Report trip to Copenhagen, Arhus, Berlin, Krakow, Budapest, Prague, Vienna, Munich
Jun 11th, 2006, 03:07 PM
#42
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Mary Fran,
Keep it coming! I am enjoying your pictures as well.
I am honored that you thought I might be a good traveling companion. But I think my sister is the only one who would put up with my quirks. (We are separated by about the same age difference as you and Peg; however, she is the younger.)
I think anyone who can make fun of themselves and tell stories in which oneself does not come out the heroine must be a really good sport.
You just seem to keep trucking in spite of all the strikes against your health.
Slainte!
Keep it coming! I am enjoying your pictures as well.
I am honored that you thought I might be a good traveling companion. But I think my sister is the only one who would put up with my quirks. (We are separated by about the same age difference as you and Peg; however, she is the younger.)
I think anyone who can make fun of themselves and tell stories in which oneself does not come out the heroine must be a really good sport.
You just seem to keep trucking in spite of all the strikes against your health.
Slainte!
Jun 11th, 2006, 04:08 PM
#43
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Ira - so that I don't risk having you never speak to me again, I vow to be sure and try smørrebrød and Wienerbrød when I'm there next month. However, I google searched smørrebrød and got a list of types which included: Anchovy Paste, Apple-Onion Lard, Raw Beef and Egg, Calves' Liver Paste,Marrow, Mashed Anchovies and something called "The Vet's Midnight" which I am almost afaird to ask about. The Wienerbrød should be no problem.
Jun 11th, 2006, 04:58 PM
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Crefloors, you are either far too young or grew up in far too prosperous a home. I can remember well, when, as the fifth of six children in a poor family, I was pointed toward bred and lard and a little sugar, for a yummy fill up. And to this day, my arteries are sayig, "Glurk?"
Jun 11th, 2006, 05:18 PM
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<b>Krakow - Oh, My Gosh! What a Special Place!</b>
Arriving at John Paul II International Airport, we took our chances on the taxi rank in front of the airport, for a ride to our hotel. The ride into the city, over a bumpy, narrow road, through slightly down-at-the-heels neighborhoods, did not seem to me to bode well for what we'd find in the city.
Would we ever be surprised!
<b> Hotel Wawel Tourist.</b> This is a good deal for Krakow - at least if you are able to get the rate we did, through PolishTravel.com, for a rate of 77 euros per day. (Watch out: PolishTravel.com charges the room fee in advance, as soon as you book it.)
The hotel is fabulously located, in my opinion, at the end of a short street just off the Royal Road and a scenic and brief stoll to Rynek Glowny (mappy.com says eight-tenths of a mile, but for once I can say that it didn't seem that far to me). In the other direction, it's also an entirely walkable and equally scenic stroll to Wawel Castle.
<b> Hotel's Website:</b> http://www.wawel-tourist.com.pl/
My photo of the hotel front: http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=Mar...;IID=118682099
(The next photo in the album is of the monastery across the street from the hotel, which provided us with the sounds of such nice singing, and the third photo is of a pretty building at the end of the hotel's street, across the Royal Road.)
Our room was comfortable and spacious, on the front of the hotel, with a window that opened onto the lane below. It was a little bit dark and a bit in need of an update in the decor, but there was a table and a couple of chairs beneath the window, which was nice. Ours was a smoking room, which may explain the strong and off-putting scent of air-freshener on enterig the room, which I eventually got used to but which didn't really go away. The bathroom was generous in size, and free WI-FI is supposed to be available in the hotel, though I could never get it to work. Free internet access is also supposedly available through the telephone, but I was unable to access it since I didn't have a thin-wire phone jack. I actually went to a computer store to buy one, but what they gave me was not the thin-wire jack you need to plug into a telephone but was the standard-type wall jack, so it didn't work.
Front desk assistance was adequate but a bit unpoised. They always seemed startled at our approach. The free breakfast is adequate, provided in the adjoining restaurant. The hotel has a spa available for guests' use, but we did't have the wits about us to use it, so I can't comment on it.
As I've mentioned earlier, Peg and I always travel with ear plugs for sleeping, so night noises aren't a big problem for us. If you sleep with the window open, as we did in this hotel, you'll likely hear some merriment on the street below late at night, as there are a couple of restaurant/bars nearby. You will also hear church bells, and, best of all for us, the sounds of choirs singing at churches in the area, especially at the monastery kitty-corner from the hotel. Oh, and the songbirds! The songbirds I'm so jealous about not hearing from my own bedroom widow back home. To me, with the exception of the night noises from partiers outside, the sounds from the neighborhood that wafted into our room, especially the music, were among my favorite things about this hotel.
<b> The British are Coming! The British are Comig! Krakow Tourist-free No More!</b> Krakow has been discovered, especially by the Brits. Rynek Glowny, especially, is full of tourists. However, for me, the buzz of the crowds generally seemed to contribute to a liveliness I found appealing. The town was also filled with groups of school children on field trips. Hey! They definitely should have priority.
