twice a year, the sun enters the tomb through a window in the front and slowly sends a shaft of light into the center. To do this, she had to turn out the lights and suddenly we were plunged into pitch black darkness. Then she mechanically turned on a ray of light which slowly made its way to us. It was eerie. With the lights back on we explored the tomb a little longer, then made our way back out to the brilliant sunshine. Back at the Center we wandered through the well designed displays which explained how early man survived in the area. It was a good visit.
Our next stop was the Wineport Lodge near Athlone. I had spoken to Father Declan when we arrived in Ireland to remind him of our dinner appointment tonight and he asked us to change it to Saturday. That made things a little complicated as the Wineport had no available rooms on Saturday night. And their earliest dinner reservation was 9 o’clock. So Declan recommended the Glasson Golf Club and Hotel nearby where I was able to get both a room and dinner reservation. That settled, we were able to enjoy much of the day in the area of the Wineport without any appointments. We drove back to Slane where we found a laundry. There is no self service, but the girl said she could have our wash done in about an hour and a half. So we left it with her and went to the local pub for some traditional Irish food. Joe finally got his Irish stew, almost, and we enjoyed our lunch even if it was beef stew instead of lamb. We collected our freshly laundered clothes and headed south-west to the center of the country. Once settled at the Wineport, we went out for a long walk along the country road. I made a new friend of a beautiful brown mare and her adorable foal. So sweet. Then across the road a small dog came bounding along the fence, barking his little head off. His furiously wagging tail gave him away to be playful rather than vicious. On the way back we saw him fetching a ball from his owner. There were many wildflowers, old rock walls, the lake, fields and hills, all the things I associate with Ireland. For dinner we decided to order room service and sit on our balcony to enjoy the sunset. We had a long wait, but it was worth it. The sun actually set around 9:45 but the play in the sky went on much longer as the few clouds would get pink, then red. It was lovely. I had to draw the curtains because the sky was still light at midnight and I knew it would be getting light again around 5:30 am. Good night.

June 5 and 6, 2013 Zagreb to London to Dublin – Lydia is a Jackrabbit

We made it to our train in plenty of time. There were only two passenger cars. We went to our reserved seats and found them occupied. I was ticked but a train man said this was a “substitute train” and seat reservations didn’t matter, so we should sit wherever. I was annoyed that I had not only bought seat reservations in Pasadena, but I had bought another set in Vienna by mistake. It turned out for the best, however, because we had a whole compartment to ourselves for the entire journey. Except for the Canadian man we had boarded with who popped into our compartment to show us photos of Plitvice National Park we were free to relax. I took a lot of photos of course, and we tried to guess where we were on a map. When we arrived in Zagreb we needed a taxi to our hotel. Thanks to Rick Steves’ advice about potentially crooked cab drivers, I already knew it should cost about 30-40 kuna. The first driver quoted 100 kuna, the second came down to 50. I knew it wasn’t too far to walk, so I said no. He complained that he’d been waiting around all day but I turned a deaf ear. The post office was in front of us and I needed stamps so we walked toward the Post and right ahead of us were the legitimate taxis. Figuring I’d get stamps later, we got a taxi and paid 25 kuna for the trip to the Hotel Dubrovnik. It’s in a great location on the lower square with lots of people and trams coming and going. After checking in, we followed Rick Steves’ advice again, and went to the Museum of Naive Art. It was a long walk, partly because we didn’t know about the firnucular to the upper square. If this is Rick Steves’ #1 attraction in Zagreb, the city is in trouble! The paintings were done in the period right after the French impressionists. They were interesting in subject and composition but reminded me a bit of Grandma Moses. There was one of Notre Dame in shades of red that I liked a lot. We left there and walked up a bit more to St. Mark’s Church with a striking roof of two heraldic seals which were very colorful. Then on our walk back we did find the fernucular (sorry, I cannot spell that word) after buying a souvenir magnet from a pretty girl in native Croation dress who works for the tourist bureau. We decided to have dinner in our hotel at their restaurant called The American Steak and Grill House. We both had chicken and I had a baked potato. Yum! Then to our room to pack for the airplane rides tomorrow.
The next morning we didn’t have to rush as our plane wasn’t until the early afternoon. So we went to the post office to buy stamps for the 20 postcards I’d written. The girl sold me the stamps, then proceeded to stamp them all for me. What service! We walked to the Cathedral of the Assumption and followed Rick Steves’ guide to the important places. It always unnerves me to see bodies of long dead saints or patriots in glass coffins, but there was one here. Beautiful church. Lit more candles.
Soon enough it was time to go back to the hotel, get a taxi and get to the airport. All worked well. Had an honest driver who actually picked us up in the pedestrian zone. Our British Air flight was terrific and included alcohol so I had to have my BA bloody Mary in honor of Terry Kiser’s mom who told me this was her secret to relaxed flying. The “jackrabbit” bit you’ve all been wondering about happened next. We had to connect to an Aer Lingus flight for Dublin which was in a different terminal. Because of the time change, we thought we had plenty of time although we didn’t dally on the way to the other terminal. We had to take a bus, then find our gate. 79, you’ve got to be kidding. There was a transfer desk with some passengers from the other flight who didn’t have boarding passes for the Aer Lingus flight. Thank God we did, so they directed us to a hallway and said it was a brisk 20 minute walk. Than means a 30 minute walk for me and the Departure Board said the flight was “Closing”. And so the race began. It was a very long way. Joe went ahead of me and I did my best. Thank God for moving sidewalks. I nearly ran on them. We arrived at the gate, handed in our Boarding passes and got on. Within five minutes the flight departed. We never saw the people who were waiting for boarding passes. They must have missed the flight. In any case, we arrived in Dublin, got our car, and made our way to the Newgrange Lodge by the longest route possible. GPS isn’t so great in a country where addresses in the country are frequently vague. And in this case, there were two towns of exactly the same name in similar locations. Ahh, Ireland. You gotta love it! (And I do!) By the way, Joe was really impressed at how I raced to the flight. More than once he’s said, “You really moved!” Such a compliment!

