Czechia, East Germany, Eastern Europe, Polska, Slovak Republic, Ten Things I Learned

Ten things I learned during our Eastern European October…

Featured photo was at St. Mary’s Basilica in Krakow…

Once again, I find myself at the end of one of my travel series. Whenever I write my blow by blow accounts of my trips, I always like to end with a “ten things I learned” post. It sort of neatly sums up the new things I learned during my travels. No matter what, I always learn something new, even when I return to places. I learned a lot on this trip to Karlovy Vary, Vyoske Tatry, Krakow, and Dresden. It might even be hard to narrow down just ten things! So, without further delay, here’s my list of ten things I learned!

10. Poland has better roads than Czechia does.

Or, at least that’s the impression I got as we traveled through Czechia and Poland. We started our trip in Czechia and traveled across the country to reach Slovakia. On the way back we came through Poland. We encountered a lot less construction and fewer detours in Poland. However, it did look to me like Czechia and Slovakia are working on improving things.

Poland also is more likely to offer premium gas than Czechia and Slovakia are. My husband commented that he was able to find higher octane gas in Poland that he could not get when we were in Czechia and Slovakia.

*Approaching Katowice, Poland… smooth sailing!*

9. Slovakia is a country with ambition.

My first trip to Slovakia was in 1997. At that time, it still had Peace Corps Volunteers in service. My next visit was in 2015, when we spent the day in Bratislava during a trip to Vienna. This year, we visited an area where there’s a lot of tourism. I was pleasantly surprised by how clean and beautiful the country is, and how tourist friendly the high Tatras are.

*There’s plenty to do in the high Tatry mountains of Slovakia. Bachledka, alone, will eat up a good portion of a day.*

8. Fall is a wonderful time to visit Eastern Europe.

In 2021, Bill and I went to Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia. I was mesmerized by how beautiful the fall colors were, and how few tourists there were. It was amazing. Well, I’m here to tell you that Czechia and Slovakia are also incredibly beautiful in the fall season. I got some lovely photos, especially in Slovakia. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, but there were no crowds! I would highly recommend visiting Slovakia, especially, in October.

7. Krakow is an incredibly Catholic city.

I knew that Poland is a religious country, and I knew it’s very Catholic. But I didn’t realize just how Catholic Krakow is. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many nuns and priests in one place.

*There’s a reason why this Catholic themed tour group came all the way from the USA to tour Krakow!*

6. Krakow is the place to learn about Pope John Paul II.

Not being Catholic, I don’t actually know that much about popes or the Catholic religious tradition. But if you go to Krakow, you will not be able to avoid seeing Pope John Paul’s visage. In retrospect, maybe we should have visited one of the three museums dedicated to the pope’s life. One of them– the Archdiocesan Museum– was located just across the street from where we stayed. That address was where the pope lived and worked as a priest from 1951-1967.

*Pope John Paul II is everywhere in Krakow!*

5. Becherovka Liqueur is made in Karlovy Vary and has an interesting history with Germany.

Bill and I had tried Becherovka when we lived in Germany the first time, from 2007-2009. On our visit to Karlovy Vary, we paid a visit to the “Home of Becherovka”, where we learned the fascinating history of this distinctive drink. We brought home two bottles of it, as well as a few flavored varieties.

4. If you visit Karlovy Vary, you must try the water.

I knew about the mineral water from the first time Bill and I visited Karlovy Vary, back in 2009. But this time, we bought special containers so we could try the warm, salty, mineral waters that are said to bring health and youth. While it’s not the tastiest water I’ve ever had, it was definitely interesting to try the different taps. They were all different.

*One of many different places where you can taste Karlovy Vary’s famous water…*

3. If you can’t find parking in Karlovy Vary, try visiting one of the other regional spa towns.

Of course this suggestion is only useful if you drive a car to the city, which isn’t necessarily a requirement. Trains and buses serve Karlovy Vary. On beautiful Saturdays, it may be hard to find a place to park, in which case you can enjoy a scenic drive through the surrounding countryside. Maybe you’ll even end up at Chodovar Brewery’s Ve Skale cave restaurant for lunch!

*Always a worthy stop, especially if you like beer!*

2. Dresden is still a very beautiful and unique city.

Bill and I visited Dresden the first time in 2008. I remembered it well from that trip, but it was great to go back again in 2026 and see the incredible architecture there that survived World War II. It’s especially essential to visit the Frauenkirche and see how the church was rebuilt after it was mostly destroyed by Allied Forces bombs. It’s simply incredible!

And finally, 1. If I had to do it over again, I’d spend two nights each in Karlovy Vary and Dresden, and four nights each in Vyoske Tatry and Krakow.

This is not to say that Karlovy Vary and Dresden aren’t worth visiting, or even that they aren’t worth three nights each. But Bill and I had already been to those cities, and Vyoske Tatry and Krakow are quite far from where we live. I would have liked to have had a little bit more time to explore these less familiar places and do more things. I really hope we can go back to both places at some point in the future.

Below is a small taste of what we saw in the four distinct places we visited…

There’s more I could write about what I learned. For instance, on our trip, I met a Black Russian Terrier for the first time, and learned the interesting history of that dog. I saw signs at a Catholic basilica requesting people not to visit. I encountered a Catholic tour group from the United States. I saw Polish breakdancers, and German demonstrators… I saw beautiful young Polish women with the same look, seemingly either being trained for a job or auditioning for one. I encountered many beautiful carriage horses, and gazed at several gorgeous churches. I ate good food and drank lots of beer…

It was truly a GREAT vacation, even though I got sick afterwards.

If you’re looking for something different and affordable, especially if you’re Catholic, I would highly recommend a trip to Krakow… If you love the outdoors, Slovakia and Czechia might be just what you need. If you love history, visit Dresden. This was a great itinerary with something for everyone.

Our next trip will be next month. We’re going to… Switzerland– AGAIN! But we are going to, Adelboden, a town we’ve never been to before. It has incredible views, and I am really looking forward to the hotel. So, I look forward to writing about that. Thanks for following along on this series! See you next time.

Someone’s video about our next planned trip together… Can’t wait to make my own video.

