Shoes by the Danube

Along the banks of the Danube in Budapest is this very moving memorial to the Jews of the city who were killed on this spot.  "Shoes on the Danube Bank" remembers the people who were shot into the Danube during WWII.  The sculptor created sixty pairs of period-appropriate shoes out of iron. 

The victims  were ordered to take off their shoes, and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. The shoes are placed as if they had been flung off in the panic.

Iron signs in Hungarian, English and Hebrew read: "To the memory of the victims shot into the Danube by Arrow Cross militiamen in 1944-1945". I learned that Arrow Cross was a fascist Hungarian unit and that this massacre happened shortly before the city was liberated by the Russians.

The head of the Swedish Red Cross in Budapest and also the diplomat Raoul Wallenberg along with many others were working around the clock to save the Jews from being sent to the Nazi concentration camps. Thousands were saved.  This memorial helps us remember those who were not.

Romanian Castles

Castles in Romania are the stuff of fairytales and horror legends! The castles are alluring, not only for their haunting beauty but for all the legends and history that surround them.  We visited three on our recent jaunt through the country.  

First Castle Peles which was constructed at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century for King Carol I of Romania.  The castle was used by Romanian royalty until the end of the monarchy and the beginning of Communism. In the 1950s, it was transformed into a museum. 

Castle Peles

The inside is super luxurious with lots of wood paneling and intricate carvings.

The entryway is definitely fit for a king!

If you have been to Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany the interior may look slightly familiar. That's because the royal family was originally German.  If you watched the totally inane Christmas movie, "A Christmas Prince" the outdoor scenes were filmed here.  And if you did watch it, don't feel bad, I watched it too! 

The most famous castle is Bran Castle, which is popularly known as Dracula's Castle even though  the 'real' Dracula, Vlad Tepes, never lived here. And in fact, Stoker's description of Dracula's crumbling castle in his novel Dracula bears no resemblance to Bran Castle. Michael Wilcox says that it is funny that people want to see the real Dracula's castle, sort of like people who go to Verona, Italy to see Romeo and Juliet's balcony!  These are fictional characters!  There is no REAL Dracula's Castle or Juliet balcony.  Still it is fun to walk through and imagine the castle as home to the royal family or withstanding a siege or housing the undead! Because the building was started in the 14th century, it has a totally different look from Peles Castle.  

Bran Castle

This area of Romania has been under both Romanian and Hungarian control.  During WW II,  Princess Ileana of Romania ran a hospital here.  

The castle and surrounding countryside are quite beautiful but the castle did have a brutal medieval past.  Also there are Romanian legends about undead souls that haunt the villagers at night. 

 And yes there are secret passages!

Last Romanian castle on our itinerary was Corvin Castle, also known as Hunyadi Castle or Hunedoara Castle.  They call it a Gothic-Renaissance Castle.  Construction started in 1446 and additions and renovations continued into the 17th century, plus according to the guidebooks:

The current castle is the result of a fanciful restoration campaign undertaken after a disastrous fire and many decades of total neglect. It has been noted that modern "architects projected to it their own wistful interpretations of how a great Gothic castle should look"

Corvin Castle

Inside I could just picture the King and Queen eating a meal in the Great Hall while all the intrigue of a great court swirled around them.

I imagine the courtiers in their small bedrooms as they plotted.  Maybe I've been watching too many movies about King Henry the 8th and his court!

Anyway, it is an impressive place!

One interesting legend concerns the 30 meter deep well in the courtyard.  Supposedly the well was dug by 3 Turkish prisoners (from the Ottoman Empire) to whom liberty was promised if they reached water.  After 15 years they completed the well, but their captors did not keep their promise.  It was said that the inscription on a wall of the well means "you have water but not soul".  Specialist, however have translated. the inscription as "he who wrote this inscription is Hasan, who lives as a slave of the giaours (infidels), in the fortress near the church."

It is fascinating to take a stroll through history.  

Storks

 My Great Grandmother Lelia Grace Witherspoon Webster loved birds.  Even though she died before I was born, I seem to have inherited that love from her.  Seeing storks on our recent trip to Eastern Europe was thrilling.

