Day 44: The Greek (8/25/2010)

I was woken up early today by Dad and Baerbel coming in and out of my room. Then the phone started ringing. The Medical Center was calling us back to let us know whether of not Davin could get his surgery done on Thursday. I guess I slept through the first call. Davin tried to answer the second call on the second ring but when he picked up the receiver no one was there. When ten minutes later they called a third time I jumped out of bed and ran to the downstairs phone only for Davin to say “I unplugged it.” So we missed it again. Finally, on the fourth call I answered upstairs and used my rudimentary German to direct the call to my Dad at his office. Later Jonathan said he was really impressed with how I handled the call. Oh yea, awesomeness points for Kristin!

I went back downstairs and Skyped with Scott until the phone rang again. This time Jona got it and it was Baerbel reporting what the Medical Center had said. Davin needed to go in for an information session later in the day. I had breakfast and Skyped with Scott some more. Around 11:30am I finished my girlfriendly duty of ensuring my boyfriend would be sleep deprived yet again from talking to me (its not my fault he won’t go to bed!). Then I watched a Voyager.

At noon I went down to wake Davin up. He was still bummed about his looming surgery. Poor guy. I was hungry for lunch and there was nothing to eat, so I rode a bike to the store and bought some more frozen pizzas, frozen schnitzel, and other necessities like ice cream and nutella.

Back at home, I made Davin and myself schnitzel and pommes for lunch. The Medical Center called for Davin again. This time they just gave Jona instructions about what Davin could and could not do before the surgery, and said he should come tomorrow at 12:30pm to get the informational talk. While the food was in the oven, Davin, Jona, and I played Little Big Planet together. The schnitzel was ok for being frozen. After lunch, we played Little Big Planet again until Jona’s friend Markus came over. Then Davin and I went downstairs.

First thing I wrote the email to our Bank. Then Dad came home and was going to take Davin to the Medical Center, but he didn’t have to go since they had called back with the information earlier. So Davin and I spent several hours playing Star Trek Online. Mom called while we were playing and informed us that our beloved car Black Panther was dying. She asked our advice about taking his to the vet, and we encouraged her to go and end his suffering. Poor Beeper. We’ve had him for 17 years and 5 months. We have lots of good memories about that kitty. He will be sorely missed.

We finished playing right when Dad came in to announce that it was time to go out to dinner. We went to eat at our families favorite Greek restaurant which we simply call ‘the Greek’. Jona and I have always gone to the Greek to eat Schnitzel. Yes, I know that makes absolutely no sense. But Jona is a Schnitzel connoisseur and by his authority the best schnitzels in Bayreuth are at this Greek restaurant. I happen to agree. Everyone else had Greek food. Davin ate Gyros mit Pita. I had some of his food, it was really delicious too. I think the chef at this restaurant is just a really talented guy.

We returned home and I went downstairs and texted with Mom about B.P. Eventually she called to talk. After half an hour, I handed the phone over to Davin, and then watched Monty Python’s Life of Brian with Jona on Youtube. I thought it was really funny. After that, I texted Scott and wrote two updates. Meanwhile, Davin was taking a bath and I had to stay up to help him put his brace back on when he was done. Now I’m exhausted and am going to go to bed! Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. Hopefully Davin’s surgery goes smoothly and he will be better off afterwards. I really hope so!

Day 43: Second Opinion (8/24/2010)

I slept in til 10am today. It was so awesome! After breakfast, I watched two Star Trek Voyagers. Then I worked on writing the updates for the weekend. Jona played Mass Effect 2. Davin also played ME2 and surfed the internet.

Dad made us hamburgers for lunch. Then Davin and Baerbel went to the Medical clinic to get his collar bone checked again. Meanwhile, Dad and I went to the train station to find out travel options for going to Wuerzburg and Berlin. Then we made a brief stop so Dad could buy a bike lock. Lastly, we went to Media Markt to buy new ear bud headphones. Both of our headphones died on the Slovenia trip. It was just a coincidence.

Media Markt and the Medical Center were literally next door to each other. So after we finished shopping, we waited for Baerbel and Davin to come out from the Doctor’s office. We didn’t have to wait long. Davin reported that the news wasn’t good. The German doctors had done a second series of xrays from an second angle that they neglected to do in Slovenia. These xrays revealed that there were bone fragments between the break that were in the way of the bone healing back together. Due to this complication, the doctor recommended Davin undergo surgery to have a metal plate and screws installed to bind the bone together. Obviously, Davin wasn’t thrilled about this news.

Back at the house, I finished writing the updates, then I chatted with Scott for awhile. For dinner we had a wok dish consisting of beef, broccoli, and snow peas on rice. It was pretty good. When I went to bed at midnight, Davin was mad at me cause I forgot to send our Bank an email. He said I should’ve done it earlier when he told me to. Damnit. I hate when he’s right.

