Friday, January 13

Our vacation to Hungary and Slovenia was great. Things didn't start off well. Our flight to Budapest was delayed six hours, so we spent a good four hours sleeping in a waiting room at the Cairo airport. Once everyone was on board ready to take off, they then informed us that we had to get off and identify all of our luggage and stand there while it was loaded back onto the plane. Joe and I kept our cool while others lost it at that point. I guess this was their first trip to Egypt.

We made it to Budapest and settled into the apartment we had rented. It was really cold, but we were ready this time (Last year in Prague we had no winter coats). We spent a couple of days sightseeing. We went to Castle Hill, St. Stephen's Basilica, and a few other places. The best thing about Hungary was the food. Everything is drowned in a rich, creamy sauce. Mmmm... perfect for cold winter nights.

After a couple of days, we rented a car and drove to Slovenia, mainly because we had an interview there with a school "district" that has schools in several countries around the world. We were pleasantly surprised that the speed on the highways was 130 kph, or about 85 mph. Cars were zooming past us even as we drove that speed. The trip took about eight hours, or six and a half if you don't get lost on the winding roads.

Slovenia was a nice surprise. The Alps were beautiful. We met the directors of the school in the capital, Ljubljana. They were really nice. We had arranged to stay at their house for a couple of nights. Ljubljana is one of the smallest capitals we've seen, (less than 300,000 people) but the architecture is very nice. As with almost every European city, it had a castle on its highest hill. We enjoyed just walking around the city.

We also took about an hour drive to the town of Bled, which is a very picturesque Alpine village. There (again) is a castle on a high hill which overlooks a mountain lake. In the middle of the lake is an island with a church. The highlight of this castle visit was the winery. We both got a chance to bottle our own Slovenian wine. We poured it, corked it, dipped it in beeswax, and stamped the wax label.

The result of our visit to the school was new jobs! We're excited because it's a great school system, with principles we really believe in. We will find out soon where we will be going, and of course, we'll let everyone know as soon as possible. We're really happy about it.

Also important, I got some maternity clothes, so that I have something to wear. It was nice to shop in both countries. I've been growing out of my clothes lately. I'll have to post a picture of my tummy soon.

After Slovenia, we headed back to Hungary for a night, and now, here we are back in Egypt. We have a couple of days to relax some more before we go back to school for midterms.