It is so nice to be working on a full-sized screen again. The Acer is very portable, but hard to work on when you are trying to do layout.
This was our second trip using Rick Steves books. We've been very pleased with the hotel recommendations, and a bit less impressed with the restaurants. Tastes differ. We would definitely stay at the Jederman Hotel in Salzburg again. Not in the old town, but a short walk. Very nice room and OK breakfast (Who can remember back that far!?). Very helpful staff. We would not stay at the Leo Panzio in Budapest again. Although it is very convenient, the toilet was just plain strange and the breakfast was marginal for someone like Michael who has problems with dairy.
Steves does not cover Romania so we were on our own there. The Best Western in Baia Mare was nice with a good restaurant. The Hotel Marmatia in Sighet was great. Nice setting. Reasonable walk to town, generous breakfast and a good restaurant that is open all day. The Senator hotel in Eger was centrally located. Nice room and OK breakfast. We'd stay there again. The Admiral hotel in Vienna was fine. Again, short walk to many of the museums and other sights and a good breakfast. The apartment in Prague was another Steves recommendation and we would definitely stay there again. Good location; Lida is wonderful; and good restaurants in the area. The hotel in Cesky Krumlov was another Steves recommendation that we would stay at again. Big room overlooking the river with a good breakfast. Now if I could just remember the name.
All in all we had a great time. There were a few frantic moments when we weren't sure where we were going; and of course you never get to see and do everything you want to. I spent part of the flight home yesterday poring over the records we photographed. There maybe nothing to find, but the hunting is fun. I hope you enjoyed traveling along with us.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Cesky Krumlov to Munich
Kinda gloomy this morning. Trying to decide whether to try for a tour of the Castle. The only way you can get inside is with a one-hour tour. Most are in Czech - the ones in English sell out fast. There is also one of the two existing Baroque theaters in the world here in Krumlov. Again, you have to take a tour and the groups are limited in size due to the fragility of the theater.
I read something of the history of this area this morning and I think I know why the towns in this area are so different from the ones we saw in Hungary and Romania. This is the area known as the Sudetenland. Before WWII, this area had a population that was 75% German. This was Hitler's argument for annexing the area - and moving all the Czech's out. In fact, Hitler celebrated the annexation of the Sudetenland here in Krumlov on the town square. After the war the Czech's decided turn about was fair play and expelled all the Germans - so the people living here are relative newcomers. The people who inhabited this area historically are gone - along with their traditions.
One thing I did not mention last night. Krumlov is situated at a place where the Vltava river makes 5 turns, creating a couple of ox-bows - and a natural moat. The earliest settlement was about a century BC. It was owned by a couple of families in Medieval times, then sold to the Hapsburgs around 1600. The hotel we are staying at is built into the old fortifications, just like the restaurant last night. Breakfast was downstairs in a "cave" like the one in the picture from last night. Better lighting, however.
The scenery this morning was wonderful. We convinced the GPS that we were not taking any really back roads today and we headed for the lake in the SW corner of the Czech Republic. Even with the drizzle, the view was great. I was able to get a couple of pictures. Up and down hills. The architecture became Tyrolean - white stucco with dark brown wood on top - window boxes and balconies. With all the rain, it was very green. Michael was asking yesterday about where the farm animals were. Apparently they are kept at higher altitudes as we saw several herds of cows today. Lots and lots of pensions so this must be vacation country.
We were looking for a place for lunch so went through Passau - another disagreement with the GPS. We did not find a good place to stop and got on the Autobahn, where we had found sandwiches on our previous forays. Not on this one. So we ended up eating at a Movenpick hotel a few miles from ours. It was the closest one the GPS recognized. Very nice buffet at a reasonable price. The Munich airport is out in the middle of farm country and for those of us from the US who are used to a bunch of hotels, restaurants and gas stations surrounding the airport, all I can say is, not here.
So we have turned in the car and are almost ready to fly home tomorrow. Dinner at an Italian place within walking distance of the hotel. Nice bookend to the Italian dinner we had in Salzburg on the first night. Sat next to a couple of Americans, one of whom was born and raised in Serbia. Now living in Chicago.
Thus endeth the excellent Eastern European Adventure.
I read something of the history of this area this morning and I think I know why the towns in this area are so different from the ones we saw in Hungary and Romania. This is the area known as the Sudetenland. Before WWII, this area had a population that was 75% German. This was Hitler's argument for annexing the area - and moving all the Czech's out. In fact, Hitler celebrated the annexation of the Sudetenland here in Krumlov on the town square. After the war the Czech's decided turn about was fair play and expelled all the Germans - so the people living here are relative newcomers. The people who inhabited this area historically are gone - along with their traditions.
One thing I did not mention last night. Krumlov is situated at a place where the Vltava river makes 5 turns, creating a couple of ox-bows - and a natural moat. The earliest settlement was about a century BC. It was owned by a couple of families in Medieval times, then sold to the Hapsburgs around 1600. The hotel we are staying at is built into the old fortifications, just like the restaurant last night. Breakfast was downstairs in a "cave" like the one in the picture from last night. Better lighting, however.
We were looking for a place for lunch so went through Passau - another disagreement with the GPS. We did not find a good place to stop and got on the Autobahn, where we had found sandwiches on our previous forays. Not on this one. So we ended up eating at a Movenpick hotel a few miles from ours. It was the closest one the GPS recognized. Very nice buffet at a reasonable price. The Munich airport is out in the middle of farm country and for those of us from the US who are used to a bunch of hotels, restaurants and gas stations surrounding the airport, all I can say is, not here.
So we have turned in the car and are almost ready to fly home tomorrow. Dinner at an Italian place within walking distance of the hotel. Nice bookend to the Italian dinner we had in Salzburg on the first night. Sat next to a couple of Americans, one of whom was born and raised in Serbia. Now living in Chicago.
