During the primary election held on Tuesday,
August 7, 2012, I served as an election judge.
It was a long ballot since there were races for the US Senate and House,
the Governor and Executive Branch as well as county races. Two days later after a very brief recuperation
from that long day, Diane and I were off on a second trip with my sister
Earlene called the Hidden Gems of the Dalmatian Coast & Greece. We added a pre-trip tour entitled Ancient
Glories of Greece and a post-trip to Bled, Slovenia. In preparation, I read The Pericles
Commission by Gary Corby, a murder mystery taking place in ancient
Greece.
After our long travel from Columbia to St.
Louis, the Dulles airport in Virginia, Frankfort and finally Athens, we were
happy to get to the hotel and a welcome drink.
Our guide took us on an orientation walking tour, and we ended up at a restaurant on the Lycabettus Hill, the highest
spot in Athens. The view was
wonderful. Sitting on an open balcony,
we overlooked the city and the Acropolis, the high hill upon which sits the old
temple, the Parthenon. It was wonderful
until the rain and wind came, chasing us further back under cover to finish our
meal.
Me, Diane, Earlene’s friend, waiter,
Earlene, other tour group members
Our view of the Acropolis
The next morning we went to the Acropolis
which was very crowded with tourists.
Our guide showed us many highlights, but I will only mention a few. There was an ancient theatre called Odeon of Herodes Atticus. It was designed as an auditorium that fit
into a natural hollow. Thirty-five semicircular rows of seating accommodated
the nearly 5,000 people who might be there to watch music shows or festivals, a
practice that continues today. The
acoustics must have been marvelous. The
Temple of Athena Nike was the most elegant and well-preserved of the Acropolis
buildings. It was dedicated to the Goddess Athena as the bringer of Victory
(Nike). Then, of course, there was the
Parthenon itself, the temple originally built to venerate the cult of Athena
the Virgin, the Goddess of Wisdom and Warfare and the Guardian of Athens. Later years saw the temple transformed to a
Christian Church and then a mosque before its current reincarnation as an
ancient ruin for tourists to visit.
Odeon of Herodes Atticus theatre
Temple of Athena Nike
Backside of the Parthenon
We walked down the hill to the Acropolis
Museum. There we saw many artifacts
collected from the area. There were
labeled spaces reserved for the Elgin marble we previously saw in the British
Museum and which Greece wanted back. In
the afternoon we took the optional tour to Cape Sounion on the southern tip of
Greece to visit the Temple of Poseidon.
It was located on a high hill overlooking the Mediterranean. The setting was beautiful, but the temple
itself, constructed by the Ancient Greeks around 400 BC, had suffered much
damage from foreign invasions over the years.
The ruins were still an elegant and picturesque tribute to the mighty
gods of the Greeks. Returning to Athens,
we ate dinner that evening at another Lycabettus Hill restaurant that had an
even better view of the Acropolis than the night before.
Temple of Poseidon with the Mediterranean
showing on the right
In college I did not take any ancient
history classes and only one Humanities class, Masterpieces of World Literature. During that class I bought Bulfinch's
Mythology, a popularization of Greek mythology concerning stories about
gods, heroes and monsters. I was looking
forward to the pre-trip which would take us to many ancient Greek sites on the
Peloponnese Peninsula. It is connected
to the mainland by the Isthmus of Corinth, a narrow strip of land with sea on
either side like the Isthmus of Panama.
Our first stop of the day was to view the
Corinth Canal. Using the canal instead of
sailing around the peninsula saved up to 195 nautical miles. Every year around
15,000 ships from at least 50 nations passed through the canal. It was manmade, about four miles long and had
a water depth of 26 feet and a width that varied from a minimum of 69 feet at
the bottom to a maximum of 82 feet at the water’s surface. The surrounding cliffs rose about 300 feet to
the plateau above. Diane and I walked
out on the high bridge over the canal so she could take pictures of the canal
and its other bridges. There was a nice memorial to the Hungarians who planned,
organized and directed the construction of the bridge between 1881 to 1893.
