by Ron Largent | Dec 10, 2017 | Budapest. Hungary, Eastern Europe, Eastern Germany, European Travel, Germany, Hungary, International Travel, Matthias Church, Munich, Northern Europe Cruise, Organist, Special Events Travel Deals, St Stephens Basilica, St. Petersburg, Travel, Travel the World, Uncategorized, Viking Cruises, Vikings, Zurich
Saturday..Day 3 began as a cloudy and cold day…we had the usual delightful breakfast in the Club Lounge….then decided to Ride the Yellow Hop On and Hop Off bus….to see more of the city. About the Hop On Hop Off….there are actually 3 or 4 companies that call themselves Hop On Hop Off….and basically all of them are the same and three of the four wear the Red Coats….so it is a bit tricky to get the correct bus. And, a couple of the lines have a covered top, which is critical in this cold weather. In any case, you can pick and choose the bus…and we chose one that did not have the cover…so we sat inside the bus. You don’t see as much, but much, much warmer.
The ride was fine and when we concluded we decided to take the small streetcar that runs along the River up to the Parliament Building. This is a must see building and is the one featured on may many of the ;publications. Magnificent building. We went down into the Visitor Center…sold out for Saturday and Sunday….and the best way to get a ticket is on the internet. Probably well worth it, and more after the Viking Tour on Monday.
Upon returning to the Hotel, we decided to go straight on to the Restaurant that had the small museum that Carrie had told us about. We got there and it was full…but did go downstairs into the museum…very interesting and well worth it. The restaurant was full of Viking Pre Trip folks, and the food looked like full meals, etc,,..and pretty expensive…so sent down to Costa Coffee again….and again, pretty much sold out…so went back to Perfetto, where we were the night before. It was also jammed, but the manager saw us and got us a seat…big lunch of salad, sspaghetti, and lasagna…mine was great.
We then returned to the hotel and on our way heard the demonstration and saw the police cars…later found out it was a political demonstration to cross the Chain Bridge…which is the main bridge…. a big crowd of people walking with flags, etc….woman’s voice over the loud speaker in English…but not much more.
Had a nap and at 5:45 PM went down to catch the bus at 6:15 for the night light bus tour….as we were going to take it up to the Matthias Church, for the concert……and it was gorgeous going up and seeing the lights…definitely recommended.
The Solti Concert Orchestra and Choir and Soloists was the best of the best, and the setting in Matthias Church is unmatched in the world. Definitely another MUST SEE. Absolutely supurb musicians, with the concert master actually leading the orchestra on the first 3 numbers, which was a first for me. For me, the 90 minute program was perfect, as the quality of the musicians and the singers and soloists were the best that one could find anywhere. The magnificent church is probably perfect acoustically…..as you could hear every instrument and voice as is right next to you. The full house audience….probably 90% of them followers or the orchestra or patrons….would not quit at the end, with 3 “curtain” calls. Just a “once in a lifetime experience” for me.
We went next door to the Hilton for a “potty break” before heading back to the hotel using the taxi…10 minutes back and a good nights sleep.
Some observations…
- Budapest is a huge city that literally features its old and functional and beautiful buildings, and to see them lit up at night is a MUST.
- The River has allowed massive development on both sides, and both sides have these gorgeous buildings. Thinking of other cities in Europe, I cannot think of another one with this setting, with these magnificent buildings, palace, and parliament buildings being so prominent. London is a 2nd at this stage.
- The city just goes and goes, and the bus tour is a necessity….as traffic is very heavy and the road lanes run in all directions.
- The attitude of the people is very friendly….there is evidence of policemen around…but a very, very safe feeling all of the time. A lot of English is spoken, so it is easy to get around……
- Today we are going to change plans and go to the Central Train station…then back to the hotel by about noon…get ready for the River Boat…and will leave the room about 4…that is the plan.
Should be another great day….
