Sunday, June 19, 2016

Visiting the Habsburgs


Getting into the Habsburg spirit with a piece of Sacher torte in Vienna
Elliott and I had often talked about taking a trip to Vienna and Budapest.  Unfortunately, his overseas travel days ended before we could travel to these cities. About a month or so after his passing, I started thinking it was time for me to take the trip.  I considered signing up for a tour, but when I thought back to my pre-marriage travel days, when I routinely made solo trips all over the world, I decided that this would be a good opportunity to challenge myself.  I wanted to find out how I would deal with traveling for an extended period of time without a companion, guide or group. 

I’d forgotten how much time and effort, not to mention stress, are involved in the actual planning for an independent trip.  For several weeks prior to my trip, I was consumed with researching air transportation, rail connections, hotels, in-city public transport, maps, phone and internet service, currency exchange, foreign transaction fees, opening hours for museums and other sites of interest, restaurant reviews, and helpful phrases in Hungarian and German.  Having most of this information available online is helpful but it also means that there’s no end to the research one can do.  It also forced me to stretch my tech abilities as I learned about Dropbox and Google docs and screenshots. 

My preparation also included brushing up on the history of the Habsburg dynasty, rulers of a large empire over the course of several centuries.  One of the books I especially enjoyed was a work of historical fiction, The Accidental Empress by Allison Pataki.  The novel was based on the life of Elisabeth of Bavaria (known as Sisi) who married the Habsburg Crown Prince Franz Joseph and became Empress of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the mid-1800s.  I also learned a lot from Frederic Morton’s A Nervous Splendor, which focused on Vienna from 1888-1889.  During this decade, great changes swept across Europe.  And two days before my departure, I attended a full-day Smithsonian lecture program on the Habsburgs.  As a result, I gained a wealth of background information that helped me put the sights into a historical context. 

Also as a result of all this preparatory work, I was already exhausted by the time I got onto the Austrian Airlines plane at Dulles Airport on Monday, June 6.  After making a connection in Vienna, I arrived in Budapest where I proudly used my newly acquired (and very limited) Hungarian language skills to purchase tickets for the subway and bus.  My hotel, the Gerloczy, was perfectly situated in the Inner City and adjacent to the Jewish Quarter.  In addition, the attic room I’d reserved offered the quaint charm I was hoping for.  It did not, however, offer the most modern plumbing.  (More about that minor inconvenience later)  Also, the Hungarians are obviously very conscious of conserving energy.  In order to get electricity in my hotel room, I had to insert my key card into a little box on the wall.  An unintended benefit was that I never misplaced my key card in my room.  

My attic refuge at the Gerloczy in Budapest

Zsuzsa in her hometown
Shortly after I checked into the hotel, I met up with my friend Zsuzsa, who taught ESOL at AHS a few years ago as a Fulbright Exchange teacher.  Since we were both starving, she took me to Kek Rosza (Blue Rose), a somewhat basic, i.e. décor-less, restaurant with an authentic Hungarian menu.  I selected cold sour cherry soup (Zsuzsa insisted that all Hungarian meals begin with soup), chicken paprika (rich and creamy sauce) with dumplings, and a sampling of salads – tomato, cucumber, and picked cabbage.  All of the food was delicious and the portions so generous that I wasn’t able to consider ordering dessert, much to Zsuzsa’s disappointment.

The rest of the afternoon was devoted to getting acquainted with Budapest, which dates back to Roman times.  The city is filled with buildings constructed in a variety of architectural styles, including Gothic, Renaissance, Ottoman (thanks to the Turks), Baroque and Art Nouveau.  Many of the buildings in the center of the city were constructed in 1896, the year Hungarians celebrated the 1000th anniversary of the arrival of the Magyars. 

The city center, with many of the major tourist sites, is quite compact and very walkable.  Of course, once Zsuzsa left me on my own, I managed to get lost temporarily.  But even when I took a wrong turn, there was always something interesting to look at – or a gelato stand in close proximity.  That afternoon, I had my first of many ice cream cones.  I wasn’t surprised that the ice cream was so good.  Dairy seems to be present in some form in nearly all Hungarian food.  

My first Hungarian meal - at Kek Rosza (Blue Rose)
One of my first “real” stops was the opulently styled opera house, dating back to the time of Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Josef.   An elaborately costumed Sisi impersonator welcomed visitors into the lobby.  The interior of the building was quite splendid, with lots of gold and deep red, and a guided tour provided my first taste of the Baroque style that dominated the world of the Habsburgs in the 18th and 19th centuries. 


