Triple Trip 2024
April 22- May 8, 2024
Ann Withers and Lauren Sopp turned 60 so we took a trip to celebrate.
Here are the stats and highlights of our trip to Central Europe.
April 22-23.. Planes Trains and Automobiles. Waited too long for a flight delay and the worst plane food ever. Once we got to Munich we played musical cars for a few hours and then finally got on the road in our Lynx n Co hybrid SUV. We drove what seemed like forever through rain and snow from Germany through Austria to Slovenia until we finally landed at our hotel in Ljubljana. We slept for a few hours. Hard.
April 24 Slovenia We got up and had a good breakfast before heading out on our tour. The tour guide, Isador and our 2 other travel companions 0 a brother and sister from Australia, were lovely. We went, in the rain, to Postonja Cave, Predjama Castle and Lake Bled. After the tour we came back and wandered though the city seeing the Dragon and Triple bridges, the pink church and ate a “dumpling” along the river.
Walked 19,158 steps. 8.28 miles 51 flights of stairs and down into the earth 115 meters. lauren went an extra 2 flights of stairs at Predjama Castle.
April 25 Slovenia, Italy to Croatia After Breakfast we checked out and headed to Trieste Italy. It was so so cold. We wound through very narrow streets to the edge of the Adriatic sea. We had coffee and roamed the streets, climbing the Giant Staircase before having a n amazing italian meal. We drove from there to Rovinj, Croatia. Ann bought a purse. And we saw our first rainbow as we drove from there to Pula. In Pula we saw a colosseum, conquered the roman walls before having gelato and watching the sun set.
We drove on to Opatija. We walked 21,565 steps, 9.42 miles and 31 flights of stairs.
April 26 Croatia After breakfast we drove to Rijeka. We explored Trsat Castle and had tea and pastries before heading to the market place and a parking nightmare of epic proportions! We shopped and wandered and then got caught in a downpour which led us to a small mall and a great spice shop. When we got back to Opatija we shopped and walked along the shoreline before climbing up a long hill to dinner. Sunset was lovely!
We walked 19,587 steps, 8.55 miles and 28 flights of stairs.
April 27 Croatia We ate breakfast and then left down the tesla highway to Zadar, Sibinek and Split. The Sea Organ* was unreal and the weather was spectular. We had lunch in Zadar and walked the wall of the city center and drove on to Sibinek where we climbed to the cathedral and ate baklava (me ice cream).
Split had our “boujie” hotel and a phenomenal evening of exploring the city. We climbed a bell tower and ate at 2 places we learned about from Somebody Feed Phil. Lauren and I enjoyed the sauna before bed.
When we gor to Split we witnessed 2 miracles. 1. We did not run out of gas and 2. Lauren lost her wallet at the Bell Tower and a small boy found it and returned it!
We walked 20,723 steps. 9.08 miles and 34 flights of stairs.
April 28 Plitvice Lakes Croatia We had a lovely garden breakfast and reluctantly left our hotel and headed to Plitvice Lakes national park. Wow! On the way to Hungary we had our first McDonalds meal! Driving into Budapest was stunning!
We walked 16,580 steps, 7.2 miles and 55 flights of stairs.
April 29 Budapest After staying at what would be the nicest hotel of the trip we had breakfast and headed to the Central Market. We ate sauerkraut, stuffed cabbage, gingerbread and honey. We crossed the green Freedom Bridge to the Cave church and then took the #16 bus to the Buda side of the Danube. We saw the Fisherman’s Bastion and St. Mathias church and wandered around. We took the Funicular to the Buda Castle and then met Mark Zeeman whotook us to dinner at the Wine Bar in the Jewish quarter and dessert at Caffe Vien. We wandered to the Opera House and the Liszt Academy before taking a train to Vada Castle.
We walked 24,803 steps, 10.83 miles and 22 flights of stairs.
