Slovak Camaradarie

While gallivanting through Slovakia in May, Marty and I stopped in the town of Zavar where we found my gr.grandfather's grave.  Once I returned home, I began searching for more information pertaining to my heritage.  I contacted a couple of people on facebook who looked like possible connections.  The one young man was definitely related and I was able to determine that his grandfather and my father are first cousins.  My other query led to a Mrena family living in Finland.  They had, indeed, emigrated from Slovakia, and this man's sister, Marcela,  was living only about an hour from my home.

My information was passed onto Marcela, and within no time I was speaking with this extremely entertaining woman, who is convinced that we are related.  It is certainly hard to resist her enthusiasm, particularly when she is excitedly speaking to me in her thick Slovak accent.  I promised her that we would get together, and tonight was the opportunity that she was waiting for.

We drove to her home where we were greeted with hugs and welcomed as if we were best friends.  Amy was along for this adventure, and believe me, she'd have quite a story to share with you regarding our visit. We heard family stories that had us howling.  Marcela's husband, Villo,  is from Denmark with Canadian citizenship.  The emigrated during the Communist regime, and although they were permitted to return to the country for visits, they were under extreme scrutiny by the Czechoslovakian authorities.  When Marcela's mother died, and she wanted to return to Slovakia, the authorities would not issue Villo a Visa for entrance into the country because his passport showed a photo with him sporting a beard that he had shaved off.  So, Marcela and Villo came up with the idea of using Marcela's hair to fashion a beard on Villo's face.  As she told the story, she mentioned that she was not sure what they should use to secure the hair.  They had considered superglue, but decided against it.  Then, honey came up as an option, but she thought that would be way too sticky.  They decided to use regular school glue to adhere the hair to his face.  She showed us a photo, and I must admit, it sure looked convincing to me!  Apparently the authorities thought as well, because they issued the visa to Villo, and while he was in the country, he was able to grow a real beard to satisfy them when it was time for them to leave.
It was heartwarming to hear these two people laugh about an incident that must have been quite traumatic for them at the time, since Marcela had been very close to her mother and had missed the opportunity to be with her when she died, due to the rules that the authorities had established.

Another entertaining moment was when we were issued into the dining room for dinner, and Marcela proceeded to crawl under the dining room table while we watched in wonder.  She came out with  a hammer in her hand.  Apparently, a hammer under the table on Christmas Eve assures good health throughout the year.  Who knew?

We enjoyed a delicious Slovak dinner of sliced potatoes with onions, pork tenderloin and roast tenderloin sandwiched in between.  Marcela and her husband were so welcoming, you'd have thought that they had known us for years!  So, are we related?  Marcela will tell you that the Mrena surname is extremely unusual and that there are only a few of us out in the world.  I can tell you that I have traced back the name to my gr.gr.grandfather, and so far, I can't see the tie between her family and mine.  So, if we are related, the relationship would be fairly distant.  But, if this woman is so excited thinking that we are blood relatives, why ruin her fun?  After all, she just may be correct in her assumption.  Only time will tell.

God Bless Us, Everyone!

Barbara with Katarina

What a wonderful day we had, despite the chilling cold. Marty and I bundled up early, and headed out on the metro to the Cathedral of St. Matthew, the apostle.  The church takes your breath away as soon as you enter the doors as it is filled with beautiful mosaic inlays throughout.  Right below the altar, there is an inscription in the marble in memory to President Kennedy, whose funeral mass was held here.  The choir was comprised of a large number of young men & women whom I suspect are music majors at the local colleges.  The melodies, accompanied by the huge church organ, sounded like angels from heaven.  We left Mass uplifted, and headed back on the metro to the Slovak Embassy.

After a walk up a long hill, in the freezing cold, we were warmly welcomed by Slovaks, and, with Marty wearing his pin, "Smile if you're Slovak", there was no lack of enthusiasm there.  We had a wonderful Slovak meal, and, of course, the appearance of Sv. Miklus, which was the purpose of the party.  In addition, we were entertained by a very talented Slovak musical group, who sang along with playing the accordian, bass, two violins and a symbal.  A great time was had by all.

Back on the metro, and we headed to Ford's Theater to see the production of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol, A Ghost Story ".  We probably had the best seats in the house, in the center of the balcony, front row.  Who could ask for more?  The production was definitely the best that I have ever seen.  If you are in the area, and have the opportunity to see this show, I highly recommend it.  Of course, the basic plot is the one that we are all familiar with, but the poetic license that enhances the performance was definitely unique.  I was impressed with the choice of music stressing the real meaning of Christmas with the majority of the songs dealing with the birth of Christ.  It was certainly a fabulous performance and Tiny Tim said it best with that familiar phrase, "God Bless Us, Everyone!"

Wanderings in the Nation's Capital

We began our day at the House of Sweden in Georgetown, where we enjoyed a delectable lunch  as well as a taste of Swedish Glog, which offered quite a punch! We then headed off into the city  in search of the National Christmas Tree.  

We had read that it had been transported from Vermont, and we were eager to view the finished product standing near the White House.  We exited the Metro and began the hike down to the Visitor's center, where we were told that all the Visitor Centers had been cut by the federal government, but for one:  The White House Visitor Center. We hiked on over, only to find it closed for the day.  So, we decided to head off on our own, thinking that such a large tree would be easily found.

One of the obvious changes since our last visit to the capital, was the increase in barricades and road closures, particularly around the White House.  After pounding the pavement for several blocks, we finally managed to make our way nearly the whole way around the White House when we spotted a Menorah in the distanced.  Marty was sure that the tree would be nearby, and so we headed in that direction when I spotted what looked like a pretty sorry looking tree.  I honestly did not believe that what I was gazing upon was this infamous Vermont tree of which I had read.  But, Marty asked a security guard who confirmed, with a smile, that it was, indeed the tree, and that its official lighting ceremony is scheduled for Dec.9.  I'm hoping that it stays standing that long, because right now it looks like it wants to mimic the Leaning Tower of Pisa. 

Although the tree was quite a disappointment, the rest of the evening was quite the opposite.  We headed to the beautifully decorated Willard Hotel where we listened to a beautiful choral group singing Christmas carols in the lobby.  Right next door was an absolutely wonderful French Restaurant where we enjoyed a scrumptious dinner.  After all of the walking that we did, we didn't even feel guilty enjoying dessert!
Be sure to check out the flickr photos:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jrcrazy/sets/72157625405513275/

Gallivanting through New Jersey

I hadn't planned on blogging about yesterday's adventure.  But, there was a comment made by my mother yesterday that compelled me to take  the few minutes to post an amusing story.
Our morning began spending quality time with my brother and his family before taking off to make the trip home.  Our plans were to break up the trip by visiting Becky and Jon who had graciously offered to make us lunch.  Marty had spoken with Jon the night before to get directions since we has always approached their place from the opposite direction.
Once we hit the northern New Jersey line, we knew that the fun driving was over.  I'm sure that the traffic was compounded by the fact that it is Thanksgiving week and holiday shopping was in full force, plus it was lunch time.  As I attempted to direct Marty, it became quite obvious that the given route number did not exist.  It seemed as if we were driving in circles, there was no mercy from the New Jersey drivers when it came to shifting lanes or yielding, so we pulled over into a parking lot to call Becky for help.  While Marty was talking with Becky, and my dad was commenting that he thought that these kind of things only happen to them, my mother put her hand on my shoulder and said, "We're out gallivanting, aren't we?" I agreed wholeheartedly and decided that it was worth posting on the blog.
As you can see by the photo, we arrived safe and sound at our destination, had a wonderful visit, and headed home later in the day, none the worse for the wear, although I think my parents have had enough gallivanting adventures to last them awhile.

