Vienna, Budapest and Prague

May Chen

Eastern Europe in my mind is a fascinating place that I have always wanted to visit, (just like Greece and everywhere else). So when Shirley Lam agreed to go with me, my original plan was to go to Germany and Poland also, but Shirley didn't want to go for that long, so we settled on Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. 

It was a great little trip despite the bad weather we were having. There were only about 2 days of sunshine, and the rest of the time it was either windy, rainy, cloudy or snowing, but Shirley and I certainly didn't let that dampen our excitements, especially since Shirley hadn't seen any snow since she left Kansas. With all my trips abroad, this was the first time that I had encountered this kind of weather. However, it certainly was a different kind of experience that I enjoyed. The city of Prague, covered with snow - that beautiful sight is something that I will always remember. 

Although Vienna is not exactly located in the Eastern Europe, but it is only a few hours' drive from Budapest. I had been to Vienna a long time ago, however, this time around, it was not as impressive as my first visit. Shirley and I walked all over the city despite the snow and rain. We visited the Schonbrunn Palace, which is situated at the edge of Vienna. It was a summer chateau of the Habsburgs (the ruling family of Austria from the 13 century until WW1). Since it was once the residence of Austria's only female ruler, Maria Theresa, you can tell the decorations definitely had a female touch to it. There is this China room which is of particular interest to me as well as another room full of Chinese lacquers, vases, and wall paintings. The Millions room where she gossiped while having her tea, cost a million-dollar to furnish. Maria Theresa ruled Austria for 40 years and on top of bearing 16 children in 19 years, (Marie Antoinette was her youngest), she also created her country's first military academy and it was during this period that Austria developed as a modern state. Not bad for a woman during those days! 

Within the city, there is the magnificent St. Stephen's cathedral, which is considered to be Austria's Gothic masterpiece. The Hofburg Palace, main residence of the Habsburgs is not as elegantly decorated as the Schonbrunn, but one can still see its glorious past. Within the Hofburg Palace, the Imperial Treasury, which housed the 10th century crown of the Holy Roman Emperor and the Holy Lance with which Jesus' flank was supposedly pierced. The Museum of Fine Art which sits across the street from the Hofburg has a beautiful interior, and although I couldn't appreciate its contents, just to see its interior is worth visiting. 

We took pictures at the City Park where there is the statue of Johann Strauss playing the violin; it was believed to be the most photographed spot in Vienna. I remembered years ago, when Bob and I went there during the summer, an orchestra was playing at the outdoor restaurant, and we waltzed to the music in that park. 

And yes, the Vienna pastries! I guess I expected too much on this, so it was definitely a disappointment. Fortunately, the optional tour to Vienna Woods sort of made up for it. We got to taste its famous new wine, the wiener schnitzel (fried veal cutlet) which I longed for and apple strudel while the gypsies were playing the old sentimental songs on violin and accordion. It happened to be the anniversary of a couple in our tour group, so when the gypsies were playing the Anniversary Song, they danced to it. At that moment we all sang along and got drunk; it was fun.

During our last night at Vienna, we went to a local restaurant for dinner, and were amazed to learn that nobody in that restaurant spoke English (all along, we had no trouble finding people who spoke English). So in order for that waiter to explain what was on the menu, he had to rely on his acting skill, it was almost like playing charade. We managed to order, but it was hilarious.

Budapest, "Pearl of the Danube" is an enchanting city located on the Danube River, which divides the historic, medieval Buda district and the commercial Pest district. 

Castle Hill on the Buda side was for many centuries the seat of monarchs, and their palaces. At the heart of this district is the magnificent Matthias Church, a former Coronation Church with spectacularly painted interior recreating its medieval splendor. It also served as a mosque during the Turkish occupation during the 17th century. Near by is the Fisherman's Bastion and in the south stands the one time Royal Palace. Charming little cafes and small shops lined the cobbled streets in this district. Because of the beauty and the historic importance of the buildings here, this entire area has been designated an UNESCO' World heritage Sight. At the base of the hill are some of Buda's famous thermal springs.