East Germany, Eastern Europe, Health

Our Eastern European October… part fourteen

Homeward bound…

So, I have finally reached my last post in this series covering our visits to Karlovy Vary, Vyoske Tatry, Krakow, and Dresden. In retrospect, this trip was one of our best vacations. It even rivals our trip to Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia, back in 2021! The best part is, we didn’t do this trip during a pandemic… although given what happened on our way home, maybe it would have been better if I’d
“masked up”.

We woke up to cloudy Dresden skies on October 13th. It happened to be my sister’s birthday, so I sent her a birthday message. Then, Bill and I got dressed and went to breakfast in the Moritz restaurant. Since we needed to get on the road, Bill and I stuck to the buffet.

After breakfast, Bill called the front desk to ask them to bring our car around. Then we hauled our bags down to the lobby and Bill settled our bill. I had already paid for the room, so we just had to pay for the city taxes and parking, and we got a slight discount for skipping housekeeping. We loaded up our car and headed out, immediately getting turned around at a roundabout and construction…

On our way out of Dresden, we passed a train station, where gay pride was on display. I love this about Germany. They are all about being inclusive… or, at least a lot of people are, anyway.

The sun came out for a brief time as we passed the local Russian Orthodox Church…

I’m afraid things got more boring once we left Dresden. The clouds came back, then we got rain, and the terrain was the usual German countryside that has become so familiar to me over the years. But I took a few photos, anyway, just to pass the time.

And then it happened. We crossed the border into Hessen, which is the state where we currently live. We had about 90 minutes left in our drive, and we needed a break. So Bill pulled off at a rest stop.

Rain was falling and it was chilly. The rest stop had a Burger King and a Gusticus, as well as a gas station and toilets. But it was laid out weirdly. Usually, at German rest stops, the doors are at the front of the building, and there’s no barrier on either side. If someone is walking slowly, you can easily pass them to enter.

At this stop, which was at Rimberg Nord, just off the A5, there were two entrances at the back of the building. The one closest to us had a single door, and there was a barrier on the other side of the sidewalk leading up to it. We were rushing to the door, to escape the rain, when we encountered a woman with a girl who appeared to be her daughter. The girl looked to be about ten or eleven years old.

As we approached the walkway, the woman and the girl stopped, and the girl vomited right in front of us. They were also blocking the way into the entrance, because they stopped at the end of the walkway and had the building on one side, and the barrier on the other. Perhaps that was a sign that we should walk the other way. But we waited for her to finish, which took a minute or two. We went into the restaurant, which was crowded with elderly tourists from a bus parked outside.

The interior of the rest stop was kind of weird. Instead of the big open layout one usually finds at German rest stops, this place had smaller rooms connected by corridors. I think that, somehow, we were exposed to the nasty virus Bill and I have had all week. It was either the vomiting girl on the way in, or someone in the large group of tourists. I’m sure eating Burger King didn’t help. The Gusticus was closed, not that it would have been that much better. When we left the rest stop, the girl’s puke was still on the sidewalk.

*A picture of the entrance. You can see there’s a barrier by the walkway, making it hard to avoid other people.*

Anyway, the upshot is, less than 48 hours after we got home, I started feeling sick with a respiratory virus that laid me out all last week. Bill also got the bug, although it doesn’t seem to have made him as sick as it made me. I am mostly over the bug now. I just have a residual cough and a lot of fatigue. But that was a rotten way to end what was otherwise an epic trip to Eastern Europe.

Since we got back from Eastern Europe, I have looked back on our trip with amazement. I wish we could have done more… and if I had to do it over again, perhaps I would have done two nights in Karlovy Vary and two nights in Dresden. I would have liked to have spent more time in Vyoske Tatry and Krakow. But overall, we had a wonderful time on our journey, and it was such great thing to get a change of scenery.

Just this morning, Bill said he was feeling better at work, even though he’s been very busy. Next week, he has to go to the US, and then after that, there’s another business trip. At the end of November, we will celebrate our wedding anniversary with a belated trip to a lovely hotel in Switzerland. So that will keep the travel blog going…

Anyway, so ends my blow by blow reporting on our Eastern European October. We just changed the clocks back to standard time, so it seems later than it is. I hope you’ve enjoyed this series, and will stay tuned for my usual ten things I learned post!

East Germany, Eastern Europe

Our Eastern European October… part thirteen

Our last full day in Dresden fell on what used to be known as Columbus Day. It was destined to be a drizzly day, but I wanted to go into the Frauenkirche and walk around the Der Zwinger, a palatial complex that now serves as a museum. Given the weather we had on October 12th, I wish we had gone into the museum, but I think we had kind of reached the end of our desire to be tourists.

We had a nice breakfast at the Moritz restaurant, with mimosas and Eggs Benedict. I remembered loving the egg dish during our first visit. It was pretty damned good the second time, too.

Bill and I had seen both the church and the museum on our visit in 2008. I remember when we went into the Frauenkirche, we also took the paid trip to the observation deck, which offers views of the Elbe River. Below is a picture from 2008.

*I remember this to be a somewhat crowded activity in 2008…*

The Frauenkirche is always worth a look, as it offers an example of the incredible restoration work done after the church was bombed by Allied forces during World War II. The fire caused by the bombing obliterated most of the church’s original structure. The church was reconstructed between 1994 and 2005, and opened to the public in 2005. It really is incredible what was done to resurrect the church to its former glory.

It’s interesting that I would be writing about the Frauenkirche today, as another German historic building was destroyed by fire on Friday night. The Kehlsteinhaus– popularly known as the Eagles’ Nest, and located in Berchtesgaden– was engulfed in flames and ruined. The Eagles’ Nest was built in 1938 and was meant to be a retreat for Nazi officials. It’s said that Adolf Hitler spent little time there, because he suffered from a fear of heights and enclosed spaces. In recent years, it was used as a cafe, which I happened to visit in June 2009. Below is a photo from my 2009 visit.

*The Eagles’ Nest in June 2009. It was destroyed by fire over this weekend. On the day I visited, I was denied the beautiful views of the Bavarian Alps, thanks to the clouds.*

The Eagles’ Nest will also be rebuilt, according to the news. I have every expectation that the work will be meticulously undertaken, and the cafe will be updated with state of the art equipment. Meanwhile, the person responsible for the fire has been arrested on charges of arson.

