Pictures!!

Be warned: There are a lot of them.

http://picasaweb.google.ca/hgrant7

Enjoy!

Germany, Czech Republic and Austria

After our short stay in Berlin we were off to Prague. We made and afternoon stop on the way in Dresden to take in some sights.
and Heather bought a cuckoo clock
We arrived in Prague at dinner time. Our hotel was an old Nunnery up on the hill beside the monastery, so we got some impressive views on our way down.


That evening we got a bit of a tour of the city on a little tour cart thing and then got an evening cruise down the river.

The next day was touring prague on foot. Our tour guide led us from our hotel through the monastery down to the castle and St Vitus Cathedral
From there we walked all the way down through the old winding cobble stone streets, across the Charles Bridge to the town square where the astronomical clock is located.
Our guided tour ended here, so we went on our own to see the old jewish quarter and the jewish cemetery. The we walked all the way back up to the hotel (shopping and stopping for beers along the way).

We left very early the next morning (much too early especially since Heather went out with all the younger people the night before) and stopped in Cesky Krumlov for lunch and some photos


Then it was back to Vienna. That night we went to a restaurant and got a very good welcome from the staff
The restaurant was elaborately decorated inside with antiques (hanging from the ceilings even!)
Our final day in Vienna was spent visiting Schonbrunn Palace and it's gardens.
We also visited the local flea market and walked around the city one last time.

The next day was travel day - travel from Vienna to Frankfurt and then on to Vancouver.

We are home now! (and very tired)

Warsaw to Berlin

Today was a long day of travelling. We reached the boarder of Germany around 6:00 pm and were promptly pulled over for an inspection. The drivers records were checked and random luggage was pulled from the bus for a closer look. The inspectors wore guns and could not very friendly. We finally made our hotel around 7:30 pm and were sent out to find our own dinner. Berlin is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. Every road is lined with trees and all buildings are created as pieces of art. This is the view from the dome on the Parliament.

We next went to see several sights including Checkpoint Charlie.

We also saw the last remaining portion of the Berlin Wall.

In the afternoon we went to Potsdam to see the San Souci Palace

And the Cecilenhauf Castle .

And Brandenburg Gate

Warsaw

Up early and a local guide to tour Warsaw's major sights. We stop at the Warsaw Jewish Uprising Memorial and see where the ghetto used to be. It was 100% destroyed in WWII. On to the Old City. The city was 96% destroyed and totally reconstructed shortly after the second world war to imitate the original buildings.

We then took a tour to the Vilanov Palace. Very pretty with a great art collection. The gardens must be amazing in the summer when in full bloom.

Next, to a small palace for a private Chopin Piano concert. Loved it!

Must prepare ourselves. Tomorrow is the longest driving day. We should be in Berlin before 7:00 pm if all goes well.

Krakow to Warsaw

This morning was overcast and cool. Quite fitting for our destination. We arrived at Auschwitz mid-morning. We were guided through some of the buildings, seeing photo's and exhibits. The mounds of suitcases, shoes and other personal items were chilling. After this we entered the crematorium and viewed the "showers" and ovens.



Next to Birkenau. I never expected the area to be so large with so many acres of buildings and remains. I am at a loss for words.



On the way to Warsaw we stopped at the 14th century Monastery Jasna Gora where we were able to see the Black Madonna. I have never seen such a sight. This is a Church to which millions come from around the world to seek miracles. Our bus circled the town numerous times to find a spot to stop and let us off. I have never seen so many people. We pushed our way through and finally made it to the church. I was amazed to see people, nuns, monks etc. praying at every painting and artifact. We were told that this is considered the 5th most holy place in Europe.



We continued on and finally arrived in Warsaw around 6:30 pm. We are all exhausted. Heather is still very sick.

Krakow

We drove to Poland crossing through Slovakia and the Tatra Mountains. Stopped for lunch at a ski resort on the peak. We reached Krakow late afternoon. Dinner was at the hotel. Next morning were were taken by our guide to see the Salt Museum. The pictures can not do it justice.