Corinth Canal
Memorial
Our driver then took us to the northern
edge of the Peninsula to the location of the Rio–Antirrio Bridge, one of the
world's longest multi-span cable-stayed bridges and longest of the
fully-suspended type. It links the Peloponnese Peninsula to mainland Greece. Fortunately, it opened one day before the
Athens 2004 Summer Olympics so it could be used to transport the Olympic flame
from the ancient site of the first Olympics to Athens. The bridge was made possible by a large loan
from The European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU's investment bank. We drove through Patras, Greece's third-largest
city, where we stopped to go inside the very ornate Holy Church of Saint Andrew
the Apostle, a Greek Orthodox Basilica. We then drove south, down the Western
edge of the peninsula to the city of Olympia and checked into our hotel.
Rio–Antirrio Bridge
Holy Church of Saint Andrew the Apostle
After breakfast, we left for a day at
Olympia, the birthplace of the most famous and important sporting event in the
ancient world, the Olympic Games. They
took place here every four years from 776 BC to 393 AD. From about the 10th century BC, the site was
also a place of worship dedicated to the Greek god Zeus. Its extensive ruins included athletic training
areas, a stadium and temples dedicated to the gods Hera and Zeus. The
Archaeological Museum exhibited artifacts from the site, including a statue of
Hermes attributed to the sculptor Praxiteles.
It was hot in the sun during our walk around Olympia, but it was very
comfortable weather for our evening and breakfast meals sitting outside in the
garden of the hotel. I really enjoyed
the Greek food, both the flavors and the presentation. We were lucky to be here in late summer when
fresh produce was easily available.
Our group resting during a hot day in Olympia (Earlene and me on the left)
Me enjoying a lunch of Greek food at the
Olympic restaurant
Dinner in the hotel garden with our travel
group
The next morning, we drove to Epidaurus, a
UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of the most famous ancient sites in Greece.
Since early Greeks recognized Epidaurus
as the birthplace of Asklepios, the god of healing, the entire site was
renowned for its extensive medical facilities and healing treatments from the
sixth century BC until about AD 200. Today, Epidaurus is perhaps more famous
for its well preserved fourth-century theater.
Although at 14,000 seats, it is much smaller than the theater at the
Acropolis. It is renowned for its
near-perfect acoustics since a coin dropped at the center of the structure can
easily be heard from its farthest reaches.
The vast site, with its temples and hospital buildings devoted to its
healing gods, provides valuable insight into the healing practices during early
Greek and Roman times. We then drove to
the city in which our hotel was located, Nafplion, and walked in the old town,
enjoying the view of the small island of Bourtzi with its strong, impressive
fortress, and, FINALLY, a stop for gelato.
Since our pre-trip would be ending the next day, we had a farewell
dinner at the hotel.
Me viewing the theater
Bourtzi fortress
At last, I enjoy gelato
The next morning, we visited the Archaeological site of Mycenae. It is among the most important places in
Greece, even mentioned by the epic poet Homer.
Mycenae was the most powerful town of its day and even gave its name to
an entire historical period, the Mycenaean Period. Until the 1870s when an amateur archaeologist
excavated the site, many experts did not believe that the town actually existed
but thought it was made up by Homer.
Perhaps it is best known in mythology as the city ruled by King Agamemnon
who led the expedition against Troy during the Trojan War which Homer wrote
about in The Iliad. Many
artifacts from the bronze age were found in shaft graves, such as the golden
mask of Agamemnon, believed to be his death mask. The citadel was protected by Cyclopean walls
that are actually high walls made of huge stones. Legend says that men could not have carried
those stones with the poor technology of the era, so it had to be Cyclops who
built these walls. Homer wrote about the
Cyclops in his poem The Odyssey. Close
to the citadel is the tomb of Clytemnestra, the legendary wife of Agamemnon.
