Countdown to Saturday! \240We are packing and planning for our 15 day adventure….we were chatting over the weekend that this process is easier with the boys being older. Packing and carrying your own bag and not requiring a car seat 😂 makes a world of difference. We will use this site to keep our travel journal along the way…
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We are off! \240Long day of travel ahead. Everyone accounted for, semi alert, passports appear in order (which hasn’t always been the case. 😬) onward…
We instructed our bags before we dropped them off - it’s going to be crazy out there. Stay together and stay focused and do whatever you need to do to get to us in Dublin!🤞🧳✈️
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Sightseeing layover in our Nation’s Capital. Beautiful day to swing by and say hello to a local IL friend. God bless the USA 🇺🇸
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Almost there. We knew it would be a long haul to our final destination but travel, for the most part, went smoothly.
Caught a few winks on the flight over the pond and now we are on the flight from London to Dublin which was delayed about 2 hours. But what’s another 2 hours? The boys went to find a snack and I asked them to grab me something they thougbt I’d like…
Maybe not the healthiest, but what can I say, they know me. Looking forward to getting to the hotel, grab a shower, perhaps a quick nap then find a pub of some sort for dinner and a welcome to Ireland beer. Cheers!
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We had a full Day 1 in Dublin. After logging 11 hours of sleep we were somewhat refreshed and ready to hit the town. After breakfast at our fun hotel we boarded the Big Bus hop on and hop off for a view of the city. The Guinness Storehouse gave us a good history lesson and a chance to learn how to properly drink a Guinness. Sorry Brandon, next time you can taste.
Rest for 2 minutes then top it off…
After our beer fun - the 2nd half of our day included taking in a concert at Trinity College. While not part of our original plan this is proof it’s good to chat with people along the way. During our delay and line standing at Heathrow trying to get to Dublin we stood by two guys who were the tour manager and production manager for Michael Kiwanuka. Some may remember his music from the Big Little Lies series. They offered us tickets to the show and the boys learned what it means to show up and say “we’re on the list”. Fun crowd, neat venue, good people watching and a quality show. Even had a Jameson counter. Fun night. Today we are taking in some more sights - rainy morning but supposed to clear this afternoon.
“This whole country smells like beer and farts.” -Brandon Matejka
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We wrapped up our time in Dublin with another full day on Tuesday. We hopped back on the big bus for a ride over to St Patrick’s Cathedral and listened to the same jokes and tour talk tracks as the day before. The word tree doesn’t just mean 🌲but also 3️⃣ as we have learned here in Ireland.
Since St Patrick is the saint for me we knew we needed to swing by his namesake Cathedral and take a look around. A beautiful structure and whether we wanted it to or not the song rang through our heads the whole time.
It was a rainy morning so from there we made our way back to the hotel stopping along the way for a little shopping.
Cameron found a trail outside of town he wanted to run so in the afternoon the boys and I headed out to the town of Howth via the train. Part of the adventure is always figuring how to get from here to there. Brandon located the train station and we quickly purchased our round trip tickets at the kiosk and ran to the track to catch the train departing in a couple of minutes. About a 30 minute train ride and we arrived in Howth. A cute seaside fishing town with plenty of seafood restaurants and some cute shops. The boys headed for the trail and I walked along the pier. For a moment I thought I might blow into the sea, or at least feared my phone might blow out of my hands while I snapped a couple pics.
Howth it going?
Cameron gave it a good try but the wind was also a bit more than he was looking for as resistance. And Brandon was sad that drone flying wouldn’t be an option. So back to lower ground they came.
Brandon and I enhoyed some quality people watching as we waited for Cameron to run. Girls filming TikTok videos, kids playing in the park and some aggressive seagulls attacking a boy and his chips. We grabbed a snack at a cute joint near the train station then hopped back on to head back to Dublin.
This seat taken?
We headed back to the Temple Bar area for dinner and a last walk through the popular pub filled streets. We enjoyed our quick time in Dublin. Another visit we will hit the countryside. For now our journey continues and we are off to Prague today. The land where everyone can pronounce our last name!
