On the way to the MOA 2010

Here we are stuck in Duluth, MN, with no way out.
We left early in the morning only to be in line on I-35 due to construction and a car disabling the traffic because it ran out of gas. What are we to do?
Sitting for about 40 minutes with no way out is very frustrating. Especially if you have about 1500 Miles to go to your destination and you are riding against the clock. We should be in Redmond, Oregon by Wednesday July 14, and here it is, Saturday Morning July 10 and we are only in Duluth.

I planned the trip, but not this delay and the high charges for Motel 6 in Duluth, MN. Arriving on a Friday night, we were under the impression that hotels in the business districts are empty. Moreover, yes, they were empty. Somehow, a policy passed that for weekends the charges for Motel 6 rooms increase quite a lot. I had to pay $ 97.49 for one night. That hurt! The Motel 6 in Duluth was not that great by the way, it could use a lot of elbow grease.


We had left Toronto and rode around Lake Superior, visiting Wawa and Thunder Bay. Now we are stuck in Duluth. I went to see the Aerostich Shop to pick up a ‘gift', which turned out to be a sticker of something green. I threw it out after receiving it. The whole stopover in Duluth was a waste of time. This was the third time I have visited Andy Goldfine’s place and each time I was disappointed.
I will say Good-bye Aerostich! Now, after paying a ransom for a hotel room, I am stuck on this one way Highway with no way out. All of Duluth was not a good experience.

Kirchheim

Good morning, we are finished with our 2010 Europe trip.
Nothing new fits into my brain. I need to sort all the newness out, need to find familiar things, need to clean up, repack up for the trip back to Canada.
I believe Carol feels the same way. Enough is enough.
It is strange how these feelings creep into me. There comes a point where, after almost 8 weeks on the road I look for the familiar. Our most familiar place in Europe is Stefan Knopf’s B&B and we are off this morning to rest there for a few days before we fly to Toronto.
Taking the Autobahn from Bayreuth to Heidelberg took us about 4 hours and we were lucky, Stefan had a room for us. We had made reservations but they only started tomorrow, we are a day early.
I build in some spare time, a day or so because one never knows if the bike will break down, how the roads will be or if the weather will cause delays. I do not like to ride under the gun to get anywhere. Having time to spare is fine with me.
The actual ride to Kirchheim was uneventful. It was typical Autobahn riding. I stay with the trucks in the right lane, going about 100 or 110 km per hour. I learned that this is a much safer way to travel than speeding along, even though I know that in certain sections the Autobahn has no speed limit. Germany’s Super Slab, the Autobahn is still a free road system. No tolls are charged. Compared with the rest of Europe this is a great and fast way to travel. There are no vignettes, no tollbooths, and no charges for travelling on the Autobahn. Just do not run out of gas, as there are few gas stations on these roads. Even getting off on an exit does not mean you will find gas immediately.
At Stefan’s we cleaned both bikes, wrote emails, sorted out pictures, slept in until 8 AM, took a shower in hot water, washed our clothes, updated the blog, had breakfast without planning where to go and we met interesting new people. Stefan’s place is a little like a pigeon coup, a constant in and out of people dropping off their bikes or picking up their bikes. The place, every time I have been there, is always busy.
The total miles we rode on this trip were a measly 4411 miles. This is nothing compared to riding in the U.S. but then we were not riding to break a record. We stopped often to smell the roses. We spent a good deal of time meeting people and talking to them. From a Serbian police officer to the new couples we met at Stefan’s, namely Richard and Sylvia Hutchinson, who live in Guatemala and Bruce and Petra from British Columbia. One never knows when, on the roads we travel, we will run into each other again. We found new people, new stories, and new trips and learned so much along the way.
Germany played England on the Sunday we were there. I lost $ 5.00 and a coke to Stefan. Germany won 4:1 and I bet on England. I paid up and still have a credit now with Stefan since he did not have change.
We left Tuesday morning; Stefan drove us to Heidelberg to catch the bus to the airport. We had a good trip, a great time and we are planning to see Romania and Bulgaria next year.

Bayreuth

I have a purpose today and feel much better, thank you. We did not take the Autobahn to Bayreuth, our next stop since were only about a 100 km away. Since Bayreuth falls into the ‘theme’ of Opera, the theme we had for the last few weeks, it makes sense to visit. We rode a winding, pastoral road to Bayreuth and arrived by midday.
Part of Bavaria, Bayreuth is world renown for the yearly Wagnerian Festspiele. In fact, the Opera built for and by Richard Wagner is not an opera, per say, but a Festspiel house.
This Festspielhaus, yes, it is an Opera, specifically built for Wagnerian Opera (http://www.bayreuther-festspiele.de/english/english_156.html) is part of Bayreuth. It is the holy shrine of Wagnerian Opera. Nothing else plays at this Festspielhaus, only Wagnerian Opera. If all this sounds strange, it is. Compare it to having an opera built just to hear Mozart’s Operas. Weird, but such is the case with Richard Wagner. I am not sure I understand all of the implications but those are the facts.
I decided to visit Bayreuth and see this place for myself.
Checking in with our friends, the Info center people, we found an affordable hotel, the Hotel Weihenstefan, just outside the center of everything. Close enough for us to walk to the bus depot and to visit the city and attractions Bayreuth has to offer. We parked our bikes in the back of the hotel next to the kitchen, secure and away from public view. The space was tight but we managed to get the bikes close together and away from the kitchen traffic, too.
The hotel Weihenstefan is an old place, not very posh yet Weihenstefan has been making beer since the year 1040. Weihenstefan is the oldest brewery in the world still making beer every day. I am not sure if our hotel had some connection with the brewery specifically, but since we were in an old place with the name Weihenstefan in its name, there might be some connections. http://www.brauerei-weihenstephan.de/index2.html?lang=eng
The beer certainly was good and the ratings given by others are excellent. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/252/731
For the afternoon, we decided to walk the town. The Info center gave us a city map and with that, we were all set. Our first stop is the Margrave Opera, a building built in 1748 in an all-wood construction in the most decorated Baroque style I have seen. Gold leaf decorated everything. There were audience boxes for the elite and common floor space for the paupers. I could truly feel the atmosphere of the place, the old set up certainly adds to the feeling of authenticity. This is an opera house as they should be, as they used to be, very festive and formal.
We were the only visitors and had the place for ourselves. I sang an aria from Mozart’s Magic Flute from near center stage but no applause followed. Carol then sang Skinamarink and even though the acoustics were phenomenal, the thunderous applause could not be heard. Bummer! Maybe we picked the wrong song; it could not have been our voices, could it?
This Margrave building is wonderful. Nominated as a world heritage building by UNESCO, it needs to be preserved. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margrave%27s_Opera_House
Going back to our hotel we had a pizza/pasta dinner and then watched, along with many others Germany play Ghana in the 2010 World Soccer cup. Since Germany lost the last game against Serbia they would be out of the competition should they lose! The tension was high. Young people had their faces painted with small German flags. Grownups drove past us with flags mounted on their cars. Honking and blaring their horns when Germany scored a goal. When Germany won with a 2 to 1 win, everybody cheered and the mood, helped by all the alcohol consumed, made for a noisy affair. Carol used her earplugs to sleep that night. It was fun, it was nice to see the pride and the good time everybody had. I could have done without the flag waving, but so be it.
The next morning we decided to visit the Festspielhaus.
The bus depot, I read, is important because to visit the Festspielhaus you need to take the bus. Sitting on the ‘Hügel’ (hill) a bit outside of town, in the middle of a small park, the Festspielhaus had closed when we got there because rehearsals were scheduled. Yes, we tried to sneak into the building but we had no luck. Caught in the act and after receiving a small reprimand, we were back outside. No matter, just seeing the general layout of the place, its surroundings and the scenery for various Operas stacked outside, made me realize that Bayreuth is for connoisseurs, for Wagnerian fans. The seats inside the building, I heard, are very uncomfortable for the performances. Some performances run for over three or 4 hours. I wanted to see all of this myself but it seems not everything is going my way. I took some pictures of the Festspielhaus from the outside, including some of the stage backdrops. We walked around the surrounding park of the Festspielhaus a bit and, naturally, took some pictures of the statue of Wagner, too.
I did not realize, but found out while photographing Wagner’s bust, that Franz Liszt was the son in law of Richard Wagner. Oh, how much I do not know about the world.
After the ‘visit’ of the Festspielhaus, Carol wanted to visit the Hermitage. We took the bus. The royals of the area, in about 1717, a sister of the German Kaiser named Wilhelmina, improved the already existing Hunting lodge and a small zoo with, for the times, a revolutionary idea, a landscaped garden. This was the first such garden on the European continent and included water fountains, a temple dedicated to Apollo with gilded busts of 40 Roman Emperors, nymphs, stone gardens, a dragon grotto, Japanese temples, etc. Whatever the fantasy could create, was presented to us in statues and buildings, planned and spread throughout this garden. This is a huge layout, miles of walking trails and garden paths. We did what we could, even managed to see the hourly fountain display before we returned via bus, to Bayreuth proper.
On the way back, we stopped off at Wahnfried, the residence of Richard Wagner, the place where he wrote some of his music. The name Wahnfried is a strange name. Wahn translated means mentally deficient. Fried means peace. So a place where Wagner found inner piece from his mental burdens?
He certainly was a mental case. Yes, he was talented and he knew it. Constantly in debt, he was ruthless in begging and showing off his talent, all in order to get money. He used everybody, including the very young King of Bavaria, named Ludwig. The King was just 18 years old when Wagner met him. Wagner was the original egomaniac. Wagner was so conceited, so full of himself, that reason failed him. On the other hand, was he a product of his time? When I read some of the letters on display, they all sounded contrite to me. All of the writing was too fickle or considered inappropriate today. Talk of love, talk of heroes, talk of heroic actions, or self-denial, of wanting this, of poets and poetry, of false and real or overpowering music and a somewhat sheltered life. I read about a lifestyle long past that was in its own stratosphere. Reality, the daily grind, work in factories, sports were not part of the lifestyle of Wagner. He was like an orchid, living only in his protected world. It seemed to me he knew little, if nothing, about hard work and labor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wagner He wrote drama plays, not opera. He wrote constantly, letters, opinions, music and his own lyrics. He lived in his own world, loved by some and hated by others. Having had a difficult youth, his father died a few months after his birth, he matured into a peculiar character. The critics then and now are many. His music however was new, was powerful, was loud and substantial. Even today, the overtures to his operas play like symphonies. Wagner was different, his house, the name he gave it, and all other things about him make the man for some people a demigod.
Right next to the Wahnfried house is the residence of Franz Liszt. He was another tortured soul. There was no question that Liszt was a superb pianist. Chopin and Liszt were equal in their dexterity and could display their emotions musically. While Chopin composed, Liszt played for the elite. So much so, that, after years of submitting himself to the whims of the few, Liszt burned out. Liszt was very religious. In fact, he became an ordained monk in his later years. That Liszt was the son in law of Wagner surprised me. I did not realize it but yes, all these musicians lived at the same time. Even Chopin, whom Liszt knew well (they even played fourhanded piano together or gave concerts), was a contemporary. I think I need to see a timeline of all composers.
The small museum in the Liszt house, packed with anecdotes of his life, again is for scholars. So much information is given that it becomes overwhelming. I just love the music of those men, and yes, I am trying to figure out what made them write, what made them compose, what made them so special. Could they write music the way I write sentences? Did they hear the music in their head before they wrote it down? Did they dream in music? Could they think musically? Why did we have so many composers at this time but none now? Sorry, I do not call Rap Music, music and I hate Techno Sounds. So what happened then? Why could Vivaldi just sit down and write music the way I write words? I find it amazing, maybe because I know nothing about music. I just know what I like to listen to, but cannot spell out to you why I like this piece and not that piece. Music is a mystery to me.
As a side note to the Wahnfried Museum, when we entered there was a showing of the life of Arturo Toscanini, the conductor. I did not come to Bayreuth to visit Toscanini or learn about his life but could not help myself. The exhibition showed the transition in music from live performances to performance for the record industry. The world certainly changed and playing the piano, as Liszt did most of his life, was no longer needed or interesting when you can hear music from a record. Toscanini was instrumental, pun intended, in working on this transition. The show certainly gave me ‘food for thought’.
After a day of searching the city for what it has to offer and taking in all these impressions I get tired out and there comes a point when I am too full of newness. I have had enough museums, parks, ideas, etc. Maybe I need to come back to Bayreuth once more to see other things but for today, this is it.

