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2023 Croatia/Germany
  • Davor Novosel
  • Deb Novosel

2023 Croatia/Germany

A 29-day adventure by Davor & Deb Read more
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  • Trip start
    September 19, 2023
  • 2023 Croatia/Germany
    1

    Zagreb, Croatia

    September 20, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    After 3 flights, we made it! Davor has already spoken Croatian with the Avis guy, our Airbnb host and the neighbor across the hall! After 30 years, he can still remember it!

    Highlight of the day: I loved hearing Davor speak Croatian!!!Read more

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    A sentimental tour and downtown Zagreb

    September 21, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    It’s been a great first day in Zagreb!!! First we drove out to 3 villages on the edge of town, one where Davor’s family lived with his paternal grandparents, one where his maternal grandparents lived and the last where his aunt and uncle lived. Davor loved driving the narrow roads made for one car, but it’s a 2 way street. It’s always fun when you encounter someone and one car has to drive on the sidewalk or find a wider place on the street to let the other pass! That first pic is an attempt to show you that!
    Then we brought the car back to the apartment and walked about 10 mins to the center of Zagreb. There’s a beautiful park right down the street (pics 2&3).
    The pic with the streetcar is the heart of the town and it’s a pedestrian shopping area too.
    Then we found this long tunnel, on a hot day, it offered a cool walk! It was built in 1943, during WWII. It sheltered the citizens then and also during the Croatian War of Independence from 1991-1995.
    We happened upon a shop that had some wonderful puppets that had been made for the puppet convention that they have every year. They were so cool!! I won’t bore you with all the pics I took of them!
    The last pic is in a garden behind a small restaurant, that was mentioned in 2 different tour books. They only make one thing, strukli (basically noodles and cheese rolled up and baked). It was yummy!!! A great way to end an amazing day!!!

    Highlight of the day: visiting the villages where Davor’s family lived was filled with memories and very emotional    Read more

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    Mainly Food!

    September 22, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    We started our day in downtown Zagreb at the outdoor market. When Davor saw the statue of the lady with the basket on her head he commented, “ That’s how my grandmother(Baka), used to bring her vegetables to the market to sell!” The red umbrellas at the market are called Sestine umbrellas because they were originally made in Sestine(the village outside of Zagreb that we visited yesterday, where Davor’s aunt and uncle lived)
    Then we stopped at a bakery for me to get a mid morning snack, a slice of apple strudel!
    The 4th pic is of a government building with flags of Zagreb and Croatia. In the background is St Mark’s Church. The tile roof(kids call it the Lego roof) is the medieval coat of arms of Croatia Dalmatia and Slavonia and the emblem of Zagreb is on the right.
    Next is a fun mural painted on the side of a building.
    The highlight of the day for Davor was when we drove to a small town outside of Zagreb, and had his favorite Croatian dessert, crème schnitte ( phyllo dough with a cream in between).
    And lastly, we stopped at a grocery store on the way home. Notice the basket on wheels he is using!

    Highlight of the day: I loved the sculpture if the woman with the basket on her head since Davor said it reminded him of Baka (grandmother in Croatian). Of course it was the crème schnitte for Davor!    Read more

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    The Pulse of Zagreb

    September 23, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    It was supposed to be 100% chance of rain today. But instead we woke up to cloudy skies and cooler temperatures so we walked downtown for the day.
    Everywhere you turn in Zagreb there are outdoor cafes with tables filled with people drinking coffee and a water or an alcoholic drink, anytime of the day. There is a ratio of 1 cafe to every 175 inhabitants!
    About mid morning we sat down at the cafe in the first picture. It’s located in the main square. To our surprise, suddenly there was a small band and several men on horses coming into the square. So like all the good tourists, I jumped up to get a picture! It was the “Cravat”Regiment, an honor guard battalion, that protects the upper town. They do a ceremonial changing of the guard on Saturdays.
    “Cravat” is the Croatian word for a men’s tie. Tradition has it, that the Croatian Calvary wore a red scarf around their necks. When the French King Louis XIV hired the Croatian Calvary, because he didn’t have a Calvary of his own, the French liked the red scarves so much and the men’s necktie was born! The third pic is of a famous necktie shop called Cravat!
    From high end art, to low end…graffiti. You see it everywhere in town, on all the buildings. This is an alley where there was a lot of it.
    A tradition that we had seen on the bridges in Paris, we found on a railing at a terrace overlook…couples put a padlock on the rail to symbolize their unbreakable love.
    We didn’t have a padlock so we just took this picture of us instead!

