Budapest

Alrighty. So here is some Trivia that i didn't even know about myself. Where my Jewish ancestry came from. Hungary!!! So, it was really cool to go to a city that most likely, especially during world war 2, housed my ancestors.

Well. It was cool for me. So, now about Budapest. Who knew that Budapest is actually 2 cities? I didn't till this trip.

There is a Buda side






And a Pest side



The river splits the two. It was interesting to look at the difference. Though both sides have there good and bad things. I feel the best way to describe the 2 is that Buda side seemed more royalty and government area while the Pest side was more everyday people, metropolitan busy city.

So, I mainly explored the Pest side because here, somehow, I hurt my foot. Autumn and I got caught in a massive downpour. Like, it's been years since I've seen rain that hard and amount. So after we got home, we were drenched. So I wore my flip flops while my boots dried out. Bad idea I guess. Cause for a week afterwards my foot did not like me. I was worried I did something really bad. But it's all good now

Ok. Getting off that tangent. So I explored the pest side because it was flat. Not as hilly as Buda. So over on the pesticide was one of my favorite sites in Hungary. It's the worlds 2nd largest Jewish synagogue, only out sized by the one in New York.







Here they have 2 synagogues on the same ground(one large and one small for winter), Holocaust museum, multiple Holocaust memorials, Jewish family history center, and a Jewish Cemetery.

The inside of the synagogue was gorgeous. It was so large and beautiful with gold trimmings everywhere, original chandeliers hanging in the side halls and a replica of the massive chandelier in the middle. Though it looked very fancy and posh posh. You could still feel the reverence that it held as a sacred/religious building. Here are some pictures.















And look at the name I sat behind.



I thought it was funny. Since most people pronounce my last name like this is spelt.

I actually got to see it with all the lights on and everything because some important person (lots of security guards and an announcement of no taking pictures for the next 10 min) came in. It lights up very nicely. But as soon as he left. Half the lights went off. :/ of well. At least i got to see it lit up.

So, I'm a little bummed that I didn't take the tour. But I overheard usually you don't burry your dead near a synagogue but during World War Two when all the Jews on Hungary were forced to live in Budapest, there was nowhere else to burry them. With starvation and inadequate homes during one of the worst winters there, they had to burry the dead somewhere. So they put them in their gardens. It's still unknow exactly how many and who is buried there but in the Jewish faith( not sure if the same in others) you do not disturb someone's final resting place. So this is only(according to the tour guide) that has a cemetery in their gardens.



So the two memorials( out of like7 or 8) was a wall of names with pebbles set all around on the ground, and in the cubbies under each name. Unfortunately I only have pictures on my digital camera. So no pic till June of that wall. Then my second favorite was a metal tree. And on each branch there were metal leaves with names written on some of them.





And other ones that were left blank for all the people whose names are unknown but died in any way during the holocaust.

I have more pictures of the tree on my digital camera as well. So more pics come June-ish.

So. Other than the synagogue we got to see beautiful catholic churches


Churches that were carved in mountain sides and tunnels.


Cool bridges
(Picture is not mine)


Happy food


And a cool indoor market that looks like it could be really busy and cool, but I think we went on the wrong day or time. Half the shops were closed :(



But we got a Hungarian got dog



Yes. It is massive. With lots of interesting toppings. It was yummy but way overpriced. Yay being tourists. :)

So. That is my quick blog for Hungry. I wouldn't say I had an amazing time there and want to go back tomorrow. But I wouldn't mind going back in a couple years and exploring more of the country and not just Budapest.

So there are a lot more pics that I'm going to upload on Facebook. So go there to check them.

Next post: Croatia

- Posted on the go.

Catching up with Ice Caves

So. Correct me if in wrong, because I keep writing these when I am off line and can't see the posts that I have already made. I have covered the following countries and cities

Czech Republic
Praha (Prague)
Kutna Hora
Austria
Wien(Vienna)
Salzburg
Germany
Füssen(Disney castle)
Munich
Slovenia
Ljublijana
Lake Bled

That should be everything so far. Let me know if I forgot to write a post about somewhere.

So. Moving on from Lake Bled. Where did we go?? Back to Salzburg!!! Because we wanted to sing on the mountain tops and in the Abby :) or maybe we just really wanted to go to the worlds largest ice caves. Now, be sure to read closely. No pictures were allowed to be taken inside. So I didn't. But somehow there were pictures on my phone when I left. Darn technology has a mind of its own. :) yay for the sneaky Cowan gene(sp?)

So. We dropped our bags off at our hotel for the night in Salzburg and jumped back Ina train to go to Werfen. After we got off the train and getting slightly lost in the little downtown we found the bus to drive us way up the mountain. It was like a 15min drive....up hill. Yay for cars. That's all I have to say.



So after the car ride up. We still had a 20 min hike






5min gondola ride








Then another 20 min hike and there you are. At the mouth of the ice caves. Now for those who think the ice caves in Idaho are big. Nope. Not even close. These ones are HUGE and I didn't even get to see all of it. So. Here are the mysterious pictures that I have no idea how they got on my phone :)



We got to use old school lanterns :) to light our way through the 0degree C. So not they cold ;)


The guide had strips of magnesium, I believe, and just burned that to really brighten up the areas so we could see everything.

So I am going to post a handful of pictures. But if you want to see more. They are all on Facebook and if you can't get on Facebook. Email me and when I get home(mid June) ill figure a way to get you them.




















