Some photos from the last few days

I'm going to post a few photos from the last day in Vienna (mostly the kids on the trampoline, which was a highlight for them), the next morning in Ljubjana, Slovenia, and then some pictures from Tirana.  As for the Tirana photos, I have taken much better photos of the place & people on previous trips.  I see things left and right that I've already photographed & photographed better.  But I figure I'd better take a few shots of things so that whoever is reading a blog has a visual to go along with what we are experiencing.  The photo at the end is Nathan waiting outside Gjushja's door.  It's in the late afternoon, so it's after the market has closed, so it looks kind of sparse around there.  During the early day, it's full of goods/clothes hanging outside the areas near her door.

Wrestling on the trampoline.  It looks rough, but they really enjoyed it, and it even didn't end in crying.

Yes, this is just taken from the car on the drive out of the city.  We finally got sun on the day we were leaving.  There are prettier parts of the city, but these massive stone buildings are typical of large parts of the city.

Again, from the car.  The building is the incinerator, designed (or decorated?  Ursula insists that he is an artist, not an architect) by the same guy who did the Hundertwasserhaus that we visited the first day there. 

A view of the river in Ljubjana that we stayed near.

We don't know what these locks were for.  We only had 15 minutes to walk around before we had to head to the airport.  The locks have been personalized.  We got the impression that they had been fished out of the water.  I would love to know the story behind them. 

OK.  So I took a minute to google it.  I will quote from Wikipedia: "Shortly after the opening of the bridge padlocks of couples in love started appearing on its steel wires, symbolizing declarations of eternal love, a phenomenon similar to the one on the Parisian Pont des Arts."  It sure is easier to find things out in the age of Wikipedia.

 The next few photos were taken on the taxi ride into Tirana from the airport.  It occurred to me that I should take a few photos to show the colorful buildings that are all around.  It's easier to take photos when I'm not walking.  Plus, we tend to be walking only in one condensed section of the city. 

The gate to the hostel.

Nathan loves the homemade ice cream here.  Luke eats it sometimes, but is not as fond it.

I had an Easter egg hunt for the kids.  Yes, it's a bit late.  But it was raining on Easter itself, so I told them we would do it later.  I hid 6 Kinder eggs - they are chocolate eggs with an inner plastic egg that contains a toy that they put together.  I also hid 16 of the inner yellow eggs with toys inside that we had left here from last year.  They had fun looking for them all, and they found an equal amount, so there wasn't much squabbling.

OK.  This is classic Albania for me.  Gjushja had 2 wide and short plastic buckets that she filled with hot water for each of the kids to put their feet in.  The kids sat for over an hour with their feet in hot water.  She would sit near them with a tea kettle and keep adding a little more hot water and mixing it with her hand, to keep the water from cooling down.  Nathan is eating qofte (pronounced chofta), which warms her heart.  Nothing is better for an Albanian grandmother than seeing her grandkids warm and eating.  Luke is playing backgammon with Genci.  Men playing chess, backgammon or dominoes is very Albanian (or perhaps Mediterranean).  It really is just men who play.  I have yet to see an adult woman do it.  I have heard of a girl who was allowed to play, but I haven't actually seen it.  When I asked Genci about it, he didn't think there was any taboo against women playing these games, but it seems impossible that not one woman would find game-playing interesting.  The only thing that would have made this picture more Albanian would be if Genci was drinking Raki.  But his mother is very anti-alcohol, so that would not make sense in this house.

 Gjushja insisted on drying the kids' feet herself (I was going to do it).  She really enjoys taking care of them in this way.  Once one foot is dried off, it goes directly into a sock (or two - she doubled up the socks on Nathan's feet), and then into a shoe or slipper.