    Highlight of the day: we both bought rings and I bought earrings from a local artist!    Read more

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    Sweet Memories of Zagreb

    September 24, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Today is Sunday, sadly our last day in Zagreb. We have enjoyed exploring the city so much. Places we recognized and new sights. Today it was rainy so we went to the Tesla Technological Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the most popular and most unique museum in Zagreb, the Museum of Broken Relationships! People donated sentimental items from relationships that had come to an end, by death or a romantic relationship that ended or they got divorced. Very interesting!

    I thought I’d post some of the other pics I’ve taken of Zagreb over the last couple days.
    1-the Stone Gate, an entry into the city that was part of the wall around the city
    2-the Cathedral, it was damaged in the earthquake of 2020 and is being repaired
    3-the funicular that you can take from the lower town to the upper, the shortest funicular in the world. It takes 60 seconds, top to bottom
    4-a typical view over the city with all the orange tile rooftops!
    5-a tower in the upper town, at noon each day a canon is fired
    5- the Opera house
    6- the upper town still has actual gas lanterns and they are manually lit each nite
    7-we had a really nice dinner tonite! Mine was veal roast, green beans and scalloped potatoes
    8-Davor ate lamb shank, fennel and polenta
    9-for dessert I had dark choc torte with pistachios
    10-Davor had molten choc cake and vanilla bean ice cream

    Highlight of the day: we loved the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Museum of Broken Relationships    Read more

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    Drive frm Zagreb to Split

    September 25, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    On Monday we drove from Zagreb to Split, on the Adriatic Sea. It was a 5 hr drive but we took the whole day and made a couple stops.
    First we went to Rastoke, a village built on water, with a crazy amount of waterfalls because of the rocky terrain. It made it a perfect setting for a mill. (Pics 1&2) The turbin blade you can see working in the third pic and close up in the 4th was unique for running the mill.
    We drove from there and we were excited to see the sign Novo Selo! Which means new village and is the origin of our name!!!
    After the day starting very dreary and drizzly, we drove through a 3 mile long tunnel and were greeted by blue skies, sunshine and the Adriatic! (Pic #6) Apparently the Dalmatian mountains are a real weather maker and separate the interior from the coastline. (Pic #11)
    The next town we came to was Zadar and we were surprised to see Roman ruins throughout the inner city(pics 7-9). A really unique thing in Zadar is the sea organ. I hope #10 comes thru as a video! There are slots on the seaward side of the marble steps like a stack of gigantic harmonicas. As the surf hits the side of the organ, it alters the air pressure of the resonating cavity within the structure, blowing against 35 musical pipes. The result is a constantly changing sound that varies in pitch and loudness depending on the surf. I hope you can hear it! If not I’ll share it with you when I see you!!!
    And we finally arrived at our destination, Split, and were greeted by a beautiful sunset from the balcony of our Airbnb!