Thus endeth the excellent Eastern European Adventure.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Prague to Cesky Krumlov by way of Trebon
We left Prague this morning with no problems. We aimed the GPS at Cesky Krumlov and took off. No problems getting out of town and we figured it would take about 2.5 hours. Then we remembered that everything is closed on Monday, so we regrouped.
Michael had read about Trebon. It's a Medieval town in the middle of a group of lakes that were created in the 16th century from a swamp. It's supposed to have the best fish in the country so we thought we would stop there for lunch. The promised rain did not materialize, but it was COLD and windy - wind chill of 45. By this time we had also realized that the GPS was taking us on a different route than we had expected, but it looked like Trebon would not be a problem, so I reprogrammed it. Hah. We found ourselves on some pretty secondary roads. I still don't know why, when it looked like we could take main roads all the way. The Czech countryside was very pretty. Lot of farm land, but also some nice vistas. As you can see, narrow roads with few places to stop for pictures. Towns were Quite different from the towns in Hungary and Romania. No front gardens; few people outside chatting; no cows in the street and few bicyclists. No carts and horses, either. Better roads.
Anyway, we got there. There is a modern town built around the old one. GPS did not have any addresses, but we found the Information depot on the main square and he gave us a map and directions to the restaurant. We each had a bowl of fish soup and we split the pike-perch on garlic and spinach. Quite nice.
Off to Chesky Krumlov - only 25 miles away and the GPS got us within spitting distance of the front door of the hotel. Very cool room with unfinished pine furniture and a huge tub and a view of the river. The river that runs through Krumlov is the Vltava - the same one that runs through Prague. Much smaller here. In warmer weather we would try one of the kayaks.
We wandered around town. Krumlov has a nice castle so we walked up there. One of the features of the buildings in this part of the Czech Republic is the fascinating trompe l'oiel plaster work. The stucco or plaster is painted, then some of it is carved away. It looks like the stone has been carved, but it is almost flat. In some cases, all the work is paint. Here is an example from one of the castle courtyards - all of that decoration is paint. And those walls are flat. Not stacked blocks.
We wandered around town. Krumlov has a nice castle so we walked up there. One of the features of the buildings in this part of the Czech Republic is the fascinating trompe l'oiel plaster work. The stucco or plaster is painted, then some of it is carved away. It looks like the stone has been carved, but it is almost flat. In some cases, all the work is paint. Here is an example from one of the castle courtyards - all of that decoration is paint. And those walls are flat. Not stacked blocks.
We did get to the castle in time to climb the tower. First pic is of the castle from the town. Second is a view from the top of the tower. Only 162 steps. Great views.
We had dinner in a restaurant next door that is built into a "barbican" in the old fortress. Those of you who have been to Carcasonne know all about barbicans. The rest of you will have to look it up. :-) This is the group of 10 Germans sitting next to us. Honey cake for dessert was yum.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Praha, Day 2
The day started out a little rainy, but not too bad. Not enough for an umbrella. Michael was able to move the car slightly so we will have a much easier time getting out of the parking lot tomorrow.
The line at the Pinkas Synagogue was pretty short. We bought tickets for 4 synagogues, the cemetery and the Ceremonial Hall of the burial society. These sites constitute the Jewish Museum in Prague. Unfortunately, none of them allow photos of the inside. We bought a permit to take pictures in the cemetery. There are probably 1000 stone, but since they ran out of room, they piled more dirt on top of the older burials and buried more people. So there may be 7000 people actually buried on the site.
Third stop was the ceremonial hall of the Prague Burial Society. This site is dedicated to the rituals associated with death and burial. There is a series of paintings depicting the stages from death to the meal in the home of the bereaved.
The fourth stop is next door. The site of a really old synagogue that was destroyed and this Baroque one was built later. The original site also had a school. Now that we have done 3-6, it's time to go back and do the first stop, the Meisel Synagogue. This is another old building - 1700s. There are a lot of display cases with materials from the various holidays and rituals.
Michael has been reading Rick Steves again and has decided he wants to see the Old New Synagogue. This is actually the oldest one - it was the new one at one time, but after others were built, it became the old new one. It is built several steps below the street level, like the one in Vienna. It feels very Medieval. Here's a picture of the outside. And a link to wikipedia with a pic of the inside. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_New_Synagogue. One site says Kafka attended this synagogue, which is still in us
Time for lunch at the Kafka Cafe. Sandwiches seem to be kind of a new thing here, but tuna on baguettes are good and besides, it has started raining again so it's good to be inside.
After lunch we decide to hike over to the newest Synagogue on Jerusalem Street. This one really looks like a mosque on the outside. And the inside. This one was finished around 1906 and has a definite Moorish feel to it. Here we are allowed to take pictures. This is one of the outside and the second was taken inside.
Last one on our list is the Spanish Synagogue, so named because, like the Jerusalem Synagogue, it was a Moorish style. No pictures, which is really too bad as it is the most dramatic of them all. Here we learn that the Jewish Museum of Prague includes materials from all over Bohemia and Moravia. For some reason the Nazis decided to allow the Synagogues in Prague to collect materials as other Jewish communities were destroyed. There are photos of the collection during the war. Most of it has survived. A sad commentary on the loss of all those people. Here's a link to a site with a picture of the inside. http://jbuff.com/shul%20prague%20spanish_synagogue.htm. Wikipedia also has a page.
We decide to have dinner at a Kosher restaurant near the apartment. The Middle Eastern cuisine is a nice change from the heavier food we have been eating. Grilled vegetables, hummus, and salmon in a tomato sauce. This last one was a bit of a surprise as the menu said salmon with tomatoes and onions. Turned out to be a rich tomato sauce - very good.
We are off to Cesky Krumlov tomorrow. A small town in the south. Should be interesting. Back to Munich Tuesday night for the flight out on Wednesday.
