http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/cemkess/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from cemkess en-us Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:17:22 +0000 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:17:22 +0000 I thought I would share some photos of experiences I had in Vienna that did make my previous blog entries. They range from the culinary the monster schnitzel I ate at Figlmuller for example to the historical the graves of the great composers in the Zentralfriedhoff and the Palace of Schonbrunn to the silly Mozart on a bench. Also there are just random items I thought were intriguing Fl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-428054.html The gentle clang of cowbells reverberated across the mountain valley echoing off the steep rocky cliffs towering above us. I smiled and thought Swiss cows really do wear bells around their necks. I spotted a few of these mellow creatures ambling along a grassy ridge above our trail a few more down by the clear green lake below us. The morning sun already warm drenched the scene in vivid l http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/North-West/Lucerne/blog-432994.html The vineyard fell away from the deck where we perched on wooden benches at a wooden table slopping steeply into the valley towards the muddy Danube. The spire of an old church poked above the trees near the river. Over the opposite hill Vienna we knew spread far and wide. But we felt far from the hustle of the city. We were more than half way up Kahlenberg sampling a tart white wine produc http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-428051.html The Ottomans made two attempts to capture ldquothe city of the golden applerdquo as they often called Vienna but to the relief of Christendom both sieges were unsuccessful. The first one in 1529 under the command of Sleyman the Magnificent who died shortly afterwards while still on campaign in the Hungarian plains was not so significant in the grand scheme of things but it did heat http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-427318.html I mentioned the dangers of first impressions in my first entry on Prague. I want to address another preconceptions. As try as I might it sometimes is difficult not to approach a place with some idea already formed of what I might expect. In the case of Vienna I had tried to block out the stories I had heard about the sometimes gruff Viennese in particular the haughty waiters at the famous c http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-426722.html I. Bathing in BudapestI didn't know what to do with it at first. It was a piece of cloth about the size of a small handkerchief with two long strings. This apparently was the costume for bathing in the thermal baths at least for the men's only day. I am not quite sure what purpose this little flap is supposed to serve. If it is meant to foster a sense of modesty I think it might have t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/blog-425376.html The Buda side of Budapest is as I've already noted hilly. But the two main hills are the one with the castle district and Gllert Hill. You can't miss either of them if you are anywhere near the Danube in Budapest and both give you amazing views of the city if you get to their summits. Buda Castle looms over the city. It is an obvious place to put a seat of power in the area so it's not t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/blog-425374.html In many parts of Europe you notice the absence of Jewish life in once thriving Jewish neighborhoods. You see synagogues that are now museums. You see graveyards that havenrsquot been used since before WWII. Prague had only one synagogue out of at least six where services were actually still conducted.Budapest however has a visible living community. Although the current 80000 Jews in Bu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/blog-424660.html The year was 1552. A great Ottoman army 10000 men strong descends upon the Hungarian town of Eger besieging its castle. It should have been easy pickings but the brave townspeople despite being vastly outnumbered hold back the marauding horde for a month eventually defeating the Turks. But the Ottomans werenrsquot finished yet they came back fortyfour years later to avenge their earl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Northern-Hungary/Eger/blog-425372.html The dome arched above punctuated with small bulbs of glass that allowed in a tepid light. Steam or maybe it was my general blindness without glasses enveloped the space in a thin haze. Drip. Drip. The echoes of condensation hitting the stone floor rang against the walls. I could have been hanging out in a hamam in Istanbul. But I wasnrsquot.Up a steep cobbled road I found a pretty r http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/blog-424658.html Itrsquos relatively common knowledge that Budapest was originally two separate cities divided by the great muddy ribbon of the Danube. Therersquos Buda on the western side all hills parks and castles. Then therersquos Pest in the east a wide flat stretch of both grand avenues and more down to earth residential areas. Buda has the main tourist highlights Pest is where the party is a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/Pest/blog-424404.html Today I leave beguiling Prague and head to Budapest another city I expect I will fall for I am easy that way. As always I wish I had more time. But therersquos never enoughhellipI spent much of my final full day walking circumscribing a large loop around the central core of Prague. While I canrsquot say I went to the outer reaches I did traverse territory that is typically not http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-424043.html Prague is probably too beautiful for its own good. Every corner seems to provide a more picturesque vista than the last a veritable architectural history from Gothic to Renaissance Baroque Neoclassical Art Nouveau andhellipCubist And this sweep obviously includes more contemporary design e.g. the Dancing Building. The cityrsquos beauty draws a heavy crush of tourists one that almost http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-423728.html Although I knew of Vclav Havel before I began the seminar in Berlin I admit that my prior knowledge of his life and work were well cursory. I knew he was a playwrightdissident who had become the first postcommunist president of Czechoslovakia. That was about it. But many of us in the program became big fans of his writing and ideas as we read his Power of the Powerless and Summer Meditati http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-423726.html First impressions can be dangerous things. If you get off on the wrong foot you might never get on the right one. I have been guilty of letting my first impressions of people places etc. color my opinions for long stretches ldquo one shot thatrsquos all you gotrdquo So I am happy that I didnrsquot let that happen with Prague.My first encounter with Prague was not the most plea http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-423725.html What was old is new. What was new is old. But hip. I think the first time Dresden entered my consciousness was while I was suffering in ninthgrade at DeKalb High School. A visiting orchestra was giving a free performance to the student body one that largely could have cared less about classical music. The main piece was Symphony No. 1 by David Bukvich a memorial to the 1945 Allied firebo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Saxony/Dresden/blog-422328.html All good things come to end alas. Yesterday was the final day of the seminar that brought me to Germany this summer. For the past four weeks my fellow teachers and I wrestled with the history and philosophy of the peaceful revolutions that swept EastCentral Europe in 1989 and had a blast We made the most of our final couple days in Leipzig exploring the history and culture of the area e http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-421764.html Once upon a time there was a beauty and a beast...I. BeautyBeauty did not seem concerned by the kids sporting mohawks and wearing ripped fishnet stockings. Beauty didn't even seem concerned with the pet rat. Beauty knew that they wouldn't detract from her beauty.I am told Leipzig looked a little worn around the edges during the GDR era with the heavy industry that dominated the region and w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Saxony/Leipzig/blog-421048.html The heartwrenching elegy reverberated from the pink columns and the candycolored vault somehow evincing sorrow and hope at the same time. The soaring notes of the chamber orchestra and the rich tones of the choir and soloists rendered the score of Norwegian composer Stle Kleibergrsquos ldquoRequiem for the Victims of Nazi Persecutionrdquo a prayer in a minor key. The lyrics told of t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Saxony/Leipzig/blog-421041.html Bir skdar balkonunda guruba kar351305 demlenir gibi Bir ak351amst Laypzigrsquote tramvay dura287305ndaTad305n305 305kara 305kara yudum yudum kederleniyorum. Naz305m Hikmet 22 June 1958One of my favorite poems by the Turkish poet Naz305m Hikmet is a short pang of longing for his home in skdar on the Asian shore of Istanbul a longing evoked by http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Saxony/Leipzig/blog-421035.html