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.
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