Afterwards we went to see the Wawel Hill and the Castle. We were amazed at the number of people. Then to the old town for a view of St. Mary's Church with the renowned carved altarpiece completed in 1489. Luckily the altar doors were open. After that we went to the Cloth Hall built in the 14th century.




Heather is getting very sick but luckily many of the tour members are donating cold medications. She was quite the trooper and walked with me to the old Jewish Ghetto (Kazimierez) where I saw the Old Jewish Cemetery. Here bodies were buried between 1552 and 1800. After that they began to use the New Cemetery. This Jewish Quarter is the site of the Schindler Factory. We took a taxi back to the hotel - that was quite the experience.



That evening we went to a 300 year old home for a Polish Feast with musicians and dancers. They plied us with iced vodka and bread followed by the most amazing food. We love the soup served in individual loaves of bread. Everyone was dragged on to the dance floor to dance by the dancers.

Krakow is a beautiful old city. It was one of the few Polish cities to have survived WWII.

Budapest

We were up again at 6:00 and joined our Hungarian tour guide for a visit to the parliament buildings in Budapest. The security is high and all people are checked as if you were boarding a plane. The building was breathtaking.

We followed this up with a visit to Vajdahunyad Castle. There we had a private organ concert in the Chapel for our group. Heather loved it so much she bought the CD. Next, to Gundell's for their famous pancakes and tea. The tables are set with the finest china and tea or coffee was served with our chocolate, hazelnut pancake (more like a crepe). That was lunch!

In the afternoon we were joined by the balance of the group for a drive out to Szentendre. The village is now mainly a studio for artists to sell linens, wood carvings and china.





In the afternoon Heather and I found our way to the House of Terror. The basement cells and torture rooms are reconstructed from the 1950 era. The final exhibit is a room with hundreds of pictures of the victims and the perpetrators, some of whom are still alive. We left feeling very sombre. In the evening we went to a theatre for a Hungarian Folk Concert. They were very good.

Vienna and Budapest

Monday

Early wake up, followed by an excursion onto the Vienna streets to find coffee and breakfast. We went to a little cafe first, ordered some coffee but could not seem to get any food (even though there was a menu board). So we drank our coffee and left (after many many attempts to catch the waiters eye to get our bill. We wandered down the street a little and ended up finding a nice restaurant to grab some food at.

After breakfast we made our way to St Charles Church which was amazing. Many of the frescoes inside were still being restored so there was scaffolding and an elevator set up that were were able to use to get up near the top the the church to view the paintings close up. The scaffolding continued up with some winding stairs all the way to the very top of the dome (45 meters up). Needless to say, Sandi did not do the stairs to the top, in fact she chickened out soon after getting off the elevator halfway up and went back down.

Next we went to the Naschmarkt, a large 2 block long outdoor market which mostly consisted of food stands (fruit, pickles, meat, spices).

Our next stop was the Cafe Sacher, home of the famous sacher torte. The torte was delicous (and the cafe beautiful).


After our 'lunch' we went to the Opera house for a tour. The tour even brought us back stage to see the stage hands setting up the sets tor that evening's show of La Traviata. It almost made me want to go back into theatre, but then I reliazed that I would have to learn german to work there.

With our main plans of stuff to see for the day complete and a couple hours to spare before meeting the tour group we decided to wander the back streets of Vienna. We stumbled on an amazing little pancake cafe an had a snack.

After our snack were wandered around a little more and stumbled on the Dominican Church.


It was here that we meet a friendly american man who vacations every year in Vienna and offered to show us a few more sites. He brought us to a great old concert hall and the jesuit church. We were fortunate enough to visit the jesuit chirch while an orchestra were rehearsing.

We also saw the Anchor Clock. We unfortunatly had to cut the private and very informative tour (the guy was a history prof) short so that we could make it back to our hotel on time.

At 6pm we met with our tour group for the first time (they seem like lovely bunch - 38 of us total - mostly auzzies) and got some more travel instructions. afterwards we ventured back to that pancake cafe for dinner.

Tuesday

Today was an early start as we had to leave Vienna for Budapest. we had a very filling breakfast buffet in the hotel and were on the road by 8am.

