NYPorter

“Ayers Rock”, known as Uluru by the aboriginal people in the area, is a huge sandstone monolith that’s the centerpiece of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. The name ‘Uluru’ is the name given by the aboriginal people, however, it has no specific meaning. Uluru is just what they call it. This massive sandstone monument rises over 1,100 feet above the surrounding land and is almost six miles in circumference. So, you might ask, how does a huge sandstone monolith like this just appear in the middle of the desert? That’s a good question.

Geologists told us that a while back (we’re talking a couple of hundred million years ago) the center of current day Australia was a huge inland sea. Over time, sediments were compressed by the weight of the water and the sediments themselves and turned into a layer of sandstone.

Then, during a period of tectonic movement, the land folded like a ‘U’. The exposed ends of the ‘U’ eventually eroded away, leaving a stub of the sandstone layer sticking up out of the ground. The other leg of the ‘U’ is the Kata Tjuta (“The Olgas”) formation about 25km away. You can find more information at Austraila National Parks website.

We explored several different sections of the rock. I want to make it clear that we did our exploring in the mornings because the afternoon temperature hit 106 while we were there. Fortunately, in the late mornings, it was still a relatively cool 92. After noon, we made a bee-line for the resort and spent the afternoon relaxing in the lounge and swimming in the pool. We consider ourselves to be smart travelers!

The most interesting walk that we took was the Kuniya Walk on the southwest side. The distance is no more than 2km round trip and has a great deal to offer. We saw cave paintings under a broad overhang and heard aboriginal stories of how the rock was formed and how various marking and formations came to be. Walking along the well-marked trails we made our way to the Mutitjula waterhole, home to an ancestral wanampi water snake.

Not being a bird-watcher, I can’t tell you the names of all the interesting birds we saw, but there were many and they were all new to me. However, as an amateur photographer, I can tell you that the colors, shadows and bright contrasts made the entire experience wonderful.

For more pictures take a look at the Uluru Photo Album

As a result of our Facebook and Instagram posts over the past two weeks, we’ve gotten multiple questions regarding where we were and how the keck we got there. I’m writing this post to hopefully give some background on where we are today and how we got here.

Where are we? Well, we’re in Australia. More specifically, we’re in Jabiru, Northern Territory, Australia, just outside Kakadu National Park. How did we get here? Well, let me tell you, it’s been a long trip so far.

October 24 – 29th

We left from Toronto on Oct 24th, flying through Chicago and Los Angles on the way to Melbourne, Australia. With the long flight across the Pacific Ocean (16 hours) and crossing the International Date Line, we ended up landing in Melbourne on Friday the 26th. After we were situated in our hotel, we spent the rest of Friday and Saturday exploring Melbourne. Here’s a city that is not at all what we expected. It’s an interesting mix of old and new with quaint streets and blocks of skyscrapers. This is a clean city with a wonderful mix of architecture and culture – a fantastically friendly city.

On Sunday the 29th, Julie took an all-day tour of the Great Ocean Road. Me, I stayed in bed with flu symptoms. The Great Ocean Road was going to be one of the highlights for me, but Julie did a great job of capturing some stellar pictures for me to pine over.

October 30th – 31st

Fortunately, I got to sleep in on Tuesday as we had a mid-day flight from Melbourne to Hobart in Tasmania. After landing, we took a nice walking tour of Hobart’s historic waterfront district. (see Hello Tasmania ) It was ironically, Halloween the following day when we got to see our first Tasmanian Devil at the Tasmanian Conservation Park, en route to Port Arthur. These are cute little creatures until you get close enough to see their teeth. Then, watching them tear into their lunch consisting of a leg of some animal…, well. I can tell you that they lost any semblance of cuteness.

The story of Port Arthur and the life of those interned there is interesting. This place housed repeat offenders and political prisoners. There was no escape. The one land-bridge to the rest of Tasmania was guarded by a line of chained dogs. Regardless, the terrain is so challenging that most that made it past the dogs returned hungry and dehydrated after a few days. The community was close to self-sufficient out of necessity. If they wanted a new building because they needed to store more food, they designed the building. Then they quarried the stone and built it.

November 1st – 2nd

Adelaide and Kangaroo Island were our home for the next few days. The city of Adelaide is a small town with a bigger city feel. Our group took a ferry from Cape Jervis across to Penneshaw on Kangaroo Island. There were loads of seals at Seal Harbor Conservation Park and loads more land animals in Flinders Chase National Park. The winds were blowing and it was cool, but an awesome day.

November 3rd – 5th

Saturday morning we flew over 1,000 miles traveling from Adelaide to Alice Springs and then on to Ayers Rock. The flight provides some perspective to the size of this country. While we saw Uluru of Ayers Rock from the distance, we spent the afternoon exploring the area and getting used to the heat. We stopped at a viewing sight at sunset, but the weather wasn’t cooperating. We saw a colorful display of lightning across the desert, but the clouds kept the sunset hidden. We did, however, enjoy some wonderful snacks and champagne while we watched nature’s lightning show.

