We arrived at 9am and, with just a little searching, found a bus to take us to Alexanderplatz. We were going to take a taxi to our hotel but realized that the city distances look bigger on a map than in real life. We opted therefor to walk the short distance to our hotel, The Capri by Fraser on the Museum island.
The hotel is quite nice and, we discovered, brand new. In fact, as guests we have been invited to the grand opening reception on our last night here.
After a short nap we headed out to do a bit of exploring. We headed west from our hotel on the island and arrived at the Berlin Dom (cathedral), a gorgeous 19th century domed church. An audio guided tour was available for 7 euros and we took advantage of this.
One would assume this ornate and impressive church is Catholic rather than Lutheran, but one would be wrong. This protestant house of worship breaks with tradition and is as beautiful and intricately decorated as any of the great basillicas we have seen.
A great surprise awaited us when half way through our tour the masive pipe organ began to play Bach's Toccatta and Fuge. We were treated to a 15 minute concert enjoying a program that showed off the range of the organ as well as the marvelous accoustics.
After our church tour we took a stroll up and around the Alexanderplatz. This is in the former East Berlin has the Radio Tower as its centerpiece. We explored older cobbled streets and stopped for a late lunch at a "bier garten" that we had passed earlier called Zum Paddenwirt. We had a of pint of Berliner Kindle pilsner and home made and delicious soups with pumpernickle.
We usually take it fairly easy on our first day getting over jet lag etc. - thus our evening was spent mostly exploring around our hotel and having a typical german supper (bratwurst, sauerkraut, shnitzle etc.) at at the Brauhaus Georgebraeu.
Our Monday started with breakfast at the hotel followed by a 15 minute walk to the start point for our Berlin walking tour, Hackescher Markt. Here we met our guide Rick who took us on a 3.5 hour tour of the sights of Berlin while filling us in on its turbulent history. Some of the highlights were: Humbolt University, The Bundestag (Parliment), The Brandenburg Gate, and The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The memorial is signifigant in it's name and impressive in its size. To walk through it you feel a sense of disconection, disorientation and singularity that gives each person a unique experience of rememberance.
We had lunch at a cafe on Unter den Linden (a large boulevard that connects the gate to the palace complex on the Museum Island) with Bruce and Sandra, a couple we met on the tour.
After lunch we did some more exploring on our own and stopped for a beer at cafe near our hotel called Zille Distille, named after an artist who lived nearby in the 1920's.
Later we had an excellent meal at a charming little restarant that Brian found called Gasthaus Zur Rippe and ended our day with a walk along the River Spree.
Today was an taxi ride to Kurfurstendam, a large boulevard lined with upmarket shopping, surrounded by luxury residences, and modeled on the Champs Elysee in Paris. This was the location of our tour bus to take us on our guided tour of Potsdam and the summer palace of Fredrick the Great, Sans Souci.
Potsdam is a charming 15th century town and home to several palaces and royal parks. Sans Souci is the earliest and most famous.
When we arrived at the Potsdam Bridge, or Bridge of Spies, we were joined by Helen, our guide for the day. The palace while smaller than others is an excellent example of Rococo style and very beautiful. It sits atop a series of garden terraces overlooking a huge royal park.
We had a market lunch in the Dutch quarter of the town and enjoyed a small stroll after before returning to Berlin.
In Berlin we set off for a subsantial walk to the Brohan Museum of Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Functionalism. This museum is small, but has an exquisite collection of furniture, as well as graphic and decorative arts.
We took the U Bahn (or subway) back to Alexanderplatz and stopped for a beer by the river before heading back to the hotel.
Later we opted to break with the German cuisine for the evening and went for Italian at a nearby restaurant called Solino.
We began today with an early morning visit to the Bundestag (formerly the Reichstag). This is the seat of the German government and where parliment meets in public (as is the law). We had reserved a 9 am start time for our tour of the roof terrace and dome. The dome is a huge glass structure with accending and desending spiral ramps. The views are astounding and the free audio guide explains what you are looking at as you proceed on the ramps. Well worthwhile.
