On Our Way to Budapest

Monday March 31, 2014

We have a long day of driving. We were on the bus by 7:30 am and ready to go. We will stop at some sort of a gas station along the way and purchase a baguette sandwich. Then our next stop will be in Bratislava for only a short visit and then on to Budapest for a Goulash Party and finally check into our hotel. We did stay in a nice Novotel in Krakow and now in Budapest we stay in a Mercure.

We made about 3 stops before our lunch break which was about 2 o'clock. We seemed to have taken a longer route than necessary so that Vaclav, our guide could drop off his girlfriend in Banska, Slovakia. It was a beautiful drive where we saw lovely scenery, ski area and agriculture. Slovakia seems to be well organized and has some industries such as car building which is a definite boost to their economy.


Entering Slovenia


A couple of sings for reminders


Leaving Poland


Coming from another pay toilet


Lovely countryside in Slovakia


Bratislava in Slovakia is a very nice city that would be a good one to return to. It seemed very historical and had a very lovely walking area to and around the square. It certainly did help that we had a very humorous guide while we were there. Many of the buildings are a combination of architecture due to various wars and problems. There were also some tapestries found between walls of a cardinals magnificent home after he sold it. Canon balls were also built into some buildings to look authentic but they are only for looks. The canon balls were coming from the wrong direction to locate where they are in the buildings.

There are also some unique brass figures located around the area of the square. There is one of Napoleon leaning on a bench and peering over someone's shoulder.




Old cathedral as part of the old wall of the city


Lovely architecture in Bratislava


Symbol on the walkway where the royal coronation route continued


Large emblem outside pharmacy


Napoleon figure leaning over bench to peer at your newspaper or to see what you may be texting.


There is also the man peering out from a manhole. It is said this man is the hardest working man in Bratislava. We did not have any free time in Bratislava due to time constraints. We should return here at least for a day.






Man in manhole again




Our tall guide who was 6'8" next to a brass figure in Bratislava


A lovely bridge with restaurant at top


Arriving into Hungary


Pouring wine as if from a special hose


Hearty stew but the real food is yet to arrive

We got into Hungary about 5 pm with approximately a 3 hour drive yet to Budapest. Our special Goulash Dinner with a folklore is near Budapest.

Day 2 in Krakow

Saturday Mar. 29, 2014

We had an early start for breakfast and then a short bus ride to the Wavel Castle. There we toured a number of rooms and chambers. The wars have created a major problem with protecting a lot of their cultural items, paintings and other pieces of art. Some of their art items were actually housed in Canada for safe keeping. Not all items were housed safely and many disappeared. There have also been fires and other disasters. They have claimed only a small portion of what they had during their wealthier days. The artworks that have been preserved are mostly Flemish tapestries and a large amount of Italian works. The Lady with the Ermine by Leonardo Divinci is also there for the time being while the museum is being refurbished. From the castle we went to the Wavel Cathedral where there are several tombs of Polish kings along with the one female king of Poland who is now a saint (St. Jadwiga). The black Madonna painting is also housed there.




Wavel Castle



The river down below from the castle.



Wavel Cathedral




Notice all the different types of architecture of the cathedral.

We then headed to the Old Square area where we walked around town last night. We went to the St. Mary's church where the wooden altar is covered and the covering is removed at certain times so visitors can see it. Then we watched the bugler. Two firemen stay for 48 hours in an apartment at the top of the tower. One will play his bugle on the hour but not finish the song. This is a tradition from when a bugler served as town watchman from atop the tower. Once he started playing the bugle to warn of an approaching army but was killed by an enemy arrow before completing the song. Since then, the bugler always ends the song at that point incomplete. Every noon, it is broadcast live over Polish radio.






The tower where the bugler plays each day.


Notice the bugle out the window.




These Jewish/Polish bagels are actually pretty good. They even have sweet ones.


This is the shopping area of only Items made in Poland.

We had time to spend around the old square to grab a bite to eat and shop. There is a nice covered shopping area that only carries items made in Poland. They have some nice crystal glassware and amber jewelry, but we don't need either one.

We also went out of town a bit to see the Schindler Factory Museum. This was quite interesting since Oskar Schlindler, a German factory owner in Krakow, was able to save a number of Jews since he needed the labor force in making pans at his factory. We will now have to watch the movie "Schindlers List."