Though I still wanted to go further into the cave and experience more and more of the extensions that can't be discovered by tourist :( we were still very happy to have some sun.




So after this fun adventure. We went back to Salzburg by train and then the next day was fun for me. It was a Saturday and Salzburg had a marathon or some running event. I got there while everyone was cleaning up. But the farmers market style market was still thriving. So while autumn explored Mozart's home





I went and explored the farmers market. And by exploring it. I mean I bought strawberries


Cheese, creamed pretzel, and bread.

So of course on our train ride to Hungary, we did not go hungry.




This is Kasey, I mentioned meeting her in Ljublijana. We met Her at the train station in Salzburg and went to Budapest together.

So next post is going to be about Budapest, Hungary.


- Posted on the go.

S-LOVE-nia

I know I'm behind in my posts. Sorry. So there are going to be a couple back to back so I can get caught up.

The last post I made was about Slovenia and Disney.

Let me make one just about Slovenia.

Slovenia is my new Second favorite country, right after India. The people were amazing, food was yummy, and country is beautiful and there is so much to explore in this tiny country. With the ocean on one side and mountains on another you can have the best of all worlds. Like California. Just smaller the size.

My goal is to come back here and explore Slovenia more. Like go through some more caves, climb some mountains, raft some rivers, and what ever else I can find. A local there even said I should go paint balling. I might pass that one. But everything else is totally free game.

Autumn and I went to Libjiani first, the capital of Slovenia and spent about 3 nights there. We stayed at a great hostel called Tresor. It was located right in the heart of downtown but was set up so you didn't get all the noise from the street. It looked like it us to be an old bank or something.

Though Slovenia is an old city, there seems to be a lot of renovation to make the old things look modern style. So not my complete favorite. But still very interesting to look at and leant about it. They have had a interesting history. But if you want a history lesson. Go online. Trust me. You don't want a history lesson from me. :)

So, in Eastern Europe they celebrate May Day. The kick off is on Aril 30 they have a massive bond fire on the hill near a old church(no significance. Just a good location) so of course, we went to it with our new friends we made on the Hostel.










The entire city was out there. With there kids and everything. Free to all. Just BYOB or buy it there. The food was really good too. We had some sausages and lamb. :) yummy!!!






And there was live music going on. I got to dance with an Australian girl that went up with us. I can't remember her name. But she was super nice. We saw the families and the kids start going home around 1130 midnight and figured II is prob smart to go home too. Wasn't sure what else was going to go on and Autumn and I had an early morning the next day.

So backing it up a little bit. I just realized we went to the Pestojna caves earlier that day. Before the bond fire. So the Pestojna caves were the ones I went off about the Disney post. Incase you don't remember. Here are some more pictures.





And more. Look on Facebook or the previous post for more.

(Castle)

So the next day. We said good bye to Ljublijana and hello to Lake Bled. Now this was beautiful all around. Here's a photo to start it.



(I did not take this pic. I took a pic of another pic.)
So Lake Bled is a small lake up in the mountains that surrounds this tiny island. And on the island is a little church with a wishing bell. Now the question is at hand. Did I ring the bell?



Like that's even a real question. Of course I did. But no asking what I wished for. Because then it won't come true. ;) But the real trick is getting to the island. No motor boats are aloud on it. So do we row ourselves out or pay to take a man powered boat out??


We decided to row ourselves out on these swan row boats. Yep... It was awesome. I do t have any pics of my rowing though. They might be on Autumns camera. But funny story is that on the way back, Autumn asked if she could row around the island once. I said sure. So around the island we went. She was having so much fun that she wanted go row back to shore. Again I said yes and so off we went. The big guy sitting there while the cute small girl rows him to shore. Soapy people were taking pics. It was awesome :) all I could do was put my hands up like, what are you going to do, when she wants to row, let her row. :)

So. To whoever is still reading. Take a break and then come back and read the following. We are almost done.

So that was one afternoon in Lake Bled. That night we stayed in a hostel called Bled Hostel and it was ok. The beds weren't bad but it was connected to a bar and the locals...yep they had fun at night. One night I was standing outside the bar for Internet, talking to my family on Skype and this guy was sitting in his seat for probably 15 min swaying back and forth. Then ever so slowly he just swayed to far one way and blop, on the ground he was. I had to go over and pick him up off the ground and point him to his room ( he was staying across the hall from us) though the rooms were a little bit quieter then bar. You would get an occasional shout or group cheer or group singing to some American song that doesn't sound like English cause everyone is drunk. :). Haha. It was entertaining.

So that was the hostel. But the next day was a wonderful day. We went up to the church and castle on the hill.



(Not a good pic at all)



But we got amazing views. And the paths were fun


And rainy :)

So we didn't go into the castle because the guy who word mornings at the hostel was going to give us a rise to this trail we wanted to go on. So we went down the hill and got back super early. Oops. So we got online and found out that our friends, Kasey and Kendal from Ljublijana were staying right next door to us here in Bled. So the 4 of us went on a hike through the valley. They have a specific name. Ill see if I can find it later. Seriously it was a wooden walkway attached to the side of a rock wall. So legit. The views were breathtaking :)















And the bugs and creatures were awesome. They were out and about since it was raining.





Look closely and you will see a ton of snails. Hey mommy, can I get a nickel for each one ?


Then after the valley we walked up through a forest area and down through a coupe little towns to get back.











So that's it for Slovenia. Next post will be about the worlds largest ice caves and the pictures that I didn't take but somehow ended up on my phone.

Talk to ya later.
- Posted on the go.