These are a couple of Roma (gypsy) kids in the park.  They sit or lay on cardboard, and are essentially begging, although these two were not actively petitioning anyone.  Luke gets very disturbed about seeing people begging, especially kids.  He wrote in his journal that there are lots of Albanians begging everywhere.  That is not true.  There are a few spots where there is a person or two begging.  And sometimes you see people trying to wash the windshields of cars in traffic in an attempt to get money.  But it's not very many people, especially considering how many people live in the city.  They also are mostly Romas, which are Albanian, yes, but they have a whole different culture.  But, whoever they are, it is disturbing to see a two or three year old child alone, asleep on a piece of cardboard in the middle of the park.

This river has a potential to be very beautiful, but unfortunately, it's very polluted.  This section had a strong sewer/trash smell.

I'm guessing that those are rosary beads and that this man is catholic, but perhaps the Orthodox church has something similar.  This guy was walking through the park with a few of his friends, while at the same time fingering his beads behind his back.  I should have included a picture of the group of them for context. 

The trampoline/amusement park was closed from 1:30pm-4pm, and we got there at 1:31pm.  So I took the kids a different route back, and we found this little park with a cafe.

Luke has lots of silly looks that he gives me.

Men playing dominoes in the park.

This group of men talked with me for a while, asking where I was from, why I could speak Albanian (somewhat, of course, not fully).  The toothless guy on the right wanted to know if I could find him an American wife -- not a young one, of course.  I said that most American women would not want to marry a regular Albanian guys, because Albanian men expect to be taken care of, and expect the woman to cook and clean all the time.  (Genci is not like this, by the way.)  I didn't mention that most American women, even older women, prefer men with teeth.  But I thought that was unnecessary.  As I was getting ready to leave, the guy asked for a dollar (1000 old lek) for raki.  I thought about it for a second and decided to give this guy a bit of raki happiness.  Of course, once I gave him that buck, he wanted 30 cents more.  Raki costs $1.30 (I'm converting here), he says.  Me: that's it.  Him: But I need 1.30.  OK. I take back my $1 coin from him.  Nevermind. 

Then the other guys starts to protest (he wants the money).  OK. I'll give it to him instead.  So, guy #1 takes it.  Guy #3 says I'm a strong woman.  We all shake hands. 

This exchange would have driven Genci nuts.  He would have become tense, angry, protective, mistrustful.  I just thought it was funny.  I should have seen it coming.  But no harm was done.  It was a game, just like bartering can be a game.  (I'm not good at bartering, though.)  It was an interesting way to spend a few minutes in a day with nothing in particular to do.

Yes, the begging continued.  This beautiful family was begging.  I gave the mother a small coin.  I asked if I could take a photo of her baby.  She said for another coin I could.  So I did.  Then a son showed up and wanted his picture taken for another coin.  I must have been in a good mood, because I complied.  He was cute after all, and the total sum only ended up being 60 cents.  Should I have given more?  Should I have not supported begging (or raki buying in the case of the guys) at all?  I don't know.  But they seemed happy with what they got, and they are really beautiful.  I don't know anything about how they live, how much they need to survive, what assistance there is for them.  I think that there is basically NO safety net at all here, except that you can get free medical care.  If there were a lot of beggars around, I would not give anything, because it becomes chaos.  But it's OK in individual cases.  If I had time/energy, I guess it would be better to figure out what they really need and try to get it to them.  But I'm mostly focused on keeping the kids occupied and fed, and helping Genci out occasionally with house-errands he needs to do.  I guess I don't really want to think about it, or I might feel compelled to do something.

We saw a couple of couples sharing romantic moments under umbrellas.  There was a light rain, but it wasn't too cold out.

The main park in Tirana.  The building is the Taiwan restaurant building, that has a bowling alley, arcade and billiard room in it.

Luke wasn't having very good luck with his game, and he didn't take well to advice. 

Mannequins in the market on the walk back to Gjusha's house.

This is taken from in front of Gjushja's door.  The guy next door has opened up a little convenience store, which includes fruits and vegetables.

Nathan waiting for someone to let him in.

The view from the other direction.  Notice the trees in Gjushja's tiny yard.

