June - Back in Munich and our Croatia, Italy and Slovenia trip

June 2 – Back in Munich after my home stay.  It was good to be back especially since the weather is much cooler here than Houston.  Too hot too soon in Houston.

June 6 – Kevin and Mandi came for a week before they left on their cruise for their honeymoon.   They spent the week touring around Munich and sampling the beer of Germany.  They left on their cruise June 12. Jay and I found a local festival near Ostbahnhof that had several bands playing during the weekend. 

June 14 – Jay and I went to see Elton John in concert.   We didn’t buy our tickets until March so we didn’t think our seats would be great.  We thought we would be in the “nose bleed” section, so we didn’t bring our camera.  Big Mistake!!!!!  The seats we had were great.  They were 18 rows up from the floor and to the side of the stage.  Elton John’s piano was on the side we were sitting so we had a great view of him.

(From the Munich Newspaper)

June 18 – Today and Sunday is the celebration of the 853 Stadtgeburtstag (Birthday) of Munich.  There were booths and stages set up for bands at Marienplatz, Odeonsplatz and Karlsplatz.  It was a very rainy day, so it was easy to find an open table to stop and have a beer and listen to the music.  We saw the largest beer keg we have ever seen in Marienplatz, and we thought they only made big things in Texas. Sunday was a nicer day, so we went back to listen to some of the bands and enjoy the food and, of course, beer.  There were craftsmen in one area giving demonstrations of how things were done 100's of years ago.

June 23 – Today is a holiday in Germany – Corpus Christi, so we decided to go away for the weekend.  We rented a car and drove to Umag, Croatia, which is on the Adriatic Sea and about a 5 ½ drive.  As we were driving and we missed one of our turns, Jay suggested that we change the language on our GPS to German so we could practice.  I told him that I didn’t think that was good idea since we can’t follow the directions in English.  It was very hard to understand the Australian woman trying to pronounce the street names of the countries we were in, but we eventually made it to Croatia.  Our hotel was right on the Adriatic Sea and the weather was great.  Clear skies and highs in the 80’s with very little humidity.  We relaxed by the sea, went for a swim in the Adriatic Sea and walked along the sea wall.  This hotel was an “all inclusive” so we didn’t have to worry about anything.  All meals and drinks were included.  At night they had a band for entertainment.  The band the first night played all ABBA songs. 

June 24 – We went into the town of Umag on the local ECO Train since it was a cloudy morning.  We walked around the town and looked at the local shops and vendors.  Headed back to the hotel and sat by the sea.  No waves today.  The water was very clear.   At dinner we were greeted by traditional musicians and we were offered a taste of Cherry Grappa, a local liqueur.    After dinner there was a band playing again and they played Latin rock. 

June 25 – On Saturday we drove to Trieste, Italy.  Jay’s German instructor suggested that we visit the city since it was so close to Umag.  The Irish novelist, James Joyce, spent some years in Trieste.  We did a short tour of the city and had some great pizza for lunch at a street side café along the Grand Canal.  We stopped at a local bakery for some sweets.   We then drove to Lake Bled, Slovenia.

Grand Canal

Lake Bled is an alpine lake with a small island in the center.  An interesting fact is that this is the only island in Slovenia.  Just before we left on our trip I read an article that listed Lake Bled as one of the top 10 most beautiful lakes in the world. There is a small church on the island.   In the church there is a bell and the legend is that if you ring the bell and make a wish your wish will come true.  We also visited a castle that was 1000 years old.  The castle is on a cliff above the lake.  The walk to the castle includes 222 stairs, but who’s counting.   The castle also has a small museum and a working model of Guttenberg’s printing press.   We were shown a demonstration of how they worked the printing press by them printing our names and date on a sheet of handmade paper.  We sampled Bled Cream Cake, the local dessert. 

This was a real relaxing weekend.  We never have those when we go on a trip.  We are always trying to see so much in such a short time.  We had a great time.