Buda

Headed to Castle Hill and the Royal Palace on the Buda side of the Danube. It was a gorgeous morning, destined to be 80ish with an 87 humidity index. But it made for spectacular views against the kek (blue) sky.

Mátyás-templom (Matthias Church) is an understated beauty. Preferable we think to the gilded glory of so many cathedrals. This is subdued and somehow seems more spiritual because of it. It’s called Matthias after a Renaissance era king, rather than a saint, though it has an official church name as well.

Somehow like a cathedral through a sepia lens.

Adjacent is the Fisherman’s Bastion with sweeping views of Pest and the Danube. You just stand there and soak it in.

A short walk away is the Royal Palace, destroyed many times, used by conquering military’s over the years and notable mostly for its grounds.

Buda didn’t take as long as we’d expected, so we headed to the Vasatcsarnok or Great Market Hall. Three floors of fun shops, though the linens and clothing were definitely representative of traditional Hungarian crafts they seemed manufactured rather than artisan.

We were in search of paprika – available in most any container and type ie spicy, sweet and smokey. Purchases were made!

There are fruit, veg and meat markets here that are definitely for Hungarians. It’s a bustling and fun place! We didn’t choose to dine in the many food stalls – the traditional Hungarian fare seemed too heavy for the hot afternoon.

An early night for us!

jó éjszakát!


Pest (Pronounced “Pesh”)

So, this is our fourth currency this trip!!! Zloty’s (Poland), Koruna (Czech Republic), Euro (Slovakia), and the Florint (Hungary). The Florint has the most inflated exchange rate to wrap our dollar bound minds around. It’s like Monopoly money! I mean I started the day out with 50,000!!

We had a great day today. We explored the Pest sights on our side of the Danube.

Andrassy Blvd (Broadway and 5th Avenue rolled into one), Liszt Square,

Heroe’s Square and

City Park. We saw Vajdahunyad Castle, located the Rick Steves 🔺🔺🔺 rated Szechenyl Baths for our planned public thermal bath house experience (which we’ve carried bathing suits around four countries for) and wandered about the park.

Szokokut Fountain on Margit Island dances away to primarily English and American Pop for some reason. We heard the Herman’s Hermits tune No Milk Today! That’s a little odd, don’t you think? Could’ve stayed around for Rolling Stones, Guns and Roses and, of course, the Beatles……

We got ourselves on public transit to Margit Island and were drenched in an afternoon thunderstorm on the way back into Pest. Not to be deterred, we went to the Opera House. It’s less than a block from us and they didn’t seem to mind we looked like drowned rats……..

The Opera is in renovations at present so we had a tour (sans the famous gold leaf auditorium) and learned about the social life of the Opera before we heard a 10 minute version of Figaro on the grand staircase. It was actually just enough operatic entertainment to leave us smiling and humming rather than worried about understanding the language and storyline. Beautiful voices and coquettish acting.

This afternoon we deserved our before dinner “rest” (code word for nap if that might happen when you get your feet off the ground……..) and dressed for an evening out.

Didn’t have to go far to have a great meal and enjoy a more energetic vibe of a place called Menza. Goulash in Hungary is indeed yummy.

And home. It really was a nice day!

But not everything is ‘tourist happy’ in Budapest.

We walked by the South Korean Embassy early today. It is enshrined with flowers, candles and poems for the victims of a Danube evening cruise that capsized just before our arrival. At the time of this writing seven are hospitalized, seven are dead and the others of the 33 South Korean tourists and two boatmen are missing, presumed dead. The Danube is cold this early in summer and currently burgeoning- so swift and dangerous for smaller boats. It happened near the Parliament building. Victims/bodies were found up to two miles away. The Chain Bridge also has flower remembrances on it.

And the end of our adventure begins…….

An essentially uneventful train to Budapest ( which isn’t to say I didn’t spend an unusual amount of energy checking and rechecking platform assignment etc!!!). It sounds beyond exotic to me that I’ll be in such a romanticized city. The scenery is much the same – those green rolling hills.

We’ve gotten ourselves oriented slightly to Pest (one side of the Danube in this metropolis). But we’re glued to our maps and still get off track by a couple blocks at a try! Part of the fun – after you sort it out.

You can tell it’s Saturday night!

The historical Szechenyl Ianchid or Chain Bridge links the two cities Buda and Pest – turned Budapest in 1873.

Looking up to the castle district on the Buda side.

Sven István Bazilika (St Steven’s Cathedral).

Budapest seems larger and grander than anything we’ve seen this trip. The buildings are sweeping and ornate. It’s gonna be wonderful to explore!