The line at the Pinkas Synagogue was pretty short. We bought tickets for 4 synagogues, the cemetery and the Ceremonial Hall of the burial society. These sites constitute the Jewish Museum in Prague. Unfortunately, none of them allow photos of the inside. We bought a permit to take pictures in the cemetery. There are probably 1000 stone, but since they ran out of room, they piled more dirt on top of the older burials and buried more people. So there may be 7000 people actually buried on the site.
Third stop was the ceremonial hall of the Prague Burial Society. This site is dedicated to the rituals associated with death and burial. There is a series of paintings depicting the stages from death to the meal in the home of the bereaved.
The fourth stop is next door. The site of a really old synagogue that was destroyed and this Baroque one was built later. The original site also had a school. Now that we have done 3-6, it's time to go back and do the first stop, the Meisel Synagogue. This is another old building - 1700s. There are a lot of display cases with materials from the various holidays and rituals.
Michael has been reading Rick Steves again and has decided he wants to see the Old New Synagogue. This is actually the oldest one - it was the new one at one time, but after others were built, it became the old new one. It is built several steps below the street level, like the one in Vienna. It feels very Medieval. Here's a picture of the outside. And a link to wikipedia with a pic of the inside. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_New_Synagogue. One site says Kafka attended this synagogue, which is still in us
Time for lunch at the Kafka Cafe. Sandwiches seem to be kind of a new thing here, but tuna on baguettes are good and besides, it has started raining again so it's good to be inside.
After lunch we decide to hike over to the newest Synagogue on Jerusalem Street. This one really looks like a mosque on the outside. And the inside. This one was finished around 1906 and has a definite Moorish feel to it. Here we are allowed to take pictures. This is one of the outside and the second was taken inside.
Last one on our list is the Spanish Synagogue, so named because, like the Jerusalem Synagogue, it was a Moorish style. No pictures, which is really too bad as it is the most dramatic of them all. Here we learn that the Jewish Museum of Prague includes materials from all over Bohemia and Moravia. For some reason the Nazis decided to allow the Synagogues in Prague to collect materials as other Jewish communities were destroyed. There are photos of the collection during the war. Most of it has survived. A sad commentary on the loss of all those people. Here's a link to a site with a picture of the inside. http://jbuff.com/shul%20prague%20spanish_synagogue.htm. Wikipedia also has a page.
We decide to have dinner at a Kosher restaurant near the apartment. The Middle Eastern cuisine is a nice change from the heavier food we have been eating. Grilled vegetables, hummus, and salmon in a tomato sauce. This last one was a bit of a surprise as the menu said salmon with tomatoes and onions. Turned out to be a rich tomato sauce - very good.
We are off to Cesky Krumlov tomorrow. A small town in the south. Should be interesting. Back to Munich Tuesday night for the flight out on Wednesday.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Praha/Prague/Prag
The tower is undergoing reconstruction/preservation or something. Hordes of tourists on the bridge. This is more tourists than we have seen anywhere else. Including a group of what sounds like American high school or college kids. Snapping pics while wandering along.
There are a lot of vendors on the bridge selling everything from jewelry to artwork. And a jazz band. We manage to get across the bridge and head into the Little Quarter. I think it is actually meant to be the "lesser quarter". Or the quarter lower than the Castle? We see one group setting off on Segways - looks like fun.
We walk up to the St Nicolas church. The first entrance we try is just for the tower. 218 steps. Sure to be great views, but maybe not. The inside of this church is amazing. The definition of Baroque architecture - marble and gold everywhere. Except most of it is fake - imitation marble. Very good imitation, however.
We stop for lunch at a cafe on the street leading up to the Prague Castle area, then start the hike uphill. Nice view from the top. When we get to the top we see a really long line and hope that is not the ticket line. Lots of people. Michael decides there has to be away to avoid this long line and walks through the gate. We find a place that sells tickets and the audio sets. The ticket seller convinces us we have to have the audio as there is very little English. This turns out to be true in some cases, but not everywhere. We are advised to do the New Palace and the Basilica first and leave the cathedral for after 4 as there are too many people right now. (It's only 1:00) We are supposed to get the audio sets back by 3 - but no problem if we don't.
Did I mention there is no room to get a shot of the front of this Cathedral?
There are 25 audio stops in the Cathedral. I don't listen to all of all of them, just enough to know what I'm looking at. There are probably 20 chapels around the outside of the nave. Although we took pictures of all of them, I'll just post a few. This is really the national cathedral. The oldest part is Gothic, but it has been added on to. Some very old tombs of early kings and Archbishops. Each side chapel has its own style of stained glass - most post WWII as the original glass did not survive. As I have found in the past, stained glass is very hard to photograph well. Michael takes over taking the photos, but I'm not sure it's going to help. As you can see, some of the altars are very ornate.
At about 3 we are able to turn in the audio set and head back down to town. Having taken the long way up, we take stairs down and cross the river on another bridge, closer to the apartment.
Walking back we pass by 3 possible restaurants for dinner. Mr iPad checks them out and we decide on Cartouche - grilled meat on skewers in a basement "cave". The entrance is a bit dark and not enticing, but the food is wonderful. The had an appetizer of goat cheese with warm apples. Dessert was a chocolate lava cake with a side of berries and lemon sorbet in a chocolate cup. Should have taken the camera.
Tomorrow there is an 80% chance of rain so we "ll see how it goes.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Munich to Prague - or Praha as it is here
I decided to listen to David Siegels presentation on market segmentation - or how the marketing department may not know what they are getting with all these analytic analyses. I am typing on a Czech keyboard. The z is where the y is on a QWERTY keyboard, but it is typing a y. I cannot figure out how to get an at symbol - or quotes or an apostrophe for that matter. I see them on the keyboard, but cant find the keys. The at symbol is on the v key.