April 30 Budapest After breakfast we went on a private Segway tour with Nor. It was perfect until the end when Ann used Lauren as a crash pad and they both got injured. we experienced 3 hospitals before Ann was treated and her dislocated elbow was put into place and casted. (Cost was under $100) We had dinner at the New York Cafe and then went to Golgota Church to listen to the gospel choir rehearsal. Mark showed us around the church which was an old Theater with a coffee shop and a sound studio in a bomb shelter. Ann had a women perform some sort of voodoo on her arm and then we toured some Ruin bars, wandered the jewish quarter and temple/synagogue before riding the Budapest Ferris Wheel.
We walked 20,925 steps, 9.10 miles and 5 flights of stairs.
May 1 Bratislava to Vienna Today is May Day and a big deal holiday in most of the countries around us. We had a nice breakfast with Mark before leaving for Bratislava and Vienna. We were startled by the Old town in Bratislava. We had our first Starbucks and interaction with Police. We saw our first beggars, the castle, the Blue church, a man drawing with coffee and crowds of people enjoying the holiday. We drove a short distance to Vienna and got settled at our hotel along the Danube. We went into the city center to have dinner at Figimuller’s Lugent restaurant in Stephensplatz.
We walked 21,320 steps, 9.27 miles and 26 flights of stairs.
May 2 Vienna We took a taxi in the morning to Starbucks where we had breakfast before taking a city tour and guided tour of Schonbrunn Palace. After walking the gardens we went back to the city center and ate delicious hot dogs and sausages for lunch. We wandered around until caught in a downpour. We had a treat at Aida’s and then Ann headed back to the hotel and Lauren and I wandered a garden/park before going to a concert/opera and ballet near the opera house. We were successful at navigating back to the hotel.
Before Ann left we walked 22, 096 steps, 9.65 miles and 28 flights of stairs.
May 3 Vienna to Prague, Czechia. We went to McDonalds for breakfast. When we crossed the border to the Czech Republic we were greeted with rain and a beautiful little village called Mikulov. We wandered around, went to the castle and a cheese shop before heading to Brno. We ate lunch in Brno, saw the astronomic clock and and a nice farmers market.
After getting to our hotel in Prague we went by driver to the Old city, had dinner at a sandwich shop and walked to the Charles bridge to watch the sunset through raindrops!
We walked 20,435 steps, 8.91 miles and 18 flights of stairs.
May 4 – Prague We had breakfast and then our driver took us on a mini tour to the Prague Eiffel Tower. We walked down to the castle, took a tour and then walked on to the gingerbread “museum” which was only a shop. we had a nice lunch and bought some jewelry before we took an Old Car tour. We got gelato, bubble tea and took a taxi back to the hotel as the crowds continued to grow. The next day was a marathon in the city so not only were there lots of people there were almost as many barriers being put into place. We had dinner at the hotel and played games.
We walked 20,317 steps, 8.86 miles and 15 flights of stairs.
May 5 Narnia – Bohemian Switzerland National Park. We ate an early breakfast and our tour driver, Marek picked us up at 7:30 am for a semi private tour of Bohemian National Park, the site of the Narnia Movie. We saw Tisa, a gorge with a boat tour and Bastei. It was spectacular. When we got back Lauren and I went to dinner and had goulash.
We walked 20,560 seps, 9.1 miles and 78 flights of stairs.
May 6 Prague to Munich, Germany After breakfast we tried to go to the Museum of Chamber Pots and toilets but it is only open one day a month. Total crap. Stinks. So we drove to Munich, and sopped at several random stops along the way including Leuchtenberg. We had lunch at a McDonalds. There was severe weather entering Munich and lots of wind, rain and thunder and lightning. We were happy to get to our hotel and out of the elements. We stayed in the hotel and played games.
May 7 – Munich We took a tram to the city center – Karlsplatz and Marienplatz. we went to the Birkenstock store, the marketplace, at a pretzel and had lunch at the HofBrau. We got on an on/off city tour bus and had dinner at the markeplace. We got home and played games and packed.
We walked 20,802 steps, 9.07 miles and 4 flights of stairs.
May 8 – We woke up to rain and fog and made our way to the airport in Munich. It was a 12 hour flight and then a 3 hour car ride until I finally landed at Jonathan and Judy’s house in Huntington Beach.
*The Sea Organ is what the ocean would sound like if it sang!