Alive with the Spirit

Today was truly a spectacular day as we witnessed the baptism of my brother's youngest baby, Rose. The ceremony was held in the same church where her parents were married nearly 18 years ago.  My brother drove his family for two straight days to the home of his in-laws for this special occasion, so that more of the family could be in attendance.  We were fortunate to be able to drive my parents so that we, too, could witness this blessed event.
And what a special occasion for Rose, who had her 97 and 93 year old great grandmothers in attendance! Both great grandma's were certainly excited to be able to attend the ceremony.
Rose's grandparents opened their home for us to continue our celebration, and Marty and I had a grand time playing with Rose as well as enjoying our nieces and nephews.
Rose is certainly a sweetheart of a baby, and we heard barely a peep of complaint out of her the entire day.  When she does begin to complain, she has five older siblings who do not hesitate to rush to her side to see what kind of antic they can try to entertain her.  Can't ask for much more than that, can you?
What made the day even more special for me was seeing Rose dressed in the lovely heirloom dress that I had so painstakingly made for my godchild, Abigail, Rose's eldest sister, nearly 12 years ago.  I learned today that the same dress had been worn by Brigid, as well as two of their cousins.  It has become a special family heirloom, and I was so touched to know that so many baby girls had worn the dress that I had made, and that it was now considered to be a tradition in that family.
Yes, it was definitely a special family day, filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit, and Marty and I feel so blessed to have been able to play a part in it.
Don't forget to check out the photos on flickr.

The Newest Mrenna Adventure

Dinner at Apricot Pub

Tomorrow, the newest Mrenna baby, Rose, will be baptized in Connecticut.  Marty and I decided to make the trip to join in the festivities, and we have Mom and Dad along for the ride with us. They behaved beautifully on the 4 1/2 hour drive, and never asked one time, "are we almost there yet?"  At one point, Marty thought that he needed to be in charge of the heat in the backseat, but I convinced  him that my parents were capable of handling the backseat controls. 

We stopped at the Connecticut welcome center, and while we were stretching out our legs, a Ford Expedition Limousine pulled into the parking lot.  The doors opened and about a dozen young men and women came popping out of the door and headed to the facilities.  Just about the same time, my dad was heading down the walk, and he couldn't resist starting up a conversation with the limo driver.  The driver was having a grand time answering all of Dad's questions.  Suddenly, I heard the driver ask my dad if he wanted  to take it for a drive.  Marty and I exchanged worried glances, but Dad decided to decline the offer.  Thank goodness for that, because Marty and I didn't know we'd be explaining to Mom just what happened to Dad if he suddenly disappeared in a limo!

We rolled into our hotel around 4:00 this afternoon, and we headed into town where we enjoyed a marvelous dinner at Apricot's Pub.  All of our dinners were fabulous, and the owner was happy to take a photo of all of us around the table.  So far, we're having a grand time and we're certainly looking forward to the festivities tomorrow!

A fun time at the Pittsburgh Slovak Festival

Ever since our wonderful trip to Slovakia, Marty and I have enjoyed spending time hanging out with Slovaks, eating great Slovak food, listening to Slovak music and talking with many interesting individuals who share our love of this culture. This weekend added to the experience as we attended the Slovak festival held in the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh.  The festival is only four hours long, but packed with a variety of entertainment, and scrumptious food at a very reasonable price.  The photo of today's blog features Marty with Jozef Ivasko signing the CD that Marty purchased.  We had seen Jozef perform in New Jersey in September and we found ourselves amazed at his energy and his obvious love of Slovakia. When Jozef began his singing career, Slovakia was under communist rule.  His lyrics were considered to be controversial and his songs were banned by the communist government.  Jozef was forced to flee to Vienna so that he could pursue his singing career.

He is quite the entertainer, dressed in his native attire, still attempting to woo the audience, with the ladies loving every minute.   When his performance began, he spotted an elderly woman in a wheelchair who was dressed in her Slovak finery and obviously enjoying every minute of his singing.  She was 95 years old, and her daughter had placed her in the front row for the performance.  Knowing that her mother was quite happy watching the entertainment, the daughter sneaked off to take a peek at some of the beautiful Slovak items that were featured in the displays around the perimeter of the room. As Jozef began singing, he grabbed the elderly woman's wheelchair, and wheeled her  into the performance area with him.  She was having the time of her life, shaking her hands to the music, absolutely loving all of the attention.  In the meantime, I noticed that her daughter was making her way back to the spot where she had left her mother.  There was obvious  panic in her face as she scanned the audience looking for any sign of her mother.  I realized that this woman had no idea that her mother was on the floor with Jozef.  I caught her eye, and I pointed to the floor where her mother was still having a grand time singing along with Jozef.  The woman let out a huge sigh of relief, came over to me, shaking her head and said, "I thought to myself, 'Surely, no one would taken Mother!'" I thought I'd share the fun by inserting a video clip of this event.

You can find more videos and photos of the Slovak fun on my flickr site which is featured at the bottom of my blog.

Dobre Rano

Good morning!  (in Slovak). I'm posting this photo taken at 7:30 this morning, just prior to breakfast and our heading off to the Slovak Fesitval in Holmdel, NJ.
Well, the day was certainly an exciting one.  One would have thought that we were in Slovakia once we arrived at the PNC Bank Arts center in Holmdel, because most of the people walking around were speaking Slovak, including little children!  Who would have thought that so many Slovaks would be living in the New Jersey area?

We began the day by attending mass, which was completely in Slovak.  The Bishop of Kosice was the presider, giving no less than a half hour sermon in Slovak, and I felt better about myself when the lady sitting next to me began nodding off about 20 minutes into the sermon.  I must admit, though, that the exuberance exhibited by Slovaks gathered for this celebration was infectious.  I'll bet that the voices in Slovak song could be heard throughout the hills of New Jersey.    The Mass itself, last on hour 45 minutes, extended by yet another speech by the visiting Bishop, once again, entirely in Slovak.  There was quite a bit of smiling and chuckling among the crowd, so I can only presume that Fr. Bober was entertaining in his speech.  No one was in a rush to leave the tent, despite the length of time.

One of the highlights of the day was the presence of the Slovak President at the festival.  He was surrounded by several body guards, yet he took the time to walk around the tent where many people sat during the opening ceremonies.  Marty snapped a great photo of him, which I will post some time in the future.

We ate Slovak food and watched some very entertaining Slovak singers and dancers.  The weather was comfortable and cool, and we were fortunate that there was no rain, since the event is held outdoors.

We decided to spend the evening at the B&B, relaxing, and finishing last evening's scrumptious cake that we had brought home from the play house.  All in all, it was surely a super Slovak Day!

Floatin' down the River

Loving all things Slovak (well, maybe not all, but a lot), we decided that it would be fun to make the trip to the Annual Slovak Festival held in Holmdel New Jersey.  One of my fellow Slovak genealogists whom I help out at the FHC had told me what a great time this festival was, so on the calendar went the mark for Sunday, Sept.26.
Since Holmdel, NJ is a few hours from home, we thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to relax this weekend, so I booked a room at the Isaac Hilliard House in Pemberton, NJ,  about an hour away from the festival.
Our adventures began in the  Pinelands in  Wharton, NJ, where Marty and I rented a double kayak and floated along the Wading river for nearly two hours.  The water was smooth, and actually rather shallow and there were several spots where one could have easily waded, as the name implies. But there were a couple of times where I worried about getting impaled by a fallen tree limb.  I realized after short time, that since I was in the front, I could not keep an eye on what Marty was actually looking at, so, after fighting off a few trees nearly in my face which resulted in some annoying comments directed towards Marty,  he finally  caught on to the fact that he needed to pay more attention.  All of the lovely photos that I found on his camera card later verified my suspicions that he was not actually paying attention to the river ahead.  Moral of the story:  sit in the back of the kayak.  
For the most part, the trip down the river was pretty relaxing.  The only wildlife that we spotted was a turtle on a  log, basking in the sun which I decided to feature as  my blog photo.

