Kevin's Photoblog

This is the big-ol downtown church that is just around the corner from where we are staying.  The square hosts a Christmas market, and many people in costume who aggressively work to sell Strauss-Mozart concert tickets to tourists.

At night everything is lit up.  No pictures of mine can do justice to this.

I commented previously about the late 19^th century buildings in Budapest being Szczecin on steroids.  Put that on steroids and you have Vienna.  The old-beautiful architecture is everywhere, better maintained and beautiful beyond words.  Vienna was bombed – about 30% destroyed – during the war but much has been rebuilt to previous glory.  Fancy balconies, statues and corner cupulas and domes are everywhere.  Brick walks, nice blend of large walking-avenues and small alleys.  All beautiful beyond measure.

Kate has agreed to have her picture taken – a rare occurrence.  Perhaps she is so agreeable because she is in the process of drinking “the best hot chocolate that I have ever had.”  Those students who have been with me to Iceland – and I know at least a couple of them are reading this – know my love of a European bakery.  The coffee and treats are of such high quality.  Here, Kate has her hot chocolate, I a (very good) coffee, and there is a coconutty cake and streusel-covered cheese cake.

Here is a bicycle rack that warms my heart.  We should have one of these made a UMPI (I would ride my bike on campus more often if there was a place to put it!)

There are not so many statues in Bratislava, and some of those that are there have a humorous take.  This is a bronze statue of a workman, in his manhole.  Behind this is an amber shop.

 

Budapest and Vienna are huge cities, with much of the architecture from the golden age of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, late 19^th century.  In between these is Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia, which became independent of Czechoslovakia in 1993.  Bratislava is much small, and more Medieval, although many of the old buildings have since been refurbished in newer styles.  The old portion of the city is quite compact – you can walk across the area in maybe ten minutes – but is well worth a day spent in looking at the shops.  The Christmas markets are also in full swing.

If you want travel advice in Budapest, I would recommend the hop-on hop-off bus service that makes a circle of 24 stops about the city, with an earphone that gives historical and cultural information (in any of 24 languages).  Cost is about $25, which is well worth it.  We understand that there is a similar service in Vienna and will make use of that as well.

This is “Heroes Square” in Budapest, built in 1896 to commemorate the 1000^thanniversary of the arrival of the Hungarians to the region.  In the middle are large equestrian statues to celebrate the original seven tribes that came from the Steppes.  On the flanks are statues of various important people in Hungarian history.  In front is the tomb of Imre Nagy, the prime minister who was a leader of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. This was brutally suppressed with considerable bloodshed, on both sides, and Nagy sought sanctuary in the Yugoslavian embassy, only to be turned over to the Russians and executed.  His body was moved here in 1989, and the date of original protests that led to the Revolution – October 23 – is a national holiday in Hungary.

While at a Christmas Market I found a Rotary Fundraising display and shook hands with the Rotary President there.