Vienna bonus day

We arranged a bonus day in Vienna so we can enjoy more of this lovely city. The natural history museum is first-rate -- from the portion we saw this morning, it is in some ways better than DC's and NYC's. The facing Kunsthistorisches art museum was also splendid!

To the NaschMarkt for refreshment, then caught our flight to Frankfurt. Tomorrow we depart for home. 

And,again,Budapest.

We've worn out our Rick steves guide. 

On our last day we walked to Buda to Mathews church. Built in late1800's not old but lovely. 

These guys are part of the original church built here. They were very emphatic. 

The interior was painted in floral and geometric designs. It reminded me of Russian cathedrals. 

This is a lovely raven with a ring in his mouth. Important to the legend of Mathew. 

These soldiers were guarding the parliament in pest. 

This is a monument to innocents lost in wars. The bird on top symbolizes Germany. Quite a contrast to Mathews Raven. 

View of Pest from

Castle hill in Buda. 

...and when 2 lovers woo...

Last night we had a romantic Hungarian dinner on the bank of the Danube, with a fun table-side seranade -- violin, bass, and accordion.  To "Where are you from?", we replied "USA". So, for our dining pleasure they played "As Time Goes By". Very enjoyable, especially with the lively Hungarian flourishes at the finale.

At the end of our second sunny day in Budapest, we took the evening train back to Vienna. Susan still can decipher a train schedule. After all, It's only been 39 years since our pre-Internet college student InterRail train pass European Grand Tour!

Budapest encore

Budapest

Will did an amazing job driving us from Vienna to Budapest. Especially since we arrived at rush hour. 

At the memento park we found an old Trabant. Reminded us of living in Germany when the wall came down. 

View of Budapest from our hotel room. 

No visit to a city is complete without a visit to a great market. 

Lunch. Lango and goulash in a bread bowl. 

Our lango being made by these sweethearts. 

Cool buildings. 

Cocoa and cake break at Paris department store. (Familiar,Lagas?)

Statue honoring a composer. 

Building mural. Reminds me of an ocular migraine. 

Inside the great synagogue. 

Memorial tree in synagogue garden. 

We're having a great time. No time for lengthy posts. 

Danube Panorama

Susan at right. Chain Bridge at left. 

Budapest

Stopped at Memento Park on the way into town -- home of pulled-down communist statues. 

Vienna near Eastertime

We're enjoying our first visit to Vienna, sightseeing, eating food not-in-junction, shopping, visiting museums. Gustav Klimt and Hironymous Bosch artworks were highlights of our museum visits today. Turkish borek was a noshing treat at the NaschMarkt. And snake fruit. And candied strawberries and candied orange peels. We justified the treats by taking over 20,000 walking steps and 11 flights of stairs. 

Cseky krumlov

YWe were greeted by this chicken outside our room in eugendorf. Barbara and Guido met us for breakfast and good conversation. Then we took off for Csesky krumlovin the Czech Republic. . 

Relaxing in town square. Previously the square has been occupied by plague victims witches burning and Russian tanks. It was very peaceful today. 

We popped into st vitris cathedral. This is the temporary organ while the main one was being repaired. 

Reminder to be silent. 

View over the city with handsome guy. 

View of the tower. 

Castle view from old town. Notice how castle was built around the mountain rocks. 

Here's a close up view. 

There were several buildings in the village with rock used in the walls. 

This is a window of a middle school. Notice Shakespeare second from left
We had spinach soup for lunch and split one of these. 

Not sure how to pronounce the name but they were good. 

Two lovers on outcropping outside of town. This was a fun village to visit. 

From there we drove on to Vienna. We got to our hotel without any U-turns. Almost a miracle!