Brandon submitting his answer to the daily riddle in the elevator.
So long guys, thanks for the hospitality! ☘️
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Greetings from the Prague train station! We started our day early today as we are traveling to the small town where Jim’s ancestors came from. A little town called PIsek. We are off to a slow start as the train is delayed. So should be somewhat of an adventure today. Time for a coffee while we wait.
We made it to town yesterday evening after a fairly smooth flight from Dublin. This picture shows that the world is definitely back traveling.
The Dublin airport was very crowded and we connected through Munich which was also fairly crowded.
One little bump in the trip is that when we arrived at the gate for our flight from Dublin to Munich we went to get our passports and realized that Cameron and I had not gotten them back from the ticket check in counter. A few seconds of panic when we thought about having to travel back the 1.5 miles we walked from the check in to the gate when we told the gate agent of the situation and she indicated that she had our passports there. So heads up to the woman who checked us in for realizing she had forgotten to give them back to us and made sure they met us at the gate. Follow me for more travel tips 🙄
Farewell Ireland
Upon landing in the Czech Republic Cameron’s first observation, everyone here looks like Dad.
Must be in the right spot.
The driver from the airport was Ukrainian and told us of his plans to come to the US and drive for a car transport company. Very nice guy and we wished him well.
Our hotel is right in the center of Prague. It was rainy last night but we enjoyed a nice dinner with a view from the rooftop restaurant.
Slept hard and ready to go today. On we go hopefully soon…
We have a track 1J. OK great where’s that?
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We made it to Pisek yesterday and enjoyed the afternoon walking around town searching for relatives, or at least pretending everyone was somehow related to us. Our waiter for lunch said that his basketball coach was named Matejka so we figured that was a good match to the long line of basketball talent in the family. 😎
Jim and I had traveled to Pisek on our visit in 2002 but didn’t remember it to be as lively. Really cute town. Although when we visited last time the Czech Republic had been hit by horrible floods which could have been why remembered many stores being closed and not many people waking around.
Our return train trip was a little more challenging. \240Apparently the route you take from point A to point B matters a lot. We boarded a train for Tabor (not Iowa) with the plan to change there for a train to Prague. \240Our tickets threw the train attendant for a loop and she spent about 45 minutes, first being annoyed with us, and then working to exchange the tickets. In the end she loved us 😬 and we paid about $7 more to take her route. Oh there’s more…when you don’t speak the language you just kind of follow the crowd and try to read signs. We were on a couple of trains that went about one stop then ordered everyone off. At one point there was work being done on the track so we boarded a bus to take us to one of the next stations and finally on a train back to Prague. It’s all an adventure.
After our long day we were glad to come back and relax in old town. Our view from dinner…
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Yesterday was a rainy day so we took advantage of a down day since we really haven’t stopped going since we started the trip. Slept in, enjoyed breakfast, walked around old town a bit and then sat at the outdoor cafe for the better part of the afternoon.
We attempted to venture toward the Charles Bridge for our scheduled boat ride but the elements got the better of us and we bagged the boat ride and had dinner along the rainy Charles.
Closed out the night back at the cafe for a rainy dessert. One rainy day lead to a lovely day today for our last day in Prague.
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A test of a true traveler, or perhaps a crazy one, is to awake to the alarm at 330 AM, get picked up at 4 AM and catch a 6 AM flight. We did it this morning after enjoying a beautiful last day in Prague. Brief stop in Frankfurt on our way to Ljubljana.
Yesterday morning we enjoyed breakfast with a view from the rooftop then set off to explore Prague Castle. The rainy Friday led to a sunny and beautiful Saturday, perfect for walking around the city. We walked across the Charles Bridge and wound around up the many steps leading us to the castle. I didn’t remember a lot of it from our visit 20 years ago but we did our best to recreate a photo of \240from our last visit. Trees are a little taller and we had two more travelers in tow. Good work for 20 years I’d say.