After our trip down the river, we headed to our B&B in Pemberton.  We had dinner at a lovely Italian Restaurant in New Holly.  For some added fun, we decided to attend a play at a local playhouse just a block down the street from our B&B..   The name of the Play was "All in the Timing" by David Ives, and it was a series of short one-act plays.  We had been warned that the language was strongly adult, and we were worried what awaited us, but were pleasantly surprised to find that we had heard much worse language in some movies that we had watched in the past.  In addition to the performance, you could purchase dessert and coffee at the intermission, which everyone in the small theater had opted for.  Much to our surprise the size of our dessert was humoungous, and Marty and I couldn't help but laughing at the size of it.  Everyone was handed a bag for takeout, as it appears that no one can actually finish the dessert due to the size.  That was certainly the icing on the cake, as they say.

Rekindling Memories

On Saturday, Marty and I attended the Pitt vs. New Hampshire game in Pittsburgh.  Admittedly, the experience was quite different than those from our younger days.  I remember looking forward to Saturday home game days, trudging up "Cardiac Hill" to the back of the old stadium where the Student section entrance was located.  Back then we had benches to huddle on, but I don't recall sitting much.  We had a great time regardless of the weather, and it was a refreshing break for me, from my stringent engineering curriculum.
Today, the Peterson event center stands in the spot of the old stadium, and the University football team shares Heinz Field with the Pittsburgh Steelers.  This means that students now hop busses into the North Side rather than walking to the stadium.  There is much hoopla along the river front with games and DJ's offering entertainment.  Everyone, including the students, is guaranteed an actual seat rather than having masses huddled together.  The entire experience is filled with constant visual stimulation.

From the grand entrance of the Pitt Band to the emergence of the players from the locker room, one cannot help but be caught up in the excitement.   When the Pitt players enter the "red zone", the two Heinz ketchup bottles above the scoreboard flip open their lids, and they begin to tilt downward, getting ready to pour red streams which "fill up" the scoreboard with red, in anticipation of a touchdown.

I'm sure that the fans never tire of hearing the bottles opening!  At least I know that I didn't!

But, what I found the most fun was the entire stadium, at the end of the third quarter, breaking into song along with Neil Diamond, singing out "Sweet Caroline". Words cannot describe the experience.

It was obvious that the regular crowd waited for this big moment and there was no timidness among the ranks of those singing.  And, of course, we certainly had to join in!
Back in our younger days, Pitt was ranked #1 and Tony Dorset was the star of our college days.  But, I have to tell you, attending a Pitt game today is a whole lot more fun than what it used to be.  But, then again, I don't have to worry about cracking open "the books" to study later in the day, either.  That automatically makes it more fun!

Last Day at the Beach

This morning was, once again, a glorious beginning to the day.  Marty and I walked down to the beach to see the sunrise.  It was just past high tide, and Marty decided that he would do some fishing while the beach was empty.  He immediately caught a 15 inch flounder which we will enjoy, once again, for dinner.
I forgot to mention the spotting of dolphins, yesterday, as they swam north along the water.  This morning, Marty and I spotted dolphins, considerably closer to the shore, traveling south, this time.  You can see a shot that I managed to capture on my flickr site.
The water was crystal clear and warm, once again, and I even ventured out to do some boogie-boarding with Marty.  I could see Amy, camera in hand,  waiting for me to come riding in on a wave, but I must tell you that I had to leave her disappointed.
The last day at the beach is always a bit of a bummer.  We enjoyed the day to the fullest, but we needed to get back to clean up the house and pack the car for an early departure in the morning. 
As the kids used to say when they were young, "I didn't have enough fun yet!"

A Perfect Day at the Beach

You certainly can't ask for a better day at the beach then what we were blessed to have today.
The sky was a brilliant blue, the weather not too hot.  The water was considerably warmer than yesterday and crystal clear. I even ventured out into the surf for awhile and was amazed that I could see the bottom of the ocean despite walking out quite a distance from the shore.
The kids built a large sand castle in the afternoon, and later in the day, Marty and Jim had one of the most exciting fishing days at the beach.  You can see lots of fish photos on my flickr site.

At first, Amy and I began to question whether or not Marty was catching the same fish over and over, as it looked suspiciously similar each time he reeled one in.  He caught several mullets, some spots and a few flounder, one big enough to cook up for dinner.

This final catch caused some excitement, having broken the line on the rod.  He was flopping all over the beach, and for a brief moment I feared that Mr. Flounder was going to flop right back into the surf (which he actually did at one point, but Marty luckily had quick hands) and get washed right back into the ocean.  But we managed to barricade the guy until Jim was able to retrieve a bucket for us to pop him into.

Marty filleted the flounder and Jim cooked up some tasty fried flounder fillets for dinner. I don't think that you could ask for a better day at the beach.  But we still have tomorrow, so who knows?

The day was just Ducky

Feast your eyes upon the excitement of the day:  Amy and her nephew sporting their
"Duckwear". The evening ended up rainy again, but we never seem to run out of rainy day fun options to keep us entertained.

I tagged along with Marty and Amy as they went kayaking in the sound.  I struck up an interesting conversation with a 10 year old boy who was apparently a blue crab-catching expert.  He was sure to give me all of the ins and outs and tips on how to catch these creatures.  I spied what he had managed to catch that morning, and those crabs were huge!

After heading back to the house, I eventually headed down to the beach for a little while, and watched Marty pull in a flapping croaker.  Once that fish heard that he would make great bait, there was no holding onto him.  He flopped out of Marty's hands three times, but I did manage to get at least one photo.  Marty tells me that he caught three more croakers, but I had headed up to the house by that point. The weather was drizzly and overcast, so the girls and I decided to venture out into the town for a bit, where we picked up the shirt to match Amy's from last year.

We had a wonderful in-house dinner again this evening, and the entertainment was a game called "Munchkin" which Jim thinks is the best game ever.  I can't say that the girls and I agree with his review.  Stacey ended up winning, with me as a close second, but, somehow, all kinds of rules ended up surfacing just when I thought I had the game in my hand.  But it's not winning that counts anyway, is it?

Or course not.  That is why my kids are once again playing a game of Canasta, accusing each other of cheating as the game continues, putting Jim primarily in the wrong.  What else is new?

Here Fishy fishy....

This morning, as we sat on the beach watching the waves crashing on the shore, enjoying the beautiful weather, Marty decided to share his fishing strategy with me. He and  Jim had noticed that the water was quite cold, and there seemed to be a drop in the ocean floor just a few feet out from the shoreline.  The combination of the cold water with the extra depth so close to the shoreline would most certainly result in perfect fishing conditions just after high tide.
(Little did they know that the weather would change to overcast with an impending storm on the horizon, sealing the fate for several hungry fishies. )
Their sharp, decisive analysis resulted in Jim pulling in two flounder, one munching on his finger with its very sharp razor like teeth while Jim attempted to remove the hook, and for Marty:  one croaker, a pompano, and two flounder.
The best memory of the day for me, was turning around to see Marty walking towards me with one hand holding his rod with  a Pompano attached while his other hand was grasping a wriggling flounder. as if he decided to just grab it in the ocean.  It turned out that he had actually caught two fish simultaneously, and that the one had broken loose from the line, and Marty had grabbed it in his hand. 
I had suggested that Marty just keep the Pompano on the hook as is, and throw it back out into the ocean as bait.  It made sense to me that this fish would be perfect in attracting a larger catch, but my suggestion was scoffed at by the two apparent pros. 
This is probably why I don't fish. For those of you who share my lack of fishing enthusiasm,  the rest of the day was certainly interesting with thunderstorms rolling in. We sat in the loft room and watched the lightning strike all around us while the rain pelleted the windows.
Not sure what tomorrow will bring, but I hear that there is a strong possibility that we will not be enjoying the sunrise or the sunset.  Perhaps I'll take my brother's suggestion and try to sleep in.