Amberg

Waking up, we need to decide where to go next. We have no target, no plan for the day. We have plenty of time left over; we do not need to be in Heidelberg until the end of the week and today is Tuesday.
Not far from Passau is the town of Regensburg. I heard the name mentioned often but have never been there. I know nothing about Regensburg so let us go there and spend a day or two finding out about Regensburg. What do you say, Carol?
So, off we go, really meandering down the roads, from small town to small town, looking left and right, drifting towards Regensburg and get to this large city around noon. Again, I know nothing about the town but that is ok. Let us just find a motel, hotel or something and stay a few days. The old part of town looks interesting enough.
So here we start. The first hotel, on the edge of old town Regensburg wants 140 Euros for a room. I pass. The next Hotel around the corner, a not so nice place wants 90 Euros without breakfast and no parking. We get back on the bike, ride around some more, and find a hostel but all is “sold out”. The folks at the hostel send us to another place but there is no room in this place, either. Yes, there is a place around the corner, but when I try there, the place only opens up at 5 PM. For us to be waiting for 4 hours, and then to find they are sold out too is not an option. What do we do? By now, it is 2 PM, we looked for a hotel for two hours and yes, they have them, but I refuse to pay these prices.
Good-bye Regensburg maybe I will see you some other time.
So now what do we do? The next bigger town is Amberg. I never even heard of this town. Let us go and see what this town has; maybe they have a hotel that is ok for us, for just one night. We ride the short distance to Amberg, taking the Autobahn to get there faster, just in case we run into problems again.
With a few questions, we find the hotel Altstadt in Amberg. At 72 Euros with Breakfast, it is not great, but better than paying 140 Euros in Regensburg. The parking for the bike is in front of the hotel, all is well. We have a room for the night. Now let us go and explore the town.
Like so many towns in this area, Amberg, too lived off salt. Salt was so much in demand that whole towns, whole counties could live off the money it created. Yes, Amberg had a wall around the city; yes, Amberg has cobble stone streets and the former market area is still active, still visited. A river running through the town still brings visitors, still runs along its old path. After visiting Amberg, walking its old streets, I still do not know why the town is there, what it did in the past. I am sure Amberg traded salt, but what else did Amberg do?
After some visits of European towns, no matter the county, no matter the area, the towns start to look alike. Walled off from invaders, giving their tradesmen work, having a protective royal patron, being blessed by the church, they existed for some reason. They had to be famous for something, produce something. I never did find out what made Amberg famous. Only after I checked Wikipedia on line did I learn we missed the ‘famous’ smallest hotel in the world. Rats!
We are getting tired of travelling; it has been a long trip. It is time to go home!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amberg

Passau

Breakfast was in town. We had to get packed, get dressed in full gear to ride back to town. Get undressed again, to have coffee and cold cuts and the typical German Brötchen (or Semmeln). Our proprietor from last night had a good time serving us. At 72, she runs a bar in town and the Gasthaus we were in last night. Spry and nosy too, she wanted to make sure we were well before we left town. The breakfast was good, the whole experience last night unique.
In a light rain, we left Untergriesbach and the way to Passau was a mere 30 Km. We left town in no hurry thinking we could be there in 40 Minutes. After some 10 KM, we ran into a blockade. The road totally closed down. I tried to ride around the blockade, but no, we had to go all the way back to Untergriesbach to find a new route. Passau was not easy to get into. Even coming close to the actual town of Passau, an old, medieval town, we had to take a long detour.
Luckily, I saw a sign for the Info center in Passau. Those folks in the Info center are a Godsend. Without them, it would have been tough to negotiate the cobble stone roads, the hilly terrain, and the one-way streets. With the help of the woman at the Info center, we had a hotel in no time. Our hotel was immediately on the Danube River. The Danube in Germany changes name and is called the Donau.
Passau is an old town situated at the confluence of three rivers. The Inn, Ilz and Donau, all three are navigable Rivers and come together here. This makes for a unique situation and the position of Passau is such that even in olden days, people took full advantage of this uniqueness. All shipping in years past had to pay the city a toll to pass through. The benefactors were the King and the Bishop of Passau. People in a castle, high on the hill, watched ships come and go and made sure they paid their tolls. Passau became so rich and was so famous that the King of Austria came here during the attack of Vienna by the Ottomans. Passau had and still has lots of money. The old buildings ooze voluptuous rococo and show old money. I am sure the King of Austria and the Habsburgs, could not have found a better place to find refuge from the Islamic attack.
The town itself sits on a huge triangle formed by the Rivers Inn and Donau. Due to the recent rains in the area, a lot of the shoreline, even some minor streets were flooded. This did not affect our stay yet it shows that the rivers still play a most important part in the town. High water was always part of the town; the rivers ruled and still rule today. The transport of salt, a necessity in the middle ages, made Passau rich. Today the money comes in from tourism. Boatloads of people from all over Europe stop here. River cruises, a popular way to travel on the Donau (Danube), come from as far away as Bulgaria on the Black Sea and dock here. Passau is worth a visit; it has charm, has many nooks and crannies and caters to most everybody’s taste. The history buffs love it, the water lovers find it interesting, and the café and restaurant eaters find their Mecca, too. A large number of people rode in on bicycles since Passau is a hub for five major ‘highways’ for enthusiasts of this sport. Travelling on bicycles, using the very rural, for bicycle only, created roads is the way to go. If only I were younger…
We just explored whatever struck our fancy. We stood by and it fascinated us that River Cruise ships were loaded by hand. Each box of supplies made its way to the hull or storage on the ship via a human chain. Each case of beer, cereal, orange juice, fresh vegetables, meat, etc. was passed on from hand-to-hand until it disappeared inside the ship. It is a strange thing to see today, this handing off from person to person. You would expect a machine to do the work, a conveyer belt maybe, but no, not here. Somehow, they find it more efficient to stock the ship the old-fashioned way.
We are in a much more relaxed mood. Getting to places is not important. We are more adrift now. We do not have a target. In fact, we look at each other and do not know where to go next. Where do you want to go to next, Carol? Wherever, you pick it! Exploring churches is now off limits, we saw too many of them. Climbing up a steep hill to see another castle seems too much work. We discriminate now when we see a restaurant. Now we want to find a place that is unique, it is not that we are that hungry that any food will do. I think we are near the end of our allotted time, near the end of our trip. We both know it. We are looking forward to some peace and downtime. Our brains are loaded up to capacity with newness, we need time to digest the info we collected.