Several of our traveling companions elected to strike out at 4:45 AM on camels to see the sunrise. Julie and I chose the ‘sleeping in option’. We got up sometime after 4:30 AM and had breakfast before heading out on a 9 AM tour of Uluru. The weather was fantastic with clear blue skies and temperatures in the mid-90s. In addition to learning about the geology of the area, we saw the rock up close, viewed 12,000-year-old cave paintings and learned of the cultural significance the rock holds for aboriginal people.

We traveled most of the day by bus on November 5th. After passing through Collins Station, Alice Springs greeted up late in the afternoon. There are several notable galleries of native art in the city that we had time to browse through. Before we knew it, the time to board the train was upon us. Dinner time saw us heading north out of Alice Springs on the Ghan Train en route to Darwin.

November 6th

There were a lot of miles to cover overnight. Traveling on the Ghan Train is somewhat like traveling in a 19th-century book. The train has a wonderfully classic look-and-feel to it. Our compartment had stacked bunks, but it was an interesting experience. The linen tablecloths, hot coffee, and breakfast all added to the nostalgic experience from the day before. After a stop of several hours to cruise the Katherine Gorge, we were back on the train heading for Darwin.

After a quiet morning in Darwin, we headed for Jabiru outside of Kakadu National Park. This brings you up to date on how we ended up in Jabiru on the US Election Day, 2018.

We’ll get more photos and blogs posted in the coming days.
.

When we arrived in Hobart, Tasmania mid-day today (Oct 30th)m we new that the Tasmanian Devill was iconic Tasmania. However, we were a bit surprsed when we discovered a Tasmanian Devil sculpture in the baggage claim (luggage arrival) area. No real marsupials in sight however.

Hobart is a city of about 260,000 on the southeast coast of Tasmania. The whole island has a population of 520,000 which isn’t surprising considering the ruggedness of the terrain and the location. The city is as far south as Portsmouth, NH and hilly as the Adirondack Mountains. We really just had time for a walking tour of the city today, but what we saw was fascinating.

This really was a penal colony for criminals from England and Ireland in the 1800s. Rumor has it that after the American Revolution, The UK had to find a not drop off point for their criminals, and hey… they had this new place called Australia. Hobart was isolated and made a great penal colony. Murder dictated a life sentence, I guess that was reasonable. Burning down a house netted fourteen years labor. Lesser offenses such as theft of turnips, bread or a woman’s handkerchief warranted only seven years of labor.

The harbor is beautiful with many original buildings still standing. The city has done a great job of repurposing building over two centuries. The sandstone buildings are in remarkable condition and have reportedly never needed cleaning. (The facades… not the insides) This is the result of high-quality sandstone available in Tasmanian quarries, the climate, and lack of industrial pollution and the resulting acids. These sandstone buildings are original warehouse from the early 1800s.Today they are taverns and restaurants.

As we crossed back into Germany from Austria, we traveled through this region and visited the legendary Eagle’s Nest fortress. We arrived early and were on one of the first busses to the entrance. Access to the park area is limited – you arrive at the welcome center and park your car (or bus in our case). Once you’ve purchased your entry ticket, you board a park bus for the trip to the entrance to the Eagle’s Nest.

The fortress was built during the Second World War as a retreat and command center for Hitler. The only access is via a long tunnel that was cut through the base of the mountain and then up an ornate elevator. The tunnel is large enough to accommodate an automobile, and high ranking officials were frequently driven into the mountain and dropped off at the elevator. We walked.

Exiting the elevator, I was struck by the size of the place. This is where my cinema bias from the movie “Where Eagles Dare” came into play. I recalled that Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood were running all over the place; up and down stairwells, down long halls and into numerous rooms where they hid. Well, the reality is that this place is much smaller than expected but still beautiful and interesting.

We walked through the public areas including the great room. Our guide provided interesting insight and gave us a solid historical perspective on the building and function of the retreat. However, stepping outside, we the best part – the view was awesome.

Whichever direction we looked, we had an incredible view. At an elevation of 1,835 m (6,020 ft.), the Eagle’s Nest (Kehlsteinhaus) sits high above the surrounding landscapes. The group of us walked up the path outside the Eagle’s Nest and captured stunning pictures. After about 30 minutes, we headed down the elevator. In less than an hour since we’d arrived there was a mass of visitors that had been dropped off by subsequent busses. It was a good thing that we got on that first bus and beat the crowds.

Munich – Again

By mid-afternoon, we were back in Munich where we’d started this tour over a week earlier. We had a nice dinner planned at the Ratskeller Restaurant and we stopped for a beer with several of our traveling companions on the way. Dinner was more like a gathering of old friends than a farewell to traveling companions who’d been strangers a week earlier.

