After sleeping longer than I had planned I got up and enjoyed doing some puzzles (yes, Carolyn, I’ve so far not managed to skip them even though I said I might!). We had coffee and croissants, and Greg and Jan had things to do, so we got ready to walk back to the Altstadt just to wander.
We then went back to a place we’ve eaten at and enjoyed before. I had some tasty duck and Dan had a veggie dish. It was more food than I could handle, but that seems to be fairly typical for me. But both of our meals were delicious.
From there we went back to the house. We both napped a short time — I’m sort of the Queen of Naps, so I’m always happy to snooze for about 30 minutes, and I guess that might make Dan the King of Naps although he is less likely to do this when at home. So maybe he’s not quite as royal as I am. Hmm.
Dinner was a lovely pumpkin soup Greg made. We certainly needed no more than that after our large lunch. Then Greg and Jan headed off to Mannheim for a concert and we walked back to the Altstadt and just enjoyed a stroll in the 36° or so weather. And no, I wasn’t cold: it’s so nice to have appropriate warm clothes and finally be here when we don’t worry about being too warm! After so many summer trips being here this time of year is really delightful.
Now we are back at the house, and I’m hoping we manage to hit the hay at a normal time for where we are. I think we have had very little jet lag this trip, really. I’m happy with that!
This’ll be quick since I wrote a lot and then managed to lose it. But after we arrived in Heidelberg we took brief naps and then walked to the Altstadt where Greg and Jan treated me to a birthday treat. It was lovely!
We then walked back to the house and enjoyed each other’s company, had a lovely dinner, and managed to stay up rather late.
Now we see if we can sleep. I’d write more, but … well … someone here is hitting the hay and the lights need to go off!
Our flight to Frankfurt was pretty uneventful. There was the occasional turbulence but nothing awful. Well, the landing was rough but I believe that was due to the weather (we had to circle for 20 minutes before we were cleared to land).
We both managed to sleep on the plane. I sure think the expense of Polaris is worth it.
I am feeling pretty good at the moment. It’s currently 12:31 PM here and it feels like it’s around 4ish in the afternoon. Not bad.
Passport control was a breeze: I wasn’t even asked a single question. Dan was briefly quizzed, but it seemed like the guy wasn’t even paying attention to his answers! Then off to get luggage and when it was finally coming down the ramp our bags were nearly first. Easy peasy.
We headed out of the luggage area to find Greg and Jan waiting for us. So that was easy as well. We then headed from Frankfurt to their place in Heidelberg. (SO thankful that they picked us up … thanks, you two!)
Kind of boring, right? No catastrophes, no lost luggage, no long lines. But don’t worry, I know that on every trip there is something that will cause a bit of stress. I’m ready. Or as ready as one can be, anyway.
We are now settled in at Greg and Jan’s: and one of us is napping. I’ll probably do the same in a moment.
We are spending a very quick night in Hungary. Kecskemét, Kadafalva, to be exact … I think! I haven’t quite figured out how places work in Hungary.
We spent a lovely evening with Greg and Jan (my brother and sister-in-law) last night, and then enjoyed one night’s stay at their place. Early this morning we woke, packed the car, and departed for our next destination. Greg drove the entire time (thank you, Greg!), we went through Austria, and we are now in our hotel room in, as I mentioned at the start, Hungary. It will be the briefest of our stays, aside from the Frankfurt airport hotel on our first night: we are just passing through and didn’t get to visit Budapest. Had we gotten there I certainly would have tried to meet up with a few people. Maybe next time!?
I really have no photos to share aside from our dinner photos from last night, and then one from my spot in the car. That’s it. I am going to guess tomorrow’s long drive will be close to the same kind of thing, but we’ll see.
One thing I didn’t know was that you have to purchase something (Vignettes) to drive the highways (or whatever they are called) in Austria and Hungary. We keep learning as we do this trip! I don’t know if that will continue as we head through two new countries tomorrow. Stay tuned!
Oh … and I did learn one other thing: Hungary doesn’t use the Euro. More money conversion. It is, instead, the Hungarian Forint. (I’ve read that some place might accept the Euro, but it’s better to stick to the Forint.) Just so you know!
Last night and today:
Oh … and it rained today. That was a surprise!
What a joy it is to spend time with Greg and Jan. (And to the other Emerson sibs … next time, maybe?! Carolyn, Timothy, Margaret … think about it!)
