Salzburg, Austria (foodie pix)

Oh crud. I´ve been trying for 2 days to upload the pix but the hotel´s computer says, "Verbotten!"
I will find an internet cafe and try again within next 2 days... and will send email\ facebook message when done. Thanks guys!


We left Ljubljana on the train headed for Salzburg and while waiting had great conversation with a guy from Scotland and an English-speaking girl from Slovenia. He commented on his travels in America (transportation is difficult, he liked Nashville music, but did not get what´s so great about Los Angeles.) She said she does not like where this austerity thing is going.

But for now let´s talk about Salzburg...and food!

My main mission was to visit "The Elephant" restaurant because of a book I'd read called "The Elephant`s Journey"   by Jose Saramago (Nobel Prize for Literature). While eating at the restaurant he had asked his host about the wood carvings and was told they depicted the story of an elephant that was given by the King of Portugal to Austria´s Archduke Maximilian as a wedding present.

Since these are pictures of the restaurant (in the Old Town of Salzburg) and our fantastic meals, I've decided to post some pictures of meals...and then get around to Salzburg:

Wood carvings around the restaurant tell the story of an elephant that traveled from Portugal to Austria.

These spinach balls are actually a form of pasta. You can barely see the balsamic vinaigrette that made the meal spectacularly good. 

Very tender chicken stuffed with roasted tomato and bacon.

Stuffed spinach, pine nuts and feta resting on a bed of sweet potato souffle.

I ordered a mixed salad (which means different things in different places) so we're brought  white vinegar, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and of course pumpkin oil. One of the best salads ever.

Lobster, octopus, shrimp, scallops, you name it - fresh and sweet.

Wienerschnitzel : Tender veal  (in this case) dipped in egg batter, breaded and fried in butter. Pressure cooked potatoes and best cranberry sauce ever. Yummy.

I love smoked salmon (lox) and this plate came right from the water, served with a subtle horseradish and dill sauce.

That was fun...now, back to Salzburg.

On train from Slovenia to Salzburg

Mozart

Looking up to the castle (Hohensalzburg Fortress, where the Archbishops lived in 1077 to 1612)

Crowded, crowded, crowded.

From the castle, looking down.

Just a humorous photo op over by the beer garden tent.

From the Salzburg train station it was a little difficult to figure out the bus, but navigating is one of Gene´s strengths even if everything is in another language.  We checked into the Ibis Nord (not even on the city map!) and then headed out to explore the Old Town. Ritzy stores and beautiful Baroque architecture, churches, statues and fountains. Music poured out of the beer garden tent...oddly enough it was American music. But Lynard Skynard´s "Sweet Home Alabama" still rocks when played on an accordian!  In fact all the music we´ve heard has been American pop.

On another note we have not seen any people of color until Salzburg (except for a couple of lady tourists). Here we see many muslim people, some folks of Latin descent, folks from India and one black guy (not counting tourists). Personally I like all the colors.

Above the Old Town, on the hill, is the Hohensalzburg Fortress, definitely worth the funicular ride up - not just for the view, but the castle is a wonderful museum.  Beautiful things to see, but again a reminder of a history of horrible wars.

People have been friendly and helpful. I highly recommend this city in the majestic Alps and hope before we leave to catch the "Sound of Music" tour since the movie was filmed here and is supposed to be very scenic. Oh yeah...and the food is a treat...this is also the home of the delicious chocolate Sacher tort.

Ljubljana, Slovenia (or Dubrovnic, Croatia: You Can´t Get There From Here)

Legend about the origin of Ljublijana involves Jason and the Argonauts who stopped here and killed a dragon.

Well...we were supposed to leave Split and take the ferry to Kortula island and then take a bus to Dubrovnic. After that we were to take a 6-hour bus ride back to Split to catch the train back to Zagreb...but at the time the train track is under repair (from Split to Zagreb). So they´re putting folks on a 7-hour bus ride. Thatś right...that would make a 13 hour bus ride in total. Umm, weŕe not going there. 

So we blew off Dubrovnic and took our long 7-hour bus ride to Zagreb. Actually that turned out to be pretty great because we´d taken the train in and never saw all the cities, only their train stations. By road, we saw what was behind the train stations - local folks and businesses.  In fact the bus driver rocked completely navigating little roads and tight turns. We saw little old farm houses, chickens, goats, sheep and old ladies in black dresses bringing in the laundry. Then when he finally got off the country roads and hit the brand-new freeway he FLOORED IT.  This guy actually got a round of applause.

Back in Zagrebś train station we read the Departures sign and had to make some decisions. The goal was to cross into Slovenia (and eventually get to Salzburg, Austria). 

Our only option was to kill two hours waiting for a train that would get us to Ljubljana (pronounced Loobie Yana) and show up in this Alpine city in the dark...without any hotel reservations. Visions of trudging with our now-heavier packs through the night and snow danced in our heads...

But remember the rules of being a Lifesurfer (see tab above): you might wipe out, but the ride is still a joyful one.  After a rather dramatic change of beautiful scenery, from Croatia to Slovenia (which is highly manicured farmland and Swiss-like homes and stave barns) the full moon showed up. 

Ljubljana is much, much larger than we had expected. We were told it was charming...what? where? City lights everywhere.  Luckily at 9 pm the information office at the train station was still open. We got a map and headed for The City Hotel only four blocks away. It turned out to be VERY nice. Itś a 3- Star hotel (we´d been staying in 2 -Star places which are usually quite OK, but sometimes noisy or without hot water unless you flip a switch or need some slight repair or may not have cable...or a TV).  So we happily paid the 100 Euros ($130) per night for two nights including breakfast.

Today we found the charming.

Ljubljana has TONS of museums and has a major University. Because of the horrors of World War II, this town is dedicated to peace and harmony.  In 2008 Readerś Digest listed it at the top of the world's most honest cities.

