Monday, August 3, 2009

Dear Diary...day three...

I guess the Internet gods are not with me on this trip.

Our flights over were uneventful. A small amount of turbulence however...and a lot of food!!! By the time we landed in Vienna we were too stuffed to enjoy any Viennese food!

We arrived early in the morning, procured our rental cars and headed to the hotel. Our accomodations were nice, we settled in and headed off to tour Vienna on foot. Never mind that it was 98 degrees...the hottest it has ever been in Vienna.

Oh, before I forget...one of our group who shall remain nameless but have the intials MR, SR, JK, AK got disconnected from our group caravan on the way from the airport to the hotel. They were savvy enough to flag down a policeman who gave them a personal escort to the hotel!

We cut short our tour after viewing the Opera House and headed to the Sacher Cafe for their famous Sachertorte and some Viennese coffee...a must while you are in this city. A few of the older members were hurting with bad knees (the guys) and decided to take a short cut and meet us at the famous St. Stefan's Cathedral. The girls headed to the Hofsburg Palace and did a quick exterior tour. We kind of got turned around inside the palace and as we exited we saw a spire and figured it was St. Stefans. Lo and behold after walking many, many blocks and many phone calls to the guys to figure out where the heck they were...we realized that WE were the ones that were lost. Heat exhaustion took its toll on a couple of us but we finally made it back to our hotel not really that impressed with Vienna.

Some of the group decided they were too tired (or too full) to venture out for dinner. A small group of us however did try...went to the nearest town for a meal but alas, none of the restaurants are open on Sundays. After I flagged down two older women, they pointed us in the direction of a restaurant. Finally...an open one! We sat down and ordered...very slow service and took about two hours for our meal.

Today we headed off to Strbske Pleso and the lovely Patria resort. A pretty drive with a stop in Rajecka Lesna to view the intricate Bethlehem animated wood carving which totally blew everyone away. We sampled some Oplatky and headed off to Martin for a lunch of typical Slovak cuisine. On the way there we all chuckled at the roadside worker who had a speedo on and proceeded to bend over just as our car was passing!

We arrived at the Patria and found our lovely rooms. The hotel was sold out of most of their doubles so the majority of our group is staying in suites with lakeside views.

We ate dinner at the restaurant (which is now included in the cost of your room) and headed off to the Koliba to hear the gypsy band sing but arrived just as they were finishing. Then we headed back to the hotel bar and of course arrived just as they were closing. The restaurant manager was kind enough to convince the bartended to provide us with one final round however!
We had lots of laughs this evening reminiscing about a lot of things.

There was no internet service at the Vienna hotel and I could not access it on my iPhone. The room we are staying in at the Patria does not have an internet cable (even though it is supposed to) so we sauntered up to Karen and Karen's room but alas THEIR cable internet was not working either. After spending a goodly amount of time trying to get the computer in the lobby working...I finally suceeded. I hope this isn't an indication of the rest of the trip!!!

Everyone is fine, healthy and having a great time. Tomorrow some of us will stay and relax at the resort and others will venture into Zakopane, Poland. Until then....
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5 comments:

  1. AlexAugust 4, 2009 at 2:27 AM

    I'm guessing SR and MR were trying to escape to FLA.

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  2. iLiSa!August 4, 2009 at 7:22 AM

    Glad (and a little surprised!) to hear that none of the initials of who got lost were NS or DS! Sounds like all the mishaps thus far are the beginnings of an adventure-packed trip! Still very jealous, and can't wait to read the next chapter of your guys' trip!

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  3. SkipAugust 22, 2009 at 12:41 AM

    We old dogs know that when it is 98 degrees F. on an overcast summer day anywhere in the world, the best place to be is in the shade. Remember that the bad knees are likely due to old sports injuries or falling off of bar stools but certainly not from excessive kneeling and praying.

    To set the record straight, the “Bad Knee Team” coached by Jima Kara, told the others that they could press on by themselves but we would seek solace and comfort in the shade of a sidewalk café umbrella on the edge of the Vienna city center square, in which St Stephen’s Cathedral has been a prominent landmark since the 12th century. One spire is 136.7 meters high, soaring skyward 448 feet! We agreed to meet up in front of the cathedral because the twin spires are exceptionally tall and prominently visible from anywhere in Vienna. Or so we thought.

    We sluggish but wise old dogs lazily sat under the café tent refreshing ourselves with tall glasses of Austrian beer and enjoying the performance of mimes, jugglers and a group of incredibly talented break dancers in the square. All the while, and unbeknownst to us, the others were being misguided down the blistering hot canyons of the voluptuous city of Vienna. George Sivanich later regaled us with a sublimely hilarious recounting of that wayward adventure.

    We wise old dogs were impressed by Vienna but not by the navigational skills of The Commandant leading our wayward and innocent companions. Happily, the lost souls doggedly appeared from out of a far corner of the square. They were a pitifully looking platoon; returning warriors devoid of a victory save for having survived, as George described it, the death march. Amid cheers and offers of first aid, our motley crew of travelers was reunited. We engaged several taxis to whisk us back to the Arion Hotel in Schwechat and the prospect of sitting on a pleasant patio in the shade of Linden trees and proffering orders to an accommodating garcon with unlimited access to the Austrian beer supply. Unfortunately, there was scant little whisking in our taxi. The driver had not a clue as to the location of the hotel in Schwechat and got lost. The driver, by the way, was the same gender as The Platoon Commandant in Vienna. We understand now that the getting lost in Vienna was the overture to our getting lost in Lipany, Slovakia: not once, but three times. On all three occasions I was the driver and the navigator was The Commandant.

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  4. Polly WalkerAugust 31, 2009 at 2:00 AM

    Ooooh...you really know how to hurt a gal! I should have been with the Bad Knee Team as I am in need of two total knee replacements...however...as the fearless leader I felt it was my duty to lead the others who were in search of more inspirational delights than a cold beer. Let it be known...and as I told the others, I had never set foot in the city of Vienna before so it truly was the blind leading the blind. And also let it be known that the frickin' spires of St. Stephens cannot be seen, tall as they may be, from other parts of the city!!! And...might I add, that if a taxi driver can get lost in Vienna (female or not)...why can't I??? And you do need to retract the statement about Lipany as you know very well that there were no darn signs pointing us in any direction...AND furthermore we would not have had the delightful noontime music blaring from speakers in whatever city that was whenever it was that we were going somewhere that other day if we didn't get lost. I think I just redeemed myself. Heiress Commandant

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  5. SkipSeptember 5, 2009 at 2:20 AM

    A suitably chilled Austrian beer is an inspriational delight in and of itself. Indeed, the numberless and suitably chilled Polish and Slovakian beers we encountered were also inspirational delights. The inspiration is deeply rooted in the perfect art of the brew masters. No signs in Lipany? No signs? Why, the signs were everywhere! Just not the ones we were looking for. Na zdravie!

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