Ljubljana, Slovenia

I didn't take any pictures tonight, but Ljubjana is beautiful.  We left Vienna around 3:11pm today.  We had planned to leave around noon, but things seem to take much longer with us than we plan.  I packed things up this morning, then everyone headed to a local park.  It was a very nice, clean park, with lots of options for things for the kids to do, including a playground and a skatepark.  The sun came out for the first time today, so it was really pleasant to just hang out and watch the kids having fun.  If we had had ping pong paddles and balls with us, we could have used the tables that are installed in the park.  The park was very clean.  It made us wish that Worcester took care of its parks so well.  But, that takes money.

On the way home (just a couple of blocks), we stopped and got take out at a Chinese restaurant.  At home, we managed to fit all 9 of us around the table, and everyone was happy with the food.

When it came time to say goodbye, it was a sad moment for everyone.  We only got a small taste of Vienna, but we had a good time.  The kids especially liked being on this adventure with their friends for a few days.  It's not often that they get to have such a prolonged "playdate".  In the car, later, Luke asked if we could do it again next year.  He liked the cool apartment, scootering around town, taking the trains and the super-yummy Chinese noodles that he had 4 different times.

The kids and I fell asleep for a bit on the drive today.  I probably slept for an hour, the kids for at least 2, which is good.  We are all behind on sleep.

Last night Ursula's brother came over again (he hung out with us each night we were in Vienna).  We really enjoyed his company and stayed up til 3am talking and laughing.  We did the same thing the first night we were there, and then Ursula insisted (really, she insisted) that she and I go clubbing.  Luckily, last night we did get some sleep (3am-8:45am I think).  But, anyways, talking with Andreas and Ursula was a very special part of our visit.  In our busy lives, I often don't get to talk to her in a relaxed way without interruptions, and it was nice to get an insight into her past.  I am hoping to get updates on Andreas' life, to see how things turn out...

So, anyways, the countryside of Austria is very pretty, with quaint little houses and towns in the hills.  We started to venture into Graz, but changed our mind, as the kids were still asleep.  The countryside of Slovenia is even prettier (sorry, Ursula!).  The quaint houses are closer to the highway, so it's easier to see them.  They have a specific character - almost a cross between the Austrian houses and swiss chalets, without the wood.  The countryside is very clean, and looks European.

We were tired and decided to try to find a hotel in Ljubjana, the capital.  We got to town around 8pm.  The first hotel I tried (3 stars) was around 170 Euros/night ($225).  I asked for advice on where to find a cheaper hotel.  The next one I tried (as recommended) was full.  Then I followed directions to a hostel and got lucky.  We got a room with 3 beds in it at a hostel called h2ostel (h2o hostel), which is located right on the river in the pretty/historic part of town.  It's perfect.  The room is a little small, but it's all ours!  It feels nice to be able to spread out our stuff and see it all (which will be useful when I pack things up tomorrow for the plane).  We were very relieved to find a place, and I was happy that it was in the part of town that I had wanted.  Searching for a hotel reminded me of the trips I would take with my father & stepmother during high school (in Europe).  We rarely had reservations and would have to go looking for a hotel or room to stay.  That experience had helped me have a little piece of mind, but I was a little worried since I had 3 tired, anxious people waiting on me to come through for them with a hotel room.

After we brought our stuff to our room, we took a nice stroll along the river.  There are tons of cafes and outdoor bars lit up along the way.  Many of them had the soccer game on a large screen for their clients to watch.  Luke and Nathan kept trying to see how the game was going.

We got a bite to eat at a place near a square/public garden.  The buildings in the square were old, beautiful, and very European.  It was exactly what I was looking for.

Now we're back in the hostel.  The kids are ready for bed.  Luke just did some math homework and Nathan has been reading.  We're hoping to get a good night's sleep.  Luke had a croupy cough last night.  We've got our fingers crossed that they both sleep and don't get sick tonight.

Vienna, Monday

The weather was worse today than yesterday (colder, wetter), but we did allright. We saw a more beautiful part of the city today. Yesterday the city seemed just kind of blocky and grey. Very industrial looking in a way, even though it wasn't industry we were looking at, just buildings. Today we were in an older, more beautiful, and "monumental" (Nathan's wording) part of the city. It felt more European and more charming, even though grand. Yesterday felt very impersonal, because of the size and repetitiveness of the buildings.


