Salzburg

As the train nears the Austrian city of Salzburg, it passes picture-perfect alpine chalet after picture-perfect alpine chalet. Each freshly painted house is replete with window boxes of amazingly beautiful flowers.

There are throngs of smiling children singing Austrian folk songs as they wash the windows, rake the lawn and clean the pebbles in the driveway. The hausfraus are tatting slipcovers for the family’s brightly shining automobile. The freshly groomed cattle amble down the hillside, creating symphonies with their beautifully glistening cow bells.

The fields surrounding the fairy tale houses are meticulously manicured. The farm hands are busy dusting the crops. No, they aren’t spreading chemicals; they’re working the fields with feather dusters. They are truly dusting the crops.

It’s all kind of eerie; enough to make a slob jump off the train and run screaming into oblivion,

Okay, I stretch the truth slightly, but even Richard commented that while the Czech countryside had a lived-in look, the area around Salzburg was way too ‘Sound of Music’ for his comfort.

More picture of Praha

A pretty building. I would tell you more, but frankly I am old and senile and don't remember. But it sure looks like Disneyland, doesn't it?

A street scene in the Lesser Town district of Prague. Lesser than what, I'm not sure, but I didn't make up the name.

The famous astronomical (or astrological) clock at the old town square. (Okay, Richard told me it was famous... I'd never heard of it before.)

Terezín

Terezín, or Theresienstadt as many of us are more likely to know it, was a Nazi concentration camp.

"Arbeit Macht Frei"; the great lie.

Terezín was a sobering visit. Although not the worst of the Nazi camps, it was totally inhumane. I think you have to experience it to understand.

A typical Prague sidewalk (atypical only because it is empty).

Amazing beautiful, but Richard had troubles walking on them. (Jeesh, he is so old!)

Pivo, prosím!

Beer... it's not just for breakfast anymore!

I always hate it when the military meets me at a national border.

Thankfully, they meant no harm, and I got this picture of them after the crisis passed.

Prague was difficult.

I did not feel comfortable with Prague, at first.

It really should be noted that Prague would be a much better place to visit if it weren’t for all those damn tourists. I have to tell you, they really get on your nerves. Everywhere you go there are throngs of them acting like total butt-heads.

But even worse is the ever present tour group, sometimes numbering 50 strong. They will crush you with their centrifugal source. They are terrifying and they are totally omnipotent, at least in their own mind.

But in truth, the bitter fact is that Prague made me think.

There is no question that Prague is beautiful. And Prague is very old, even by European standards.

One conversation I was involved in summed up my unease, but I had to think long and hard to realize it.

Mary was our tour guide at the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. (Yes, Richard and I went on one of the detestable tours, but it was small and we were not as abhorrent as all the others. We were the good tour group!) She was wonderful and an unapologetic atheist. If you want an amazing tour of a Catholic Cathedral, I would strongly recommend an atheistic tour guide. Even Richard loved Mary, although he felt her a bit morbid.

At one point, Mary, Vivienne (Australian) and the two of us were talking. (There were three additional tour members who were Russian. Mary spoke Czech, Russian and English: and perhaps more.)

Vivienne mentioned that she had heard that 55% of Czech citizens were atheistic. Mary replied that it was more like 80%, but she referenced the Czech Republic’s new deity. “I miss our godless society. We have a new god and it is money.”

It took time for it to sink in, and additional conversations, but I finally understood that I was watching the gracelessness of a society adjusting to capitalism and to freedom. Most, but not all of the changes were good.

And yes, I now love Prague.

Prague is beautiful!

Prague Castle with St. Vitus Cathedral.

Central Prague as seen from the Vltava River.

(And if you have to ask how it is pronounced, don't bother, because you can"t.)

View of Prague from the Castle.

Am I a foolish brother, or what?

OOOOPPSS!!! I missed a birthday. In my defense I was ofter confused as to the day of the week, the month and the country. Don’t expect me to do perfect on the date.
Happy Belated Birthday, Annie!

Riding the rails, redux

Our train pulled out of Vienna only half full. Of the six seats in our compartment, only three were occupied. At Breclav, on the Czech border a few more people boarded. A half hour later at Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the place packed full with people, even standing and sitting in the aisles,. I felt guily that I had a comfy seat while others suffered; not guily enough to surrender my place, but guily enough to avoid eye contact.