Anyway, we got the car - a Citroen - with a TomTom and diesel, and managed to leave town at about noon. It was a nice day and we had a good drive to Prague. When we got here the GPS wanted us to turn right, but there is a lot of construction and the right was not allowed. It eventually figured out another route and got us here. Lida - our landlady, ended up parking her car and taking a tram to get here. Crazy traffic. The Czech countryside is very pretty - mostly farmland.
We are staying in a 2 room apartment in the old town. Lida is really nice and pointed out where to find an exchange and the grocery store and a couple of restaurants. After the long day, we ended up grabbing a pizza. Czech food tomorrow night. Weather is calling for rain, but we are hoping it will be intermittent.
The old town square is very cool and the architecture seems more consistent here than in Munich, or even Vienna. Ill get some pics up tomorrow - probably with my own computer so I can use the right keys! Aha - found the " key - uppercase 2. And the '. Whoopee! : - )
Anyway, we got the car - a Citroen - with a TomTom and diesel, and managed to leave town at about noon. It was a nice day and we had a good drive to Prague. When we got here the GPS wanted us to turn right, but there is a lot of construction and the right was not allowed. It eventually figured out another route and got us here. Lida - our landlady, ended up parking her car and taking a tram to get here. Crazy traffic. The Czech countryside is very pretty - mostly farmland.
We are staying in a 2 room apartment in the old town. Lida is really nice and pointed out where to find an exchange and the grocery store and a couple of restaurants. After the long day, we ended up grabbing a pizza. Czech food tomorrow night. Weather is calling for rain, but we are hoping it will be intermittent.
The old town square is very cool and the architecture seems more consistent here than in Munich, or even Vienna. Ill get some pics up tomorrow - probably with my own computer so I can use the right keys! Aha - found the " key - uppercase 2. And the '. Whoopee! : - )
Munich Day 2 and 3
Slipping up here. We did not get back to the hotel until midnight last night so no blogging.
We did go to a museum yesterday morning. It's about "modern" items, but we focused on the industrial design and architecture sections. And the bookstore.
We did some wandering around the Marienplatz then went back to the hotel to change for the reception. UPA does a nice job with good food and a drink coupon for one drink. We finally left the reception at 9 and headed out to dinner at the Ratskeller. We decided to eat outside and they turned the lights out at 11, but still no pressure to leave. The young waiter did a yeoman's job of dealing with 3 pairs who were not sitting together and a single. They will split the bill, but it's a bit of a hassle. I'm beginning to get tired of the Bavarian food and have a salad.
The first day of the conference is interesting. The keynote speaker strikes me as a bit naive, but she makes some interesting points. The session on stories is fun. I can't find Kath or Elisa, but I do connect with Susan Dray and a couple of others. and we have a nice lunch at the Augustiner - mushroom ravioli.
The afternoon is hectic. The sessions are only 30 minutes and there is only a 5 min. break between sessions. I attend one session on complex forms - I should just buy her book. Another on UX and Agile development and a third on "intentionally biasing users" - in other words, persuasion. The last long session I went to was Pieter Desmet on Designing for Happiness. I had read some of Pieter's work when we were looking at rating some web sites for their emotional impact about 18 months ago. The first half of his talk is about that research, but he has been extending his thinking and research and is actually working on some products that are of interest to me.
We finally round up the group. I call Michael at the hotel and we go back to the place I had lunch for dinner. Much earlier than last night.
Sorry this got lost in the shuffle.
We did go to a museum yesterday morning. It's about "modern" items, but we focused on the industrial design and architecture sections. And the bookstore.
We did some wandering around the Marienplatz then went back to the hotel to change for the reception. UPA does a nice job with good food and a drink coupon for one drink. We finally left the reception at 9 and headed out to dinner at the Ratskeller. We decided to eat outside and they turned the lights out at 11, but still no pressure to leave. The young waiter did a yeoman's job of dealing with 3 pairs who were not sitting together and a single. They will split the bill, but it's a bit of a hassle. I'm beginning to get tired of the Bavarian food and have a salad.
The first day of the conference is interesting. The keynote speaker strikes me as a bit naive, but she makes some interesting points. The session on stories is fun. I can't find Kath or Elisa, but I do connect with Susan Dray and a couple of others. and we have a nice lunch at the Augustiner - mushroom ravioli.
The afternoon is hectic. The sessions are only 30 minutes and there is only a 5 min. break between sessions. I attend one session on complex forms - I should just buy her book. Another on UX and Agile development and a third on "intentionally biasing users" - in other words, persuasion. The last long session I went to was Pieter Desmet on Designing for Happiness. I had read some of Pieter's work when we were looking at rating some web sites for their emotional impact about 18 months ago. The first half of his talk is about that research, but he has been extending his thinking and research and is actually working on some products that are of interest to me.
We finally round up the group. I call Michael at the hotel and we go back to the place I had lunch for dinner. Much earlier than last night.
Sorry this got lost in the shuffle.
Dachau
well, I did battle with the not so user friendly munich transit system and managed to get myself to Dachau while Diana was at the conference.
Dachau is now just a few buildings and a museum with horrific photos and even more horrific stories along with them. similar to yad vashem in that regard. Very depressing. Saw the barracks where people were crammed like sardines, the gas chamber, and fhe crematorium ovens. I will post some photos later.
Dachau was the first concentration camp, and the prototype for all the rest. It was a concentration camp for undesirables, but not an extermination camp, per se, as was Auschwitz. People died from disease and malnutrition mostly, with some hung or gassed. It was mostly a slave labor camp. Most survivors said a quick death would have been better.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Dachau is now just a few buildings and a museum with horrific photos and even more horrific stories along with them. similar to yad vashem in that regard. Very depressing. Saw the barracks where people were crammed like sardines, the gas chamber, and fhe crematorium ovens. I will post some photos later.