    Highlight of the day: Davor loved Rastoke, which I did too, but I also thought it was neat to see the sign for Novo Selo since Davor had always explained that that’s what our name meant.    Read more

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    Diocletian’s Palace in Split

    September 26, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    Our day started with this beautiful view of the Adriatic. Then we headed to downtown Split to wander around Diocletian’s Palace. He was a Roman emperor and this was his enormous retirement palace.
    The next 6 pics are of the palace. Photos 4&5 are of the Cathedral. Diocletian actually had Christians executed and the cathedral was originally his mausoleum and after he died it became a cathedral dedicated to a martyred bishop.
    We went out in the evening and enjoyed the Split lifestyle. It was breezy and cooler. A wonderful evening. Took this pic of ourselves along the Riva, the walkway along the water.
    Pics 9,10& 11 are at a wonderful little restaurant we found called Tinel. We ate in the inner courtyard and got a plate of the traditional Croatian grilled meats. Very yummy and way too much food! Our sweet waitress was Gigi!
    We wandered around the Palace again by nite and enjoyed the atmosphere. And then stopped for gelato for dessert!

    Highlight of the day: our wonderful dinner at Tinel and walking along the Riva    Read more

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    Ivan Meštrović in Split

    September 27, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We had a wonderful start to our day. We drove just down the road to the gallery and chapel of Ivan Meštrović, a famous sculptor, Croatia’s answer to Rodin! He did works in marble, bronze and wood. I will share some of each, but the highlight for me was his 28 wood reliefs of the Life of Christ. He was a devout catholic. They are in order except for some in the end. He did them over a 30 year time period. I thought they were so neat I will use 2 posts to share them all!!Read more

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    Meštrović cont’d and Trogir

    September 27, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Here are the last 6 reliefs of Christ’s life and the crucifix in the front of the chapel.
    Pic 8 is a sculpture that the artist did of himself. Pic 9 is the Last Supper painted on wood.
    Pics 10-14 are more of his sculptures.
    As we drove out of Split to Trogir, I was struck by how close the mountains are to the coast (Pic 15).
    In Trogir the first thing that caught my eye was this unique memorial to all the fallen soldiers of the city(pic 16).
    The last four pics are from the medieval architecture in Trogir.

    Highlight of the day: the wood reliefs of the Life of Christ!    Read more

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    Ruins around Split

    September 28, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We took a trip to Salona, about 30 mins away and the birthplace Diocletian. It dated back to Roman times. The first 2 pics are of the amphitheater built in 150-200 AD and gladiators fought here in front of 17,000 spectators. The next 2 pics are other ruins in the area.
    Our next stop was nearby, Klis Fortress. What an amazing view of the Adriatic and Split from up there! Hope you can see it in our selfie! The next 3 pics are of the fortress built in 200AD.
    Finally, pizza for dinner! And an added 360 degree view from Klis Forteesa!

    Highlight of the day: the view of Split and the Adriatic from Klis Fortress. Breathtaking!    Read more

  • 2023 Croatia/Germany

    Leaving Croatia

    September 29, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    We left Split and Croatia. I think it was hard for Davor to leave Croatia…..
    Before driving to the airport we went down to the beach that we could see from our Airbnb balcony. It’s a popular beach in the area because of the fine sand.
    Pic 1 was taken down at the beach looking up at our Airbnb! If you zoom in, that white house on the hill with the laundry hanging out was where we were. We were in the floor below the laundry.
    The rest of the pics are at the beach and the views of the passing boats, yachts!
    Late afternoon we flew from Split to Munich. Split was such an easy airport. Our luggage was about
    5 lbs overweight, each of them! We were going to be charged $150 for each but then the lady had sympathy on us! That was nice since we’d already gotten a couple parking tickets in Split! For security we scanned our boarding passes. Because Croatia is part of the EU it was a “domestic” flight. They’d checked our passports at luggage checkin. As our stuff went thru the
    X-ray machines at security someone must have been looking at them remotely because there was only a person at the very end to pull your bag and talk to you if they saw something. We had to board the plane outside but they had a front and back door of the plane open so boarding went quickly! In a country where there are no self checkouts at the grocery store or the gas station….the airport was amazingly efficient!!
    And now, on to Germany where I can read the signs and speak the language!    Read more

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    Visiting Gerhard in Waiblingen

