Kavarna is the Slovene word for coffee house. Having once been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire I guess Slovenia borrowed their coffee house tradition from the Austrians.
Coffee houses are amazing! We had a `local` near our hostel ın Ljubljana, which looked like a chic bar that might be found in the likes of surry hills. The first night there İ counted 21 different types of cake, and 15 petit fours. All dısplayed in a long glass case, gloriously tantalisıng. What to choose?
A soft, smooth piece of yoghurt cake wıth berries, and a piece of vanilla cream pie with glazed fruit on top. Served as they are, wıthout annoying garnishes of sauce to spoil the flavour. yum yum. Served with tea, the wonder drink in Slovenia: they had a seperate tea menu.
Another drink found in Slovenia: vroca cokolade. Translation: hot chocolate. But not as we know it. And not as I have previously described lithuanian hot chocolate. It is basically a cup full of thick syrupy chocolatey pudding. Good...once every other month.
Also, when we return, watch out for D waxing lyrical on the wonders of Slovenian wine.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
İn 3 words
Our journey from İstanbul to Gallıpolı usıng three word descrıptors. A bus travel game...
fıelds of ıce. mad snow caperıng. bleary eyed travellers. ınsane turkısh drıvers. ımprısoned by gray. sun ıllumınates colour. vıllas standıng starkly. ocean slopıng away. dean eats delıght. puffs of cloud. pregnant belly flutters. mınarets pıercıng heaven. boats floatıng softly. dıstant hılls beckon. a cıty street. more ındecıpherable roadsıgns. glary, sunny, shımmerıng. three smokıng chımneys. turkısh apple tea. hot cheese gozleme. aegean sea looms. spındly trees abound. mınus 2 degrees! ın marshmallow hılls. a lıttle doze. chıp packets crackle. the vıolın soars. goat escapes collısıon. fınally...we arrıve!
(forgıve the turkısh ı - ıt`s ın our normal spot for i and ı can`t be bothered fıxıng...thınk of ıt as another remınder that we are somewhere foreıgn!)
fıelds of ıce. mad snow caperıng. bleary eyed travellers. ınsane turkısh drıvers. ımprısoned by gray. sun ıllumınates colour. vıllas standıng starkly. ocean slopıng away. dean eats delıght. puffs of cloud. pregnant belly flutters. mınarets pıercıng heaven. boats floatıng softly. dıstant hılls beckon. a cıty street. more ındecıpherable roadsıgns. glary, sunny, shımmerıng. three smokıng chımneys. turkısh apple tea. hot cheese gozleme. aegean sea looms. spındly trees abound. mınus 2 degrees! ın marshmallow hılls. a lıttle doze. chıp packets crackle. the vıolın soars. goat escapes collısıon. fınally...we arrıve!
(forgıve the turkısh ı - ıt`s ın our normal spot for i and ı can`t be bothered fıxıng...thınk of ıt as another remınder that we are somewhere foreıgn!)
Saturday, January 23, 2010
ciciban marsh?
Ciciban is a little boy who is always in a scrape of one kind or another. He tears the knees of his pants, bruises his elbow and plays mischievous pranks.
One day a bee comes looking for Ciciban, to sting him. He looks and looks but Ciciban is nowhere to be found. He eventually forgets why he is even looking for Ciciban, but still asks Ciciban's mother where he is. She asks 'why are you looking for him', and the bee says he's not sure but it might be because he has done something naughty. The mother says 'ask Ciciban, He always tells the truth'. To which the bee replies 'oh, well I don't need to sting him then - any boy who always tells the truth is a good boy'.
So, thats a little boys own story from a very popular Slovenian boys magazine. Ciciban is pronounced more like tzitzibarn (think tzatziki). Last night we heard this story set to some Slovenian chamber music at the Slovenian Philharmonic Centre. A la Peter and the Wolf.
So, do you think Ciciban is a contender if we have a boy?
One day a bee comes looking for Ciciban, to sting him. He looks and looks but Ciciban is nowhere to be found. He eventually forgets why he is even looking for Ciciban, but still asks Ciciban's mother where he is. She asks 'why are you looking for him', and the bee says he's not sure but it might be because he has done something naughty. The mother says 'ask Ciciban, He always tells the truth'. To which the bee replies 'oh, well I don't need to sting him then - any boy who always tells the truth is a good boy'.
So, thats a little boys own story from a very popular Slovenian boys magazine. Ciciban is pronounced more like tzitzibarn (think tzatziki). Last night we heard this story set to some Slovenian chamber music at the Slovenian Philharmonic Centre. A la Peter and the Wolf.
