Budapest

I feel like I'm playing a game of "No, I love YOU more with European cities.  Copenhagen was great, loved Prague, rocked Salzburg, was ready to move to Vienna, and then I got to Budapest.  The bus ride from the train station showed me a worn city, a little gritty, a little tired, a little pretty under the grime.  That matched what I'd heard about it.

But the next day, with the sun shining, I started walkikng around, and oh, Budapest.  You are none of those things. You're amazing.

Most of the buildings here are a style called historicism, aka, neo-everything.  Mix up all the fancy stuff and make it look pretty. It worked.  A little Baroque, a little Gothic, a little Rococo... even a little Moorish. I really liked it! It was just pretty.  The city underwent a major revival in 1896, their millennium,  so it is highly influenced by Hapsburg Vienna.   It was, after all, a capital of the Austro- Hungarian empire!

The city is full of art, modern statues and fountains.  Some are memorials,  some are just for fun.   It made walking around always interesting.   I loved the fountain of the book turning a page! 

I did the Rick Steve's walking tours of Leopold town and Old City of Pest on the first day.  I was fascinated by the controversy of the monuments to communism and related to Hungarian activity during WWII.  It's not a topic I've studied much about but there is so much there to examine.   I think there are some great lessons using these examples,  especially given the flare up on controversy about Confederate monuments in the US this summer.  

In day 2, I went to the Jewish quarter and toured the Great Synagogue.  I've purposefully avoided holocaust sites because I find them really upsetting,  but there was so much other history here,  and I didn't realize how much horror was here too.  It was moving,  shocking,  painful, and I think necessary to understanding the city.   After,  I went through the Jewish quarter,  seeing the other synagogues,  art,  and ruin bars.  It led back to Deak Ferenc Ter, from where I walked down the broad street past the opera house and theaters to the Museum of Terror.  It's a retelling of the horrors of 20th century life in Hungary under the Double Occupation of the Nazis and the Soviets.  I found it informative and a little bizarre.  It was definitely terrifying. 
Day 2 ended at heroes square, with the Hungarian history in statues leading into city park.  

Day 3 I was ready for something different,  so I went to the baths to experience a unique part of life in Budapest. It was heavenly.   Hot water,  lounging, quiet mediation... I loved it!   After a leisurely day,  I took the bus to Castle Hill to see the sites in Buda.  The cathedral was beautiful. 

After three days in the city,  I ventured a bit north by train to Szentendre, the beginning of a region called the Danube Bend.  Full of Serbian Orthodox influences,  it was a little touristy but had an inviting row of restaurants by the river that proved to be the perfect place to send the lunch hour.  Lunch on the Danube,  pretty awesome.

I ended up spending the rest of my time just wandering around the city.   Really, Budapest was just a delight to visit,  so much life,  so much controversy.   I'm so happy I came. 

Vienna

I could live in Vienna. Hands down,  no question.  Clean,  easy to get around, full of history and culture- what isn't there to love? I learned so much about the Hapsburg Empire and their influence from the Middle Ages through World War I.  I soaked in the music, the art, and the coffee culture.  I'd go back in a heartbeat.

The Kunsthistories museum quickly became one of my favorite in the world.  The collection was vast and well annotated.  I had been looking forward to their Bruegel works, but there was so much more.  There was a room of Titan- a whole room!! I just sank into the plush benches in the middle of the room in wonder. Portraits, goddesses, Venetian masterpieces- it was so much! And add in Raphael, Surer, Tintoretto, and Bruegel- my Renaissance junkie was in heaven.  I spent hours there.  Oh, and Cellini's salt cellar! The gold statue I've read about for over a decade. 

But even beyond my Renaissance addiction, there was the impressive ancient collection.   The Egypt rooms were so well done with painted ceilings.  The main staircase had original works by Klimt on the walls.  The building itself was art.  I stayed for hours- it honestly could have been days.

And that was just one.  The Albertina was a bit of a disappointment because they have an amazing drawing collection- Durer's Young Hare and Tuft of Grass included,  but none were on display, only copies.  

The Imperial Apartments were lavish and, well, another palace. The CiCi museum,  focusing on the wife of one of the last emperors, was an interesting look at one of the last big Hapsburg personalities.  I like the "case study" approach, but she seemed an extreme case.  I much more enjoyed the parts about Maria Theresa.   There was a lot about her at the Schronbrun Palace just outside of the city.  

Further north was Melk Abbey, with its gorgeous library and fancy Baroque church.   That and the state library in the city were giving me seriously Beauty and the Beast feeloings... and life goals for my own house once I get home.  

My favorite thing about Vienna,  though was the Opera.  For only a few Euro you could get standing room tickets for the Opera,  which opened the week I was there.   I saw Marriage of Figaro and Barber of Seville and they were just phenomenal.  The music,  the setting, the performers... it was just perfect.   The city's commitment to affordable music is so commendable.  I toured the Opera house one day as well to learn more of the history and behind the scenes happenings. 

Overall Vienna was just fantastic.   It's rare I feel so at home in a foreign place and I really home to return someday. 

Munich

Munich and I are going to have to give things another shot sometime, cause this didn't work out so well.  I want to love Munich. There is so much potential there, this just wasn't the right time. 

First, the city is under massive construction.  I believe they are adding transit lines.  It made walking around challenging.  Sometimes you had to detour blocks out of the way to find a crosswalk.  The art museum was half closed, and of course it was the half I wanted

Second, it rained.  A lot.  There were showers every day, and one day was a total washout. That made it hard to really enjoy my time there.  It also closed the beer gardens. 