by Ron Largent | Nov 13, 2012 | Bella Russe, Eastern Europe, Eastern Germany, European Travel, Geneva, Germany, Leipzig, Lenin Square, Poland, Russia, Russian Market, Travel, Warsaw
We walked across the street to catch the Tram to go to the Russian Market, warned by the hotel folks to leave all valuables, etc at the hotel, which we did and off we went. One of the sights we saw for the first time was the way the men dress…..long parkas with the black pull down over the ears ski caps. Fortunately I had one, and wore it…and all of the men look alike. In addition, many of the people are dark complectioned, from the Armenian and Jewish heritage, etc. Anyway, the men look just like the pictures that you see of Poland and Lech Walesa leading a demonstration. Kind of scary, but just the way they dress, etc. Well, 15 minutes later we got to the Russian Market…got off the Tram and followed the crowd in the cold and snow covered ground. The Market is held at what they call the Olympic Stadium, which is a bowl like stadium used for European football. The entry is a 2 lane alley that leads up to about a 3 lane area where you would normally find the concessions, etc. Except that here, almost from the time you get off of the Tram, booths and stalls line the area, and there are vendors selling everything from shoes and boots to furs and glasswares, and everything in between. Reportedly a 100,000 people selling and no doubt another 100,000 shoppers, including the 2 of us. We walked around for about 90 minutes…Audy got the dolls and some other little items from the woman from BellaRusse…and then we headed back, as we were cold. What we just saw was the largest “Flea Market” in Europe, although they call it the largest “Open Air Market”….It has come into recent fame because it is filled with a lot of black-market stuff, from liquor to cigarettes to CD’s, of which there were probably 50 different tables all selling CD’s. The problem is that there is not way to control this, so no tax comes in, etc. The overall market is run by a Damis Company…and they pay the city to use the facility…and they are a very powerful company….but still many tax dollars are lost. In one area a vendor was selling guns, and masks, and ammunition….and we wonder why we have terrorists with guns. I could have bought any number with no questions asked…just pay in cash. Quite an experience, and one that I would encourage anyone that goes to Warsaw to see and shop. Just be careful. The word is is that the government is trying to close down the market at this sight and then relocate the Market. Our thoughts are that it will never happen…for the people of Warsaw love it. Well, we got back to the tram, and rode to where we were to get a bus to go to the Old Town…
by Ron Largent | Nov 13, 2012 | Bergen, Bern, BMW, Bullet Train, Eastern Germany, Leipzig, Travel
This day we had planned to go to Dresden and Meissen, so we set the alarm to get up at 6 AM…the alarm is actually in the TV set, which is the latest in tech and they were in all of the hotels. They are on when you come in and “welcome you” by name…then they had complete menus for not only the TV, but for events in town, radio, etc…and an alarm clock that actually speaks to you when it goes off. We constantly asked ourselves why it is that we do not have these higher tech amenities in the US…good question. In any case, we had hoped to catch the 7:52 AM train to Dresden, but when we got to the station I looked at the board to see that we could catch a later one and still get there when we wanted…so looked around the station some more, had coffee, etc.. then caught the 8:39AM train, which was the ICE for the 1 hour ride. We got off in Dresden, where Audy was with Curt in 1989…and Dresden is rebuilding. This city was leveled in WW II….and is slowly coming back. We transferred to a train to Meissen..and 45 minutes later we got off near the Meissen Porcelain factory. As we walked to the factory, the evidence of the communist rule until 1990 was obvious, as many, many buildings have never been repaired. Very sad. You can only feel sorry for these people, for they had it so bad…and yet the West Germans were rebuilding and doing so well at the same time. The Meissen factory tour was great, in that we got to see the process and heard of the history of the porcelain. Very impressive and well worth it. We walked for awhile in the old areas, then boarded the train back to Dresden…all the while seeing the evidence of the Communist rule and the damage of WW II. Apparently Dresden was quite an industrial area, and towards the end of the war the Allied bombers decided to wipe out what was left of the Third Reich…and they did at Dresden. We got off the train at Dresden and walked around a bit, but the station is not near the castle, so all we could do was see it from the train, for it is on the Elbe River…and is being rebuilt, so we were encouraged. Dresden has not seen the money poured in like in Leipzig, and no doubt it will as it returns to a position of industrial power, for it is a big city. We got the train back and for the first time went through a lot of “flooded” area. We had been seeing this on TV, but hadn’t seen it where we had been until now. Too much warm weather and rain, for this area usually has heavy snow at this time of the year. We got back to Leipzig at 3:30PM..back to the hotel for a nap..and off to the concert at St Thomas Church at 5 PM. We walked out of the hotel and up by St. Nicholas Church which was having a candlelight vigil against the possible war in Iraq…we went in to look at the church, and this is one that is in the process of being restored. Here, as with the St Peters Church we were in yesterday, a lot of the stained glass has not been replaced, along with the new organ, etc. St. Thomas Church has been getting the attention, which is where we were headed. We got a center church seat and the concert began, first on the smaller organ and then this artist, Joanna Stark, moved to the big organ. What a concert, for neither of us has ever heard anything like this. She literally attacked the organ, with an assistant that not only turned pages but went from side to side pulling and adjusting the stops, as well as moving the foot board-foot pedals. Amazing, and what a sound. This was a huge pipe organ, and you could just imagine that this was similar to what Bach played, for these churches were built for these big organs. It was a great concert, and then the organist was joined by a 30-year-old trumpeter for 2 numbers. He played both his trumpet and a flugal horn, and the two of them made beautiful music. What a great evening of music. After the concert we walked back through the old town and back to the hotel…had some dinner, then Audy wanted to go back to this big book store we saw…and eventually got back to the hotel at 8, as the stores close at 8…and everyone is gone shortly thereafter. Another great day…..