All 3 photos taken in the Hungarian Opera House
Not far from the Opera House was the equally impressive Basilica of St. Stephen.  The church honors Hungarian King Arpad, who converted to Christianity in the year 1001, changed his name to Stephen, and became the patron saint of his land. 

Saint Stephen's Basilica in Budapest
Soon it was time for my second Hungarian meal of the day.  At the Drum Café, located around the corner from the Grand Synagogue, I ordered the “kosher” 3-course meal, which featured Hungarian Jewish specialties.  The first course was green pea soup (cream-based, of course, and topped with lots of shredded cheese), which was served with matzah.  The main course was quite unusual – a crepe stuffed with an egg-mushroom-dumpling mixture.  The stuffed pancake was topped with sour cream and spices.  Finally, the dessert, called flodni, consisted of pastry layered with apples and poppy seeds.  It was exciting to be trying so many new menu items, and the cost was very reasonable.  Along with a bottle of mineral water, this satisfying meal cost under $10.  

The main course of my dinner at the Drum Cafe.
When I finished dinner, I should have walked back to my hotel to catch up on sleep.  Instead, I realized that the nearby Grand Synagogue on Dohanyi Street was still open.  Sleep would have to wait.  I spent the next hour exploring the synagogue and the adjacent Jewish Museum.  The complex also includes a Memorial Garden dedicated to the Hungarian Jews who lost their lives when the Nazis occupied the country in 1944.  Prior to the Holocaust, the Jewish community in Hungary was one of the largest in Europe.  The sense of loss swept over me as I looked at the museum’s photographs, Torah scrolls, and religious items.  Hungary had a vibrant Jewish community for several centuries.  In fact, the Dohanyi Street Synagogue is still the largest synagogue in Europe.  While it remains standing and attracts large numbers of tourists, the Jewish community of Budapest is gone forever.
Inside the Grand Synagogue on Dohanyi Street
The next morning, the sun woke me early.  I shrugged off the jet lag and had a nourishing breakfast at the hotel (whole grain ciabatta studded with walnuts, the most delicious butter, eggs scrambled with cheese and mushrooms, and coffee served with a piece of Valrhona chocolate!) to ready myself for an ambitious day of sightseeing.   

Notice how the bread is served at the hotel.
My hotel was on the Pest side of the river, a few short blocks from the Danube, so I walked along the river, taking in the views of Buda on the opposite bank.  

Street scene near my hotel

A walk along the Danube on the Pest side

When I reached the Chain Bridge, I walked across to the Buda side for a visit to Castle Hill.  A funicular brought me to the top of the hill, the site of original Roman fortifications.  This is also where the royal palace used by Franz Josef and Sisi was built in the 1800s.   
 
Fishermen's Bastion on Castle Hill

The view from Fishermen's Bastion on Castle Hill

Street scene on Castle Hill with St. Matthias church

Fountain outside the castle
For an hour or so, I wandered through the winding streets lined with small art galleries, souvenir shops, porcelain stores (Herend china is made in Hungary), cafés, and restaurants.  At the Fisherman’s Bastion, I was able to look out at a panoramic vista across the river.  Today, the former castle houses an excellent collection of Hungarian art from the Middle Ages through modern times.  It was especially interesting to see the art being produced in Budapest during the 19th century, the time period covered in my most recent art history class at George Mason.  Like artists in other parts of Europe, Hungarian artists in the late 19th century were going through a similar struggle to cast off the strictures of traditional academic art. 

By the time I finished my tour of the museum, I was feeling in need of some rest.  So I fortified myself with an ice cream cone (it works wonders, in case you’re interested), walked back across the Chain Bridge.  I took a break from walking with an hour-long boat ride on the Danube.   

View of Parliament from the boat
For my second dinner in Budapest, I was craving a change from Hungarian food.  Fortunately, Budapest is filled with Turkish and Middle Eastern restaurants and kebab stands, so I had no trouble finding a spot for dinner.  I dined contentedly on moussaka and Greek salad, all for less than five dollars.  And even though I was stuffed, I managed to find room for coffee and a piece of pistachio-strawberry cake at a nearby coffee house before I finally gave in to my need for sleep. 

I rose early on Thursday to be ready for a full-day group sightseeing tour to three historic towns outside of the city.  The first stop for our multi-national group was Esztergom, about 30 miles northwest of Budapest, near the border with Slovakia.  This was the early center of Christianity in Hungary, and its basilica is the third largest church in Europe.   

