Now for an exploration of Eastern Europe! This 13 day adventure through Eastern Europe is organized by UK-based Golden Eagle Luxury Trains on its Danube Express route. From Budapest to Vienna, this private train travels through six countries and stops for off-train adventures in 10 cities.
Sept 1, 2024 - It’s going to be a long flight from SFO to
Budapest, including a plane change in Zurich, so Pippi Longstocking and I
thought we should sample lots of things from the buffet in United’s Polaris
lounge at San Francisco airport’s international terminal- just to keep busy
until boarding.
Substantial flight delay out of Zürich because of
thunderstorms, and also a delay because there was too much air traffic over
Germany and Austria. But the delay resulted in the opportunity to fly into
Budapest at night… A beautiful sight out of the airplane window! And my room at
the Marriott hotel on the river that separates Buda from Pest is small, but has
an incredible view.
September 2 - It has been 10 years since I’ve last visited BUDAPEST. As I usually do before an organized tour, I’ve gone in a few days early to the place that the tour begins so I can get over jetlag and also see a bit more than is usually on the tour itinerary. I realize that in the intervening 10 years since I’ve been to Budapest, it’s going to be a lot easier touring here now that I can find my way around town by simply putting a destination into Google maps on my iPhone. Today I want to enjoy coffee (and something with marzipan in it !!) at the famous Cafe Gerbeaud, which I last visited in 2014 at the end of a Golden Eagle train trip from Tehran to Budapest – – see my blog on that one. Then, I’ll stroll through the shopping district since all museums in Budapest are closed on Mondays.
Promenading in Pest - on the Danube river side of the
Marriott hotel, a warm evening brings out lots of pedestrians. Across the river
on the hills of the Buda side is the beautifully lit Buda Castle and beyond the
Chain Bridge (Szrchenyi Ianchid) is the tower of the Church of Matthias.
Sept 3 — what a disappointment! My intent for today was to
go to the National Museum of Hungary, but it is closed all freaking day because
there is some kind of filming going on. Maybe tomorrow?
Sept 3- The late morning walk from the closed museum today,
in 90° heat, was enlivened by passing all kinds of coffee shops in every
conceivable nook and corner of Budapest’s streets. Having coffee is a necessary
activity in this city, happening after all times of the day. The goal of my
trek was to reach the famous “New York Café”, and I’ll send more photos and
clips from that experience shortly.
The New York Café in Budapest is always crowded. Rick Steves
calls it “the most over-the-top extravagant coffee house in BUDAPEST, if not
Europe”. It boasts one of the city’s most impressive old interiors, which has
been faithfully maintained. The wait to get in is well worth the experience.
To hear the piano player who entertains patrons in the café,
use your smartphone camera to open the QR code below:
Or click on this link; it also takes you to the Facebook video
https://www.facebook.com/592039044/videos/pcb.10163557549839045/1041730960966429
Sept 3 - Our Golden Eagle trip begins with an overnight at a
fabulous hotel! Located at the foot of the chamber bridge, on the banks of the
Danube, the Art-Nouveau building known as the Gresham Palace, was originally
built in 1904-1906 by the Gresham Life Assurance company of London as luxury
residences, offices and retail shops. The building was severely damaged during
WWII and thereafter nationalized. From that time until 1999, the building fell
into a serious state of disrepair. In 1999, the building was restored and
converted into a luxury hotel, currently part of the Four Seasons hotel brand.
Originally built in the late 1800s, the great central market
of Budapest was significantly damaged in World War II and remained in
deteriorating condition until 1991 when a thorough renovation was undertaken to
bring it back to its original splendor. The building re-opened in 1997. On
three floors, it features fresh foods, and meats, souvenirs, and many other
kinds of market stalls. Today, and Aldi market is on the lower level. I was
particularly struck by the many varieties of sausages that are available, and
honey, and of course, the largest displays of various paprika that I’ve ever
seen in my life.
Sept 4 in Budapest - The Hungarian State Opera House is
located in central Budapest. Construction began in 1875, funded by the city of
Budapest and by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary and opened to the
public in 1884. Our extensive tour today took us through the beautifully
ornamental lobby with gorgeous murals and chandeliers, up to the third tier
boxes to peek at a ballet rehearsal, and then we were treated to a short
performance on a staircase (see video)!
To hear the performance, use your smartphone to open the QR
code….
