Conversations With A Poet

Our small plane brought us into Split from Munich, arriving a little after noon Croatian time. The flight was nothing less than astounding as we flew over the snow- covered Alps and directly over Venice. Split welcomed us with a cool, mostly cloudy day. As we deplaned, all passengers were asked to step aside, as a dignitary of the Catholic church was receiving VIP treatment.  Five priests were standing outside waiting to greet him. Not sure who he was but we were impressed with the welcome he was given.  Our room at the Le Meridian is beautiful overlooking the Adriatic Sea. When the rain started, the balcony made for a nice place to relax for the evening. The water was glistening from the sun peaking in and out of the clouds, and majestic yachts lined the harbor.  Split is known for its beaches and the fortress-like complex in the center of town. The Diocletian’s Palace was built by the Romans in the 14 th century.   The palace was undergoi...

Berlin, an amazing and interesting city.  We were very lucky to have friends that met us there when we arrived and were free all weekend to show us around. We met Aggie and Sandor about 4 years ago while in Budapest, they both are from Budapest, but Aggie is currently working in Berlin. How gracious is that to set her schedule so she could be there to show us the highlights?  We saw the remains of the Berlin wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate and one of the biggest highlights was certainly going to the top of the Berlin Television Tower, the Berliner Fernsehturm . It’s a 360 degree view of all of Berlin, and I’m afraid no picture would ever do it justice.   The French and the Berlin Domes are Protestant cathedrals in city. The French or gold dome was just across the street from our hotel and made for a beautiful view especially at night. It dates back to 1701 and after being heavily damaged during WWII the church was rebuilt and continues to offer...

Prague is always a good idea. We’ve been to Prague before and the feeling is much the same as one feels about Paris.  The Charles Bridge is one of the loveliest events while there.  I call it an event because artists have their easels set up and are painting, others are making jewelry and selling it, some are playing instruments. One man was playing a trumpet, another a violin and yet another was strumming his guitar and singing.  There is a statue of John the Baptist pointing at the Prague Castle, and many more statues. There are a lot of tourists taking pictures. The Vitava River is beautiful and flows through the center of Prague.   The church you see in the pictures, is Our Lady of Prague Church . It’s gorgeous with its gold altar and as you can see, I was getting ready to hear confessions.  We took the Funicular to the top of the mountain to where the castle is, since we had seen the castle on our last visit, we decided to have a walk a...

We took the train from Prague to Vienna. We love traveling by train. Not only is it wonderful to sit next to a big window and watch the countryside go by, you can also bring a bottle of wine and baguette to enjoy along the way.   Our hotel room is beautiful once again and it overlooks the Danube River. There was a nice patio area with lots of tables and chairs for us to sit and have a drink and just look out at the river. There were river boat cruises going by, the weather was perfect, a little cool but very pleasant. There was a boat that went by called the “Oscar Wilde,"  it’s one of the newer river boats that travel the Danube.   We went to Stephenplatz, a large Town Square in the center of Vienna. There are a lot of high -end stores like Hermes and Tiffany’s, restaurants, and a wonderful city park, called Stadtpark.  There’s an amazing statue of Mozart at the entrance to the park and what a great day to be in Vienna!  Not only was the weath...

IRELAND ~ DUBLIN And so, after Croatia, Berlin, Prague and Vienna, it’s onward to Ireland!  It was very exciting landing in Dublin, especially with the 40 shades of green rising up to greet us.  Denny hadn’t been to Ireland in about 15 years so he was looking forward to Dublin and Killarney.   We stayed at the Arlington Hotel in Town Center, making it easy to walk everywhere. It was great to walk across the Ha’penny Bridge to Temple Bar, have a pint or an Irish whiskey or both and listen to some great Irish music.  Temple Bar is bustling with pub after pub, as well as restaurants. When we heard someone singing Christy Moore songs we went in. Chris Lucas was his name. What a great voice, loved the guitar, he interacted with the crowd, brought us all in on it, making for a fun night.  Our walk up Grafton Street was enjoyable, there are always street performers to entertain, and a variety of restaurants and pubs. Our destination was St. Steph...