Rab Island

I've been living in paradise the last few days.  The island of Rab, one of the many beautiful islands in Croatia has been a grand stay.  Very laid back and relaxed here, with perfect water temperatures and sunny days.  It's been a grand time, relaxing, swimming, reading and exploring the old town (built back in the day by some people called Romans).  Nice change of pace after bouncing around from the cities in Western Europe. 

The best way to find accommodation in Croatia is to simply walk around and ask at houses that have a blue Apartmani or Sobe sign (meaning they have  a room for rent).  So I hoofed it from the old town with the classical architecture and churches, down the coast of the island towards where my Slovenian family was staying (I surfed their couch in Ljubljana).  After a while I started asking at different residences and after being turned down a couple times, I found paradise.  I'm staying in a quiet, amazing house owned by a Croatian couple in their 80s.  He's a former doctor/professor/traveler who now writes poems and songs and books for fun.  She is a former nurse who loves to talk.  Been great hanging out with them and learning about the culture, as well as relaxing in their garden area, complete with outdoor kitchen, plenty of seats and the beach just steps away.  Perfect spot!  Already have extended my stay here.

Life is good!  Enjoy some pictures of beautiful Rab:

Smiling as always

The four towers as seen from the ferry on the way in

Best view in town

One way to make your name stand out

Walking down the small alleys in the old town

I hope I have a statue like this upon my demise (light years away)

Rab!  Love it!

View from my beach in Rab

So I wake up, walk down 10 stairs and boom, this is what I'm presented with.  Awesome view of Rab Town to swim around and have in the background.  I've got an awesome suite in a house owned by two 80 year olds, one of whom is a writer and I'm working my way through one of his books.  Life is good!

Island of Krk, Croatia

Colourful shop in the old town

Krk!

Me and my new wife.  She's a great help in carrying my backpack

Another view of Krk

Market time!

Slovenia

How about Slovenia? This country keeps proving that it is a playground of nature, full of rivers (with water you can drink), mountains (rivaling Yosemite at times), valleys (always with a river nearby) and small towns. It's been an amazing time here, as I've made some new, wonderful friends who have gone above and beyond what I expected. Pretty much got taken all over the country in the week I've been here. Living the local life and enjoying it.

Ljubljana was, as written before, clean, vibrant and amazing. Lots going on, with great vibes along the river. Tina and I rode bikes all over town, zipping from the suburbs into the city center and all over. The huge city park on a hill overlooking the city had a sweet outdoor Olympian photo gallery, as they are very proud of their athletes here. Very athletic people here, and they know all their Olympians and are proud that their downhill skier, Tina Maze, is better than the American Lindsey Vonn.

Also noteworthy about friendly Ljubljana is the fact that the toilets are free (unlike most of Europe where you have to pay), there are free drinking fountains outside (rare in Europe) and free wifi all over the city (nothing like hanging in a park with free wifi). Quite a contrast to most of Europe, making it nice for the travelers. And the people are pretty damn friendly too. Awesome to be staying with Tina and her parents, learning about life in communism and eating great, home cooked meals outside.

I traveled to the west to Nova Gorica, to meet up with some girls I met at the music festival. Ended up staying 3 days in the area with all of their friends, staying with new friend Matic and his mom. Everyday it was off to hike, swim in rivers, drink from the springs and rivers, play beach volleyball, jump off old bridges and relax. Jumping off bridges is pretty standard in this part of the continent, with little platforms built on old bridges. We jumped off a 12m (36 feet) bridge into the fresh water below, to get the heart pumping.

The Soca river is huge, and often has a bright emerald green color to it. We hiked to it's source up in the mountains for some of the best water I've ever had. The Boka waterfalls were the largest in Slovenia and pumped out tons of freezing, delicious water. The small towns are built around the rivers, and are full of friendly, funny people who speak great English. Nothing finer than the owner of a cafe joking around, and then giving me a bag of apricots to take with me.

All in all, it's been amazing. I'm now off to Croatia for some beach time. Adriatic Sea, here I come! Looking forward to relaxing, and meeting up with Tina and her family on an island. The Slovenians take most of their holidays down on the Croatian beaches, so I'll be able to keep up with my learning of the language. Petca!