Dachau was the first concentration camp, and the prototype for all the rest. It was a concentration camp for undesirables, but not an extermination camp, per se, as was Auschwitz. People died from disease and malnutrition mostly, with some hung or gassed. It was mostly a slave labor camp. Most survivors said a quick death would have been better.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, May 27, 2010
More of Munich
I spent the day at the conference. Strange pizza for lunch. Remember I mentioned the tuna pizza I had in Romania? I saw a tuna pizza on a menu here. Come to find out, it is raw tuna - as in sashimi - on the pizza. As I said, a bit strange. Cooler and rainy today.
Michael took the S-bahn out to Dachau today, but I'll let him tell you about that.
I am remembering why I have not been attending conferences of late. On the other hand, if you get a few useful tidbits, it's a good thing. I enjoyed a 90 minute session on ethnographic research this morning that was very well done byt someone who clearly knows what he is doing. And another this afternoon by a Brit who made a good argument for what causes delight. Anxiety resolved through effortlessness, surprise, cleverness - and one other thing. I have decided that panels are not that helpful (I did not attend Kath's so no brickbats, please.) You can't cover much in30 minutes.
I'm going to one more session in the morning, then we head for Prague.
Michael took the S-bahn out to Dachau today, but I'll let him tell you about that.
I am remembering why I have not been attending conferences of late. On the other hand, if you get a few useful tidbits, it's a good thing. I enjoyed a 90 minute session on ethnographic research this morning that was very well done byt someone who clearly knows what he is doing. And another this afternoon by a Brit who made a good argument for what causes delight. Anxiety resolved through effortlessness, surprise, cleverness - and one other thing. I have decided that panels are not that helpful (I did not attend Kath's so no brickbats, please.) You can't cover much in30 minutes.
I'm going to one more session in the morning, then we head for Prague.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Vienna to Munich
I thought I posted this last night, but Michael and I are sharing a T-mobile log-in here in Munich and he logged in while I was typing so all was lost. Oh well.
Yesterday started out pretty well. We entered the address of the hotel here in Munich and started driving. Unfortunately, when we got to the end of the street, the GPS apparently lost the signal, or the route. We spent about 10 minutes trying to get it to work before deciding to try a town in Austria, just to get out of Vienna - I had no idea which way to go. Fortunately, we picked up the signal again about 100 yds down the road and we were good to go. Turns out the CD we have been using did not include Germany, so I'm sure that was part of the problem.
Nice sunny day yesterday so we got a chance to see some of the scenery we missed the last time through in the rain. For some reason, the Austrians have erected what look like sound barrier walls along a lot of the highway. Not near any towns so maybe it's a safety thing? some are wood, others metal. Some are decorated.
Yesterday was a holiday in Bavaria and we saw hundreds of sailboats out on one of the lakes. - Chiemsee I think.
We were able to return the car to the Avis depot at the Hauptbahnhof, which saved us a trip out to the airport. Our hotel is about a block from the train station. In an "interesting" part of town, but way cheaper than the conference hotel. Like the US, the up scale hotels do not have free wi-fi. 8 E for 30 minutes. What's with that anyway?
We had dinner on the Marienplatz at one of the Bavarian places - Donils. Not bad, and we were serenaded by a small ensemble playing classical music. Apparently a number of musicians do this as we saw several - including a guy with a grand piano and another with a large didgeridoo. They set up in the entryways of the stores along the pedestrian walkways.
Kath and Elisa found us at breakfast. There is a move afoot to visit a museum this morning.
Yesterday started out pretty well. We entered the address of the hotel here in Munich and started driving. Unfortunately, when we got to the end of the street, the GPS apparently lost the signal, or the route. We spent about 10 minutes trying to get it to work before deciding to try a town in Austria, just to get out of Vienna - I had no idea which way to go. Fortunately, we picked up the signal again about 100 yds down the road and we were good to go. Turns out the CD we have been using did not include Germany, so I'm sure that was part of the problem.
Nice sunny day yesterday so we got a chance to see some of the scenery we missed the last time through in the rain. For some reason, the Austrians have erected what look like sound barrier walls along a lot of the highway. Not near any towns so maybe it's a safety thing? some are wood, others metal. Some are decorated.
Yesterday was a holiday in Bavaria and we saw hundreds of sailboats out on one of the lakes. - Chiemsee I think.
We were able to return the car to the Avis depot at the Hauptbahnhof, which saved us a trip out to the airport. Our hotel is about a block from the train station. In an "interesting" part of town, but way cheaper than the conference hotel. Like the US, the up scale hotels do not have free wi-fi. 8 E for 30 minutes. What's with that anyway?
We had dinner on the Marienplatz at one of the Bavarian places - Donils. Not bad, and we were serenaded by a small ensemble playing classical music. Apparently a number of musicians do this as we saw several - including a guy with a grand piano and another with a large didgeridoo. They set up in the entryways of the stores along the pedestrian walkways.
Kath and Elisa found us at breakfast. There is a move afoot to visit a museum this morning.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Vienna
Sunny this morning so we took a walk to the old town. Sunday morning so no shops open, but a lot of window shoppers. We took pictures of St Stephens and were able to go inside, despite a service going on. Other churches specifically request that you not enter during the service, which seems quite reasonable. There was actually a small orchestra accompanying the choir. Bad sun angle for the photo. The roof was destroyed by fire in WWII, but the townspeople rebuilt it by 1952.
As we left the museum, the sky was darkening and we heard some rumbles so we hightailed it to the closest tram stop. This tram follows the inner ring so it's a good way to see some sights that might be too far to walk. By the time we reached our stop, the rain had let up enough to walk back to the hotel for a rest. And some chocolate gelato on the way. mmmm.
Michael found a nice restaurant near the hotel. He had weinerschnitzel and I had a pot au feu with guinea fowl. Prices are definitely higher in Vienna than anywhere else we've been.