<b> General Ambience and Appearance.</b> Krakow is just a beautiful town, full of wonderfully preserved, colorful buildings. I don't recall seeing graffiti here. As noted above, the sounds of church bells and choirs in the many churches fill the air. Krakow is a deeply religious town and its long history of Catholicism is evident on every hand.
The Sunday we were there was First Communion Day for the little Roman Catholic Children, and they strolled the streets with their families in celebration, dressed up all in white, like little princes and princesses:
Peg asked permission to photograph this darling little boy, all in white, from head-to-toe, with his suit topped by a short white cape, the costume of the day for little boy communicants, and she was initially told no by one man in the party, but another quickly reversed the direction and said it was fine:
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=Mar...;IID=118682003
(The photo following is of a lovely little girl, with a white floral wreath in her hair.)
<b> Rynek Glowny.</b> This is one European square that lives up to all the hype. It's great fun and very beautiful. Having lunch at Wierzynek's sidewalk café, we enjoyed the small orchestras serenading diners for small change, the passing parade of carriages containing tourists, pulled by colorfully adorned matching horses, and the town bugler, who, as promised by the great posters on this board who provided suggestions for our visit in Krakow, emerged on the hour in the tower of St. Mary's church (Kosciol Mariacki (St. Mary's Church) to play the Koœció³ Mariacki, commemorating the legend of the rakow bugler whose throat was pierced by a Tartar arrow while giving alarm. Th song stops abruptly to commemorate the arrow piercing the poor bugler's throat, after which the bugler appears from every window at the top of the tower to wave to the crowds below, proving over and over that all's well that ends well.
I found this link to an MP3 file you can play to hear it, including the sudden stop:
http://abel.hive.no/trumpet/articles/hejnal/hejnal.mp3
Other people have given excellent descriptions of Rynek Glowny on this board, including those in the following thread posted prior to our trip where I asked for suggestions and was blessed with brilliant and thoughtful responses:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34773892
<b> Sunday Mass at the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul.</b> The morning after our arrival in Krakow, Peg and I needed to decide where to attend Sunday Mass. As noted earlier in this report, we are demanding in selecting a site for Sunday Mass attendance. We need a beautiful church and great music.
As a monk emerged from the monastery next door to our hotel, I put Peg up to asking him for a recommendation. (She speaks German, which I thought he might understand if English didn't work.) I think he suggested the nearby Church of Sts. Peter and Paul. In any event, we happily headed off to church and found a beautiful church, with a small choir of school children, which sang very sweetly and competently.
One of eight pictures of the interior of the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in my album:
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=Mar...;IID=118679437
<b> St. Mary's Cathedral.</b> We left church feeling quite satisfied as well as virtuous and headed down to Rynek Glowny, where we learned: WE WAS ROBBED! The place for Sunday Mass in Krakow is St. Mary's! As we attempted to enter St. Mary's for a bit of sight seeing, we found that the church was temporarily closed, for Sunday Mass. We waited, ad when Mass was over and the congregation was emerging, out the doorway thundered the sounds of a glorious, powerful organ and magnificent choir! Word to the wise: For Sunday Mass in Krakow, St. Mary's is the place to be, for the music alone, if not for the beauty and elegance of the interior.
One of four photos of Kosciol Mariacki (St. Mary's Church):
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=Mar...;IID=118681587
<b> Wawel Castle.</b> Wow. This is one of Krakow's sights, like Rynek Glowny, that lives up to the hype and then some. We walk up, visit the cathedral, and enjoy a cappuccino at a sidewalk cafe on the castle growns, before walking partway down the hill and coming upon one of the little golf-cart tour busses, which we happily board for the remainder of our tour of some of Krakow's sights we'd missed, like the Jewish quarter, ending back at Rynek Glowny.
The first of Many Photos of Wawel Castle in my album:
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=Mar...;IID=118682832
<b> Dining in Krakow:</b> I was so excited, leaving for Krakow, with the list of Krakow restaurants I'd carefully gleaned from brilliant Fodorites recommendations and could hardly wait to eat in as many as possible. Things fell apart, as they usually do where my travel dining plans are concerned, and I checked off only two from my list:
Wierzynek, but in the sidewalk café. I had wonderful cheese-filled Pierogis.
Chlopskie Jadlo: Peg and both made unfortunate choices. Emboldened by my success with the cheese pierogis at Wierzynek, I ordered a meat-filled version and was sorely disappointed. Peg had cabbage rolls, which also left a good deal to be desired.
With the exception of our experiece at Chlopskie Jadlo, we generally were happy with our food choices in Krakow and wish we'd experienced more.
<b> Next: Budapest </b>
Arriving at John Paul II International Airport, we took our chances on the taxi rank in front of the airport, for a ride to our hotel. The ride into the city, over a bumpy, narrow road, through slightly down-at-the-heels neighborhoods, did not seem to me to bode well for what we'd find in the city.
Would we ever be surprised!