Bratislava

Began our day by securing our train travel out of Bratislava. Used the bus to get to the station with instructions from our kind reception guy, Dusan. Took us some 10 mins to sort out the right bus line and make a ticket purchase, bought our train ticket, then helped someone else get to the zentrum via bus. We then felt so emboldened we thought we might be able to get to the castle and walk down rather than hike up without really seeing a metro map. Well, only one stop beyond zentrum we found we were in Aupark and the no mans land near the UFO. Somehow seemed destined to be, so up we went.

The view from the Communist era UFO. Actually nice and what we’d thought we’d appreciate from he castle grounds.

This view is a little different. Can you read “Are you enjoying the view?” That’s what we were treated to from the toilet!!!!

Since we were nearly there we walked on the Danube promenade to the Eurovea- the modern area of the city attracting guests and energy. Passed a flotilla of cruise ships. We had a relaxing riverside lunch with a breeze and people watched. The joy of no plan or timeline is a pleasure.

Back into the city and saw the sights in sun. Just knocked about until our afternoon break.

The Peeper is no longer in a puddle!

We approached our final evening here differently. As groups arrived here for the weekend, we stopped at one outside cafe after another for a drink and absorbed the ambience and feel of a Friday night in the city. Saw some more groups of men partying (either stag or college frivolity including some outlandishly silly costumes). About 9’ish the crowd looks to be a clubbing crowd and a certain boisterousness begins. It’s fun!

We managed both a fancy afternoon dessert (Mary discovered a regional specialty – a meringue roll split to hold a caramel or berry mousse – nice) and an ice cream cone on the last saunter up Michalska Brana to our hotel.

Were off again tomorrow!

St Michal’s gate as we leave Bratislava. Our hotel recepcion manager, Dusan, took us out of old town with our bags and nested us in our taxi to the train. He was a smiling, helpful part of our stay!!

On to BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA!!!!

Another drive, this time through the Wachau Valley and along the Danube. That means we cross the border into Austria on our way to Slovakia! Today’s sunshine makes the greens on the rolling hills so fresh and verdant. Continues to be reminiscent of our PNW in topography and flora.

A curiousity pops up several times – a tall log post with a live, now-dead dry fir tree. Haven’t been able to find the reference yet though it may be in some way related to the Czech Witches Night that happens April 30-May 1st.

Another McDonalds bathroom break and we see fun little things like the car “wash box” and “pimp up your burger” ads at McDonald’s.

Along the way we see Krems from a distance, stop in a camping park to view Durnstein from the opposite side of the Danube and lunch/quick “sightsee” in Melk. We appreciated the scenery and little villages we drove through and generally liked being close up to less touristy places. Real people live in some of the quaintest of settings along this route.

The Danube was so high the ferry across to Durnstein was closed. Harold and I stayed in the castle many years ago on our first international trip. Opulent treat for us back then.

Melk’s attraction was it’s abbey and hillside town. We hiked up to the abbey grounds and chose not to pay for a peek at yet another golden frosted church interior. But this one seems to be striking some modern notes in its grounds.

Our driver, Justice from Deben, South Africa originally where he was fostered by a vicar, is relatively new to the Czech Republic. He’s friendly, has a rich chuckle and calls our president that “Trump Fellow”. He speaks 5 languages and most recently hails from London. He gets us to Bratislava and inside the city gate in the rain which we seem to be having trouble outrunning!

The main square is “drippy” and not as showy as most.

Bratislava is, we read, a new and hip destination as it restores its old town and looks to the future. We’re excellently situated just inside St. Michael’s Gate (Mary and Rick Steves chose the place) and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.

Mary met Schoner Naci, a carpet cleaner and town character, who greeted folks until the ’60’s in his suit and top coat.

And we found his friend on the square, Cumil (the peeper), who has no history – just an artists whim and our imagination.

Dinner tonight at Martin’s suggestion (our driver between Krakow and Prague) at Koliba Kamzik- a really lovely, traditional restaurant and meal.

St. Michael’s Gate in the old city walls from Michalska Brana on our way back to our hotel.

Dobru Noc! Oh, and may I mention that we had NO dessert tonight!

C Krumlov is still gray and rainy. But the castle calls and we wonder about what is undoubtedly a picture perfect dream of a medieval city on better weather days.

A bear pit instead of a moat here – none to be seen and we wonder if they exist now…..

We behaved and I can’t show a photo of the most interesting part of the castle grounds – a baroque theater. Restored and fascinating use of illusion to create a 100 meter stage vision from 30 meters space. All run by two men under the stage, they used animals on stage and fire for special effects (that burnt down all but two such theaters in Europe). It was quite fascinating.

These are from a postcard……

We spent the day exploring with the views or shops obscured by our hoods and umbrellas.

Cozy dinner in our hotel. The best apple strudel ever!!