Mullet

Another beautiful day here in Duck.  The weather was hot, but if you got close enough to the water, the breeze was delightfully cool.  The ocean, itself, was surprisingly cold, and little Finn was not too crazy about getting his tootsies wet.
But I certainly had a great day hanging out with the little guy.
Here's the up to date fishing report for Dad:(see photos on flickr below)  Marty caught a large mullet and a flounder, both of which he threw back.  Jim caught a bluefish and a smaller mullet.  He kept the mullet to use for bait, which actually replaces the mullet that they used to catch the mullet.   Got that?
Luckily we weren't counting on these guys to supply dinner.  We feasted on an excellent Roasted Chicken with home made stuffing and corn on the cob from our garden.  For dessert:  Paul Neuman cake.  I don't know how the guy got a cake named after him, but it sure is great stuff!
As I write this the kids are having a grand time fighting over the rules to a game that they are enjoying.  We're having a blast!


 

Sunrise.... Sunset

Here you see a photo of last evening's sunset over the sound.  Beautiful, isn't it?  The house that we are renting in Duck, NC has a unique and smart layout with the bedrooms on the center floor and the living area on the top floor.  A short staircase takes you to a small loft, which is surrounded on three sides by windows, offering the guest the view of the ocean in one direction, and the sound from the other.  Today's photo was taken through glass in this room.  Really, you can't ask for much more.
The only downside to this place is the large spider population.  And I mean that in both contexts.  Large in numbers and large in size.  Can't say that I've seen spiders this large in real life, other than the ones the kids made in gradeschool out of playdough and pipe cleaners. 
Jim, Stacey , Marty and I were sitting in the hot tub last night, when we noticed that we were surrounded by webs with gigantic spiders in the middle.  When the one above Marty's head decided to play Tarzan, swinging up and down at random, Stacey and I decided it was time for our exit.  Amy never even made it into the hot tub, having arrived just as we were scrambling to get out.  She was more than happy to  make an exit with us.
Curiously enough, the spiders and their webs were absent in the daylight, making me wonder just where they packed up their bags and hid for the day.  Perhaps I'm better off not knowing.
The weather has been beautiful, although the surf is a bit rough for swimming.  But we had a delightful day just hanging out on the beach enjoying the sunshine, and relaxing in the house spending some quality family time together.  Add that to chasing a baby on the move, and one couldn't ask for a more perfect day.

Rain is Stupid, But Sometimes Humorous

Well we certainly had yet another adventurous day, gallivanting near our old stomping grounds here in the Pittsburgh area. Our morning adventures took us to the Oakmont Bakery where we marveled at the delicacies featured in this grand place located in the quaint town of Oakmont, PA. People were lined up by the dozens, waiting for their number to be called, to place an order with one of the cheery young ladies working there. We had to wait through twenty numbers until ours was called, but we needed the time to decide just what yummy items we wanted to bring home to enjoy.
Once our minds were made up, we headed over to Jim and Heather's place for a bit, before heading to Stacey's for a quick swim in the pool and some hot dogs on the grill. The weather was extremely hot, even for the pool, so we relaxed at Stacey's in the cool comfort of air conditioning, until Marty's brother, Steve, showed up with the family to join Marty and me for the Pirate Game. Marty had bought tickets for us to go at a crazy price of $4.00 each. One of the perks of the game was that the Steve Miller band would be playing after the game.
When Marty mentioned that this band was playing after the game, the memories of our last exposure to this band came flooding back. It was in the heat of August, at the Bethlehem Musicfest, and we had free tickets from some corporate sponsor. I wasn't exactly thrilled about attending, but went along because Marty was eager to go.
The weather was hot and steamy, and our seats were in folding chairs out in the lawn. The performance began right around dusk. The band played a few songs before the weather decided to bless us with rain. Before long, the rain picked up, and there was thundering and lightening all around us. The band was in the middle of a song when the power zapped out for a brief moment, and then all the music came back up again, and Steve Miller continued to play. Then, when the lightening struck again, the concert was called to a complete halt.
Marty and I found ourselves walking through ankle deep water, in the pouring rain, and I felt the need to stop into the restroom, and wring out my underwear before continuing to the bus that would shuttle us to our car. We were about as wet as someone who jumped into a pool of water would be.
Well, the story was certainly memorable for years, and I had just shared this with Mark, Susie and Sarah last evening when we were talking about seeing the band tonight.
So, we headed off around 5:00 for the game, in the extreme heat, bought dinner at the ballpark, and found ourselves seated comfortably in peanut heaven just as game time began. The Pirates were playing well through five innings, and the full moon began to rise over the city.
Soon, I noticed that the moon disappeared. San Diego began getting runs, and the next thing we knew, there was a rain delay. But we were comfortably dry up in the cheap seats, waiting for the game to presume. After about 30 minutes, the delay was stopped, and the Pirates went on to lose the game.
The field was set up for the Steve Miller band, and now, it was 11:15 p.m., and he was just beginning to perform. The band played through a few songs, and then the rain began, and we found ourselves watching this man playing in the rain just as he had 5 years ago. The security team was trying to get him to quit playing, but he insisted that the show would go on.
Once again, we were listening to the band, when lightening struck around the stadium, and Steve Miller decided to sing just one more song, and then quit the show. We all applauded at his efforts, and began the walk out of the stadium to our car, in the pouring rain.
Marty and I found ourselves soaking wet, only not so wet as to require the extreme measures of five years ago. We both decided that if we ever see Steve Miller Band again, it will have to be inside, because it would be nice to see an entire performance without having to worry about squishing our way to the car on the way home!
Be sure to check out the flickr photos. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jrcrazy/sets/72157624571044178/

Slovak Fun

The weather was certainly steamy, but the company was exceptionally friendly at today's SASW Slovak Picnic. The people who organized the event were surprised that we would travel such a distance to attend. We were welcomed with open arms, and every time I looked around, Marty was chatting with a newfound friend. 

We met all sorts of interesting Slovak characters, including the Slovak Ambassador, who seemed to be happy for the invite. My brother, Drew, joined the festivities, and we had a grand time sitting under a shady tree, feasting on fašírka (Slovak hamburgers) with potato salad, cabbage halušky, cucumber and onions medley, bread with bryndza spread, and yummy desserts including palacinky, nutrolls, and all kinds of pastries. Marty enjoyed some Slovak beer as well. 

Check out Lubos' website for some photos: http://www.slovakcooking.com/picnic/ By the way, Lubos has some great recipes and Slovak language tools on his website, if you are ever interested in learning more about Slovakia. 

I had some great genealogy chats with Slovaks who had roots close to my own, and met a woman whose father was born in Slanske Nove Mesto, the town where I was treated so well by my Takach relatives. As you can see by today's photo, Marty was quite taken with little Martin, the youngest Slovak at the party, at just about 4 months of age. It turns out that Martin's parents lived just as far from Fairfax as we do, only in the opposite direction! That, in combination with the heat, could explain little Martin's grim expression. We had a grand time and we have been invited to attend an event at the Slovak Embassy in December, in honor of Sv.Miklus (St. Nicholas). I think I'll mark my calendar!

Manassas Adventure

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Yes, we are out gallivanting once again, this time we are in Manassas, Virginia. What brings us here, you ask? Well, it just so happens that there is a Slovak Food Festival scheduled for today in Fairfax, Va. When Marty found out about that, he said "Sign us up!" We weren't really sure how the weekend would be panning out for us, but by Tuesday, this certainly seemed like a fun adventure, and the invitation was still open, so we decided to RSVP for the event. But who wants to drive 7 hours in one day? Particularly since there is a Civil War battlefield within a short distance!

So, we headed to Manassas for the day, and have stayed in a lovely B&B within walking distance of Old Town Manassas.

