3 posts tagged “vienna”

Historical facts, blah blah, things we did in the moment, blah blah, PICTURES!

Yeah, I suck at getting pictures posted and stories told. So in completely half ass fashion, here are just pictures from the remaining cities of the Mom & AmyH Eastern Europe Extravaganza.

First Vienna - full of big and beautiful buildings, just perfect for the seat of the Hapsburg Empire. It's hard to believe that Maria Theresa, considered the most powerful monarch of the throne, was pregnant for most of her years. 16 kids. Oof. Also home of a great coffee shop culture. And chocolate.

After experiencing the opulence and splendor that is the Budapest Opera House, we thought it wouldn't be right if we left Vienna without catching an opera at the Staatsoper. I paid far too much for scalper tix - but the show was incredible. Wagner's "Siegfried", the second installment of the Ring Cycle. It was a five hour show that went by in a flash. Intense story, amazing music and an atmosphere that was almost as overwhelming as the opera itself. We had little screens in front of us so we could follow along in English to the dialogue. MomH said it was like reading a suspense novel but with music. We were enthralled, waiting for the next line to come up. After three hours at the second intermission, I asked MomH if she wanted to go. "No! I want to see if he gets the girl!"

It was fantastic.

Now off to Prague, where I will not do the city justice if I slap together some of the pictures. But sometimes there is no justice in this world. (Also, because if I think about how much I want to say, I'll put it off for another day and then nothing will get done at all. Great is the enemy of the good and all that jazz...)

We enjoyed meandering on the Charles Bridge, mercifully sparse with tourists - travel on the off/shoulder seasons whenever possible!

To take ourselves further away from the tourist sections, we spent time on Nerudova street, poking around shops, pubs and taking pictures of door signs. Before Maria Theresa showed up on the Prague scene and created order throughout the city, houses were known by the symbols above the doors. This represented what took place inside, mostly alchemy enterprises, although some of the meanings have been lost to time.

One cannot leave Prague without a visit to the Old Jewish Quarter. We didn't go on the main tour of all the synagogues and the cemetery, but did go into the Old-New Synagogue, the oldest in Europe at 700 years. Also, you can't get a good view of the Jewish Cemetery without a pricey ticket. Or you can go into the super cheap Museum of Decorative Arts, use the restroom and happen to turn around and look out the open window that has an amazing view.

I will do this a little justice. According to my guide book at hand, "The crumbling image of teh Old Jewish Cemetery is a moving memorial to Prague's once considerable Jewish community. As this was one of the few burial sites available to Prague's Juews, when the plot was full, graves built up in layers - estimates put the number at about 200,000, with the oldest headstone dating from 1439. The final burial took place in 1787."

Whew. Now I'm spent. But I'll move on to Warsaw, the last spot of the trip. (I already did Krakow, check tags for "Vacation with Mom" or "Eastern Europe" to see all the other installments.)

Warsaw was 95% destroyed by the Nazis during WWII. Nothing remains of the Ghetto Uprising except old photos and a memorial. A year after the Ghetto Uprising was the Warsaw Uprising, which the Nazis didn't take kindly to, either. As the Soviets stood on the other side of the river and watched the destruction, the Nazis were hellbent to finally destroy the pesky Warsovians. The city has tried to rebuild the old section of town to resemble what it was like before the war. I think they did a pretty good job.

We did a walking tour through one of the major parks in Warsaw. It was beautiful and full of preening peacocks.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. If you REALLY want to know more about something, just ask! If I come across some pics that I should have posted, I'll do a make-up post later. Promise. ;-)

Auf wiedersehen, Wien!

The opera was fantastic last night. I never thought I would care to sit through five hours of Wagner, but the story was great (Siegfried) and the music amazing. The time flew by.

We're having a great time.

Someone just asked me at breakfast what there was unique to see or do in Prague.

Beer.

Czech beer on tap.

I'm so excited.

Ciao!

Here we are in Vienna, the city of chocolate and wine. And hangovers. Ugh. We went to a little town last night to partake in a Heurigen dinner, full of food, wine and song. Super fun but I'm moving reallllly slow today.

Anyhoo, MomH is waiting for me so we can start our day so I need to be boring and cut this short. Besides, my brain isn't terribly functional at the moment.

Headed to the opera tonight for some Wagner at the Vienna Opera House. Today will be some museum-ing and sitting at a cafe for some coffee and chocolate cake.

Life is good.

I hope all is well with everyone!