Esztergom basilica
Our next stop was Visegrad, site of a medieval royal residence.  At a beautifully situated hilltop restaurant outside the town, we enjoyed views of the Danube and a typical Hungarian lunch.  This time, the soup was a meat broth with pasta.  The main course was a mammoth serving of schnitzel (chicken or turkey) accompanied by boiled potatoes.  Dessert, as expected, was a rich concoction of pastry puffs, cream and chocolate sauce.  Needless to say, this is not an easy country for dieters, vegetarians, or vegans.  
Selfie time near Visegrad

 
Szentendre

Szentendre
The last stop on our tour was the town of Szentendre, which turns out to be Hungarian for Saint Andrew.  The quaint town, on the banks of the Danube, was originally settled by Serbs in the 1700s. Various populations arrived in the years that followed.  Four early churches remain standing, two Orthodox and two Catholic.  Today Szentendre is known as the home of approximately 160 artists and craftspeople.  I didn’t buy any of their wares, but I stopped for a much-needed cappuccino before boarding the boat for the hour-long trip back to Budapest.  Dark clouds were gathering, but that didn’t prevent many kayakers from enjoying their time on the river.  
On Friday morning, I faced one of the major challenges of my trip, i.e. washing my hair in the beautiful old clawfoot bathtub.  Once I was in the slippery porcelain lined tub, the slightest shift in weight sent me sliding and crashing against the sides of the tub.  And the hand-held sprayer meant that I shivered throughout the washing procedure.  However, the experience brought back happy memories of my early days in Fayence, before Elliott rigged up a contraption to provide the semblance of a shower in our bathroom. 

The morning of my last full day in Budapest was devoted to a visit to the Hungarian Parliament.  I had already seen the Parliament building from a distance – from the Danube boat ride, when crossing the Chain Bridge, and from the top of Castle Hill.  It’s a very impressive sight, and the Hungarians are justifiably proud of their Parliament Building.  Built a little over a hundred years ago in Neo-Gothic style, it calls to mind the British Parliament in London.  It’s actually slightly longer than the British Parliament building.  Zsuzsa assured me that I shouldn’t miss taking a tour of the interior and I’m grateful for her insistence.  From the French-speaking guide (English language tours were sold out!), I learned much about the history of Hungary while admiring the Baroque décor.  

Hungarian Parliament building
The highlight of the afternoon was a visit with Zsuzsa to a small museum devoted to the work of Budapest-based artist Miksa Roth (or as the Hungarians would say, Roth Miksa).  From the late 1800s through the early 1900s, Roth produced stunningly beautiful stained glass windows, mosaics and furniture.  The museum is located in the artist’s former home, and was one of those little hidden gems that hadn’t been mentioned on any of the travel websites.  When the guide casually mentioned that Roth died in 1944, I couldn’t help thinking of the thousands of Jews deported from Hungary that year when the Nazis occupied the country. 

Mosaic by Hungarian artist Roth Miksa

  
I decided that my last dinner in Budapest should be a real Hungarian meal so I headed back to Kek Rozsa.  I was pleased to discover that I could order a half portion of chicken paprika, which left me enough room to try potato langos (similar to potato pancakes) and a special Hungarian dessert – a crepe-like pancake with rum, sour cherries, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce.  Really, it was too much to eat, but sometimes when you travel, you have to sacrifice comfort for authenticity. 

The next morning, I bid farewell to Budapest and boarded the high-speed train for the trip (about 2 ½ hours) to Vienna.  I had a long list of places I wanted to visit in the Austrian capital and I didn’t waste any time getting started.  As soon as I arrived at Vienna’s main train station, I bought a pass for unlimited use of public transportation.  Without even stopping to check in at my hotel, I made my way by U-bahn (their highly efficient metro system) to the Ringstrasse and hopped on the Ring Tram.  The 30-minute ride covers the entire ring with recorded commentary pointing out sights along the way.  The building of the Ringstrasse was a major accomplishment of Emperor Franz Josef in the late 1800s.  It was his way of showing the world that Vienna was just as fashionable as any other European city.  The project ran into numerous difficulties and took many years to complete.  Although the buildings are a mixture of different architectural styles, the overall effect is very impressive.

