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Tue 21 Nov, 2006 08:55 pm
Flying out tomorrow to Prague for two nites before boarding a river boat for a 7-day Christmas cruise, and two nites in Budapest. Will be posting a short travelogue with pictures upon my return.
Have a nice trip, c.i. and some pleasant days!
That sounds lovely!
Hope you enjoy it!
Have just returned about one hour ago, and threw my dirty clothes in the wash. Should be pretty well settled in by tomorrow to start the travelogue and posting of some pictures.
Nov-Dec 2006, 11-Days in Europe.
It was short in terms of days, but very long in terms of what we saw and did. I am convinced river boat cruising is an excellent way to see many parts of Europe when there is a time constraint.
PRAGUE:
We started our first two nights in Prague, the Old Town with that famous astronomical clock and Charles Bridge. What many visitors miss is the theater where Mozart first performed Don Giovanni. There are many venues in Prague where concerts composed by the famous are played, but with only two nights, we had to forego this pleasure.
Charles Bridge
For those who have never visited Prague, here's a short summary. It's a great walking city, because most of the attractions and restaurants are within the Old Town Square area. There are only three major sites that covers over 90-percent of what Prague represents for the visitor. The New Town (Wenceslas Square), the Old Town, and Mala Strana (Lesser Town).
Mala Strana is probably the most picturesque of the three, because it's situated on a hill, and many movies have been filmed here including a James Bond movie. Fortifications were built here by Charles IV in 1360-1362, and was almost destroyed twice. The first was a battle between the Hussites in 1419, and the second was the great fire in 1514. But the charm of this place is found in walking, and looking at the baroque churches (St Nicolas Church) and palaces that date from the 17th and 18th centuries, and looking down on the city from the foothills - and for taking pictures, of coarse.
Mala Strana
If you enjoy a journey back in time about 700 years, Old Town Square (Staromestske Namesti) is not to be missed. The Church of Our Lady before Tyn must be viewed during and day and night to really appreciate its beauty, but the Old Town Hall and Astronomical Clock are the most photographed. The square has many nice restaurants to have a meal outside (even in the freezing cold this time of year) across from the Astronomical Clock to watch the world go by.
Church of our Lady before Tyn
ROTHENBERG:
We had lunch on our boat after our tour of Nuremberg, then headed towards Rothenberg about 1:30 PM.
This place is called the Portal to Old Bavaria, and is filled with Gothic and Baroque architecture in this old city that wows any visitor to it. It's about as picturesque as any place on this planet without it being Disneyland. To gain entrance, one must come through many of its towered gates, each one with its own design. The two main streets that forms an "L" meets at the central market square which is dominated by the town hall and its 200-foot tower. Although Rothenberg is known for their many festivals year-long, Christmas Season isn't too shabby, either. We returned back to our boat by 6 PM.
Our entrance into Rothenberg.
Christmas is in the air.
Town Hall
A typical store in Rothenberg.
Another entrance/exit.
Oh, cool, I think this is the first time you've posted pictures to places I've been. Love Prague, have been across that bridge and up to that castle.
Christmas in the air(q2d try).
BTW, the stadium in Nuremberg was used recently for the World Cup soccer games.
We are progressing: Our trip started on November 22, and we're now on November 28, Tuesday, with our boat parked in Passau. Our hour and a half bus ride to Salzburg provided us with a little rest time after going at full speed ahead for the past week.
SALZBURG:
What can be said any more about Salzburg than the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (born on January 27, 1756), who wrote over 600 pieces of music that included such operas as Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, and his final piece, the Requiem. Yes, I visited the Mozart Museum in Salzburg.
World Heritage Site
Mozart Museum
A street scene
A building carved into rock
The Christmas Market was quite large, with many booths occupying the old town square around the cathedral. What was also interesting was the buildings, caves and tunnels carved into the rock not far away. Our group gathered at the main entrance at 3:20 PM, and was on our way to Linz by 3:50 PM.
LINZ:
Darkness comes early to this part of Europe this time of year. We were delivered to our boat by 5 PM, but we gathered in the boat lobby by 5:30 PM for our "orientation" walking tour of the Christmas market only a few blocks from the river. We were treated to a train on wheels drive through the Old City after dinner, and saw the house where Mozart and his wife lived for a short period of time.
