http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Roy-and-Patricia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Roy and Patricia en-us Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:05:45 +0000 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:05:45 +0000 The trip to Chartes was magical. Not only is themedieval cathedral something beautiful to behold withits gorgeous stained glass and intricate stonecarvings...but...we arrived in time to participate ina wedding The organ resounded through the church asthe bride walked the aisle following the ceremony thebell tower peeled joyously for ten minutes as thewedding party including uniformed gendarmes http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-91484.html VoilaWe left Ansouis at 10 am and checked into a hotel in Sancerre at 7pm....but the adventure has been marvelous When we began the journey our plan was to travel to Orleans near Chartes but a major accident on the autoroute near St. Entienne moved us onto the N7 roadway through the heart of France....driving through hills dotted with farms and dairy herds. Here is where the best cheeses in Fr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/blog-90546.html we have left ansuois and have started our adventure drive to Paris. We decided almost on impulse to leave Provence and weave our way through the french countryside. We dont know where we will be staying tonight but that is part of the charm. Right now I am at an internet cafe and out the window I see the 2000 yeqr old Arc de Triumph built by the Romans to celebrate their victories in their firs http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d--Azur/Orange/blog-90361.html We've been staying in the lovely Provencal town of Ansouis in the Luberon hills region. Wine country and small beautiful hill towns. We are sharing a maison small home with our family Roy's brother and sister and their spouses. The home is large comfortable and located on the main street of this tiny place. One boulagerie fresh baked croissants every morning on bar across the street Bar http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d--Azur/Aix-en-Provence/blog-89981.html We are having a great time on the rough Northern coast of Spain known as the Costa Brava. For our friends still residing in Minnesota think of the North Shore of Lake Superior but the natives here speak Catalan rather than Minnesotan. Even though there has been rain each day we have been playing in the surf a bit enjoying the local hill towns such as Pals with a 9th century church including an http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/blog-88940.html We have the corner room overlooking the Meditterean Sea and the beautiful little costal town of Calella de Palafreugell. The ocean waves are breaking just below our room and quite close actually to the houses and bungelows built right down to the sea.We are on our beach walk now stopping at this combination dive shop owned by germans I suppose because all they are speaking here is Deutch and In http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Girona/blog-88711.html This is our second day in this wonderful city and we are starting to master the layout and the Catalan language. For instancedos cervezas si us plauseems to be well understood here. We visited Sagrade Familia a few minutes ago. This is one of the most strangely designed cathredals in the world. It is a project start by Gaudi in the early 1900s and is not scheduled to be finished until 2020 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-88113.html Did Roy say that the train was Gran Classe...well...we didnt sleep much at all during the 12 hour trip. Arrived here at 9am and we have yet to check into the hotel. We took a bus tour of the city which was awesome. Wild and Weird architecture...after we shower and rest well tour again to see the city lights at night. Gaudi is the famous architect who designed many of the crazy structures weve s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-87797.html It is a city for lovers we are renewing our love for one another here in this beautiful cityWe made it to Paris safe and sound. We have been all over the city already and stayed up until almost 900PM last night. Of course we had a beautiful french dinner at a lovely little restaurant. The 2002 Bordeau from Margaeux was great too.We are off to the effiel tower today a possibly a few other http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-87624.html We are on our way to Paris to Barcelona to the Costa Brava to ProvenceWe wish all our friends well as we start our vacation.Please wish us 'Bon Voyage' and look for more entries in the near future http://www.travelblog.org//blog-87169.html HomeWe are home in North Carolina This is the last blog for our trip to Eastern Europe. We have added a few more pictures to some of the earlier entries...just in case some of you would like to go back a take another look. Thanks so much for your kind comments.The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people halfway. Henry Boye http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/North-Carolina/Charlotte/blog-11501.html Well...talk about grueling travel...one of the more lengthy boring days has been our trek from Salzburg to London via Ryan Air and a long bus ride from Standsted Airport to Gatwick. We're here at the Renaissance Hotel near the airport really ready to fly home on Monday. We made our todo lists and we're ready to get back to real life in NC. Fortunately Roy just got an email from Soft Lin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-10769.html A Taste of the UniqueKrumlov is a gem of a small town nestled under the castle here in Bohemia. It was an exhausting trip to get here by local bus from Prague. We were packed into an old bus from Communist times....we had seats but more than fifteen people stood in the aisles as we made our way through the countryside. But the trip was definitely worth it.Romano CultureWe have been using a Rick S http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/South-Bohemian-Region/Cesky-Krumlov/blog-10668.html Old TownAfter the winding confusing cab ride to the hotel..house of the three drums...we walked over to the astronomical clock in old town square. This clock has several dials one with markings zero to twenty three one with zero to twelve and one with three hundred and sixty five days of the year. We were able to watch the show at the top of the hour. A skeleton pulls on a chain and the twel http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-10552.html OK we hadn't planned to blog today...but....near our hotel is the Barbicon which is a 12th century fortification built to defend against the Tartar invasion. Sunday is a festivaltype atmosphere with many street performers families strolling the Planty a wide swath of park built where the moat used to flow around the castle and a parade of oldtime trolley cars. But would you believe we also http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Krakow/blog-10204.html Night Train to Krakow We took the night train to Krakow and what an experience The sleeper car was no more than a few private compartments with long hard and ugly seats...probably Stalin's favorite color. Of course we settled in for a long night's sleep just to be woken twice during the night by Slovanian Polish and Hungarian passport agents. I must say that the Slovakian agent looked pa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Krakow/blog-10152.html House of Terror We started our day with a visit to the House of Terror a truly moving exhibit which highlights the two periods of terror in Budapest history the occupation by the Nazi's and the Soviet's. Actual film footage and English guide sheets walked us through the time of terror in which local citizens were tortured and executed for their lack of allegience to the Reich....and then later http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/blog-10053.html FunicularThe funicular is a tram that takes you from the famous chain bridge up the embankment to the top of castle hill. We are making every effort now to save our feet for those cities to come that may not have the efficient transportation system we have discovered here in Budapest.Rebuilt over and overBudapest must be the most rebuilt city in the world. We strolled over to the Budapest History http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/blog-9966.html We've had a chance to upload photos at the hotel kiosk. Scroll back to previous days for some picturesCity TourArrived in Budapest on the morning train from Vienna yesterday. Then took an openair bus tour of the cities Buda in the hills and Pest on the flats along the river. We now have a feel for the city and plan to spend Wednesday in Buda in the Castle District and Thursday in Pest to see http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/blog-9892.html Train from Salzburg to ViennaWe used our Easr Europe Pass for the first time and the experience was delightful. We occupied our own air conditioned compartment for a while before being joined by a young married couple. Patricia bold as always broke the ice by offering them a chocolate. Chocolate is a big deal in Austria. It turned out that the wife had been an exchange student in Wisconsin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-9716.html