Third, I wasn't feeling great and had to force myself out, in the rain, to see things.  Overall these combined to a fairly unpleasant three days. 

So I need to return to Munich, especially once the AltePinakoteca is complete.  They had some of their Renaissance works on display including a da Vinci, but there was no Botticelli. Tons of Reubens , though.  Nothing against the guy, but every museum has rooms of his work.  It's not that special.  It's like the IKEA of art- anywhere in the world you can find it and it looks the same. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself.   I started Munich wth a delicious döner kebab dinner and grocery shopping at Aldi.  The next  morning started sunny,  so I got a multi day tram ticket and set off exploring.  I followed the Rick Steves's walking tour in the morning sun, soaking up the history at the town hall and old churches.   Most of Munich was bombed and rebuilt after WWII so it seemed sort of like fake history in many ways.   Especially the "medieval" quarter. It was interesting to see all the places where the Nazi party got started.  Scary interesting, honestly. 

It started to rain just as I finished the walking tour,  so I caught a bus to the art museum, with its half closed galleries. I was so disappointed because I've read about this museum for years of Renaissance research.  Oh well. I'll just have to return. 

Day two was a washout.

Day three it was still raining.  However,  I couldn't spend another day just sitting around.  I went to the Egypt museum first. It was incredible.  Museums are really evolving into wonderful learning spaces.  Interactive displays,  pull out drawers of textiles, mixed in recreated art to bring artifacts to life.... I love it.  This was a great museum.   I strongly recommend it. 

Then it was off to lunch and an afternoon at the Residenz, the local palace.  The crown jewels were lovely, the state rooms endless, and the audio guide very detailed.  It was a good rainy day distraction but not as exquisite as some other palaces I've seen. If I could redo, I'd go to the Deutches museum instead. 

At night I visited a beer hall, since the beer gardens were closed by rain, then packed up for the next destination. 

Salzberg

I went for Mozart.  This viola player was dying to see the hometown of one of the world's  greatest musicians.   I timed my visit for the end of the Salzburg festival,  when there would be music throughout the city.  It was all about the music.

But once there,  I found so much more.   No,  not 'The Sound of Music' though that was fun.  I found medieval castles and mountains.  I found pastries and art.  I found church bells and sunsets and a wonderful 48 hours. 

I bought the Salzburg pass, which included entry into many sights and transportation on the city buses. It was a great investment.  I got €112 worth of entrance fees plus transit out of a €36 pass.  Plus,  I went to more because it was free, things I probably wouldn't have paid for individually. 

I started with the Rick Steves's walking tour,  which led through the platz and churches that make up the old city.  I followed the streets past the restaurant where Charlemagne ate and the theater where the von Trapp family performed.  I ended up on the old shopping street with fancy hanging pictoral signs for each business.  Mozart's birthplace was on that street. It was amazing to see his childhood violin. 

After the tour and a pretzel for lunch,  I rode the funicular up to the castle.  It was a phenomenal site up on the hill,  imposing and grand.   From the ramparts were endless views of the valley.  You could see the rain coming in from the distance.   I took the audio guide,  not realizing it included a climb to the top of the tower! It was a pleasant if exhausting surprise.  The views were even better and you could see why this castle was never conquered.  I got some great diagram pictures of castle construction from the museum.  I also saw some medieval weapons and torture instruments. 

After the mountain I dodged some rain storms  and took shelter in the cathedral excavations, where you could see ruins of old Roman tile floors and earlier structures. The guy who checked me in left me alone there,  which was pretty creepy....

  I took in a harpsichord concert at the New Residence. Harpsichord sounds a lot like midi NES video game music.   I then went through the DomQuarter museum,  which had great views of the cathedral and some pretty Baroque art. Dinner,  of course, was weiner schnitzel, and it was amazing. 

Day two started at the colorful Mirabell Gardens, full of fountains and flowers.  Next was the Mozart Residence, with a great audio tour featuring lots of music and a chance to see several more of his instruments.   I really enjoyed this one.   Then,  because I had the pass, I took the elevator to the modern art museum for the view from their terrace. I didn't go in, having had enough of modern art for a while,  but I enjoyed the view! 

I wandered though the Salzburg Museum in late morning,  loving the interactive musical instrument exhibit. They had headphones and touch screen videos of people playing the instruments on display.  I spent most of my time there,  but they also had a traveling exhibit of drawings from the Louvre, so I got to enjoy some Michelangelo and Raphael. 

Noon brought an organ concert at the main cathedral,  a chance to hear some old and new pieces in the church where Mozart once played.  It was fantastic, just what I wanted from Salzburg.

After another pretzel based lunch,  I headed out of town to the Hellbrunn Palace and gardens.   I ended up on a tour group with a camp group who loved getting wet from the fountains! They were very cute but loud and the guide didn't give nearly as much info in English as she did in German.  So much for bilingual tour.  It was pretty warm and though the Gardens were pretty there wasn't much to do. Rather than take the bus back to town,  I decided on an adventure. I rode the bus in the other direction to the Untersbergbahn, a cable car to the top of a mountain.   It was breathtaking, and a little nerve-racking, heading up to the top. It was even more alarming walking up to the summit from the station (no guard rail!) but the views were great.  I definitely hadn't expected to be on top of a mountain that day,  but that's the joy of the pass, you get to do unexpected things.  

One last adventure came in the evening, with a lovely sunset cruise along the Salzac river.  It was the perfect end to two wonderful days. 

I wish I'd had one more day to go to Hallstaff but overall Salzberg was just about perfect.