Day 42: Catching a Wave on the Way Home (8/23/2010)

We were awakened at 7am again. Davin, Jona, and I really can’t wait to get back to Bayreuth where we can sleep in! I went into the parents room, and was surprised to find Jonathan there. Apparently Davin had chased away yet another person with his snoring!

We ate a quick breakfast, packed the car, and were on the road to Muenich by 8:30am. The plan today was to stop in Muenich for a few hours on the way home. Around 10:30am we arrived and parked at the Allianz Arena. From there we took public transportation into the city center.

We arrived at the Marienplatz around 11:40am. Then we waited around for noon so we could watch the Glockenspiel go off. It was really unimpressive but was hilarious to see because of the crowds reactions. Hundreds of tourists gathered beneath the clock and they “Ooh”ed and “Aah”ed in unison when anything happened. (Nothing that happened was worth "Ooh"ing or "Aah"ing over!)


Next we walked over to the Hard Rock Café, and the Hofbrauehaus, which happen to be right across the street from each other. Dad had baby back ribs from Hard Rock, and Baerbel had a salad. Jona, Davin and I went to the Hofbraeuhaus where Jona ordered Schweinebraten. I bought myself a nice blue and silver shirt from the Hofbrauehaus. When Jona finished eating, Davin and I bought Doener from a nearby Doener Kebap stand. We got the wrap variety, so it was basically a gyro sandwich. Delicious!

Once we were all finished eating, we made plans to meet back at the Marienplatz at 3:30pm and split up. Dad and Jona went to the Karaoke store, and a large electronics store. Dad has been obsessing about Karaoke our whole visit. Apparently he has really gotten into it since he began traveling to Korea all the time. Baerbel walked to the Hofgarten and perused various markets. Davin and I walked to the English Garden to see the surfers who ride a standing wave formed when the river comes back to the surface from underneath the street.


When we arrived at the surfing spot there were tons of tourists watching from the bridge and river banks. This was my third time visiting the Muenich surfers, and it was by far the most crowded time as well. There were about eight people taking turns riding the wave. Several were quite good.


Davin and I still had a lot of time to kill (hour and a half) so we walked around the park a bit. Then slowly made our way back to the Marienplatz. We passed through the Hofgarten where we experienced another movie moment. A violinist was in the Temple of Athena playing beautiful music on a perfect summer day surrounded by swathes of blooming flowers. We joked about how any minute a brunette in a red dress would walk by, and a secret agent would be sitting on one of the park benches. Shortly thereafter, a car bomb would explode and send everyone fleeing in terror. I gave the violinist 1E for giving us a movie moment. We also passed by the Residenz and several other impressive monuments on our way back to the Marienplatz.


Davin and I still arrived early (3pm) so we sat in a drizzle under our one umbrella to wait for the others. They met us on time at 3:30pm. Then we took the train back to our car and headed for Bayreuth.

We arrived at the house around 6:30pm. Then we had to unpack our things. Davin and I were back on our computers in less than 15 minutes! :) I spent most of the evening texting Scott, Mom, Leigh and Amber back home. Davin and Jona played Mass Effect 2 and surfed the internet. For dinner we heated up the frozen pizzas that Dad and Davin had picked up at the store right before we made it home. Then, since we have all been on Dad’s early schedule this week, we all got tired and went to bed a little after 11pm. It was so nice to have our own beds again!

Day 41: Salzburg (8/22/2010)

Dad woke me up when he came into the kitchen at 7am. I moved onto the sofa in Dad and Baerbel’s room and took my time waking up. Today the plan was to visit the "beautiful" city of Salzburg. Baerbel loves to drag all of us to beautiful places. We have to be dragged because none of us young people want to go anywhere at 8am in the morning. Who would?!? Crazy people... Still, I guess I should give credit where credit’s due, since she is the one who goes gaga about all the beautiful places we end up visiting. I have to admit we usually visit very beautiful places.

After a forty five minute car ride, we were parked near Salzburg’s city center. First we visited the Dom. Baerbel sure loves her churches. She has to have seen hundreds in her life by now! Then we walked to the Residenz, but a special exhibit was in progress so the main rooms were closed. So we continued on over to the birth house of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.


The exhibit there was interesting. We learned about the ancestry and extended family of Mozart. I already knew the survival rate of children in the 1700s was bad, but it was interesting, and terrible, to see in a family tree the number of children a woman bore, and how few of them survived to adulthood. Mozart’s mother had seven children, and only two survived to adulthood, Mozart and his sister Nannerl. Mozart’s wife had six children and only two of them survived to adulthood.