Passau? (Untergriesbach)

The word Passau popped up in my head many times in the last year. I cannot say why, but is has a certain ring to it. It seems in my head that pass (like a pass in the mountains) is in this world and the word ‘au’ which means meadow in old German. So what will the town look like?
Riding along the back roads, finding my way out of Vienna, which is not that easy, I am thinking about where to we stop that day? We are going west, the sun is at our back but it is not warming us that much at 54 Degrees F. Adding a few layers to our outfits helps a lot. The roads I choose are back roads, curvy but not difficult. Some detours even bring us past fields of wheat, corn and potatoes. Riding, after so many days in Budapest, Szentendre and Vienna, is a pleasure. Yes, it takes all day to get from Vienna to the German border but crossing the border is hardly noticeable, one sign spells out “Thank you for visiting Austria” the other “Welcome to Germany”. It could not have been more pleasant.
On the way to Germany and with Passau still in my head, I see this wonderful restaurant around noon. Many cars outside indicate to me a popular place. We are seasoned travelers now, we stop when we feel like it, do not chase the sun any longer and we stop for lunch when it feels right. The fried Zucchini, the fresh pressed apple cider with a piece of pie as desert gave us new strength. A birthday party for ‘Margaret’ was in progress during our stop over; she was turning 80 years old. Just before we left I walked over, sang her a ‘Happy Birthday, dear Margaret’ song, gave a Canada pin as a momentum and made her day. She might still be wondering who this ‘young’ man was that sang for her that day. It made all of us smile.
In late afternoon, close to Passau but too beat up by the cold weather and just before it started to rain seriously again, we came into a town named Untergriesbach. Yes, it is easy for me to say that and for all you English readers, yes, those German words are long, and I know it.
We decided to stop for the night; it was late enough, even if we did not get to Passau yet. I checked with two hotels in town but their prices were too high. A one-night stay for 80 or 90 Euros is just too much for my budget. The last hotel, a nice enough place with a 3 star rating, pointed to a little Gasthaus nearby, that might have room for us. Driving up to it, we found it closed with just a note in the window, “See us in town at this address”. Ok, off we go and we do find the woman running this place. She drives back in her car; we follow her on our bikes. It was somewhat of a comedy but we agreed to take the room for the night (what choice did we really have, it was raining by now?) for 50 Euro incl. breakfast. The problem was this guesthouse was way out of town. There are neither restaurants near us nor any other shops, just a few other houses. Even for breakfast, we have to ride back into town again, tomorrow morning. For that, we have the whole house to ourselves. There is nobody in the whole place. Even the woman leaves again in her car, leaving us to take care of things. We have a living room, we have the choice to sleep in as many as eight bedrooms, we have access to the beer, to TV, and it is literally our house for the night. It feels a bit strange, I must admit. It feels like we just ‘moved’ to Germany and now have this furnished house to live in. The bikes, parked securely under an overhang since the garage has ‘stuff’ in it, are ok. For dinner, we had an apple and a banana, food we had in our bags as left over from breakfast this morning. As it turned out, the lunch stop was a good thing; at least we had some food in us and the beers we found, the soccer match we watched of the 2010World Series, made up for not having dinner.
After riding in cool to cold weather, we were glad to be dry and comfortable and the sleeping experience, even if it was a bit surreal, added spice to our trip.

Vienna, Austria (Wien)