Walking on the battlefield in 98 degree sunny heat certainly made me wonder how the men who fought the battles held up in such conditions while wearing their wool uniforms and carrying their equipment on their back! For those of you who weren't aware of it, there were actually two battles of Manassas. One in July of 1861, and the second in August of 1862. We followed along on a walking tour of the first battle, which was really quite informative. I was reminded of our visit with Steve, Sarah, Mark and Susie, when we toured the Gettysburg Battlefield and Mark and Susie received their Junior Ranger badge from the park. There was the cutest little girl taking her Junior Ranger Oath yesterday, in the Henry Hill Visitor Center. It's always impressive to see the young "rangers" give the oath, as they often seem as excited as the recipient. Kids loving history! What a wonderful idea.

After walking battle number one, we hopped in the car for the auto tour of battle number two. This brought back happy memories of camping in Gettysburg, with four kids, making the auto tour round. By day two, the kids had had their fill of the battlefield, and complaints were generated all around when they would see yet one more sign saying "Auto Tour".

This auto tour was much shorter in distance, although I do wonder at the fascination of looking at a field of battle from various perspectives, as all of those views look the same to me, particularly in the sweltering heat. Luckily for me, Marty had told the proprietor at the B&B that we would check in at 3:00, thereby limiting this battlefield adventure to 4 hours.

The B&B is located just a few walking blocks from Old Town Manassas, so we headed into the town for a delightful dinner. While strolling through the town, we came upon a Balaika concert of Russian musicians in the town plaza. The music was phenomenal and we stopped to hear the rest of the performance. What a real treat for us.

Today we head to the Slovak Food Festival. Who knows what adventures await us?
Be sure to look for Flickr photos.

Last Day in Vienna

Well, party time is nearly over. Tomorrow we head out of Vienna and should be in Sinking Spring by dinner time, if all goes as planned.

We spent a lot of time on our feet this Trinity Sunday. We walked through a park to attend Mass at a Cathedral in the middle of nowhere. And, then walked back to the hotel where we checked out to move to a hotel nearer the airport so that tomorrow's check in goes smoothly.

So, we packed up and moved all of the luggage to the new hotel, drove the rental car to the airport and dropped it off, got our boarding passes printed for tomorrow, took a fast train into Vienna, walked to Belvedere Palace (which was pretty far), toured the Upper Rooms, filled with fine art, walked into Vienna for dinner, took the tube, transferred to the train station, rode a train into Achau and walked from the station to the hotel.

The weather went back and forth from bright and sunny to cold and rainy to warm and sunny, cooling off for our trip back to the hotel. But, we had ponchos and raincoats so we were able to stay dry.

Our most exciting adventure today was dinner at a cafe in Vienna. We began dinner outside, but when three women decided to light up cigarettes, surrounding us on three sides, we decided to move indoors. And, what a treat that was! Little did we know that there were some entertaining musicians in the restaurant: a woman playing the piano, and an interesting fellow accompanying her on the violin. I've posted a video on my flickr account so that you can see for yourself the excitement of the evening.

As this draws to a close, I've enjoyed having blog followers along for the ride. I hope you enjoyed our adventures as much as we have. Thanks for checking in.

Vienna: From Harried to Heavenly

We decided last night that we would venture out early to Schonbrunn Palace with the car, since we have one, and the place wasn't too far from where we are staying. So, we got up bright and early and were ready to head out at 8:00 when we realized that we were parked in outside in the lot. I'm not sure that the lady who had to move her vehicle was too thrilled with our enthusiasm, but hopefully she was planning an early day as well.

We found the parking lot at the palace empty when we arrived, but the streets were already lined with tour buses and it was obvious that the place would be filling up in no time. We were fortunate to have arrived as the doors opened, otherwise we might have had to wait for a scheduled time in order to enter the palace.

The tour was phenomenal, except when we were stuck between two different tour groups, and were kind of squished in the middle. I think I heard the record amount of languages today supplied by tour guides. At one point, we were stuck in a Japanese tour group, with a French speaking group in front and an Italian group behind. And, let me just say, that none of the people in these groups were very friendly. I can't tell you how many bumps and shoves I got while attempting to work my way via audio guide!

After the inside tour, we had the opportunity to walk around the beautiful gardens. With the temperature around 70 degrees, we couldn't ask for a better day. There weren't any small spaces to have to share outside. When we left for the car, I was amazed at how many people were scrambling into the grounds. Tour buses were everywhere, and the parking lot that had held just one other car was filled! Good planning on our part.

We drove back to the hotel, and parked the car for the remainder of our stay here. We headed into Vienna via bus for a self-guided tour of the city thanks to Rick Steve's and his book. The place was loaded with people. I don't think that I have ever seen so many people in one place except for the time we went to Dorney Park and they were offering a special deal so the place was filled to capacity. But, Vienna is much larger than Dorney Park, and so exponentially, I can't tell you how many people were there, but the numbers were way too many for me to feel comfortable.

We did see just about every site in the book, though. When we had difficulty finding a place, we just looked for gobs of people, and, sure enough, we'd find what we were looking for.

Sorry to disappoint Nathan, Steve, but I cannot say that we saw any memorials to the Turkish invasion of Vienna, but I do remember reading about it recently. I was still trying to fit all of the history together with Maria Teresia and Ferdinand I and Napolean and Marie Antoinette (who, it turns out, was Maria Teresia's daughter). One thing I can tell you is that Maria Christina was the only daughter of Maria Teresia who was permitted to marry for love, and Ferdinand's wife, "Sissy" complained a lot! I hadn't really given much thought to that until Marty told me that he skipped numbers on the audio tour because he got tired of hearing her complain.

We managed to escape the crowds and found a lovely little restaurant where we could sit outside and enjoy our meal. My picture of the day is what Marty calls his "two favorite things". He clarified that I was #1 on the list, not the beer, just in case you were interested.

After dinner, we were walking to the subway when we heard the most beautiful orchestra playing. We followed the music and ended up in a plaza watching the Vienna Youth Philharmonic orchestra playing outside. We decided to stop in at the cafe across the street so that we could sit outside and hear them play while enjoying a coffee and dessert. The combination was truly heavenly, and made the day a happy memory after all.

Sunny Skies on the way to Vienna

We awoke this morning to blue skies, giving us the opportunity to actually get more than just a glimpse of the beautiful mountains that surround the village of Zell am Ziller. Breakfast involved excitement, once again, by the hotel staff, and the waitress actually shook our hands good-bye when we left. Marty asked the receptionist if they see many Americans and the girl exclaimed, "No! You are our first this year!" I attribute that to the fact that this hotel does not take credit cards and they insist on payment in advance via a bank draft. Not too many Americans would cater to the extra work involved in holding the room. The place is very nice if anyone is ever interested in visiting Zell am Ziller.

Although we knew that we had lots of ground to cover in driving to Vienna, we decided to get out early and attempt to see some of the local sights along the way, prior to picking up the Autobahn and driving into the big city. We stopped at the Museum Tiroler Bauernhofe, which we found with no problem due to excellent sign posts. This is an Open Air Museum very similar to the one that we visited in Slovakia, but this one was located in the countryside rather than near a large city.

The museum is set up with typical Tirolean houses from the Northern, Southern and Eastern areas of Tirol. These are actual houses dating from as early as the 16th century, that were donated to the museum. We were able to rent an English audio guide to help us understand the way of life of Tiroleans. The day was beautiful and the walking was pleasant without the rain. Typical to the area of Southern Tirol, we needed climb up a rather steep grade in order to reach the village. Once again we were surprised to see Stations of the Cross set up along the path to the village. Perhaps there is some connection between the suffering involved climbing up the hill and remembering the suffering that Jesus experienced. Who knows? I definitely have to read up on this when I get home. I can't imagine this would be a coincidence.

After trotting through a lot of houses, we decided to hit the road and stop in nearby Rattenberg. This beautiful village looks like it stepped right out of the Middle Ages. It has been kept up in Medieval style and it has a certain charm about it. Walking through the town was exciting for Marty, as the cobblestone streets were filled with antique cars due to an auto rally being held there today. It was tough dragging him away to view some of the historical sights of the town, but I promised him that I'd be brief and he could look at the cars in his leisure.