After the Mozart museum, we did a bit of window shopping. Then we split up for lunch. Dad, Jona, and I went to a delicious Chinese buffet. It had really delicious sweet and sour soup, orange chicken, and I drank delicious Jasmine tea. Davin and Baerbel ate at a nice Italian place. Davin got a Margarita pizza, of course.



We met up again after lunch, only to split up once again. Baerbel and I wanted to walk by the big river that flows through the city. Dad, Davin, and Jona had no interest in that, so they headed back in the direction of the Dom. Baerbel and I did a small loop between two bridges that crossed the river. While walking we happened upon a bazaar along the river bank. Tents were lined up selling all kinds of things from clothing, to soap, to jewelry. I found a nice leather wallet for only 15E. I needed a wallet because my current wallet is too fat to fit in my pants pockets (damn girly pants pockets!), so I’m forced to carry a backpack or a purse around just to hold a small wallet.

About a half hour before our meet up time of 2:30pm, Baerbel and I headed back towards the Dom. We stopped in a small church on the way. At the Dom we saw a really talented group of musicians playing music. They were called Quartet Russian Style. We found the guys waiting for us nearby. Then we all headed back to the car.


Our next stop was a café in Berchtesgaden, Germany’s National Park. It was at the last Kuegel Mill in Germany. They use the water to spin plates around in circles which grinds stones trapped between them into perfect circles. It’s really hard to describe, but it works. It was very similar to something Scott showed me at the Del Mar fair’s Rock and Gem exhibit. The difference being the material, sold marble balls instead of geodes. The Kuegeln were being sold for a ridiculous amount of money though, so I didn’t buy one.


After espressos and ice cream, we headed back to Werfen. Baerbel made a delicious Goulash for dinner. Then we all did our own things before bed (reading books, investment links, TV etc.) I happily slept on the kitchen floor again.

Day 40: Grossglockner Strasse (8/21/2010)

I slept on the crappy sofa bed with Jona last night to avoid Davin’s snoring, and other bizarre nighttime noises... Unfortunately, Jona was the one who had trouble sleeping this time. The bed is really awful, and it apparently gave Jona really bad back pain. In the middle of the night, he gave up and put the air mattress on the floor. He had more success sleeping down there. I did ok on the bed, especially after Jona abandoned ship. Then I had it all to myself and slept on a massive pillow pile.

Dad woke us up at 7am. I had packed up the night before, so I just had to eat, get ready and pack the car. Jona helped Davin pack his things while I helped do the dishes. We were all packed and on the road by 8:30am. Baerbel wanted to take one last look at Lake Bohinj, which none of us got around to really visiting. We stopped briefly and took a few more pictures, then we continued on our drive back to Austria.


The drive would have only taken four hours, but since we had all day Dad and Baerbel decided to take the scenic route over the Alps (instead of under them via the tunnels). It is a very famous road called the Grossglockner Strasse. It cost 28Euros to use the road. Grossglockner is the highest point in Austria, and it is definitely a magnificent mountain. A glacier flows beneath Grossglocker’s peak and spans the neighboring mountains. It was a true natural beauty.


Our drive up and over the Alps took five hours (noon to five). Two for driving, and one for taking in the many beautiful panoramic views. We made it down the mountain around 5pm. Dad’s large car had a difficult time going down the steep grades, but we made it down intact.


We stopped at a grocery store to get some supplies, and it’s only worth mentioning because I found Rice Crispies! Apparently, German people have something against rice based cereals because Rice Crispies aren’t sold in the country. In addition, Special K which is made out of 100% rice in the United States is made out of a combination of rice and wheat in Germany! So strange.


We arrived at Werfen around 7pm and moved all our stuff into the apartment. Then we went to a local restaurant for dinner. Davin and I both had Puten Schnitzel which was really delicious, even though it looked like a frozen dinner when it arrived. Dad, Baerbel, and Jona were all disappointed with their meals because they were small and bland. Jona had spaghetti Bolognese (4 out of 10), like usual, and Dad and Baerbel both had Kaese Spaetzle.

In the evening, Jona and I played cribbage, and Davin went around complaining about his injury and how I didn’t have enough sympathy for him (blah, blah, blah). We both agreed I make a shitty nurse. He is also a shitty patient, taking out his frustration on the people who are trying to help him. I’ve never been able to have empathy for people who treat me like shit, even when they are in bad straights!! Finally, he went in the tub and left me alone.

I slept on the air mattress in the kitchen so that I wouldn’t have to deal with Davin’s snoring.