Jó éjszakát! (I hope that is “goodnight” in Hungarian … but perhaps someone out there will let me know if I’m wrong … or even if I’m right!)
After we checked out of our room in Venice, we had all day to explore more of Venice, so we went out the door and attempted to go in the direction of the first restaurant (Dan’s birthday dinner spot) because we hadn’t investigated that area as much. In true tourist form we took a wrong turn somewhere and got lost. We were, in fact, “lost” for much of the day. But it was great fun. We did finally end up at a place Dan had seen on our first day here, the Santa Maria della Salute. From there we went back to our inn (yes, struggling with just how to get there), and waited for our water taxi to take us to the train station.
Photos from the day:
One incident at the train station reminded us to be cautious: two guys were following us, or at least Dan felt like they were. I had noticed them earlier, as they were taking selfies and photos of each other. When we took a different path, they did as well. So we stopped. They then had to keep going … perhaps in order to avoid suspicion? I noticed them after he pointed them out to me, and I saw them go up to four other guys and chat for a moment, and then head off again. Later, when we were eating dinner, I saw two guys that might have been them standing around taking selfies for the longest time. Were they doing this to pretend to be tourists as they were scouting out the area? Maybe. And maybe they were truly innocent and we over reacted. Who knows? But we had read in several places that the train station is the spot for pick pocket, so we figure it was better to be cautious.
Dinner!
We finally got into our night train (it was late), and got situated. I had read that we’d be greeted with small bottles of sparkling wine. That didn’t happen immediately, but it did eventually. Trouble was, no glasses were given to us … we had to drink straight from the bottles! Then, when I was climbing into the top bunk, I tried to figure out the safety straps. It’s quite likely no one uses them … they were a bit tattered and torn, and we never could fully figure them out, but Dan set something up, just to be sure I didn’t tumble out. Maybe it wasn’t necessary, but I’d rather not fall out of a top bunk so I was fine with them there, as pathetic as they looked!
And then it was lights out … but keep reading since I’m writing about today as well!
We had a somewhat restless night — Dan more so than I. There were times the train stopped for a long while. We think they must have split the train in two: one section going elsewhere. But we don’t know for sure. Then, at 4:30 AM or so, we get this very loud knock on the door. Dan opens it, both of us bleary eyed and in pjs, and a blonde young man says something we can’t understand and then, realizing we are Americans, says, “Your passports. I need to see them,” or something like that. We had no idea we’d have to show passports in Austria, but sure enough we did. It was such a lovely way to wake us, don’t you think?
I did get back to sleep, and Dan woke me around 7 since breakfast was to arrive soon. So we got up, got dressed, and waited for the attendant to bring us breakfast. It came later than we expected, but I’m assuming it’s because the train was late. She first handed us one breakfast tray and said something in German. She seemed upset. Dan took that tray but we said we did have another one as well. She seemed upset (again). She did bring the second tray. We sat there wondering what to do: the attendant was supposed to be making up our beds into a bench seat with a table so we could eat. Finally I saw her again and asked. She looked like she was about to cry, and said something about “Not now. Later …” and I honestly thought she was going to lose it so we told her not to worry, we’d eat on the bed. She never came back to fix things for daytime, but did eventually return to collect our trays. Dan had taken one sip of the OJ and said it was awful, so I didn’t even bother to open mine. She suggested I hang on to the box and when I said I wasn’t interested she looked like she was going to cry again. I think the poor young woman was too stressed and I do believe she has a job she isn’t made for. In any case, we sat on the bed until the train arrived in Stuttgart. Then, after figuring out what to do to get a train (or whatever it’s called — trolley? Light rail? Dunno) that got us near to our destination we managed to get to my brother and sister-in-law’s place (thanks, Greg & Jan!) in … Heidelberg.
After getting settled, showered, and one wash load started we went to get lunch. In typical D&P fashion we took over an hour to find a place. But lunch was nice, and then it was back to the house again, so we could do the second load of laundry. (My load: I hope I didn’t ruin anything, as I suspect I maybe have set the temperature incorrectly. Oops!)
Photos up until what I’ve written so far:
Now we are waiting for Greg & Jan to get here from work. I hope it’s not too crazy to deal with us and the long drive we have tomorrow. If I have time and energy I might post more photos tonight, but stay tuned tomorrow for our next destination!
