It’s 1985 and I have just finished my junior year of high school. My parents and I embark on a three-week trip to Europe, but I’d much rather be at home with my friends.

We spend three harrowing days in Vienna. Why do I say harrowing? Because I blew out my contact lens cleaning machine when I forgot to use the correct electrical adapter. I’m forced to wearing my glasses for an entire evening until we purchase a new machine.

Then, my parents have the brilliant idea of hiring a guide to take us to Budapest for the day. Back then, Hungary was still a communist country and I really didn’t want to be stuck behind the Iron Curtain and miss my senior year of high school. The day trip turned out fine, but I had written postcards to my friends telling them if I didn’t come home at the end of June, my family and I were being held prisoner in Hungary.

Now that we leave Vienna and head towards Venice, where we’ll get on a cruise ship, I relax a bit. We drive through Austria and spend the night near Klagenfurt at a resort called Portschach. It is beautiful! Lake Worthersee, sailboats and plenty of outdoor activities manage to turn my sour disposition around. The next day, we go through Lake Bled in Yugoslavia. It’s another warm-weather town with a lake. Although we don’t spend much time there, I vow to return.

Fast forward several decades.  After finalizing a cruise departing Venice, I know where I want to take my family first. You guessed it – Portschach, Austria and Lake Bled, Slovenia. (more…)