Day 39: A Day Off (8/20/2010)

I woke up as soon as Dad came out of his room at 7am. I was happy to see him because I wanted to sleep in his bed. Jona and I moved from the kitchen sofa, and floor, respectively, to Dad and Baerbel’s room. Then we kept sleeping until 10:45am. We were able to sleep in today because Jona, Davin and I decided to stay home and play games, instead of going on another hike.

I finally rolled out of bed because I didn’t want to oversleep and because I knew I had to go buy a loaf of bread from the local store before they ran out. When I got dressed I realized that I didn’t have any shoes because I left them in the car and the car was gone, so I borrowed Jona’s shoes. (It turns out that Baerbel left a pair of my shoes downstairs, but I didn't see them!)

When I got to the store (literally around the corner from the apartment), four or five middle aged men were already outside drinking beer. Inside the store, two old women were waiting around, and the store keeper was nowhere to be found. I noticed that only two loaves of bread were left, so I felt that I couldn’t leave and come back later. So I waited around for 10 minutes. While I was waiting, I noticed one of the men just helped himself to the bottles in the back of the store. Finally, I asked one of the old ladies how long until the storekeeper came back because I wanted to get some idea of how long I could expect to be standing around. I tried German with her because Baerbel said that older people in Slovenia typically speak some German and younger people speak more English. This lady obviously didn’t speak anything but Slovenian, but she motioned the big man inside and I asked him in German. He said 5 minutes, look confused, then threw up his hands and said Many, Many. This really didn’t make things clear for me, so I asked the old woman again, and she explained in Slovenian that the storekeeper had gone to Stara Fuzina and would then be coming back. Or that’s what I inferred from hearing Stara Fuzina and interpreting her hand signals. So I settled in to wait. A few minutes later, the big man came in again and went behind the store counter. The next thing I know he has pulled out a bottle of hard liquor and a shot glass and was helping himself to that as well. That was the best moment of my wait! I was pretty amused by this small town culture! Anyway, he was about to help the old lady who was waiting before me, when he saw the storekeeper coming. I was finally able to buy my bread and return home. In the end, I only had to wait 15 minutes.

Davin and Jona got up when I returned. We sat around talking for a long time. Jona had his usual cornflakes for breakfast. Finally Davin and I also got around to eating. Then Jona jumped onto Dad’s computer. He was on there until 1pm. Davin and I watched Al Jazeera news and then read. At 1pm, I had my turn on the computer for an hour and a half. I spent my time writing an email to Scott, to my brothers’ mutual disgust. Then I finished reading one of my backlogged investment links. Davin started reading one of his BattleTech books. He says it isn’t very good but it seems to be keeping his interest. We were both amused by the subtle references to Toshiro Mifune movies that were in this particular book.

Around lunch time, Jona and I washed all the dishes. Then I had a tuna fish sandwich. Jona made noodles and warmed up the left over spaghetti sauce for him and Davin.

Davin has been miserable about his injury since the beginning, but at least he now has everything done for him. Of course he’d rather be fit, but that’s the one perk of his accident. We have to check the alignment of his brace every hour of two as well. It doesn’t seem to move much though, and the alignment of the bone looks okay from an outside inspection. Much better than when he first injured it. But he is bummed that he needs help putting on his shoes and his shirt. I can see that it would be very unnerving to suddenly find yourself dependent on others to take care of yourself.

After lunch, Jona played a little online poker and black jack. Then, he and I played a game of cribbage. I won! I really like that game. Next, Davin, Jona and I played Scotland Yard. It is similar to Dracula but different. One player is a thief, and the rest are detectives that have to find him. The board is a map of London, and you use different types of public transportation to chase the thief around the city. Dad and Baerbel came home when we started Scotland Yard. When we finished (Jona and I won by finding Davin) we all went out to eat.

Baerbel, Jona, Davin, and I walked to the local restaurant. Dad met us there with the car. I had delicious Palettschinken with raspberries and tea for dinner! Davin had Veseli Bohinjc for dinner. It was pork filled with cheese covered in gravy and baked potatoes. I tried it and thought it was pretty good. (See photo above)


After dinner, Jona and I headed back to the car and I practiced juggling. I’m getting better. Back at the apartment we worked on packing, and I wrote the updates for today and yesterday. Meanwhile, Dad, Jona, and Davin watched the opening German League soccer game featuring Dad and Jona’s favorite team FC Bayern Muenchen. They won 2:1 with a goal in the first minute of two minutes of extra time. Now it’s time for bed at 10:30pm, we have an early day tomorrow!

Day 38: A Day in Bled (8/19/2010)

Dad woke us up as usual. We had breakfast, then Jona and I washed the dishes while Dad made sandwiches. Dad sent us to buy more white bread when he ran out. I had trouble sleeping last night because Davin snored so much. He snores as soon as he falls asleep when he sleeps on his back, and he has to sleep on his back because of his injury.
