Anyway, we happened to visit the Frauenkirche just before a service. We considered staying for the service, but we were there 20 minutes too early, and didn’t feel like waiting. I managed to get some good pictures, though. The inside of this church is absolutely gorgeous!

*This funny “angel” was encouraging people to visit the Frauenkirche. He was quite the ham!*

Below are a couple of photos from 2008…

*Another view from the observation deck, circa 2008.*

After we visited the church, and Bill lit a candle for his late father, we walked around to the Zwinger. When we visited in 2008, we had sunny skies. We had no such luck in 2026.

And here are a few photos from 2008… It blows my mind how few photos I took back then!

By the time we were finished walking through the Zwinger complex, it was raining. We decided it might be a good time to look for lunch. We ended up finding the Shamrock Irish Bar & Restaurant, which actually had pretty good food. It just needed some decent music. We passed a cool looking Italian market on the way there. If it hadn’t been raining, I would have definitely paid a visit.

After another leisurely lunch at the Shamrock Bar, we walked back toward the market square. On the way there, we passed the very East German looking Kulturpalast. I took a picture of it in 2008, when Tracy Chapman was due to perform… The locals decided to keep the mural, which dates from the 1960s, as a relic of Dresden’s East German history.

And then again in 2026… it hasn’t changed a bit on the outside, although it was renovated in 2017…

We stopped in a souvenir shop to pick up a few things, including a couple of signs for the house. While we were in there, we admired an East German Trabant car.

The two signs I purchased, I could have bought at any rest stop. But it always seems silly to buy souvenirs at a gas station. I bought a sign that reads “Biergarten”, which I put over the door to our backyard. The other sign reads “Fickt-Euch-Allee”… which I’m sure you can figure out. That one is in my office. 😈

After we bought a few things from the souvenir shop, we headed back to the guys who were selling prints of Dresden. I hadn’t really wanted prints as much as I wanted original art, but that was what was available to us. The vendor was curious about us, and wanted to know where we were from, and what we were doing in Dresden. He also wanted to see my signs, and laughed at the one that contained German profanity… We bought three of his prints, and they are currently being framed.

*We spotted this just before a protest started on the square.*

After we bought our prints, we went back to the hotel room for a short rest. Neither of us were very hungry after our big meal at the Shamrock. Nevertheless, we ventured out one more time, just as a political protest and counter protest got started. It started with the LGBTQ crowd…

They were protesting the far right political swing in Saxony, but their protest was pretty peaceful and mostly included music and signs about Nazis getting out.

Bill and I decided to have a light dinner at the Augustiner Biergarten. We sat outside, which gave us a view and the ability to hear the far right protesters, who marched in to a drum beat. As we had beer, bread, butter pretzels, and potato sausage soup, we listened to the energetic rantings of far right politicians. It was a bit eerie. I was also a bit irritated, because everyone around us was smoking cigarettes.

*The soup was good, but could have been hotter.*

I’m sure you can guess which side of the debate Bill and I are on, but since we aren’t Germans, it’s not really our call. One thing I noticed during our first visit to Dresden, but not during our second visit, was the sign below. These people were forbidden to enter the premises of the restaurants, because of their behavior. I remember running into a couple of them during our 2008 visit. I have never seen another sign like this one, in all of my years in Germany. But I read that they aren’t actually uncommon.

Once we finished our light dinner, we went back to the hotel and called it a night. The next day, we were to head back to Wiesbaden. But we would run into something that would mess up our time at home since we returned. Read about that in my next post.

East Germany, Eastern Europe, Polska

Our Eastern European October… part eleven

Our last stop, Dresden!

It was finally October 10th, and we were due to move on to our next destination, Dresden, Germany. Bill and I visited Dresden for two nights in November 2008. The occasion was our 6th wedding anniversary. At the time, we lived near Stuttgart, having been sent there by the U.S. Army. We had little money in those days, so it was a big deal when I booked the five star Hotel Suitess. It was our first five star property.

I remembered enjoying our two nights at the Suitess, and I knew it was in an excellent location. It was also a lot less expensive than the five star Hotel Kempinski. So, in the interest of nostalgia, I booked the Suitess again.

But I was pretty sad to be leaving Kanonicza 22 on October 10th. I loved staying in the Prince Suite, with it’s gorgeous baltic blue, brown, and gold theme. I’d love that color scheme for my own house. On the whole, we really enjoyed Krakow, Poland. I hope we can go back. On a related note, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many priests and nuns in one place, outside of Vatican City!

We had our last breakfast in the apartment after packing most of our bags. Bill schlepped them to the garage, leaving me with just my purse and rolling suitcase.

Then, once we were finished with breakfast, we made our way downstairs, said goodbye to the lady on duty, and walked back to the huge garage where our car was. I would absolutely book Kanonicza 22 again, given the opportunity. it was my favorite of all of our lodging on this trip.

Below are a few more shots of Krakow before we said goodbye… What a beautiful city!

When we left Krakow, the skies were sunny and bright. But soon, as we headed west toward Germany, the clouds came out. I don’t have a lot to write about the drive, except for the difference in the quality of roads between Czechia and Slovakia versus Poland was quite obvious. Poland was a lot easier to drive across, even with its tolls.

It was pouring rain when we decided to stop for lunch. We were at a Polish McDonald’s. Things have really changed since our first Polish visit in 2008. I remember going to a McDonald’s in Jelena Gora, mainly because it was the only place where we could find parking. None of the staff spoke English and they had to present us with a picture menu so we could order. Now, everything is done on a touch screen, and so many people speak English!

We happened to be at McDonald’s at the same time a large tour group of teens were there. Fortunately, we managed to order just before their arrival. It wasn’t until later in the trip that I realized just how lucky we were in our timing. But I’ll get to that in a future post. There was a cheap hotel next to the McDonald’s. It looked like one of those places that is totally automated.

*That kid looks how I have been feeling since we got home.*

It wasn’t long before we were crossing the German border. We were required to drive through a repurposed rest area that had been turned into a security checkpoint. Since we have German plates and look very much like Germans, we were waved through with no fanfare. I made a joke about how “hot” one of the cops was. Fortunately, Bill is a good sport about such things.

The rain continued as we arrived in Dresden. It was still familiar to me after so many years away.