After our tour we were invited in to see a Louis Vuiton exhibit at the company's building on the Unter den Linden. We had a relaxing schedule for the rest of the day and spent it (as is our norm) walking around, window shopping and exploring for several hours.
For supper we ate at Alt Berliner Wirtshaus and set out to walk off the excellent but heavy meal. Upon our return to the hotel we were invited to join in the grannd opening celebrations in the lobby and bar. It was a well attended party and we had a great time. We did have to get to bed at a decent time, however, as our train for the next day would be quite early. Next stop Dresden.
Our train ride was not fantastic as the coaches and seating were not clearly marked or followed by the passengers. People were in other peoples assigned seats and we ended up in the wrong car (being directed thus). The long and short of it is - we stood, as did several others, with our luggage for the one hour fifty minutes to Dresden. Not great but we now know a bit more about how to use the trains, so we will see how it goes in a few days.
Dresden is worth the trouble we took getting here. Our apartment hotel is located at the edge of the old town and across the moat from the palace coutyard and orangerie. Next to this is the Palace Residence which is now a museum containing the world famous "Green Vault". The enormity of this collection of priceless objects is almost indescribable and quite overwhelming. Bronzes, ivory, amber, jewels, marble, gold and silver displayed in vaulted and mirrored rooms. Incredible! These treasures were all removed to safety in 1942 and so survived the fire bombing of most of Dresden and much of the palace nearer to the end of the war.
We had a lunch of a fantastic goulash soup at Cafe Alex next to the palace before returning to the palace to tour further treasure rooms and a costume exhibit of 16th and 17th century Great Electors and Electresses who were also the kings and queens of Poland.
Our room was not quite ready when we returned so we, on the recomendation of the desk clerk, enjoyed a beer at a micro brewery (brauhaus) about two blocks away.
Supper was at an excellent Italian restaurant called Classico Italiano located in the center of the old town across from the Frauenkirche.
We picked up our Skoda Rapid in Dresden under sunny skies and set off on our 4 hour journey south west to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Driving the Autobahn is, while fast, extremely civilized. All trucks and larger vehicles remain in the far right lane to allow faster moving cars to drive in the middle lane and pass in the left lane. No traffic jams, no confussion, and best of all no speed limit for the most part. We were travelling on average at 140 - 150 kph and were being passed on the left by cars going at least 20 kph faster than us. The drive was uneventful and quite beautiful, and we reached our destination almost exactly on schedule.
Rothenburg is a picturesque medieval town surrounded by walls and ramparts. Winding cobbled streets lined by 14th -17th century half timbered houses painted in a rainbow of colours greet you upon arrival. The town is on top of a hill surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs overlooking the Tauber River. The houses in the town centre have mostly been converted into hotels, restaurants and shops. However, unlike other town of this type we have been to, the modern does not fight with the historic and it all seems rather organic.
Miraculously the town surrvived the war with only a small ammount of dammage. This was due to the fact that the town was given the option, by the U.S., to surrender rather than be completely destroyed. As It turns out, the mother of the then Secretary of Defense loved Rothenburg and had a painting of it hung in the family home. Because of his mothers affections for the town, he gave the order to offer surrender terms to the German forces occupying it to avoid annihilating this perfectly preserved piece of history. As the war was almost over, and the German general knew defeat was almost certain, he risked execution for treason and surrendered.
We went on the Night Watchman's tour led by our guide George. This is more of an hours entertainment than discovery tour, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.
We had supper at Cafe Italiano as it was one of the few places open after 8pm. It was, however, quite good and quite reasonable. Our Hotel the Gasthaus Gloche was comfortable and charming, witha great breakfast included.
We had to say goddbye to Rothenburg early as we were to drop off the car by 10 am at our next stop Nuremberg.
Our one hour drive to Nuremberg was uneventful. We dropped off the car, took a taxi to the Hotel am Heideloffplatz and, after checking in, set out to explore the old town.