Me and Diane overlooking the archaeological
site of Mycenae
Me and Cyclopean walls
I
learned about many legendary Greek characters during our visit to the
Peloponnese peninsula. Then it was time
to return to the hotel in Athens where we would have a welcome dinner and meet
the other travelers joining us for the middle part of our trip up the Dalmatian
Coast.
Before leaving the hotel to board the boat
the next morning, we went on a walking tour in Athens. It started at the Hellenic Parliament
building with the uniformed guards at their stations. Then we crossed the street to Syntagma Square
and entered the metro station. When this very modern metro system was built, a
huge number of artifacts were discovered and are exhibited here in an
archeological museum. We walked by other
archeological sites, the Acropolis and then boarded the motorcoach to go
to Mikrolimano Harbor.
Guard at the Parliament building
Mosaics and other artifacts in the metro
station display
After lunch at a local restaurant, we
boarded our ship, the MV Artemis, designed to carry two small groups of 20-25
travelers. We met the members of our
group and the guide we would have for this portion of the trip. This time, instead of driving over it, we
sailed through the Corinth Canal and could see the submersible bridge at the
end. What an experience! Then we sailed
beneath the modern Rio Anti Bridge we had seen from the road on our
pre-trip. Diane and I were very happy to
be feeling the movement of the ship. We loved our cruises.
MV Artemis
Sailing through the Corinth Canal
We could have foretold that the next
morning we would leave the ship in the port of Itea and bus to Delphi where the
priestess Pythia had lived. She was
famed throughout the ancient world for divining the future and was consulted
before all major undertakings. Our group
first visited the Delphi Archaeological Museum which was full of masterpieces
from the Archaic, Classical and Roman periods.
We then tackled the dirt and gravel path going up steep ground and
several sets of stairs (totaling 150 uphill and downhill). We went past the Temple of Apollo and made it
to the very top. This enabled us to see
the Stadium of Delphi, the sanctuary of Apollo and the rest of the Delphic
landscape. It’s amazing that the stadium still exists in any shape or form
considering it was built around the 4th century B.C. Walking back down the steep path was harder
than walking up it, and that may explain why my sister fell and had to be
helped up and given first aid. It was
good we had a free afternoon to relax onboard the ship.
Overlooking the Stadium and Temple of
Apollo (columns on left)
Steep path with gravel
We only had one more stop in Greece, the
island of Corfu whose principal city is also Corfu. It is known for its beaches and resorts and
has a cultural heritage that reflects the years spent under Venetian, French and
British rule before it united with Greece in 1864. As we sailed toward Corfu, we could see two
huge structures dominating the horizon. There
was an ancient fortress on the east and a newer fort on the west. In the past, these two fortresses were linked
by large walls, so that the inhabitants could live safely inside. Our first stop was at the Achillion Palace
built in 1890 for Elizabeth (Sissy), the former Empress of Austria. She was captivated by ancient Greek legends
and mythology which explained why the Palace Garden was replete with statues of
Greek Gods and Goddesses.
View of the fortresses
Me and Diane on balcony of the Achillion
Palace
We departed the ship the next morning at
Saranda, Albania, a country which, for some reason, I never thought of as being
on the coast. The port city looked
prosperous and the beaches were busy, but as we were driving south to the
Butrint National Park, I could see many Soviet-era buildings that had not been
fully constructed and were now sitting empty. Butrint had been inhabited since prehistoric
times, the site of a Greek colony, a Roman city and a Christian community. It was even mentioned in Virgil’s poem Aeneid. Following a period of prosperity under a
Byzantine administration and a brief occupation by the Venetians, the city was
abandoned in the late Middle Ages after marshes formed in the area. We walked around the archaeological site, a
collection of ruins from each of these periods.
Busy beach
Abandoned building
Tour group at Butrint
At breakfast the next morning, we watched
as the ship sailed through Europe's deepest fjord in order to reach Kotor,
Montenegro. It was another ancient
fortified town, squeezed between the waters of the bay and the limestone cliffs
of Mount Lovcen. We walked through the
winding streets and squares in its medieval old town that had several
Romanesque churches, including Kotor Cathedral. Our group toured the Maritime
Museum which had displays about local seafaring history. We spent the afternoon at leisure on our
ship.