June 4, 2013 Tour Day to Medjugorge, Mostar, and More

We had pre-arranged an all-day tour and arrived at the appointed meeting spot with a little anxiety because we didn’t know if or how many people would show up. There were 8 of us. An Episcopal priest and his wife, two women from Finland, and young couple from Poland were our companions for the day. Our driver/guide was Andrej, a personable young man who gave us his plan for the day for our approval. When I heard it only included about 20 minutes out of an 11 hour day for Medjugorge, I was a bit dismayed and said so. He agreed to adjust the times as we all needed and we set off. First stop was a shop that sold a particular baked pastry sandwich with various fillings that he was sure we would want to try as it was a Croatian specialty. We got one with potato/onion and one with cheese. They were very greasy and we only ate a few bites. I think Andrej needed a cigarette break. We finally got to Mostar, a city whose bridge symbolized the Croat/Serbian war of 1992-95. It was badly damaged but rather than tear it down, they collected money from all the local people and rebuilt it exactly as it had been. Andrej challenged us to disagree that this was the most beautiful bridge in the world and none of us wanted to hurt his feelings by disagreeing. It is beautiful if small, arching over the swiftly flowing river below. There are young men in bathing suits on the bridge and for 25 Euros they will dive off. On the other side of the bridge we stepped into rows of restaurants and shops. The goods in the shops reminded us of the items we had seen in Turkey. Some of the linens were exactly the same. We had lunch with the priest couple, then wandered around a bit. There were still signs of the war with bullet holes in some of the walls and some collapsed buildings.
We were returning to our appointed meeting place when Andrej pulled up in the van. He had a knack for knowing where we were and giving us a lift. We were finally on our way to Medjugorge. First we went to “Apparition Hill” which most pilgrims climb to the top where the Virgin first appeared to the young visionaries. This is the rockiest country I’ve ever seen and this hill was composed of orange and white rock turned up at a 45 degree angle making it most treacherous to walk on. To make matters worse, it started to sprinkle as we arrived. Joe started up the path and then he got carried away and said with a big smile, “I’m going up!” and he was off. I didn’t know if he planned to walk up the whole thing or just go part way so I stayed and waited while the Polish couple went on ahead of Joe and the others went to a Bosnian village that Andrej knew about. About 40 minutes later Andrej appeared to collect us and shortly thereafter Joe made his way down. He seemed to really enjoy the experience. If I’d had enough time, I know I could have done it, but the combination of a lack of time and the rain made the climb prohibitive for me. Andrej took us to the church which is quite a distance from the hill. He also pointed out the “castle” that the Canadian couple is building as a retreat center for priests. We were told about this couple by Sandra and her mother in Vienna.
We visited the church and lit candles for family and friends. Then we rejoined the rest of the group and were off to two more sights, a small village and a gorgeous waterfall. The eleven hour day passed very quickly. We exchanged email contact with Renata, the young Polish woman who had taken photos of Joe on the hill in Medjugorge. Our landlord was in his ground level shop when we returned to our sobe, so we paid him for our stay and thanked him. He’s very proud of his place and wanted to know what we thought. I told him that my only complaint was that the beds were too hard. And in spite of Joe’s attempt to minimize my concern, I’m stickin’ to it! The beds were like rocks! We tried another restaurant for dinner and were again disappointed in the food. Then we decided to walk to the train station so we’d know where it is for sure in the morning. It was a long walk, but they always are when you don’t know where you’re going. Also, it was very dark in some areas and a little scary. We just had to walk to the other side of the harbor where the ferry boats arrive. A little gelato sustained us on the walk home. We also enjoyed seeing all the historic buildings lit up. And so our time in Split came to a close.

