bookmarking

In Vienna - dinner at Morwald in the Hotel Ambassador which was just fabulous and hot chocolate and apple strudel while watching the cooks in the kitchens making the strudel - the cafe was close to the Cathedral but I forget its name sorry.
In Budapest - the Gellert baths and dinner at a restuarant up by the castle (again forgot name) where the band played a flourish as the dinners were presented.
In Prague - crossing the Charles Bridge late at night or very early in the morning when there were hardly any other people around and popping into a church and listening to an orchestra rehearsing for a concert - both experiences free but priceless.

Hope you have a great trip it's a great combination

Prague : How the view changed from the clocl tower within one hour, last January, by closing hour around 16h00.

http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=P1010461.jpg

http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=P1010418.jpg

http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=P1010397.jpg

http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=P1010433.jpg

http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=P1010451.jpg

noe847:
It was the main train station in Prague. They had a male and female announcer alternating and they were talking in this monotonous Czechoslovakian language with a childish circus-like music inbetween. Amazing, just sitting there and listening to this....

I've never been, but planning to in the future and wanted to thank you and everyone who posted. Invaluable information that only truly addicted travelers can appreciate.
You are all the best!

I'm starting my count-down: 6 days left till I depart! Thank you again to all the fabulous posters. Any last minute revelations?

Thanks for all the comments, guys. I will be home exchanging in Vienna this summer for an extended stay. I am going with a girlfriend and we are doing side trips to Budapest and Bratislava. Prague is for a future trip.

We will be spending three nights in Budapest. Bratislava is just a day trip from Vienna.

Went to Poland, Czech Republic and Romania last September 2006. Spent 6 days in Prague and that visit and the city itself will forever be etched in memory as I found the person that I would wish to spend the rest of my life with.

FauxSteMarie, while in Vienna, take the Danube trip to Melk, Krems, and other points. You can get a combi-ticket at the train station that gives you a train ride to Melk, boat ride to Krems, and train ride home. I think you can mix it up however you want. Even rent bikes and ride partway. It's a beautiful way to spend a day. The monastery at Melk is a must-see, and the combi-ticket includes its entrance fee.
:)>-

Bookmarking for our trip this fall.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I do have a car as part of the home exchange. Perhaps we will use the car to go to Melk rather than the combination suggested.

One advantage of a home exchange is that you generally get the use of a car. Of course you have to buy the expensive gas for it.

That's a good idea. You might want to take one boat cruise on the Danube, through the wine country, too. It's very pretty.
:)>-

A hydrofoil trip to Bratislava for the day was a highlight of one of our trips 25 years ago. Not sure they still exist

I will have to check out the hydrofoil and find out if it still exists.

Tonight I reserved a performance of "The Magic Flute" at the Schoenbrunn Marionette Theater and a concert in Budapest at the Palace of Arts. I am very big on seeing entertainment on vacation.

There are two interesting exhibits on in Budapest right now. At the National Museum there is an exhibition on Genghis Khan and at the Museum of Fine Arts one on the Incas of Peru. We are probably going to do the first one as it is more topical to Budapest. I am wondering if we should reserve ahead of time or wait until we get there. I hate to over structure a trip and end up wasting money. On the other hand, I don't much like standing in line for anything.

If anyone has been to either of these exhibits and can let me know if it is necessary to book ahead, I'd appreciate it.

While the hydrofoils still go on the Danube- They only run Vienna- Budapest

not a good transfer as boats are old and very slow.

A new service exists Vienna - Bratislava by a fast and comfortable boat known as Twin City Liner- it makes several trips daily in about 70 minutes.
Reservations neededas it quickly becomes very popular. City center to city center too.

www.twincityliner.com
www.ddsg-blue-danube.at

Yes, I just checked this out. Using the hydrofoil to get to Bratislava seems like the thing to do. I wouldn't want to do a cruise to Budapest because I would rather spend time on the water as opposed to spending it on the water.

Choices, choices.

At least we now have tickets for entertainment and the trip is shaping up.

FSM - do you happen to know how long the Ghengis Khan exhibit will be in Budapest? I'll be visiting in September and would love to see it if it is still there. Thank you.

Genghis Khan closes September 2nd.

We now have tickets to a Strauss operetta in an outdoor theater. This is on in July-August and looks like it is performed in a spectacular setting.

For the website:

http://www.seefestspiele-moerbisch.at/home/index-e.htm

When you home exchange, you often help your exchangers book this sort of thing. Also, with the home exchange comes a car--which makes getting to sites outside the city possible. I sent my Austrian exchangers the website for Wolf Trap Farm Park, an outdoor theater near where I live outside DC and would book tickets for them if necessary. If people spend money for one another, you work out who owes whom later and leave the money in local currency for them. One time, in the days before ATM's, I actually exchanged cash with exchangers to avoid paying fees. It was all agreed to beforehand, but there was a slight sweat worked up until the money was found in the prearranged location within the exchange home. The sum of money was ALL the cash for the trip! Talk about trust.

Before you do an exchange and as you prepare to go, emails go back and forth to make each person's experience a better one. I would have never known about the outdoor theater without my exchangers telling me about it.

Anyway, with tickets bought for three evenings of entertainment, I will be looking for free outdoor concerts, etc., while I am traveling.

By the way, this is the website I used to buy the concert tickets in Budapest.

http://www.jegymester.hu/index.jsp?lang=ENG

I encourage you to look at it if you are going. It is also where I saw the Genghis Khan exhibit listed. There is also one about the Incas in Peru. I doubt my girlfriend and I will have time to do both and GK just seems more topical due to the location. I do hope there are some labels in in English. Even though I am 1/4 Hungarian (one grandfather spoke fluent Magyar but he came to this country as an infant), I haven't yet learned to say "Hello" in Hungarian. I did get a CD called "In flight Hungarian" that comes with a book of phrases that I need to work with before going (or on the train to Budapest). My German is not great, but it is sure a couple of levels above nothing.

I just looked at my previous incoherent post about taking hydrofoils. It should have said I would rather spend time IN Budapest instead of on the water. My experience with hydrofoils is that you do not see much out the windows except for huge sprays of water.