We were on the road around 10:30am. Today we went to explore Bled. First we drove to the castle that is on top of the cliff over Lake Bled. It was pretty cheap to get into, but wasn’t impressive at all (compared to other castles). The view from up there out over the lake was very beautiful though. Jona and I made an amusing video involving the castle’s medieval toilet.

The castle annoyed me because it didn’t have much to offer in the way of interesting exhibits or history, but had four or five shops where you could buy things like wine and herbs. So it felt like a total tourist trap. We all had ice creams on the way out though. I had coconut and chocolate, and Davin had strachiatella.

We then jumped back into the car and drove down to the lake. Dad wanted to find a nice place to eat our picnic lunch. We had our sandwiches by the lake, and I fed some crumbs to the ducks and sparrows. There was what seemed to be a mated pair among the sparrows. Whenever the male sparrow got crumbs, he would feed them to this one female. Maybe it was his kid, not his mate, but they both looked like adults to me. Cute anyway.


Then we went to rent a boat to take us to the church on the lake. Going to the church on the lake seems to be extremely popular, so it was difficult to find a boat to rent. We found a nice swan row boat but it only held 3 people. In the end, Baerbel, Jona, and I took the swan boat for an hour (12E), and Dad and Davin paid 12E each to get rowed there and back (what a rip off!).


I really enjoyed the row boat ride. It was fun and gave us a good view of all the surrounding mountains. When we landed we went to explore the church island. For an additional 3E per person we were able to enter the church! The only good thing about the visit to the church, is that a superstition holds that those who ring the bell and make a wish will have it come true. My wish better come true for the 10E that was paid for it! Davin says he wished for his collar bone to heal quickly with no problems. On the return trip, Dad and Davin switched with Baerbel and me and rode in the swan boat. I thought it was only fair to share the fun of being on the small row boat.

Davin, Jona, and I had had enough fun for today, but Baerbel still wanted to see more, so we drove to the town of Radovlic(h)a which has a famous oldtown district. The houses were built in the 1500s, but other than that the whole thing was unimpressive.

We then returned home. I had a really bad headache and so took some medicine and laid down. Dad meanwhile cooked dinner. Next thing I knew I was being awakened for dinner! We had some kind of creamy sour sauce on noodles. After dinner, Jona, Davin, and I played 7 card stud.

We went to bed around 11pm, but I couldn’t sleep because Davin was snoring as soon as he fell asleep. Like I said, he has to sleep on his back because of his injury, and I can’t stand snoring! Around 1am, I went to sleep on the hard kitchen floor and finally got some sleep. Overall, I slept really badly though.

Day 37: "Fuck Bohinj!" - Davin/ALPSKO MLEKO (8/18/2010)

Today was an ordeal! We were allowed to sleep in til 9am. When we got up there was a discussion on what to do today, and nothing was settled on. It was raining outside, but Dad wanted to go walking along the lake regardless. None of us kids was supportive of that idea. Finally it was settled on that we would go to the indoor swimming pool in Bohinj...

We drove there and went inside. It wasn’t really that impressive. None of the pools were warm enough. Davin, Jona, and I tried out the two slides, and found that one of them was actually pretty fun. It was short, but extremely fast. The nice thing about it was that there was hardly any line because it was too intense for little kids. We went on the slide four or five times. Then, Davin went down ahead of me because he wanted to watch one of us come out at the bottom. When I got to the bottom I saw Jona and Davin milling around the stairs in an odd way. I went over, and noticed that there was an odd bulge on Davin’s chest. It turned out that when he got to the bottom of the slide, he stepped out of the landing pool and slipped on the wet metal panels on the floor. Then he fell back and hit his shoulder on the one foot high landing pool wall, and the fall broke his collar bone!

What a turn of events! Davin and Dad went to the lifeguard and he wrapped Davin up in bandages to set the collar bone back in place. Then they went to see the local doctor. Meanwhile, Baerbel, Jona and I stayed at the pool until Dad and Davin found out more. It wasn’t long before Dad came back and told us to meet him and Davin at the car.

When we got to the car, Davin told us how the doctor hadn’t been able to do anything and had referred them to the hospital in Jesnice, 40km away. A nurse did give him a really painful 30Euro shot in the butt though (for pain that he didn’t really have yet). A woman who worked at the pool led us to the hospital in her car. At the hospital she helped us check in and then left us to wait in the urgent care room.