These birds migrate all the way from Africa to Europe and typically return to the same nest year after year.  They add new material each year so that some nests have grown as large as 97 inches in diameter, 6.5 feet high, and weigh between a whopping 1100 and 1980 pounds.

There are two nests in this photo.  One is at the top of the tree and the other on top of a chimney. 

Although they originally nested in trees, storks easily adapted to human activity and today call rooftops and chimneys their most common nesting sites.  In Roman times, if a stork built a nest on your roof, it was seen as a blessing and a promise of never-ending love from Venus.

Storks make great parents. 

The adult birds are known for their parental dedication; they continue to feed and care for their offspring well after they can fly.

When Scandinavian parents needed a convenient explanation for how babies arrived, they repeated the story of a stork delivering new bundles of joy down the chimney chute.  After all they do have easy access to chimneys! Hans Christian Anderson wove this folklore into his 1838 fairy tale "The Storks".

A stork caught at the very moment of a baby delivery!

Danube Cruise - Two Desserts

George and I just got back from a visit to Romania and a cruise along the Danube River to visit the countries of Croatia, Serbia, and Bulgaria.  So many things we loved....traveling with John and Katherine, our Fun For Less Tour guides and educator, new friends, old friends, new cultures, great scenery, castles, and cathedrals.....

Sunset on the Danube

One of the best parts of a cruise is that you can enjoy not one but TWO yummy desserts!

Life is short so eat dessert first and if you can eat two!

Mary's Visit

Mary and Mark have been married for more than 18 years but haven't been able to have children.  I have a very small inkling of the pain they have gone through as I also suffered from infertility, although only for a few years so it really isn't comparable.  Watching her go through this trial has been one of the hardest things, I've experienced.  As a parent you so want to 'fix' things for your child and it is painful when you can't.

Last summer I got an early morning call from Mary.  She's on the east coast and I was in Portland so when the phone rang just after 6 a.m. and I saw Mary's number I knew that something BIG had happened.  And it was something life changing! They had just gotten a call that there was a new born foster baby that needed a home and would they like him.  WOULD THEY????? Only one answer to that question!

So the journey of being a foster parent started for those two wonderful people - Mary and Mark.  They were warned that it was going to be an emotional roller coaster and in some ways it was.  For some reason though, I always felt peaceful about it.  I got advice from another foster mother to treat this event just as I would have if my daughter had given birth, so I flew right out to be with them.

Oh what joy! 

Watching them reminded me of the scripture from the Book of Mormon, "Oh what joy and what marvelous light I did behold, yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!  Yea, I say unto you, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains.  Yea, and again I say unto you, that on the other hand, there could be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy!"

Recently Mary and Mark were officially named the 'pre-adoptive parents' which meant that the baby could travel out of state so they made the trek to Idaho!

More joy all around as others of the family got to meet this little love!

Isabella fell in love with her baby cousin, as did Monica, Matt and George.  Poor Grandpa had a terrible cold so he could only love him from across the room.  Didn't want to share his germs! And Uncle Scott was so busy with the end of soccer season in Portland, that he couldn't get away to meet his nephew.

One of the best weeks ever as I got to spend time with BOTH my grandchildren!

Shoshone Falls

We took a Saturday day trip to Twin Falls to see Shoshone Falls in all her springtime glory. Wonderful day!

Monica got a little taste of home when we ate at the Patagonia Restaurant - an Argentine Restaurant that had been recommended to her.

The empanadas didn't disappoint.

After lunch we drove to the falls. There is an impressive amount of water going over this spring!

The last time Johnny and Monica saw the falls, there wasn't nearly as much water.  I just love that their little family is always going out and having adventures.  I'm glad that occasionally we get to go along as well.

Isabella's favorite thing was rock climbing!

She was very impressed with herself!

 I think she must have inherited this love of climbing from her Uncle Matt.

 I had to convince Isabella that she couldn't take her clothes off to go swimming.  As I've said before she is quite the little fish.  There was water, so why not swim???

I surely love this little cutie! And I think she loves me too!

Monica had heard about another smaller waterfall so we found that one too. 

Naturally we had to walk behind it since John and Bella were thirsty!

I love spending time with my family!