No, there are no Kangaroo’s in Austria. I loved that T-Shirt. Getting to Vienna is easy enough although we had lots of one way streets. No passport control, we just needed to exchange the Hungarian Forints into Euros at the border. Finding the exchange office was not that easy since a real border does not really exist any longer. I asked a policeman who sent me to a retired banker who had a small office set up in his house to just change Forints into Euros.
The way to Vienna is busy, busy, and busy! Finding a reasonable hotel seems impossible without previous reservations and getting a parking place in the old city? Forget about it! Vienna is the ultimate in tourist places. The art of getting the most out of tourists was written here. With a very polite, thank you, a smile but never the less a stern yes or no, the Viennese get what they want. Please do not go to Vienna expecting to find bargains. There are none! Vienna is purely business, purely nice, and purely wonderful but you must have the money. All that said we stopped at a few hotels on the way and some just looked at our raggedy clothing and smiled and said they are all booked up, even at 180 plus Euros per room. Asking a taxi driver only resulted in him telling me I cannot stop here, would I please move on. Another cabbie told me try out of town, in town is too expensive. I resorted to looking at Ibis for Euro 90 per night but, again, all sold out and no, no breakfast included and parking? We cannot help you, sorry, but with a smile. It was frustrating! I found the bridge going out of town when I rode past the Prater, the famous Ferris wheel, and found a 3 star hotel that advertised 35 Euros per night per person and I stopped to inquire. Well, we looked at the room on the 4th floor, we saw it had a small elevator; it came with breakfast and had space for 2 bikes in the backyard. To get to downtown Vienna we had to walk 15 minutes to the nearest subway station but then could get a direct train to the heart of old Wien. Downtown was 8 stops or about 25 minutes away. It was not the most posh place so we took it for one night, thinking we can find something better the next day. Let’s see how this place works out for us. Wi-Fi costs extra unless you book on line, which we did not know, of course.
We put our stuff upstairs, got into our walking shoes and off we went to explore. The first thing we had to learn was how the subway system works. There are hardly any personnel. Everything is automated. We just got on the train figuring we could buy the tickets there since we could not understand the machine on the wall. Mistake! Once we got off the subway at the Opera we were in a huge, below ground transfer station where 3 or 4 lines come together. We asked someone who looked authoritative how the system works and he guided us to a small booth and we bought a 24 hour ticket and once validated at a stamping machine, it would allow us to ride anyplace on the system. Great!
Then we had to find the exit to the Opera house, since we made this our first stop. That was a good choice since it is centrally located but once we popped up to ground level, we were a target for ticket sellers in 18th Century costumes. These folks are legitimate as I found out later but I was taken aback by being swamped as soon as I hit the pavement. I was reluctant even to talk to them. Good for Carol to keep her wits and listen, we found the info we received helpful, because the official info booth was swamped with people and they would have told us the same thing. We needed to orient ourselves; Vienna is old with twisty roads and small side street. It is easy to get lost and a map is helpful. Luckily one of those costumed ticket sellers had the right map. He also had the info about the opening time for the Opera Tours, he had tickets for a concert the next day and he told us where we could get the Hop On/Hop Off Bus tomorrow. The guy came from Kosovo, spoke English and German well and made his money on the commissions from selling tickets. All was done and said with a smile. He helped as much as he could and we never felt overly pressured but he was keen on selling his tickets, in the nicest way. We walked around a bit, looked around to find the info booth again but after some time came to realize that this guy in period custom was right and was our best bet to get started in Vienna. We went back and bought concert tickets for a Mozart and Strauss concert the next day at the Palais Auersperg, an old Palace where Mozart had played.
We just wanted to get our feet wet on this first day in Vienna and see what it was all about and our first impression was wow, this will take some time. It is impossible to see it all. To make the best of this day we had a good meal. Naturally, we had a ‘Wiener Schnitzel’, but the key was to find the right restaurant. We went back to our ticket seller guy and asked him for the best place and without hesitation, he recommended the restaurant “Figlmüller”, which has been making Schnitzels since 1905 and proclaim to serve not only the best, but also the biggest Schnitzel. So, off we went in the direction indicated.
On the way to the Restaurant we discovered the Swarovski Crystal Museum and, naturally, went in to investigate. Carol had a good time checking out the details of the place and I liked the many ideas the people from Swarovski show.
After the visit, a bit further down the pedestrian street we see the St. Stephen’s Cathedral and in comparison to the same named Basilica in Budapest, Budapest wins hands down. There is just no comparing the two, but then there never is an answer as to why one cathedral is more elaborate, or larger, etc. I think it might have to do with the money at hand at the time of building. St. Stephens in Vienna is the center of the old city. All streets seem to lead to it and, like always in Europe, it probably was the heart of the community in years gone by.
While walking towards Figlmüller we saw a sign on a house telling us that Mozart rented an apartment here for several years. Today this apartment is made into a museum by the city of Vienna. It was too late in the day to enter but on my next trip back to Vienna I will go inside and see this place.
Idling along, always towards Figlmüller, we find peculiar alleyways, which connect one street with another. These are left over passages from years gone by when the right away for people was given to the populace. You have to enter into a large doorway at a house but behind the doorway a large passage opens up with shops, restaurants and stalls on each side. These passageways extend for quite a distance; we did not finish walking all of them.
One of those alleyways allows you to enter the restaurant Figlmüller and right away, after you enter, you feel at home. Yes, it is elegant and busy but not overdone. Very efficient, very cozy with small rooms in a homey atmosphere arranged in such ways that you feel you are eating in a small house. Some parts have upstairs sections. We were lucky to be given a small table beside the window and the service was friendly and efficient. Figlmüller is a good restaurant, a pleasant place. Yes, the schnitzel was so huge that I had a hard time finishing mine. Carol could eat only about 1/3 of hers. The beer to wash it down with was a Radler; a combination of beer and lemon and very tasty. No need to order anything else, just the Schnitzel will fill you up, it is that huge!
After dinner we needed to walk, and the walk back to the Opera house did help to settle the food. Being quick learners we took the subway back to our hotel and walked another 15 minutes back to our hotel. I realized that this works well for us, taking the train into the city, having us land right in the middle of the old city, being able to walk away from it at night and getting a cheaper rate for the hotel room all worked out well enough.
The next morning, after a good buffet breakfast, which was included in the room rate, I extended our stay at this hotel for another 2 days. While we were gone yesterday, a huge load of teenagers was delivered via bus to the hotel and the morning breakfast buffet was lively and busy. There was enough space, however to accommodate all and the food was plentiful. This hotel (www.lenas-hotel.at) is as good as it gets and we slept well and our bikes were safe, too.
Taking the subway, we again landed at the Opera house and as soon as we popped up to above ground level other folks in costumed, period attire tried to sell us a concert ticket. We, however, took the Hop On/Hop Off Bus for our ride around town. Our first trip was on the red line bus, which drove us for an hour, without letting us off, on a circle tour of the inner city. This gave us a rough overview of what the city looked like and showed us how large Vienna really is. And since Vienna is so large this Hop On/Hop Off line had 3 tours so we bought a ticket for all 3 sections. When we returned after our first tour, we had an hour to kill before the green line, our next section of the tour, took us to Schönbrunn (Pleasant Spring) Palace. This Palace was the summer residence of the Habsburgs, especially during the reign of Empress Maria Theresa.
To get a focus, let me explain that the Habsburg house, the dynasty of the Habsburgs started in the year 1273, when the German Rudolf the First became the King of Germany. He was the start and through marriages, through annexations, through wars, through acquisitions and/or power plays the dynasty grew and extended. The King of Kings in German is called a Kaiser and a Kaiser who is Kaiser of more than one country is called an Emperor. After many years, after many powerful mergers, the Habsburg dynasty reached its pinnacle, many say, when the Empress Maria Theresa (1717-1780) was in charge. During her reign Hungary became part of the German Reich (Holy Roman Reich of German Nations). This Holy Roman Reich of German Nations was a huge concept. Established in the Middle Ages, after or during the Crusades to protect the regions from Islam and to protect the Catholic Church, it was a mutually beneficially set up. The Church took care of the Royals; the Royals took care of the Church. All this ended after World War 1 but let’s not go that far. Let us stay in Schönbrunn.
The green line bus dropped us off at the gates of Schönbrunn and, yes it is a tourist factory. Well arranged, well thought out the whole affair runs like a well oiled machine. You can pick from a menu of tours at different price levels and in different depths. You can study the Habsburgs in so much detail that it will take you years to get it right. You can spend lots of money taking a very expensive, in-depth tour. It is all on the menu. We chose the standard tour, just to give us an overview, especially since my European schooling made me into a tour guide already. Before we went into the Palace itself, I opted to take a Fiaker (Viennese Horse drawn carriage) to see the huge landscaped section surrounding the Palais Schönbrunn. These gardens, Versailles in France has a huge set up, too, were the rage of the 18th Century and Schönbrunn has one of the best representations of this extravagance of gardening. Unfortunately, for the standard price we paid, the Fiaker does not stop for picture taking but hurries along its bumpy ride, not even good enough for good pictures. Yet, the layout, the sheer size of it can be judged and it is impressive.
I put the ride in the Fiaker before the tour of the Palais because the weather looked threatening. Sure enough, once we started our inside tour of the Summer Palace, it started to rain and it rained heavily. Timing is everything, we timed it right to get the inside tour when the outside is swamped with rain.
Maria Theresa, the Empress, was a smart and cunning woman. The mother of 16 children, mostly females, she married them off for political advantages. Marie Antoinette, the wife of Louis the 14th of France, was a daughter of Maria Theresa. Yes, Marie Antoinette was beheaded at the start of the French Revolution in 1789 but her mother, Marie Theresa, the Empress of Austria/Hungary had died by then. Ever planning, ever thinking how to further and promote the Habsburg line, the Empress Maria Theresa became, along with the Habsburg Dynasty the most powerful Royal House in Europe. The marriages arranged by the Empress made her the mother-in-law to many other Royal Houses. Schönbrunn was her summer residence. Carol and I, on our tour, visited mainly her living quarters. Decorated in the style of the times, opulent and baroque, it gave us an understanding of the way the Habsburgs lived. While not as gaudy as Versailles, Schönbrunn has its own style; it does show the mindset of Maria Theresa and the Habsburg line after her.
During the 18thand even the 19th Century, if you could afford it, you spent the hot summer months outside the city. Since sanitation was not what it is today, the smell of human existence drove you away from the masses in the city. So a summer residence was a normal set up for most of the elite. The gardens around the residence also helped to eliminate odoriferous living. Flowers, sweet smelling vines, perfumes, all helped in giving your nose a break. Since a bath only happened once a month at best, it was not really the best of times.
We took our tour, duly impressed with the splendor around us, but glad to be living the 21st Century and not being like the Royals or Maria Theresa who sacrificed her 16 children in the name of politics. The tour ended and we took the green line bus back to the center of town. We had to wait a few more minutes since it still rained it sheets, yet I could see the light section in the sky and knew the heavy part of the rainfall was almost over. We could have gotten off at other stops but my mind was on overload, so we opted to take a break instead and forget another Hop On/Hop Off ride.
We went to another famous Vienna Landmark, the Hotel Sacher. It is famous for the Sacher Torte, a rich chocolate cake that is the epitome of Viennese cakes. Vienna without the Sacher Torte is like Coney Island, NY without a hot dog or Paris without a baguette. Sitting in the outside café of Hotel Sacher was not as glorious as it sounds. We were allowed to eat the cake of course, even have a coffee but when we tried to take a look at the Hotel lobby, we were ushered out; this part of Hotel Sacher is only for registered guests of the Hotel, please. All said with a smile but the way was barred.
Travelling, constantly seeing new things, getting new impressions, is not as easy as it seems to be. I wanted to just zone out, wanted to just walk about but that is not easy to do either. Wherever you walk, something new is in the way to look at. We were off to find the Palais Auersperg and do some window shopping on the way. I do not buy anything while being on a trip, my bike is packed to capacity and I really do not need anything anyhow. So window shopping is really exactly as it sounds like. I look at things; look for things that are different, unique, weird, unusual, and extraordinary.
We asked for directions but it seems not many people knew exactly where the Palais Auersperg was located. In the brochure it looked lovely, old and full of gilded halls, full of old charm. So where was this place? Concert tickets in hand, we proceeded forwards slowly. We passed the city residence of the Habsburgs, now called the Hero’s Square because a large monument was set into the courtyard to honor fallen soldiers of all wars. We passed gardens and parks; we passed statues dedicated to Mozart. We approached the Austrian Parliament and finally found the Palais Auersperg. It its heyday it might have been impressive, but now it is on a busy street and no longer stands out. To call it a Palais is just a leftover of speech, I presume. Larger than a normal house, it is not a concert hall; it is not a castle so I guess it will do for tonight’s performance of the Wiener Residence Orchestra. I am a bit leery about the whole set up but it turned out to be a delightful affair. The hall was packed; the Soprano sang with a powerful voice, the Tenor as a soloist was wonderful but in a duet lost out to the Soprano. The music was Mozart and the pieces well known and light and wonderful. During the intermission I was asked “A glass of champagne Sir”? I passed at 5 Euros/glass. The program changed to all Johann Strauß after the intermission and the violinist, playing on a violin from 1776, played in outstanding form. One piece, a Czardas, really made her shine. She was an amazing violinist. Interlaced with ballet performances the whole concert was over way too quickly. The applause at the end, the encore given, would give you an idea of how the evening went. It was a great experience, totally Vienna, even if a bit touristy.
Since we were this close to Parliament we wandered over but it was closed. Walking in the general direction of St. Stephan’s Cathedral, we zigzagged our way back to the old center. Finding our way was no longer that difficult as we had built up an inner road map of old Vienna in our heads. Passing parked Fiakers, the drivers chatting among each other, hearing the rattle of closing store shutters made us realize we needed to head back to our hotel,
The next day was a bonus day. When we awoke we heard the rain and it rained hard. Checking our phone messages on the computer we needed to call Carol’s mom but with a 6 hour time difference we had to wait until at least 3 PM to call Toronto. As it turned out, it was just that her mom wanted to hear that we were ok, so all is well. We ventured out despite the rain because Carol wanted to take a picture of the Johann Strauß statue, inside the city park and we wanted to see the inside of the Opera house and the tour is only given on Saturdays. So rain or shine, we decided to go out. By now we had the routine of walking to the subway station, taking the train, even changing lines, down to a science. We enjoyed Vienna, had a lunch of Bratwurst with Sauerkraut and a beer in the beer garden and it was time to for our Opera House visit. The rain had stopped by now and the weather cooperated.
Austria, especially Vienna is a master at handling visitors, tourists. Long lines move fast, once inside the Opera House sections were set up according to languages. We took the English tour naturally, and our guide was cheery and knowledgeable. Each section of the Opera House was explained in detail and you could ask about anything you wanted to know. I learned that there is a different Opera performed each night during the Opera season. Each day the stage is broken down and a new stage is put up. Hundreds of workers work on setting up, each day. The Opera has many choirs, many singers and actors. Each performance is practiced as well and the whole place is like a bee hive.
The annual budget of this one building along is a staggering 100 Million Euros; 55% of that money comes from ticket sales or tours given or from subscriptions and the remaining 45% is subsidized by the Austrian Government. The draw of this place is huge. Connoisseurs of music visit many times during a month. The cheapest admission price is 3 Euros, way up in the balcony and is standing only. Box seats can cost you 3000 Euros for a single performance. Most nights, the place is sold out. Day in, day out, this place hums with activity. While we were given the tour, a stage back drop was being installed for the same night’s performance. The workers did not stop; they worked around the many visitors from all countries of the world. Technically the stage is the most modern set up one can imagine. Yet each Aria is sung without the use of any microphone. The performances remain pure; remains the height of the art of opera. Whoever sings here, needs to be top rated. The audience knows and can differentiate between good, mediocre or terrific. This is a top notch set up, we just came to visit and we were astounded. Once you see how all is set up, how all the backdrop works, you want to go to a performance, too. You want to just see a complete performance. Had they had the Magic Flute listed I would have gone that night. The way it is, I will come back someday and see Mozart’s Opera in this kind of set up.
Not only does the place serve Opera, but for the Ball of the Debutants, the coming our party of the young people into society, an old European custom, the whole place is transformed into a huge ballroom. Even the seating is removed to make room for the dance floor. All is done with elegance and tickets for this event, a one night affair are 17,500 Euros per person. The place is sold out long in advance, even at these prices. Each young man or young woman at 16 or 18 will attend this ball in Vienna. Without it you have not entered Society and will remain unknown. But before you can attend an audition and test of your skills in dancing a left hander Waltz is performed. These are strict old rules. You must pass these basic requirements, no matter how much money you have.
After our Opera house visit we decided to take a look at the Prater and take a ride on the landmark of Vienna, the old Ferris wheel (Riesenrad). The almost last, but certainly the most popular Emperor of Austria was Emperor Franz Joseph, the First (1830-1916).For his 50th Birthday in 1880, the citizens of Vienna presented him with this Ferris wheel, a totally new invention in its time. This gift was so much liked by all, even the Emperor that it became the symbol of Vienna in years to come. The Prater, the Ferris wheel are an intricate part of Vienna, then and now. The Prater itself is a permanent Amusement Park with the Ferris wheel being one of the oldest attractions. We visited, ate some junk food and then left to prepare for our departure from Vienna but with the knowledge that we certainly have not seen all of what Vienna has to offer. I guess we will be back; it just depends on when we find the time again.