    September 30, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Yesterday we flew to Munich, rented a car and drove to a suburb of Stuttgart to spend a few days with an old friend! Gerhard and Davor met when they were students at the Technical University of Munich in 1974! I first met Gerhard and his wife when we moved to Munich in Dec 1979. We really hit it off and have remained close friends. Unfortunately Gerhard’s wife, Heike, had a brain tumor and slowly went downhill for 13 yrs. She died almost 10 years ago. It’s always sweet for the 3 of us to come together and reminisce about Heike and the times we shared and I think it’s comforting for Gerhard too.
    The first pic is Davor and Gerhard! He lives in an apt near downtown so we walked down to the market this morning. Pics 2-6 are pics downtown. The next 3 are of the old city wall.
    In the afternoon we went to a nearby village where Gerhard and Heike used to live. Their house was on the edge of a vineyard where we would often walk. So the 3 of us did that today! The grapes are ripe, and some have already been picked. There was an art exhibit in the middle of the vineyard! The first pic of the 5 women is called “The Women of Persil”. Persil is a detergent, that’s why their collars are so white. The second art pic is of heads made out of plaster by high school students!
    At the edge of the vineyard was a beer garden so we stopped for some food and a beer!

    Highlight of the day: the joy of being with an old friend!    Read more

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    Stuttgart

    October 1, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    This morning we drove into Stuttgart and went to Birkenkopf. As we walked through the park
    ( pic 1), we finally got to the top of the hill. This is where they put all the ruins from Stuttgart after it was bombed in WWII. Fifty percent of the city was destroyed. 165 million cubic feet of destroyed buildings were moved to this area and it added 130 ft of height to the hill (Pics2-5). The view of Stuttgart from above was great!(pic 6,7).
    Saw a wonderful church in Stuttgart, Johanneskirche(pics 8-10). It was closed so we could only enjoy it from outside.
    Enjoyed lunch at a beer garden near the church. I always drink a Radler, a mixture of beer and sprite! It’s very refreshing.
    Then we went to the Porsche Museum(pic 11). I think the guys really took it in.
    The second to last my bit of humor for the day from the bathroom at the beer garden!
    And the last pic is of the 3 of us at The top of Birkenkopf.

    Highlight of the day: the weather here has been perfect, sunny but cool temps!    Read more

  • 2023 Croatia/Germany

    A relaxing day in Waiblingen

    October 2, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Gerhard has been in a rowing club since he was
    14 yrs old. I’ve always known this was a big part of his life so I told him I wanted to see his boat. We walked a couple miles along the Rems River
    (pic #1) in Waiblingen, to the boathouse (pic 2). He showed us the 4 man boats and oars (pic 3&4). Pic 5 is Gerhard’s one person boat. He paddles with club members several times a week.
    On the walk back we stopped at a beer garden for lunch. We had “weisswurst”, a veal sausage that is white, you peel off the outer skin. Tradition has it that weisswurst should be eaten before noon! We had weisswurst with sweet German mustard, a pretzel and of course a beer, I had my radler. The relaxed atmosphere of the beer garden invites you to sit back and just enjoy life, enjoy the weather, and for Davor and Gerhard it was a chance to reminisce about fun times in their friendship. It was also a sweet time to talk about Gerhard’s sweet wife, Heike. The last pic is of one of the decorative entrances to Waiblingen.