Along the Autostrasse

Sunday morning was clear and warm in Vienna, so we had our breakfast outside, along the Danube River. Then it was time to climb back into the bus and head for Salzburg. About an hour outside of Vienna we stopped and hopped on a boat for a cruise up the Danube. We’d been following and crossing the Danube since leaving Munich a week earlier.

Cruising along the rural wine country in Austria was a completely different experience from the bridges in Budapest. Passing through the verdant hillsides and small towns between Kerms to Weißenkirchen was relaxing and a harbinger for the small town feel of Salzburg that was ahead.

There were two stops on the road to Salzburg. The first was in Melk where we stopped to get a look at the Abbey and as a bonus, we watched a strange version of curling being played in a parking lot with what looked like traffic cones. That’s something you don’t see every day. Next, we had lunch at a rest stop along autostrasse, east of Linz, Austria. The food was good, but the view from the deck outside was fantastic. We could see beautiful, rolling green hills out across the Danube. It was awesome.

Sound of Music

A great deal of what we saw in Salzburg was related to the Sound of Music. When Julie and I watched our grandkids earlier this spring, I enjoyed watching The Sound of Music with Sydney, our five-year-old grand-daughter. Let me clarify that… I enjoyed watching the Sound of Music the first three or four times. Beyond that, I had ‘… the hills are alive…’ echoing in my head even when I tried to sleep.

The first stop was Mondsee, about 45 minutes outside Salzburg. This is a little town and the church from the wedding scene sits smack in the middle of town. There’s a beautiful lake here as well and we all enjoyed walking and exploring the town and relaxing by the lake.

Salzburg Walking Tour

On arriving in Salzburg the first thing that struck me was that this was a much smaller city than where we’d spent the previous week. Munich, Prague, Budapest and even Vienna had a big city feel to them. Here was Salzburg which looked like a miniature version of its big-city cousins, but it was small and welcoming.

The exploring started right off as we headed for Schloss Mirabell (Mirabell Palace and gardens). From the top of the stairs, the garden spread out before us. These are the stairs from the last part of the “Do Re Mi” song. In “The Sound of Music”, Maria and the children dance around the Pegasus Fountain in front of the palace, singing most of “Do Re Mi.” It’s at the end of the song when they stand on the steps here and sing the song’s final bars. There is a rose garden north (behind) the stairs that had some significance, but neither Julie nor I can remember what it was. This is also where we got our first good look at the fortress towering over Salzburg.

Motzart-Wohnhaus

We continued through the gardens for quite some time. Even I had to admit the designs and colorful flowers were beautiful, and I’m not big on gardens. One block ahead from the Mirabell exit sits the house where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lived until he moved to Vienna in 1781. Most of the house was destroyed in October 1944 during an air raid. In the 1990s the Mozart Residence was reconstructed true to the original building plans.

The walking tour continued through the town and crossed the Salzach River. Here we were introduced to the Old Town Hall and #9 Getreidegasse, the birthplace of Mozart. Born here on January 27, 1756, Mozart grew up and lived in the third-floor apartment until 1773. At that time the family moved to the “Mozart Residence” on Makartplatz Square. You can see that Salzburg is very proud of the Mozart connection from the restaurants, shops, and historical sites. You can even purchase a chocolate candy referred to as Mozart balls.

Residenzplatz

Residenzplatz Square is the site of a former ancient Roman Forum. Completed in 1661, the 45-foot-tall Horse Fountain is in the center of the square. Four horses leap out of the base and Trion spouts water from a seashell at the top of the fountain. The upper section is a replica of Bernini’s famous Triton Fountain in Rome and it is the largest Baroque fountain located outside of Italy. Back to “The Sound of Music”, the Horse Fountain in the square was where Maria splashes her hand while performing ‘I Have Confidence in Me’. A supporting platform had to be built for the movie since the walls of the fountain are much too tall to allow splashing.

The square was also used in the movie to show Nazi soldiers (the ‘bad men’, according to our grand-daughter) marching while their flag hangs above the entrance to the Old Residenz Palace. Picturing the movie in my head, it reminded me that Austria was annexed by Germany in 1938. I need to check, but I think this was part of the deal or appeasement worked out in hopes of preventing war.

Unfortunately, construction prevented easy access to a large portion of the square. In 1602 the Archbishop built the New Residenz (Neugebäude) on the Eastside of the square to serve as his guest house. The building is home to the Glockenspiel Bell Tower, Heimatwerk Shop, and the Salzburg Panorama 1929 painted by Johann Michael Sattler. The Panorama boasts a series of stunning 360-degree panoramic paintings of many European cities made during the early 1800s. We didn’t have an opportunity to visit these sites.

