After an excellent train ride from Bratislava enjoying the scenery and finally winning two Quiddler card games off Jeanette, we arrived in the famed city of Budapest which we would only use as a transit point to pick up our rental car and head south to Heviz. We would return in about a week to stay for a while. So, more on Budapest later. Before I say anything about Heviz I need to single out someone whom we met and who deserves a whole paragraph of this blog entry. This person I speak about is the tram driver that drove us from the main train station to downtown. All the Hungarian people that I have met in Calgary, although on a casual basis only, have been warm. This driver was simply doing his job yet he ... read more

Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, was not on our original itinerary but, as usual, Jeanette came up with the impromptu idea of a short visit at the expense of one day out of our planned week in Heviz, Hungary. From the moment we walked up to our hotel and were greeted by the the young man at reception , Tebor, we felt somewhat special. No detail of comfort was spared in our room. Spacious and immaculately clean, everything we needed was present, even down to a shoehorn. Looking out from our window we could see the street outside lined with neat looking private homes and flowered gardens. Just near the reception area was the in-house restaurant but we were not interested since we usually roam around to find a restaurant in some other area, just for ... read more

Visiting Vienna is an immersion into elegance, refinement and the classical, especially if you enjoy their great music. Many of you who have visited will understand. We left our apartment and descended down the long escalator to the metro U1 that would take us to the centre of the city. Modern, clean and fast, we sped along, anxious to get our first glimpse of the heart of this legendary classical capital. After two flights of escalators we emerged and there, standing before us and the first structure we noticed - the imposing steeple of St. Stephen's Cathedral. Wow! What a welcome! It was simply spectacular! And that was just the outside. Upon entering, we were greeted by what I would consider to be one of the most fabulously designed churches we have ever seen. And we ... read more

This city of Prague (Praha) seems to rival others in terms of the immense expanse of glorious ancient beauty in architecture, influenced by countless dynasties, rivalries, war and change. Fortunately it is all there before us to see, feel and enjoy. The old city and the area surrounding the great castle across the river just ooze with history. Just walking the Charles Bridge over the Vltava River (built by King Charles iv, starting 1357) after leaving the castle, says it all, baroque-style statue after statue (replicas now), depicting important parts of the city history. I found it very difficult to absorb it all and settled for simply enjoying the ambience of this magnificent city which was so intertwined with religious conflict between the Roman Catholic Church and her Protestant challengers centuries ago. Now the Church's influence ... read more

Where do I start to blog about Berlin, a city so central to the history and perhaps the future of Europe? This would be my second visit to the capital of Germany and Jeanette's first. My first was a brief business trip with no spare time. We were in Germany a few years ago but not anywhere near Berlin so we decided to take a guided walking tour of the city which lasted nearly five hours. Our guide, of English and Indian heritage, lives here and has a clear passion for history having got her degree in ancient history. She basically covered 800 years of German history starting with the establishment of Prussia. Many important figures dominated the history but Frederick the Great probably influenced this country more than any other and even to this day, ... read more

Serious stress, a change of plans then recovery, somewhat. And that sums up our departure from the a city we knew very little of before visiting but which we quickly fell in love with - Krakow. Paris has grandeur, Barcelona beauty and Rome is unique but Krakow is a gem of a place, at least in our minds. But back to the stress. Based on past experience with some train systems, especially in Italy, we made absolutely sure that on this occasion we left nothing to chance. All of our train tickets had already been purchased through our travel agent once we had settled our plans, with the exception of the Krakow to Warsaw route. Jeanette did this deliberately to allow for some flexibility as she was considering a possible visit to Czestochowa, a small city ... read more