We couldn't stay too long because we had a long drive ahead of us. Traffic was pretty busy, since it is Friday, but we arrived at our destination west of the city around 6:00 p.m. We managed to find the hotel quite easily with the help of Garmin Girl.

This place is on the top of a hill and we have a beautiful view of the city of Vienna from our room. Actually, our room is large enough for us to have brought the entire family, with one masterbed, a twin, a baby port-a-crib and a sleeper sofa. It is on the top floor, which seems to have been a trend for this trip. There wasn't one place where we didn't have to lug our suitcases up several flights of stairs. I find it amusing that one must put the room key into a lock and turn it in order to use the lights in the place. Not a bad idea!

We strolled down the street to a local Heurigen restaurant, also known as "new wine" bar. What fun that was to experience. We were directed downstairs where we were met by the woman in charge, a lovely, exuberant local who spoke English like a pro. There were foods in a case, like the deli, and you could choose what you wanted, and everything was weighed. You paid by the pound. So, I had a Spinach strudel with sheep cheese and Marty had roasted pork, a huge dumpling and sauerkraut. Then, we took our food upstairs, and outside at a table and we were able to order from a rather extensive wine list, all wines made locally by friends of the owner. We chose to eat outside at a table and enjoy the beautiful view of the city. And, we only had to walk a few houses back to our hotel. Can't beat that!

Internet is available here only in the public lobby so Marty is reading up on possible sights for us to visit tomorrow in Vienna while I write this and post my photos. Can't wait to see what adventures await us!

Zell am Ziller & the Geisler Trail

First of all, let me wish a very Happy Anniversary to Jim & Heather. Hope you were able to do something special today.

Marty and I were enjoying a fabulous breakfast in our hotel when we suddenly found ourselves being the center of attention of the staff. We received an introduction from one of the employees who seemed quite impressed that we were from America. She actually spoke excellent English.

Suddenly, the waitress was all excited, asking if we were from America (in German), and when we said yes, she became very animated and began a long one-way conversation in German, then she pulled out her cell phone and began calling people to give them the news. We weren't quite sure why our presence would be that exciting, but hey, we'll take exuberant Austrians over crabby ones any day!

I have been meaning to mention our surprise at the religious devotion of the Europeans that we have encountered in Slovaki and Austria. In Slovakia, there were Crucifixes adorning the walls of the Penzions where we stayed, and it is no different here in Austria. Pentecost was a two day celebration (which I thought was a great idea), and we had arrived on Monday in Salzburg to find most places closed due to this religious holiday.

Today, Marty and I set off on a hike to the Church of Maria Rast, and, once again, were surprised when we began the ascent up the hill, to suddenly find shrines to the Stations of the Cross along the trail. Scattered among the Stations were Grottos dug into the cliffs, with religious statues behind screens. It was kind of strange to find these religious reminders along a path that was originally along a gold-mining section of town.

So, we hiked up the trail in the pouring rain, but the end results were definitely worth the effort. The inside of the church is breathtakingly beautiful, and the vistas from the top showed the town of Zell am Ziller, although it was slightly foggy due to the rain. The trip down the hill took very little effort on our part, although we were really quite wet by the time we reached town.

Marty and I spent the rest of the day exploring the trails around the town, which imbedded us right into the locals, walking past some very frisky goats and cute little bunnies.

Our hotel here is very cozy, although the room numbering is definitely interesting. Our room is number 110, and we are on the top floor, which is the third floor, and we must ascend 6 flights of stairs to get to our room.
So, between walking up and down to our room, and hiking about town, our tootsies could use a break. And our jackets need some drying time!

Castles & Waterfalls

After another wonderful breakfast, we said our good byes to the Bloberger Hof, (a word that Marty really enjoyed saying). The staff at this Guesthouse was friendly and they were wonderful hosts. We opted to have dinner in house and we were treated to a delightful meal out on the terrace, complete with espresso and Apple Strudel for Marty and Nougat Creme Brulee for me. Yummy!

So, this morning, we set out on our way to the town of Zell am Ziller an alpine village nestled deep in the mountains of Tirol.

Our drive was filled with scenic adventures along the way. We stopped at the little town of Golling, where we explored the Golling Wasserfalle by a foot path through the woods. Getting to this point was certainly interesting, traveling down narrow country roads to reach our destination. On the way to the foot path, we passed a little church, St. Nikolaus, built in that area because this saint was devoted to water, and the town depended upon this waterfall to keep the mills running. This waterfall has been a favorite of many romantic painters and it is certainly easy to see why.

From Golling we drove to Werfern where we decided to ride the funicular to the top of the cliff and tour the Burg Hohenwerfen fortress/castle, which was erected in the 11th century. We were happy to have the option for an English audioguide, although we were required to stay with the group under the direction of the German guide. The tour began in the chapel, which offered some interesting sights. My favorite was the hand extending from the pulpit, holding a crucifix. One's first inclination was to wonder if it was there to warn the congregation of the sermon, but the guide explained that this was a symbol that this chapel was a Catholic Chapel, as this was built following the Catholic Protestant wars.

Marty's favorite from the chapel was the painting of the Bishop holding a fish. Marty is sure that this man was so proud of the fish that he caught, that he hired someone to paint him holding it, and he put it on display in the chapel for all to see. Of course, that is a fisherman's viewpoint. Personally, I don't think I would have given it much thought.

When I planned this trip, I decided to fore-go my fears and have Marty drive the scenic route to our destination. This required driving on a road that was imbedded into the side of a cliff. I did have to keep reminding him to keep his eyes on the road, as he is always tempted to look at the view while he is driving, making the journey extremely stressful for me. This reminds me of that Mr. Potato head commercial where Mrs. Potato head ends up losing her mouth on the way down the hill in the car with Mr. Potato head. Just for the record, I kept my mouth shut...probably from shear fear!

This drive offered a spectacular view of the Krimml Wasserfalle, the highest one of its kind in all of Europe (1, 247 ft.) It has three cascading tiers. We parked and walked to two levels, but I decided against climbing to the top since the elevation was not being kind to my asthma, and I feel the beauty of a waterfall is at the bottom. In the long run, we were able to see the waterfall in its entirety as we stopped at vistas on our climb up the mountain.

At one of the viewpoints, we were startled to hear a cow bell, and when we turned around, there was a group of cows, all with bells tied to their necks, getting into line behind one lead cow who was mooing her head off. Must have been time to head back for dinner.

Our drive took us to the top of the mountain, and then we had to descend down the very curvy, narrow roads to the valley. We arrived at our hotel just as the heavens decided to break open with pouring rain. Thank God that it waited until we had reached our destination!

Once at our hotel, it was obvious that there were not many patrons in house. The woman who runs the place does not speak a word of English and she had to call her son, Karl to help us check in. Karl was interested in our last name, Geisler, as it is a local name. Marty explained that his gr. grandfather, Josef Geisler was born in this town.
Karl was quite impressed with that fact. And I think that Jo Ann was right on the money with her blog comment regarding Marty's hat. He must look so great in it because he is of Austrian decent! And, when we saw a local farmer wearing the same hat, Marty felt right at home.

Salzburg: Mozart for Dummies

Today was a great day, despite the sudden rainstorms that seemed to sneak up on us. But we were prepared for wet weather, so it didn't dampen our spirits.

We decided to get up early, and after a delicious and hearty breakfast here at our Penzion, we headed into Salzburg on the bus and began our day at the home where Mozart was born. Despite the fact that Rick Steves had given this site a thumbs down in his review, Marty and I loved it. The place was filled with the history of the family, and the displays were made up so that one actually enjoyed reading about the family. We learned a lot about Mozart of which I had never been aware. Mozart's father, Leopold, had written a book, "Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Playing the Violin", and they actually had copies of the books from the late 1700's, in several different languages.

