Whew! We managed to get all the pictures up before our plane takes off (in 5 hours).. so go check out the Bled pictures for swimming and rafting and hanging out in the rain. Then check out the end of the Ljubljana pictures for our overnight trip to Maribor.

In addition to general travel tips, and favorite places we've visited, I wanted to take some time to express some of the deeper impressions I've gotten from being here and learning about this region. I've visited other parts of europe like Italy, France, and the UK, but this trip has given both Heather and me a very different understanding of the world than all of those trips combined.

I should add that many of these thoughts come out of lengthy discussions Heather and I had on the road, trying to sort all this out. Much of it is in the first person only because I am writing it, but I don't think either of us would have thought as deeply about this if we hadn't been able to compare reactions and impressions throughout the trip.

Saturday nights from San Francisco to Slovenia...

This is the big question. Please help, secret Flibbs readers. When we are looking for "down time" from our hectic travel schedule, how can we rest?

So here we are in Munich at 8am on a sunday morning, and after many discussions about what we liked and didn't like, we're each writing our post-mortem for this leg of the trip. The hope is that if you're considering travelling to eastern europe, you'll get some valuble information from a few travellers. Heather and I are writing these simultaneously so we don't know what the other is writing.

At work, we try to do a full review after one project before moving onto another... discuss what went well and what we'd do better or differently next time. I thought it would be funny if Alec and I did this somewhat independently so we could compare our thoughts on Eastern Europe.

We aim to have ALL the Europe pictures posted in the next couple days before we depart for Africa. Here are the Ljubljana pictures! Stay tuned for the rest. :)

New pictures are up from our trip from Dubrovnik through Rijeka... go check it out!

This last piece of our "Eastern Europe" exploration has been surprising.. not because of all the odd communist anachronisms we might have expected from a country named "Slovenia" but more because of how western and forward-looking this country is.

I am standing with my neck craned reading a monitor one meter above my head in the middle of a bar in our latest hostel. Alec is making friends. He might be in heaven here.

We have new pictures up in the gallery! New highlights include Lake Ballaton, (Hungary) and Zagreb and Dubrovnik. (Croatia)

Sunday was August 15th, which is a national holiday in Slovenia and many other countries in the region. Its the Day (or feast, depending on the country) of the assumption. Since most of Ljubljana was more or less shut down, wewe took a day trip to the Škocjanske Caves, one of the "finest caves in Europe"

We had another adventurous travel day to get here, but Slovenia is a welcome relief from the stifling heat in Croatia this time of year.

This is a bit of an old update, but we happened upon such a neat little island, I had to catch up on it.. this entry will be re-integrated with the appropriate date in a few days...

After 3 nights in Dubrovnik, we began our island hopping adventure. Our first stop was the small island of Mljet. (Mul-yet) Half of the island is a national park that contains, among other things, an set of connecting interior saltwater lakes, and within them, more islands. It was on this island that we found ourselves eating gelato in a 14th century monestary.

Our island hopping continues with our arrival on the island of Hvar. We had read in our Lonely Planet that Hvar had more sunlight than anywhere else in the country.. what we didn't realize is that means it has more people per square inch than any other vacation spot in the country.

I am surprised to report after more than a week in Croatia that I am stunned by how beautiful it is here.

Heather and I are currently holed up in an internet cafe in Dubrovnik. It is pouring rain and our plans for some hiking on the island of Lokud are pretty much shot!

The rain seems to be following us on our trek, but at least yesterday was a beautifully hot day which involved much beach going and swimming in the clear waters of the Adriatic.

As of August 5, here are some key indicators of our travels...
Miles from San Francisco: 6367

Trips by
... Plane: 3/5 (trips/ flights)
... Train: 8/12 (trips/ trains)
... Bus: 2/2 (trips/ buses)
... Ferry: 2/2 (trips/ boats)

Times
... seeing American movies with local subtitles: 3
... seeing local movies with English subtitles: 1
... swimming: 3
... biking: 2
... running: 0
... when the rain has been a big deal: 3
... in bunk beds: 2
... eating pizza: 9

I can't remember whose bright idea it was, but only 10 hours by train, followed by 5 hours by bus (including a stopover in Bosnia-Hercogovina) and we've made it to the Dalmation Coast!

We just posted new pictures for the rest of Olomouc in the Czech Republic, and Part 1 of our Hungary pictures, including most of Budapest! Click the "Pictures" link above to see more, and post your comments here!

Ooops! We really screwed it up this time... all we had to do was the simple bus, ferry, train connection to another country and we messed up.

After many fun days in Budapest, we decided it was time to move on. After a train and a boat, we've found ourselves on the northern shore of Lake Balaton, in a tiny town called Tihany. We're taking a few days to relax and enjoy nature after a fantastic 5 days in the big city.

Well, the good news is that we're out of bunkbeds. The bad news is that its raining. Getting into decent accommodations turned out to be a lot harder than we expected.

Yes, it's our honeymoon and yes, we're in bunk beds!!!

Today we explored Olomouc. This town is so nice but strangely almost abandoned. We have theorized that everyone is on vacation during July, because the town square was almost empty on a Saturday afternoon.

We hopped a very sweaty bus this morning to Olomouc, pronounced 'Ollamoats', in Moravia... and it seems fantastic. Cheaper, smaller, and now we can find out what it means to be Moravian.

We have new pictures! Heather just wrapped up the Leeds, London and Frankfurt pictures and is finishing up Prague as we speak. Check out the photo gallery to see them! I've also gone back to some of our old entries and linked specific entries with their pictures. Enjoy!

Today we did perhaps the most classic Prague stuff - the stuff we wanted to do once we got an understanding of the city layout and history. We visited Prague Castle, the Jewish Quarter, and did our laundry.

Heather and I are trying to decide just how to be Bohemian. After all, we are in "Western Bohemia" in the Czech Republic. We got a little taste of it last night on a Pub tour, but truly it is hard not to be a tourist here.

... pronounced shi-prah-go (rhymes with Chicago), I am trying to get a new nickname for this city to catch on because of all the decorative art cows everywhere. They are sponsored and decorated in promotion of a border-town film festival that's already happened.

Update: now with cow photo links above!

guten tag. after some adventures with our flight, we're catching the night train to prague tonight. i was there almost 10 years ago and am anxious to see how much it has changed. then who knows.

We have really benefitted from the hospitality of our loved ones so far on this trip. Laundry, beds, meals, internet access, good times, etc... not in that order!

Heather and I have our first batch of pictures up! Just click the "UK Pictures" link here, or the "gallery" link at the top of the page.

After a nice visit with Kristyn and Paul in Leeds, we're back in London.

We're in Wales now... visiting our friends Rachel and Andy. Welsh is an odd tongue. Bae Caerdydd yw'r datblygiad mwyaf cyffrous ar y glannau yn Ewrop.

We have made it to London, after almost 5 hours of flight delays in Cleveland!