Hungary and Slovenia

We trained from the mountains of Slovakia to Hungary, traveling hours out of the way as the train lines do not connect easily. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? They are in the capitol of Hungary, Budapest. Budapest was two cities, for hundreds of years, Buda and Pest, until those Hapsburgs decided that it should be one city, and combined their names. The Danube curves through, dividing Pest, on the east, and lower side, from Buda, which rises up on the hillside over Pest. The children are standing on the balcony of the National Art Gallery. The large building in the background is the Hungarian Parliament, the largest building in Europe (at least when it was built—there’s probably a Wall-mart bigger now…) This is a lovely city, with a stately castle on the hill, soaring basilicas, and beautifully preserved buildings. The apartment we rented was in a turn of the century building (can one still use this phrase to mean the beginning of the 20th century and not the 21st?), with marble stairs, 14” high ceilings and ornate plaster molding. Too bad the building, with its numerous shops conveniently located on the ground floor, also housed a disco and a betting shop that did brisk business throughout the night. There were a fraction of the tourist here compared to Prague, and we were able to wander throughout the city, without any crowds. Here are pictures of the Fisherman's Bastion and Kim and Ethan in the Jewish Synagogue. The Beattie Beer Index had a favorable report in Hungary. Beer was about $1 per half liter, and the beer was good. However, we found the Hungarian wine to be quite good, and, at $3, an even better bargain.

To see what Hungary was like outside of the capitol, we picked a small town on the largest lake in the country, Keszthely, to explore. It was kind of like an ancient Saugatuck or Coney Island, maybe more like the latter, as it had the feeling of better days gone by. Oddly enough, we heard far more German here than Hungarian, which was okay by us, as we are having a very hard time picking up any words in this tongue twisting language.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? They are in the capitol city of a small country, nestled between Austria, Italy, Hungary and Croatia. It has a short coastline, just 46 kilometers long, with a population of only 2 million. This is Ljubljana, Slovenia. It is easier to pronounce than to spell, Lub-lee-an-ah. The capitol is about the size of Ann Arbor, and has a large university in it—also about the size of University of Michigan. The city is filled with wonderful small squares, each with its own statue or fountain, outdoor cafes, and a green river running through. The bridges crossing the river are beautiful and the entire city is made for pedestrians, with lots of narrow alleys, and steep stairs climbing to the towering castle above. Behind the kids, you can see the Town Hall in the background. We wandered in to the Town Hall off the small plaza in front of it, only to have a well dressed man approach us and welcome us to tour the building. I asked the security guard, and, yes, that was the Mayor of Ljubljana. What other mayor of a national capitol would have personally greeted us? We can’t remember when we decided to come to Slovenia, but are so glad we did. We love it here. After exploring Ljubljana with Mark, (a Canadian we met on a four hour wait for our train and the 5 hour train ride, if you were wondering who was the other guy in the picture…), we headed towards the Slovenian mountains, the Julian Alps (after Julius Caesar). We biked around the lake in Bled, which looks like it is a movie set for a town in the Alps, with a church on an island, turquoise waters, and the obligatory castle on the hill. The town was a bit commercial for our tastes, though, and we continued on our way to Bohinj, a small town in the middle of Slovenia’s only national park. In the course of our second day here, we wrote a poem—this is the kind of place that would make anyone want to write poetry. From our room, we can see the highest mountain in Slovenia, Triglav, rising almost 3000 meters, far above the tree line. Yesterday, we hiked around the lake and up to the waterfall on the far end. Today, we explored a deep canyon near here, where the cascading water has created a chasm almost 40 meters deep. The clarity of the water is astounding. We can literally see fish from the top of the canyon. More people seem to speak English here than in any of the other countries we have been in recently (with the exception of Austria), making travel much easier. Adding to the allure of Slovenia, beer in the market cost 75 cents and a nice bottle of local wine, costs a something like $3. I think I have forgotten to put this in perspective. The cost of a bottle of water is $2 and a can of coke is about $2.50. It makes it hard to rationalize not drinking. As of today, I have resisted the temptation to encourage the kids to start drinking beer in order to save money. Tomorrow, I think we are heading to Croatia.

Nastrovja
The Beatties




Ode to Bohinj


We swim in the lake, throw rocks for fun
The water is cold; we warm in the sun.
Surrounded by Alps, with water so clear
Couldn’t be better, than it is right here.

From an underground source, that does not show
The water drops far to green pools below.
We climb to the falls, air cools as we near
It couldn’t be better, than it is right here.


We hike for miles, ‘round canyon and lake,
Photos of mountains and valleys we take.
The town where we stay has hardly a peer.
We couldn’t be happier than we are right here.