The most magnificent building on the Pest side, however, is the Parliament. It is the most lavishly decorated Parliament that I have ever seen. This splendid building was built for a country three times its present size, but unfortunately after WW1 only one third of the country was left, so they have this enormous building to house the shrank government, therefore, nowadays only a small portion of the building is being occupied. All the past presidents of Hungary resided in this building except the current one, who complained being lost in the numerous hallways, so he moved out. The interior of this building is incredibly beautiful and very well maintained. It also housed the crown jewels in its rotunda.

The imposing St. Stephens Basilica is the largest church in Budapest. Unfortunately the interior is quite dark, and when we went there in the late afternoon there was a mass in progress so we couldn't truly appreciate its grandeur. We wanted to return during the daytime, but unfortunately, we never made it back.

The Hungarian State Opera House, a neo-Renaissance style building was completed in 1884. The facade of the building is decorated with statues of 16 of the world's greatest composers. Its interior is gilt and marble with lots of carved wood panels. The frescoed ceiling in the main auditorium, which described "Olympus, home of the Gods" is just breathtaking. Over seven-kilograms of gold were used to decorate this auditorium. 

The Millennial Monument at the Heroes' Square was erected on 1896 to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the Hungarians' settlement of the Carpathian Basin. In front of the monument is the Hungarian War Memorial, which is ceremonially guarded by soldiers on special occasions and national holidays. On one side of the square is the Museum of Fine Art and on the other is the Palace of Art, which has a very striking exterior. Since Shirley had enough walking for the day, I had to visit the museum alone. I didn't have time to visit both, so I chose the Museum of Fine Art. The interior of this museum is not as pretty as the one we saw in Vienna, but I truly enjoyed the few 17th century impressionist paintings that are part of the museum's permanent collection and the special tapestry competition and exhibition. 

Shirley and I also joined an optional tour to Danube Bend, a region about an hour's drive from Budapest. We passed by the Hungarian countryside and a couple picturesque small towns before we reached Visegrad, where one can find a fortress used by the Hungarian kings, which was built on top of the mountain. A magnificent view of the entire Danube Bend region can be seen on top of this fortress. This is also the point where the river Danube widens only to be forced by the hills through a narrow valley into Budapest.

Shirley loved Budapest, but it was a little let down for me. I don't know if this was because I had too many expectations or because the Danube was not blue or the city itself is a little too dirty for my taste. Since everybody there lives in apartments, they have to walk their dogs on the streets but nobody bothers to clean up, so one has to be very careful when walking. All through our sight seeing I had to keep pushing Shirley away from stepping onto those "land mines". It got to be a bit tiring at times. However, it still is a fascinating city and I wouldn't mind going back for a return visit.

The city of Prague is also divided into two parts by a river (Vltava). It was raining when we started our walking tour of the city and slowly the rain turned to snow. At that moment we were at the Prague Royal Castle, which was built on top of the hill and was the home of the Bohemian kings from the 11th to the 17th centuries. This is an enormous complex, which includes the St. Vitus Cathedral, the Royal Palace, St. George's basilica, the Powder Tower and the Golden Lane as well as numerous houses, churches and monuments. Standing on the castle one can have a magnificent view of the rest of the city, especially when it is covered with snow; Prague is unbelievably beautiful.

St. Vitus Cathedral not only is the dominant part of the castle, but is also the most important center of Prague's religious and political life. Pope John Paul II paid his visit to Prague in 1997 to honor the 1000th anniversary of the death of 10th century Slavic evangelist St. Vojtech. It is said that every citizen of Prague has to visit this cathedral at least once in his or her lifetime. This incredibly massive cathedral has 21 chapels and each one is brilliantly decorated. The seven panels of the stained glass windows and one painted on window are some of the most beautiful that I have ever seen. They are just stunning. This cathedral also housed the remains of the kings and their relatives as well as the crown jewels.