Kotor Cathedral
Young entrepreneur
Mount Lovcen
The next day was more interesting. On board a bus, we were driven up Mt. Lovcen
on a narrow zig-zag road with many hairpin turns. It was no fun when your seat was on the
outside edge. We stopped along the way
at Njegusi for lunch and purchased some locally-produced food products (cheese
and smoked ham). King Nikola was born
there and ruled a long time from 1860 to 1918. We then continued to Cetinje where we had a
walking tour of the city. Founded in
1482, it wasn’t until Montenegro was declared an independent country at the
Berlin Congress in 1878 that it became a European capital and began to thrive. In 1946 Cetinje’s reign as capital ended, but
it was still full of Montenegro’s history and culture. We walked by the former royal palaces,
historic churches and the national museum before heading back down the mountain
to board our ship.
Narrow road
Food products for sale to tourists
View of city and beaches below
The next morning, after leaving the ship,
it was a short drive to the Old Town of Dubrovnik, Croatia, encircled by
massive stone walls completed in the 16th century. It is thought of as one of the world's most
exquisite walled cities, having a past as an independent city-state that
rivaled Venice. It was a fortress city
that served as the base for a fleet of ships that carried trade between much of
Europe and the Middle East. The city-state's period of autonomy extended from
1358 to 1808. We spent the morning
exploring its well-preserved buildings inside the walls that ranged from
churches and palaces to museums. There
was an area of great commercial activity with many shops, markets and
restaurants where we had lunch.
Painting of historic walled city of
Dubrovnik
Scene inside the walled city
In the afternoon we rode a cable car to the
top of a hill where we stood on a platform providing amazing views of the Old
Town and surrounding area including the islands. Coming back down, we had more time to walk
the fortress walls and explore the Old Town before our dinner at the home of a
family in a nearby village.
Host
family and remains of our dinner
While serving us delicious appetizers,
tasty drinks, pastries and a main course, local family members told us stories
of what it was like to live through the Balkan War. In June 1991, the parliaments of Slovenia and
Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia, which led to the deployment of
the Belgrade, Serbia-controlled Yugoslav army (JNA) toward the affected borders
and airports. After a 10-day conflict,
the JNA withdrew from Slovenia. However,
in Croatia, Serbian troops sided with ethnic Serb rebels who opposed
independence, launching what would become a four-year war. During 1991, the city of Dubrovnik was
bombarded and under siege by land and by sea.
This provoked international condemnation, and became a public relations
disaster for Serbia and Montenegro, contributing to their diplomatic and
economic isolation, as well as the international recognition of Croatia's
independence. By the end of the year,
the blockade ended and the troops withdrew from the city. Having dinner with this local family was a
valuable learning experience for us.
They were very entrepreneurial, selling their own liquor, food stuffs,
painted eggs and other products which they took on market day to Dubrovnik.
Painted eggs
The next morning, we visited the Croatian
island of Korcula which for centuries was ruled by Venice. A guide led us on a walking tour of the Old
City pointing at the location where it is believed Marco Polo was born. We visited St Mark's Abbey Treasury which
contains an important collection of icons and Dalmatian religious art. On the way back to the port I saw many
expensive yachts, a testament to the island’s reputation as a destination for
the very rich.
Approach to Korcula
Yachts in harbor
Hvar, another Croatian island, was our next
stop. This time we started in the small,
picturesque village of Vrboska. We drove
through the countryside with terraced hillsides where stone walls were used to
control erosion. In the springtime, we
might have seen fields of lavender flowers.
