Day 24 and 25: Cesky Krumlov (Eric)

Day 24 and 25:  June 20th and 21st, 2019. I’ve run out of creative ways to describe some of the amazing experiences we’ve had on this trip. Having said that, Cesky Krumlov is definitely worth checking out if you’re in the Czech Republic. It is like stepping back in time. The whole central part of the town is a permanent renaissance festival. Ironically enough, we arrived as they were setting up for the Five-Petalled Rose Celebration which is a historical celebration where they have re-enactments, arts and crafts, and so much more. It was cool to see. 

We had so much fun wandering the streets and exploring the castle, gardens, shops, and churches of this historic and vibrant town. I wish I could bottle-up the feeling and take it home with me. 

I’m going to cut this post short as we’re on a train to our next destination, Prague, and I want to try to post it before we arrive. And now for some more woefully inadequate pictures...

And of course my personal favorite sight, the bear moat... 

Since I have a little more time, I wanted to share a random moment during our stay in Cesky Krumlov. As we were lounging in our hotel room this morning with the windows open (no air conditioning), we heard a loud screeching noise from the streets below. We looked out the window, and a delivery truck had broken an axle, and it’s right front tire was at an extremely odd angle. 

This is where the fun really started, but I have to emphasize that we both felt horribly for the driver. Anyway, the streets in the historic part of town are extremely narrow, and it was a sight to see cars pulling around his truck coming dangerously close to hitting pedestrians, the truck, or the walls of the houses. It was fascinating to see the range of reactions of passerby’s as some yelled, some starred, and some acted as if it wasn’t even there. The police showed up, and we thought that they would help direct traffic for the poor driver, but no, they glanced at the situation and left. Anyway, the driver finally got help from a lady tow-truck driver who definitely didn’t fit the stereotype of what you’d imagine in that role. The whole thing was fascinating and took several hours to resolve as it continued through breakfast and as we packed our bags. Here are some pictures documenting the event. 

Day 23: Return to Vienna (Eric)

Day 23: June 19th, 2019. We returned to Vienna for one more night as it was closer to our next destination, Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. We stayed in the central area of Vienna this time around because we had a booked a shuttle to take us directly from our hotel to Cresky Krumlov. 

Returning to a city we’d already been to was a rare treat on this trip as we were already partially familiar with the geography. We ate linner (as we like to call the random meals we eat at odd times due to travel) at the Naschmarkt. This is a fascinating street market that is about 1.5 kilometers long. It’s worth wandering through if you’re in Vienna. 

We then wandered the central part of the city with the intent of finding the costumed-concert ticket-sellers that you can find around Vienna. We enjoyed our concert experience so much in Salzburg that we decided to attend another one (more on that later). We found one in front of a Mozart statue, and immediately noticed that the concert venues in Vienna are larger and more expensive, but we decided to go for it as the concert we were interested in was almost sold out. 

After checking out some more sights, we got ready for our concert experience. 

Now, onto the concert... first of all, I do recommend the whole experience, but Vienna as a concert venue was a different experience from Salzburg. Some of these differences were good and some not so good. 

We’ll start with the good, the venue was another spectacular location for an orchestral performance. We sat in the balcony which provided an amazing view of the whole hall. The music was absolutely sublime and performed incredibly well. This time there was a much larger orchestra that even included opera singers performing both solos and duets, which were absolutely breathtaking. The musicians wore period costumes which also added to the uniqueness of the event. The music pieces were definitely more recognizable, and included a fabulous rendition of The Blue Danube Waltz by Strauss. 

Now onto the bad... tourists can be annoying. Of course, I recognize the irony in this statement as we are tourists ourselves, but we found the behavior of some of the concert-goers to be particularly reprehensible at this performance. It was announced in multiple languages that taking pictures or video of the performance was not allowed. So what do some people do the minute the music started? They broke out their phones and some even went as far as to film over our shoulders. This is what annoyed us more than the people who were slyly trying to take pictures. It was the sheer brazen disregard for the etiquette of the experience. I felt particularly bad for the ushers as they spent the entire time trying to police the bad behavior. I completely understand wanting to capture the memory, but not at the cost of interfering with the overall enjoyment of the rest of the audience. 

Our “favorite” culprit was asked repeatedly to stop filming, and she still was trying to sneak pictures and film of the performance. When it became clear that she could no longer get away with filming, she began watching her videos during the performance, shaking my head. 

Day 22: Budapest (Eric)

Day 22: June 18th, 2019. This day completely erased the minor SNAFU’s of the previous day. Sometimes the days we have the least on the agenda are the most enjoyable. We decided to use our transit pass to simply explore Budapest as we saw fit. 

Our first stop was the city park which was a beautiful green space which also contained a number of interesting sights. The first was the Széchenyi Thermal Baths which we decided to forego visiting, partly because of the lack of bathing suits (it wasn’t that kind of bath house), but primarily because of our experiences at the Rudas Baths yesterday. However, it was an interesting building to see from the outside. 

That’s the cool thing we’ve discovered about the cities we’ve visited. While there are sights you have to pay to enter, there is plenty to see that’s free. 

Next, we wandered through the park to Heroes’ Square, an iconic statue complex featuring important figures from Hungarian history. It was cool to see both the park and the square, also both free. 

On to my favorite destination in the park, Vajdahunyad Castle. I have always had a fascination with castles that stems back to my childhood exploration of castles growing up in England. This castle has an interesting history because it was originally built in 1896 from cardboard and wood as part of a Millennium Exhibition to celebrate the 1,000 years of Hungary since the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895, but later in 1904 it was made more permanent with stone and brick. The castle grounds were cool to explore (and free!) and contained several interesting statues, such as Anonymous (an unknown Hungarian chronicler of an early history of Hungary) and Bela Lugosi (the Hungarian actor who gained fame for his portrayal of Dracula). 

And I made a new friend...

After leaving the park, we went to lunch at a place called Smart Kitchen, which was kind of a micro-version of a Genghis Grill, only with better tasting food. It was a fun and incredibly cheap way to eat lunch. 

We took a short break back at the hotel before heading to Liberty Square. This ended up being an unexpected insight into Hungarian history. The square was built as a monument to the Soviet liberation from Nazi Germany during World War II. 

The interesting part was that some Hungarians feel that labeling it as a liberation from an occupation is misleading and doesn’t acknowledge that Hungary was cooperating with the Germans. As a result, other installations that are designed to capture the more accurate portrayal of history have sprung up around the city. The Shoes on the Danube Bank was one example, and this square contains another, which displays memorabilia from some of the victims of the Holocaust. It was a powerful lesson in the different ways people view history. 

Then, we had a much lighter experience, although not from a calorie-counting perspective, at Mr. Funk, a local doughnut shop. It was a fun place to grab a cold drink and a tasty snack. 

As we continued to wander, we stumbled upon St. Stephen’s Basilica. This is yet another impressive church that seem to be on every street corner in this city. 

On to the Central Market, which was an indoor farmer’s market that was cool to explore. 

After leaving the market, we wandered back to our hotel taking in a few more sights along the way. 

After a break, we decided to spend our last evening in Budapest on a night cruise along the Danube. It was a magical and surreal experience, a perfect end to an almost perfect visit to an amazing city. On a side note, I also have to put in a plug for Lucky 7, a fun burger place where we ate before the cruise.