<b> Hotel Wawel Tourist.</b> This is a good deal for Krakow - at least if you are able to get the rate we did, through PolishTravel.com, for a rate of 77 euros per day. (Watch out: PolishTravel.com charges the room fee in advance, as soon as you book it.)
The hotel is fabulously located, in my opinion, at the end of a short street just off the Royal Road and a scenic and brief stoll to Rynek Glowny (mappy.com says eight-tenths of a mile, but for once I can say that it didn't seem that far to me). In the other direction, it's also an entirely walkable and equally scenic stroll to Wawel Castle.
<b> Hotel's Website:</b> http://www.wawel-tourist.com.pl/
My photo of the hotel front: http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=Mar...;IID=118682099
(The next photo in the album is of the monastery across the street from the hotel, which provided us with the sounds of such nice singing, and the third photo is of a pretty building at the end of the hotel's street, across the Royal Road.)
Our room was comfortable and spacious, on the front of the hotel, with a window that opened onto the lane below. It was a little bit dark and a bit in need of an update in the decor, but there was a table and a couple of chairs beneath the window, which was nice. Ours was a smoking room, which may explain the strong and off-putting scent of air-freshener on enterig the room, which I eventually got used to but which didn't really go away. The bathroom was generous in size, and free WI-FI is supposed to be available in the hotel, though I could never get it to work. Free internet access is also supposedly available through the telephone, but I was unable to access it since I didn't have a thin-wire phone jack. I actually went to a computer store to buy one, but what they gave me was not the thin-wire jack you need to plug into a telephone but was the standard-type wall jack, so it didn't work.
Front desk assistance was adequate but a bit unpoised. They always seemed startled at our approach. The free breakfast is adequate, provided in the adjoining restaurant. The hotel has a spa available for guests' use, but we did't have the wits about us to use it, so I can't comment on it.
As I've mentioned earlier, Peg and I always travel with ear plugs for sleeping, so night noises aren't a big problem for us. If you sleep with the window open, as we did in this hotel, you'll likely hear some merriment on the street below late at night, as there are a couple of restaurant/bars nearby. You will also hear church bells, and, best of all for us, the sounds of choirs singing at churches in the area, especially at the monastery kitty-corner from the hotel. Oh, and the songbirds! The songbirds I'm so jealous about not hearing from my own bedroom widow back home. To me, with the exception of the night noises from partiers outside, the sounds from the neighborhood that wafted into our room, especially the music, were among my favorite things about this hotel.
<b> The British are Coming! The British are Comig! Krakow Tourist-free No More!</b> Krakow has been discovered, especially by the Brits. Rynek Glowny, especially, is full of tourists. However, for me, the buzz of the crowds generally seemed to contribute to a liveliness I found appealing. The town was also filled with groups of school children on field trips. Hey! They definitely should have priority.
<b> General Ambience and Appearance.</b> Krakow is just a beautiful town, full of wonderfully preserved, colorful buildings. I don't recall seeing graffiti here. As noted above, the sounds of church bells and choirs in the many churches fill the air. Krakow is a deeply religious town and its long history of Catholicism is evident on every hand.
The Sunday we were there was First Communion Day for the little Roman Catholic Children, and they strolled the streets with their families in celebration, dressed up all in white, like little princes and princesses:
Peg asked permission to photograph this darling little boy, all in white, from head-to-toe, with his suit topped by a short white cape, the costume of the day for little boy communicants, and she was initially told no by one man in the party, but another quickly reversed the direction and said it was fine:
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=Mar...;IID=118682003
(The photo following is of a lovely little girl, with a white floral wreath in her hair.)
<b> Rynek Glowny.</b> This is one European square that lives up to all the hype. It's great fun and very beautiful. Having lunch at Wierzynek's sidewalk café, we enjoyed the small orchestras serenading diners for small change, the passing parade of carriages containing tourists, pulled by colorfully adorned matching horses, and the town bugler, who, as promised by the great posters on this board who provided suggestions for our visit in Krakow, emerged on the hour in the tower of St. Mary's church (Kosciol Mariacki (St. Mary's Church) to play the Koœció³ Mariacki, commemorating the legend of the rakow bugler whose throat was pierced by a Tartar arrow while giving alarm. Th song stops abruptly to commemorate the arrow piercing the poor bugler's throat, after which the bugler appears from every window at the top of the tower to wave to the crowds below, proving over and over that all's well that ends well.
I found this link to an MP3 file you can play to hear it, including the sudden stop:
http://abel.hive.no/trumpet/articles/hejnal/hejnal.mp3
Other people have given excellent descriptions of Rynek Glowny on this board, including those in the following thread posted prior to our trip where I asked for suggestions and was blessed with brilliant and thoughtful responses:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34773892
<b> Sunday Mass at the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul.</b> The morning after our arrival in Krakow, Peg and I needed to decide where to attend Sunday Mass. As noted earlier in this report, we are demanding in selecting a site for Sunday Mass attendance. We need a beautiful church and great music.