Hotel Suitess is located in a pedestrian area, but it’s permissable to pull up in front of the hotel to check in. I remembered when we visited in 2008, there was a valet waiting to park the car. This time, we had to park outside and go into the hotel to check in. I noticed that they had also done some renovations. In 2008, there were two ways to enter the hotel, and the check in desk was at the bar in the hotel’s parlor. Now, the desk is set up in what used to be a corridor leading into the hotel. It seemed a little strange to me.

The lady who checked us in was nice enough. She didn’t offer us a welcome drink, though, and that was something I remembered that happened in November 2008. I had read in recent reviews that the standards at Hotel Suitess weren’t really what you’d expect at a five star hotel, so I wasn’t surprised about the lack of a ready valet or welcome drink. It was a little disappointing, though.

The receptionist asked us if we would mind forgoing housekeeping during our stay, since it was only three nights. She said this was for “environmental reasons”, but personally I think it’s more likely that the hotel doesn’t want to employ people to clean. It certainly didn’t give off five star vibes, although we agreed to skip housekeeping. I didn’t realize it at the time, but not getting the room cleaned resulted in a slight discount on our nightly rate. At least there was that, then.

I booked us an executive suite, which came with a bedroom, sitting room, refrigerator, and three TVs, including one in the marble bathroom. The room was big enough, but it looked like some of the frills from our earlier stay were gone. The bed was not made up with anything beyond pillows and duvets. The desk, while massive, wasn’t near any electrical outlets. The bathroom had a tiny shower and narrow tub, and no Hermes toiletries, as we had enjoyed in 2008. And this was our view…

*We had two big windows that overlooked two courtyards…*

I could see some traces of the hotel’s former glamor. The artwork in the room had little lamps over them. The color scheme was beige and gold, just as it was in 2008. But I got the impression that the place could use an overhaul. Below are some photos of the room.

*The blue pillows are ones we brought with us, because European hotels usually don’t supply pillows we like.*

And below is a picture I took during our 2008 visit…

*Notice the decor is the same, but the bed is more completely made up. We also got turn down service in 2008. We didn’t get that in 2026.*

Hotel Suitess was okay for three nights, but it’s definitely gone downhill since our first visit. If we go back to Dresden, I’ll probably go ahead and spring for the Kempinski, or try a different hotel. There are quite a few good ones to choose from now. The Suitess does have a spa area that I thought we might use, but as it turned out, we skipped the spa. I never got a chance to see if the whirlpool was heated. It wasn’t when we were there in 2008. And yet, I was still impressed in 2008… How things can change!

After we checked in and had a chance to rest for a few minutes, we decided to venture out. It was close to dinner time, so we went to the restaurant next door to see if we could get a table. They were fully booked, so we walked across the market square and wound up at a place serving typical Bavarian cuisine and Hofbrau beer, with wait staff curiously dressed in dirndls and lederhosen. A lot of the restaurants in Dresden were Bavarian themed, even though we were in Saxony.

We were lucky to get a table at the Hofbrau, because the tables were all reserved after 7:00 PM. We were there at 5:30 PM, so we had plenty of time to eat and enjoy a couple of brews.

After we ate dinner, we visited the shop across the way and bought a few things to tide us over until it was time to head home on the 13th. Below are a few more photos I took before we turned in for the night. Neither Bill nor I are big night owls, especially nowadays. And driving is tiring… but it was nice to be in Dresden again.

Tomorrow, I will write about our first full day in Dresden, Germany. It really is a beautiful city, and more people should visit it.

Polska

Our Eastern European October… part ten

We had no big plans for October 9th, save for a little souvenir shopping. I was still hoping to find some art to bring home, and maybe some trinkets for Bill’s grandchildren. For breakfast, we ordered more eggs with croissants. The croissants were initially forgotten, but the guy who brought us our breakfast later came back with them.

The weather was slightly cooler, so I wore a sweater. We decided to walk in the opposite direction, to see if we might see something noteworthy in that area. Perhaps we did see some notable things, but we were clearly headed away from the touristy area, so we did a loop that eventually took us back to the market square. Below are some photos from that leisurely stroll. It was interesting to walk that way, if only because I noticed the little old ladies selling obwarzanek krakowski, a Polish ring shaped bread roll that are kind of like bagels. They were selling them cheaper outside of the square…

*I had just made a joke about falafel, because we were near the Jewish Quarter.*

There was a “bazaar” type shopping arcade in the middle of the market square, where vendors were selling souvenirs. It was pretty crowded in there, and we didn’t really see what we were hoping to find, which was original artwork. Instead, we found a lot of touristy stuff, so we walked out and sat down by the Town Hall Tower. Those who are ambitious can climb the tower and learn all about its history, which dates from the end of the 14th century. It’s the only remnant left of the old Krakow Town Hall, which was demolished in 1820.

*In the shopping area. Lots of very touristy stuff.*

It was getting close to lunchtime, so we went looking for a place to have lunch. I didn’t really want to dine in the market square, though, because I knew prices would be higher, and likely, the food would be mediocre. I was thinking about patronizing one place, but was turned off when someone from the adjacent restaurant came out and tried to lure us in. I noticed this was a big thing in Krakow… people hired to draw in tourists. I know they do it to drum up business, but I find it off putting.

After a short rest in a park, Bill and I continued walking, and soon oriented ourselves. We were near the main drag that leads to the market square. After a short time, looking for a lunch stop, I noticed a place in a corridor that offered Tuscan food.

Il Toscano turned out to be a sandwich shop, which was not exactly what I thought I wanted. It turned out to be a good place to stop, anyway. We had a leisurely light lunch. I had a tuna sandwich with capers and sundried tomatoes. Bill had a sandwich with mortadella and mozzarella cheese. We had water and prosecco, while 80s music played. It was just enough, and not very expensive, either!

After lunch, we stopped in a couple of souvenir shops to pick up a few things for the grandchildren and Bill’s daughter. I also got a new mug, which I’ve been using a lot this week, as I’ve been drinking a lot of hot tea to help me get over this sickness. Unfortunately, I still didn’t find any art I wanted. The art sellers in the market square only had prints that depicted scenes from Krakow.