Here is a photo of it looking down.


We did go back to the hotel for a little while before our symphony. We changed into a little better outfits and headed down to the hotel bar for a beverage. We relaxed before the bus came. Some folks did not go back to the hotel and wanted more time in the old town area and would meet ua at the symphony. The bus picked us up but we were stuck in traffic and ended walking farther than if we had just walked from the hotel to begin with. Luckily, the symphony group was having technical problems and were 10 minutes late in getting started. We did get in before the symphony began. We were out a little after 8 pm and walked a few blocks to a typical Polish restaurant. So far I am not impressed with how the food looks. Last night everything was whitish and tonight everything was grayish. It tastes just fine but really blah looking. The green beans were even gray. Maybe they grow gray beans and I am not aware of it. :-)


View from our hotel window.


We then headed back to catch the bus and onward to the hotel. The time changes here this evening, so we need to move our clocks one hour ahead.




A nice refreshing beverage. Zvwiec a Polish beer.

Our Day in Krakow

Friday Mar. 28, 2014

We landed in Krakow and spent the rest of the day seeing sites around Krakow.

First we went to Nowa Huta which was a communist city. The buildings and apartments are pretty much the communist block type of structures. Now they are painted various colors and fixed up a bit. The Polish folks wanted a church and the then archbishop pushed to have a church built in this city. That archbishop was the future Pope John Paul II. The city of Krakow has statues and pictures all over the city in his memory. The church that was built to look like an ark.




The stark communist buildings now have a little color, but still very blah shaped.



The exterior of the church that looks like an ark.




The lovely stained glass windows inside the church.



A statue in memory of John Paul II as well as billboards promoting an opera commemorating his life.







The small elevator leaving the salt mine outside of Krakow. This 2 layer elevator was extremely cramped. :-( We walked down 374 steps and checked numerous chambers and continued to walk more steps and hallways. We did take this little elevator back to the top. Numerous chambers had carved figures from salt as well as a huge religious chamber where weddings and masses are actually held. Even the chandeliers were made out of crystallized salt. It was really quite neat, since the miners actually carved these things on their own time after working hours.




This is the outside of the salt mine. You would never know that it goes stories and stories beneath the earth.


A walk around the town square of Krakow at night was pleasant but busy. Folks tend to hang around the town square on weekends.


There are even horse and buggy rides to enhance your enjoyment of the area around the square.

On Our Way

Thursday Mar. 27, 2014

We got to the Orlando airport on time and once through security we checked on the Lufthansa flight schedule. Oh! Oh! The flight from New York is to Frankfurt is cancelled. Our flight from here to Dulles is delayed and hopefully we catch our flight from Dulles to New York on time. Walt called the tour group and the strike is now over (baggage handlers) and our Lufthansa flight is on again. Whew! It doesn't seem like we should have any weather delays so we shall see.

We had at least a 30 minute or more delay leaving Dulles which got us into New York later also. We got on the air train and eventually arrived at terminal 1 where Lufthansa is. We were the last of our group to check in. The line for security was long and slow and disorganized, but that isn't anything new.

We are in New York and should get on our flight without a hitch at this point in time. We were even able to use their lounge since Lufthansa is a United partner. We actually had some soup and a sandwich as well as a relaxing drink. That was really nice. :-). Now to sit on a plane all night and hope to be able to sleep, until our connecting flight.





Cheese snacks in the shape of airplanes and pretzels in the shape of clouds.



I guess this would be a Lufthansa hub.



The smoking area in Frankfurt airport.



Beer served in the actual brand name glass.

Map of Eastern Europe

Here are some the areas we will hit on our journey of Eastern Europe.





EASTERN EUROPEAN ITINERARY



Mar. 28-30 (Friday-Sunday) Krakow and surrounding area


Mar. 31 & April 1 (Monday & Tuesday) Bratislava and Budapest


April 2 & 3 (Wednesday & Thursday) Danube Bend / Vienna


April 4 (Friday) leave Vienna then Melk &Ceske Krumlov


April 5 ( Saturday) Ceske Krumlov, Ceske Budejovice & Prague


April 6-8 (Sunday-Tuesday) Prague and environs


April 9 (Wednesday) Prague / USA