My Vienna hotel, the Hotel Kugel, was located in Neubau, a trendy and non-touristy area just outside the Ring.  On this Saturday afternoon, the streets were thronged with local people out shopping, dining, and simply enjoying the beautiful weather.  As for the hotel itself, the Kugel had plenty of charm along with modern plumbing!  But before I took a shower, I had to do some exploring. 

Vienna is a much bigger city than Budapest.  After studying my maps, I walked in what I thought was the direction of the Ring only to find myself completely disoriented.  By chance, I had stumbled into the Museumsquartier, with its array of contemporary art galleries, museums, cafés, and large public spaces for hanging out.  Not surprisingly, it is a favorite destination of the younger generation.  After checking out the scene, I navigated my way back towards the hotel, stopping for a healthy dinner of salad and grilled chicken at a Turkish restaurant with outdoor tables.  And then the gelato stand beckoned with the daily dilemma of which flavor to choose. Like Budapest, Vienna has some of the best ice cream I’ve ever eaten.  
Relaxing in the Museumsquartier

Before I went to bed, I spent a good hour or so planning my activities for the coming days.  Vienna has such a wealth of treasures that I knew it would be impossible to fit everything in.  I intended to get an early start to my sightseeing the following morning.  However, I hadn’t anticipated the extremely lavish breakfast buffet at the Kugel.  Here is a list of some of the items on the buffet tables:  scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, three different types of cheese, three different kinds of ham, multi-colored grape tomatoes, sliced cucumbers and peppers, deer sausage (a local specialty), individual dishes of assorted berries next to a giant-sized bowl of whipped cream, bananas, apples and pears, containers of yogurt, two different kinds of muesli, orange juice, sweet rolls, Kugelhof, poppy seed cake, a variety of whole grain breads and rolls, croissants, butter, six or seven kinds of fruit preserves, Nutella, honey, a dozen types of tea, and a machine that produced coffee drinks and hot chocolate.  My new favorite coffee drink is the Viennese mélange, a mixture of equal parts coffee and foamy steamed milk.  

I resolved to sample a bit of everything over the course of my 4-breakfast stay, and I made a stupendous effort that first morning.  Is it my imagination, or does the food taste better in Europe?  After the hour-long food orgy, I knew I’d have to spend the remainder of the day working off the calories.  So I headed out into the rain, confident that I knew how to walk to the Hofburg Palace.  However, I soon realized that I was walking in circles.  Forty-five minutes later, soggy map in hand, I finally reached my destination. 

Hofburg Palace
The sprawling Hofburg Palace was the residence of the Habsburg rulers for over 600 years, and its splendor was on full display.  As recently as the 19th century, life at Hofburg was extremely formal, with the every detail of every activity controlled by a strict protocol.  Today, visitors can view the lavishly decorated imperial apartments used by Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Sisi.  Unfortunately, photography wasn’t allowed in this part of the palace.  It was also possible to see the huge collection of the imperial silver, china, gold-plated centerpieces, and other ornate tableware used for formal occasions and everyday.  It’s obvious that the word “restraint” was not in the Habsburgs’ vocabulary when it came to matters of decorating.  One interesting fact I learned – the Habsburgs had their own top-secret napkin folding technique to impress visitors to their table. 
The secret Habsburg napkin fold

Some of the tableware used by the Habsburgs

After my visit to the Hofburg, I headed over to the State Opera House.  This building dates back to the 1860s and dazzles the eye with crystal chandeliers, wooden carvings, Baroque-inspired frescoes, and gilt work.  It was easy to imagine making a grand entrance from my horse drawn carriage and sweeping up the staircase in a long ball gown.  On the guided tour, I also got a look at the immense and very busy back-stage area.  The Opera performs a different production every night and sometimes there’s a different afternoon performance as well.  

The interior of the Vienna State Opera House

After a quick lunch, it was on the Albertina Museum.  Its permanent collection of paintings contains works by many familiar artists, including Impressionists, Pointillists, Matisse, Expressionists (Kandinsky, Nolde), and Picasso, among others.  And a fascinating temporary exhibit on Russian avant-garde painting (Chagall through Malevich) showcased different styles and developments in the early 20th century.  By the time I finished up in the galleries, I’d been on the go since early that morning.  No time to rest, however.  A quick coffee and an apple strudel at the museum’s café revived me.  

