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| 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.
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| My attic refuge at the Gerloczy in Budapest |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Street scene near my hotel |
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| 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.
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| Fishermen's Bastion on Castle Hill |
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| The view from Fishermen's Bastion on Castle Hill |
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| Street scene on Castle Hill with St. Matthias church |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Selfie time near Visegrad |
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| Szentendre |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| The secret Habsburg napkin fold |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Pink Pavilion (Melk) |
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| Frescoes in the Pink Pavilion |
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| 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.
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| Melk Abbey |
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| Interior of the church at Melk Abbey |
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| 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.
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| Schonbrunn Palace |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Zucchini pancakes at Tewa in the Naschmarkt |
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| 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.
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| The Secession building (aka The Golden Cabbage) |
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| A section of Klimt's Beethoven frieze |
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| 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.