The old city walls are just a 15 minute walk from our hotel as is the main train station. While 95% of Nuremberg was flattened during the war the walls remained almost intact. Different areas of Germany rebuilt in different ways. Berlin and Frankfurt chose to look forward and while restoring some buildings, mostly rebuilt in 20th century style. Dresden being in the east built alot of Soviet style buildings but rebuilt much of the old town, after the reunification, in the original style. Nuremberg has rebuilt about 75% of the old town in the medieval and 16th century style and about 25% modern.
We spent the day exploring the rather large and hilly old town. Nuremberg was a wealthy free state in the Holy Roman Empire in Franconia, and has a rather imposing castle as well. We went up the extremely steep castle hill for amazing views of the city. The oldest parts of the castle (which was also left undamaged in the war) date from the 13th century, and it was added onto until the late 18th century. Afterwards we went ot the Statmuseum im Fembo-Haus. Here we saw a special exhibit of the history of the rulers and leaders of Nuremburg from its founding until 1945, with reproductions of the state regalia and crown ( the originals are in Vienna). The rest of the museum is a Renaissance house that miraculously survived the war. This has been restored and houses various exhibits showcasing the rich history of the city and its people.
In the evening we enjoyed a meal on the market square at Restaurant Obertrainer which specializes in Franconian cuisine, beer and wine. After dinner we enjoyed a big band playing in the market for the last night of the city's fall festival before heading home for the night.
Today we went on a 5 hour (with lunch break) guided walking tour of not only the old town, but also the Nazi rally grounds. Our guide Chris was fantastic. We have lucked out on almost evey tour we have done. All of our guides have been knowledgable, entertaining and willing to answer questions.
We started at 11 am just inside the gates of the old town and learned much of the history of what we had seen during our own explorations the day before. We went into the St. Lawrence Church, to the market square, past the house of Albrecht Durur (perhaps Germany's most famous renaissance painter), and once again climbed the castle hill. After breaking for lunch we took a bus to the outskirts of Nuremberg to the Nazi rally grounds and zepplin field. This part of history can make your blood run cold, but it is important for everyone to know what happened then in order to stop it happening again. The way Germany has dealt with representing the Third Reich is impressive. Free speech is enshrined here but it is a fine line to cross over to hate speech which is illegal and carries heavy fines and sentences. Any display of a swastika, Nazi salute or even the singing of certin Nazi anthems or using certain slogans or chants is all considered hate speech. Some of the Nazi buildings still exist (sans symbols or iconography) with descriptions of their original uses, All have been repurposed as concert venues and museums, or greened over as park land, Using these sites for education and joyful expression is at cross purpose to the age of tyrany they were built under and desecrates the hate they stood for.
We had a beer on a terrace a the market squaare after our tour ended, before heading back to the hotel to clean up and change before supper. Tonight we ate at Provenza, an itallian eatery on the square, We enjoyed homade tortelloni in a butter sage sauce and an open fire cooked spicy pizza. An early train in the morning means an early night tonight.
As an aside -we have had some comments that we are not describing the food enough so we will attempt to do so in more detail from here on in. Since we have been here we have tried goulash soup, potato soup, schnitzle done vienna style (pounded), or with cheese and ham, several types of sausages, meatballs, stroganoff with spaetzle, cabbage, sauerkraut, potato dumplings and some pan fried potato rosti with various toppings. We always throw salad into the mix, and of course enjoy the local beer and wine.