Szentendre (St. Andrew)

Szentendre means St. Andrew and is a town about 20 KM north but outside of Budapest. So you can imagine that we just about fired up our steeds and arrived in Szentendre in no time. Well almost true but first we had to find our way out of Budapest. Since we bummed away Monday waiting for the heavy rain to stop, we were rested enough. The Tuesday morning rush hour and the only one sign policy made it a bit dicey but we did make Szentendre around 11 AM. The weather had improved to a clear sky with the sun shining on us. We arrived and Immediately, I saw a hotel/pension and yes, they had room for us. Parking was in a small lot one block away and A/C was included. Wi-Fi available if you sat in the hall and got the password from the store next door but all worked out well. No, no breakfast unless you like to eat breakfast at 10. No matter we are all set, let’s explore this town. All of our guide books explained that this town is a typical Hungarian town. The roads are cobblestone, the houses small and low. The streets and alley ways look ancient as if still used today by animals. Instead they are traipsed daily by tourists. The whole town is a tourist town. A former artist colony, Szentendre still features plenty of galleries and you can visit if they are open. Nothing is definitely defined here. Businesses open when they please, close when they feel like it. The pace of life is relaxed, easy going. Yes, money is important but so is the chat with the neighbor. We walked the town, covered all there is to see. From the Serbian Orthodox Church with the silvery or golden covered Icons to the open shops, art galleries and even the Marzipan Museum. Carol paid to get in and take some picture of Mickey Mouse in Marzipan but I passed. Sometimes, the ideas are too far out for me to get it and enjoy it.
I did enjoy the exhibition of Margit Kovaks and her ceramic displays. She had a way of showing feelings in working with simple clay and brought her emotions to the front in different ways. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margit_Kov%C3%A1cs)
Ambling through town, I came past a Jewish memorial site, giving the many names of people that were sent from here to the concentration camps. The only woman that survived settled again in Szentendre and made her front yard a memorial to her former neighbors.
Szentendre is a small town; many people stay here and then take day trips into Budapest since living here is easier and more relaxed. Ships on the Danube take passengers to Budapest but in addition, bring people from Budapest to just visit for the day. It is like an ebb tide; people come and go in swells, stay for a while then leave again. We were the odd ones, the ones that stayed all day. The afternoon started with a change in the weather. Clouds covered up the sky, darkness fell a bit earlier and the rain started to come down in sheets. Ok, we were well taken care of sitting in our hotel, even our bikes were covered. We sat in the hall outside our room working on the blog, writing emails, etc I did not mind the down time, I can always find things to do.
The next morning all of the weather had changed, we had the most glorious sunshine and we are off to Vienna a mere 175 Miles away.