Baerbel, Jona, and I left Davin and Dad to get some food. We went to a Pizzeria that we passed on the way to the hospital. We were going to get food for ourselves and then bring food back to Dad and Davin. This place had the worst service of any restaurant I’ve ever been to. It took them forever to give us menus, then forever to take our order. The two pizzas we ordered came pretty quickly but one of them wasn’t what we ordered. The waitress tried to say that I had ordered it, but I knew that was impossible since to order my pizza I had pointed to the one I wanted. So we ordered the one I originally wanted as a third pizza. Ironically, the pizza that we didn’t order was the most delicious one! The third pizza arrived, and Jona’s spaghetti Bolognese still wasn’t ready. It took it another twenty minutes to arrive! By then the poor guy was really starving! Finally, we had the leftovers boxed up and paid the bill. We are pretty sure they charged us for an extra drink, but we just didn’t worry about it since it was 60cents and we just considered it the tip they didn’t deserve.

We arrived back at the hospital just as Dad was going over to reception to pay. Davin and I were really impressed with the cost of the healthcare in Slovenia. The hospital visit, x-rays and all, was only 107Euros. For an uninsured visit to urgent care, paying about $200 US is a really good deal!


We made a quick stop at the pharmacy to get Davin's pain medication filled. That was 4Euros. When I came back outside, I found Dad and Jonathan filling up milk bottles from a milk vending machine! (It's even called a Mlekomat!) Now we had fresh Alpsko Mleko (Alpine Milk) for Jona's cornflakes! :)


It was about 4:30pm when we headed for ‘home’. We took the scenic road, but none of us, besides Baerbel, wanted to actually DO anything else today. When we made it back, I worked on writing yesterday and today’s updates. I also emailed mom about Davin’s accident. Meanwhile, Dad and Baerbel went out to dinner at a local restaurant. (We three kids were too tired to go.) Davin lay down for awhile, and then he and Jona started watching stuff on TV.

Now the three of us are going to play poker, and possibly some other games.

Day 36: View to Trogdor Mountain (8/17/2010)

We slept in until 8:30am today, had breakfast, and got ready for a day of hiking. Dad chose the hike today. It was supposedly a ‘Leicht’ (or easy) hike. All I know is, that if what we did today is considered easy, Slovenians must be really hardcore hikers!


The mountain we climbed was 1700meters tall, but we only climbed the last 600meters. We drove up to a mountain hut and parked the car. We started our ascent around 11am. It wasn’t that out of the ordinary at first, there were some steep parts, but Baerbel assured us that once we made it to the peak it would all be down hill from there. That was true, but it wasn’t long before we reached the part of the ‘trail’ that had an incline of 60 or 70 degrees. We literally used all four limbs to climb! Last I checked, use of hands to scale a mountain path was not in the description of an easy hike, or even a medium one!!!


We decided to have lunch after we scaled a rock wall that came out on a fairly flat mesa. We were starving by this point, so we didn’t want to wait to get to the peak before eating lunch. We had only been eating 5 minutes when we noticed a huge black cloud coming up the valley next to our mountain. Davin and I hurriedly packed up our stuff and continued up the trail. The last thing we wanted to do was climb the sheer surfaces in the rain. Dad, Baerbel and Jonathan weren’t phased by the cloud and kept eating. Once we almost made it to the top, we stopped to eat and wait for the others to catch up.


Jona, Davin and I enjoyed complaining the whole way up the mountain. Actually, I think I was the only one who enjoyed complaining. I thought the whole trail was so ridiculous that it was hilarious. Davin said it was the most hellish hike he’s ever been on. I think it’s definitely the steepest!


We reached the peak at 2pm. We admired the great views of the valley and the tallest mountain in the area, Triglav, after which the national park is named. Davin decided to call it Trogdor mountain instead. Davin, Jona, and I signed the visitor book at the top. Davin wrote in the margin, “This was the most HELLish hike I’ve ever been on!” Jona got out his juggling balls for the photo opportunity. Then Davin had the idea to make a parody of a famous photo from Iwo Jima.



Then we started down the backside of the mountain. Davin kept slipping because he doesn’t have real hiking shoes. The way down the mountain was a lot better than the way up, but it was still ridiculously steep! After another hour of walking we came to an Alm hut. There we stopped to have drinks. Three ice teas and a lemonade. I asked if it was 45 more minutes to the car, and Dad and Baerbel laughed. Nope, it was 3 more hours to the car!! Lol.

An hour and a half later, we arrived at the next Alm hut. When we were almost there I slipped on wet grass and fell flat on my ass! It knocked the wind out of me, but I was just happy that I landed on something soft, and not on all the rocks we’d been climbing over all day!

At the hut, Dad and Baerbel had espressos and warm milk. I had a tea which turned out to be presweetened and disgusting. I enjoyed petting the cows that lived at this hut and made my lil brother take pictures of me with a cow. Cows are so cute!