Headed for Munich tomorrow for the conference. Next week, Prague.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Eger to Vienna
Getting a late start tonight so we'll we how far I get.
We got up early so we would have time to visit the castle and take care of some housekeeping before checkout at 11. It's a pretty impressive ramparts, dating from the 1700s. Not much left of the palace or Cathedral, but the views of Eger are great.
We had just about enough time to scoot down to the Bibliothek - who knows how to spell library in Hungarian? This is another really old building Someone wanted to build a school for teachers in Eger. The Bishop was not keen on it, but somehow it got built. Currently being used as a teachers college and library.We did not get a chance to see the library, but we did climb up 10 flights of stairs to see a camera obscura that dates from the 1700s and is mounted on the roof. Unfortunately, the demonstration made Michael dizzy. It's done in a dark room and when they rotate the mechanism the image swings around on the table. With no visual reference(we're in the dark), there is a tendency to lose your balance. Pretty cool. Hard to take pictures in the dark and all you see in the light is the 3 rods that control the pan and tilt and the cover on the lens.THe also has some old telescopes. And a Foucault pendulum.
We left Eger at about 11. Only a couple of wrong turns before we decided to put our faith in the GPS - at least one of the wrong turns took us to the minaret in town. 40 m. high and the farthest north in Europe. After they defeated the Ottomans, they tried to destroy it, but were unsuccessful.
We also decided to trust the GPS to get us back through Budapest. As Americans, we are used to being able to bypass big cities, but it does not work that way in Budapest. All the E/W traffic has to go through the city - on city streets. Once again google maps and the GPS did not agree, but we figured the GPS should be able to find Vienna so we followed it. No wrong turns - yay. Even got us to the hotel here in Vienna with no problem.
The day started out sunny and warm in Eger, but we hit some rain showers west of Budapest and here in Vienna. Hoping it will not be too bad tomorrow so we can walk around. We had dinner at the Palmenhouse and wandered over to the Hotel Sacher for their famous Sachertort. Yum.
The Hotel Sacher is next to the Opera House and there were at least 100 people sitting or standing out front watching a jumbo screen with tonight's performance. Free. Pretty cool. Good tenor.
And off course, we need to end up with another picture of Mozart. I thought about a closeup, but then you would miss the G clef out of flowers in front.
Let's hope for some sun tomorrow.
We got up early so we would have time to visit the castle and take care of some housekeeping before checkout at 11. It's a pretty impressive ramparts, dating from the 1700s. Not much left of the palace or Cathedral, but the views of Eger are great.
We had just about enough time to scoot down to the Bibliothek - who knows how to spell library in Hungarian? This is another really old building Someone wanted to build a school for teachers in Eger. The Bishop was not keen on it, but somehow it got built. Currently being used as a teachers college and library.We did not get a chance to see the library, but we did climb up 10 flights of stairs to see a camera obscura that dates from the 1700s and is mounted on the roof. Unfortunately, the demonstration made Michael dizzy. It's done in a dark room and when they rotate the mechanism the image swings around on the table. With no visual reference(we're in the dark), there is a tendency to lose your balance. Pretty cool. Hard to take pictures in the dark and all you see in the light is the 3 rods that control the pan and tilt and the cover on the lens.THe also has some old telescopes. And a Foucault pendulum.
We left Eger at about 11. Only a couple of wrong turns before we decided to put our faith in the GPS - at least one of the wrong turns took us to the minaret in town. 40 m. high and the farthest north in Europe. After they defeated the Ottomans, they tried to destroy it, but were unsuccessful.
We also decided to trust the GPS to get us back through Budapest. As Americans, we are used to being able to bypass big cities, but it does not work that way in Budapest. All the E/W traffic has to go through the city - on city streets. Once again google maps and the GPS did not agree, but we figured the GPS should be able to find Vienna so we followed it. No wrong turns - yay. Even got us to the hotel here in Vienna with no problem.
And off course, we need to end up with another picture of Mozart. I thought about a closeup, but then you would miss the G clef out of flowers in front.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Sighet to Eger
It's not raining at the moment, but who knows how long that will last. We're off to Eger in Hungary. Then 2 days in Vienna and hit Munich Monday night. Michael has decided I am going to drive the mountains today back to Baia Mare. ooookay. We'll see how that goes. He did do screen captures of Satu Mare so we can avoid wrong turns there - I hope.
I hope those of you who are following along are enjoying the trip as much as we are. Feel free to post comments of ask questions. More later from Eger.
Here are a few pictures I took on the road. As you can see, they are still using the fences with the "roofs". Note the bright red house.Oh, and it did start raining again as we left.
I'm not sure what denomination the tall spire is, except is it not Eastern Orthodox. Probably Catholic. These tall spires are very typical and the "witches hat" shapes.
I chickened out on driving the mountain road from Sighet to Baia Mare. Turned out there was no fog on the other side and not a lot of traffics so it was not too bad a drive. As Michael said, it was hard to believe we had done it in the dark in the fog. So many hairpin turns. In this photo you can see the road below as we start to make the turn. 50 km takes an hour to an hour and a half.
And here are a few Romanian haystacks. Shot through the car window so not the greatest photo.
The road from Baia Mare to Satu Mare is a string of small towns. You have to slow down to 70 kph or even 50 in town - unless you own an Audi, in which case you use the towns as a means to pass those of us obeying the speed limit. I was scared to death someone would try to cross the street while these crazy people were zooming around us. I found the towns much more interesting than driving on the motorways. Oh and we did make another wrong turn in Satu Mare following the GPS instead of the google map. Ugh.
The sun fiinally came out this afternoon and we actually had the a/c on in the car. We crossed back into Hungary with minimal hassle - the Romanians waved us through. The Hungarians took a little longer. I'm convinced it's the car.