Budapest

Hungary, for the most part, is a flat land; flat like a table top. Riding on straight roads in good condition brought us to Budapest in no time.
We all know that Buda is the hilly part and Pest the flat part of Budapest, right? These two parts only became today’s Budapest when a bridge was built across the Danube River in 1848. Before that time, there were two cities, Buda on the hill, Pest in the flats.
Hungary, like Finland, grew from different roots in Europe. While most countries in Europe have either Germanic or Slavic roots, Finland and Hungary have Finno-Ugric roots. Nomadic tribes from the plains of today’s Siberia/Russia settled and invaded the native Celts and the, by then degenerate, Romans in the late 800’s. The official start of Hungary as a Nation was in the year 895. And what a Nation Hungary turned out to be. Powerful and smart Hungarians ruled until the Ottomans (Turkey) invaded in the name of Allah and then again, until World War 1, when Hungary sided with Austria and lost the war. The history of Hungary is a bit complicated but basically, the Celts were the inhabitants until about 450 AD; along with the Romans in some parts until 430 AD. Then there was a quiet time until about 800 when Attila the Hun invaded the area. After he left, Hungary (Magyaroszag) started. King Stephen was the 1st Christian King and was baptized in about 1000 AD. Christianity and the Catholic faith took hold of Hungary.
I always need these History lessons as orientations. The people we met in Hungary are wonderful people, helpful and friendly. We had no problem with the language because most Hungarians today speak English. The younger generation is well versed in languages and the country today is a powerhouse of ideas and industry.
Coming close to Budapest the traffic increased and the roads multiplied and to make my life easier I cheated for some part of the way and took the toll road without having the proper sticker. The roads close to the Capital of Hungary are like any other Western city and local roads are especially busy. Luckily for us that we did not get caught by the police, because not having the toll sticker could be very expensive. I managed the final parts into town on the local road system and managed to find the center of Budapest after all. I followed the sign for the info center to the old part of the town. Upon arrival I watched the bikes while Carol went inside to look for rooms. After some time Carol came back with arms full of brochures and the address for the Hotel President, a new hotel, close to the Presidential Palace on the Pest side of town. Amazingly, all this was given to Carol by another hotel. The info center could not be found and Carol did well by asking for help while looking for a room in a hotel near our present stop. Not only did the hotel find another hotel for us, they also argued the price down from 85 Euro/night to 60 Euro/night incl. breakfast and parking. Yes, this time we had A/C included and even Wi-Fi. Carol did amazingly well.
We settled into the President Hotel but had to wait a few hours since we arrived at about noon and the rooms were not ready until 2 PM. Absolutely no problem with us, we sat in an air conditioned lobby and each of us had a hotel computer in front of us and checked up on email, read the latest news, did some writing to loved ones, etc.
The hotel room we received was great. Possibly the best room we’ve had on this trip.
We stored away our stuff, and after some time walked to the Hungarian State Opera house to take a tour of this building. Opera is still big in Europe. Hip Hop or Techno music seems to be for the young. The more sophisticated, the more mature or maybe even the more educated people prefer the more difficult, classical music. Opera, too, is part of the elite’s repertoire, and is big business for the city and the daily tourists here in Budapest. Mozart, Beethoven and the famous Hungarian composer Franz Liszt play an important role here. The tunes of the gypsies, transcribed into classical music by Bella Bartok or pieces by Paganini can be heard throughout town. We experienced a transition to sophistication like stepping into a new world. Having come from Albania the transition was especially noticeable. Budapest in the early to mid 19th Century was second next to Vienna (Wien) Austria. While Vienna was the head quarters for the Emperor of the Habsburg Dynasty, Budapest was the playground. Queen Elizabeth (Sisi) was the darling of the ages. As the wife of Emperor Franz Joseph, she made Budapest a focal point. Still beloved today, she was the one who gave permission to build this very elaborate Opera House. Grand staircases, huge marble columns, mirrored halls, etc. This Opera House represents the epitome of the ages of the Biedermeier Period (1812 to 1848) and beyond. Up to World War 1, Budapest was important to the Habsburgs. Many Buildings in Budapest are from the time of the Habsburgs so the look is very ornate. Never-the-less, this decoration adds to the ambiance of an Opera house. Old plays, performed in period buildings, take on some authenticity from their surroundings, by what seems like osmosis. The effect is wonderful. The tenor who sang 2 arias to us after the tour in a powerful, tenor voice made us feel special. The surroundings helped him and all of us to bring the past to the present. Carmen’s Soldiers’ Song was especially moving.
After we visited the most dominant dome, St. Stephen’s Church, we ended day one after a delightful dinner at a plaza right in front of the Basilica.
The next morning a huge breakfast spread greeted us at the hotel. Six different kinds of coffee, several fresh, whole fruits, dried fruits ( prunes, apricots, etc) and canned fruits ( pineapple, peaches), various fish and smoked salmon, different kinds of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, onion rings, hash browned potatoes, different kind of breakfast rolls, breads, fresh cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and condiments of all kinds, etc, etc. What a feast! We surely do not need lunch after a breakfast like this.
To get a good overview I like to take a Hop On/Hop Off Tour via bus whenever available. Today we spent several hours doing just that. We drove past the parts Budapest considers most important and had a chance to get off and see them for ourselves. We pass on the Hero’s Square and the modern shopping streets but get off at Buda Hill to see the Pest side of town from a higher vantage point. This part of town housed the old castle and was in olden times the refuge and shelter for many when being attacked by others. High up on a hill, crowned with a church, of course, it sits today still dominating the view from the Pest side. This is old history, very old indeed. While we took some pictures of the present day relics of the 17th to 20th Century houses and their many ornate details, we also found the prehistoric part of town up here. Sure, the Baroque Period left its imprint and the view of Pest was delightful and Hungarian architecture and the many colored roofs of the churches were unique, but we chose a different route and went underground.
Budapest sits on a fault line. Hot springs abound and were already praised during Roman times and long before. Roman Spa’s are still in use today. Hot water comes to the surface in some spots and eons before the Romans, even long before the Celts, man has used this area. The hot water and the hot steam created caves and underground caverns millennia ago. For generations, people built on top of these underground cavities and used the existing spaces as their cellars or as storage spots. As late as the cold war during the 1950s and ’60s, these places were used as shelters or storage facilities or secret places by various governments.
Today, these underground passages are accessible to visitors. Evidence was found that cave dwellers used these caves for shelter. The ice age was probably not as cold when you could live with a hot spring next to you. Carol and I explored this underground labyrinth and while most of the installations today are used as a kind of art gallery, the feeling of being below ground, of being primordial is still present. Budapest, artfully sectioned off, and presented the history of the hills of Pest and the geology of the site in a great way. We spend a few hours in the maze of cellars, former hot water channels and darkness. These walks were nice and cool this far below ground, especially when the above ground temp hit 38C (106F) that day.
The heat hit us without mercy once we came out of the cave system and only an Ice cream in the shade could help us recover. We had received a pamphlet last night of a concert in the city of Pest and decided to attend. Using the Hop On/Off Bus we came close to our destination and found, after some questioning, St. Michael’s Church but were a bit early for the performance. There is always a bench someplace and we took the time to write some postcards and Carol spotted a wedding reception right in the middle of the sidewalk. The bride’s maids were licking ice cream and sure enough spilling some of the dripping chocolate Ice cream on themselves in the heat. It was an odd sight for us to see a reception being help on a pedestrian walk, in the middle of the day, everybody dressed up, the bride lovely and smiling while everyone around them went on with their lives.
The concert was lovely and the orchestra played Pachelbel, Vivaldi, Bach and Mozart. The surroundings of the smallish church with great acoustics helped make the evening a delight. Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody #2 added the right paprika spice to the performance. On our way back to the hotel, we passed various artists and performers in the pedestrian section of town who made a living from doing their stints as break dancers, painters of futuristic and fantasy evoked dream landscapes or even as part of a quartet playing classical music. Most of these performers were young and I am sure, just made a few Euros to help them along. The air had cooled down a bit now and after a light dinner in an outside café we returned to the hotel.
Just before entering the lobby we heard loud music and some evidence of a happening close by. Naturally we had to investigate and found, near the American Embassy, a huge crowd sitting on a large grassy area watching a 2010 Soccer World Championship Game. Soccer is a huge part of the Sport Scene here and the crowd was enthusiastic but well behaved. Beer concessions passed out beer in plastic cups and the police were there but did literally nothing more but watch the game too, on the huge, digital display set up just for the occasion. The loud speakers were blaring out the sports commentator, the group of watchers ooohed and aaahed and everybody was having a wonderful time. So, Carol and I bought a beer too, stood on the side lines and watched some of the game too. The night was mild by now and the company we had were cheering and enjoying themselves. Can it get any better than this?
Another fantastic breakfast! Our feet are sore; I have sunburn on my nose. My bones creek when I start to walk, traveling is not easy when sightseeing is involved. So for today we only want to visit Hungary’s Parliament building. This sugar cake looking building, a rather close copy of Westminster Palace in London, is not far from our hotel. We start off in the cool of morning and have to dodge many runners since some kind of field event has been scheduled for the area around Parliament on this Sunday. People of all ages, from very young to rather senior looking folks, run around the streets. I am not sure if it is a Marathon but it does not matter. We just enjoy their enthusiasm while we try to find the entrance to the Parliament buildings. We are early, too early in fact. The first tour is at 11 AM and that leaves us time to just walk about. Idling along the Danube River, seeing the bored security guards, watching the runners and their support groups makes the time go quickly. When we enter the Parliament building we are screened just like an airport. This is serious business now. There are over 1400 rooms in this building and the halls are decked in memorabilia of Hungary. Statues of former Kings, of founders, famous statesmen and artists line the walls and rotundas. One of the sections in Parliament holds the crown of Hungary. Roped off and heavily guarded and alarmed, it is hard to take a picture. Notice the crooked cross on top of the crown. It is said to be the crown which was used to ordain Stephen the First as King of Hungary but latest research showed that some parts of the crown are even older. No matter, it is an old symbol of power, whoever wore this crown was in charge, could do as he pleased, had the ultimate say over everybody.
The building today, this Parliament building, elaborate and old as it seems to appear, is in fact very modern. Every 10 years all rooms, all systems are refreshed and re-modernized. Votes are electronically counted, every word, even whispers are constantly recorded in the entire complex. This is an open, for all and everybody accessible place. Hungary has an open Government. Most Ministries, Education, Economics, Labor, etc are all housed within this building complex. It is a huge set up, all linked together, and all within arm’s reach of everybody. This system works for Hungary and it sure is impressive to see how other nations rule themselves. While we, of course, did not see all the rooms, we did get a positive impression of how things run in Hungary and we could see that democracy has set the way for the future.
The Parliament tour ended and the heat shimmers on the asphalt in the streets, it is hot outside. What to do? Walking around town in this heat is no pleasure so we took a rest for a few hours back at the hotel only to resurface in the late afternoon to attend another concert, this one in the famous St. Stephen’s Basilica. While yesterday’s music was based on baroque masters, this performance was based on sacred works by Handel, Albioni, Vivaldi, Gounod, Dvorak, Liszt, Schubert and Mozart. Compared to the previous night’s performance, this one is more elaborate with Soloists, Tenors and Sopranos and Organ. Yet, sometimes, one player, in this case the organ player, can ruin a terrific and promising set up. Sorry, Mr. Gyula Pfeiffer, your playing was way too loud and your organ play overpowered all. You did not accompany, you dominated each and every piece. It could have been wonderful but because of your dominance the whole evening was ruined. I left disappointed especially since I knew this event could have been delightful, Mr. Pfeiffer.
After we had a bite to eat and swished down the musical experience with a beer or two, we returned to the hotel. I woke up at night to loud thunder, to lighting and when it got light enough to see anything outside we decided to stay another day, doing nothing but write, read and bum. Why ride in this rain, why battle downpours like this? Tomorrow is another day; I will go to Szentendere tomorrow.