Brno looked lika a city worth exploring. Keeping in mind that trains rarely traverse the ritzy sides of town, many of the building I saw could have used a coat of paint and a new window pane or two, but there were hints of an impressive city. A stones throw from the hlavni (train station), high atop a hill was the Brno hrad (castle) with an amazing cathedral. And if you looked carefully, you could spy stately old buildings in fine repair. Sure, there were some of those concrete monstrocities of the communist era mixed in, but frankly the architecture of the 50s, 60s and 70s was unkind worldwide. Brno did not escape the travesty.

We headed north out of Brno through a myriad of villages and towns, both picturesque and not-so-picturesque. (Okay, a couple were butt-ugly.) Some clung to hillsides and others filled valleys. Some had their own hrads on precipices to protect them from the pillaging marauders, others had quaint churches and there were the smokestacks attached to industry. Some towns appeared stagnant and decaying while others were bustling with new construction.

Give me a bicycle, a month and a fistful of Czech Koruna and I will give you a more detailed report!

Our last full day in Vienna

Sadly, our time in Austria is coming to a close. Vienna is pretty special. We've had amazing food, met friendly people and had more fun than I thought possible.

I loved our side trips to Bratislava and Sopron. Richard gives Sopron a thumbs up, but said that Bratislava made us even for the play in Salzburg. (Sorry, not even close!)

We've cruised the Danube, taken every subway line in Vienna (the U Bahn, or U Tube as I call them, much to Richard's dismay), done more museums than I can count and made major memories!

Tomorrow we head back to Prague and leave on Tuesday for home. I do miss the kids, so there is a minor victory there.

Sopron, Hungary

Today we had an amazing traditional Hungarian lunch at Papa Joe's Saloon and Steakhouse in beautiful downtown Sopron. I cant make stuff like this up.

Sopron was wonderful. Even Richard liked it.

More later!

Greetings from Vienna

This place is amazing, but internet cafes are few and far between... this is the first one I have seen since Salzburg.

We are well and I will catch you all up later!

Riding the rails with the Goths, Visigoths and other marauding hordes from the north.

Our train out of Prague was very young. I don't mean the train itself; it had all the earmarks of a Soviet era classic. No, I'm in reference to the passengers. For all intents and purposes, we rode the rails with a trainful of drunken Czech frat boys. It was great fun. Richard and I blended right in.

From Prague to Ceske Budejovice, we were on a quasi-express train, stopping at only the largest of burghs. Tabor was particularly popular with our travel mates. They all chanted "Tabor, Tabor, Tabor" at full volume the entire time we were stopped. When the train pulled out of the station, they discontinued the chant, much to Richard and my (and the entire town of Tabor's) delight.

At Ceske, we all popped off the sorta-express and transfered to a local. We stopped at more flipping villages than you can shake a stick at. I don't mean to disparage the quaint settlements such as Vyhen, Kaplice or Umlenice (Czech town names look very differnt with their accents and squigglies), but at each stop the fratboy frenzy grew sharper. As we pulled into Rybnik, I was nearing desperation, searching my pack for something that could end my pain and suffering.

Then a miracle happened: two carloads of hyperactive young men disembarked. The rest of the train ride to Salzburg was wonderfully uneventful. One might even say eerily quiet.

But if you hear of a quaint village in  Southern Bohemia that was devestated by a plague of inebriated youth, you now know more of the story.

Salzburg

We have arrived safely in Salzburg. The Germanic keyboards are much, much kinder, and our hotel has a computer for guest use... but only until 7PM, and it is 6:55PM in Austria, so I will tell more later.

Greetings from Praha

The town is wonderful, but the keyboards are crazy. Czech has 42 letters, so typing is, at best, an exercize in frustration. Y and z share the same key. I have no idea how I did it, but I did get them both to type at one time, so now I cut and paste. Oh, and the exclamation point and the apostrophy do not work as I expect them to. But I know how to avoid those little pests. With that said, I am hoping the German keyboards are much kinder. 

Our hotel has no guest computer, and internet cafe are few and far between. I am sitting in the attic at a train station right now. It is hot and I am sweating, so do not expect great whit or earthshaking commentary. But do expect some errors.


Traffic in Prague is pretty amazing. The Czech seem to be opposed to stop signs or traffic lights or anything else that makes crossing the street safe for toddling old men. We just toddle as quickly as we can.   We visited Terezin or Theresienstadt today. I would use parantheses, but they do not work, either. Terezin was a Nazi concentration camp, but not an extermination camp. It was a transport camp. It was very moving.   I will tell you more when I sweat less and can keep the letters straight.