The Hungarian homes are arranged similarly to the Romanian with beautiful front gardens. As I think I noted before, the Hungarians appear to really like iris as many of the homes had a lot of them planted in front of their walls and they are in full bloom. No where to pull over and take a picture!
Google has been underestimating the time required to get from place to place, but we picked up an hour traveling west. We got to Eger about 5. GPS got us close, but Michael ended up walking down the very narrow street to verify we were in the right place. The street they are on is even narrower. Old town where the local hero held off the Turks in 1552. Popular school trip - there are a lot of kids on the plaza.
For those of you who are getting tired of the synagogue pictures, there is a very nice Basilca in Eger. Built 1831 to 1838. Here's a couple of pictures of the inside. The columns are 3 different colors of marble - gold, brown and red. The second picture is the ceiling. The first was taken halfway down the aisle - which should give you some idea of the size.
We're staying at another Rick Steves hotel. 11 rooms. Ours is a good sized room on the corner. It's in an old townhouse, but with all the modern "conveniences". This is the first night we have been able to eat outside. Enjoying watching the locals stop for a glass of wine or a beer before heading home for dinner. Here's a picture of my trout dinner. (I know you foodies have been waiting for a picture of the food I've been describing). Oh and it started raining again just as we finished the apple crepe we had for dessert.
I hope those of you who are following along are enjoying the trip as much as we are. Feel free to post comments of ask questions. More later from Eger.
Here are a few pictures I took on the road. As you can see, they are still using the fences with the "roofs". Note the bright red house.Oh, and it did start raining again as we left.
I'm not sure what denomination the tall spire is, except is it not Eastern Orthodox. Probably Catholic. These tall spires are very typical and the "witches hat" shapes.
I chickened out on driving the mountain road from Sighet to Baia Mare. Turned out there was no fog on the other side and not a lot of traffics so it was not too bad a drive. As Michael said, it was hard to believe we had done it in the dark in the fog. So many hairpin turns. In this photo you can see the road below as we start to make the turn. 50 km takes an hour to an hour and a half.
And here are a few Romanian haystacks. Shot through the car window so not the greatest photo.
The sun fiinally came out this afternoon and we actually had the a/c on in the car. We crossed back into Hungary with minimal hassle - the Romanians waved us through. The Hungarians took a little longer. I'm convinced it's the car.
The Hungarian homes are arranged similarly to the Romanian with beautiful front gardens. As I think I noted before, the Hungarians appear to really like iris as many of the homes had a lot of them planted in front of their walls and they are in full bloom. No where to pull over and take a picture!
Google has been underestimating the time required to get from place to place, but we picked up an hour traveling west. We got to Eger about 5. GPS got us close, but Michael ended up walking down the very narrow street to verify we were in the right place. The street they are on is even narrower. Old town where the local hero held off the Turks in 1552. Popular school trip - there are a lot of kids on the plaza.
For those of you who are getting tired of the synagogue pictures, there is a very nice Basilca in Eger. Built 1831 to 1838. Here's a couple of pictures of the inside. The columns are 3 different colors of marble - gold, brown and red. The second picture is the ceiling. The first was taken halfway down the aisle - which should give you some idea of the size.
We're staying at another Rick Steves hotel. 11 rooms. Ours is a good sized room on the corner. It's in an old townhouse, but with all the modern "conveniences". This is the first night we have been able to eat outside. Enjoying watching the locals stop for a glass of wine or a beer before heading home for dinner. Here's a picture of my trout dinner. (I know you foodies have been waiting for a picture of the food I've been describing). Oh and it started raining again just as we finished the apple crepe we had for dessert.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
some thoughts
somehow i had not processed that the places my ancestors came from would not look the same 100 years later. i had visualized shetls, whereas we saw much more modern, if poor, towns...we could see thqt there were still peasants driving horse drawn carts, but also cars and trucks and tv antennas...about the only thing that one could visualize as it was a hundred years ago were the old synagogues...and of course the old cemeteries...we did see some old photos...the ones about the deportation as they call it were depressing.
Sighet
Still raining. Trying to decide what to do today. We are a day ahead of schedule thanks to the trip to Sapinta on Tuesday. There are things to do here in Sighet, if the weather were better. We thought about taking a different road back to Satu Mare, but the woman at the desk assured me that that road was worse than the one over the mountains, so it looks like we have another hair raising trip down the far side in the fog. And this time we have to drive.
We're thinking about a stop in Eger in Hungary. Another recreational area that Rick Steves recommended, but if it's going to keep raining, it will make it hard to take advantage.
OK, we're going to hang out in Sighet today. Do laundry and visit the Elie Wiesel Museum. Maybe check out the Jewish Cemetery, which we have been told is in rough shape. Michael has found a few other things we can do and detailed maps!
Here's a picture of the hotel - and the horses grazing on the front lawn.
We walked to the Jewish Cemetery, which is behind a wall and locked. A man across the street says to try the Synagogue, so we walk over there -also locked. Tried one of the phone numbers, but did not get connected. So we walk over to the Elie Wiesel Museum, figuring someone should be there who can maybe contact someone. The museum is in the home of the Wiesel family before the War. Although the furniture did not belong to the family, they have made a nice arrangement.
The young man who took us through the museum did tell us how to get to the Community Center where we can get access to the synagogue. We met the president of the Community and another man who has moved back to Sighet from Israel. He gives us a bit of history of the Jewish community in Sighet. Before WWII, the Jewish population was half the population of Sighet. There were 10 synagogues in town. One survives. It's a Sephardic design. One of the guys claimed it is the same design as the synagogue in Cordova, Spain. Maybe, maybe not.
Marcus lets us into the synagogue, which is very pretty. As in Budapest, they are using a small synagogue next door for services. They don't have a Rabbi, so one of the older men leads the service. We are invited to attend Shavout services tonight. I would have to sit behind the curtain. Not sure we are up for this.