After a brief rest in our apartment, which allowed us to drop off our souvenirs in the car, we ventured out again and stopped at a cool looking cafe/bar at the end of Kanonicza Street. We had a of round of beer, then switched to coffee drinks. We people watched, horse watched, and listened to folks socialize… I really liked Pianola. What a quirky place!

And then we walked around some more… just to take in the sights. On the way back toward the market square, a man tried to get us to go to the Georgian restaurant. We were interested, but it was too early for dinner. We walked around some more, and stopped by Bania Luka for a beer and a pee stop. 😉

On the way back, we ran into the same breakdancers from the day before. Since I was more sober and the weather was better, we stopped to watch them again, so I could get a better video. Their show was slightly different. I think maybe they had one or two different guys dancing.

These guys were worth a second look!

Then, when we ran into the guy from the Georgian restaurant wanting us to come in for a meal, we said yes. He told us it was his second day doing that job. I’m sure he got credit for bringing us in, but the truth is, we had planned to go there, anyway. Bill and I love Georgian food. You can see Bill helping me out by removing the mushrooms from my chicken shashlik!

After dinner, we decided to call it a night. But on our way back to the hotel, we stopped in the candy shop and picked up a lot of goodies for the grandkids! I kind of wish we’d bought more for ourselves.

Yes, I know we should have done more cultural stuff in Krakow, but we definitely had a good time. I hope we can visit again before too long and see even more of this fabulous city. What a great place to visit.

In my next post, we’ll be moving onward to Dresden. Stay tuned!

Czechia, Eastern Europe

Our Eastern European October… part two

Stop number one: Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic

Our long awaited fall vacation began on Thursday, October 1, 2026. The first stop was Karlovy Vary. I chose it after agonizing over a couple of other cities I’d had in mind. I had based our trip around visiting Slovakia, a country I first visited in 1997, but had never really explored in any meaningful way.

Prior to this year, I had only visited Zilina, Slovakia in 1997, because I was meeting a couple of friends there for a train trip through western Europe. One of them was at the university in Zilina, getting training in Information Technology. Although I did get to spend a couple of days in Zilina, I wasn’t really there to do any significant touring. Bill and I did spend a few hours in Bratislava, back in 2015, but again, it wasn’t really much of a proper visit.

Once I had decided to go to Slovakia, I needed to figure out stops that would break up the trip. Slovakia isn’t that close to Germany, if you’re driving. Bill and I also don’t have the stamina we once had. I had originally considered stopping in Gorlitz, which is a German city right on the Polish border, but then I discovered other areas near Gorlitz that I wanted to see. I knew two whole days wouldn’t be long enough to satisfy me if we went there on the way to Slovakia.

That’s when I remembered lovely Karlovy Vary, a spa town that is also known as Carlsbad. Karlovy Vary is in the western Bohemian region of Czechia, but there was a time when it was annexed to Germany. Bill and I had visited Chodovar, a brewery, beer spa, and “wellness land”, for a long weekend back in February 2009.

I remembered venturing out to Karlovy Vary and Plzen on that trip, mainly because Chodovar is located in tiny Chodova Plana, and there wasn’t much to that charming hamlet, back in 2009. They have expanded the resort quite a lot since then, and in 2026, it might be interesting enough to spend the entire time there. But in 2009, we definitely needed daytime excursions. So, one day we went to Karlovy Vary. The other day, we went to Plzen.

In 2018, we visited Plzen again, and discovered garlic soup, as well as a very cool open air museum dedicated to communist era planes! I remember liking Karlovy Vary more than Plzen, back in 2009. Now that we’ve been back to Plzen, I definitely appreciate that city more than I did in 2009. But we were long overdue to see Karlovy Vary again, if only so I could get some pictures and taste the famous spa waters that flow there.

I booked us the Tower Room at the Chateau Cihelny, a bucolic property adjacent to several golf courses, located just outside of the city. Bill and I don’t care about golfing. We like unique properties, especially if they aren’t obviously part of a corporate chain. This hotel had the appearance of offering us a chance at peace and quiet. It also had a wellness area that I found attractive. As it turned out, we never got around to hitting the spa. Aside from the chateau, there is also a less expensive lodging option on the grounds that seemed more geared toward families.

On October 1, 2026, after Bill dropped Charlie and Noyzi off at the Hundepension, Bill and I loaded up the Volvo and headed east toward Czechia. Since Karlovy Vary is relatively close, we didn’t get started on our drive until late morning. I’d say it’s about a four-and-a-half to five hour drive from Wiesbaden. Below are a few photos from the drive.

*An example of a play area for kids in a German rest stop.*

We arrived at Chateau Cihelny in the late afternoon. Bill and I were both kind of tired from the drive, and the chateau turned out to be further out than we had anticipated. There is a tiny train stop near the hotel, but it had very limited service. Still, the property was very pretty, so we weren’t too upset about missing the city on the first night. We went into the hotel to check in, where we were met by an affable young man who spoke great English and had a droll sense of humor.

While we were checking in, the guy told us that we’d booked a very special room, but it was going to involve climbing a lot of steps. He was not lying about that! There is no elevator in the Chateau Cilhelny, and I had reserved the Tower Room, which is a very unique and interesting room. You might even call it spacious… The room is in the chateau’s “tower”, which makes it different from the other rooms in the hotel.

The Tower Room, pictured below, has a spiral staircase in it. You have to climb those steps to get from the sitting room to the bedroom and bathroom. Bill counted thirty narrow steps. It was a bit of a pain… but again, the room was very unique, and offered a nice balcony overlooking the beautiful grounds. There’s also another spiral staircase in the bedroom, but that just leads to a locked, boarded up window. There is no point in climbing those, unless you just want some extra exercise.

To even get to the Tower Room, one must climb several long flights of stairs. There’s a bench and sitting area on the second floor, which came in handy for us as we went to our room. It’s definitely a place where you can get a workout, especially if you’re on the third floor, and staying in the Tower Room, which requires even more stair climbing. Who needs a Stairmaster?!

Below are some more photos from the hotel. I thought it was a very tastefully decorated place. I especially liked the art on the walls.

*I rested on that bench more than once!*

We decided to have dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. That also required a walk down steps, as it’s located in the basement of the chateau. The food and service were very good, and on the first night, they were playing excellent Generation X friendly music. Bill had trout, and I had pork knuckle that was removed from the bone. Along with the pork came delicious, fresh pickles that went down easy… especially with the Pilsner Urquell beer.