Szeged, Hungary

Our goal for today is the city of Paprika, Szeged in Hungary. Our anticipation is high, this city received an award as the most progressive Hungarian city and we expect the world. I expect spices and exotic markets. My mind is drifting off as I ride along, thinking of all the new, interesting and unusual things just across the border.
Not long after leaving the town of Zrenjanin in Serbia, we are stopped by two Serbian police officers. I had to be daydreaming because I saw them too late. I know that the Russian style police control is always before or after a city. I should have been more watchful. The older officer, not speaking anything but Serbian, asked for my passport. I asked him for the direction to the next bigger town. He looked at me, shook his head and asked me again for my passport, I smiled and asked him again for the direction to the next town. This back and forth questioning works sometimes but not this time. The young officer stepped forward and in excellent English, asked for my passport and papers for the bike. According to him we were 25 KM over the speed limit and this infraction allows them to issue us a huge ticket and hold our passports and bike papers. We can come back to retrieve our papers and passports after we show up with a receipt from the post office that we paid the fine. This is the Serbian law. He and the older officer would wait there until we come back. So, would I please give him my passport and the papers for the bike?
Now this is a tricky situation, Carol does the smart thing, she keeps totally quiet. I am determined not to separate myself from my passport and papers.
After some talking, I convinced the young man that we were only travelers visiting his beautiful country and that we did not really mean to speed. I told him I did not see the 60 km sign. The normal speed on this kind of highway is 80 km anyhow and we were riding at 85 km, an acceptable speed. I told him we are not in Serbia to race; especially at our age. We are here to learn from the Serbian people and have them take a good look at us, an American and a Canadian etc, etc.
With a nod from the older officer the young officer told us the direction to the next bigger city and we were on our way again. It could have been nasty but it worked out well enough. In general, I really do not try to speed. I sometimes accelerate to a brisk pace outside of town, but in town I go with the local traffic. I respect the wishes of the locals as to what they consider a good speed. Yet once out of town, in the fields, in the woods, I play it safe, too. I do not ride above my abilities or my range of sight. So I feel I did not lie to the officer when I told him that I am just a traveler, passing through his country. Both officers were just doing their job, all worked out well. I am glad they gave us a break. Thanks!
The border crossing into Hungary went without a problem, I had the Insurance papers already from Stefan Knopf and getting money exchanged was easy as well. Entering Szeged, I did my usual thing and asked a taxi driver for a good hotel. With many hand motions we found the hotel he indicated and parked our bikes inside a court yard, safe and away from traffic.
Immediately I noticed the difference in many things in Hungary. I noticed the Hungarian language is difficult. It is not Slavic or German or Latin Based. The language derives from an inner Mongolian/Hindu mix and I cannot read or speak anything, except the word paprika. Prices are expensive. The hotel charges 60 Euros per night incl. breakfast but only after some haggling. Traffic is heavier than in Serbia. The streets seem cleaner, the country as a whole wealthier. Hungary is an EU nation although they still have their own currency, the forint. About 265 forints equal 1 euro. Also I find the Hungarians cunning. When we wanted to put on the air conditioning in our room, the outside temperature was 104 degrees Fahrenheit (37 C) we were told that this would result in an extra charge. Carol paid it since I was fuming and refused to give them any more money.
The town of Szeged is a modern town, nothing romantic about it. No paprika stores, no spice markets, just a pedestrian street like any European city. Many young people are about since it is a university town and yes, the city is thriving. Not in the romantic ways I had in my head but as a small metropolitan city with a good university. Many statues caught my eye. Modern but also older looking sculptures were placed in many conspicuous spots and added to the happy mood of the place. For the romantic in me I want to mention the violin players, playing gypsy music on the streets. This sound is fast and passionate and the melody has a soul and sound unique in this world.
Carol and I took a walk along the Danube River which runs along the University buildings. I was surprised to see so much trash floating in the water. Yet, people swim in this water. A few huge barges were tied together and anchored near shore and created, in the center of these barges a swimming pool. The bridge leading to the barges had fallen into the river on one side and this bridge was just a nuisance to shipping. The collapsed bridge only served as a boom to collect ugly debris. To get to the swimming hole inside the floating barges, a small boat had to be pulled by hand from shore to this floating barge island. The whole if it seemed cumbersome, difficult, not smart and very unsanitary.
Walking past the center hall of the University campus I saw a sign, written in Hungarian, of course, that spelled out that Vitamin C was first derived here and that it was taken from ‘paprika‘. Now it makes sense to me why Szeged is called the Paprika City. It is not because of the selling of spices as I had thought, but for the research in this medical school that yielded an understanding of the effect of vitamins on our bodies and the first extraction of Vitamin C and other Vitamins from certain fruits, vegetables and spices. This University extracted large amounts of Vitamin C from paprika and the name Paprika City stuck. Szeged is a modern city living a modern life. Not like in my mind, a historical relic with an old spice market.
Quote from Wikipedia: Capsicum peppers used for paprika are unusually rich in vitamin C, a fact discovered in 1932 by Hungary's 1937 Nobel prize-winner Albert Szent-Györgyi Much of the vitamin C content is retained in paprika, which contains more vitamin C than lemon juice by weight.
Paprika is also high in other antioxidants, containing about 10% of the level found in açaí berries. Prevalence of nutrients, however, must be balanced against quantities ingested, which are generally negligible for spices.