Two of the men are willing to try to find any death records for Salomons, but unfortunately, these records are like the cemetery at Sapinta. First names only - and probably Hebrew names - Samuel son of Meyer. So if you don't already know the parent names, this is not going to help. One of them also assured us we would not be able to find this information in the cemetery, which he characterized as a "jungle" of tall grass and some stones are fallen. He says he is working to try to get the Community to start mowing, at least.
We also stroll through the open market - vegetables and live chicks. There are other markets around the town for animals and other, non edible produce (whatever that means). I get a few photos. Some of the women are in traditional dress. There are lots of horse-drawn carts in town as it is the country people who bring their produce in for the market.
Back to the hotel for lunch. We miss Dan's ability to translate the menu in the smaller cafes. Michael get's stuffed cabbage, which is good, evenif it is not like his mother's. I get polenta with cheese and sausage. Can you say cholesterol? It's good, but very rich. Maybe a salad for dinner.
The sun came out before our morning adventure and it's warmed up so we decide to head over to the outdoor cultural museum where they have collected a number of old houses from various towns in the Maramures district. Similar to our log cabins. Some date back 300 years. Most are probably 150 years old. Very high pitched roofs. Some have been restored.
One or two have plaster/stucco walls rather than the wood. It felt a bit like Plimoth Plantation. We wandered around for about an hour before kaboom! Thunderstorm and we headed back to the car. I knew a whole day without rain was too much to expect.
The woven fence is about 2.5 ft high and has either a wood, or a thatch "roof". Perhaps to keep the rain off the woven material.
Each of the houses has a gate with carved gate posts. All different.
I also took several shots of the wrought iron fences in the neighborhood near the hotel. Here's a sample. The second one is a concrete wall. See the grapes?
I like the "Kilroy" image in the third one.
And just to show I was not kidding about the horse carts. Here's one we were trying to get around on the way to the museum.
Oh, and dinner was very nice. Michael had a pan fried trout and I had chicken paillards coated with almonds. "Pancakes with fruit" for dessert - read crepes with oranges, kiwi, and apple filling. We've had the same waitress all day - she works 7 AM to 11 PM and have had fun chatting with her. She brings us each a small sample of the local plum aperitif. Potent stuff.
We're thinking about a stop in Eger in Hungary. Another recreational area that Rick Steves recommended, but if it's going to keep raining, it will make it hard to take advantage.
OK, we're going to hang out in Sighet today. Do laundry and visit the Elie Wiesel Museum. Maybe check out the Jewish Cemetery, which we have been told is in rough shape. Michael has found a few other things we can do and detailed maps!
Here's a picture of the hotel - and the horses grazing on the front lawn.
We walked to the Jewish Cemetery, which is behind a wall and locked. A man across the street says to try the Synagogue, so we walk over there -also locked. Tried one of the phone numbers, but did not get connected. So we walk over to the Elie Wiesel Museum, figuring someone should be there who can maybe contact someone. The museum is in the home of the Wiesel family before the War. Although the furniture did not belong to the family, they have made a nice arrangement.
The young man who took us through the museum did tell us how to get to the Community Center where we can get access to the synagogue. We met the president of the Community and another man who has moved back to Sighet from Israel. He gives us a bit of history of the Jewish community in Sighet. Before WWII, the Jewish population was half the population of Sighet. There were 10 synagogues in town. One survives. It's a Sephardic design. One of the guys claimed it is the same design as the synagogue in Cordova, Spain. Maybe, maybe not.
Marcus lets us into the synagogue, which is very pretty. As in Budapest, they are using a small synagogue next door for services. They don't have a Rabbi, so one of the older men leads the service. We are invited to attend Shavout services tonight. I would have to sit behind the curtain. Not sure we are up for this.
Two of the men are willing to try to find any death records for Salomons, but unfortunately, these records are like the cemetery at Sapinta. First names only - and probably Hebrew names - Samuel son of Meyer. So if you don't already know the parent names, this is not going to help. One of them also assured us we would not be able to find this information in the cemetery, which he characterized as a "jungle" of tall grass and some stones are fallen. He says he is working to try to get the Community to start mowing, at least.
We also stroll through the open market - vegetables and live chicks. There are other markets around the town for animals and other, non edible produce (whatever that means). I get a few photos. Some of the women are in traditional dress. There are lots of horse-drawn carts in town as it is the country people who bring their produce in for the market.
Back to the hotel for lunch. We miss Dan's ability to translate the menu in the smaller cafes. Michael get's stuffed cabbage, which is good, evenif it is not like his mother's. I get polenta with cheese and sausage. Can you say cholesterol? It's good, but very rich. Maybe a salad for dinner.
The sun came out before our morning adventure and it's warmed up so we decide to head over to the outdoor cultural museum where they have collected a number of old houses from various towns in the Maramures district. Similar to our log cabins. Some date back 300 years. Most are probably 150 years old. Very high pitched roofs. Some have been restored.
One or two have plaster/stucco walls rather than the wood. It felt a bit like Plimoth Plantation. We wandered around for about an hour before kaboom! Thunderstorm and we headed back to the car. I knew a whole day without rain was too much to expect.
The woven fence is about 2.5 ft high and has either a wood, or a thatch "roof". Perhaps to keep the rain off the woven material.
Each of the houses has a gate with carved gate posts. All different.
I like the "Kilroy" image in the third one.
And just to show I was not kidding about the horse carts. Here's one we were trying to get around on the way to the museum.
Oh, and dinner was very nice. Michael had a pan fried trout and I had chicken paillards coated with almonds. "Pancakes with fruit" for dessert - read crepes with oranges, kiwi, and apple filling. We've had the same waitress all day - she works 7 AM to 11 PM and have had fun chatting with her. She brings us each a small sample of the local plum aperitif. Potent stuff.
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