Of click here: https://www.facebook.com/592039044/videos/pcb.10163553864304045/1849351008887690
It’s so hot in Budapest that yesterday evening I went to a
cheap lingerie shop, bought a pair of pajama bottoms, 100% cotton and
lightweight, borrowed scissors from the sales clerk, stood at the cash register
and cut them to the right length, and hemmed them up last night with the sewing
kit from the hotel, and that’s what I’m wearing. A real fashion plate, that’s
me.
Sept 4 - During our bus tour today, we passed by the “Shoes
on the Danube Promenade”. (the following paragraph and close-up photos,
courtesy yadyashem.org) “On the banks of the Danube River in
Budapest, not far from the Hungarian Parliament building, sit sixty pairs of
old-fashioned shoes, the type people wore in the 1940s. There are women's
shoes, there are men's shoes and there are children's shoes. They sit at the
edge of the water, scattered and abandoned, as though their owners had just
stepped out of them and left them there. If you look more closely, you see that
the shoes are rusted, made of iron and set into the concrete of the embankment.
They are a memorial and a monument to the Hungarian Jews who, in the winter of
1944-1945, were shot on the banks of the Danube River.”
As beautiful as Budapest is today, it does have a dark
history of anti-semitism. There were 600,000 Hungarian victims of the
Holocaust, which is one out of every 10 of the 6 million victims of the
Holocaust.
Thankfully, there is still a significant population of Jews
in the city today; The great synagogue here (which I did not have time to
visit) is known to be the world’s second largest synagogue, with its initial
building dating from the mid 19th century.
The Shoes on the Danube Promenade – Commemoration of the
Tragedy
Located on the Pest side of Budapest with its main facade
facing the Danube, the Hungarian Parliament Building is the seat of the
National Assembly of Hungary. It is a notable landmark of Hungary, and a
popular tourist destination in Budapest. It’s huge with 691 rooms and 29
staircases to reach them. The parliament continues to meet there, and one of
the fanciful leftovers of the past are the rows of cigar holders in the
corridor outside the legislative chamber; since so much of that room was built
of wood, smoking was prohibited, so those who enjoyed their cigars would put
them in the numbered holders in the corridor to retrieve them after the
legislative session for the day was done.
Our tour group’s visit in searing midday heat to the hilly
and posh Buda side of Budapest concentrated primarily on the Buda castle area,
including St Matthias church. All spectacular edifices but frankly my skin and
brain were frying so it was hard for me to be enthusiastic. Maybe another visit
at a cooler time of year is called for…
Sept 5 - The Chain Bridge across the Danube is one of the
world’s great bridges; it connects Pest and Buda. The bridge is guarded by
stone lions, a symbol of power, and built between 1842–1849. It was
commissioned by Count Istvan Szechenyi after he was stranded for a week, trying
to get to his father‘s funeral; he missed the funeral. It is possible to walk
across the Danube during the winter when it ices over, but in this case the
river partially thawed. This bridge was destroyed by the Nazis at the end of
World War II, but was quickly rebuilt. It is called the chain bridge, because
the suspension features from afar look like a chain necklace. On the tourist
maps handed out by hotels (which maps are in Hungarian), it is named Szechenyi
Ianchid after the Count who commissioned it. There are beautiful views of both
sides of BUDAPEST from the bridge.
September 5 - So Pippi says goodbye to the Gresham Four
Seasons, where she’s cozied up to the bar for one last time. Our bus takes us
to the train station, and after a small champagne reception in the Royal
waiting room, the train is finally ready to board. We had a wonderful reception
from a band, and then walked down to our sleeper car. Pippi made friends very
quickly with the fellow who is a purser for our car “B“. The cabin is
absolutely perfect, and now it’s time to unpack. Enjoy the videos of the cabin
and the band.
The train station
We are greeted by a special band send-off. Open the QR code with your smartphone to see
the band play:
Or open this link:
https://www.facebook.com/592039044/videos/pcb.10163557720529045/535069352243806
Welcome aboard from our traincar purser!