Vienna’s public transportation system is superb – extensive, reliable, punctual, and clean.  And for all of my Washington area friends, I’d like to note that each U-bahn (subway) station had escalators that worked!  After the Albertina, I hopped onto the U-bahn for a short ride to the opposite end of the Ringstrasse for a late afternoon visit to the MAK Museum, Vienna’s museum of applied arts.  I wish I’d spent more time there because the museum’s permanent collection contains examples of Austrian design in glass, ceramics, wood, textiles and metal.  I went primarily to see a special exhibition on architect and designer Josef Frank, who was active in Vienna until the forces of anti-Semitism led him to flee the city in the early 1930s.  I especially loved his colorful and very graphic textile designs, one of which you can see in the photo.


My non-stop day of sightseeing continued with another search for the Mozart Haus, which I’d failed to locate the previous day.  I made what must have been my twentieth pass through Stephansplatz, and this time, Eureka!  I found the right hidden side street and found the apartment that Mozart shared with his family.  A very thorough audio tour helped me learn more about the composer’s life in Vienna.  By the time I staggered out of the Mozart Haus, it was time to head back to the Opera House so I could catch a few minutes of the live opera broadcast of that evening’s performance on the big screen outside the building. 

St. Stephen's cathedral in Stephansplatz 

Finally, around 8 pm, this sightseeing marathon came to end.  I stopped for dinner at an Egyptian restaurant, Café Nil, located just a few steps from my hotel.  My tasty vegetarian meal began with the most delicious lentil soup I’d ever tasted.  Afterwards, I had just enough energy to walk a couple of blocks to a gelato stand for a scoop of hazelnut ice cream.  Did I mention that the ice cream in Vienna is fabulous???

I gave myself a bit of a break on Monday.  Instead of traipsing all over Vienna again, I took a full-day organized tour outside the city.  After a short bus drive through the Vienna Woods and some very green rolling countryside, our group boarded a boat in Spitz bound for Melk in the Wachau valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  As we made our way up the Danube, we saw vineyards on steeply terraced hillsides.  So, of course, when it was lunchtime onboard, I had to sample the local Riesling.  My verdict?  Once is enough.  Besides, the calories could be better spent on ice cream or apple strudel.  

Sailing through the Wachau Valley
In Melk, I took a leisurely walk through the gardens and found the pink pavilion, which contains interesting pastel-colored Baroque frescoes from the mid-1700s.  The subject of the frescoes attests to the Europeans’ fascination with the “exotic” people, animals and plants from other parts of the world.  From the hilltop perch, I had wonderful sweeping views of the Wachau valley landscape.  

Pink Pavilion (Melk)

Frescoes in the Pink Pavilion


View from the hilltop in Melk
Our group also toured the fabled Benedictine Abbey.  The original abbey dates back to the 11th century, but it has gone through much reconstruction over the centuries.  At one time, it was used as a fortress and served as the home of the first Austrian rulers.  Today, the enormous structure houses only 30 monks.  The Abbey is famous for its extensive library (12 rooms with ceiling frescoes), which contains close to 100,000 volumes.  In the 1700s, the original abbey church was transformed into a Baroque showcase, which is truly dazzling.   While I stared open-mouthed at all the paintings, sculpture and gilt work, I couldn’t help wondering what living conditions were like for the common people at the time when the Church was spending so much money on lavish art and decorations. 

Melk Abbey

Interior of the church at Melk Abbey

On the terrace at Melk Abbey
For my last full day in Vienna, I once again fortified myself with a hearty breakfast before setting out for sightseeing.  First on the agenda was Schonbrunn Palace, the imperial summer residence on the outskirts of the city.  This massive Baroque palace, which contains over 1400 rooms and is surrounded by extensive gardens, is Vienna’s number one tourist attraction.  After having seen several other Habsburg palaces, I knew what to expect in the way of art and décor.  The most interesting aspect of the tour was the glimpse I got of the rooms occupied by Emperor Franz Josef, a workaholic who started his day around 4 a.m., and his wife, Empress Elisabeth, a non-conformist who chafed under the constraints of court life.  Sisi was considered one of the most beautiful women of her time and is especially known for her ankle-length hair, which required two to three hours of care everyday.  She also worked hard to maintain her svelte figure in this land of cream and carbs.  Several pieces of her exercise equipment were on display.   

Schonbrunn Palace

The fountain in the garden at Schonbrunn
My favorite memory of Schonbrunn is the strudel show.  Conducted in the bakery under the café, this hourly program demystifies the techniques used to produce the delicious, mouth-watering Viennese pastry.  After watching the demonstration, I know that I will never attempt to make apple strudel at home, but I certainly enjoyed eating it in Vienna on multiple occasions!  In fact, during the show, I consumed a very generous slice of still-warm strudel.  