After dinner, we went to bed. The mattress wasn’t particularly comfortable, but I was tired and drifted off. A couple of hours later, I woke up desperately needing the bathroom. I realized, as I was sitting on the toilet, that I really didn’t feel well. Let’s just say stuff was coming out of both ends, although fortunately not at the same time. I was afraid that maybe I got food poisoning or something, but it turned out that wasn’t the issue.

Bill got up when he heard me vomiting. He asked me if I was okay. I was perfectly fine, once everything was purged. I later looked up pickled vegetables and learned that they can upset the stomach if you aren’t used to them. What a shame! Dinner was delicious, and I truly enjoyed the fresh pickles. I probably should have just tasted them, though, because I think that’s what didn’t agree with me.

I went back to bed and managed to fall back to sleep. The next morning, we enjoyed our first breakfast at Chateau Cilhelny, and a trip to the city, where we tasted the water and visited the Becherovka Museum. I’ll write more about that in the next installment.

Czechia, East Germany, Eastern Europe, Polska, Slovak Republic

Our Eastern European October… part one

An introduction of sorts…

Well… as I wrote yesterday, we are now home from our epic autumn journey to Eastern Europe. I write Eastern Europe because our almost two weeks away took us to FOUR different countries! We visited Karlovy Vary, Czechia (or Czech Republic, if you prefer). Then, we went to Stary Smokovec, Slovakia (or Vysoké Tatry). From Slovakia, we moved on to Krakow, Poland. Then, we ended in Dresden, Germany, which was once part of East Germany.

As a child of the 70s and 80s, it always amazes me when we visit former “Eastern Bloc” countries. When I was growing up, these were places that were completely off limits to “westerners”. I never thought there’d be a time when we could simply drive to the former Czechoslovakia or Poland.

I thought East Germany would always be forbidden to someone like me. In fact, I remember writing a social studies report about the two Germanys when I was in the sixth grade, and being completely shocked that Germany was divided. I hadn’t known. And now, over 40 years later, here I am living in Germany, and visiting the East with ease! Not only can I easily visit the East, but I can also have a really good time there, because Eastern Europe is nothing like it used to be. But then, I guess it’s just a reminder that I’m getting old, and time is really flying.

I had some specific goals for this trip… and for the most part, my goals went unmet. I had wanted to visit Auschwitz, for instance. That didn’t happen. I thought maybe we’d go to Saxony Switzerland. It was not to be. I didn’t even get to see Frosty the Peacock! But now we have a reason to go back to these fascinating countries and see even more of what we missed. I already have a couple of itineraries in mind.

This trip ran from October 1-13th, which means that my October, so far, has been spent on vacation in Eastern Europe. We took a long break because it had been awhile since our last one, and Bill had some leave to burn. He’s been working very hard over the past few months, so his employer kindly allowed us almost two weeks away from Hessen.

We probably would have come home on Sunday, the 11th, but we had a holiday yesterday– Columbus Day or Indigenous People’s Day, depending on your views. So, we decided to make the most of the extra day off and squeeze in Dresden, a city we had last visited in November 2008.

We had also visited Karlovy Vary previously, back in February 2009, but that was just for a few hours. The weather was freezing that day, so we didn’t get to explore much of the city. I also didn’t have my camera with me on that 2009 trip. Now, I have lots of pictures of Karlovy Vary and its environs! It was worth going back there for that reason, alone!

Anyway… enough with the intro. Time to get down to business! This will probably be a pretty long series. Most readers will lose interest after the first couple of posts. Nevertheless, I’ll keep writing. At the end, I’ll do my usual “ten things I learned post”, which people seem to appreciate more than the exhaustive blow by blows.

We did not do a lot of touristy stuff on this trip. Instead, we enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere, people watching, and taking lots of photos. We also ate rich food and drank a whole lot of beer. 🍺 For most of our trip, we enjoyed mild, and mostly sunny weather. The fall colors were absolutely stunning! Just the beautiful foliage alone was a feast for the eyes. But we also had some interesting interactions, ate good food, and picked up some fun souvenirs.

So, without further delay, on with the series. Here are a few fall photos to get things started… I took these on a drive we took on day three of our vacation, while we were still in Czechia!

East Germany, Eastern Europe

Our fall vacation is now over…

Bill and I got home about 90 minutes ago. We’re both pretty tired and busy with settling in, so I’m not going to try to write about the trip today. I will save that for tomorrow, which is usually the day of the week when I wash the sheets. Since we haven’t been home, and I washed the sheets just before we left, I won’t need to do that chore this week. 😊

This trip was rather long, and it encompassed visits to areas in four countries. Each place we visited was special in its own way. I took a lot of pictures, although we didn’t do a lot of “touristy” stuff. We mainly drank a lot of beer, did a lot of walking, and enjoyed each other’s company.

I think my favorite stop was Krakow, followed closely by Stary Smokovec, but each place was pretty awesome. We had great weather, too, until the tail end of our journey.

The drive home was kind of yucky, especially when we stopped for lunch at a rest stop. It was just beyond the Hessen state line, and the rest stop was one of the weirdest laid out ones I’ve yet encountered in Germany or elsewhere.

When we got out of the car, it was raining… that kind of cold, light, but fast drizzle, that gets you wet in a hurry. I noticed a woman sitting in the car next to ours, wanting to get out of her vehicle. I hurried to close the door, and then Bill and I had to wait for a couple of cars to pass.

By the time we found the front door of the rest stop, we were really wanting to get out of the rain. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy as we’d hoped. One could enter the building on either side of the building, and the two entrances were not easy to get to without walking the long way around the building.

The side we happened to be on had a single door, with a sidewalk leading up to it. For some reason, there was a barrier on the opposite side of the walkway from the building, meaning that everyone had to walk in and out of the building in kind of a single file.

As we were heading toward the door, rushing to get out of the cold, drizzly rain, a woman and her daughter were coming out of the building. The girl, who looked to be about nine or ten years old, stopped in front of me and suddenly vomited on the sidewalk.