Marian Statue

It gets a little complicated, but we walked through the courtyard of the Old Residenz Palace and out a side entrance to the Domplaz- a square adjacent to the Salzburg Cathedral. Here we saw the Marian statue that was created by Wolfgang and Johann Baptist Hagenauer in the 1760s. Standing in the middle of the arches leading to Franziskanergasse, the Marian statue appears to be crowned by the crown on the side of the cathedral. There was quite a bit of competition to get just the right photograph of the alignment.

---

Hohensalzburg Fortress

The Hohensalzburg Fortress was originally built in 1077. Like many other famous buildings in Europe, it was expanded and rebuilt numerous times.

In the year 1077, archbishop Gebhard had the fortress built and thus changed the Salzburg skyline forever. In the years which followed, his successors drove the ongoing development of the fortress architecture. The complex acquired the appearance we recognize today under archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach in 1500.

The original purpose of the fortress was to protect the principality and the archbishops from hostile attacks. In all of these years, it has never been captured by foreign troops

Dinner in Stiftskeller St. Peter

Our dinner was at a restaurant within the walls of St Peter’s Abbey in Salzburg, Austria. It is claimed to be the oldest inn in Central Europe because of a supposed mention of it in the Carmina anthology by the English scholar Alcuin of York, issued in 803 AD when he served Emperor Charlemagne and Bishop Arno of Salzburg… The worlds oldest restaurants

Photo album is available at Salzburg Photos

Vienna

Having left Budapest first thing in the morning, we were heading west across the Pannonian plain for Austria. After just a few hours on the road we saw the Austrian Alps rising along the horizon, and then we were back alongside the Danube River, just outside Vienna.

After we grabbed lunch we were on our way around Vienna on foot. The first stop was St. Stephan’s Cathedral, a beautiful gothic church in the middle of Vienna. A children’s choir was practicing as we walked through, adding a wonderful backdrop for the high vaulted ceilings, beautiful windows, and gothic architecture.

Like most of the cities we’d visited so far, Vienna has many walkable boulevards. The central part of the city is littered with statues and fountains. From the church, we walked over to Grabenstraße and past the Pestsäule, a beautifully sculpted column, built to commemorate victims of the plague. We saw one street where a famous shoe store catered to the very wealthy (thousands of dollars for shoes made especially for your feet.) Not much further down Grabenstraße was another statue fountain, this one of St Joseph. From there we headed for Michaelplatz and the Hofburg Palace.

Hofburg Palace

Throughout the trip, we’d been hearing about the Austrian based empires that had controlled the area currently made up of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. Now the Hofburg Palace (home of the Austrian empire) was right in front of us; it was kind of weird. Until the end of WWI, this place was the political center for the Austrian Empire. Today, the palace is home to the offices of the Federal President and other important departments of the Austrian government.

Spanish Riding School

Around the corner, we walked by the Spanish Riding School and then stopped by the stables. Here in Vienna was a riding school with horses from the former Yugoslavia. The school didn’t originate in Spain and there aren’t any Spanish instructors…? We found that curious until we discovered that the horses were originally from Spain, hence the “Spanish” riding school. The Lipizzaner horses are now bred in Piber, Austria. Incidentally, you can also catch a carriage ride (without Lipizzan’s) just around the corner from here.

After the riding school, we followed our guide through a tangled web of streets and reached a set of painted stairs outside the Albertina Museum. Apparently, there’s a tradition of painting or repainting the stairs periodically. On our trip, they were painted in rainbow colors. And then we were back on the bus and headed for the hotel.

Our Hilton

The Hilton Vienna Danube Waterfront, in my opinion, was the nicest accommodation for the trip. The rooms were spacious and the location was beautiful. While the prior hotels were located centrally in the various cities we visited, the Hilton was a bit on the outskirts of the city. It actually sits right on the Danube River with a nice view of Vienna International Center across the river to the North. The first thing Julie and I did was jump in the pool to cool off after the warm afternoon hiking around the city.

Vienna Revisited

While the Hilton was along the Danube, the Stadion (Stadium) U-Bahn station was within easy walking distance. So, the following day Julie and I headed into the city on the UBahn – once we figure out how to purchase our tickets from that infernal machine… Once we finally had our tickets, we took the U-Bahn to the Karlsplatz station and explored parts of the city we’d not seen during the Friday trek and revisited other sites.

We made our way back to St. Stephan’s church and then began to explore streets we hadn’t seen the day before. Where we’d gone left on Friday, we turned right on Saturday. At one point we found ourselves in the gardens behind the Hofburg Palace; this is a beautiful and peaceful place to just walk or sit and relax. A short while later we stumbled upon another statue of a lion to get my picture taken with… bonus! We took our time exploring and looking at the public art and architecture of the city. Before we knew it, it was lunchtime!