Our early train to Munich was delayed by an hour. We did, however, get seats this time and the train made up for being late by whisking us to Munich in forty five minutes instead of the scheduled hour and five minutes. Both the station and the train had mostly costumed riders in dirndl dresses and lederhosin. We almost felt a bit out of place in our jeans. Our hotel the Centro Mondail is conveniently located close to the train station and almost next to the old town gates. We checked our bags at the hotel and set off on foot towards Marienplatz, the central square of the old town. We arrived just in time to see and hear the famous glockenspiel at twelve noon. Automatons dance and joust (Bavaria always wins) at a wedding banquet on the clock tower of the city hall.We had a lunch of goulash soup with fresh baked bread at Rischart just off the square. We then made our way back to the hotel to check into our room get changed and walk the short distance to Oktoberfest.We wandered up and down the midway of rides and games before cutting over to the other side where all the beer tents and beer gardens are. The word tent really is a misnomer. These huge halls hold hundeds if not thousands at a time. The largest is the Haufbrau with a capacity of 10,000 (seating for 6,000 and a further 3,000 in the outside biergarten). Everyone inside the tent or out is here for a party, and it is not at all unusual to see three generations of a family, all in traditional dress, enjoying the festival together. We settled into a biergarten and enjoyed a couple of litres of beer At our tabel was three young guys from NYC and we became fast friends (beer does that)Later in the evening we decided to break with the German and Italian options and had burgers at a restaurant called Hans im Gluck (Lucky Hans). It was cheap and cheerful, so a good end to the day
Today we did our guided walking tour with our Werner from Radius tours. Starting from the Hauptbahnhof (central station) we entered the old town through the west gate. We saw St. Michaels church and later St. Peters as well as the Fruenkirche (church of our lady). Unlike the rest of Germany, Munich is 75% Roman Catholic and only about 15-20% protestant. Therefore the cathedrals and churches we are seeing here are mostly R.C.
We saw the provincial government building for the state of Bavaria, The Royal Residence (which we will tour later), Maximilian Square and the Hofbrauhaus (also to be checked out later). Werner is a paid member of the Hofbrauhaus and has his own beer stein that is kept in a locked iron cage. On average, people wait 17 years to get one of these cages and you must be invited by one of the member societies. The yearly fee is only three euros, however, you must still pay for your beer.
We had lunch at Zum Augustiner, a fantastic restaurant near St. Michael's and the West gate. Brian had goulash soup (our new favorite thing) and I had weisswurst ( boiled, herbed veal sausage) with sweet mustard and we shared a pretzel. Later in the afternoon we stopped for a beer on Marienplatz and had a ringside seat for the 5pm glockenspiel show along with Frank and Cheryl, a couple we met from Mississippi. It's fun to compare travel notes with other travelers and learn about where we haven't been yet. In fact we ran into a woman from Toronto on our walking tour today (in truth ther were 6 of us), and she is fiends with a friend of ours from St. Kitts. Small world.
We liked the restaurant that we had lunch at so much that we decided to have supper there as well. We ate in the back courtyard and both had the Swabian mixed plate with Swabian ravioli and meatballs served with creamed mushrooms diced veg. and Spaetzle. it was delicious, and we are going to figure out a recipe for the ravioli when we get home.
We began today with an important but somber tour. We set off on a short journey by train and bus to The Concentration Camp Memorial Site at Dachau.
There is not alot we can say about this tour as it is almost indescribable. Our guide Grit was extremely knowledgable and respectfully led us through the site of this atrocity. We feel that this kind of tour, while difficult to do, is necessary in order to understand, in some small way what happened.
In the afternoon we got back into our vacation head space. After a quick lunch we toured the Imperial Treasury of Bavaria at the Residenz Palace. Remarkable!
Next was on to the pilgrimage all tourists seem to do while in Munich, The Hofbrauhaus. Vaulted and painted ceilings, a Bavarian orchestra, long
wooden tables and, of course, lots of beer. This establishment is party central and we enjoyed a couple of litre steins (yes that's right) of beer,one inside and one in the biergarten courtyard. Lots of fun.
In the evening we had a very nice meal of truffle linguini and pork steak at Orlando, located at the end of the square facing the Hofbrauhaus. This made for great people watching while enjoying our supper. Coffee and a liqueur and off to bed we went.
Our day started with a tram ride to the Nymphenberg Palace.
This summer residence of the Wittelsbachs, Electors/Kings of Bavaria, rivals Versailles in scale and grandeur. We toured the private apartments and
grand reception rooms. Later we enjoyed a remrkable deisplay of the royal coaches and sleighs. The splendor and style of the palace is in the baroque
and second empire styles influenced by Italian and French art and architecture.