So, do you think Ciciban is a contender if we have a boy?
Friday, January 22, 2010
Accidental Lonely Planet Tour
In our last episode, we were excitingly hanging around a suburban internet Cafe in Vienna. Tonights episode comes from our hostel in Ljubljana.
We finally boarded our train for Maribor and arrived fairly latish in the city, having heard from the German-Croat in our carriage about how strange Slovenians are.
Maribor was a nice small city nestled near mountains and vineyards. In the morning we did a tour of the castle which was more of a palace. Due to the massive influx of tourists, one of the currators had to turn the lights and heaters on for us in each exibihition. The most interesting fact learned was that the castle was fortified due to the ˝thread of the Turks.˝ Hopefully in Turkey we will discover why Turkish thread required fortifying a castle. After this we wandered around the park and the old town in the city.
Maribor is home to the worlds oldest vine (still producing grapes) and one of the largest under ground cellars. I must say that the Slovenian wine tasted fantastic. We will surely share a bottle or two with our Italian friends when we get to Milan.
Our second day in Maribor was our day of outdoor adventure. We went to a mountain called Pohorje. To get there, we caught a suburban bus in the morning and caught a cable car up to the top. I went snow boarding while Thora sat in cafes and got a massage. The ski field was essentially one main run with a few shorter tributories. Having said that, it was a fairly long run with a few rather steep sections. On one of these sections there is an annual womens world cup ski event (The Golden Fox) so the mountain has a bit more street cred then Perisher. I certainly enjoyed myself.
After the event, we found out that we did exactly what the Lonely Planet guide recommended for Maribor. Maybe we should become travel advisors?
One of the reasons for travelling to Maribor was to catch up with a family of missionaries supported by our church. We spent a bit of time with Kingsley, Roni (Veronica) and their children Zachary, Sammuel, Timothy and baby Sophie. We had dinner with them a couple of times and walked around town with Roni and Timothy. It was interesting to see how they operated in a foriegn country with differences of culture and language. Did you know Slovenians have a morbid fear of exposing wet hair to cold weather? Tea is also the cure for nearly anything. Their work seems to be quite hard in terms of both working within the church which they belong to in Maribor and in reaching the lost. It was a bit of an eye opener for us and we will continue to pray for their work.
I´ve mentioned before that Slovenian wine is rather nice. Their beer is nothing amazing but thatś Ok as Germany and Poland are well placed on the itinary. Cake seems to be readily available at reasonable prices and is absolutely delicious. Our resident food critic Thora will no doubt fill you in on this culinary delight. This goes well with the porrige thick hot chocolate readily available. We have also been enjoying a lot of bread and bakery products.
Reports on Ljublana and Bled coming shortly.
Dean
We finally boarded our train for Maribor and arrived fairly latish in the city, having heard from the German-Croat in our carriage about how strange Slovenians are.
Maribor was a nice small city nestled near mountains and vineyards. In the morning we did a tour of the castle which was more of a palace. Due to the massive influx of tourists, one of the currators had to turn the lights and heaters on for us in each exibihition. The most interesting fact learned was that the castle was fortified due to the ˝thread of the Turks.˝ Hopefully in Turkey we will discover why Turkish thread required fortifying a castle. After this we wandered around the park and the old town in the city.
Maribor is home to the worlds oldest vine (still producing grapes) and one of the largest under ground cellars. I must say that the Slovenian wine tasted fantastic. We will surely share a bottle or two with our Italian friends when we get to Milan.
Our second day in Maribor was our day of outdoor adventure. We went to a mountain called Pohorje. To get there, we caught a suburban bus in the morning and caught a cable car up to the top. I went snow boarding while Thora sat in cafes and got a massage. The ski field was essentially one main run with a few shorter tributories. Having said that, it was a fairly long run with a few rather steep sections. On one of these sections there is an annual womens world cup ski event (The Golden Fox) so the mountain has a bit more street cred then Perisher. I certainly enjoyed myself.
After the event, we found out that we did exactly what the Lonely Planet guide recommended for Maribor. Maybe we should become travel advisors?