For more than 700 years, the Bohemian kings and their families resided in the Royal Palace. It has some of the most interesting stove (as heater) in some of the rooms. Although nobody resides in it anymore, it is still being used for coronations and special occasions

Golden Lane is a picturesque street with tiny little houses built into the castle complex. Once home to the castle guards, it now houses small shops, galleries and cafes. It is believed, that centuries ago people urinated all over the street, which made it looks golden, thus the name, Golden Lane, (that's the unofficial explanation). Fortunately, after all these years, this no longer holds true.

Our walking tour continued from the Prague Castle to Charles Bridge. This bridge is the symbol of Prague, 1,700 feet long, decorated with 30 Jesuit statues and is a pedestrian only bridge. It also links the Castle to the Old Town Square. Built in 1357, it was the only crossing point of the river until the 19th century. Nowadays artists, aspiring musicians as well as tourists fill this bridge everyday.

The Old Town Square is surrounded by beautiful and colorful architecture, including the Storch House, Church of Our Lady of Tyn, Church of St. Nicholas and the Old Town Hall Tower with its Astronomical Clock, to name a few. The clock was built in 1410 and was remodeled at the end of the 15th century. It strikes every hour and when it strikes, two doors open and the statues of 12 apostles glide by while the "evil of life" - vanity, greed, death and lust, shake and dance below. This square and its vicinities are packed with small shops, money exchanges and cafes.

There are two St. Nicholas churches in Prague; we visited the one in Mala Strana. This is an example of a Bohemian Baroque architecture with the full-bodied dome and a bell tower. The interior is decorated with so much gold that one can almost blinded by its glitter.

Wenceslas Square is situated in the heart of the city where the National Museum stands opposite the St. Wenceslas Monument. At the foot of this monument, a philosophy student burnt himself to death in 1968 to protest the communist invasion of the newly formed Czech Republic. A few weeks later another student committed suicide in the same square. At the height of the "Velvet Revolution", (the days after November 17, 1989), 750,000 people filled the square during one demonstration. Within a few months, Czechoslovakia was finally freed from Communism.

We didn't have any chance to attend an opera performance at any of the cities we visited, so on our last day at Prague, Shirley and I decided that we would like to go to one of the numerous concerts that were offered every day. But unfortunately, between the two of us we were 100 crown (about US$2.70 dollars) short, and there was no ATM machine around. We were of course disappointed and were about to leave when a gentleman walked in. He over heard our conversations and asked if we would like to go to the concert. I said we did but we didn't have enough local currency so the nice man said there would be no problem if we wanted to go because he had lots of money. With that, he pulled out a stack of cash to show us that he indeed had the money. We of course couldn't let him do just that, and offered to pay him either US dollars or give him whatever we have and let him make up the difference. He said no problem, but since I didn't have any small dollar bills, we gave him the 700 crowns that we had and thanked him profusely for his generosity. He then handed us the tickets and told us to enjoy the concert, and with the blow of a kiss, he went inside. What a nice travel story and memory that we got to bring back!

As much as I enjoyed Prague, there is a dark side to it. This city is full of pickpockets. There were at least 5 incidents within our tour group alone; fortunately, nobody lost anything although we did cause a scene in the metro during our first night there. When one of the guys realized that he lost his wallet just when he was about to step out of the train, he and his daughter held the door opened so as to stop the train from leaving. A security guard came but did nothing. However, since there was this big group of people pointing fingers and screaming at those suspects, they threw the wallet on the floor before they had the chance to take anything out. What an introduction to the city!

Of the three cities that we visited, Shirley liked Budapest and I liked Prague the most. However, all three cities have a few things in common. Most of the buildings and the monuments are so dirty that one can hardly see the original color. Beer is very good regardless what brand you order and they are cheaper than water. With that, I turned Shirley into a beer drinker. The metros in every city are very convenient. They are clean and cheap and dug very deep into the ground. All three countries are rich in history and each has its own charm. I would definitely like to go back and spend a little more time in each country. At the end of the trip, I said to Shirley, maybe now after visiting these countries she would understand why I like Europe so much and maybe after this trip, she would feel the same as I do. And then maybe we should start planning our next trip abroad, that's something I certainly can look forward to.