POSTSCRIPT

The sun shines on us and C. Krumlov as we leave! Had time for a walkabout before our departure. The sun makes a difference. As we drive out of town I even see a flotilla of rafts in the river.

Off to Cesky Krumlov a medieval UNESCO world heritage city, but not until a plump Czech dressed characterization of a hotel manager gave us a special Hotel Hastal coin for our departure and Mary and I gave him an earful about the WiFi. He played dumb (he has to have known) and eventually followed Mary around to give her $20 (that’s about 450cz). Hrumph.

About a three hour shuttle to C. Krumlov with a group of sleeping Asian women. The terrain and foliage are very Pacific Northwest, down to the rain clouds! But we can recognize beautiful countryside through the raindrops. Sadly our bathroom stop was a McDonald’s (they’re everywhere, along with KFC and Starbucks) but unlike those at home the bathrooms were not at all dependably clean. At trips end we have NO time to chat up our driver, Petr, as our arrival to the square from which we needed to walk coincides with a heavy downpour. But the hotel is just round the corner.

The old portion of Krumlov is encircled by its river. In summer it’s full of rafting and canoes. Remarkably saw three this afternoon and a group of adults (one in wet suit) bracing for their river run with hot chocolates!

The castle from our side of the river.

Excellent pho for lunch and a traditional dinner at the pub-like Na Louzi. The best of the day was ………ta dah….. dessert! Almond cake and apple strudel. We’re pretty laid back – the town is sleepy in the rain.

Prague Splurge

We treated ourselves to the loveliest dinner and view of Prague. Because. The restaurant was partially reserved for a wedding party which meant we were listening to romantic English pop covers in the background. (We knew them all!).

We chose to taxi to the top of the Prasky Hrad and walk down a bit to the Richter Vineyards where the Piano Nobile restaurants sits on the edge of the view. So much quieter and royal feeling when it’s not covered in tourists.

Breathtaking view!

And then this gorgeous meal served by Pavel. The staff were attentive and made us feel special.

Pavel suggested an excellent Pinot Noir from Moravia. (Servers tell us whites are the strength of Czech wineries.)

To say nothing of the salmon bouche, the salad, bread and wonderful desserts!!!!!

And then we meandered down the hill, across the river to our hotel. An enchanted evening.

Báječné.   

This is the day we actually spent the morning in the Spanish Synogogue. We walked again through the Jewish Quarter and saw the shops with yarmulkes, Golem cookies (a anthropomorphic creature created from mud by Rabbi Bezalel that initially was helpful and then had to be destroyed because it turned bad – I’m a little unclear about it) and menorahs.

We walked over to the Little Quarter again and found the Lennon Wall. It spontaneously arose at the news of his death and persists despite efforts to end it. Now it is celebrated and is a place of expression. The Beatles still touch us all.

People were adding to the wall while we were there. It must be layers and layers deep.

This was a more artisan area after you got off the main street at the St Charles Bridge. Some quiet parks and residences. And this nice place to watch the world go by from.

Dinner near our hotel (Katr) and then we returned to the Spanish Synagogue for a concert performed by members of the Czech Collegium Symphony Orchestra. Three violins, a cello, an expressive bassist and a female soloist. Varied program: Bolero, Carmine Burana, Elvira, a little Gerschwinn and then traditional Jewish songs. Sounds a little weird when I write it, but the music was lovely and the acoustics astounding. Finished with Hava Nagila (Let Us Rejoice). That’s the thing about vacations – they pique your curiousity enough to do things like look up the titles of songs you’ve heard for years to give you context.

And another day sets.

New Town

Found the Hraldska Market in the Old Town but if it were not for the beautifully displayed fruits we wouldn’t have found anything that evoked old world market. We did, however, on our way through New Town stumble into a real neighborhood market where we enjoyed the ambience a great deal.

Next up the Narodni Muzeum/National Muzeum – a beautiful building with mostly empty rooms except for their Czech leaders “Pantheon”.

Narodni Muzeum

Saw the least appealing Gehry designed building I’ve encountered yet.

And then we crossed the river to have a lovely lunch and gorgeous view from the Manu Restaurant. It sits on an island in the river. We were treated to our lunch by Ron and Else Nichols who had been here just months ago! Special!

The walk back took us across Shooters Island and through a children’s festival. It’s fun to see families out together enjoying themselves. And to hear there laughter. We saw lots of toys and games we didn’t recognize, but they all had children smiling.

Did I mention that dessert habit? Coffee, Tiramisu and Profiteroles in the square ……….. Dobrou Noc

We’re encountering large groups of grooms men on bachelor weekends. They’re pretty intent on drinking to excess! Our driver, Martin, says many of the groups fly over from the UK for their debauchery. We did see a couple smaller bachelorette groups too. And the square is being set for something tomorrow!