As a monk emerged from the monastery next door to our hotel, I put Peg up to asking him for a recommendation. (She speaks German, which I thought he might understand if English didn't work.) I think he suggested the nearby Church of Sts. Peter and Paul. In any event, we happily headed off to church and found a beautiful church, with a small choir of school children, which sang very sweetly and competently.
One of eight pictures of the interior of the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in my album:
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=Mar...;IID=118679437
<b> St. Mary's Cathedral.</b> We left church feeling quite satisfied as well as virtuous and headed down to Rynek Glowny, where we learned: WE WAS ROBBED! The place for Sunday Mass in Krakow is St. Mary's! As we attempted to enter St. Mary's for a bit of sight seeing, we found that the church was temporarily closed, for Sunday Mass. We waited, ad when Mass was over and the congregation was emerging, out the doorway thundered the sounds of a glorious, powerful organ and magnificent choir! Word to the wise: For Sunday Mass in Krakow, St. Mary's is the place to be, for the music alone, if not for the beauty and elegance of the interior.
One of four photos of Kosciol Mariacki (St. Mary's Church):
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=Mar...;IID=118681587
<b> Wawel Castle.</b> Wow. This is one of Krakow's sights, like Rynek Glowny, that lives up to the hype and then some. We walk up, visit the cathedral, and enjoy a cappuccino at a sidewalk cafe on the castle growns, before walking partway down the hill and coming upon one of the little golf-cart tour busses, which we happily board for the remainder of our tour of some of Krakow's sights we'd missed, like the Jewish quarter, ending back at Rynek Glowny.
The first of Many Photos of Wawel Castle in my album:
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=Mar...;IID=118682832
<b> Dining in Krakow:</b> I was so excited, leaving for Krakow, with the list of Krakow restaurants I'd carefully gleaned from brilliant Fodorites recommendations and could hardly wait to eat in as many as possible. Things fell apart, as they usually do where my travel dining plans are concerned, and I checked off only two from my list:
Wierzynek, but in the sidewalk café. I had wonderful cheese-filled Pierogis.
Chlopskie Jadlo: Peg and both made unfortunate choices. Emboldened by my success with the cheese pierogis at Wierzynek, I ordered a meat-filled version and was sorely disappointed. Peg had cabbage rolls, which also left a good deal to be desired.
With the exception of our experiece at Chlopskie Jadlo, we generally were happy with our food choices in Krakow and wish we'd experienced more.
<b> Next: Budapest </b>
Jun 11th, 2006, 05:39 PM
#49
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If you hear some loud banging and cursing while reading this thread, it's just me, banging on my balky laptop keyboard, which is refusing to spit our e's ad n's rliably, and is almost certainly responsible for various other unexplained typos, as well as possibly being at the root of some poor sentence construction and redundancies.
Please forgive.
Please forgive.
Jun 11th, 2006, 06:09 PM
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MaryFran, I'm enjoying your report a lot !! What a great couple, you two 
You know, I have a disability so my walking skills are as good as Peg's Polish , and also ...have flat feet !!! I know what you're talking about
You know, I have a disability so my walking skills are as good as Peg's Polish , and also ...have flat feet !!! I know what you're talking about
Jun 11th, 2006, 06:44 PM
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Kenderia, Thanks for the kind thoughts.
Peg and I are best friends. She has been my mentor and a role model in many ways since the day I was born.
We live accross town from each other and definitely have our own lives, though there is much we share.
Despite my affction for and loyalty to her, I will not hesitate to make fun of her, however, and hold her up to ridicule. And I can tell you that while I am quick to admit my own shortcomigs (so long as I point them out to you before you get the chance), Peg ain't always no picnic neither. (That last part was for Peg's benefit, just in case she reads this and gets to thinking she's some sort of saint for putting up with me.)
Sorry about your feet. We just have to learn to be cleverer than other folks so we can keep traveling, don't we?
Peg and I are best friends. She has been my mentor and a role model in many ways since the day I was born.
We live accross town from each other and definitely have our own lives, though there is much we share.
Despite my affction for and loyalty to her, I will not hesitate to make fun of her, however, and hold her up to ridicule. And I can tell you that while I am quick to admit my own shortcomigs (so long as I point them out to you before you get the chance), Peg ain't always no picnic neither. (That last part was for Peg's benefit, just in case she reads this and gets to thinking she's some sort of saint for putting up with me.)
Sorry about your feet. We just have to learn to be cleverer than other folks so we can keep traveling, don't we?
Jun 11th, 2006, 09:41 PM
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Budapest.
<b>Malev Air:</b> We flew Malev airlines from Budapest to Krakow, on on an easy 50-minute flight on a half-full plane, with paper tickets we had purchased for $85 each by phone to Malev's New York office, at 1 800 223-6884. The price for the two tickets included a $14 Fed-Ex fee for shipping the paper tickets to us.
