Geo: 44.7804, 15.6349Okay folks we made it to Croatia yesterday and Handsome Pop's most anticipated location today, although there are several only a smidgen behind. We sit here composing the blog listening to our kids' favorite songs (Cotton Fields and King of the Road) on an iPhone speaker. We're sure they will be pleased.Oh the lakes, what can one say? We imagine there were 10-12 levels of lakes, although Bird recalls seeing 16 somewhere. The lakes maintain different elevations, thus there are waterfalls between them, many appearing to flow from the ground. At some locations the water falls from crescents. The water is crystal clear. We thought water in the Caribbean was clear, but here the bottom reaches up to you. However, at least in the Caribbean, it is level where here we were constantly walking ... read more

Geo: 47.4984, 19.0408Reluctantly departed our nice accommodations, and the beautiful city of Vienna, for Budapest. We drove along the Danube in Vienna and for a short distance after leaving the city. Beautiful turquoise water. Entering the countryside we continued to observe many very large wind turbines. Hungary also has turbines. These folks are monsters and there were certainly over a thousand producing no pollution, only clean electricity.At the Austrian/Hungarian border we saw our first refugees. They were just inside the Austrian border, looked desperate, almost running. There were large tents on the Austrian side for them. By contrast, there was nothing on the Hungarian side, and we saw no refugees there.Our two eastern European cities are Prague and Budapest. Aspects of the former were impressive, but all told, Budapest is more impressive, and thus far the ... read more

Geo: 49.1911, 16.6114We departed today from Prague to Vienna with a stop in Brno. This town strikes us as a functional, workman city. Everything has a purpose, with little architectural elaboration. This will be especially apparent in the castle, while the Cathedral is more ornate. Nonetheless, there is considerable history here. Both the Cathedral and Castle were constructed in the 13th Century. The latter eventually descending into a dungeon. It was used in this way from the 18th century onward, including Napoleon and the Nazis. As a summary, our opinion of the Czech people is mixed. For a point of reference, the English are very pleasant, helpful folk with the occasional street beggar; not terribly different from the USA, except they apparently have more pride in their country as they keep it cleaner. Germany is an ... read more

Geo: 50.0878, 14.4205Up bright eyed and bushy tailed this am and went skipping about Prague. First stop after a 45 minute walk over the hills and dales we arrived at the Prague Castle. The initial work here was begun in the 9th century, and we saw at least one person's remains from the 10th century. The complex here is enormous, the largest ancient castle in the world. It includes several churches, a palace and a variety of other things.The Charles Bridge is below the castle taking fifty years to construct beginning in 1357. Traffic is limited to pedestrians, and folks hawking their wares. Religious statues adorn each side, most of them appearing in pain. But the atmosphere here is a bit like a carnival.We then walked to the "old town" to see an astronomical clock and ... read more

Geo: 52.5235, 13.4115Arrived in Berlin at 1:40 on September 7 after a two hour flight from London. Spent the next several hours locating our room (would have been an hour trip for most folks here). Using German household equipment was a walk down memory lane. Windows open two ways, etc. All of it is a good deal more sturdy than available in the US. The weather in England was quite poor. We received some rain every day except when we went to Portsmouth, which was a beautiful day. Yesterday was similarly beautiful here as is today, and warmer. Temp had been in the low to mid 60's. Perhaps 70 or so now.Last night we had a government sponsored tour of the Reichstag (Parliament). It was delayed as there was a demonstration in favor or allowing even ... read more