On top of the art deco skyscraper checking out the view in Ljubljana

Meditating and elevating above Lake Bled

Amazing church by Lake Bohin

Stretching out on Lake Bohin

Coffee stop on our way to the rivers, with Monica, Shayla and Matic

Monica looking to snag some fish for dinner

Nature's paradise

Drinking right from the river

Source of the Soca River, with no camera filter.  Amazing color and taste

Amazing nature in Slovenia!

Monica showing us to the good swimming spot under the waterfall

The view just for us (get it?, Just - us)

Where I spent 1 hour waiting for a bus.  Amazing!

Ljubljana day one

After a great time in Vienna, including an awesome 3 day music festival, I traveled down to Slovenia yesterday to keep the adventures going and see a new country.  It's been a busy few days around Europe, having a blast and being outside.  Summer is finally in full force and life is good!

I traveled to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia with a fun ride share where the driver didn't speak English ( I had arranged the ride with someone else on the phone) and with several other passengers as well.  I was met at the bus station by Tina, my couch surfing host who promptly took me to a cafe to try their local soda, Cockta.  Pretty good stuff.  Nice to try the local drink and food in each country.    We dropped my bag off at her house, which she lives in with her parents.  The little brother is out on a scout trip, so I have his bunkbed.  I had a great meal waiting for me, fun people to talk to and great weather to eat outside in.

We rode bikes in to the city center to explore.  Ljubljana is a very vibrant city with people everywhere shopping, walking around and eating at sidewalk faces.  Great vibes.   Up top is a very clean castle overlooking the city. You can dine at a nice restaurant up top there, see a cool exhibit in a gallery or walk under the walls and see the original foundations.  Very cool castle.  Top notch.

 Later we checked out more of the town and ended up at a funky spot that was playing awesome Balkan music.  I learned some dances, met some locals and had a great time.  And that was my first day in Slovenia.

Fun times in Czech

So there's more to the Czech Republic than just Prague.  Pretty sweet to be traveling with good friends who know the area and took me to some cool small towns.  The film festival in Karlovy Vary was awesome.  Great vibes the whole time, packed full of people and was the complete opposite of the Cannes Film Festival with all its' restricted areas, tuxedos and no tickets.  This festival was laid back, with tickets available on and off, and had Czech film stars walking around with the people.  John Travolta stayed to himself at the big fancy hotel though, although he made quite an appearance Friday at Opening Night which we missed.  He was all over the newspapers though.

Karlovy Vary is known for it's spas.  The doctors there prescribe treatment for each individual, of which the most important thing to do is drink from the natural springs under the city.  There are a variety of temperatures, and each spring has a different name.  Of course I had to try them all, each tasting too full of nutrients (mainly iron) and being quite warm.  After a while, I was more about the hotter temperatures, and felt the strength of youth returning. 

We had a day trip out to the small town of Loket, to feed the goats on the hillside, check out the awesome castle and eat some more local Czech food.  Very cool town which you can walk all over in under an hour.  A nice spot, a little off the beaten path.  The river flows through this town as in most, and it's a popular Czech thing to go floating on the rivers in canoes and rafts for several days at a time.  The popular greeting to yell at the rafters is "Ahoj" and they properly return it. The kids definitely return it and kept on yelling and waving for 5 minutes (not the fastest of rivers, hence the paddles).

After the weekend, it was back to Prague to do my usual walk all over town thing for hours.  Good to see the city again, after spending time there in the past.  Cool to remember our family Christmas there a few years back.  Later on, a beer in a hillside park to watch the sunset over the city on the last night with my friends and others.  Fun times in the Czech Republic! 

Czech it out!

Here are a few photos from the weekend in Karlovy Vary where one of the largest European film festivals was going on. Great times!

Kristina and I in front of the Thermal Hotel with the main theater

Working the red carpet as always

Locals drinking the hot spring water, as prescribed by the doctors at the spa

Getting healthy from the fountain of youth!  Warm and full of iron.  Good taste!

My new traveling companion

Feeding the goats

Oplatky!!!!

Marek and I by the thermal spa colonades

Berlin!

The capital, where it all happens.  So much going on in this amazing city. It's been a great finish to the German leg of the trip so far.  My German language skills are at the top of their game (as good as they'll get without more classes) and my shoes have properly walked in over half of the German states (there's 16 of them). Just fun being out and about in this wonderful country and exploring.