We went on a train that gave a tour of the ring of the city, where the most impressive buildings are. By the time we got the train, we were cold & kind of miserable. There was a light rain, and a slight wind, and everyone was cold and just wishing to be warm. The train finally came. There weren't any empty seats at first, but we were just happy to be out of the elements. Eventually some seats opened up, and we were able to sit and listen to a recording about the sights that we were around us.

After that tour, we ventured out again. The kids started out strong again, but did start to wilt. We were going to head to a museum (warm but interesting), but decided to stop at McDonalds, to fuel up the kids cheaply. We had peaked into a historical Viennese cafe, but with our chaotic and sometimes picky group, we decided against actually sitting down there. We cause quite a commotion. At McDonalds, we didn't cause much of a distraction, but the food was McDonalds - easy for the kids to like, but not special. We hung out a long time there because kids took a while to eat & there were bathroom needs, and then there was a new excitement for the kids. They realized that when people pay their 50 cents to go to the bathroom, they get a receipt that can be applied towards food, including cookies. So now our kids had a new purpose. Waiting for people to not claim their receipts, so they could grab them and convert that money into cookies (1 Euro each). So that ate up a bit of time. But the kids were happy.

Later we walked through the square again, and took a peak inside St. Stephen's Cathedral. It is the central church in Vienna. It was beautiful on the outside, but it seemed pretty spooky on the inside. I kind of wanted to just get the hell out of there, it was so dark. So much money and effort spent on making it beautiful inside, money that was probably given by poor people hoping to get god on their side. But anyways, the kids were interested in the candles. I wasn't planning on giving them money to light candles for, but Luke asked what they were for. My kids don't have anyone in their lives that has dies that they remember. But then Luke remembered Chuckie, our fish. So I had to give him money to light a candle for Chuckie.

We then headed through the city towards the Natural History Museum. We got there with only 40 minutes left before it closed, but we went in anyways. It was a very cool museum. I wish we had had more time there.

Now we're back home, where it's warm. We haven't been lucky with weather or time (several things that we had planned to do had been unexpectedly closed). But we have gotten a taste of the city.

The scooters have been a life saver. The kids have fun turning various elements in the environment into jumps or ramps for tricks or speed. The kids do end up whiny by the end of the day, but overall, they have been troopers.

I'll post some pictures.

The kids were starting to fight with each other.  Degenerating.

Lighting a candle for Chuckie at St. Stephen's Cathedral.

This horse had been biting this woman (its caretaker), trying to get her attention.  Finally she turned around and kissed it.  That didn't satisfy it.  It bit the back of her shoulder again.  She turned, grabbed it and gave it a bunch of kisses, right on the nose.  It was fun to watch the connection.

Time to cross.  Everyone cross!  NOW!

The inside of the building of the Museum of Natural History was amazing.  Yes, the museum itself was amazing, but the building would have been impressive, even if it were empty.

There was a camera and screen that showed how much heat our bodies were giving off.  We had a lot of fun looking at ourselves and identifying where heat was coming off.  Conclusions:  hair is a good insulator.  JoJo and Ursula have the best insulating hair.  Ursula and Luke look the most like monkeys.

That is Luke, in the background, breakdancing for the heat sensing camera.

Back at Ursula's studio apartment.  3 boys, happily engaged by their computers.  Upstairs another two playing.  On the bed, another one relaxing.

This is the view from up above.  There is a loft where Ursula and her kids are sleeping.  The breakfast area and kitchen and our sleeping area are below.  The space is small, but Ursula has used her ingenuity to maximize its effectiveness.  There is a place for everything.  The height of the room is made use of.  It totally works.  But, I must say, if the kids are restless or wild and it's raining outside, it can seem very small.  If the kids are quietly occupied, it feels very cozy and comfortable.