We spent our final afternoon in Munich (in fact our final in Germany) at a leisurely pace window shopping and just enjoying this very busy city.
We had supper at Bohne & Malz located in a courtyard off the Marienplatz and opted for burgers and salad. This ended up being a great option, as the food was delicious.
We have to remind ourselves that it is "ok" to eat something other than European cuisine on occasion.
Bedtime was early as our train to Salzburg would be at 7:55am.
It has been a quiet couple of days so...short entry, but lots of pics.
We have been on the go since arriving in Europe, so had made plans for a bit of r & r in an idylic location. We traveled from Salzburg by rail to Obertraun on lake Hallstatt with one transfer in Attnung Pucheim. The views from the train through the alps were absolutely wonderful and the journey went like clockwork.
Obertraun is a small community with farms and alpine medows surrounding and within the village (picture the opening scene in "The Sound of Music"). Our hotel Haus Am See located on the lakeshore afforded us stunning views from our balcony of the mountains and the town of Hallstatt directly across.
On our first afternoon we took the boat from our hotel to Hallstatt to explore this quaint alpine settlement built on a small ledge between the mountain and the lake, then returned to Obertraun for the evening.
The next morning was rainy but there were breaks throughout the day allowing us to explore "our" side of the lake. We went for several long walks including some fairly steep hills, and only had to pull out the rain ponchos once. Later in the day the rain gave way to clearing skies. We enjoyed a couple of glasses of local wine on our balcony before walking to a nearby restaurant for supper.
We arrive in Salzburg, Austria under sunny skies. We have been incredibly lucky with the weather since our arrival in Germany 13 days ago. Our Hotel,
The Crown Plaza - Pitter has just been renovated and is lovely. We check our bags and head out along the river to cross the bridge into the old town.
Salzburg is most famous today as the birth place of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and as the film site for "The Sound of Music" To say Salzburg is beautiful is a gross understatement. Built between jagged cliffs and the river Salzach, this area was first settled and mined for
salt in about 300 BCE, and it became a city in the 13th century. The salt trade (the "white gold" of its time) made Salzburg an extremely wealthy and powerful city. Because of this it became the seat of the Roman Catholic church for the region, ruled over by the Prince Bishops from a fortress built on a high rocky pinacle above the town.
After enjoying a coffee in Mozart Square we took the very steep and fast (40 second) finicular railcar up to the mountain fortress. We climbed the battlements for a breathtaking view of the city and surrounding country side with the snow covered alps in the background. The fortress was added onto over the centuries and it is hard to tell where it begins and the cliff ends.
After our descent we stopped for a delicious ham and onion flamekuchen (an extremely thin and crispy flat bread cooked with various toppings like a pizza). We spent the afternoon exploring and visited the beautiful Mirabelle Gardens and fountains, then back to our hotel to check in.
After getiing settled, we set out again to see the city, but this time from a different angle. We boarded the Amadeus river boat for a 45 minute cruise up and down the Salzach.
Later we went for a long walk up and down through the lanes and alleys of the old town, and eventually settled at a patio at the Hagenauerstuben for a late supper. This restaurant is on the ground floor of the house Mozart was born in. The food was some of the best we have had on this trip. Tender sauteed pork medalions in a peppercorn sauce and beef stroganoff in a red pepper sauce. The food sounds rich but the portions were quite reasonable.
We took our time walking back along the river as it was a beautiful mild night.
It was softly drizzling when we got up, but it hardly affected our day. We went for breakfast at an excellent restaurant called the Cafe Bazar. This lovely cafe is located on the riverside beside the five star Hotel Sacher. We were referred here by Nora, a lovely woman we met the night previous at supper. She is a former Torontonian who has retired to Austria (small world once again).
The rain had now stopped, just in time for our guided walking tour of historic Salzburg. In addition to learning the rich history of the region and the story of Mozart, we had many of the filming locations from The Sound of Music pointed out to us. This movie is a huge draw and there are other bus/walking tours devoted solely to showing tourists the sights from the film.