Quick, people! Start booking Malev Krakev/Budapest, so they don't discontinue that route. Can't see how they can carry on with half-full planes.
<b>Transport to Our Hotel.</b> We elected to take one of the mini-busses prominently promoted at the airport for delivery to our hotel. While the choice worked okay, we had to wait 45 minutes, which made us a bit grumpy.
<b>Hotel Victoria:</b> This is a very nice hotel, situated facing the river, with fabulous views of the nearby chain bridge and of the parliament across the river. Our room was large, comfortable, and attractive, with a nice desk and with a low table and two chairs in front of th large windows looking out on the Parliament and chain bridge.
Front desk staff is extremely professional (if perhaps a tad aloof). The breakfast set up was great, and they will cook an egg and/or bacon specially for you upon request.
I liked the location. It's on the Buda side, with easy access to Castle hill. It's a short walking distance to Batthyany station, where we found a nifty grocery store from which to by fruits and other provisions.
Link to the first of 10 photos of our hotel room and hotel environs:
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=Mar...;IID=118705191
The only negative for the place as a tourist hotel (the lobby is small for a business-class hotel) is that there is big-time noise from a major throughway across the street from the hotel. That might not be a problem so long as you sleep with the double-paned windows closed. We like to sleep with the widows open for fresh air and did hear loud traffic noise when we weren't wearing our ear plugs. The ability to cope with ear plugs lends one a lot of flexibility in hotel lodgings, and we are both fortunate to have no problem with ear plugs except that they often come out at night and end up in the damnedest places. (No! Never <u>There</u>!)
<b>Impressions of Budapest</b> It was overcast and intermittently rainy, with a chill wind, which invariably affects one's first (and sometimes lasting) impression of a city, so take the rest of what I say with a grain of salt with that in mind. That said, I was not enchanted with Budapest.
<b>Grafitti</b> Most disappointing to me was the extensive amount of graffiti in Budapest. It was the worst that I saw in any of the cities we visited on this trip. They need to get old Rudy Juliani over there to kick some butt and take some nams, implementing the sam type of attack on the problem that so reduced New York's graffiti problem a number of years ago. I'm so busy plotting revenge against the little mindless thugs who sabotage their nation's pride and history by attacking its buildings with ugly and stupid spray paint, I cannot focus on anything else. Grrr! Makes me so mad.
Beyond the grafitti, I was disappointed by the gray appearace of the buildigs. This is not the same as colorful Krakow, which we had just left, nor colorful Prague, which we had yet to see. Set me straight, people, if I'm grossly misrepresenting the place.
<b>Bus Tour.</b> With the weather threating, we elected to take a three- or four-hour tour described in a brochure at the hotel, which included the option for a cab pickup at our hotel for 5 euros. Don't remember the tour price, but it was modest.
The tour group met in the square in front of St. Stephen's, which our tour guide led us through before we boarded the bus for the rest of the tour, which icluded, among other sites, Castle Hill and Heroe's Square. The bus tour was a good alternative to slogging around on foot amid threatening and sometimes rainy and chilly weather:
Link to my photos of sites visited on our tour: http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=Mar...;IID=118705488
<b>Belcanto for 9:00 Dinner:</b> Another excellent selection picked up from this board, I had our hotel book reservations for us at this restaurant near the opera house, which reportedly features opera-singing waiters. Actually, I personally did't see any waiters singing,but the performance of opera and other music during dinner was great fun, and with the excellent food we had, worth the $100 price tag for the two of us, IMO.
<b>Next Up: Prague</b>
<b>Malev Air:</b> We flew Malev airlines from Budapest to Krakow, on on an easy 50-minute flight on a half-full plane, with paper tickets we had purchased for $85 each by phone to Malev's New York office, at 1 800 223-6884. The price for the two tickets included a $14 Fed-Ex fee for shipping the paper tickets to us.
Quick, people! Start booking Malev Krakev/Budapest, so they don't discontinue that route. Can't see how they can carry on with half-full planes.
<b>Transport to Our Hotel.</b> We elected to take one of the mini-busses prominently promoted at the airport for delivery to our hotel. While the choice worked okay, we had to wait 45 minutes, which made us a bit grumpy.
<b>Hotel Victoria:</b> This is a very nice hotel, situated facing the river, with fabulous views of the nearby chain bridge and of the parliament across the river. Our room was large, comfortable, and attractive, with a nice desk and with a low table and two chairs in front of th large windows looking out on the Parliament and chain bridge.
Front desk staff is extremely professional (if perhaps a tad aloof). The breakfast set up was great, and they will cook an egg and/or bacon specially for you upon request.
I liked the location. It's on the Buda side, with easy access to Castle hill. It's a short walking distance to Batthyany station, where we found a nifty grocery store from which to by fruits and other provisions.