And now, to settle into the cabin: open the QR code with your smartphone to see
the cabin
Or click this internet link to go to the facebook video https://www.facebook.com/592039044/videos/pcb.10163557720529045/1407483573258070
Private trains like the one we are on for the next 12 days
do not have priority on any nations‘ railways. So Thursday afternoon, after a
12:29 departure from Budapest’s Nyugati train station, we trundled along nicely
until we reached Mason-magyarovar in the northwest corner of Hungary quite
close to the borders of both Austria and Slovakia. Wikipedia informs me that
this is a charming town of about 33,000 people, has been inhabited since the
5th century BC, has been overrun by Romans, barbarians, Turks, various tribes,
Napoleon’s army, and the Habsburgs played a role here too… And it has a museum
and a castle. However, we are stuck on a sidebar for more than four hours, as a
number of passenger and freight trains pass by on the main rail. So the
organizers of the tour had our guest lecturer, who travels with us, a UK-based
historian by the name of Gordon Corrigan, give a lecture on the history of
Poland. Most interesting! Tonight, the train travels through Slovakia without
making any stops for tourism, and tomorrow morning around 9 AM we will arrive
near Kraków, Poland.
Sept 6 - Krakow Poland is an absolutely beautiful city. We
had a 14 hour day of touring, so I’m a little too exhausted to write a proper
description of many places, but here are some photos you may enjoy.
Sept 7 - Good morning WARSAW. Early start - train pulled
into main station shortly after 8 am. Another full day of touring ahead!
The Frederick Chopin monument statue took a long time to be
erected, as the Russians had forbidden it, and World War 1 delayed the project
further. It was finally completed in 1926, during Poland’s independence. In
1940 it was blown up by the Nazis and disappeared, but by 1958 a new statue had
been copied from the available records and was back in place. Today this
magnificent structure is one of Warsaw’s most famous symbols. It is located in
Royal Baths Park, a popular place with both young and old.
Built by King Stanislaw August Poniatowski during the second
half of the 18th century, this neoclassical palace once served as a royal
residence that is surrounded with ponds, canals and magnificent park-like
grounds.
POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews (Muzeum Historii
Żydów Polskich) is a museum on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto. The word
Polin in the museum's English name means either “Poland” or "rest
here" and (according to Wikipedia) relates to a legend about the arrival
of the first Jews to Poland. The museum is built on designated land in Muranow,
Warsaw's prewar Jewish quarter, and construction began in 2009 and finished in
2005. It takes more than 2 hours to visit the museum in a thorough manner, but
I wandered through the Core Exhibition for about an hour and came away with
lots of new understandings. The Core Exhibition is a journey through 1000 years
of the history of Polish Jews – from the Middle Ages until today. Per the
museum literature, “ Visitors will find answers to questions such as: how did
Jews come to Poland? How did Poland become the center of the Jewish Diaspora
and the home of the largest Jewish community in the world? How did it cease to
be one, and how is Jewish life being revived?”
It’s way too hot to eat a heavy meal, so I’ve struck out on
my own tonight in Warsaw. The menu at the restaurant selected by the tour
operator certainly looked good, But it was very hot and close inside that
lovely old restaurant, and one of our group is coughing in a suspicious way. I
really don’t want to get Covid on this trip!
There are some really beautiful monuments in Warsaw! I hope
you’ll forgive the fact that I cribbed the information from Wikipedia, but I
have attached a few nice photos that I took. Our group walked here today – –
another hot sunny day. I chose to let them go on their way, while I camped out
at the local McDonald’s. Always fun to use the digital display menus in a
language you don’t know…
Castle Square is a historic square in front of the Royal
Castle, the former official residence of Polish monarchs. The square features
the landmark Sigismund's Column, originally erected in 1644, which is one of
Warsaw's most famous landmarks. It commemorates King Sigismund III Vasa who in
1596 had moved Poland's capital from Krakow to Warsaw.
Modern Warsaw at night.
Before we departed
for our next stop, we were treated to a short recital of Chopin pieces at a
private conservatory.
Sept 8 - Our train stopped briefly in Malbork; but no
touring here. This town is the location of the biggest red brick castle of
Europe, the former seat of the Teutonic state from 1280. It overlooks the river
Nogat and is a UNESCO world heritage site. Often referred to as the Upper
Castle, it was originally built as a fortified monastery. It is enormous, and
looms over the town, visible from all points.