We relaxed and did a little shopping in the afternoon then had an early dinner and dessert in Old Town. The Czechs love their dessert. As if a donut or ice cream isn’t enough, they created a way to enjoy both.
The sun was just starting to rise as we left this morning. Thank you Prague, you are beautiful and we enjoyed sharing your beauty with our boys. We do hope to return one day.
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Happy Birthday America! \240We made it through our long travel day yesterday and arrived safely in Ljubljana about 1030 AM. We got our rental car and made our way to the Seslar’s house via the scenic mountain single lane road 😬.
It was great to see Tomaz, Rosanna and Andraz and pick up where people left off last summer. How lucky we are to have these fun friends that we get to see each summer on our adventures.
We sat outside and had a delicious lunch then the boys went to the pool and Jim and I took advantage of the lawn chairs in the shade and rested a bit to make up for the early wake up.
Cameron and Andraz went to a nearby lake and then met us at a town nearby where a resident had donated the tax revenue from his lottery winnings and built a beer fountain. What a fine use of tax revenue! \240We sampled the beers and sat in the park until almost dark then made our way to our Air B&B in Ljubljana. We are right along the river and are excited to explore the area more today. Andraz will meet us later this afternoon and we will plan out the rest of our week.
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A great first day in Ljubljana! \240A beautiful and underrated city. Our apartment is right along the river and within walking distance to all the shops and cafes as well as local attractions.
We had an easy morning. Jim hit the local store and open market and treated us to breakfast. Cameron went on a run and realized this city is not at all flat. We had lunch along the river then Andraz joined us late in the afternoon. He’d spent the day assembling chairs at Rex Kralj for his dad then shifted to be our local tour guide.
We took the funicular up the mountain to the castle for a full view of the city and out to the mountains. It was fun to explore the castle with Andraz serving as the best tour guide. We are spoiled with our smart local friend. Brandon flew his drone from the lookout tour and made a few friends who were interested to watch.
We made our way back down the mountain and Andraz suggested a great restaurant for dinner. So there we celebrated the 4th of July, at a Mexican restaurant with Andraz helping translate with the waiter in Slovenian. Ended the night with some yummy crepes and pancakes. What a world!
The weather was predicted to be stormy today but looks like we might luck out with a nice day. Thinking of heading out to Lake Bled for the day.
While we are enjoying our time here, we were saddened to learn of the tragedy in Highland Park and keep all those affected in our prayers.
An American in Ljubliana…
Happy Birthday USA!
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I would categorize yesterday as Beautiful Scenery Day! \240The original forecast was for rain but we lucked out and the skies cleared just for us.
Andraz stayed at our apartment Monday night sleeping on a somewhat comfortable, but probably not, chair. Space is tight here but he didnt seem to mind the accommodations.
Cameron and Andraz headed out somewhat early to try to work out at a gym in town however were turned away due to not having clean indoor only shoes. 🤷🏻♀️ From there they took a taxi to a nearby track. They returned and we had a quick breakfast at the apartment then drove about 45 mins north of Ljubliana to the Lake Bled region.
We had visited Lake Bled in 2016 with the Seslars but this time we started by exploring the Vintgar Gorge. We parked and started the hiking loop to the Gorge. It was a beautiful steep climb that felt half way to Austria but after about 45 minutes we arrived. Wow it was one gorge gorge and worth the effort to get there. We wandered the path from end to end taking in all the scenic views courtesy of nature. It seemed to keep going on and each turn was more beauty’s than the next. Of course having our local guide made it that much more fun. We filled our water bottles in the fresh water and enjoyed a good hour of exploring.
The walk back to the car was considerably shorter and we all felt relieved when Brandon came around a turn on the path and called out, I see the car!
We drove a short distance back to Lake Bled and sat along the lake for a late lunch topped off with the famous Bled cake. Andraz said he thinks it’s easy to make a bad Bled cake on your own but hard to make a good one. Brandon and I shared a piece but I sort of wished I’d gotten my own. So yummy.