Link to the first of 10 photos of our hotel room and hotel environs:
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=Mar...;IID=118705191
The only negative for the place as a tourist hotel (the lobby is small for a business-class hotel) is that there is big-time noise from a major throughway across the street from the hotel. That might not be a problem so long as you sleep with the double-paned windows closed. We like to sleep with the widows open for fresh air and did hear loud traffic noise when we weren't wearing our ear plugs. The ability to cope with ear plugs lends one a lot of flexibility in hotel lodgings, and we are both fortunate to have no problem with ear plugs except that they often come out at night and end up in the damnedest places. (No! Never <u>There</u>!)
<b>Impressions of Budapest</b> It was overcast and intermittently rainy, with a chill wind, which invariably affects one's first (and sometimes lasting) impression of a city, so take the rest of what I say with a grain of salt with that in mind. That said, I was not enchanted with Budapest.
<b>Grafitti</b> Most disappointing to me was the extensive amount of graffiti in Budapest. It was the worst that I saw in any of the cities we visited on this trip. They need to get old Rudy Juliani over there to kick some butt and take some nams, implementing the sam type of attack on the problem that so reduced New York's graffiti problem a number of years ago. I'm so busy plotting revenge against the little mindless thugs who sabotage their nation's pride and history by attacking its buildings with ugly and stupid spray paint, I cannot focus on anything else. Grrr! Makes me so mad.
Beyond the grafitti, I was disappointed by the gray appearace of the buildigs. This is not the same as colorful Krakow, which we had just left, nor colorful Prague, which we had yet to see. Set me straight, people, if I'm grossly misrepresenting the place.
<b>Bus Tour.</b> With the weather threating, we elected to take a three- or four-hour tour described in a brochure at the hotel, which included the option for a cab pickup at our hotel for 5 euros. Don't remember the tour price, but it was modest.
The tour group met in the square in front of St. Stephen's, which our tour guide led us through before we boarded the bus for the rest of the tour, which icluded, among other sites, Castle Hill and Heroe's Square. The bus tour was a good alternative to slogging around on foot amid threatening and sometimes rainy and chilly weather:
Link to my photos of sites visited on our tour: http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=Mar...;IID=118705488
<b>Belcanto for 9:00 Dinner:</b> Another excellent selection picked up from this board, I had our hotel book reservations for us at this restaurant near the opera house, which reportedly features opera-singing waiters. Actually, I personally did't see any waiters singing,but the performance of opera and other music during dinner was great fun, and with the excellent food we had, worth the $100 price tag for the two of us, IMO.
<b>Next Up: Prague</b>
Jun 11th, 2006, 09:59 PM
#53
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I forgot to mention a caution about taxis in Budapest. The taxi drivers or are notorious crooks. Our hotel provided us with a card with the name and number of a taxi company they strongly urged us to use exclusively.
Jun 12th, 2006, 08:26 AM
#57
I must contribute my input at this point: Last year we included Budapest & Krakow in our travels. Now, bear in mind that, being 66, my mental image of both was formulated in the '50s, when they were behind the Iron Curtain, and only alluded to in newscast on TV (black & white, of course). So, despite having seen lots of (colorful) Western Europe, as well as the Czech Rep., my mental image of Budapest was...in black & white. Drab.
We were pleasanltly surprised to see it in color. Really!! We were struck by how colorful it was. The architecture was also wonderful; desk clerk said there were 10,000 multi-story buildings erected in the 1890's
in Budapest. They all seemed to have individual designs. Now, when we were there, it was mostly sunny, and that does make a difference, for on the day we took pictures of Castle Hill and Parliament, it was overcast, and the pictures showed it, not looking AT ALL like those in the travel brochures.
And thinking back, I don't recall any graffiti. Perhaps the endoporphins caused when our black & white mental image was erased clouded our graffiti-observing rods and cones.
In summary, it's interesting how two people can view the same thing in different ways.
We were pleasanltly surprised to see it in color. Really!! We were struck by how colorful it was. The architecture was also wonderful; desk clerk said there were 10,000 multi-story buildings erected in the 1890's
in Budapest. They all seemed to have individual designs. Now, when we were there, it was mostly sunny, and that does make a difference, for on the day we took pictures of Castle Hill and Parliament, it was overcast, and the pictures showed it, not looking AT ALL like those in the travel brochures.
And thinking back, I don't recall any graffiti. Perhaps the endoporphins caused when our black & white mental image was erased clouded our graffiti-observing rods and cones.
In summary, it's interesting how two people can view the same thing in different ways.
Jun 12th, 2006, 12:46 PM
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Hi tomboy,
I am curious whenever I have negative reactios to a city, and my suspicion is I've made som bad choices or had the wrong attitude. Maybe that's the case in Budapest. About the graffiti, though, I have no doubts. It was pervasive. Too bad, because it may have prejudiced me against the city.
I am curious whenever I have negative reactios to a city, and my suspicion is I've made som bad choices or had the wrong attitude. Maybe that's the case in Budapest. About the graffiti, though, I have no doubts. It was pervasive. Too bad, because it may have prejudiced me against the city.