We stopped at the border of Austria and Hungary for a quick bathroom break. it was here that we encountered the first of many pay toilets here in eastern europe.

.5eruos to use a toilet, guarded by what our TD (tour director) called a 'toilet dragon' (an old babushka in charge of the washrooms). We also did an exchange of a few euros for the Hungarian Forint (Our TD calls these non-euro currencies 'Monkey Money'). 2.5 hours of driving from the border and we reached Budapest. Our first stop was on the citadelle above the city to get a good view of Budapest.


When were arrived in Budapest we got to go on our first optional excusrion: The boat tour. We had our own private river boat, and a full spread catered lunch (with campagne) and we saied up and down the Danube river taking in the sights of Budapest.


Next the tour group went on a bus tour of the city. We got to stop in Old Budapest, on castle hill. Here we got to drive past the buda castle - the old royal palace which is now just art museums.

We also got to see the Matthias Church and walk around the fisherman's Bastion.




Dinner was done with the group at an old restaurant with live folk music and some really great tasting food.

I suppose I should also mention that the hotel we are staying in is superb. Its 113 years old and enormous. It also has an elaborate pool.

Vienna, Austria

We arrived in vienna and took the CAT (fast Train) to downtown Vienna (Wien Miette). Booked in to the Hilton and were given an upgrade to a suite looking out over the Stadpark. We grabbed our tourbook and headed inside the ring. Our first stop was St. Stephen's Cathedral.

The Cathedral was amazing. After wandering we located the Gigerl Wine Cellar recommended in the RS guidebiook. We chose the Vienna sampler and were brought a platter of various deep fried vegetables. We ate until we were full. A long while later, thinking we were dine, they brought us 3 large platters. One was varios meats including Wienersnitzel and roasted or boiled pork and veal and roasted potatoes. The second platter had deep fried chicken, pork and ? The third was an assortment of corn, tomatoes, cucumber salad, shreded carrots and potato salad. We ate a very small portion an asked the waiter for our bill and a doggy bag for the vegetables. To our dismay, about half an hour later the waiter arrived with a large platter of desserts including apple struddle and a hot pot of rum custard for dipping. We made a valiant attempt and again asked for a doggy bag. We waddled back to the hotel and hit our beds around 10:00 pm exhausted.

Sunday morning we awoke to another beautiful sunny day. We headed out looking for a Cafe for breakfast. We found an outdoor Cafe on Graben Street and ordered coffee, yogurt and fruit and ham and eggs. Again, we were unable to finish all that was served. The coffee was possibly the best I have ever had.

We headed to St Peter's but were unable to enter as it was time for Mass. Next we headed to Saint Michael's.

And then on to the Hofburg Palace's Imperial Apartments. We started with a tour of the Hofburg viewing the Imperial porcelain and silver collection followed by the Sisi Museum and Imperial apartments.


Then back to St. Peter's Church
Then to Kaisergruft - the Crypt for the Habsburg royalty.


After thr crypt we returned to the Hofburg Palace and toured the Treasury. I think that this has ben Heather's favorite today. Nothing like a little bit of bling to make a girl smile. We made it through most of the jewels before they closed for the day.

We returned to the hotel, found a letter from our tour guide welcoming us to Vienna and changed our shoes (our feet are pretty sore) before venturing down for dinner.

All ready to go!

Well the day is finally here! Today we leave for Europe.

The last week or so was pretty busy. It started with moving me from Edmonton (Just finished my degree at the UofA) back to my parents house (just until I find a real job and then I'm out of there). Then there was a lot of shopping to be done (seeing as both Mom and I were lacking in many travel things - and of course there were new shoes to be had) and packing all our new things away for the trip.



Surprisingly enough I actually was able to get everything I needed into one suitcase (and small carry-on) - that's an achievement for me.


I think the dog has started to sense that something is up as he is hesitant to get more than 2 feet away from Mom.


We are all packed and ready to go (and crossing our fingers for good seats on the plane- and maybe an upgrade??). Vienna here we come!