Fields with stone walls
When we got to Hvar town, protected by a
large fort on the hilltop, we went on a walking tour of the Old Town. Hvar had one of the largest squares we had
seen on our trip. The architecture
reflected the nature of this entire area which had been inhabited since
prehistoric times and occupied by one Mediterranean country after another. The Cathedral of St. Stephen and its
distinctive bell tower was constructed between the 16th and 17th centuries. We stopped and had a refreshing drink at one
of the many establishments on the square.
Looking around at the port and the large number of boats and yachts made
me think of the Lake of the Ozarks and realize this island was also a
playground for the very rich of our world.
We drove back to Vrboska, walked around its canals that gave the town
its nickname “little Venice,” and then our group was seated in a local winery’s
tasting room for a refreshing glass of wine.
After reboarding the ship, we had a show by a local music and dance
group in colorful costumes performing Croatian dances.
Cathedral of St. Stephen
Boats in harbor
Canal in Vrboska
Croatian dancers
At last, we were not going to visit another
island. Instead we were headed toward
the second largest city in Croatia with the unusual name of Split. It is
believed the city draws its name from a common shrub in the area, after which
the Greek colony of Aspálathos or Spálathos was named. When it became a Roman possession, the Latin
name became Spalatum, and finally the Croatian name became Split. We spent the morning on a walking tour of the
old city near the port starting with the Diocletian’s Palace, a UNESCO World
Heritage site. It is one of the best-preserved monuments of Roman architecture
in the world. Emperor Diocletian built
the Palace as a combination of a luxury villa/summer house and a Roman military
camp. The Emperor’s Temple of Jupiter
was converted into a Christian baptistery and his mausoleum became a cathedral. The Palace has become a maze of beautifully
preserved ancient ruins, shops, restaurants and apartments. On the way back to our ship, I enjoyed seeing
all the different kinds of food for sale in the fish market.
Bell tower of St. Domnius Cathedral
Singers inside the Vestibule to the Palace
(roof had caved in)
Temple of Jupiter
Fish for sale
Those who paid for the optional tour to the
town of Omis on the River Cetina boarded a bus for the trip down the
coast. At Omis, we transferred to a boat
for the cruise down the river. When the
boat reached its destination, we walked to a nearby restaurant to have a drink
and some grilled fish. On the return
trip the bus took the mountain route back to our ship. Since it was our last night on board, the
crew entertained us after dinner and the waiters brought us a special flaming
dessert.
Fishing in the River Cetina
Restaurant where our group ate the fish
Ship’s crew says “Goodbye”
We said farewell to many of our fellow
travelers and continued with those who were going on the post-trip to
Slovenia. Our bus traveled through the
large city of Split, up the mountains behind it and through the small villages
along the way. Our first stop was at the
Plitvice Lakes National Park. We walked along a boardwalk, sometimes with water
on both sides, observing the waterfalls, vegetation, birds and animal
life. The water was an extraordinary
shade of blue. We were told that the
type of algae that blooms in the lake waters releases gases as it grows and
decomposes, and when those gases react with the water it shows as a stunning
shade of azure. Driving on towards
Zagreb, the pockmarked exteriors of the homes we passed and the abandoned tanks
and artillery guns gave evidence of the Balkan War. We were happy to check in and have dinner at
our Zagreb hotel.
Plitvice Lakes
Abandoned tanks and guns
We found out how pretty Zagreb is on our
walking city tour the next morning. The
city is really on two levels, but it was easy to move between them on a
funicular. We walked by the Croatian Museum
of Naive Art on our way to St. Mark’s square.
St Mark’s church with its distinctive roof tiles representing the Coat
of Arms of Zagreb and the Triune Kingdom of Croatia is in the center of the
square with many governmental buildings also present. We saw a plaque for Nikola Tesla (think alternating
current) who was born in Croatia. There
were wonderful statues. Ban Josip
Jelacic was shown riding a horse and pointing a sword. He is remembered for his military campaigns
during the revolutions of 1848 against The Austrian Empire and for his
abolition of serfdom in Croatia. Petrica Kerempuh is a fictional character shown
playing a mandolin with a noose around his neck next to other prisoners tied to
a pole. He was regarded as a prophet of
the people and a cynical commentator on contemporary events. We walked by the Holy Mary Monument,
consisting of a fountain in the middle of which is a column with the golden
sculptures of Virgin Mary on the top and four angels below. It was in front of the Roman Catholic
Cathedral of Zagreb, the second tallest building in Croatia where we had a
brief look inside.