We grabbed lunch at a cafe near the Opera House and then struck out for the Karlplatz U-Bahn station. Julie wanted to see the Naschmarkt before we returned to the hotel. The Naschmarkt dates from the 16th century with scores of stalls, loads of produce and many restaurants. The market was a short walk from the Karlsplatz U-Bahn station so we wandered through there. Modern and clean, at the same time authentic and novel, the market retains some of its heritage from prior centuries. I’m not big on markets, so let’s just leave it with this; Julie enjoyed herself there.

The next morning we headed out again, this time for Salzburg. Ah, onward to the home of the Sound of Music!

More photos from Vienna are available here and on Flickr.

Onward to Hungary

It was still early June, warm and sunny as we rolled into Budapest. After leaving Prague we headed south, stopping on Bratislava for lunch and a quick look around. Leaving Bratislava we entered the Pannonian plain as we continued south in Hungary. The Pannonian plain was previously a prehistoric basin of lakes. That was long before I was born… even before Julie…. Now it’s a broad agricultural region that is sometimes referred to as the breadbasket of Europe.

As our bus cruised towards Budapest we saw hundreds of wind turbines dotting the landscape. Wind power currently supplies only a fraction of Hungary’s needs, but you’d never know that from the number of towers we saw. The drive from Prague to Budapest took us about six hours; the last several hours were through miles of farm country before we finally came to Budapest.

Budapest – Two Cities

Like Prague, Budapest is split by a river. In this case, it’s the Danube River that runs north and south through the city. Buda, on the west side of the Danube, and Pest on the east side collectively form Budapest – pronounced Buda-pesht by the locals. These were two separate cities until 1873 when they were ‘unified’. The ‘Pest-side’ of the city is where you want to spend your time from a cultural and architectural appreciation perspective. This part of the city hosts most of the hotels, restaurants, museums and many of the monuments.

Hero’s Square

On our first evening in Budapest, we visited two icons of the city – Heroes’ Square and Vajdahunyad Castle. The castle was originally built for the millennial celebration in 1895. Because of its popularity, it was rebuilt as a permanent structure. An interesting statue we found there is ‘Anonymous’ (chronicler). The statue recognizes the efforts to document Hungarian history by a notary for a Hungarian king in the 13th century. Hero’s Square is also situated at the end of Andrássy.

Hero’s Square is a broad plaza with statues that was also constructed as part of Hungary’s Millennial celebration in the late 19th century. During the Communist era, it frequently hosted orchestrated demonstrations on holidays. Leaders of the 1956 revolution were ceremonially reburied in Hero’s Square in 1989.

Andrassy Street

Andrássy út or Andrássy Street is a beautiful street that begins at Hero’s Square and heads to the river. It was originally named after the Hungarian Prime Minister (Gyula Andrássy) who played a key role in the modern development of the city. The boulevard was also a pawn of the communist era politicians. It became ‘Stalin Street’ in 1950 during the Soviet occupation and ‘Magyar Ifjúság útja’ (Avenue of Hungarian Youth) in 1956. Just one year later, the Hungarian communists changed the name to ‘Népköztársaság út’ (People’s Republic Street). The former name of Andrássy Street was finally restored in 1990 at the conclusion of the Communist Era.

Today, trees, impressive homes, and commercial buildings line the boulevard. Under it runs the oldest subway line on the European continent. The subway construction began in 1894 and finished in 1896, in time for the millennium celebrations of Hungary. They built the subway line under the boulevard to provide easy access to the millennial site near Hero’s Square.

Our last stops on this busy first day were photo opportunities. The first photo spot was alongside the Chain Bridge and the other was in Buda, overlooking the Danube and the city at sundown. They were both classic photos, but unfortunately, I’d only brought my phone along – no camera. I got some decent pictures, but sure wish I’d brought my camera along instead.

Day Two

We returned to Hero’s on our second morning in Budapest and our local guide, “Arpod” explained the statues and the history of the Hungarian people. Settled as a town in the 9th century, Budapest officially becoming a city in 896 AD. That explained the ‘Millennial Celebration’ in 1896. The square was also the site of anti-communist protests in 1956.

University students protested communism at the square and sparked the dawning of change in the government and society. Over the following week, the country’s borders were opened and 250,000 fled the country. The freedoms were short-lived as the Soviet Union cracked down and occupied Budapest with Russian soldiers and tanks. Even today, the square is the frequent site for political rallies and social activism.

Culture and Architecture

The city of Pest was flooded and large sections destroyed in 1838. The rebuilding of the city took many years and was accomplished with a great deal of input from the citizenry. I found the Dohany Street Synagogue impressive. It was completed in 1859 and was designed using the Moorish style influenced by Moslem architecture. It can hold 5000 and is the second largest synagogue in the world.

Across the river in Buda, we visited the Matthias Church. Actually, the real name is Church of Our Lady of Buda, but it’s commonly referred to as the Matthias Church since he was married there twice in the 1800s. The original church was built in 1015 AD, but I lost track of how many times it was destroyed, rebuilt, renamed, occupied, etc.