Jun 12th, 2006, 12:47 PM
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<b>Prague - Riding the Rails and Checking in at U Karlova Mostu Hotel </b>
<b>Train from Budapest to Prague:</b> Based on another fine tip from this board, I had made arrangements for train travel between Budapest, Prague, Vienna, and Munich through Budget Europe, 1-800-441-2387, with patient and knowledgeable assistance from Brian.. I had first determined that a rail pass would be beneficial compared to point-to-point tickets by inputting our travel dates and locations into www.railpass.com, and I'd selected the dates and preferred departure times and trains from http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en. I wanted to find connections with the shortest travel time and fewest changes in trains.
With Brian's assistance, we settled on an European East 5 Day 2nd Class Adult FlexiPass, with point-to-point tickets for the leg from Salzburg to Munich. "Salzburg?" you ask. The Europe East pass doesn't cover travel within Germany, so when leaving Austria, we'd need to cover the portion passing through Germany.
The cost of the Railpass was $252 for each of us, which included $22 for reservations between Budapest to Prague and Prague to Vienna ($11 for each leg), a fee of $7.50 for Budget Travel, $40 for the point-to-point ticket, and $10 for ticket insurance.
We arrived early at Keleti Pu train station, fortunately, because we encountered considerable difficulty in figuring out where we needed to go. Before boarding the train, we knew we'd need to have our passes validated and stamped. We first dragged our luggage downstairs to the regular ticket windows and waited in line, first in one line, which closed before we got to the front, then in another line, which also closed, and when we finally got to the front of the line, we were told we'd need to go to the international ticket office upstairs. Back up the stairs, schlepping our luggage along, we next spent a frustrating amount of time searching for the interational desk. Peg parked me, eventually, with our bags while she went in search of the holy grail. At last, we found the ticket office, had our passes processed, filled in the first of the 5 boxes on the tickets with the current date, found our train and the car where our reserved seats were located, and boarded.
Inside our compartment, a team effort by Peg and me was required for us to hoist our 22" roller bags onto the shelf above our seats. At last, we're underway to Prague! We took turns visiting the dining car, where we paid 7.20 euros each for a package deal of coffee, a roll, and a small glass of orange juice.
(Thank goodness for Fodors! Who else but other Fodorites would possibly sit still for us to itemize this type of minutiae? On this board, there''s actually a chance someone might be interested and even helped, by it.)
<b>Arrival in Prague and Transport to Hotel.</b> The train arrived at Holesovice train station 25-minutes late, which was somewhat worrisome, because our hotel had arranged for a driver to pick us up. I had e-mailed the hotel prior to our departure, asking for suggestions regarding transport from the train station, and they'd e-mailed back that they would send a driver, for a fee of 400 CZK (about $18. "How will we find him?" "He will have a paper with your name on it!" Perfect!
Sure enough, our driver is waiting for us with my name on it, as if we were a couple of business tycoons, and w load up and head for our hotel.
<b>U Karlova Mostu Hotel.</b> I can't say enough good about this hotel, which we booked through www.worldres.com for the rate of 150 euros a night, above our budget but not so much over other Prague hotels we'd targeted, like the Claris and Julian, both of which were on the other side of the river. I wanted to stay on the castle side.
I read another current thread which referred to the throngs of tourists outside their hotels. This is not a problm at U Karlova Mostu Hotel. The square in front of the hotel is a quiet and lovely refuge from the hubbub of Prague, yet just a block or two from the Charles Bridge.
The first eight photos in my Prague photo album are of the hotel and its immediate environs: The hotel is on the left in the first photo, the yellow building at the end:
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=Mar...;IID=118710387
The location, taken by itself, would amply justify staying in this hotel, but our room was also great, spacious, and charming, with a big table with chairs, sofa, and two armoires. Two windows opened out, and I could sit on the wide shelf below the windows, with the window open, and watch the action in the square below, with it's line of trees and benches in the center.
The lobby of the hotel is very small, and this is the only hotel we booked on this trip that had no elevator. That really wasn't a problem for us. The desk man whisked our bags up the one flight of stairs to our room on our arrival, so the only time we needed to deal with our luggage on our the stairs was on our departure.
There is free internet available in the lobby. The breakfast buffet was fine, with the exception of tepid coffee, and included scrambled eggs. Front desk staff were professional and helpful.
I should point out that the hotel was flooded during the Prague flood of 2002, which had been the city's worst in 100 years. Look at the pictures of the hotel square in my album in the link provided and imagine flood waters up to the top of the first story of the hotel! Perhaps the flooding had caused the warping I oted on the top of the nice table in our room and also caused the doors of one of the armoires to be difficult to keep closed.
The pub below the hotel has a pleasant interior outdoor café where we ate a couple of times.
In short, I thought U Karlova Mostu was fabulous and that it really contributed to our enchantment with the city of Prague, providing very easy access to so many attractions in the castle district.
