We were up early, put our cases out by 7.00am, had a big breaky and headed for Prague. First stop was Nuremberg, a city in the German state of Bavaria. We stopped in the Centre of town for lunch. Had a bit of a walk around town the old city within the wall checking out some beautiful old buildings.
Then headed for Prague.
Catching the train at Kranj for Munich. We started our next adventure on our own having booked the tour online a few days earlier. When asked which platform the train was leaving from we were told "no idea." So we waited for train and it pulls up on the far side of station. We ran across the tracks, said quick goodbyes to Clint and Alta, and barely lifted our luggage on and jumped in, the train took off. We walked along looking for a seat and somewhere to place our luggage. We found a cabin that had room for the two of us and had to ask people to kindly take their feet off the seat so we could sit down. This train was like our red rattlers of old times. It was comfortable though. There is also a power socket but a backpacker claimed ours most of the time. I don't think his worked.
We had beautiful views of the countryside and climbed high up in the Austrian Alps. We came across some interesting names...
FAAK AM SEE was my FAVORITE.
Who would name a town That!
We stopped at somewhere in Austria, the train did a bit of shuffling to and fro and headed back the way we came. PANIC !! Did we have to change trains! I am sure we would have been told. We need to go to Munich not back to Slovenia. I went into carriage next to us and asked them if this train was going to Munich. They hoped it was as that was where they were going also.
Nev assured me we were as we were on the other side of the river.
So I settle down and enjoyed the view again. Our backpackers had left so we had the cabin to ourselves and a lovely german lady who didn't know much English. We were then joined by the lady I had spoken to in the next carriage. She had dropped in for a chat. She was the wife of the German ambassador living in Slovenia on her way to Berlin for the next 2 weeks to visit her son. She kept us very entertained most of the way to Munich. She was disappointed she wouldn't be back in Slovenia before we headed home.
We pulled into Munich and with a little help purchased our ticket for the train to our hotel at the airport. We waited for our train to come and I double checked with someone that we were on the correct train. They assured me we were when a young girl came over and advised us to get on the back of the train as at one point it splits in two and the front half heads into another direction. Great... HOW FAR BACK IS THE BACK OF THE TRAIN! So we walk a long way up the platform, wait 2 mins when the train arrives. We jump on and I verbalize my hope we are on the right part when we start chatting to a young couple from Perth who were hoping the same.
The train splits in two and we arrive at the airport. I immediately go to the information and ask for directions to our hotel. Through that door ahead and shuttle bus will pick you up from bay 7 was the reply. SO EASY.
We had arrived in time to meet our tour guide and group members by 6 pm Whew!! People had told us the Germans were friendly and helpful and they were..
Tuesday we checked out the city of Kranj. The 4th largest city in Slovenia. It actually dates back to prehistoric times. Armed with our map we walked within the wall trying to find historical points of interest. In the Center we came across a huge statue of France Preseren, a poet who had a bit of an impact on Kranj. It is a very clean city with some lovely little shops. I didn't get to shop though as it took most of our time to walk around the city. There is the church of St Kancijan, known as one of the most beautiful gothic churches in Slovenia. We sat down for a rest on a seat beside the church when we noticed some glass placed amongst the pavers. Underneath the church was a cemetary from the medieval times. Known as the ossuary. A bit of a spine chilling experience. Under the city is lots of amazing tunnels but they opened too late in the day for us as we had planned to go up one of the mountains to a restaurant for Nev's birthday lunch. On top of the restaurant we were told you could see 20% of Slovenia. Simply beautiful.
Back to Venice where our cruise started. Everyone was given a colour and a meeting time and place for the morning. We had to have our luggage tagged with our colour and packed, ready to be picked up before we went to bed. This made disembarking 2500 people orderly.
We had a great cruise although I was frustrated at getting lost the first couple of days. It took me 3 times as long to get anywhere. There were often dead ends. The ship was so, so big. I never could tell if I was heading towards the front or the back. I recommend they put up arrows indicating front and back of ship everywhere.
I have never seen so much food being consumed, and wasted.
There was always something happening somewhere so you didn't get bored although it was nice to just sit after a busy time on land. One thing was for sure I slept well at night.
Waiting for our bus ride back to Ljubljiana I rested on a bench. I was surprised when a couple came up and asked me for a ticket for the water taxi. Oops....Next time I will take more notice of my surroundings.
Our ship docked at 8 am and we caught the shuttle bus into the old city. We then headed for the wall. Alta withdrew some cash from the Atm when she was tapped on the shoulder by a golden statue. He was very kind in offering to have his photo taken with her.
We climbed the wall and walked the perimeter. About 2klms l think. Sooo many steps and sooo steep. We were so high up. I reckon if l can do this I could tackle the great Wall of China!
The view was fantastic though. We overheard a guide telling a group that old city of Dubrovnik was attacked in 1991 and a lot of buildings were wrecked. Most have been repaired and rebuilt now.
We visited the Franciscan Monastery and the oldest working pharmacy in the world which smelled lovely. Roses I would say.
I liked Dubrovnik it was a lovely old city with sleeping cats everywhere, the houses had nice little gardens or pot plants and lots of narrow little alleys. We saw everyone's laundry hanging high. Lookout if you dropped some, it would have been hard to retrieve it so high up.
More lace making. Nice.
Turkey...We walked into town from the ship. The walkway was beautiful and so soft underfoot. Obviously recently done for joggers. We walked around the bazaar trying to find some bargains. It was getting confusing as they talk in lira and euros and you were constantly working back to a aussie dollars The store owners try to encourage you into their shops. One owner may have several and they stand on the street trying to get you into their shop to sell you something. The shops were tiny but there was so many of them. I didn't see any bargains though. Desperate for a loo I asked a store owner if he could point me in the direction of one. Well.......he took us left then right then left into his store where I had to pay 50 cents to squat over a hole in the ground. Hmmm at least it was clean...had toilet paper and I could wash my hands with soap and water then on my way out the door the attendent spayed my hands with disinfectant, so I guess I got my 50c worth. He did try hard to sell Nev some shirts on our way out. We enjoyed a turkish coffee which was as thick as mud but not bitter. We cut back to the ship through Kultur Park which is a large park with lots of lawn, a lake, a luna park, a zoo also some large marble statues. At the gang plank we were greeted with a cool drink and a cool face washer and a floral lay. We were sent off with some singing and dancing.
The city of Athens. So much history here. The columns are huge. But if you get caught touching the rocks whistles start blowing and security guards come running from everywhere as some people found out. Usually children. I bet it scared the daylights out of them. It was really exciting to stand so close and take it all in. We were so high up above Athens. So much walking and sooo many steps. We took a guided tour here which was quite interesting although Iwish I could remember it all. It was another hot day. I believe I have acquired a bit of a tan.
Inside the castle. These people were very clever with their stone carvings.
Sunset from ship. The water here is an amazing blue.
At the port of Katacolon we took a very quick taxi ride to the city of Olympus. Driver said we had one hour to have a look around. It was about 35 degrees. Nev had a bit of a run in the site of the first Olympic games. There was a lot of rock piles. I thought some of them would look good in my garden. Was trying to work out how to smuggle some home.....We had a rushed look through the museum where we got into trouble for taking photos of us with statues. Apparently that is a no no. The city of Olympus was much larger than I expected.