    Highlight of the day: relaxing in the beer garden    Read more

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    Rothenburg ob der Tauber

    October 3, 2023 in Germany ⋅ 🌬 24 °C

    Today we drove from Waiblingen to Rothenburg ob derTauber. It’s a medieval town founded in 1274.
    The pics today are all from there. After walking around town we stopped at a beer garden and had some typical German food.
    From Rothenburg we drove to Bayreuth. We will spend a few days with our nephew, Rainer and his wife, Olivia.    Read more

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    Leipzig

    October 4, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Today was our first day with Rainer, our nephew, and his wife Olivia. We drove 2 hours from their apt. and spent the day in Leipzig. Leipzig was part of the former East Germany. I learned a lot about what life in the former East Germany was like and also about the uprisings that caused the wall to fall and the reunification of Germany.
    The first pic is of the 4 of us in Leipzig. Pic 2, a painting on the side of a building expressed the frustration of the people. Some of the sayings: “we are the people” “freedom” “free elections” “freedom of the press” “ the wall has to go” “democracy”. (Unfortunately my pics are a little out of order..) Pic 7 is of Nikolai Kirche and pic 3 is the inside of the church. It all started at this church with prayers for freedom on Mondays at 5pm. That evolved into peaceful demonstrations in the streets of Leipzig that lead to the fall of East Germany. Stepping out of that church and walking along the streets suddenly took on new meaning today after I read the history of what had happened here.
    Pics 4,5 & 6 are some of the buildings in the city.
    Pic 8 is the university library and pic 9 is the “assembly hall and university church of St Paul” that is attached to the library.
    The East Germans demolished the church in 1968. The church was rebuilt after the reunification but is now used sometimes as a church and sometimes as a lecture hall.
    The last pic shows the contrast between the plain, functional architecture of the East German era and the historic building in background. We visited an exhibit titled East Germany: 1945 to the Reunification. Such an eye opening, thought provoking exhibit.

    Highlight of the day: learning the history of Nikolai Kirche, Leipzig and East Germany    Read more

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    Baumwipfelfad in Steigerwald

    October 5, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    We drove out in the country today, through lots of little villages. We stopped at a bakery and then visited the Abteikirche in Ebrach. It was built 1200-1285. It was a church and monastery, today the church still serves its purpose, but the monastery is a juvenile detention center! As you can see from the outside, pic 1, the church doesn’t look like much. We were surprised when we stepped inside and saw how decorated and beautiful it was(pics 2-4)!
    Then we did something very unique, we went on a walkway in the woods. It took us above the treetops, to a height of 138.1 feet! The wooden walkway took us through the trees and there were things to entertain us along the way, like trying to walk on different surfaces, pics 7&8 and then pretending to be a Rotwild and actually seeing one! They are similar to a white tailed deer. After awhile we started walking up this spiral structure to the top! Pics 4-14 are of this experience. It was a cloudy and chilly day, but really fun.
    Afterward we stopped at a cafe for coffee to warm up!

    Highlight of the day: Baumwipfelfad! The walkway above the treetops!    Read more

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    Bayreuth

    October 6, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    We spent the day wandering around Bayreuth, the town where Rainer and Olivia live. Olivia had to go to her aunt’s funeral so Rainer walked around with us and told us some history of the town.
    Pic 1: Around the 1700’s Bayreuth had a very liberal marriage policy ie different classes could intermarry. In order to be married here you had to be living in Bayreuth so they had this small house. People would spend one night in the little house, become “official” residents of the city, and could get married the next day!
    We walked around the pedestrian shopping area downtown and stopped for bratwurst for lunch (pic 2). Pics 3&4 are the pedestrian shopping area.
    The rest of the pics are of the Opera House. It was built by a rich family that wanted a special place for their only daughter to get married. It was quite ornate and the building was only expected to last for a few years. Now almost 175 years later it still stands.
    The interesting thing is that it isn’t all, as it appears. Pic 5 is of the stage, it does not have all the columns and ornate features that your eye sees, really it was just painted wood or paintings on the walls. The architect was a master of illusion! The ceiling in pic 9 is not painted, but cloth was painted and attached to wood! The other pics really are fancy as they appear. It would be fun to sit in that wonderful atmosphere and listen to an opera!