We heard the story of how in 1686, after 150 years of Turkish occupation, Buda was under siege in an attempt to drive the Turks out. During the siege, a cannonball caused a wall of the church collapse. A sculpture of the Virgin Mary was behind the wall and was revealed to praying Muslims in the church – converted to Mosque. Legend has it that morale of the soldiers collapsed and the city was quickly liberated.

Walking around Budapest

Julie and I spent the afternoon exploring the east bank of Budapest. Upwards of 70% of the city was damaged or destroyed at the end of WW2. The German Army occupied the city when they sensed that Hungary was preparing to surrender to the Allies. Even when surrounded by Soviet forces the Germans refused to surrender. They rendered the bridges across the Danube unusable and held out under ongoing artillery that caused much of the damage to the city.

Today, the city we saw is a mix of modern and historical buildings but one that retains the historical charm of an old Eastern European city. We had lunch and dinner along the street at sidewalk cafes and strolled past parks, classic buildings and along the Danube. We also took a boat ride on the Danube and saw the city from the river. There were so many beautiful sights.

On our way back to the hotel, we ran into Louis and Iliana as they were relaxing in their own sidewalk café. The four of us enjoyed a couple of beers as we chatted away about how wonderful Budapest was. Before we knew it, Julie was telling us it was after 11 PM and we had to have our suitcases packed for the morning. And off we went…

Onward to Eastern Europe – Prague

Having been on self-directed travel for over two months, we started June with a welcome change. Today we’re headed to Prague with new friends as part of a Globus tour. I remember this part of Europe mostly for its isolation until the fall of communism in 1990. For me, Prague, Budapest, and Vienna are places you read about in spy novels and watched in movies. Now this region had totally remade itself with new countries, new ‘free movement’ borders and a welcome openness to tourism.

Prague is in the northwestern portion of the Czech Republic. The main part of the city is on the east bank of the Vltava (Moldau) River that cuts through the city. As soon as we crossed one of the seven main bridges into the old part of the city, the eastern European/old world ambiance soaked in. The old stone bridges across the river, the cobbled streets, and even the trams told me I was in Prague – the Prague I’d read about in books. We navigated through narrow streets with classic stone buildings rising up on both sides until we got to our hotel in Old Town Prague. This was going to be great.

Prague at Night

That first evening we headed north across the Moldau River to visit the Strahovský klášter (Strahov Monastery) in Strahov. The monastery sits on a hill, north of the city and has an awesome view of the river and the main city of Prague. Curiously, they produce a beer there that reportedly has ‘antidepressant’ qualities. Sadly, we didn’t get a chance to sample any. The monastery also has two ghosts that we heard about. We were warned against returning at midnight lest we would get to meet the two in person. And these were just the first of many ghosts in Prague… welcome to Eastern Europe.

The Charles Bridge is a 500-year-old bridge for pedestrian traffic only. We climbed the stairs to the bridge after learning of another ghost, a beautiful woman dancer that preys on men. From the bridge, we were reminded that this was the location of the Prague Bridge scene took place in Mission Impossible I. Crossing the bridge gave us beautiful views, one after another as the sun was setting. If you go to Prague, walking across the Charles Bridge is a definite sunset activity!

Meeting the Locals

Our tour guide arranged for a local musician to meet us in a pub. We spent about 45 minutes drinking local brews and singing along with the skilled accordion player. While none of us got up and started dancing, it was interesting how much our knowledge of local songs improved as we drank more beer. It was a great way for the members of our tour to start to get to know each other.

Castles and History

The parks and architecture in the city are wonderful. Most of the city was undamaged from WWII, leaving many classic Eastern European neighborhoods and a great many well-maintained older buildings. On our second day in Prague, we visited the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. The castle is home to the Czech president and includes the cathedral. This is one of the oldest European castles, dating back to 870 AD. It’s also the site of some of the most significant historical events in the region.

The Second Defenestration of Prague in 1618 took place at the castle. I missed many of the details in the tour, but it had something to do with throwing people out a window. (defenestration noun – the action of throwing someone or something out of a window.) Being defenestrated was not overly popular with those getting thrown…. Regardless, that sparked the Bohemian Revolt and a resulting war. Like I said, there’s lots of history here. Julie and I also walked many of the streets and neighborhoods and especially enjoyed Václavské náměstí (Wenceslas Square).

Wenceslas Square

Although it’s referred to as a square, Wenceslas Square is really a half mile long wide boulevard with a park down the middle. While having dinner one night we found out that it is a traditional setting for demonstrations, celebrations, and other public gatherings. Several thousand peaceful demonstrators gathered to voice concerns that we never quite figured out. The large TV screens, speaking platforms, flags, banners and public speakers left us feeling like we were in the middle of a documentary. There was a continual flow of more and more people into the square as we dined. The crowd in the square was still full of energy and enthusiasm as we walked back to our hotel after dinner.