June 7, 2013 If I’m in Ireland, What Happened to the Past Week?

OK, I confess, I’m on my veranda at Wineport Lodge braving the blazing Irish sun, yes sun, to try to catch up on my writing. But I won’t slight you. I’ll try to recount the most significant events since Austria so you won’t feel slighted.
I have to confess, I’m relieved to be back in a familiar country with a familiar language (although I could listen to the Irish accent all day, it’s so lilting) and familiar food with a menu that doesn’t need much translating (unless you don’t know what champ is and a few other delights).
So, Eastern Europe:
On the 31st of May we got an early train in Vienna to Ljubljana, the capitol of Slovenia. First hurdle was to get our rental car. There was no Dollar/Budget car rental office at the train station. I faced down and ultimately lost the battle to get some information from the man whose job was to provide information to tourists. He spoke very little English and was a big grump besides. He said he only had train information. So we wandered around trying to resolve the dilemma. Finally I had to swallow my pride and return to the pseudo-Information office. This time I made it a point to go to a different person who didn’t know the answer either but suggested we go to the Sixt rental office and ask there as all the rental companies know each other. This turned out to be perfect advice. The Dollar people were trying to contact us by email to let us know they would deliver the car to the train station at 2:30 PM. I didn’t see their email until after the fact. But the Sixt agent was able to contact them and the cute little red car was finally delivered and we were off to Lake Bled. Our GPS took us directly to our B&B, Vila Alice. We could not have made a better choice. It’s not right on the lake, but a very short and pleasant walk away. The rooms are very modern, yet comfortable, with the best rain shower I’ve ever experienced. We had our own little 2nd floor nest with a tiny balcony. It was a spacious nest, more than we needed, but great. We went off in search of dinner; I know we ate something somewhere but it was not memorable.
Next day was our full day in Bled. After a tasty breakfast including scrambled eggs, a rarity, we decided to walk around the lake, take a boat ride to the island, visit the church on the island, and just enjoy ourselves. We did all those things and it seems a shame to put them all in one sentence. We didn’t have any order to our activities but we thought we’d get the boat ride first. Rick Steves warned in his book that one might have to wait at the boats until there were enough passengers, so we were not surprised when the boatman asked us to wait. But after several minutes, only 2 other people came along and they were not willing to wait. So we decided to start our walk and find a boat later. The walk is along a tree-shaded gravel path, very easy. It was such a beautiful day! No crowds, no noise. We got about half way round and found another boat rental. The pletna boats are unique to Lake Bled and have a long history. Ironically, our boat was named Lydija, so we took it as a sign that we had to wait for a few other riders to come along. Soon 5 more people joined us, and, would you believe, one lady was also named Lydia. So we had to take photos of the 3 Lydias. She’s lived in Canada for over 50 years, hates it, and returns to Slovenia every year to visit family. We were a congenial group. We arrived at the island and made our way to the top where the views were breathtaking. There’s a tradition there that if you ring the church bell (the rope is hanging about half way down the nave of the church) hard enough to get three strikes on the bell, you will have good luck. I did it!! After half an hour of exploring, we had to return to reality on our little pletna boat. We continued our walk, stopping for a cold beer and a sandwich about 3/4 around. When we got back we learned that the route is actually 7 km which is closer to 4 miles. I was very proud of myself! I will always be grateful to Sally Conn for urging us to go to Lake Bled.
We had dinner at Okarina Etno, a really good restaurant that’s part of the Hotel Lovec. As we entered and looked for a place to sit, a pleasant looking lady said to us in English, “Come sit here, next to me.” We couldn’t pass up such a gracious invitation. We had a lively conversation during dinner and exchanged contact cards. After dinner, we went down to the lake to say goodbye and were delighted to see that the castle, church, and church on the island were all lighted up. So lovely! Then a short reluctant walk back to Vila Alice.