One of the reasons for travelling to Maribor was to catch up with a family of missionaries supported by our church. We spent a bit of time with Kingsley, Roni (Veronica) and their children Zachary, Sammuel, Timothy and baby Sophie. We had dinner with them a couple of times and walked around town with Roni and Timothy. It was interesting to see how they operated in a foriegn country with differences of culture and language. Did you know Slovenians have a morbid fear of exposing wet hair to cold weather? Tea is also the cure for nearly anything. Their work seems to be quite hard in terms of both working within the church which they belong to in Maribor and in reaching the lost. It was a bit of an eye opener for us and we will continue to pray for their work.
I´ve mentioned before that Slovenian wine is rather nice. Their beer is nothing amazing but thatś Ok as Germany and Poland are well placed on the itinary. Cake seems to be readily available at reasonable prices and is absolutely delicious. Our resident food critic Thora will no doubt fill you in on this culinary delight. This goes well with the porrige thick hot chocolate readily available. We have also been enjoying a lot of bread and bakery products.
Reports on Ljublana and Bled coming shortly.
Dean
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
The future is here
What can one say about Dubai? It looks like the place where they build something because they can. It also seems that every imbecile rich person in the world has backed them. World´s largest tower, a new metro system straight out of Gotham, over the top expensive hotels not to mention they built some artificial islands off the coast in the shape of a palm tree with 8million dollar 2 bedroom apartments. On the way out we saw another one being built. It was certainly an intersting short stay.
As for our flights, I think getting the stop over was quite handy as now in Vienna, I don't feel Jet lagged. It was nasty getting up at 3 though in Sydney. Full thanks to Matt for being crazy enough to drive us.
Here are my in flight movie reviews
Transformers: 2, revenge of the fallen 1 star. Absolute rubbish.
Bullit: 3 and a half stars. Would have been two and a half stars (average) except it a had Steve McQueen and an awesome car chase scene.
Ice Age 3: 2 and a half stars, funny yet lost marks for the absurd situation of having a tropical sub terranian land of dinosaurs beneath an Ice shealth inhabbited by mamoths and sloths.
The Caste: 3 stars. Still pretty funny though there were a few international changes to the version we saw.
Any way, we are now in Vienna where we swapped snow for sand. It's currently 2 degrees and we are about to hop on the train to Maribor in Slovenia. For those who may think Vienna deserves more then catching a couple of S bahn trains and eating Kebabs at the bahnhoff, don't worry, we spend 3 days here on the way back.
Talk to you soon from Maribor
As for our flights, I think getting the stop over was quite handy as now in Vienna, I don't feel Jet lagged. It was nasty getting up at 3 though in Sydney. Full thanks to Matt for being crazy enough to drive us.
Here are my in flight movie reviews
Transformers: 2, revenge of the fallen 1 star. Absolute rubbish.
Bullit: 3 and a half stars. Would have been two and a half stars (average) except it a had Steve McQueen and an awesome car chase scene.
Ice Age 3: 2 and a half stars, funny yet lost marks for the absurd situation of having a tropical sub terranian land of dinosaurs beneath an Ice shealth inhabbited by mamoths and sloths.
The Caste: 3 stars. Still pretty funny though there were a few international changes to the version we saw.
Any way, we are now in Vienna where we swapped snow for sand. It's currently 2 degrees and we are about to hop on the train to Maribor in Slovenia. For those who may think Vienna deserves more then catching a couple of S bahn trains and eating Kebabs at the bahnhoff, don't worry, we spend 3 days here on the way back.
Talk to you soon from Maribor
Construction and Mirrors
We spent an evening in Dubai, and the overall impression is of a place in flux. Everywhere there were tall mirrored skyscrapers surrounded by building sites. Of course there was also a 5 star hotel every 100m.
How did I know I was in Dubai and not some other random airport? Well apart from the chrome plated citrus airport that looked like a modern version of a Roman temple, it was the man in the flowing white robes, with a flowing white cloth on his head calmly holding up his hand and walking in front of the bus expecting it to stop.
Suprising thing about Dubai? Dean had his haircut by a Phillipino man, our tour guide was Pakistani and the bus driver was from Bandladesh. I didn't realise it would be such a multinational city. I think people go there to get rich or to serve the rich...including the royal family. The king had his face plastered all over everything, including prominent billboards on the highway.
We visited a gold souk (market), and I lost count of the number of times we were asked if we wanted a 'copy watch' followed by a list 'TAG, Longines, Rolex etc' and if we declined the watch it was 'we have bag as well, luis vuitton'. NO! The best thing about the market, apart from the amazing display of ostentatious yellow gold, were the spice shops. We only went into one, but we tried about 5 different pistachio flavours! Including lemon, cinnamon and extra salty - as if pistachios aren't salty enough! I wanted D to try and bargain for our bag of nuts, but he just offered 10 units (canät remember currency name!) and we walked out. I watched one lady walk out in faux disgust, and the guy then chucked his little serving trowel before they agreed on a price. Fun!
