Osturna & Bratislava, Slovakia, Trieste, Italy

We left Marseillan on Saturday, February 20, to visit Maddy's brother in Osturna, Slovakia.

Thom, our host in Osturna, and Perun, his faithful companion.

We had our share of snow!

And a challenging drive thru the mountains, glad I wasn't driving!

We left Osturna, Slovakia on Friday, February 26, and spent our first night in Bratislava, the capital. We walked to the square in the historic section of the city.

Entertaining art work in the square

Strolling thru the streets of Bratislava.

Our next stop was Trieste, Italy, a port city in the northeastern corner of Italy, bordering Slovenia. Photo of a government building in the Piazza dell'Unita d'Italia.

Rainy day in the Piazza in Trieste.

Canal Grande in Trieste going out to the Adriatic Sea.  A nice town with parks and promenades along the Sea.

Driving back to Marseillan thru Italy, not a very good picture, but I want to remember all the bridges we crossed as we drove by many quaint Italian villages along the Ligurian Sea.

A view of the Mediterranean Sea as we drive thru Monaco on the way to our vacation home (another one for my memory file - not a very good photo).

And now we are back in Marseillan with the flamingoes and the mistral winds!

Au Revoir Marseillan

We left Marseillan on Saturday, February 20 for our trip to visit Maddy's brother, Thom, in Osturna, Slovakia.  We had some excitement on the road when a fox came across 6 lanes of the aurostrade right in front of us and he made it across! It was his lucky day. 

Driving thru Aix in Provence, Nice, Cannes and Monaco to Genoa, Italy.

Buongiorno (Good morning) from Italy! Beautiful towns along the Mediterranean driving the autostrade to Genoa.

Walking along Via Garibaldi 

Lots of former palaces along the street now used by businesses and government.

Cathedral of San Lorenzo (Reminiscent of Arabic architecture)

Trying to find the Liguarian Sea promenade we were lost, but came across a lookout over a section of Genoa with the moon.  After 3 hrs of walking winding streets, we took a cab to our hotel.

Dobro jutro (good morning) from Slovenia: heading to Ljubljana, the capital city.

Walking to the historic area of Ljubljana - a really neat place to visit!

Maddy never wants to pose, so here I am again, with the Ljubljana Castle on the hill in the background.

Looking up at the winding staircase in the Ljubljana Castle, Walked up 50+ stairs to get to the watch tower.

View from the castle watch tower.

Another view looking down on the Ljubljana River.

Ljubljana River promenade with cafes, music, and people strolling.

Evening stroll along the promenade with the Ljubljana Castle lit up.

Moon and the castle.

Dobry rano (good morning) from Osturna, Slovakia.  Imagine Maddy's dismay!   We had snow at Thom's.  Very pretty!

Bonjour from Marseillan!

Hope you all are well.  We are leaving tomorrow for Slovakia (via Genoa, Ljubliana, Budapest) to visit with Thom.  Then the three of us will probably do a little sightseeing in Poland.  Anxious to see the improvements Thom has made at both the penzion and also the  ancestral home.  

When we left Andorra a week ago, we soon realized we had only seen the city-side of the Capitol;  we drove through very cold and snowy roads in the mountains for far too long in my opinion.  But then when we came out of the mountains, life was good once again.  On Sat 2/13 we visited the nearby village of Pezenas on its market day.  We bought some delicious rice noodles prepared by a Vietnamese man from his food wagon.  The next day we walked the beach to the east of us. The weather was warm.  Families were about, playing with their kids in the parks.  On Mon 2/15 we visited two lovely villages near us, Meze and Agde.  We walked through the old town in Agde, saw its ancient church.  On Wed 2/17 we met the building owner, the handsome Monsieur Pentoux.  We drove to see a UNESCO site, the abbey of Gellone in the beautiful village of St. Guilhem-le-Desert.  It is also along the Walk of St. James.  Then we visited the  Chateau la Couvertoirade, an old charming village that looks like it was taken from a story book or movie screen.  This had been a home to Knights Templar also.  My photographer got some great pictures there.  Yesterday we had our first restaurant dinner here in Marseillan, a restaurant called La Palachine.  We enjoyed our fish and beef.  We both have done some cooking since we arrived.  I really thought my photographer would be cooking nice meals once we got to the apt, but she tells me she isn't interested in the job.  Yesterday Anne took a bike ride along the beach to the west.  When she came back, I almost didn't believe her story of seeing flamingos in the water of the Etang; she didn't have her camera with her.  Sure enough, Google says flamingos come to these good safe waters during Feb and March. Today we visited Sete, where we wandered its huge cemetery on a hillside.  No one was buried underground, there are crypts and big slabs of tombs and monuments and decorations and pictures.  Then we walked along the beach and enjoyed the beautiful water and sky.  On the way home, we saw a couple of those flamingos!  Anne and I both realize we should have been doing blogs on all out trips because we can't quite remember details from previous trips.  Good news, our California friend Priscilla, who we met on our Soul of India trip, will be joining us mid-March for a couple wild and crazy days in France and Italy, Aix-in Provence, Nice, Cannes, Monaco, and cinque Terre. Take care, everyone!  Fondly, A & M

Market day in Pezenas

Strolling thru the streets of Pezenas

Enjoying some local wine after a hard day of sightseeing.

Beautiful clear waters of the Etang de Thau in the village of Meze

Promenade in Meze

Town of Agde on the river Herault, 4 km from the Mediterranean Sea

 

Cathedral of St. Etienne in Agde

On the road to visit one of the many "beautiful villages of France"

Walking to the Abbey of Gellone in Saint Guilhem-le-Desert

Quaint house along the path up to the Abbey and monestary.

View of the abbey and monastery, a UNESCO world heritage site.

Quaint streets throughout the village.

Pilgrims on the path to St. James De Compostela could stop at the Abbey 

We really enjoyed our time here.

Dried sunflowers decorated on many of the doorways.

Neat passageway

Lots of ups and downs.

Walking to La Courvedaire, a fortified village and one of the Knights Templar castles.

Entrance to the village

Walking thru the village.

So nice to visit during this time when there are no other tourists.

View of the village from the church

Enjoyed our time walking thru the one time stomping grounds of the Templar's 

Mariners' cemetery sits atop a hill in Sete, worth a visit.

One of the most interesting cemeteries I have visited.

Beautiful resting place.

Loved the heart memorials, and the glass case here looked like it contained a medal possibly earned from military service.

Walking the promenade in Sete near the Marseillan Plage (beach)

Coming home we spotted a few flamingos, not a very good photo from the car, will need to try to get another photo when I go for a bike ride.