Leopold was described as being a devoted husband and father, and I enjoyed reading many of his letters that he wrote to his wife when he traveled with his prodigy son. When Mozart married and had his own son, Leopold wrote, "The child is, indeed, very agreeable, exceptionally friendly and he laughs as soon as someone speaks to him." He then goes on to bemoan the fact that his grandson, Carl, was being plagued by teething problems. I couldn't help but think of Finn while reading these comments. Perhaps there will be a music prodigy among us!

We then toured some more of the sights in the city, and one in particular, the Old Residence, was once again given a poor review by Rick Steves. Marty and I thought this was the best tour of the day! So glad that we decided to ignore the advice and venture out to these places for our own interest. You will see for yourself by the photos.

Marty bought himself a new hat, and I'm sure that you will enjoy seeing the many photos of him sporting it today. You'll have to excuse his appearance...he apparently ran out of clean clothes. But, I remedied that situation when I found out that we could easily have a load of laundry done here at our Penzion for a reasonable sum.

You will get a peak of the Mirabell gardens, where the Sound of Music featured a few scenes. And, we also walked through the cemetery that inspired the scene in that movie as well. We saw, from a distance, the actual nunnery where Maria would have lived, and that is actually the place where she married her husband, unlike the cathedral in the movie.

We decided to spend the evening here at our Penzion, and we plan to eat dinner on the premises, as we are quite tuckered out from all of the excitement today.

The Hills are Alive...

You guessed it. We made it to Salzburg where the hills are certainly amazing, but not without some exciting adventures along the way. Would you expect anything less?

We began the day with an outstanding breakfast that would probably have easily fed four people. It was certainly hard to believe that we had been in Slovakia for an entire week, and we were kind of sad to have to move on. I was going to miss saying, "Hovorite po anglicky?"

We were no sooner on our way when the weather suddenly turned for the worse and soon we were driving along in the pouring rain in conditions that reminded me of driving on the PA turnpike. Since trucks don't deliver on Sunday we can't help but wonder if they were all out in full force to make up for lost time.

We were on the road in the rain for a couple of hours when I suggested that we detour off the highway to the town where my father's ancestors came from. So, we decided to make a quick jaunt through Zavar and the town just north, where the Mrenna family lived. On our way through Zavar, Marty spotted a cemetery on the side of the road, and I suggested that we stop, just for a minute, to take a peek.

There were three women in the cemetery, putting flowers on the graves, and after attempting to introduce myself, it was clear that none of them spoke a word of English. I told them, in my botched Slovak, that I was related to the Mrena family of Zavar and asked if they could show me where the Mrena graves might be. One woman, Maria Lu'delova, gestured for me to follow her, and within a minute, she was pointing to the grave of Jozef Mrena, my great grandfather, and his wife, Jozefina. I was shocked, to say the least, to have this woman lead me to the correct person so quickly. Marty took quite a few pictures, and I hugged her and thanked her, very much, (in Slovak) for her help. All of the women were waving goodbye as we beeped as we made our way down the road.

Marty and I then headed into the town where we took photos of the church that the Mrena's would have attended. The inside was extremely beautiful. All of the churches, in Slovakia, have gates closed when they are not open for mass because people were stealing statues and selling them for money. That's what Helga told me. But, at least one can walk into the back and see the beauty of the inside.

By this time, we had driven out of the rain, and we headed back onto the highway, stopping for an Austria road atlas and a vignette sticker for the windshield of the car for Austria. Then, we headed out on the Autobahn for Salzburg.

After checking into our Penzion, we decided to hop a bus into Salzburg for dinner. We were disappointed to find the pizazz of meals that we had discovered in Slovakia,, missing. Our waitress had to be one of the grumpiest that we have ever encountered! We're hoping for cheerier encounters tomorrow.

Pentecost in Slovakia

We started our day at 7:30 mass at St. Elizabeth's Cathedral in Old Town Kosice. We were amazed to find people so dressed up for church, not only in Kosice, but in every town that we stopped in during Mass times today. Every man and boy wore a suit and the women and girls wore dresses and nice shoes. In one town, people actually stood outside for the service, as the church interior was full. We walked through one walled town where mass was being held in St. Martin's church, and we could hear the chanting of the service echoing through the town. It was awesome to hear such beauty while gazing across the beautiful green mountains.

Our travels today took us back to the west of the country to Zilina. The roads followed a path between mountain ranges and we were delighted at the sight of the High Tratas, where the peaks were covered with snow. Our drive also took us along the Vah river, which was extremely high due to the melting snow in the mountains, in combination with the rain.

We visited Levoca where we photographed the "Cage of Shame". Marty wants you to know that Slovakia has ways for dealing with dogs like Lily. When Lily misbehaves, he likes to refer to her as "the dog of shame". So, Marty felt a real bond for this town that held this cage of disgrace. Apparently women who were disgraced were placed in this cage to be put on display. I can't say if that technique would help with Lily, however.

We skirted thunderstorms as we drove from town to town. We stopped in Poprad for lunch and ate at a restaurant where Jaromir Jagr apparently has eaten. Lunch was very good Slovak style food. Marty had spinach pirohy and I had spinach and mushroom filled polichinky. Yummy stuff, that's for sure.

In Martin, we managed to get in a visit to a Slovak outside Museum which is a collection of homes that would have existed in different areas of Slovakia in years past. After getting disoriented in town due to a closed road, we finally found the place and walked extremely fast along the long path to the entrance because we knew that the place would be closing soon. It was pouring down rain, and I was in my poncho and Marty was wearing his Red Fairchild raincoat when I knocked on the glass at the entrance booth. A woman peered at me in disbelief, and shook her head while I pleaded for her to let us in. I'm certain that she thought we were nuts, showing up with thunder, lightening and pouring rain all around us. She finally relented, telling us that the place closed in 45 minutes, then she handed me a program in English, charged us the student rate, and reminded us, again, of the closing time. Although it would have been much more fun to be able to look at the houses leisurely, Marty and I zipped through the sets if villages, but not without my sandals and stockings getting filled with mud. Luckily, I had brought an extra pair which went onto my feet as soon as we returned to the car. What was odd was that just 15 minutes out of town, no rain had fallen anywhere.

We arrived at our final destination with a sense of relief after Garmin Girl originally told us that our Penzion was an abandoned Concrete building. Luckily, some kind people on the road were able to direct us to the correct place, which is lovely. We had dinner, just the two of us, in the basement wine cellar with a very attentive waiter. The food was the best that we have had yet, and the local wine was fabulous.

On a final note as we spend our last night here in Slovakia,on this side of the country, I was surprised to see so many signs for ovci syr. (Sheep cheese). First of all, I didn't know anyone actually milked a sheep, much less make cheese from it. I remembered that the man by the castle had offered us cheese from sheep milk, but I had presumed that he had meant a goat. Sure enough, it is sheep cheese, as we see the signs for it all along the highway out here. But I can't say that I am brave enough to stop at a roadside stand a buy a hunk.

Tomorrow we head for Austria, so I suppose that I must close with a hearty Dovidenia!

Aint Genealogy grand?

I don't know that I will ever be able to portray in words the crazy adventures that Marty and I experienced today. Just when I think that excitement cannot be topped, another day comes along that far exceeds the one previously. Today definitely takes the cake.

The morning started out simply enough. I was down in the lobby, attempting to get my photos to upload while Marty was still getting ready to come down for breakfast. I was concentrating on my computer when I heard the concierge call my name, Mrs. Geisler. I assumed that she was going to tell me that Mr. Geisler was on the phone, but no, she told me that Mr. Vincent Voytko was on the phone, and that he didn't speak any English, but that she would happily translate for me. Could he come by at 10:00 a.m. and take Marty and me to his house?