So many ethnicities, so many languages in this part of
Europe. I had never heard of Kashubians until I started researching the origin
of what is arguably Gdańsk’s most recognizable landmark in the old town,
Neptune’s fountain is where tourist groups meet, friends organize their nights
out, and just an all-around handy place to know about. As to its history,
Neptune's Fountain is a mannerist-rococo masterpiece located on the Long Market
street in old town. It was constructed in the early 17th century. Long Market
Square is a medieval square that most visitors enter from the porticos in the
building called the Green Gate.
In Gdańsk, the shipyards are famous not only for producing
and repairing ships and trains and so on, but also for the role that workers in
the shipyards played in the revolution against communism. There are 63 cranes
currently visible, evidence of lots of ship building and repairing actively.
Background from Wikipedia: “In 1980, Gdańsk was the arena for events that
marked the beginning of organized resistance to Communist dictatorship in
eastern Europe. A strike by 17,000 ship builders saw Solidarity (Solidarność),
led by shipyard electrician Lech Wałęsa, recognised as the first non-Communist
trade union in the then Soviet Bloc. The move was one of the first successful
steps in a campaign of civil resistance that contributed to the eventual
collapse of Communism across Eastern Europe.”
The European Solidarity Centre is a museum and library in
Gdańsk, Poland, devoted to the history of Solidarity, the Polish trade union
and civil resistance movement, and other opposition movements of Communist
Eastern Europe. It opened in 2014 and is popular with not only tourists but
many local families visit too. There is one room devoted to the accomplishments
of Lech Walesa who founded Solidarity, the Soviet bloc's first independent
trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of
Poland from 1990-1995.
Lech Walesa
Sept 9 - So Pippi and
I arrived in Berlin today. We didn’t have much time to tour this big and
wonderful city, and to top it off, it was raining. The good news is that the
temperature decreased, and I confess to being very happy about that. The first
time I was in Berlin was with my brother, Howard, in 1971. There’s a longer
story there about traveling through communist East Germany by train, having a
very angry train policeman almost hop up and down in frustration when I
proferred my passport and found out that it had expired while I was actually on
the train. Long story short, I refused to get off the train, insisted they let
me finish my travel through to Berlin, and the US Embassy gave me a new
passport the next day. (I don’t think that any of that would happen these
days…)
Many of you will remember the Cold War days when the
communists put a wall completely around West Berlin. Then there’s that famous
time that JFK visited and declared “Ich bin ein Berliner”. The fact that planes
landed every two minutes at the airport in Berlin carrying in all of the
supplies needed for this isolated bastion of democracy and its 2 million
inhabitants. As you walk through today’s Berlin, you will see these lines of
two bricks in the sidewalks, which demarcated exactly where the wall stood.
On my first visit to Berlin in 1971, I passed through
Checkpoint Charlie. Now it’s a little more than a tourist attraction, but then
it was quite a procedure to move from West Berlin to East Berlin, even for a
few hours. It is interesting that the city has decided to maintain a complete
section of the wall for a couple of blocks. And it is even more interesting
that local artists have continued the tradition of challenging beliefs and
authority that still need to be challenged.
Just outside the famous Brandenberger Tor, or Brandenberger
gate, currently stands a Kempinski hotel. This is where our tour company
arranged for a lovely luncheon. More about the famous landmark at https://www.visitberlin.de/en/brandenburg-gate
The modern sculpture placed on Ku’dam in 1987 is comprised
of four steel tubes that represent the broken chains that separated East and
West Berlin after the construction of the Berlin Wall. As shoppers pass along
this famous shopping street (Kufurstendamm is the long version but no one uses
it…) they are reminded of the struggles of the Cold War years in a divided
Berlin. Today the street is booming with busy shops and fanciful window
displays. The side streets off Ku’Dam are full of interesting little shops and
restaurants. I took time to get a manicure, and was particularly enchanted by
the sign in the shop’s toilet room. That sign just might qualify as a favorite
photo of this trip.
The holocaust monument in Berlin is constituted of a 4.7
acre site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs arranged in a grid pattern on a
sloping field. It commemorates the Jews, Roma (Gypsies), and homosexual persons
who were killed by the Nazis in Berlin. It took two years to build, and was
open to the public in 2005.
Sept 10 – Dresden. –
The Frauenkirche or Church of our Lady is the huge attraction among the many
lovely baroque buildings in Neumarkt Square. Currently a Lutheran Church
(formerly Catholic), it was largely destroyed by the Allied firebombing during
the end of World War 11 (1945). The remaining ruins were left for nearly half a
century as a war memorial, per decisions of the local leaders (communist days).