In the morning we walked up to 8 am Mass. We had learned the night before that Sunday was the feast of Corpus Christi and there would be a special Mass and a procession to the lake where priests and people would convey the Blessed Sacrament by pletna boat to the church on the island. We could only stay for Mass, but got a few photos of the preparations for the procession. I convinced Joe that before we left, we needed to drive up to the castle which is perched on a rocky outcrop that looks like Half Dome above the lake. I’m glad we did as we had amazing views over the lake as well more insight into Slovenian history. Then we had to get on our way down the Istrian peninsula into Croatia. We drove to Rovinj which is a bustling seaside community on the western side of the peninsula. Oh, if we only had more time! We had lunch on a terrace overlooking the sea and a small rocky beach. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the restaurant was decorated in blue and white with small vases of red roses on each table. The food was good, too! We then had to leave for our hotel on the other side of the peninsula were it joins the mainland. Opatija is a charming town next to its big commercial sister, Rijeka. There is a lot of Italian influence in the architecture and in the food. Another Rick Steves recommendation, the Hotel Galeb was a good choice. It was easy to find and had private parking. We had a tiny balcony overlooking the Kvarnar Gulf, the strip of sea between the mainland of Croatia and all the islands along the coast. Don’t remember dinner! We walked around the area and I know gelato played a part in the evening. Joe has become a fan.
We had to move on as we were due in Split and it’s a very long drive. One itinerary item we had to give up was a visit to Plitvice National Park, a place some claim is the most beautiful National Park in Europe. It has a series of waterfalls that are supposed to be gorgeous. But the drive would have been just too much. So we headed for Split. We drove along the coast until Senj, then headed inland for the motorway. When we finally arrived, our GPS took us directly to to the place where we were to return the car. It was never easier. Our sobe, the Croatian equivalent of a B&B minus the breakfast, was located right in the middle of Diocletian’s palace, the main historic area of Split. It was another Rick Steves find, the sobe “Base” We called our host who said he’d come and pick us up. No, not in a car, walking. It was a 3 floor, 3 room building. Our room was very spacious, had a good sized bathroom, and a TV as well as a computer and free wifi. My only complaint was that the bed was very hard. But I did manage to sleep! We went our exploring and to find some dinner. We met a Canadian couple in the restaurant around the corner and it turned our they were staying in our same sobe, on the first floor. We were on the second. Dinner was not first rate. The area was very historic and wandering around revealed interesting finds around each corner. There is a good amount of original Roman architecture. As we headed back to our room, we couldn’t help but notice music and laughter from just around the corner. Thinking there might be some live entertainment to enjoy, we followed our ears only to learn that it was a private party. So we returned to our nest and went to bed. The music lingered until about midnight but we were too tired to listen. And so completes the first part of our Croatian adventure.

May 27, 28, 29 and 30 Goodbye, Barcelona; Hello, Vienna

Thought of Andrew a lot today. We slept in and took our sweet time getting outside to re-explore Barcelona. We picked 3 places to see: Gruell Park, Gaudi’s idea of a utopian city, the Sagrada Familia Basilica, just to take a photo, and St. Pau de Champ, first time visit to the oldest church in Barcelona. We did all three with a not so great lunch on the Ramblas (a tapas restaurant that was pretty good food but overpriced). Finally got ahold of Manolo who agreed to meet us for dinner at the Circulo. He arrived around 8 with Montsy, his novia, and urged us to skip our reservation and go back to the Basque bar we so enjoyed last time. But we had to honor our reservation. So we had a nice dinner together. Montsy brought me a gift, a cup with its own top marked with places in Barcelona. Very sweet! We had an early dinner by Spanish standards and got packed before sleep so we could catch our plane to Vienna in the morning.

