Thursday, November 18, 2010

Back to Vienna

 Leaving Budapest at 9 am we arrived back in Vienna by noon. We checked into the hotel near Leopoldstradt and headed back to Vienna's center for an afternoon of art at the Albertina Gallery. The Gallery had three major exhibitions. One per floor. Da Vinci's Drawings, Picasso retrospective, and William Kentridge retrospective. That's some purty heavy hitters! So we decided to separate, each enjoying the gallery as they please and rendezvous at the wine bar under the gallery in a few hours.



By then evening approached and we set off through the city lights to find the Cafe Pruckell  for diner and dessert. This classic, classy cafe is a step into 1950 and the piano goes great with the coffee...
the travellers
Then we wander the city and found a place that was a bit more like 1850. Greeted by a well dressed man in the finest suit and bow tie who quickly found us a table( and the place was packed ) but with style and grace, he squeezed us into the middle of the place. Cafe Hawelka or Leopold''s as the locals have called it since 1939 well kind of...the place open its doors in '39 and 5 days latter closed -WWII. The city was heavily damaged by the war but this cafe was untouched and  in 1945 reopened... Wow! What luck. The exterior would never told this tale.... and a great place and a great way to end this week long escapade!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Budapest






The train from Bratislava to Budapest is only an a few hours and a great way to see the county side.
Arriving at the main train station in Budapest it is easy to access the public transportation. We hopped a metro car (subway). The first car was a vintage art deco, art nouveau car and very classy and made the transfer to the new line a bit surreal.
vintage metro ca
In no time at all we were walking past the Opera house through back allies to find the Opera
Gardens Hotel and off to lunch. We turned a few corners and ran into "Most", a place we had been hoping to find and not even begun to look. So we knew we were off to a great start in Budapest.

This city is fantastic. The capital of Hungary. The city was split by the Danube River and  17 November 1873 the city was united the west bank - Buda and Óbuda with east bank -Pest, now Budapest.  After lunch we strolled through the allies in Pest to cross the chain bridge to Buda.  The west bank of the Danube has a steep slope and a funicular took us up to the National Gallery for a great view of the city and an afternoon in art. The gallery has a great collection of wood panel alter pieces and we were fortunate to see the exhibition of prints and original draft drawings from illustration, poster and advertising of early art nouveau propaganda.
 
We left the gallery after sunset to view the Danube and a panoramic view of the city lights.
We made our way back to the Pest to find dinner, but we ran into a bubble bar in the park. It looked like a sophisticated blow up jump room for kids...but it was a bar. We had to stop in!

  This night we splurged at a top notch restaurant. NY Times reviewed "Dia" and my first manhatan since I left the states was a great way to start the evening, and the meal was superb. Tomorrow we have a booked a walking tour of Budapest.
 Nov. 17
There is a great organization of free walking tours available in Budapest, if your going check out http://www.triptobudapest.hu  we highly recommend it! We saw highlights of the city with a great guide giving the history, politics and ins and outs of life here. A great source of information and a great way to see the sites- free!! ( & they do enjoy tips).  Here are some shots of the city on our tour.

make a wish

locks of lovers







 It was a gorgeous day and we walk up the Danube to the Great Market Hall in Pest for lunch. Here is the largest indoor market in Hungary (since 1894) and the place to get your sausage, beer and souvenir salami.




And then we found this bar for a more beer.
 The walk home was quite enjoyable!! We headed "M" for dinner. This is a great place for dinner. The entire place is covered with butcher paper and all the details, piano, hand rails, lamps..everything is drawn and the food is fantastic. After dinner we headed for the Jewish quarter to find a bunch of great hole in the wall taverns for a few drinks. 

Nov 18

After a long day of touring and a late night, we slept in a bit before walking the lenght of Andrassy Avenue. This world heritage avenue, lined with spectacular Neo-renaissance mansions dates back to 1870's, connects the centers Elizabeth Square with the City Park and the Széchenyi Medicinal Bathhouse. We spent the entire day relaxing in the 15 different pools, a variety of dry and wet saunas and aroma therapy steam rooms.  We gave thanks to the Ottomans for bringing the "turkish baths" to a palace standard  in Budapest ...and... ahhhhhh!! 




Tomorrow we head  back to Vienna, with hopes to return to this fantastic city!