I learned that Salami, the Hungarian Salami, spicy hot, had its origin here, too. The firm of Pick still makes Salami in a big way. Carol wanted to see their museum but we never made it to the out of town tour and the small museum which only opened from 3 to 6 PM each day.
I had a unique dinner that night, soup made from sour cherries with no pits but sugar added. It was a new experience. Carol found it too sweet; I ate the whole thing, a huge bowl full.

Zrenjanin, Serbia

Breakfast in the morning was a Russian Breakfast. No coffee, but very good tea was served. The buffet table had the obligatory cucumbers and tomatoes and black, Russian bread was in the bread basket. We ate and started our ride along the West end of the Danube River, following close to shore.
After leaving Kladovo the road became very twisty and would have been fun to ride if it were not for the condition of its surface. Seemingly at random, large rectangular or square patches had been cut about 2 or 3 inches deep into the surface of the road. Let’s call them planned potholes!
Dangerous and with sharp edges they were cut into the road in preparation for repairs but those repairs never happened. The potholes were placed at angles that are very dangerous to a 2 wheeled vehicle. Entering at the wrong angle would certainly lead to you spilling your bike and leaning your bike would definitely create a severe crash. Carol and I tried to miss as many as we could by riding in between the cut outs yet we hit some doozies. Not only do those mean holes shake up your bike and your bones and rattle everything on and in the bike, but the sharp edges of the hole cut into the tires, also. Riding became a slalom run on curvy roads. I think somebody planned this with a vicious idea in mind. Just when you think you have it all figured out, this devious mind added tunnels. And yes, within the tunnels were those holes, too. Then, this mind does not add lights to the tunnels and now you ride in the dark with your headlights only, trying to find those potholes. After you think you found a solution this sick mind adds curves inside the tunnels to screw with you a bit more. Observing the color changes in the roads makes the cut outs somewhat visible and you can pick a line to avoid them, even if it means riding on the left side of the road sometimes. Sure, some holes go across the whole width of the road and there is just no way. BAM! You hit one of those suckers. Your bike shakes; you check your tires and add 25 cents to the swear jar. After 50 miles of riding like that you notice you never looked at the panorama. You are fighting to get going and 3 hours have passed by. Now something new is added. Tar has been painted in some of the holes so it is harder to see the color change. BANG! You hit another one! Then, some holes are fixed, some are not. You cannot tell, really since they come at you fast, 2nd gear is actually fast enough but you are in nowhere land, in a National Park kind of setting. Very few cars pass you, they have it a bit easier since they have 4 wheels but they too, hit hard. Some buses creep along, you pass them and ouch, you hit another cut out. Whoever thought about fixing roads like this has never ridden a motorcycle. The condition of the road was awful. We managed to get across the Gap section of the River Danube but I cannot say I enjoyed it. From the little we saw the panorama is not worth the difficulty we encountered. Bad suggestion, Mr. Croatia, we should have gone a different way across Serbia. Coming out of this nightmare at the small town of Veliki we took a well needed break and sipped some water to cool off our tempers. The sun had beaten us up at 37 degrees Celsius ( 104 F ) and we were glad to ride on a normal road.
Our next experience was a ferry crossing near the ancient town of Bela. I did not know there were only two ferries per day. Arriving 10 minutes before the afternoon ferry was pure luck. The ferry itself was homemade. The warped boards of the deck stood at nutty angles but we got across. That we had to ride unto the ferry using a gravel ramp and full speed, that we were almost the only passengers, that getting off needed a shovel to create another gravel ramp and good balance on our part we will not consider dangerous. By now, this is part of travelling in the Balkan region. Expect the unexpected. Live from minute to minute. Adjust to every kind of conceivable satiation. Make do with what you have, what you find along the way. Get help if you can, help yourself the best you can when you need it. While waiting for the ferry we had another quick drink at a restaurant next to the ‘terminal’. Another passenger, proud to practice his English had many questions and was in awe at our endeavors. Two Romanian men travelling on foot back to their country, after having found work for 2 weeks in Serbia told us of the hardship in surviving the ‘no work’ situation in Romania, This guy had a wife and 2 sons yet could not find any work at all in his homeland. His father or father-in-law, I cannot recall, was in the same situation. I could only listen; I could understand their plight yet could do nothing to help.
After getting off the ferry we rode through the small ferry town and took a look around. I felt like I would see and meet Huckleberry Fin around the corner. This was a small, sleepy town in nowhere land trying to hold on; the ferry serving as the only connection with life, arriving and departing twice a day. We left and were on our way, glad to have options available to us that others do not have.
The roads we took finally got us to the bigger town of Zrenjanin; an industrial town in the middle of the now totally flat landscape. The heat index was unchanged at 104 F or more. It was time to call it quits for the day. Naturally we have to find a hotel. I rode around town but saw nothing. One of my tricks in finding a hotel is to ask a taxi driver. Those guys know the towns well, know of good and bad hotels and can, if you do not understand their directions, drive you there. You just follow their cars and voila, you are at a hotel. You pay them for their service but at least you get a room without the frustrating effort of finding it yourself. This time, however, I asked a car parked nearby and not a taxi driver. The 2 guys were extremely courteous and nice and drove us to a hotel about 8 miles outside of town. No charge! It was their pleasure and our pleasure, too. Thank you!
The hotel was in the middle of wheat fields, near a major road but away from everything. Why they built a hotel here I do not know but does it matter? Does it matter that the large room we had, an apartment really, had a shower without curtains; that the water was yellow even though we ran it for 30 minutes? Our bikes were safe! We were safe and even had air conditioning. The place had a restaurant and we ate well. We slept well that night because it was quiet in the middle of the fields.
We survived another day and tomorrow we will leave for Hungary!

Kladovo, Serbia

When we left Macedonia our Croatian Harley friend told us to take a ride along the Danube on the border between Romania and Serbia. Here the River, over the last Millennium, carved a gap into the mountains and created, according to him, a wonderful and picturesque panorama. Kladovo serves as a gateway to this area and is used by many people as a stopover as well. Approaching town we saw the high rise hotel, Derdap, sticking out from the rest of the buildings.
Built on the banks of the River, the hotel is a multifunctional hotel that serves as a catch all for every kind of conceivable traveler and for groups as well. It is a hotel used for corporate meetings, for conventions, for functions such as weddings, etc. When we arrived, it was hosting the Serbian National Volleyball team plus another group I could not identify. We had people everywhere. Our bikes were parked in front of the building, away from foot traffic and we were told they would be safe there. Yet, while we had the bikes covered, they still seemed to be in the way. After some time, I saw cigarette ashes on the covers, some wet spots make clear that water was poured on them somehow; Carol’s bike was hit with a ball from the practicing Volleyball players who played in front of the main entrance and right next to the bikes. A pack of stray dogs used my front tire to mark their territory. It was a bit of mayhem. I felt we and our bikes were in the way. Not that things were intentionally done but we were out of our normal environment. I am not used to having a small band practice their Serbian music in front of the hotel. Some guys seemed intoxicated to me, dancing Serbian dances while holding a beer bottle in their hands. On the outside terrace young ‘business’ men neglected their dates or wives to close deals on their cell phone in loud, obnoxious voices. The young waiter, not just serving coffee or tea to the young women at the next table, but also getting a bit physical, touching and kissing and making out in general, to our amusement and certainly with the women’s consent.
Carol and I took a walk along the Danube River and watched, somewhat horrified, as young people swam in the River despite the obvious, non-sanitary condition of the water. The beaches were pebbled and yet people were lying on towels, sunbathing. A regular promenade had been built to make a section of the beach into a boardwalk. Not luxurious but not dilapidated yet, either.
The town of Kladovo itself had a small ‘Pedestrians Only’ area. Small shops had their doors wide open yet there was hardly a customer in sight. The sales personal sat outside, having a cigarette, drinking coffee, waiting for customers. I am not sure if the ambition of the townspeople was misadjusted or if the expected tourists did not show. The town was ready and I remembered a line from a movie; “If you build it they will come”. Well, here nobody came and the ones that did come did not come to visit the town. We ate dinner at the end of the row of open for business places without anyone else near us. We were the only people in this restaurant. The food was good and plentiful. It was a bit of a surreal experience. As darkness fell we moved into our room and worked on the blog, Carol called her mom, and we sorted our stuff in our luggage out and made ready for tomorrow’s early departure after breakfast. The Serbian Music in front of the hotel had stopped; the volley ball team no longer practiced their skills next to our bikes, the time was right to go to sleep. Unfortunately, the barking of a pack of wild dogs kept us awake most of the night.