After our tour ended we bought bus tickets and went to Schloss Helbrunn the summer palace of the Prince Bishops. This lovely baroque house and grounds are well preserved and feature the famous garden of beautiful trick fountains. While touring this you must be careful of your belongings as water can be shot at you at any time by the "trick" fountains. We rode back into town and stopped for a beer on Mozart Square. After a quick clean up athe hotel we set out for an early supper. As it was Sunday many restaurants close early or are just closed. This is true for shops as well. While the regular tourist shops, in tourist areas are open,
regular shops are not. We have found this to be the case in many European cities.
Our choices of spots to eat were limited by the day so we decided to go back to the restaurant from the previos evening, as we had had such a nice meal. We were not disappointed and enjoyed a beef broth with light fluffy semolina dumpling, porcini stuffed ravioli in a light butter sauce and green salad.
We had a nightcap on the terrace of our hotel's Sky Bar with its gorgeous view of the illuminated old town. Early to bed and early to rise for our morning train.
We have been a bit lax in our blogging as Vienna has been extremely busy, so, Three days - one entry.
We arrived in Vienna and Glen's phone died in the train station. Not the battery, but the phone itself. Luckily we have Brian's phone, which for the duration is "our" phone. You don't realize how dependant you are on a little piece of technology until you don't have it. Ah well, first world problems.
We checked into the Pension Arenburg, a lovely two floor hotel located at the top end of the Ringstrasse, and set off to explore this beautiful city.
Vienna is absolutely gorgeous. With a population of 1.8 million it is a thriving, vibrant city. Green space covers approx. 50% of the land area within the city borders and these parks, gardens and woods are loved and used by the Vienese. Now the capital of Austria, it was once the seat of power for the vast Austro-Hungarian Empire, and most of the grand buildings and palaces date from this period. We saw the St. Stephen's Cathedral, the opera, the Museum
Quarter and the pedestrian only, wide intersecting avenues of shops and restaurants that make up the center of town. Concerts are held every evening in the churches and palaces and we started looking into which we would like to attend.
As it turns out, friends of ours from Toronto were in Vienna as well, and we had pre-arranged to meet up for supper. We met up with Dina and Laure at their hotel (which was just 6 or 7 minutes walk from ours) and took the underground a couple of stops to the Museum Quarter and the restaurant. We had a wonderful meal. As they had been a few evenings before Laure had already made notes on suggested dishes and we went with the flow. Schnitzle, goulash, pork cheeks, potato rosti, and green salad, all of it was delicious. The four of us stoped for a digestivo at St Stephan's Square before calling it a night.
Our walking tour of historic Vienna began day two. Our guide Dace was well informed and offered us a great orientation of the old town and the overall history of the region. After the tour we had a light lunch of soup and salad before walking just south of the old town to the Belvedere Palace. This is now an art museum and holds many famous works by such artists as Moll, Schiele, Munk and of course Klimpt. There is an entire gallery devoted to the
latter with "Judith" and "The Kiss" as its centrepieces. After the Belvedere we went to see the Secession building, a temple of the Jungdenstile before heading back to the hotel to freshen up
In the evening we attended an organ and contrabass concert at St. Peter's just off the Stephansplatz. While the concert was lovely the weather was not, and it was pouring when we came out. We dodged the rain when it lightened up and ran to a souvenir shop to buy umbrellas. We happened upon a fantastic Italian restaurant and had a great meal before ending the evening.
Day three and the skies had somewhat cleared, but the temperature had dropped. It had been like summer (23c) for the first two days, but fall (14c) had now fully set in. We had purchased tickets before leaving to attend the very impressive morning training of the Lipizaner Stallions at the famous Spanish Riding School, dating back over 450 years.
These beautiful animals are showcased in an equally beautiful building which is truely a"Horse Palace". The riding arena is like a baroque ballroom with double tier ballustrades and rock crystal chandeliers.