But after Germany was reunified, it was decided to rebuild the church, starting
in 1994. The reconstruction of its exterior was completed in 2004, and the
interior the following year. Absolutely beautiful inside, and a major tourist
attraction.
A beautiful mural on a wall not far from the Church of our
Lady depicts 35 Saxon rulers who reigned between 1127 and 1873. The mural was
created between 1904 and 1907 from 23,000 Meissen porcelain tiles. For
Dresdeners , the part of the mural that shows August II and August III are
close to their hearts. Dresden is the capital of of the German state of Saxony.
Our group tour in Dresden included driving from the old town
area to the other side of the Elbe river. There, on a hillside filled with
vineyards, are three old castles beautiful to look at from a distance. We did
make a stop at Pfunds Molkerei, a famous cheese shop with hand-painted
porcelain tile counters and walls.
Sept 11 –afternoon and evening in Prague
An afternoon cruise on a tour boat on the Vltava River that
divides the two parts of Prague. I did this before when I was here in November
2023, but it’s going to be lovely once again. Here is a sample of the scenery
we will see during this cruise.
Sept 10 evening - after our cruise on the river, and a mini
bus tour through many parts of lovely Prague, our group went to a late supper
in the restaurant in this beautiful building in Prague’s Old Town, the
Municipal House. The inside is just as spectacular as the outside, but frankly,
the food on our train is much better… Golden Eagle trains have spectacular
chefs!
(a Facebook friend commented that due to an abundance of
beautiful buildings like this, Prague is often used by film directors as a
stand-in for Baroque-period Paris, Vienna, and other European capitals)
Sept 11- Pippi and I enjoy a “day off” in the Prague train
depot area, watching trains come and go for maintenance, window washing,
technical checks. (Remember, we’d been to Prague for several days in November
2023). It is a kind of chilly day anyhow, so we just lounged around in the
bathrobes in our cabin, had cups of tea, wandered to the Dining car for goulash
soup lunch. Plus which we camped onto the train’s WiFi and watched debate
reruns and lots of commentary. (Before I forget, THANK YOU Taylor Swift for
endorsing the Democrat candidate for President!). This has been a vigorous trip
with lots of 14 hour days of tourism off the train, so we don’t feel much guilt
about being bums today.
Cultural exploration note – throughout Europe, we have
encountered many situations where you must pay to use the toilet. This is a
voucher from the pay toilets at the tourist center in Dresden. You must put
into a ticket vending machine half a euro in coins… That’s the equivalent of 55
US cents today … And a machine spits out this ticket. (It’s pretty, isn’t it?)
You must then enter the ticket in a slot to the right of a nearby turnstile,
and that gives you access to the waiting area of the toilets (turn left for the
men, and right for the women’s – – and I once saw in a restroom in Ireland a
sign that says, gents left, because women are always right. True that !) Once a
cubicle has become available, and you’ve locked yourself inside and done your
business, then there are other challenges. The main one is to understand what
all the buttons on the wall are. One button, it turns out, gyrates the toilet
seat, which is some kind of flexible rubbery thing, around and around like a
snake. As far as I can tell, this is supposed to assure that the next patron
doesn’t sit where you have just sat. Then, there is another button, and that is
a button that flushes the toilet. However, that button is divided into two
pieces – – you have to choose whether or not your usage of the toilet requires
only half a flush, or a full flush. When you exit the toilet cubicle, there is
another turnstile – exit only! – that allows you to go out to the rest of the
world. Now, this is an experience which really requires a video, but I was loath
to try that. Maybe when I get older.
On the evening of September 11, Major Gordon Corrigan, our
guest speaker on the train, gave a lecture on “the tragic Emperor: France,
Joseph, Emperor of Austria and king of Hungary.” This lecture prepares us well
for our next few days in Austria. Gordon is a military historian, fabulous
speaker, and has a great sense of humor which uses to make his lectures on the
train very enjoyable. You can read more about him at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Corrigan. After
the train left PRAGUE, we saw some beautiful countryside as we rolled south
towards Salzburg, Austria, our next destination.
