YEP – we crammed all of that into 4 weeks!! Whew!
Flew into Split Croatia, on the Adriatic coast. What a beautiful place. Warm water, great food and they love Americans. They appreciate that we helped them in the war with Yugoslavia and and the Serb controlled Yugoslav People’s Army to gain independence and become a sovereign country. We stayed at Le Meridien. Beautiful location on the water. It’s about a 15 min uber ride to downtown but plenty of restaurants and places to hang if you don’t want to leave. We ended up hiring a boat to take us around a few of the islands. Did you know there are more than 1000 islands in the Republic of Croatia? Only 48 are inhabited and we only made it to 3. We would go back to Split in a split-second (ha ha) . For the foodies, a visit to DVOR is a must. It’s in the Michelin Guide for Split and has a great view from the side of a mountain and elevated Dolmatian Food
We hired a car to drive us to Zagreb. On the way, we took a detour to visit the UNESCO site of Plitvice Lakes National Park. Beautiful waterfalls, caves and lakes that have such an unusual color. It was a great way to stretch our legs with a crisp hike.
Zagreb is the capital of Croatia and pretty much like any other large city. Not sure it would be on our ‘must go back’ list since there are so many other places. Quaint cobblestone streets and pubs make it feel very medieval.
Next stop was Budapest! Classical Architecture throughout this city. We toured the funky Hospital in the Rock Nuclear Museum….so weird…it was created in the caverns under a Castle in Budapest in the 1930’s for the Second World War. The most surprising thing we did was take a cooking class. Anyone that really knows us knows we don’t cook. This opportunity arose and we jumped at it.. We met up with our chef, went to the market to purchase items then onto the kitchen where we made Paprika Chicken, Goulash, Spaetzle and Apple Strudel. YES – it was delicious and NO – we’ve not tried to make it again. When you’ve hit perfection, no need to try again 🙂 The Kempinski Hotel was fabulous. Great location, the best breakfast offering and excellent 5-star service.
From Budapest, we boarded our River Cruise along the Danube. We choose to go on Uniworld Cruise Line and it was a definite luxury line. Our stateroom was gorgeous and very spacious. We didn’t realize that we had booked a cruise that highlighted the Jewish Heritage and learned so much about past Jewish history but also about the Religion and how it is practiced today. We were adopted by 2 couples, both Jewish, and were so thankful for the kindness, their humor but more importantly, their patience as we asked them 10,000 questions about the Jewish Religion, their family history during the Holocaust and what it means to live kosher. Hugs to Dan, Mindy, Les and Lynn.
And of course Charlie spoiled me with a little souvenir from Vienna…
Our cruise ended in Prague. Beautiful Beautiful Prague. What a city!! It was fortunate to be spared much damage from the war. There is so much to do and see and learn – just 3 days is not nearly enough.
Are we weary….? Not yet! We then flew to Munich just in time for Oktoberfest. What an adventure. The happiest, drunkest people wearing smiles and traditional drindl/lederhosen. How could you not be happy when you’re eating pretzels, brats, spaetzle bowls and drinking some of the best beer out of huge, heavy steins all while singing and prosting with total strangers.
Are we weary…YES!!!
Luckily, we had a direct fight from Munich to Denver just in time to get a hotel room and wake up to get to a Buffs game!
Traftons Travels 