This is a picture of the group at the winery in Sremzski Karlovci.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Today dawned bright and steamy. I attempted to sleep in slightly, but I was awoken by 2 teenage girls who wanted to pick up their copies of HP. I gave them directions and gave Eleanor some money and told them they didn't need me to walk 2 blocks to pick up pre-reserved copies of a book in a store with staff who speak English. They got lost even with good directions! Vivian is apparently somewhat hopeless with directions. They found it though and then wondered how they got lost because it was so easy to find!Eleanor read 15 pages and then went shopping with another girl. I read 77 pages while she was gone--I'm a much faster reader. She then took it back and is past me by quite a bit now. (She and Vivian took it with them on the sightseeing excursion today...hopeless!)
We found a little Italian place for lunch and now we are waiting for Stevan to take us to the tour....On a side note, I need to ask today where I can find boxes and packing tape. If I ship our Hungarian souvenirs home, then I don't have to lug them around or include them in my customs declaration according to my guide book. I know where the post office is....now to find the right boxes to send things..probably on the slowest boat through China to keep it cheap.Our suitcases were pretty heavy on and off that train the other day. I think I'm still within the 44lb European luggage limit but I'd rather not risk the excess baggage fees on our next legs.
The tour to Sremski Karlovci was fun. The tour company bought a red double-decker bus from London to do tours in the area. On the country roads, it took up more than half the road. Cars pulled out of our way!We had a guide who told us the history of the town and the area. It spans back to the Romans. We got to peek into an Orthodox service. The church was beautiful and so different...lots of incense, chanting and iconography.We then went to a family winery. They have been in business so long that bottles of their wine were found in the wreckage of the Titanic. We got to try a little of their wines. The Merlot was fine if you like Merlot. The other wine was a (sickenly) sweet dessert wine...I didn't particularly like it. It had a cinnamony taste. I took a ton of pictures, but took them with the good camera instead of the phone so I can't send them to you.
Our last stop was in the mountains of Fruska Gora. There was a park there...it reminded me of Oak Mountain Park, but without the lake. It was at least 20 degrees cooler there with a fairly constant cool breeze. It was heavenly. My favorite picture from the park was actually of 3 little girls who were playing badminton...but with one little girl being the net because they didn't have one!
We came back, had dinner and sat in the courtyard and talked. Vivian has finished HP already...I don't want to know what happens!The girls are going swimming tomorrow afternoon. I think the grown-ups are going to the museums.
There is a car parked somewhere nearby and they are playing a lot of American music on their radio...that is kind of surreal, especially when you consider that there isn't as much English spoken here as there was in Hungary.
I'm going to attempt bed now--wish that guy would turn off his radio though!
Ciao!
K and E
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