Sept 12, Salzburg, Austria: we started our tour in pounding
cold rain, determined to first see a bit of Mirabell Palace. It is listed as a
UNESCO World Heritage site, and is a baroque 17th century Palace which is one
of the most stunning landmarks in the city. It was made famous in modern times
as a location used in the movie “The Sound of Music”. Even in the foul weather,
the gardens of the palace are glorious. And, on one corner of the palace
grounds is a marionette theater, which is currently playing “the sound of
music.“ Sorry I missed that performance, loving as I do all things puppetry!
But we had more places to go.
After we saw Salzburg‘s famous Mirabell Palace, we crossed
the Makartsteg foot bridge into the Old Town and window shopped on the famous
shopping street, Getreidegasse, where the shop windows were an attraction in
themselves.
Salzburg - a visit to Mozart’s birthplace (Jan 27, 1756)!
The house is now a museum, and on three levels, which I must mention are
reached by some pretty steep and scary stairs, you can see a modern version of
his family tree, a replica of his pianoforte, and some costumes worn by singers
in various of the opera he composed. My favorite exhibit were miniatures of
some of the stage designs used in his operas. (Another good reason to visit is
that there is a very nice Starbucks a few steps away with, guess what, a free
bathroom.)
Nice location for a Starbucks!
Sept 13 – Onward to Vienna!
Two weeks ago in BUDAPEST at the Zara store, I bought a jacket in the
men’s section, XL, and scissored out the lining, just in case I needed a rain
jacket in the heat. Well, now I wish I had that lining back, because not only
do I need the rain deterrent, but an extra layer wouldn’t hurt either. Still, I
am tromping around Austria in the wind and rain and, you guessed it – sleet,
determined to see what I can, despite the lousy weather. The wind was so strong
in Vienna that I swear it almost knocked me over.
Sept 13 - our group says farewell to the Golden Eagle Danube
express train and its marvelous crew, and we head by motor coach into Vienna. 
Our afternoon tour in Vienna: Schonbrunn Palace. This palace
is compared to Versailles in elegance and splendor . As the summer residence of
the Habsburgs, this big palace has more than 300 rooms in the main building
alone. However, only 40 rooms are shown to the public, and they are
overwhelming in their ornamentation. I’ve included a couple of photos, but the
tour moved so fast that I do not have much commentary to share. Enjoy the
photos!
Our tour ends with a grand finale -- absolutely the most spectacular part of this
trip. It is a private concert at the Palais Kinsky by the Vienna Residence
Orchestra, featuring works by Mozart, Johann Strauss, and Josef Strauss. The
concert was preceded by a wine reception with canapés. The music was incredible
in this acoustically perfect small ornate concert hall.
To hear the concert,. Use your smartphone camera to open
this QR code
Or click through to this video I posted on Facebook with
your internet browser:
https://www.facebook.com/592039044/videos/pcb.10163595808149045/1488886041765926
So goodbye to our group tour, and now I am on my own for a
few days!
Sept 15 - Vienna: I don’t know what kind of world weather
reports my friends get, but the TV stations here are full of the flash floods,
rising rivers, and various calamities caused by the severe rain, wind, and
weather in central and eastern Europe. It continues today in Vienna. But I put
on my raincoat, and got my trusty umbrella ready, and marched out of the Hotel
Bristol and crossed the street to the Vienna state opera, also called the
Wiener Staatsoper. (My umbrella almost did not make it in the wind today. ) I
sat through most (not all) of an information program on the opera “Don Carlo”
by Verdi. For nine euros, I got to sit in the second balcony from the top, and
hear the music director and various guests and musicians talk about the many
elements that went into this opera. Wish my German were better, I could’ve
understood more. But I got a chance to look at this wonderful building, and
imagine what it would be like to sit through a full performance; I am sure the
acoustics are magnificent. Afterwards, I went to a street near my hotel, where
the Starbucks has a great view of the opera house also. Could not resist trying
one of those “funnel cakes“ which are sold from little kiosks all over the
place. Verdict: look better than they taste. But my beloved decaf soy latte was
the same great afternoon coffee break choice!
The opera house is right across the street from my hotel, so
of course I bought a ticket for a short performance there.