I've been staying in Berlin with Steffi, my foreign exchange sister who almost 10 years ago started her year long stay with my parents.  Very cool to still be in contact, and to have a lot in common.  As someone who has couch surfed around the world, she easily eclipses my records.  We've been having a blast out in the city, from a huge free music festival, to Turkish markets, to the local gym to great food at her apartment.  It's been a grand time, as life should be.  Nice to relax with good people on a trip with no end date.  Good to feel like a normal person as opposed to just a traveler at times.

Berlin is a super funky, alternative city.  Definitely a fun side to the city which is also where the government resides, high fashion exists and numerous museums almost outweigh the amount of Turkish kebab cafes.  It's by far the most international city in Germany.  Pretty diverse around the streets or on the U-Bahn.  I keep hearing all different languages, from Spanish (loads) to English to Italian.  And of course, German. 

The city feels alive with people. A full, vibrant city where people enjoy the cafes, the squares and dont seem to be working all the time.  Makes it fun and easy to strike up a conversation and see if my German passes the test.  Always something fun to do in Berlin, with many adventures all over.  One of the highlights was definitely the Berlin Wall art gallery.  Very impressive 1.5km long stretch of the wall that is still standing and is now covered with amazing art from around the world.  It was first painted in 1990, and then in 2009 the same artists came back to repaint their paintings, so they are pretty fresh right now.  Photos coming soon!

Got to run and catch that train!

Amazing local art in Berlin

Part of the East Side Gallery, the real Berlin Wall

Me with one of the most famous paintings on the wall

Berlin Wall art

Meditating and elevating

Steffi and I at the Brandeberger Gate, just a few days after Obama spoke there

Legit Berlin currywurst!

Frankfurt & Heidelberg Photos!

To open in a new page use those sexy fingers to click here, Frankfurt & Heidelberg Photos

To the top of Germany

To the top, as in both the northern part of Germany as well as the top two cities.  Hamburg and Berlin!  Boom, these places are funky, large, alternative, crazy, amazing and wonderful all in one.  Been grand to explore and check them out, visit some old friends and make new ones.  Plus put some good miles on the shoes.  Walking all over without an end in sight, and loving it.

I explored Frankfurt for a couple days after the fun long weekend in Heidelberg, staying with an old friend Christian.  Good times there in the city, with an awesome long park along the river Main.  Great times hanging out and relaxing there.  It was super hot in the city, so I properly sweated through most of my clothes (no double wearing of anything this time) as the weather reached 38 degrees Celsius (I started with 2 degrees in Iceland, had 10 in London and normally 15-25 the last couple weeks).  We won second place at a pub quiz, and explored the cool areas in the city.

Then came the impromptu visit to Hamburg.  Everyone raves about how cool the city is, so I changed the plans (quite easy on this trip) and booked a bus two hours before I left after sorting out a couch surfing host in the city.  Done.  Just like that, I was off to my first new city in Germany.  The last few weeks have been with old friends in places I've been before, which has been amazing, fun and a bit relaxing as I haven't needed to go all over exploring a new city.  Now, it was back on!  Get those feet moving!

Hamburg is a wicked city, that although spread out, seems quite walkable.  From the funky bar area of St. Pauli, to the city centre in the Altstadt, with the large lake Alstor there, it's got lots going on.  Plus the whole harbor scene with more land below to explore.  In my two days in town, I saw more than most people do in a week.  Definitely made the most of the time there.  I was hooked on the city, already one of my favorites in the country. 

It all started with meeting my host at a city park where loads of people were listening to a concert (for free outside the fences) picnicking and fire dancing.  I showed up hungry and was fed homecooked food.  Can't beat that.  From then on, just good times in Hamburg. 

Now I'm in Berlin, staying with my foreign exchange sister Steffi.  Great times in about 24 hours so far.  And more to come.  And more words to come later on.  Stop reading, enjoy the pictures:

Frankfurt and El Capitan!

Local street artists working their magic

Hamburg street art

Part of the harbor in Hamburg

Hamburg City Hall (Rathaus makes it sound classier than city hall) on the lake

How about a sail around the lake in Hamburg?

More Hamburg street art

What box will you choose?

The Chile House which is has ship-like characteristics in Hamburg