We celebrated 10 years of marriage on June 5th. One of the things that we established early on in our relationship was our love of travel. So, we decided several years ago that we would go abroad for our 10th Anniversary. Our tour guide characterized it as an ABC tour: Another Beautiful Church, Another Bloody Castle. We saved for a very long time, and now that it is come and gone, it was worth every penny. Here are some highlights.
We flew IcelandAir for this trip. This meant that our layover was in Reykajavik. How awesome is that??!!!?? Granted, it wasn't a long layover and it was cloudy so we didn't see anything, but we can say that we have been on Icelandic soil since we had to get off the plan on land, not through a jet way.
First stop: Prague
We had been told that Prague (or Praha if you are a local) was beautiful. It did not disappoint! Pictures don't do it justice, but I will try. Some of the highlights included a night tour including the Strahov Monastery and Charles Bridge. We also visited the Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square. People watching was fun from any of the great sidewalk cafes.
One of the great things about the tour was that we had local tour guides showing us so many great sites and telling their personal stories. In Prague, our tour guide had lived through the Communist reign in Prague. She had so many stories to tell of growing up in that time and now living in a free society. She has 4 children, 3 of which were born prior to the end of Communism and one "freedom baby." Their early lives are very different.
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| Our Tour Guide is on the right |
We enjoyed a great meal at Tradice near our hotel. Bryan even had to email one of our Czech friends to ask for the recipe. Much to his excitement, she sent it right away. I will have to make it someday soon, I'm sure.
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Isn't it beautiful???On to Slovakia |
We stopped in Bratislava, Slovakia for a brief city tour and lunch. It just so happened that it was also the inauguration of their President. It was an entirely different world than our inaugurations that happen in that there is not all the hoopla. We ate across the street from the location of the swearing in ceremony an hour after it happened and the only evidence that we saw of the existence of the event was a line of Mercedes Benz lined up on a street.
Next stop...Budapest
We made our way to Budapest, Hungary next. We didn't know what to expect and both walked away noting that it was our favorite spot on the trip. We can't pinpoint exactly what it was, the scenery, the food, the atmosphere, or just a combination of it all, but we loved it. Buda and Pest are actually 2 cities. (Who knew Scottsbluff and Gering were so hip?!?!) Buda is the more residential part and Pest has more of the high paced living and action. We happened to be in Budapest on the 25th anniversary of the fall of Communism in Hungary. Our tour guide was a part of the events that ended that reign. It was very cool to hear his perspective on it. Hungarians had more freedoms allowed to them than their Czech counterparts during the time of Communism. He even was allowed to study in the US during his college years.
Since the World Cup was going on while we were there, it was fun to watch it with the locals. This is how they watched it in Budapest:
Just down the street from our hotel was the Dohany Street Synagogue which is the 2nd Largest Synagogue in the world. It was so beautiful to see it and to go through the museum. They were working on the memorial garden area and all of the markers were lined up on the wall. It was just eerie to read them with the deaths all coming in 1945. It was one of the many times on this trip that we were reminded of all the history and heartbreak that has occurred in this part of the world.
Another church with amazing history is the Matthias Church. It was started in the 13th Century and was not finished until the 18th Century. Yes, that is right- 500 years to build it. Next time your friend complains about how long it is taking to build their house, drop this little bit of history on them! During the occupation by Turks, this was converted into a mosque. They painted the church and much of it still reflects that design with the geometric patterns.
Vienna
Our next stop took us to beautiful Vienna. This is the hometown of our tour guide, Erich. He is a professor of piano at the University in Vienna. I would have loved to hear him play, but we did not get to do that. He also has a PhD in Economics from a Chinese University, and is working on his 3rd PhD. Between this and the fact that he sounded like Arnold Schwartzeneger and was about 5'6, bald and 150 lbs made it very interesting to have him around. He did humor us with some famous lines from Arnold.
The music history in our Austrian stops was amazing. In St. Stephan's Cathedral (established in 1147 AD) we saw the baptismal font where 2 of Mozart's children were baptized.
We had a free day in Vienna. We were so lucky to meet up with some fellow Western Nebraska natives while we were in Vienna. Tom, a friend of Bryan's family, is stationed in Germany. He just returned from deployment to Afghanistan. He, his wonderful wife Steph, and their 5 children were wrapping up their vacation in Vienna on the same day we were going to be there. Tom's sister was even meeting them in Vienna as well. So we got to enjoy a day with all of them. Their youngest reminded us so much of our Sam (which was funny considering her name is so close to his. :) ) She gave some great one liners while we were wandering. Some of my favorites came in the Imperial Treasury. When we saw a line of royal robes, she told me this was where the kings lost their heads. Then we looked at a sword and she informed me that it is the sword that Jesus put in the river and turned the water into blood. Lots of laughs were had, and we were so happy to spend some time with them.
Scenery from Vienna to Salzburg
Beautiful Salzburg
Salzburg, Austria is the setting for The Sound of Music and the birthplace of Mozart. Both pretty cool facts in my book! We loved wandering around Salzburg. It is a city of 238,000 people and has around 200 tour guides who cover more than 30 languages. Clearly we aren't the only visitors this year!
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| Mozart's birthplace! |
We had the opportunity to dine in a restaurant that has been operating continuously as a restaurant since 803 AD. Yes, you read that right, 1,211 years!!!! Apparently, Charlemagne even ate here during his time as Emperor.
Hitler's "Eagle's Nest"
A tour through this part of Europe has so many references to how things were during the Nazi Regime. We had the opportunity to visit one of Hitler's meeting places that was not destroyed during the war. He received The Eagle's Nest as a 50th birthday present. Ironically, he was afraid of heights so he only visited the mountain top site a handful of times. To get to the building, you took a sharply winding one lane road to the entrance on the side of the mountain. Then you walked 407 ft through a tunnel and rode 407 ft up a brass plated elevator to get to the top. Now there is a restaurant occupying the space where the meetings occurred.
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| It's a shame these views were wasted on Hitler for so long. |
Munich
Our first and last stops on the tour were in Munich, Germany. It was a beautiful city and we enjoyed taking in the local food and beer.
A great time
We had a trip to remember forever. We were nervous about taking a guided tour, but in the end were so happy that we made the decision to do it. We went with Globus at the suggestion of the local travel agent. It was so nice to have someone take care of your bags (we didn't handle our luggage outside of the airport...they took care of it all!) make restaurant reservations, plan tours, and navigate the foreign country. If you've made it this far, I applaud you for sticking with reading this all! I know it hasn't been brief! Now, to plan the next adventure....
