allyson and bryan

Too Much of a Church Thing /


We've been traveling in Europe for six weeks now. It's the perfect final continent for a journey that's been diverse in so many ways: scenically, financially, culturally, gastronomically. When initially planning our itinerary, ending in Europe made sense from the obvious, geographic standpoint. It also made sense from an experiential standpoint, as both Bryan and I figured we'd be ready for first-world comforts after three months in Asia and Africa. Having visited the western countries of France, Spain, Italy and Greece in the past, I was looking forward to reuniting with cafe culture, cobblestone streets and historic art museums -- all with an eastern Europe spin. Bryan was excited about visiting friend Tim, beer and sausage, and English-language sports TV.

For the most part, all of these things have proved both true and delightful. On the flip side, after six weeks, we're teetering dangerously close to church-and-museum burnout. In six weeks we've visited five different cities in Germany, two in Austria, three in Croatia and now three in Slovenia. All have been completely charming and interesting in their own right, but I have to admit that finding unique, non-church and non-musuem things to do is far more challenging than in the exotic otherworlds of Asia, or, say, outdoorsy, adventure-activity-oriented New Zealand. Yesterday, in fact, we ended up spending the second half of our only day in Ljubljana in head-to-foot beds watching The Rockford Files subtitled in Slovenian. We just needed some time off.

I know, I know: We're completely cogniscent of how lovely our lives are right now, as we spend our days sightseeing and touring pretty towns and reading books on trains. So does it make us bad people to admit that we've seen enough churches, cathedrals, religious triptychs and stained glass to hold us for at least 10 years? Perhaps we're subconsciously readying ourselves for our imminent return to real life...

Today we had a peaceful day in Bled, Slovenia. We hiked up to its picture-perfect cliffside castle, walked three and a half miles around its pristine lake, and ate its signature cream cake. I took one picture of its church.

Tomorrow we'll rise early for a nine-hour train to Budapest. (Unfortunately there's no night train connecting the two cities -- the only bearable way to spend a six-or-more-hour train ride is sleeping, IMHO.) We had planned to skip Budapest because of recent political unrest (it's difficult to ascertain from here how widespread the protests are) but couldn't figure out another affordable way through to Krakow. So we'll spend a day there with a few hours to see a few things. I'm looking forward to it, actually, since one of the top things to do in Budapest is partake in its famous baths -- which is neither religious nor artistic. Yay!

stars, they're just like allyson @ 11:21 AM  

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