We had time for a quick bite before taking the underground to the Schonbrunn Palace, the summer residence of the ruling Hapsburgs. The palace still has most of its original furnishings and gives a glimpse ito the lives of this 650 year dynasty of emperors and empresses. We both thought this to be one of the better audio guded tours we have been on.
Our next stop, the famous Cafe Central, an amazing Art Nouveau space with the most delectible pastries and deserts imaginable. Some of these seem like small works of art (almost) too pretty to eat. We had apfelstrudel and sachre torte with specialty coffee and spritz.
Next - justfor fun and excitement - we got lost, and not together. We seperated for a bit and got our wires crossed as to our meeting place. Both of us spent a rather frantic couple of hours looking for each other (remember we only had one phone), before reconecting at the hotel. Lessons learned, we went for a lovely traditional supper of clear broth mushroom soup, beef goulash with sauerkraut and schnitzle with parsley potatoes. Tomorrow, off to our last stop, Budapest.
ur train journey from Vienna to Budapest was uneventful and we arrived on a beautiful, sunny day. After a short 5 stop metro ride and we were only a a few minutes walk from our apartment at the Piano Castle Hill on the Buda side of the Danube. We were greeted by Farenc, the reservations manager, and shown to our 4th floor rooftop apartment with loft bedroom. The apartment has two outdoor spaces - a balcony off the living room and a roof top terrace off the bedroom with views of the parliament buildings accross the river.
As we had nothing booked for our first day, we simply unpacked and set off to explore the city. We took a short walk (10 mins.) to the famous Chain Bridge and walked across to the Pest side of the river. We walked through Liberty Square, St Stephen's Cathedral, the Parliament, all the while passing one beautiful building after another. While Budapest had some bomb damage during WWII the city has been completely rebuilt and many of the original Beaux Arts, Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings surrvived intact. We have found the people of Budapest to be some of the friendliest we have met anywhere. Eveyone is so accomodating and English is spoken by most. We had lunch on "our" square, a block from our apartment and shopped at the local supermarket for some groceries, mostly for breakfasts. Supper that evening was at a local wine bar located on our side of the Danube near the Chain Bridge.
Our second day was a bit cloudy and windy, but with no rain in the forcast. We set off by Metro to meet our walking tour behind the stunningly beautiful State Opera House. Our group was comprised of us and only one other couple, Dwayne and Susane from Portland, Oregon. Our guide Viktoria gave us a brief outline of the 1100 year plus history of Budapest and Hungary before taking us to Hero's Square, a collection of reproduction castles from the 19th century and one of the many thermal baths that are scattered throughout the city. We then walked through St. Stephens Square before stopping at a strudel restaurant for a coffee break and, you guessed it, strudel. The restaurant has an assortment of savory and sweet strudels and an open kitchen where you can watch the strudel being made. After our break we took a bus across to the Castle Hill and the Fisherman's Bastion, a fortification built around St. Mathius Church at the highest point in the old town. We said goodbye to our guide and, after initially getting a bit off course, Brian navigated us back to our apartment. In the afternoon we went on a guided tour of the Opera House and were treated to a short concert with a soprano performing some famous arias. We stopped for a "spritz" on St. Stephan's Square and later had supper at The Belgian Brasserie located riverside in Buda.
Day three was sunny and breezy. We decided to take a leisurely pace for our last day and began at The Great Market Hall. This famous food and handicraft market is located in Pest and is about an hours walk from our apartment. After browsing our way through the stalls we went for a traditional lunch of spicy goulash stew and langosh (a fried bread with garlic sour cream and cheese) at the Drum Cafe. This little hole in the wall had been highly recomended to us by our friend Bojana, and was excellent. We made our way back to the river and went for a boat cruise up the Danube around the Margaret Island. Today's spritz break was in the shopping district near St. Stephen's, before walking back to the loft for a short nap. We enjoyed a terrific supper of cabbage rolls and sauerkraut at the Polo Pub just a few blocks from our apartment. We went for a walk after supper and turned in at a reasonable hour. This has been a great vacation, but all good things must come to and end. Tomorrow (Tuesday) - home to Toronto.