Funicular
St. Mark’s church with distinctive roof
tiles
Statue of Petrica Kerempuh
Holy Mary Monument
We stopped at a delicatessen for
lunch. The afternoon was on our own, and
Diane and I planned to visit the Croatian History Museum which was having a
special exhibit on the Balkan War. We
remembered to take the funicular up to the museum, and once there had a
wonderful guided tour with pictures and displays. We knew the basic facts that Croatia declared
independence in 1991 against Yugoslavian rule, and the war lasted until 1995
when the U.N. separated Croatia into four areas to disconnect the battling groups
of Serbs and Croats. During the guided
tour, we were free to ask questions and clarify the events. After the busy day, we were hungry and headed
to a restaurant we had seen on our walking tour. Its menu had a variety of seafood to choose
from and enjoy with a glass of white wine, which we did.
Delicatessen
The next day, Diane and I went on the
optional Baroque City of Varazdin tour.
When we arrived, we found we were there at the right time of year for
the lively and fun Spancirfest, the largest street festival in Croatia. Our group first toured the Old Castle, a
perfectly preserved example of medieval defensive architecture and considered
to be the most important local monument. It housed the Museum of the City of
Varazdin. Then we walked through the old
town, some of the festival exhibits and stopped at a restaurant where we were
seated with a glass of wine and had lunch.
Varazdin Spancirfest with Old Castle in
background
We crossed a border the next morning, going
from Croatia to Slovenia. It is bordered
by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia
to the southeast and the Adriatic Sea to the southwest. It is no wonder that it
has historically been the crossroads of Slavic, Germanic and Romance languages
and cultures. Its territory has been
part of many different states: the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the
Carolingian Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Republic
of Venice, the Illyrian Provinces of Napoleon's First French Empire, the
Austrian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Today, it is a parliamentary democratic
republic with a multi-party system.
We stopped for a walking tour in Ljubljana,
the largest city and capital of Slovenia.
It's known for its university population and green spaces, including
expansive Tivoli Park. The streets were full of history and beautiful
statuary. The curving Ljubljanica River
was lined with outdoor cafes. We stopped
at one for lunch and enjoyed the view of the river. We felt very comfortable in this city. However, we needed to continue on our way. We drove by forests with the mountains known
for good skiing in the background until we reached our hotel on the shores of
Lake Bled.
Ljubljanica River
The next morning, we boarded a bus in Bled
and drove through the countryside to another lake, Lake Bohinj. It is a glacial lake dammed by a
moraine. There were a couple of interesting
statues by the lake. One statue looked
like a gazelle to me, but is supposed to be Goldhorn, which in Slovene folklore
legend is a white chamois (goat-antelope) buck or, alternatively, an Alpine
ibex. Another statue was The Four Brave
Men, the first men to climb Triglav, the highest mountain (9,400 feet) in
Slovenia. We then returned to Bled.
Goldhorn
The Four Brave Men
We stopped at the picturesque Bled Castle
built on a precipice overlooking Lake Bled.
Its history dates back to 1004.
Its oldest part is a Romanesque tower which we climbed up to have a good
view over the lake and the alps. Part of
the castle is also functioning as a historical museum with a collection that
represents the lake's history. The group
was next taken to board a boat for a ride on the lake to Bled Island. The island has several buildings, the main
one being the pilgrimage church dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. We encountered a newly married couple coming
down the stairs from the church. I had
no desire to climb up all those narrow, steep stairs. After a ride around the lake, we were taken
to a restaurant for lunch.
Bled Castle
View of Lake with Bled Island on the right
Boat ride
Married couple
Diane, Earlene and I then agreed to tackle a
walk around Lake Bled, almost four miles.