There was so much more to this city that I could go on and on. Prague is an easy city to get around in on foot and we found it friendly and offering a lot to visitors. As we headed out of the city for Bratislava in Slovenia we’d already decided that it was going to hold a top spot on our list of favorite cities in Eastern Europe.

Prague Photos (Flickr)

Goodbye Spain

On Thursday afternoon, last day of May, we headed out of Valencia for the last time. Our flight took us first, over the Mediterranean and then over the Alps to Munich, Germany. With a late arrival in Munich, we had a room in the airport hotel. That turned out to be a good decision because I somehow managed to leave my phone on the plane. (In my defense, I was listening to an Audible book and had placed it in the seatback ‘in preparation for landing’.)

Lufthansa was very helpful and organized. The phone had already been secured and was being forwarded to the office that handled items left on planes. About 20 minutes later we stopped in to check on the phone. The woman pulled out the box for phones left on planes from that day and started going through them. There had to be over a dozen phones and that was just one day, for one airline in one airport! The good news is that mine was there. I showed my passport, signed some forms and we were off.

Welcome to Munich

First, let me tell you that the Flughafen München (Munich airport) is located in Franzheim, about 25 miles NE of Munich. The cost for a taxi from the airport to downtown Munich runs around €70 or about $80 and takes about 40 minutes. The good news is that the S-Bahn (Train) takes about the same amount of time and costs about €23, or $26. Since our hotel in Munich was across the street from the Munich Hauptbahnhof (main train station), it couldn’t have been more convenient. Additionally, we discovered that our S-Bahn ticket was valid on all public transit in Munich for 24 hrs. – bonus! On Friday morning we grabbed our bags and took the S-Bahn from the airport into Munich.

Bavarian Motor Works – BMW

After checking into our Munich hotel we used our transit pass and struck out for the BMW Museum. This museum is in a very modern building adjacent to BMW headquarters and BMW Werks. (BMW Museum Exterior). There is an incredible collection of cars, motorcycles and auto technology in this place.

From a design perspective, we saw how the clay models were built and used and we even saw how BMW used wind tunnel testing to improve vehicle design in the first half of the last century. I found the cutaways of the vehicles, vehicle interiors and even engines especially interesting.

As far as I can remember, my recollection of BMWs starts in the mid-1970’s when we lived in Belgium. Seeing the collection of BMW 2002 Sedans brought back memories for me. There were many older models, but the focus is on newer cars and their progression over the last 40 years. The technological developments and integration of technology are showcased, especially when it comes to Formula 1 cars and motors. Even Julie was interested, but before we knew it, we’d reached the last display. Time for the BMW Welt!

Across the street from the museum is another modern building – BMW Welt. All the BMW brands are located here under one fantastic roof. You can see, touch and climb inside BMW, Rolls Royce, Mini and more. (I hadn’t realized these were all BMW brands now.) It’s all show and tell, no one is trying to sell, that made it enjoyable. If you’re buying a BMW, you can also pick it up here courtesy of BMW and their white glove treatment. The nicer the white glove, the nicer the experience!

New Luggage!

Do you remember that Julie broke the handle off her suitcase as we were leaving Clarence in April? Well, not to be outdone, I managed to bend a wheel on mine in Spain. Once we packed up and headed for Germany, it was immediately apparent that I was going to be repacking my suitcase as well. Leaving the glamor of BMW behind, we struck out for the shopping district.

No glamor. No white gloves. Not even a luggage museum to wander through. It was just – select a bag, pull out a credit card and drag the new purchase back to the hotel. They cut the tags off for me and placed them in the outside compartment. I thought that was a nice touch. We celebrated with a glass of wine and some wasabi covered nuts at the hotel.

Dinner at the Bier Garten

We checked with the concierge for a restaurant recommendation. It was a Friday night and he said most people would be heading to a bier garten. Lucky for us, there was one within walking distance of the hotel that he said was pretty good, so off we went. For those of you that have not been to a Bier Garten before, let me take a moment to explain how it works.

Think of a Bier Garten as a park with beer. The majority of the park has tables and benches. Around the edge are various vendors selling food and beer. In the one we visited, there were two restaurants with nicer accommodations as well. You get in line and when you get to the various vendors, you get your schnitzel, wurst (sausage), sauerkraut or whatever. Then you get your beer… big beers in huge glasses or even huger beers in even bigger glass mugs. You pay at the checkout counter and you’re off to find a table.

Julie had currywurst (sausage with curry) with pommes (fries) and I had wurst mit sauerkraut (you can figure that one out on your own). We grabbed an open table and enjoyed the food – it was awesome. It was nice to be there eating with the locals, enjoying a nice evening and good German beer. What a great way to start this newest adventure.

Welcome to Munich.