Then we saw the stock sitting on the dock of Dubai Creek waiting to be exported. Looked like a scene from the 1920's. Covered haphazardly in tarpaulins, in poor excuses for boxes, it made us wonder about the quality of our pistachios and their storage pre shop days...
next stop MAribor.
WE started reading the New Testament. Both still about Matthew 4...only 27 and 3/4 books to go. I'm getting excited - finally - about all of it. Looking forward to sharing more exploits.
T
How did I know I was in Dubai and not some other random airport? Well apart from the chrome plated citrus airport that looked like a modern version of a Roman temple, it was the man in the flowing white robes, with a flowing white cloth on his head calmly holding up his hand and walking in front of the bus expecting it to stop.
Suprising thing about Dubai? Dean had his haircut by a Phillipino man, our tour guide was Pakistani and the bus driver was from Bandladesh. I didn't realise it would be such a multinational city. I think people go there to get rich or to serve the rich...including the royal family. The king had his face plastered all over everything, including prominent billboards on the highway.
We visited a gold souk (market), and I lost count of the number of times we were asked if we wanted a 'copy watch' followed by a list 'TAG, Longines, Rolex etc' and if we declined the watch it was 'we have bag as well, luis vuitton'. NO! The best thing about the market, apart from the amazing display of ostentatious yellow gold, were the spice shops. We only went into one, but we tried about 5 different pistachio flavours! Including lemon, cinnamon and extra salty - as if pistachios aren't salty enough! I wanted D to try and bargain for our bag of nuts, but he just offered 10 units (canät remember currency name!) and we walked out. I watched one lady walk out in faux disgust, and the guy then chucked his little serving trowel before they agreed on a price. Fun!
Then we saw the stock sitting on the dock of Dubai Creek waiting to be exported. Looked like a scene from the 1920's. Covered haphazardly in tarpaulins, in poor excuses for boxes, it made us wonder about the quality of our pistachios and their storage pre shop days...
next stop MAribor.
WE started reading the New Testament. Both still about Matthew 4...only 27 and 3/4 books to go. I'm getting excited - finally - about all of it. Looking forward to sharing more exploits.
T
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Last minute
Today we went to a wedding. Not so great on the day you need to be running around doing odd jobs. But great because it really reminded us of our great God and his love for us. So much fun to see one of my old youth group girls getting married! And one of my old youth group boys (harry potter!) is arriving soon. He is going to stay over and drive us to the airport. What a gem. I'm not sure if I could be that selfless for someone - 3am is an insane time...
We went to the city and bought antiseptic hand wash stuff - has anyone ever used that? I've never cared before, but supposedly with a baby you need to be extra careful. We got other random toiletries and we bought...our plane books.
I got 'The Book Thief' by Marcus Zusak, and D got 'Captain of Rome' by someone. Will let you know how they go. I love buying new books! THe only thing is you want to keep them...and we are already out of bookshelf space. Plus I will finish it in the first leg of the trip, and then have to carry it around Europe. How do you read your books? I always start by reading the back cover, then I read all the commendations, the publication page and the dedications. I also read the recommendations at the end for other peoples books. Kind of like sucking it dry...before I even begin. Then I just go full speed ahead. I don't really stop, nor do I savour a passage unless it's really really good. Or totally incomprehensible. Might have to be a bit more circumspect with my travel reading...
Ok, we are about to get 4.5 hours sleep. It has just dawned on me - we will be on a plane for 16 hours. ewwwwwww.
Next post from europe!
We went to the city and bought antiseptic hand wash stuff - has anyone ever used that? I've never cared before, but supposedly with a baby you need to be extra careful. We got other random toiletries and we bought...our plane books.
I got 'The Book Thief' by Marcus Zusak, and D got 'Captain of Rome' by someone. Will let you know how they go. I love buying new books! THe only thing is you want to keep them...and we are already out of bookshelf space. Plus I will finish it in the first leg of the trip, and then have to carry it around Europe. How do you read your books? I always start by reading the back cover, then I read all the commendations, the publication page and the dedications. I also read the recommendations at the end for other peoples books. Kind of like sucking it dry...before I even begin. Then I just go full speed ahead. I don't really stop, nor do I savour a passage unless it's really really good. Or totally incomprehensible. Might have to be a bit more circumspect with my travel reading...