<b>Next: Peg and Mary storm Prague castle.</b>
<b>Train from Budapest to Prague:</b> Based on another fine tip from this board, I had made arrangements for train travel between Budapest, Prague, Vienna, and Munich through Budget Europe, 1-800-441-2387, with patient and knowledgeable assistance from Brian.. I had first determined that a rail pass would be beneficial compared to point-to-point tickets by inputting our travel dates and locations into www.railpass.com, and I'd selected the dates and preferred departure times and trains from http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en. I wanted to find connections with the shortest travel time and fewest changes in trains.
With Brian's assistance, we settled on an European East 5 Day 2nd Class Adult FlexiPass, with point-to-point tickets for the leg from Salzburg to Munich. "Salzburg?" you ask. The Europe East pass doesn't cover travel within Germany, so when leaving Austria, we'd need to cover the portion passing through Germany.
The cost of the Railpass was $252 for each of us, which included $22 for reservations between Budapest to Prague and Prague to Vienna ($11 for each leg), a fee of $7.50 for Budget Travel, $40 for the point-to-point ticket, and $10 for ticket insurance.
We arrived early at Keleti Pu train station, fortunately, because we encountered considerable difficulty in figuring out where we needed to go. Before boarding the train, we knew we'd need to have our passes validated and stamped. We first dragged our luggage downstairs to the regular ticket windows and waited in line, first in one line, which closed before we got to the front, then in another line, which also closed, and when we finally got to the front of the line, we were told we'd need to go to the international ticket office upstairs. Back up the stairs, schlepping our luggage along, we next spent a frustrating amount of time searching for the interational desk. Peg parked me, eventually, with our bags while she went in search of the holy grail. At last, we found the ticket office, had our passes processed, filled in the first of the 5 boxes on the tickets with the current date, found our train and the car where our reserved seats were located, and boarded.
Inside our compartment, a team effort by Peg and me was required for us to hoist our 22" roller bags onto the shelf above our seats. At last, we're underway to Prague! We took turns visiting the dining car, where we paid 7.20 euros each for a package deal of coffee, a roll, and a small glass of orange juice.
(Thank goodness for Fodors! Who else but other Fodorites would possibly sit still for us to itemize this type of minutiae? On this board, there''s actually a chance someone might be interested and even helped, by it.)
<b>Arrival in Prague and Transport to Hotel.</b> The train arrived at Holesovice train station 25-minutes late, which was somewhat worrisome, because our hotel had arranged for a driver to pick us up. I had e-mailed the hotel prior to our departure, asking for suggestions regarding transport from the train station, and they'd e-mailed back that they would send a driver, for a fee of 400 CZK (about $18. "How will we find him?" "He will have a paper with your name on it!" Perfect!
Sure enough, our driver is waiting for us with my name on it, as if we were a couple of business tycoons, and w load up and head for our hotel.
<b>U Karlova Mostu Hotel.</b> I can't say enough good about this hotel, which we booked through www.worldres.com for the rate of 150 euros a night, above our budget but not so much over other Prague hotels we'd targeted, like the Claris and Julian, both of which were on the other side of the river. I wanted to stay on the castle side.
I read another current thread which referred to the throngs of tourists outside their hotels. This is not a problm at U Karlova Mostu Hotel. The square in front of the hotel is a quiet and lovely refuge from the hubbub of Prague, yet just a block or two from the Charles Bridge.
The first eight photos in my Prague photo album are of the hotel and its immediate environs: The hotel is on the left in the first photo, the yellow building at the end:
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=Mar...;IID=118710387
The location, taken by itself, would amply justify staying in this hotel, but our room was also great, spacious, and charming, with a big table with chairs, sofa, and two armoires. Two windows opened out, and I could sit on the wide shelf below the windows, with the window open, and watch the action in the square below, with it's line of trees and benches in the center.
The lobby of the hotel is very small, and this is the only hotel we booked on this trip that had no elevator. That really wasn't a problem for us. The desk man whisked our bags up the one flight of stairs to our room on our arrival, so the only time we needed to deal with our luggage on our the stairs was on our departure.
There is free internet available in the lobby. The breakfast buffet was fine, with the exception of tepid coffee, and included scrambled eggs. Front desk staff were professional and helpful.
I should point out that the hotel was flooded during the Prague flood of 2002, which had been the city's worst in 100 years. Look at the pictures of the hotel square in my album in the link provided and imagine flood waters up to the top of the first story of the hotel! Perhaps the flooding had caused the warping I oted on the top of the nice table in our room and also caused the doors of one of the armoires to be difficult to keep closed.
The pub below the hotel has a pleasant interior outdoor café where we ate a couple of times.
In short, I thought U Karlova Mostu was fabulous and that it really contributed to our enchantment with the city of Prague, providing very easy access to so many attractions in the castle district.
<b>Next: Peg and Mary storm Prague castle.</b>
Jun 12th, 2006, 12:53 PM
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Wow, what a report! Many thanks, Mary Fran. Do you still have the name and number of the cab company your hotel recommended? We'll be there in September, and I'd like to have that info when we arrive at the airport.