Andraz needed to meet Tomaz back in Ljubliana after Tomaz finished working so we made our way back, handed off Andraz and confirmed plans to meet them tonight for dinner.
The four of us had dinner along the river and walked back to the apartment to relax after our very full day.
This morning instead of heading back to bed we are heading back to Bled. It’s a sunnier and cooler day - great for more exploring and maybe another piece of that cake!
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We enjoyed another scenic day in Bled. An area that warrants a second visit and more time to enjoy the local flavor. Cameron ran around the lake twice while the rest of us ate lunch. 😎
Jim enjoyed a walk around the lake and Brandon and I went to seek out a good drone landing spot and also found a nice area to swim.
The boys talked me into joining them in a scenic sled ride down the mountain. . We rode the ski lift up and I rode down once while they repeated a couple more times.
We made our way back to town and then met the Seslars for dinner in Ljubliana. The weather was perfect and a made for a fun night. We planned for their visit to the US in August when they bring Andraz to St Lawrence University in Canton, NY. They’ve planned a 2 week tour around the Great Lakes area prior to dropping g him at school. We are looking forward to hosting them for a couple of nights and reciprocating as tour guides.
Oh and I managed to get another piece of tbay delicious cake!
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Buongiorno from northern Italy! \240We had a relaxing last day in Ljubliana yesterday. Jim and I walked around town a bit in the morning and had breakfast along the river and I walked around a little longer and browsed in the shops. Andraz was heading to the seaside and stopped in Ljubliana and met us for lunch before we said farewell for now. Crazy to think the next time we see him will actually be in the USA.
It was a rainy afternoon so we used the time to pack up for our next leg of the trip. Jim is fighting a head cold so he stayed back and the boys and I went out and enjoyed one last dinner and ice cream. Since we are a family we felt the family sized pizza made the most sense 😬😂
Everyone loves a cool pivo
We can always count on Cam to get the brightest colored ice cream.
It was great to stroll through town one last time. Ljubliana, you are a quiet and beautiful city making you so easy to enjoy. Thanks for a wonderful few days.
This morning we grabbed a quick breakfast, and picked up a few last souvenirs. We said farewell to our apartment and made our way to Trieste, Italy. We fly from Trieste to London tomorrow then to Chicago on Sunday. So we are enjoying our usual slow journey home to soak in as much as we can.
We haven’t been to Trieste before and didn’t easily find a bustling beach area so we made the executive decision to travel a few minutes further to Grado where we visited a few summers ago. Stick to what you know. We have our chairs on the beach and will enjoy the day 😎☀️
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The onward journey home continues. When we last left off Brandon and I sat down to a nice lunch at the beach cafe in Grado. Soon after starting to eat this jerk (see below) swooped in and stole half of my sandwich off the plate. I guess he needed it more than I did 🙄.
We had a good laugh and Carrie’s on with our day. The boys enjoyed some time in the sea and then we had dinner at a great place we’d visited three years ago. Grado is still a great stop for beach life. We had an early flight so made our way back to the hotel for a quick sleep.
The Trieste airport was a welcome small, easy to navigate airport. Connecting through Frankfurt was an adventure and felt like we started standing in a line there and haven’t stopped since. As I write we are in the security line at Heathrow and we are finding the term Fast Track to be relative. The passport line I’m Frankfort was a good 40 mins long and we got a touch nervous we many not make our connection. But lucky for us the boarding was also chaotic and we had plenty of time to stand in an orderly line at the gate as well.
We made it to London and so did our bags! \240We won the bag check game throughout our multiple flights. Hopped the Heathrow Express into London and checked into our last hotel of the trip.
A quick turn and we were on a train to Oxted to see the Tinker family. It was great to see them all and meet Emma’s dad who was visiting for the weekend. Brandon buzzed the drone around and the boys enjoyed watching the flight tracker. We enjoyed a great meal, a couple glasses of wine, conversation and a beautiful day. A pleasant way to conclude our trip.
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