*I took this photo from the table where we had lunch. You can see there’s a barrier that prevents one from walking around slowpokes or vomiters…*

She was under the shelter of a roof, but I was standing there in the falling rain, watching her throw up on the sidewalk. Her mom was right behind her, holding her hair. Fortunately, there wasn’t a lot of puke, but the two of them kind of took their time, and blocked the egress into the building. I felt sorry for the girl, but I’m sure my face registered irritation, because I needed to pee, and we were about to have lunch.

The woman and her peaked daughter finally got out of the way, so we could enter the rest stop. But once we were in the building, we encountered a large group of elderly folks. I suddenly realized they must have been on the busses that were parked outside.

To get to the toilets, we had to follow a series of signs, and go down a couple of flights of steps. As we were trying to go down, they were coming back up to the dining room.

Fortunately, there wasn’t a wait for a stall. In fact, an attendant was even cleaning the toilets as I was trying to find one. And these toilets were the self-cleaning kind anyway, which I don’t actually like that much, because the seats are usually still wet from being automatically cleaned whenever I encounter them.

Once we finished “doing our business”, we had to maneuver through more throngs of people having lunch. But then, after we ordered our crummy Burger King sandwiches, the crowd dissipated, and the place was somewhat sedate.

*Not the greatest lunch… It was basically all they had besides cold, pre-made sandwiches, which usually have cheese that I don’t like. What a crappy rest stop! But at least it was there.*

Unfortunately, the “mess” was still on the sidewalk where the poor queasy lass had left it. I started feeling kind of nauseated myself as we passed it. I was really afraid I was going to sympathy hurl. Fortunately, I managed to get over my disgust. That was a good thing, because I almost lost breakfast at the beginning of our drive home, thanks to a coughing fit.

Anyway… it’s good to be home. I look forward to seeing Noyzi and Charlie in a little while, and writing about the new things we saw and did on this long awaited vacation to Eastern Europe. But… most of all… I look forward to sleeping in my own bed. I really missed my soft bed while we were away. And now that the weather has turned to shit, maybe that will also mean the mosquitoes are done, too!

So… with that, I’m going to close this post. See you tomorrow with my tales from the trip! I promise they won’t be as gross as this one is. 😊

trip planning

Planning our fall vacation…

Featured photo is of Bratislava Castle. I took the photo in late March 2015.

It’s that time again. Bill has the first 13 days of October off, while he’ll be doing a lot of business travel in September and November. We’re going to take the opportunity to go some places and, hopefully, enjoy a nice rest.

I think we’ve made up our minds to go to Slovakia… but I haven’t yet booked anything. Until I book something, that idea is subject to change. I was considering another trip to Austria, mainly because I want to go to a relaxing spa hotel. But I also want to go to a place I haven’t yet seen much of, and Slovakia fits the bill.

Actually, I have been to Slovakia before. I spent several nights in Zilina back in 1997, when I was meeting my friends Chris and Dawn for part of my train trip through Europe after my stint in the Peace Corps. Chris was getting some computer training at the university in that town, so I met them there while he finished his last couple of days. I took the train to Zilina via Bratislava, having arrived from Vienna.

Bill and I also visited Bratislava for a day back in the spring of 2015. It was a fun day, and I would have liked to have stayed overnight and done some shopping. I noticed they had a lot of cool art for sale there, as well as excellent beers.

Since then, we haven’t been back to Slovakia, and based on what I’ve found while researching, there’s a lot to see there. So… that is probably where we’ll end up going, because Bill wants to go somewhere with mountains and trees.

I had been thinking about maybe going to Malta, since we haven’t been, and October would probably be a good time for it. But I think we have too much time for a Malta trip, and Malta isn’t exactly known for having forests. Maybe we’ll go there in the winter.

The beauty of a trip to Slovakia is that we can stop in the Czech Republic either there or back, or we could go to Poland… Poland and the Czech Republic are also great places to buy art. Maybe we could even visit Auschwitz. I know that would be depressing, but I think it’s important to go there, especially given what’s happening in the United States right now.

Slovakia has a lot of things we like… like waterfalls, fall colors, castles, and wine. The wine is kind of sweet, though.

Anyway… I think today, I’m going to shop for accommodations. Once I figure things out, I’ll update here. Again… this isn’t yet set in stone. I might decide to just bag it and go to Austria, which has what we want, along with some really great looking hotels. We’ll see what happens.

Eastern Europe, Hungary, Lithuania, Türkiye

2025 was an interesting travel year…

Featured photo is of Bill and me at our Advent market in Breckenheim… we sure did have a great year of travel in 2025!

Bill and I thought about going to the annual Wiesbaden Sternemarkt (Christmas market) over the weekend. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty grim– cold, wet, and when it wasn’t raining, a bit damp. I just didn’t feel like putting on clothes and venturing out into the chilly weather to walk around the crowds and see the same stuff they put out every year. Maybe we’ll go next weekend, or at some point during the week.

It’s been a pretty busy fall, though, so I think we both just wanted to relax. Bill has had a bunch of business trips lately. The last one, which was to the United States, ended last weekend. He decided to spend Saturday making a kimchi recipe from a book on fermenting foods that I bought him for Christmas last year. I spent my Saturday making a new Christmas themed parody song for my YouTube channel. And yesterday, we just kind of rested, watched videos, and watched our new neighbor moving into the newly vacated row house catty cornered to us. Hopefully, he won’t turn out to be a jerk. He’s already annoyed Bill by blocking our car.

Since we didn’t do anything special over the weekend, I decided today I’d write about our year in travel. 2025 turned out to be our year to visit Switzerland a bunch of times, but we also went to a few exotic places I’d been wanting to visit or re-visit. So here goes… our travel year, 2025. I didn’t include any day trips on this– it would have made the post too long!

*The bill at our first three star Michelin restaurant experience! It was worth every Swiss cent!*

Basel, Switzerland— January 2025

We decided to visit Basel, Switzerland as Trump was coming back to the White House. We chose Basel because it had been a city we’d wanted to visit for some time, and it’s convenient from the Frankfurt train station. I liked the idea of being in Switzerland, close to France and Germany. I also had a burning desire to visit Les Trois Rois, a fabulous old hotel on the Rhein (Rhine) River.

Switzerland seemed like a nice, calm, neutral, safe, and sane place to go, as Joe Biden left Washington, DC, and the orange pervert came back to terrorize us. I wanted to hope things wouldn’t get as bad as I imagined they’d be… Unfortunately, that hope was not to come to fruition, although so far, Bill and I are still doing okay.