Amsterday – Great Dam City

As I thought about the today’s blog on Amsterdam, I considered starting with “It was a dark and stormy night….” On reflection, it was still the afternoon. More on the weather later; let me tell you about Amsterdam first.

Amsterdam is a wonderful city that’s got a great deal to offer visitors and is very easy to get around. We arrived from Munich on and Inter-City Express (ICE) train – the trains travel at speeds up to 180 mph and have fewer stops. The trains are more comfortable than flying by a wide margin, and most stations (including Amsterdam) are located close to downtown making it easier than navigating through airports. Consider this – the Munich’s airport is a $90 taxi ride from downtown. The Munich train station was a 3-minute walk from our hotel. In Amsterdam, our hotel was a 10-minute ferry ride (free) from the train station.

Freedoms and Tolerance

A city that prides itself on freedoms and tolerance, Amsterdam gave us some interesting experiences early on. For example, directions to pick up museum tickets included ‘… and we’re just past the Sex Museum on the same side of the street…” That, my friends, was in the nice part of the city. Some of the nicest hotels are in the same neighborhood as the Hash Marijuana and Hemp Museum and only blocks from the Museum of Prostitution. These are nice, respectable neighborhoods. They’re not lying when they say that they’re tolerant.

Walking Tour

After walking around on our own for the morning, we took a three-hour walking tour of Amsterdam with Free Dam Tours (freedamtours.com). It was great! Our guide was Charlotte, whose English was excellent and her passion for the city was evident. We got great historical insight around the origin of the name (dam on the river Amstel) and how prostitution came to be tolerated there. Oh, and yes, she took us through the red-light district – the tales are true. Unless I saw it myself I wouldn’t have believed it, but the Salvation Army has offices right next to an ‘establishment’ and across a canal from the Museum of Prostitution.

Rather than dwelling on that portion of the tour, I’ll mention that we also saw other cultural and historical portions of the city. Charlotte’s explanations of the expansion of the city over time and the role of the East India Trading Company in making the Netherlands a world power were interesting. As she talked we walked past historical buildings and monuments. It was awesome. She also spoke of the hardships of WWII while we walked through the Jewish quarter.

Anne Frank

After the walking tour, Julie and I hiked past the palace and across several canal bridges to the Anne Frank house. The original house remains, but there is a much larger and more modern museum just around the corner. If you want to visit, plan ahead. At times the wait list to see the house is over a month long. The house itself looks like any of the hundreds of other homes we saw. However, looking at it I had a flashback to reading the Diary of Anne Frank in school. It’s almost spooky how close the home’s appearance matches the memory my mind’s eye created. Even without going inside, I recommend stopping and seeing the building for yourself.

Thursday – Different Weather

Having been traveling across Europe for nearly two months, I have to say that we had great weather. Today turned out to be different. We headed out after breakfast and jumped on the ferry to the train station downtown. The sky was overcast and the wind was cool. Julie and I both wore our light rain jackets because of the wind and the chill. We had our list of activities for the day, so first, we headed off to visit the NEMO Science Museum.

NEMO

NEMO is an interactive science museum that is focused on kids, but we had a great time there as well. They structure activities for kids and make it fun to learn. For example, learning about the importance of water and how water is purified for drinking. The exhibit has kids pumping water into buckets and moving it through stages of purification. And next to that you have to build dikes out of plastic blocks as water flows down the ‘river’. Being Amsterdam, there was a section dedicated to teenager development, puberty, and teen ‘relationships’. After a quick walk inside and a peek at some of the exhibits, we fled to another floor.

After lunch, we spent several hours in another fascinating hangout, the National Maritime Museum. They have a replica sailing ship to explore (and try not to bump your head) and other great exhibits. Their map collection is incredible. We got a real sense for how maps evolved and their impact during the 15th and 16th centuries. There are some fantastic original maps on display there. Put this place on your list for kids and adults.

The Weather

While we were in the Maritime Museum, the clouds had dropped, winds picked up and there was a misty rain falling. We had about a mile and a quarter walk to the Centraal Station Ferry Terminal. Not so far that we needed a taxi, and the misty rain was not so bad, so off we went. As we walked, the clouds dropped further, the wind picked up and the mist became a bit denser.

The misty rain muted sound of the ever-present bicycles, leaving only the soft hiss of the tires on the wet pavement. Even the bells on the trams seemed softer. We made it to the ferry terminal, but the mist saturated any clothing not covered by our rain jackets. On the ferry ride, I was struck by how the weather seemed to drain all the color from the city. It was like riding through a blurred impressionistic painting of Amsterdam. Yesterday’s brightly colored buildings all merged into the muted landscape of misty colors and gray horizons. Even the brightly painted red channel markers appeared drab as they bobbed in the light chop as the ferry slipped by.

Regardless of the weather, we had a good day. Back at the hotel we changed into dry clothing and elected to have dinner in the hotel. After all, now it was “a dark and stormy night…”.

More Amsterdam photos here.