While we were resting, Davin and Jona decided it was time to use the frisbee that we brought all the way up the mountain so we could use it, take pictures, and say that we did it. Lol. In this picture, Davin catches the frisbee! Amazing!


We had an hour and a half left to go. We headed down the trail and some cows were coming the other way. One of them had a calf which was scared of people so the Momma cow started making moves like she might charge us! I put the pointed edge of my walking stick in her face as I slowly backed away. I didn’t want her to get any ideas, and I wasn’t going down without a fight!! She let me move, then moved towards my stepmom who danced back out of the way. Finally the cow went past. Phew. Goring by cow is not an experience I need to add to my resume!


The rest of the trip down the mountain was uneventful, and for the most part the trail was better than it had been all day. We made it back to the car at 6pm, so our hike lasted 7 hours. A pretty decent walk I think. Jona collapsed into the backseat of the car and said, “I never was this happy to sit in the back!”

We drove back to the apartment, took turns showering, had leftovers for dinner, and I wrote the update for the day before. I was too exhausted to write today’s too! Then Davin, Jona, and I played poker for an hour. We went to bed at around 10pm.

Day 35: Venturing into the Dark (8/16/2010)

Dad came to wake us up at 6:30am, but I didn’t roll out of bed til almost 7am. We had a quick breakfast, then Davin, Baerbel, and I headed out. We were going to go see the amazing caves that exist in Slovenia's karst landscape. We saw the caves last summer, but they were so amazing I wanted to see them again! Dad stayed behind with Jona who refused to drive 2 hours to get to caves we'd already seen. The drive went by quick for me because I was working on a poem for Scott that I started yesterday just for fun.


First we visited Postojnska Jama. It cost 45E for us to tour the cave and to visit the Vivarium. Baerbel waited outside for us while we went on the tour. It was almost as impressive the second time. The size of the caverns is just amazing! There was one difference from last year. At the end of the tour, I noticed that the large statue of the Proteus salamander had been replaced with a large Terrarium containing living Proteus!! A nice improvement. The Proteus live only in caves and can live up to 90 years because their bodies are extremely efficient. They can survive up to 10 years without food! Naturally, they don't move very much.

Next we drove to Predjama Castle so that Davin could see for himself how this castle is built right into the cliff. We just looked at it from the outside, and then had lunch at the restaurant nearby. Davin got a spaghetti Bolognese which he rated as a 5 out of 10. Better than the one Jona ate in Werfen.


After lunch, we drove to Skojanske Jama. I like this cave better than Postojnska Jama, and it is also better priced. Baerbel treated us to the entry, though we offered to pay for ourselves. We arrived just after a tour had left, so we had some time to kill. We walked to the nearby lookout point. From there you could see the waterfall that is located at the exit of the cave tour, and an impressive view of the Karst landscape. It’s very beautiful.


At 3pm, our tour began. First we had to walk to the cave entrance, then the group was split between two tour guides. We were in the second group this time. It was annoying to have to hear our guide say everything two times, first in English, then again in Italian. Though it was pretty funny when she made a speech in English, and then immediately started over in English AGAIN!! She didn’t realize her mistake until an Italian person said something.

Skojanske Jama is simply more impressive than Postojnska because of its sheer size. Postojnska has the better cave formations, but Skojanske has the awesome underground canyon. It’s so mind blowing that you can hardly believe it exists even when you are walking through it! It is like something out of a fantasy movie! I love that cave so much! So I was obviously thrilled to see it again. Davin was totally blown away by it too.

It was 5:30pm when we finished our tour and started our long drive back home. I finished my poem. We got home around 7:30pm, showered and ate dinner. Then Davin, Jona, and I played poker together until 11pm. Jona kicked our butts at 5 card draw, but then I wiped the floor with them at Texas Hold ‘Em. We drank coke and ApfelSchorle out of shot glasses just for fun. Good times.

Day 34: Most Nice Slap (8/15/2010)

We were allowed to sleep in until 9am today. After a leisurely breakfast, we set out for Stara Fuc(h)ina, near Bohinj lake. There we parked the car and set out to hike up a gorge (following the right side of the river) to see a waterfall. It was a very nice walk. It rained really hard last night, so our path eventually turned into a river of run off water! It was fun trying to figure out how to keep going by taking unofficial paths through the forest.


It took us an hour and a half to get to the first mountain hut. We stopped there for lunch. I ate a sandwich that we had brought with, and Dad, Baerbel, and Jona all bought soups. Davin wanted to buy a bratwurst but they didn’t have any today. Since he wasn’t that hungry, he decided not to eat anything. Although, he did end up finishing Jonathan's soup.