Morning came too soon and we were up and out. Our flight on Berlin Air Nikki was uneventful, thank God, and we arrived in Vienna, found our hotel, and were ready for a nap! We are right around the corner from St. Stephan Cathedral, a city landmark. It is very beautiful and lit up at night. We wandered a bit, then had a bite to eat and got ready for our evening at the opera house. We couldn’t get opera tickets, but went to a performance of a very good basso and an accomplished pianist. Music was all in Russian and a little heavy, but we enjoyed the experience. We walked back to our hotel along the pedestrian walkways and marveled at how beautiful the city is at night with all the landmarks lighted up.

Now it’s Jonny’s birthday. Sarah sent us a photo but it’s not the same as being there. I sent him a long text on his new phone. Due to the 9 hour lag time, I get news from home about 3 in the morning. But that’s ok if it’s family!
We had a big day planned once we got going. Trouble is we don’t get going until 10 or 11 am! On the docket today was a train ride up the Washau Valley to Melk Abbey, visit the abbey, take a Danube river cruise part way back to Vienna and the train the rest of the way. Except for some rain on the way back it was a wonderful day until we missed the boat going back. I walked the 1.5 km to the boat dock as fast as I could and it pulled away just as we got there. I was so mad and unfairly took it out on Joe. He decided we would pay 45 Euros for a taxi to take us to the next boat stop; then we could get on the boat for 20 km and still enjoy the cruise. So we did and so we did. By the time we got back we were pooped and ordered dinner in our room. We shared a wienerschnitzel – it was good. We also had a few bites of the apple strudle and the strawberry cream tart we bought at the local pastry shop. Then to sleep.

The next day was predicted to be rainy so we made it museum day. First we went over to the Cathedral since we still hadn’t gotten inside and learned that it was the celebration of Corpus Christi. There had just been a very fancy Mass with the Bishop and other fancy folk. We took a photo of three college students in honor guard costumes with gloves and swords. They looked very handsome. We tried to go into the church and were almost turned away but I know how to play that game. Of course we’re going to Mass, I smiled at the usher. He passed us through and we actually went to Mass. It was lovely but put us back on our time schedule by another hour.
Now, finally, off to the museums. We were so clever! We used the U bahn (subway) and bus and tram to get around. The biggest problem was the rain which was continuous. Joe really wanted to go to the Military Museum which is located really far from Vienna center. But we got there after a long transit ride and a long walk through a soggy park. It’s located in a huge building which must have an interesting history because it has statues of all the leaders of the area for the last several centuries. Upstairs is an amazing ballroom with anterooms all vaulted and decorated in gilt and murals on the ceilings and very old paintings on the walls.
There is a huge collection of artifacts from both world wars as well as from many other battles from previous centuries. There were mannequins in authentic costumes as well as jeeps, tanks, and even a real airplane suspended from the ceiling.
We also went to Schoenbrun palace which I thought was open until 8 pm. We got there at 5 and had exactly 1/2 hour to see the place. We rushed through and saw most of what we wanted to see. They were setting up for a free outdoor concert but weren’t sure if they were going to have it or not because of the weather. We gave up on it and went back to our hotel. We celebrated our success and toasted Austria with dinner at our hotel where the most boorish man was holding court over his host and hostess. He seemed to know everything about everything, even Americans and specifically Californians. I wanted to go over and tell him a thing or two, but I didn’t because that would only reinforce his negative opinion of Californians. What a jerk! Saying farewell to Austria tomorrow and taking the train to Slovenia. Yikes!