Ok, we are about to get 4.5 hours sleep. It has just dawned on me - we will be on a plane for 16 hours. ewwwwwww.
Next post from europe!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
the dark side of travelling when pregnant...
Lest you think that I will be swanning around the world without a care, let me correct you.
While I can finally graduate to a bag with wheels (yes!) and D will have to carry things (yes!) and really will face no stress (except perhaps of the snowed in variety?!?!) there will be something to care deeply about.
That something, coming in at $115, is the pair of compression stocking I was advised to buy for wearing during flights. Yes, full length compression stockings. When I tried them on yesterday, I could only get them halfway over my feet. I then lay on my back like a beetle trying to pull them up but to no avail. I had to call D to assist me.
We will be going on 9 flights - that's 9 instances of being compressed and unable to dress myself!
Phew.
While I can finally graduate to a bag with wheels (yes!) and D will have to carry things (yes!) and really will face no stress (except perhaps of the snowed in variety?!?!) there will be something to care deeply about.
That something, coming in at $115, is the pair of compression stocking I was advised to buy for wearing during flights. Yes, full length compression stockings. When I tried them on yesterday, I could only get them halfway over my feet. I then lay on my back like a beetle trying to pull them up but to no avail. I had to call D to assist me.
We will be going on 9 flights - that's 9 instances of being compressed and unable to dress myself!
Phew.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Immunised Proper
The final plans have been laid. Three hostels still to book, all train times found and all flights booked. Checks have been made and unfortunately I've got Thora down as a Herr and not a Frau on one of our budget flights. Ohh well. I figured out budget airlines don't want to talk to you unless you pay them. They also have the knack of advertising a ticket for 11 euros, which ends up costing 50 with taxes, surcharges and breathing fees, followed by yet another 10 euro charge thrown in at step 6 because I don't have some special credit card. Apart from the frustrations of trying to figure out about bus travel in Poland, and the endless amount of useless internet sites advertising bus timetables and routes which are just a portals for another completely irrelevant site, all is going well.
We have had our shots, and for extra protection while we are away, I came down with a cold which will be referred to as Claytons Swine Flu. I got the Swine flu jab last week and came down with a massive cold on the weekend. Being sick and physically drained gave me the chance to do some organising, though I was going a bit nuts about being cooped up for 3 days. Thanks to Claytons Swine Flu, the Flu you have when you are immunised against the flu, I will be fully immune (I hope).
Six and half sleeps to go. How good it will be to catch the plane that usually wakes me up on a Sunday morning. Ahh Stanmore.
Dean
We have had our shots, and for extra protection while we are away, I came down with a cold which will be referred to as Claytons Swine Flu. I got the Swine flu jab last week and came down with a massive cold on the weekend. Being sick and physically drained gave me the chance to do some organising, though I was going a bit nuts about being cooped up for 3 days. Thanks to Claytons Swine Flu, the Flu you have when you are immunised against the flu, I will be fully immune (I hope).
Six and half sleeps to go. How good it will be to catch the plane that usually wakes me up on a Sunday morning. Ahh Stanmore.
Dean
Saturday, January 9, 2010
1 week to go
Next Sunday we board the Emirates flight to Vienna.
We still have to take down the Christmas tree, and sort out the baby room. We still have to see 6 million people and go to a wedding. I still want to write my postcard address list. We still have to photocopy the itinerary and distribute to concerned relatives.
We still have a lot to do!
We are excited though!
Tickets are booked, passports are ready, accommodation is booked, and soon we will find ourselves knee deep in snow, and experiencing the bitter cold of European winter. Marvellous!
Our trip is for 7 weeks, and spans (mostly) Eastern Europe. We hope to keep you entertained with our tales of travellers glee and woe...We will be visiting Slovenia, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Poland, Hungary and Austria.
Stay tuned...
We still have to take down the Christmas tree, and sort out the baby room. We still have to see 6 million people and go to a wedding. I still want to write my postcard address list. We still have to photocopy the itinerary and distribute to concerned relatives.
We still have a lot to do!
We are excited though!
Tickets are booked, passports are ready, accommodation is booked, and soon we will find ourselves knee deep in snow, and experiencing the bitter cold of European winter. Marvellous!
Our trip is for 7 weeks, and spans (mostly) Eastern Europe. We hope to keep you entertained with our tales of travellers glee and woe...We will be visiting Slovenia, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Poland, Hungary and Austria.
Stay tuned...
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