It was tiring, we did have some rain along the way, but we made it. We saw the almost nude, and nude,
bathers. The lake is of mixed glacial
and tectonic origin, meaning the lake is fed by mild, thermal springs making a
comfortable temperature for swimming. We
walked on a nice gravel and paved path with occasional benches for
resting. There was an abundance of
colorful wildflowers on both sides of the path.
We passed several bronze statues, but none with historical
interest. The sky was darkening, and we
were tired and hungry when we finally got to a lakeside restaurant with a great
menu. We toasted ourselves on a very
successful walk, had a relaxing meal with a bottle of wine and finished with
the Lake Bled crème cake for dessert. We
were visually entertained with a light show over the lake and the outline of
lights on the Bled Castle. Finally, the
three of us made it to our hotel beds for a very sound sleep.
Bathers and Earlene
Earlene and I on the walking path
Bled Castle lit up
The next day, we all went on the optional
tour to see the Predjama Castle and the Postojna
Cave. Our first stop was at the castle,
built into the mouth of the cave. The
castle was perched in the middle of a 123-metre-high cliff where it stood for
more than 800 years. Behind it, there is a network of secret tunnels, from
where the knight Erazem of Predjama would set out on his plundering
expeditions. We toured the interior of
the living spaces and then walked down a series of stairs to view a portion of
the cave below. There were occasional
windows to the outside for defensive purposes.
Predjama Castle
At the Postojna Cave, along with many other
tourists we waited our turn to board an open seating platform, two-across and
many rows long. Then we were taken on a lengthy
ride into the cave proper that was carved by the Pivka River over millions of
years. There were stalagmites,
stalactites and formations called curtains or draperies that looked like folded
curtains. The cave was well-lit as it had been since 1818. Initially the cave was lit with lamps for a
visit by Francis I, the first Emperor of Austria-Hungary. Electric lighting was added in 1884. In 1872 cave rails were laid along with the
first train for tourists. Even cave
tourism has a long history in Europe.
Cave entrance with boardwalk
Cave stairs get steep and maybe wet
Cave train
View of cave interior
That night, we had a farewell dinner with
our guide and fellow travelers before packing for our return trip home. We were up very early for the drive to
Ljubljana to make the 7 a.m. flight to Frankfurt. Once at the airport, I had time to reflect on
the 24-day trip that ranged from the antiquities in Greece, to the countries
and islands along the Dalmatian coast, to the lakes and cave in Slovenia. What a wonderful trip.
We arrived home on Labor Day weekend, a
good time to recuperate and do our laundry.
Then we had to reintegrate into our Columbia, Missouri home life. The Senate race between Clare McCaskill and
Todd Akin took an interesting turn while we were gone. When Akin was asked in an interview on a St.
Louis television station about his views on abortion, Akin made it clear that
his opposition to the practice was nearly absolute, even in instances of
rape. Speaking about pregnancies after
rape, he said: “It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, that’s
really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape,
the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” McCaskill responded: “As a woman and former
prosecutor who handled 100s of rape cases, I’m stunned by Rep Akin’s comments
about victims this AM.” McCaskill had
been seen as politically vulnerable because of her ties to President Obama and
tens of millions in dollars spent against her by outside advocacy groups. Akin won the Senate Republican primary with
strong support from Missouri’s religious conservatives. But he was also helped
by McCaskill, whose campaign spent nearly $2 million on ads portraying Akin as
ultraconservative. It was a clear attempt to bolster his candidacy among more
conservative primary voters while gambling that the independents and moderate
Republicans needed to win the general election would be turned off by his views
on social issues. Political observers
had said McCaskill’s best chance of defending her seat, and perhaps the
Democrats’ majority in the Senate, was to paint her opponent as extreme. We were looking forward to the November
election.
We bought our True/False Film Festival
passes for next year, our season tickets for Stephens College Performing Arts
and paid for our fall Osher classes.