    Highlight of the day: spending the morning with Rainer as he told us stories and the history of Bayreuth!    Read more

  • 2023 Croatia/Germany

    Nuremberg

    October 7, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Today we drove to Nuremberg. The first pic is of the train station. We then visited the Nazi Party Rally grounds where the military would parade in front of Hitler. It’s been very interesting to see how the German people openly discuss the Nazi time period and want to be sure that people understand it, so something so horrible never happens again.
    I really wanted to visit the courtroom where the Nuremberg trials took place. We had an English speaking guide who really helped us understand how the trials happened. Pic 2 is of the courthouse. This courthouse was chosen because it was in the American sector of Germany and it was one of the few courthouses still standing after the war. Nuremberg was heavily bombed but because the courthouse wasn’t in the middle of the city, it escaped. The last reason Nuremberg was chosen for the trials was because a jail was attached to the courthouse. They didn’t want to transport the 23 defendants and maybe have them escape. They had to walk from the jail directly to the courtroom. Pic 6 is of the inside of the courtroom. It isn’t very big. There were 23 defendants, each with 2 attorneys, there were translators, stenographers, reporters, people filming the whole trial, 2 judges from each of the 4 allied countries, Russia, England, France and the US and the prosecutor was from the US Supreme Court. During the first meeting of the judges, the Russians said, “They’re all guilty, let’s just kill them”. The English and French agreed but the American judges said, “No, we have to look at the evidence and hold a trial”. The trial lasted 11 months. 12 defendants were found guilty and were hanged shortly thereafter. 7 went to prison, 3 were found not guilty but when tried in the German courts they were found guilty, and one committed suicide with a cyanide pill his attorney gave him.
    After the courthouse we needed to do something “lighter” so we went to an area of town that has a lot of crafts. Pic 3 is of the entrance into the old town where these shops were. Pic 4 is of the area. Pic 5 is lunchtime! 6 little bratwurst, and potato salad. Simple but yummy. At the end of the day Olivia caught a train back to Bayreuth and Davor and I continued our trip to the Regensburg area to visit his sister and brother in law.

    Highlight of the day: Visiting courtroom 600 where the Nuremberg Trials took place    Read more

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    Alteglofsheim

    October 8, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    We arrived at Davor’s sister, Maja’s home last evening. They live in Alteglofsheim, a suburb of Regensburg. We were warmly greeted by Maja and her husband, Erhard. We hadn’t seen them in 6 years so Maja was VERY excited to see her brother.
    This morning a wonderful, typical German breakfast greeted us, pic #1. We had a relaxed, “gemuetlich” breakfast with Maja & Erhard.
    Today was Election Day here(always on Sundays) so Davor went with Erhard to vote and then they visited a sale for used hobby trains (Erhard’s hobby). It was a cloudy and cool day so Maja and I stayed home and visited.
    Around 4 we all went to a cafe for “Kaffeezeit”, coffee time, which also includes dessert! Pics 2 and 3 are of the garden behind the cafe where we enjoyed our warm drinks and cake (pics 4&5). I had a raspberry torte, it was yummy!
    On the way home we drove by a nearby castle,
    pic 7.

    Highlight of the day: German breakfast!    Read more

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    A Visit with Mutti

    October 9, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    It was a dreary day so we didn’t do a whole lot. The first 5 pics are of Maja and Erhard’s home and garden.
    In the afternoon we visited Davor’s mom. She is
    89 yrs old and lives in an assisted living apartment.
    She hadn’t seen Davor for 6 years and the tears flowed when she saw him. We were pleasantly surprised that she looked so good. We had a nice visit showing her photos of our family and catching up. (Pics 6-8)