Linz Christmas Market
Linz streetcar
A booth at the Christmas Market
Wow! Thanks ci, for the tour. I am enjoying it.
I am glad you enjoyed your trip so much.
Everything sounds wonderful.
Makes me think I have to travel more...
VIENNA:
We arrived at our last port of call, and we left at 9 AM for our included bus and walking tour of the city. Vienna (German: Vein) has a population of 2.2 million, and 20 percent of Austria's population It's the political, economic and cultural center of the country, and it was designated a UNISCO Cultural Heritage Site in 1981. It was home to the Habsburg rulers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that ruled for over 600 years, and their relationship to Napoleon I, II, and III. Vienna's strong point was it's musical culture made famous by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Strauss, Mahler and others who all lived here.
Most of the important sites of Vienna are inside the Circle Road, and they include St Stephens Cathedral, the Peace Memorial, the Opera House, and the Spanish Riding School.
While on the walking tour, we saw Mozart Café where the "Third Man" was filmed; the state opera, the Hofburg, the parliament, city hall, Roman ruins, and the University of Vienna. We were given some free time to roam on our own, later to meet at the entrance of Schonbrunn Palace for an included tour. We took the green line subway from the Opera House to Schonbrunn for .80E (about US$1). I walked to the restaurant where I had dinner with two ladies on my first visit to Vienna many years ago. It still looks inviting as ever, and was disappointed that I couldn't repeat with another meal there. After walking thru forty rooms of the Palace, we visited the Christmas Market on the palace grounds, then met at the front entrance to return by bus to the boat for the Captain's reception at 5:30 PM.
St Stephen's Cathedral
Building sculpture (typical)
Roman ruins
Schonbrunn Palace garden
Schonbrunn Palace Christmas Market
Restaurant at Schonbrunn Palace (ate here Sep 94)
BUDAPEST (Actually two cities, Buda and Pest):
We said our goodbyes to the people we met during the cruise, and transferred by bus from Vienna to Budapest, and stopped twice midway for a pee stop and for lunch. We arrived at the Budapest Marriott by 2 PM, and checked into our rooms. Our room #710 faced the famous Chain Bridge(Sezechenyi Lanchid). We met in the lobby at 2:45 PM for a orientation walk with our tour director, Dorothy (of Germany), to Vaci Street, the main pedestrian mall between the Christmas Market and the big market hall. We had sausage, french fries, and a onion-chicken fry for dinner at the Christmas Market.
The following morning, our last day, the travel company provided us with a half-day tour of Budapest. We started at the Heroe's Square/Millennium Memorial with the Museum of Fine Arts now showing a Van Gogh collection (sold out for the next several months), and the Art Gallery on the opposite side of the square. After about 20-minutes, we were on our way to Castle Hill/District with no castle but a Royal Palace which dates from the 15th century. It was destroyed 31 times according to history. Since this was my third time to this area, I sat in a popular coffee shop to enjoy some pastry and coffee. About eight people in our group eventually came in to enjoy some hot coffee or tea. Our last stop was the big market place at the end of Vaci Street, and most of us had our lunch at one of the counters on the second floor. Another sausage sandwich with beer.
Bill (my roommate) returned to the hotel, but I wanted to see more of Pest's other streets, so I walked, and walked, and walkedÂ… I returned to the hotel about 6:30 PM, and asked Bill if he wanted to go out for dinner. We went to a quaint restaurant on Vaci Street with live music. I had the combo meat plate and Bill had a bowl of soup.
All this in 11-days. I hope you enjoyed this travelogue, and I must apologize for some of the quality of the pictures. When transferring them to Photobucket, it's not possible to see the quality until it's posted on a2k.
Chain Bridge from our room
The train between the Danube and our hotel
Cappuchin at McCafe
Heroes Square
Museum of Fine Arts
NOTE: Bill and I met two couples from Canada near Niagara Falls. We had several meals together, and drinks in the lounge on the boat. They made us "honorary Canadians" and gave us a pin with the Canadian flag.
Stars dedicated to the composers who lived in Vienna - found throughout the main pedestrian streets of Vienna.
Excellent travelogue CI, I enjoyed revisiting Vienna and seeing the places I had missed.
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