The charming is in the Old Town, with a castle on top of a hill  and the Alps in the background. Hope you enjoy the pix! : 

Those aren't clouds, they're Alps!

Ljubljana Castle on the hill. This is part of the University...the booths are selling books.

St. Nicholas Church

Human fish???

Hvar, Croatia

Goodbye Split, Hello Hvar

The last night in Split was wonderful.  After dinner, one last visit to enjoy the singer-guitarist with the other tourists outside the Luxor, beneath the arched ruins; such dreamy lighting playing up the Roman architecture. Add Amaretto and it was divine. But overnight a storm came. Thunder, rain and rattling windows. Yikes.

The alarm went off at 7am. It was raining...we considered our options - and went for it! With umbrella in hand, we purchased tickets for the ferry to Hvar.

I love a ferry ride, small and large (this is a large - the kind that carries cars & buses). Two hours later we arrive on Hvar and almost miraculously the sun comes out. OMG! Turquoise and violet water so crystal clear you could see the bottom: small fish, sea urchins and even a starfish!

Taking a taxi into the tourist area-marina, the driver suggested a 2-star hotel (we always try to spend less than $100 per night). With a great view from the balcony of the Adriatic and even a little kitchen (but no TV), we settled in and headed out to explore. It was slightly overcast, but what beautiful sites: little fishing boats, luxury yachts, islands, and tons of homes-hotels (sobos) covered in mediterranean flora (palms, orange trees, lemon trees and even cactus). And such beautiful flowers - from tiny ones we've never imagined to big red amarillas and fragrant purple wisteria.

We sat on a bench just to enjoy the sounds of waves and view the impossible blue of the water. Having left my umbrella in the room, I became concerned when 1, then 2, then 3 drops of rain appeared. A big, dark cloud was moving quickly toward us so to seek cover we went into a monestary (with a ˝museum˝ plaque.) What a gift those three drops brought us!

The old monestary is so peaceful. Gene went to explore and I sat on a bench. Only a bird's song and an occasional peal of children's laughter from the big skola (school) could be heard with a bass note of waves. I could see how one would feel closer to God here. I ask nothing, but am in awe and am grateful. Oh! What's that sound? Thunder? Wow, it's a pigeon's wings that flap in this small, accoustic paradiso as it swoops into a tiny portico filled with family.

Gene joins me. Even though the sun can't quite get through, what a show the clouds provide! The many layers of cloud-ships sail quickly by (some white, some black, some high, some with silver linings).  Gene starting singing Bob Marley's song ˝Three Little Birds˝ with the line ˝Every little thing is going to be all right˝ - JUST as 3 pigeons land at our side.

Well, this has been long since I haven't had access to a cyber cafe in Hvar for two days. But every thing did turn out all right. The next day was gloriously sunny.

Today however we discover we won't be making it to Dubrovnic and so 1 hour on the super-fast catamaran brings us back to Split. As I type, Gene is getting laundry done. We board a 6pm train out of Croatia and into Ljubljana, Slovenia. Changing money from Kuna to Euros...

Once again, the best pix are on Gene's camera. Dang it...the computer won't connect so I'll try later...

Later:

Hvar

Inside the ferry

Outside the ferry

The monastery

more Hvar 

These have been the most comfortable shoes to travel in for the last 30 years. They've been around the world. Clearly, this is their last trip - thus the pic..

Split, Croatia

Split, Croatia

 The train from Zagreb wound its way out of the city past suburbs, farmland, hills,and into mountains. So really beautiful and as we went across the crest of the mountains we could see Alp-like mountains in the distance, like solid white ocean peaks in bumpy weather. It was a 6-hour ride and a great delight to see WATER! Adriatic Sea straight ahead.

Split is beautiful with marinas of yachts. The main feature of Split is that the entire tourist zone is actually built into the ruins of Diocletian's Palace. The original Roman stone walls make it romantic (especially at night). 

Tomorrow we ferry to Hvar... but here's some pixs...

In the warm evening folks sit in the old ruins and listen to the guitarist outside the Luxor hotel.

Zagreb, Croatia

St. Mark's Church

Zagreb, Croatia

This will be a short post because it's late and this keyboard is not a QWERTY, it's a QWERTZ (the Y and the Z have switched places...among other things. Took me way too long to even figure out how to do the @ sign!) Feel for me every time you see a "y."

With absolutely no idea what to expect, we´ve spent a beautiful spring day exploring Zagreb. With an amazing history, Croatians have suffered much throughout the centuries; they've received their independance after severing ties from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918 and Yugoslavia in 1991 (remember when there used to be a Yugoslavia?) And that's after Roman rule, 13th century invasions from the Tatars, threats from the Ottoman Turks in 1521 and a long list of other rulers. And, oh yeah, you may remember a horrible little Croatia-Serbian war (it's advised not to bring that up with locals who would rather forget.)

But today Zagreb is a beautiful, modern city incorporating architecture from Neo Gothic, Baroque, and Art Nouveau periods among others. I've taken to calling it the city of the Beautiful Youth. Sure, you can just imagine the things the old folks have seen, but everywhere you'll see fit, handsome young men and long-legged beauties...and TONS of kids. I'll try to upload a video...kids on bikes, kids kicking soccer balls, kids on daddy's shoulders. Kids, kids, kids.  Zagreb is indeed a vibrant new city chock full of parks, beautiful foliage, playgrounds, cycling and sports. 

Today we meandered in the ˝must-see˝ area called Ban Jelačić Square. Tomorrow will be Maksimir Park (mir means peace) which includes a huge zoo.

Well, I did prettz well with the ˝y˝'s....

So here's some pix :

Be sure to visit the zoo in Maksimir Park