Our trip to Basel was highlighted with a trip to our very first three star Michelin restaurant, Cheval Blanc, which was at the wonderful Les Trois Rois. I also remember getting scolded for taking off my coat in a museum, and eating a dinner decided by rolling dice and looking at tarot cards. It was a fun trip! I’d definitely go back.
Abruzzo, Italy, by way of Vico Morcote, Switzerland— March 2025

We decided to take a longer trip to Italy by way of Switzerland. Bill has a co-worker who bought property in Abruzzo, Italy, and he wanted to go down there to check out the area. Since Abruzzo is a ways from Wiesbaden, we stopped in Vico Morcote (near Lugano, Switzerland) on the way down.

On the way back, we spent a couple of nights in picturesque Vipiteno, Italy, which is right by the Austrian border. I had been to Vipiteno once before, on a day trip back in 2009 via a bus tour operated by the Edelweiss resort in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. I liked Vipiteno more on my own!

Will we buy property in Italy? Maybe… but other stuff happened this year that may affect that decision. I keep socking away money, just in case. Below is a photo from the vineyards owned by the hotel where we stayed. The Lugano area of Switzerland is very Italian, but much posher!

*A view of Lake Lugano from Vico Morcote, Switzerland*

3. Vilnius, Lithuania— June 2025

We decided to visit the former Soviet Republic of Lithuania, and the capital city of Vilnius, in particular, for my 53rd birthday. I believe it was a “champagne bucket” drawing winner. I had wanted to go to Lithuania because it was the one Baltic country Bill and I hadn’t yet visited, and because it was a former Soviet country. It turned out to be a really interesting place to visit! I especially enjoyed visiting the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights, which eerily reminded me of what’s happening in the United States right now.

The city of Vilnius has a great beer culture, but they also have really excellent food! And there’s a lot to do, as well as good shopping. I also appreciated that it was cool in June, rather than sweltering hot like it was in Germany. I’d love to visit again and see some more of the country. I hope we’ll get the opportunity!

*This pink soup with a beet base turned out to be surprisingly delicious and refreshing! You can find this all over Vilnius!*

4. Zürich, Switzerland— June/July 2025

We spent a little over a week in the Seefeld area of Zürich because Bill wanted to take the summer session at the C.G. Jung Institute in nearby Küsnacht. There isn’t a lot of lodging in Küsnacht, which is more of a residential area, so we booked an Apart-Hotel in the city. It turned out to be a good place to stay, as it was very close to the lake, as well as lots of restaurants, museums, and the botanical gardens.

I spent several days mesmerized by the sight of the pristine blue lake, watching people swim, boat, do yoga, and hydrofoil. This wasn’t much of a pleasure trip, since Bill was in class all day. I did enjoy myself, though, as Switzerland is a very beautiful country, even if it is very expensive. Bill’s experiences during the summer session cemented his decision to apply to study at the Institute.

*A common scene on Lake Zürich in late June and early July. The lake is alive with activity! People liked my “Trump Sucks” t-shirt, too.*

5. Budapest, Hungary— September 2025

I went to Budapest with Bill in September. He was there on business, but I got to tag along with him and spend six nights walking around Hungary’s capital city once again. Our first visit there was in September 2009– it had been our last trip before we had to move back to the United States thanks to Bill’s narcissistic Army boss. That trip had been wonderful, although we stayed in a different part of the city in a much nicer hotel. This time, we were in the thick of the tourist area, but in a less excellent hotel.

I’m glad I had a chance to visit Budapest again, because I got a totally different view of it during our second visit. I also got a taste of the wonderful musicians in Hungary. I think I knew Hungary had a great music culture, but I heard it firsthand on this trip… and I even got to join in with one band!

*Budapest has lots to see and hear, even if you’re dining at a tourist trap!*

6. Küsnacht, Switzerland— October 2025

Bill decided to apply to study at the C.G. Jung Institute in Küsnacht, and part of the process of seeking admission involved being interviewed by three Jungian analysts. Two of the analysts Bill was assigned to speak to had offices in Zürich. In fact, they were located in Seefeld, the area where Bill and I stayed during the summer session! However, this time, we decided to stay in Küsnacht at the Sonne Hotel, which had been fully booked when we visited during the summer.

I booked us into one of the hotel’s best rooms, and I got a beautiful view of Lake Zürich. We also ate at several nice restaurants and took another lake cruise, which was just as idyllic in the fall as it was in the summer. This time, we were on a steamboat, which was a different experience.

Bill’s bid to study at the Jung Institute was successful, so I suspect we’ll get to visit this area lots of times. Or, at least we will as long as we’re living in Europe. If we have to go back to the States, I might not get to go so often. I’m glad we visited the quiet suburb of Küsnacht, though. It has a different vibe than the big city of Zürich has, even though it’s right next to it.

6. Istanbul (Maslak), Türkiye— November 2025

The day after our 23rd wedding anniversary, Bill had to go to Istanbul for another business trip. He invited me to go with him, which I was happy to do. This was my second visit to Istanbul. The first was in the summer of 1996, and was a lot less fancy than this trip was– although in the 90s, my friend and I stayed much closer to the tourist areas. Maslak is a business district, so it’s not so convenient for tourist purposes.

I still managed to have a pretty good time revisiting this fascinating city and seeing Taksim again, the area where my friend Elaine and I stayed in 1996. I’d like to go back to Istanbul with Bill and really do it right– see the tourist spots and pick up some cool souvenirs. But it was great to go back to Istanbul, even if it was just for a few days in the financial district. As usual, I learned new things.

*A dramatic shot of a seagull I got while watching hundreds of them descend on a mosque in search of food. It was very surreal!*

I don’t think we’re going anywhere else in 2025, but I’m already planning a trip to Stuttgart at the end of January 2026. Bill and I are overdue for dental cleanings. But– I have already found a new hotel with an exciting restaurant to try out in the suburb of Waiblingen, so there will something new in the blog then… and potentially even before then. We’ll see what happens!

Below is a gallery that sums up our year of travel in 2025… (or at least the travel I was part of– Bill went on a few work trips alone). Not bad, eh?