May 25 and 26th, 2013 – Banales Time

I was very concerned that Aricelli would go to a lot of trouble to satisfy our American breakfast way of life due to her past experience with us. Several times we had come to her house after a stay in Provence where I was used to preparing omelettes with fresh tomatoes, onions and zucchini (yum!). So when I would come to Artajona I was still thinking “American breakfast”. Well, the Spanish don’t eat that way. Their breakfast is usually a roll and coffee, maybe some fruit. I had emailed Aricelli and told her that we don’t eat that way anymore and that the Spanish breakfast would be fine. I was pleased to see that she took me at my word. So she set out some fruit, bread, yoghurt, and coffee. She had a lot of sweet bread and cookies which we didn’t eat. Everything else was great. They planned to take us to Pamplona to mail our stuff home, then on a driving trip to an area towards the French border between San Sebastian and St. Jean Pied de Port. The post office (Correo) had several sized boxes among which was a huge carton that would take our small suitcase and all our extra stuff, 17 kilos +. It cost a little more than 100 Euros to mail everything home, worth every penny! Joe was able to cram in both backpacks, our boots, our poles, some gifts, and assorted books, maps, and papers. That left us with only 3 suitcases to worry about, much easier than 4. That business taken care of, we were off on our day trip.
We drove over hill and dale, around hair pin turns, over narrow bridges and through some of the most picturesque villages with lots of flowers, both wild and cultivated, everywhere. We had a delicious lunch in a tiny hotel whose name I can’t remember, but I’d love to go back there someday. Lots of history to the building and comfortable decor. We had a great day but we had to get back to Pamplona to see Miguel’s sons and then back to Artajona for dinner and what has been advertised as a Gospel music concert.
All during our tour, Aricelli was in frequent contact with her boys to be sure they were doing their chores and studying for their finals. When we got to their house, the boys greeted us warmly. They are both so tall and very handsome. Carlos has two finals on Monday, Music and human Physiology. Miguelito doesn’t have an exam for another week or so but he was still supposed to be studying. Carlos showed us his room with all his sports memorabilia including the framed photo of Pau Gasol that we sent him a few years ago. The family gathered what they needed and we headed off to Artajona. Miguelito is driving now so the boys came separately. As soon as we got to Artajona, Aricelli and Miguel started preparing dinner. They won’t let us help at all. So I chatted with the boys and wrote on the blog. (Seems like I’m always trying to catch up!) Loly and her husband Ignacio joined us for dinner. Loly provided the asparagus. We also had mixed green salad and breaded veal cutlets. During dinner I explained to them what Gospel music is like – usually black men and women dressed in choir robes singing with a lot of emotion about bible themes. After dinner we exchanged farewell abrazos with the boys.
About 9 pm Miguel drove us to the church for the concert. Were we surprised to see a group of about 12 white teenagers singing songs of praise in sharp harmony! In between the songs they performed little morality plays in pantomime. The final song, “Christ Lives/Cristo Vive” was a rouser and had everyone clapping. It turned out that the students were from a small Christian college near San Diego and had been invited to Artajona by an evangelical missionary who lives here to do a concert tour in nearby towns. After they finished performing, the kids came down into the audience to talk to the people. They were very surprised to hear English and to meet fellow Californians. Aricelli and I walked to the car which was some distance away and drove home while Joe and the menfolk went to a bar to continue the evening. As we approached the apartment, we suddenly noticed the most beautiful full moon just in front of us. I took a picture but it didn’t do justice to that brilliant moon.
I hit the sack, I was so tired and Joe came in shortly after. Another very good day.

The next day, Sunday, was the day of the fiesta. But these days it seems to mean that whoever can go for the Mass out at the Banales Archeological site goes. Then they go to a restaurant for the mid-day meal. They get together again in Artajona for a late supper. So we caravanned with Banales siblings Miguel, Jeru, Loly and Aunt Victoria, plus Juan Mari, Aricelli and us. Unable to be there were Fernando, Manolo in Barcelona, Petrus, and Jesus Mari who is recovering in the hospital from a serious case of pneumonia. We have been so blessed to know these people!
We got there early so Juan Mari pulled a folding table and some chairs out of his trunk and Aricelli and Jeru produced meats, cheeses, wine and even real glasses. After our little picnic we went to see the pillar remnants of the aqueduct. Since the first time we came here in 1998, everything seems so official with identifying signs and fenced off areas like the Roman bath building. The Mass was very crowded while outside there was a carnival atmosphere combined with serious archeological interests. After Mass we took the obligatory photos by the statue of the Virgin of Los Banales.
Then we had to decide what to do because we needed to be in Barcelona at a reasonable hour to return the car. So we joined Miguel, Ariceli, Carlitos and their friend Rita for lunch at a nearby restaurant out in the country. Rita gave us a little framed water color of the pillars of the Los Banales aqueduct.
Around 3 pm we took off for Barcelona after many fond abrazos.
It was an uneventful drive except to see the changes in terrain. We easily found a gas station thanks to our new GPS and even found the garage to return the car with only a few extra turns around the block. A taxi to our beloved Circulo Ecuestre, a bite to eat, and we were off to dreamland after a very long but good day.