The stairs to the Vienna State Opera’s seats
Today I went back by myself to Schonbrunn Palace, the summer
residence of the Hapsburgs, covers a vast area and has many museums, theaters,
a zoo, a labyrinth and places for many activities. I ordered an Uber — no taxis
were available at this big hotel because of the huge deluge of rain — and my
driver took me to the entrance of the Palace. I found my way to a small theater
near the Orangerie of the castle. A dedicated marionette group performs
primarily for children, and has the mission of keeping the classics alive for
young people in a format that is intimate and understandable. It was a pleasant
show lasting 50 minutes, with a row of giggling birthday girls in front, and
very charming. The theater Director took the children backstage to show them
how marionettes worked. Not sure I would recommend it as an activity for adults
only, but if you are traveling in Vienna with a child, it’s a great idea.
I hurried through the wind and rain to the Palace where the
Spanish riding school was holding a performance of some of its morning
exercises for the famous Lipizzaner horses. At this school, these famous white
stallions are trained to perform classical dressage movements, and it is
sometimes called the “ballet of white stallions.” It’s almost impossible to
describe with a few photos, so I have attached a link, which will give you some
good background and a short video. I feel privileged to have seen this performance
in person. https://www.wien.info/.../spanish-riding-school-359386
Sept 16, Vienna. NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM. I loved the photo
booth at the Natural History Museum at the end of Hall 12 on the mezzanine
floor. You step inside and an iPad lets you choose from a variety of attire you
would like to be seen in. A camera takes a photo of your face, which you then
adjust to fit into the Facial part of the costume, and it snaps a photo and
sends it to you by email. I chose to appear in the Bronze Age outfit. Instead
of going shopping, I just had to do a little grave robbing 
. This outfit is
from Franzhausen in Lower Austria, where a woman’s grave was found with rich
bronze jewelry (ca. 2000 BC). Most remarkable: the head dress and the textile,
which is Europe’s oldest striped fabric.
More at Vienna Natural History Museum - In 1978 fossilized
footprints left behind in volcanic ash by three fully bipedal hominids some 3.6
million years ago were discovered in Laetoli, Tanzania. They provide the oldest
direct evidence of human–like bipedal locomotion. The western track was made by
a single individual, Eastern track by two individuals walking one after the
other in the same foot mark. Alongside animal tracks, a total of 70 foot prints
have been preserved and attributed to Australopithecus afarensis. The
comparison shows that Australopithecines had a more human-like rather than
ape-like gait. Those other guys? Great job by facial restoration experts of
Neanderthals… good to remember that we all have a certain percentage of that
group in our DNA.
Other great stuff in the museum ….Bronze Age salt mine
portion reconstructed, prehistoric armadillo compared to today’s armadillo.
More great life-size exhibits! “15,000 years ago, Stone Age
hunters of the Russian steppe built their winter houses from Mammoth bones. One
house required the bones up to 30 mammoth. However, this building material was
common because large herds of mammoth roamed the loess steppe. It was not even
necessary to hunt the animals – the bones of carcasses could simply be
collected. The best known sites of mammoth bone huts are in the Ukraine on the
river Dnepr near Kiev. The bones inside of some houses were painted with red
ochre. Mammoth bone houses were occupied during the nine months of winter when
outdoor temperature could drop to -40° degrees C. The interior of the shelter
was warmed by a hearth. Grass, earth, snow and mammoth skin were used for
insulation. The weather side was covered with shoulder blades of mammoth. The
houses may well have been structured like the whale-bone houses of the Inuit,
with an area for cooking and living in the front, and animal skin spread out
for sleeping in the back.”
THE STAR OF THE SHOW, perhaps the most famous object in
Vienna’s Natural History Museum – Venus of Willendorf. This limestone figurine
is 29,500 years old and a masterpiece of Paleolithic sculpture. It was
discovered on August 7, 1908 during excavation work carried out in Willendorf
by the Imperial Natural History Museum, Vienna, and counts among the most
famous archaeological finds in the world. The shortened arms and legs, the
semi-seated position, and the faceless head are part of the message communicated.
Similar statuettes m have been found from France to Russia. The Russians
statuettes show the greatest resemblance, also showing mature women with large
bellies and breasts. Women with greatly exaggerated proportions are known from
Italy and southern France, and all of these statuettes are faceless.
Sept 16 - So Pippi and I say farewell to the Hotel Bristol
in Vienna, right across the street from the Opera House, where we have had a
great 3 nights’ stay after our long train journey through Eastern and Central
Europe. On to (we hope, sunny) Madrid!
To see the blog on my 5 days in Madrid, click here…