Let me explain briefly, here, that Vincent is married to my dad's first cousin, Eva. They live about 40 minutes from Kosice. I had written a letter and told Eva that Marty and I would be in town. Just prior to leaving, Eva had sent me an e-mail, telling me that she would not be here as she works in Austria, but that her husband and brother, George would love to meet me. But, (and here's the big problem) no one spoke English. And, believe me, I may know a few words of Slovak, but they would never get me very far in a conversation. So, I had been sitting in the lobby, wondering just what I should do, because I knew that they were anticipating a call from me, and I also knew that they did not speak English. I had thought about having Silvia translate for me, just when the concierge came over and called my name.

At that point, I realized that I was going to have to figure out some way of communication, so I asked Silvia if she would be willing to go with us, and she enthusiastically agreed. In the meantime, we decided to go along with our scheduled plans and just tell Vincent that we would meet them in the town of Slanske Nove Mesto.
Vincent really wanted us to visit his home, but since Silvia had scheduled evening plans, we knew that was not a possibility.

We headed off to the land of my shepherd relatives and we were amazed at the beauty of the towns. Kecerovce is inhabited by gypsies on the outskirts of town, but we were able to find the church and actually go inside. I cannot explain how awesome it was to stand in that church and realize that over 100 years ago, my relatives attended Mass there. We had driven through the town of Boliarov, where they had resided at the time. Silvia had spoken to the priest earlier, asking if he would help us locate some relatives, so we headed over to the rectory to meet with him.

The priest, who was dressed in a blue velour pant suit, was not very excited about us being there, but he relented and pulled out the church baptism records and let me look through them. I was searching for Aunt Lizzie's birth record and I can assure you that it is not written in that registry. The priest was being difficult with me, but finally let me look through the years from 1895 through 1908. No record of an Elizabeth born to a Hanchak. The priest kept pointing to his watch and saying, "TIme, Time". I thanked him, and gave him some euro for his efforts. At that moment he seemed shocked and stopped pointing at his watch. Silvia told me that she would not have given him any money since he was being so rude, but I told her that I hoped that he felt guilty for being so rude. He suddenly became very nice at that moment.

After leaving the rectory we headed up to the cemetery, but soon realized that we would not be having much luck there, either. If there were Hanchak's buried in that church plot, the headstones would have been very old and not readable. I realized that there was nothing to be done about that, so we headed out to Cervenica where Veronica Stofan, my mother's gr. grandmother was born.

Cervenica is much further than I had imagined it would have been, from Kecerovce. We had no luck there with the church or the priest, as he was on vacation. So, we headed up to the cemetery which overlooked the town, and had no luck finding any Stofan or Stoffa burials in that place. The graves did not appear to be well taken care of, and it was obvious that we would not be finding what I was looking for there either.

So, we headed off for Slanec and Slanske Nove Mesto to meet with the Takach relatives. We agreed that we would meet at the local church. We arrived first, and then a BMW SUV showed up with two men in it. They popped out of the car, and Silvia was able to ascertain that they were looking for me. A man in a bright orange shirt came right up to my face and began talking to me in Slovak. Sylvia translated and told me that he wanted to know who my grandmother was. I told him that my grandmother was Maria Takac. I mentioned that her younger sister was Veronica. (Veronica was this man's mother). Suddenly, he made the connection, and he squeezed me and the next thing I know he was kissing one cheek and the other, then he grabbed Marty and he was kissing his cheeks. He was just so excited! I had presumed that this man was George because Eva had told me that her brother George was interested in meeting me.

I began to ask a lot of questions and he said that he would be happy to answer everything. He would take me to the cemetery to find the graves of my gr. grandparents, and he would show me the house where all of the family had been born, which was in Slanske Nove Mesto, just about a block from the church. But, he said that he owned a restaurant and that he wanted us to have lunch with him. We agreed, and he asked us what we liked to eat, and we told him that Slovak food would be great. Silvia heard him ordering his staff to make all kinds of food and she just began to laugh. She told me that we were in for a real feast. It was at this point that I was told that this man's name was Stefan. He is another brother of Eva's. He was talking so fast and so much that poor Silvia just could not keep up with him to translate. She had to tell him to stop so that she could translate because she could not possibly remember everything that he was attempting to say to her. Marty and I just kept laughing at the ridiculousness of hearing a man rambling on and on in Slovak, with this young woman attempting to soak it all in to translate, and us completely out of the loop.

We went to the house where grandma would have lived as a little girl, and Marty took my picture in front of it. It has been renovated since my parents had seen it. Then, we headed up to the cemetery, which is in an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful spot. I was really awed at the beauty of this area. You can see the ruins of an old castle on a mountain in the distance, with rolling hills surrounding this entire area.

We were not having much luck finding any of the Takach graves, and the next thing I knew, Stefan was calling someone on his cell phone and hopping in his SUV to pick up someone who would know. When he came back, two women popped out of the car with him.

This is the moment that Marty says he will never forget as long as he lives. He was at one end of the cemetery, when suddenly he spotted a rather rotund, older woman, in a blue duster with grey Nike sweatpants, holding onto two metal canes, wheeling her way with record speed through that cemetery. She was obviously a woman on a mission and he wasn't getting in her way! The vision was absolutely hysterical. He was still laughing at it this evening, when he shared with me that he knows that this will go down on record as one of the absolutely funniest moments of his life. It was as if we were part of some type of crazy comedy.

After immediately identifying Andras Takac's grave, and then heading off to find his wife's grave, we were finally introduced to this woman, who's name was Yolanda. Her father was John, my grandmother's brother. Along with Yolanda was Regina, the grandaughter of Anna, another sister of my grandmother. Regina just kept smiling, and Yolanda was all sweaty from speeding through the cemetery at record speed. Each wanted us to come to their home for coffee, but we mentioned that Stefan had invited us to his restaurant for lunch.

Soon we were on our way, attempting to keep up with Stefan as he zipped his BMW towards the town of Secovce, where he owns a Penzion and restaurant. The facility was actually closed today, so we had a table to ourselves.

Everything was set for us and it was obvious that Stefan had given orders to his staff to have things ready. He wanted Sylvia and me to partake of pear whiskey drink in celebration. I mentioned that I did not drink, but suddenly had this small glass of clear liquid waiting for my lips. Stefan popped the entire amount in his mouth in one gulp, while Sylvia and I sipped the tiniest bit. Even at that, my mouth and throat immediately felt like they were on fire and I knew that I would not be able to drink another drop. Vincent and Stefan seemed to be a bit surprised, but not offended. Marty was not offered a drop since he would be driving, and Vincent did not partake of any either.

We enjoyed a fabulous meal of Haluski,one with cheese and one with cabbage and bacon, chicken soup, some type of chicken and corn in a very light sauce, with boiled potatoes and a scoop of rice, all beautifully presented. We were pretty well stuffed at this point, and needed to get Sylvia back to Kosice.

Suddenly, we were informed that George, Stefan's brother, was in our hotel in Kosice and that he was waiting to meet us. So, we no sooner returned to Kosice when Sylvia immediately began translating once again. George asked if she knew anyone who would translate that he could pay, and she told him that she would ask her husband, who was free, but that they would not take any money. So, Peter, her husband arrived in short time, and I could tell that he was a bit nervous, but in no time it was as if he knew us his entire life. He happily translated all that George had to tell us, which, let me way, was quite a bit. Peter spent more time telling us about George than he wanted to know about us.

George insisted that he take us out for a meal, so Peter was definitely recompensed for his time by a delicious meal, huge beer, and my dinner, since I had ordered a vegetable risotta with zucchini and cheese and it came loaded with green peppers. Of course, I wasn't touching that, so the restaurant boxed it up and we insisted that Peter take it home.

At the end of the day, we had bonded with two new friends, Sylvia and Peter, who without we would have been completely lost in translations, and were treated like royalty from the Takach relatives from Slanske Nove Mesto.

Tomorrow we plan to attend early mass at the cathedral in Old Town, then began our trip back to the western part of Slovakia. Don't know for certain that I will have internet at the next place, so don't be too disappointed if there is a day's lull in the posting.