When we left the hut, Davin wanted to run ahead up the mountain. I resisted though, I didn’t want to run anywhere! After another hour of hiking, we reached the waterfall (Slap Mostnice) at the end of the gorge. It was pretty, but not that impressive. The mist from the waterfall was so thick, that in just a few minutes you looked as if you had been caught in a rainstorm! I got completely soaked while taking pictures there!


This was the end of the trail, so we turned around and headed back the way we came. Davin and I lagged behind the others in an attempt to dry ourselves off, but we found Dad and Baerbel back at the second hut which we passed just 50m before reaching the waterfall. There Davin and I had a soda, and Dad and Baerbel had coffee and shared an Apple Strudel.


Jona was sick of hiking by now, and eager to get back to the car. Davin also wanted to push the pace again! So, when the 5 of us headed back down the mountain, the three of us took off ahead of our parents. Jona took the lead, followed by Davin, and I was in third place. I didn't really care to go all that fast, so I just made sure I kept Davin in sight ahead of me, but Davin eventually lost sight of Jonathan. We never managed to catch up to him, and worried the whole way back to the car that he would be ok by himself.

When we came to the fork, we took the trail that followed the opposite side of the gorge (left side of the river). It was a much nicer trail. The views were better, and the path wasn’t washed out. When we made it back to the beginning of the trail, we found Jonathan waiting for us. In total, the hike took us about 5 hours.

We found a bench in the shade near the car, and waited for Dad and Baerbel to catch up to us. It was only about 10 minutes before they arrived. Then we all packed into the car and drove to Bohinj lake. We just drove by, it was very beautiful. We followed the road all the way to the parking lot from which we could climb to another waterfall (Slap Savica). To get to it we had to climb another 20 minutes, up stairs!! What torture! You had to pay to do it too! We all agreed that it was a good thing Jona stayed in the car because he would have been pissed! When we finally arrived, we found that this waterfall was much more impressive than the last one. A huge amount of water came crashing down, and fed into Bohinj lake.


On the way back to the car, Davin and I discussed how the trip was overwhelming me. I’m getting homesick because I’ve been traveling too much in the last 2 years, and I miss my boyfriend. I hate being so pathetic! Davin assured me he could survive on his own if I wanted to go home early, but I’m not going to abandon him! Sheesh.

We drove back to the apartment. There Davin and I checked our emails, and I started the update. Then we had curry for dinner. It was very delicious! While writing the update, and texting Scott, I started tearing up, I just couldn’t help it! Jona thought I was going crazy because I was half crying and half laughing, cause I was remembering how Davin was wanting to run up the mountain like a crazy person!! Lol.

Now Baerbel is reminiscing about the trip to Croatia last year, and Dad is telling the story about the wave that almost capsized our rental boat! Good times. We will probably play a game later and try to go to bed early.

Day 33: Headed Down South (8/14/2010)

Dad came in to get us up at 7:30am today. Man, I really resisted this time! I was the last one up. We had the usual German fare for breakfast. Then we packed up the car and headed for Slovenia.

The day was pretty uneventful. We drove about 4 hours to Bled, Slovenia. In Bled, we had lunch at the same Chinese restaurant that we ate at last summer. I had the same food allergy as last year too, lol, where pressure builds up in my sinus cavities. It's a really weird feeling, and can get very uncomfortable if it gets bad enough. Stupid Chinese food! There is some spice they use that causes it, but I have no idea what, and it happens more often in European Chinese restaurants than American ones. The food was still delicious though!

After lunch, Dad insisted on finding an internet café. While he did his email, Baerbel walked to a cathedral by the lake. We had our first movie moment on the trip here by Lake Bled. While we sat on a bench surrounded by one of the most picturesque places I've been in the entire world, a man nearby played classical music on an accordion. It felt like a scene straight out of a movie!

After awhile, Davin, Jona, and I decided to go the opposite direction of Baerbel so we could check out the nearby Roddelbahn. I decided it was too expensive to ride only once (price per ride was reduced the more rides you purchased at one time), and that was all we had time for, so we turned back. At 3:30pm, we met up with Baerbel and Dad back in town, and we headed back to the car.


Then we drove the rest of the way to our rural Slovenian apartment. It was so rural that Dad became worried we were lost, but we weren’t. Baerbel kept asking for directions and the locals kept pointing out the way for us. In the end, we found it with no problems.

Then we had to unpack the car and settle in for the week. While unpacking, we discovered that we had internet! Dad finished checking his email. Then I checked mine.

After a dinner of Wienerle, I went back online and wrote two daily journal entries while talking to Scott on AIM. I miss him soooo much!! Davin, Jona, and I also watched Solitary, a German game show where people are locked in solitary confinement with no human contact and must compete in games to avoid getting eliminated. It was a pretty amusing show. Now it’s time to log off and play a game with my brothers before going to bed.