Diane was still serving on the board of the Missouri Symphony Society. In 2011, they had signed an agreement with
the University of Missouri (MU) whereby MU would lease with an option to buy
the Missouri Theatre. Diane and I were
looking forward to the start of the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD series at the
Forum Theater. We agreed to share a
table at Murray’s for the Jazz series season with two other women. Later in September, we took our chairs to sit
at the Peace Park stage and listen to Sixto Rodriquiz perform at the Roots
& Blues Festival. He sang the song
from the documentary Sugar Man that we had seen earlier in the year at
True/False. We enjoyed his singing in
the movie much more than sitting outside in a crowd whose mummering interfered
with hearing the music.
I celebrated my October birthday during a
short trip to Denver to visit Joe and Karen.
We flew so we could have our GOES interview for Global Entry at the
Denver airport. We were told that neither
one of us had good fingerprints. Diane
said hers had been burned often in the kitchen, and I had no excuse. Maybe worn off because of so much typing on
the computer keyboard?
In Denver, we first viewed the exhibits at
the Denver Art Museum and then walked to the nearby Clyfford Still Museum which
just opened late in 2011. Clyfford Still
was born in North Dakota in 1904.
Walking through the galleries, we could see how he evolved as an artist,
transitioning from recognizable images and landscapes to more abstract shapes,
colors and lines on huge canvases. He
became an abstract expressionist. How
had an art museum dedicated entirely to him wound up in Denver, CO, a state in
which he wasn’t born, worked or died?
His will stipulated that his entire collection be given to an American
city willing to establish a permanent museum dedicated exclusively to the care
and display of his art, and Denver won.
Back in Columbia, later in October we again
attended the annual Friends of China dumpling dinner. Along with our friend Paul Wallace, we had
the winning bid in a silent auction for a dinner at the house of Amy Chow,
owner of House of Chow. However, we were
saddened to know that our friend MB, who started and continued the Women of
Substance, was selling her wonderful house on Wolf Creek Court and moving to
Portland Oregon to be closer to her daughter, her wife and their daughter. I
was just a little older than MB, now 72, in better health, and understood her
desire to be near her daughter.
Diane and I both worked during the general
election as judges, knowing it would be the last time for us. The recuperations were getting harder and
harder. I felt like it was time to pass
the torch to the younger generation.
Although Barack Obama won his second term of office, he lost in
Missouri, only getting 44% of the vote.
Clare McCaskill’s strategy for winning her second term as Senator paid
off, and she won with 55% of the vote.
Democrats won four of the five state offices, including Governor. A rising star, Jason Kander was elected
Secretary of State. Democrats only won
two of the seven US Representative elections, and these two were Black men in
safe city districts. Democrats won their
state Senate or House seats from most city districts, but the Republicans
dominated in the rural part of the state, often running unopposed.
As usual, we hosted friends for
Thanksgiving dinner. Early December went
by uneventfully except for one announcement.
On December 7th the Supreme Court granted review of United
States v. Windsor, formerly Windsor v. United States, and Hollingsworth v.
Perry, formerly Perry v. Brown. What
would that court have to say about the Defense of Marriage Act?
Diane got a bee in her bonnet about wanting
an Apple computer to work on her photographs.
I tried to convince her that it was very different from the PCs that she
had been used to from the beginning of her computer usage, but she was
determined. I also told her that I
wasn’t familiar with Apples and would not be able to help her much. She would not be dissuaded, so I told her
that she would have to pay for it out of her own money, which she did.
We were keeping up with our Tai Chi,
walking and biking to keep in shape for our travels. Our plans for 2013 were not quite as
ambitious for international travel, but we did plan on doing more in the
US. Diane was still preparing great food
for our friends, particularly on their birthdays. On Christmas Eve we had two close friends at
our house for dinner, and on Christmas evening we had dinner at the house of
other friends, H and N. I was helping
more friends manage their finances and doing their taxes for them. Diane and I felt very lucky to have so many
good friends with whom to share our lives.