Monday, November 15, 2010

Bratislava, Slovakia




We stopped at the Ridder cafe in Vienna for breakfast before heading to the train and, yes, the waiters are always wearing tuxedos and the food is served in style. And we are off...It doesn't take to long to get from Vienna to Bratislava.  Vienna and Bratislava are supposedly the two closest capital cities in the world, only a short 64 km or 40 miles away and the local trains depart often. Bratislava is a city of 1/2 million people located on the Danube river.   It is the political, cultural and economic center for Slovakia. Our visit was only one night so we choose to focus on the historical center or old town.

Surrounded by the modern city this walled in section is a refuge to the city noise. Entering through the St. Michael's Gate we are thrown back in time. We wandered the small allies to the main square and we found a place for lunch under the  shadow of St. Micheal's spire.

Rena ordered duck and I had the traditional Bryndzove Halusky, which is a big name for small dumplings made of potato dough with sheep cheese and topped with scrambled bacon....delicious, and of course a Saris dark ale to compliment the entrees!  It was a bit cold today so we decided to stroll the allies after lunch, stopping into little boutiques and seeing the historical sites of the Church and Convent of St. Claire, St. Martins' Cathedral, and  Old Town Hall  to name a few.
 
 
 As evening approached we headed up to the Bratislava Castle which stands on a strategic hillside overlooking the Danube. It has been strong hold as far back as the 450 BC and the south east tower of today dates to 13th century, so we had to climb on top of that!  It is a beautiful place to get an overview of the city and reflect on the day.


 

On our way down, and needing to warm up we stumbled upon a tavern dating back to 17 century. Looking a bit more like someones home we were hesitate to enter. Sure enough this tavern was incredibly homely. Some of the furniture and decor probable has been there since the 1600's. What better a place to indulge in some authentic absinthe, and munch on some authentic Slovakian chips...And some of us stumbled out of the tavern as well!


(this is a staged staggered photo)
 Now it was time for dinner and we found a great place with wood fired pizza (of all the thing) and since living in Turkey this specialty was quite a treat.

Tomorrow we are off to Budapest....



Sunday, November 14, 2010

November Holiday

Its our second year here in Turkey and we continue to do what we set out to do, travel! During our week off in November we flew to Vienna, Austria and enjoyed a few days there before heading on to two other countries. It is a short 2 and half hour direct flight to Vienna from Izmir. Upon arrival to Vienna we took the train to our hotel near the museum quarter. We quickly choose one of the local coffee houses to have lunch in. Cafe Ritter is one of the oldest running coffee houses, where the waiters still wear tuxedos. You can order coffee, of course but they also have a full traditional food menu and serve local wine (they boast over 200 different wines are made in Austria) and beer.

Inside the Ritter Cafe

With our bellies full of Schnizel we set off on foot to explore the city. We walked past many grand buildings and enjoyed the horse drawn carriages passing us by through the old quarter. Overall, we found Vienna very nice but a bit too touristy. At times it felt a little "too clean" and lacked the grit and commotion of a real city.













Walking around the museum quarter

Part of the old city that remains has a very complex medieval layout. In the center of all of it is the Stephandsdom Church. It is from the 13th century and features many amazing details. We took a short ride up the small elevator to the bell tower and were able to get a good look around the city from there. The most impressive feature about this church is the tiled roof. It is covered with over a quarter million glazed tiles. Much of it was destroyed in World War 2  but has been restored. The roof was our favorite part! That evening we went to an old opera house and watched a traditional Joseph Hayden opera set in a modern scene. It was very interesting and a good nap for some of the other weary travelers.


Outside of Stephansdom Church

A view from the bell tower of the tiled roof.

Another bell tower view

Looking across Vienna towards the Dunabe River

Sculpture in the Belvedere Gardens

The Belvedere from the outside.



Vienna has amazing museums. High on our list was a visit to the Belvedere.  The Belvedere is a palace with extensive gardens that houses an impressive collection of Austrian art. It holds the worlds largest Gustav Klimt collection that was very impressive along with work by Schiele (a new favorite of Rena's) and Kokoschka. It took us nearly all day to walk and find the museum and to see the exhibit. By the time we left it was time for beer and dinner. After dinner, Rena was on a quest to find a slice of the famous Sacher Torte. What better place to find it than the Sacher Hotel. The torte has been around for a few hundred years and is a grand piece of chocolate cake with a layer of apricot jam beneath a thick smooth layer of chocolate coating. It was fabulous!


The famous Sacher Torte!
Graffiti on the train.
After eating, drinking and touring around Vienna for three days we were ready to head to our next destination, Bratislava (the capitol of Slovakia). Worried you didn't hear enough about Vienna? Don't be. We head back here at the end of our trip for another few days. Stay tuned. Next up? The historic Bratislava!