    Highlight of the day: a nice visit with Davor’s mom, “Mutti”    Read more

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    Regensburg

    October 10, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    We spent the day wandering around downtown Regensburg. Regensburg is a well preserved medieval town. Erhard is very into history so he is quite the tour guide!
    Regensburg is well known for the Stone Bridge built in the 12th century (pic 1) Pic 2 is the archway at one end of the bridge leading into the old town. Pic 3 is an old wurst restaurant nearby, along the Danube River.
    We didn’t eat there, but instead crossed the stone bridge and had a wonderful lunch in a beer garden (pics 4-6). We’ve been fortunate and have been able to eat more than half of our meals outside, often in beer gardens! Pic 7 is the view we had from the beer garden looking across the Danube at the old town.
    Pic 8 is of Porta Praetoria, these are stone remnants of a former gateway built in 179 AD and once leading into a Roman military camp.
    Pics 9-13 are of St Peters Cathedral, also known as Regensburger Dom, rebuilt in 1273 in high gothic style. It was built the same time as Notre Dame in Paris. The organ was added later, in pic 13 you can see that it is suspended from the ceiling!
    We ended the day with a visit with our niece, Bettina and her kids, Marlene and Benjamin. We played mini golf and then had pizza together!

    Highlight of the day: mini golf with Bettina, Marlene and Benjamin    Read more

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    Special German experiences

    October 11, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Davor and spent a few hours walking around the old town, enjoying the historic buildings and doing a little shopping. In Europe you have to learn to always look up! You never know what treasures you’ll find. Pics 1-7 are some of them! Mid afternoon we sat down at a little cafe for coffee and had a view of city hall (pic 8). I was excited to find my favorite bakery item at this cafe. It’s called “mandelhoernchen”. It is in the shape of a horn and has marzipan inside and almonds on the outside.
    We went back to Maja & Erhard’s and then the 4 of us went out for a fun dinner. We went to a neighboring village and ate at the restaurant for the locals, Landgastof Geser. We walked in and it was their monthly night for pop up music! Several people(including the owner), played accordion, there was a bass and a tuba. What you would call typical German beer hall music played the whole evening! What a fun atmosphere.
    I wish I had known how special the next thing that happened was and I would have taken a picture… they brought out a wooden keg(unusual these days), a man put on an apron and several stood by and he hammered the tap into the keg! Beer splattered! We were nearby but didn’t get wet! Then about 6 employees held out glasses as they tapped out all the foam from the keg, it took awhile! Finally the beer flowed and they emptied the keg into glasses. It was a special beer called bock which is a really dark beer. They only tap it once a year, usually in October. Because Maja and Erhard are regulars at this Gasthof, the owner knows them. We were lucky and he gave us each a glass of this special beer and then sat down and talked to us! The last pic is of my Wiener schnitzel with bratkartoffeln! What a fun evening!

    Highlight of the day: seeing a beer keg tapped    Read more

  • 2023 Croatia/Germany

    Life in Germany

    October 12, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    It’s been a lazy, dreary day. We thought it was gonna get sunny and warm in the afternoon but it didn’t. We did our wash in the morning and went out for Kaffeezeit, coffee and dessert, in the afternoon. (The attached pic!)
    We have been in Germany for for about 10 days now. We’ve only been speaking German even tho everyone we’ve visited knows English. It’s been fun for me to see how quickly I was able to jump into German. I always say I can speak it fluently, but not grammatically correct! I’m even dreaming in German now! Sometimes Davor and I have trouble remembering some words in English!
    In a German home, you always close the doors to the rooms. I always feel like saying, “ And behind door nr 2 is… the bathroom! And behind door nr 3 is…your bedroom!” Also they don’t heat all the rooms so I feel like I’ve been cold a lot! Most people only have a washer and they hang their clothes to dry. Bath towels are stiff!!
    In some ways Germans seem more advanced than us, you pay with Apple Pay everywhere, cash isn’t so common. But yet we’ve only experienced self checkout at one grocery store and you can’t pay for gas at the pump, you have to go inside.
    Germans are very good, polite drivers and they
    follow all the rules. They don’t run a yellow light. Sometimes on the autobahn there is no speed limit but everyone knows to only use the left lane for passing. It’s been really fun for me to observe all of this. We have driven as fast as 100 mph on the autobahn!
    It’s been fun to step into a different culture, but yet be very familiar with it too!!    Read more

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