Magic happening right before my eyes
Back in the inner city, I made another stop at the Naschmarkt, Vienna’s open-air market that operates six days a week.  In the Naschmarkt, you can find stands selling everything from Indian textiles to fresh produce to traditional Austrian children’s clothing to fragrant spices from the Middle East.  Falafel makers tempt the passersby with free samples.  A large pita generously stuffed with falafel balls and several salads will only cost you 3 Euros. The previous evening, I had eaten dinner at one of the Naschmarkt’s numerous restaurants.  There are several upscale dining establishments, but I opted for a much less formal place, the Tewa organic restaurant, where I could order some healthy zucchini pancakes with tzatziki.  
Zucchini pancakes at Tewa in the Naschmarkt

Goodies for a picnic - in the Naschmarkt

This afternoon, after my Schonbrunn strudel indulgence, the Naschmarkt offered me the makings of an impromptu picnic, which I consumed on the steps of the nearby Secession building.  Afterwards, I stepped inside to see Gustav Klimt’s frescoes.  The Secession movement was a group of artists and architects who banded together in the late 1890s to challenge the traditional view of the visual arts.  While the Emperor Franz Josef was building one neo-classical or neo-Gothic or neo-Baroque building after another, they called for a new modern art that reflected the changes taking place in the world around them. Their motto was “To every age its art, to every art its freedom.”  Secession artists, who worked in many different styles, constructed their own permanent exhibition space in 1897.  With its golden dome, it has earned the nickname “The Golden Cabbage.”  Nowadays, the Secession hosts changing exhibitions by contemporary artists.  However, Klimt’s Beethoven frieze, a fresco created in 1901 to accompany a monumental sculpture of the composer, is still on display. 

The Secession building (aka The Golden Cabbage)

A section of Klimt's Beethoven frieze
The Graben


I chose to spend the remainder of the afternoon strolling on the Graben (a pedestrian shopping street) and visiting the Jewish Museum.  The permanent exhibition examines the long history of Vienna’s Jewish community.  It is sobering to realize that anti-Semitism was always present.  Even during the best of times, Jews were merely tolerated rather than fully accepted.  Despite this situation, many Jews were able to attain considerable success in late 19th/early 20th century Vienna.  This includes Gustav Mahler, Theodore Herzl, and Sigmund Freud, to name just a few notables.  Of course, the Jewish community was wiped out in the Holocaust.  Today’s Jewish community consists mainly of immigrants from Eastern European countries and Bukhara.  If you are in Vienna before early October 2016, you might enjoy seeing the museum’s interactive temporary exhibit, Stars of David, which focuses on the Jewish contribution to show business, from vaudeville days through present times.  


I finished up the day with one final schnitzel as a farewell to Austria.  At Schnitzel Wirt, my turkey schnitzel was spilling over the rim of the plate.  It was tasty, but I’m sure I committed cultural heresy by scraping off much of the fried breading on the turkey cutlet.  Even so, I didn’t have room for one last ice cream cone afterwards.  

On the morning of my departure, I walked in a chilly downpour to the nearest U-bahn station.  Then it was a quick 16-minute ride on a high-speed train directly to the airport.  The rest of the trip back to Washington, DC was uneventful.  Ten days seemed like a long time to be away from home, and I was glad to be sleeping in my own bed again, showering in my own wonderful shower, eating a more “normal” diet, and most importantly, slowing down the pace.  

Before I left for this trip, I imagined leisurely afternoons sitting at outdoor cafes sipping coffee, eating Sacher torte, and reading books about the Habsburgs.  How wrong I was!  I was on the go constantly.  As a result, I was much too busy to feel lonely.  Of course, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t think of Elliott often.  I knew how much he would have enjoyed seeing the architecture and the art, especially the modern art.  Many times when I sat down in a restaurant, I’d pick out the menu items that he probably would have ordered.  He would have appreciated the schnitzel much more than I did.  And he certainly would have loved the apple strudel – and the flaky croissants served at the breakfast buffet in Vienna.  I’m sorry we didn’t have a chance to share the discovery of these two lovely cities.  However, when I had time to reflect on the entire experience, I realized how much I enjoyed being accountable to no one.  I could set my own agenda and to do things at my own pace.  In fact, traveling on my own proved to be such a treat that I won’t hesitate to plan solo trips in the future.

1 comment:

  1. that I won’t hesitate to plan solo trips in the future

    ReplyDelete