England: The Six Wives of Henry VIII (hilarious 2 man show with lots of music and humor, Exotic Marigold Hotel (cinema)
Barber of Seville with English subtitles on screen in front of you
Vienna Boys Choir
Strauss concert and arias in palace with regular black suits
Madame Butterfly (no translation)
Operetta Rebecca with English subtitle
London: National Theatre The Collaborators
The Lion King
An amazing holiday....more than I ever dreamed possible -cities - not usually my favorite but with music, theatre and food to focus on and the wonderful streets and buildings between it was perfect.
I have been home 2 weeks now and had better write a comment or two before I forget about it. When I think of this holiday I pinch myself because it was so much more than I expected.
I do know what to expect in England and we love it every time. So nice to connect with all of the family. We catch up in big groups and small groups...brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and lots children. We enjoy our time with each opportunity. Lots of children becoming teenagers and growing up. Changes each time we go. We appreciate our time with each person. We do appreciate the availability of everyone and their sharing a snippet of their life with us. I marvel at the large collection of family at the pub dinner - I think about 25!
And then of course, we always manage a play and this time we trolled around and weren't sure what to see and then it was a blast...humor, music, a touch of history in a small two man well written play called the Six Wives of Henry VIII. The quality is just amazing! We enjoyed walking in the rain and wind and catching the bus to parts of Bristol one day...remembering old times...like when our kids came with us.
Then on to Prague and an interesting time at the airport in Bristol seeing all the party revellers going away for the weekend. The flight even ran out of beer!
Prague is a wonderful city for walking though easy to get twisted in the old centre with the streets that are meandering. We walked lots and even went on a tour of the Jewish ghetto area including 5 or 6 synagogues. The long Charles bridge always had buskers on it and sometimes people stopped just to sing and celebrate! We wandered and saw lots. We had a few fun and interesting meals like the pork knuckle on a tripod and spit served on a board. This was in a great (and noisy) beer hall (really a long room that was kind of cozy and noisy. Prague is a city of lager beers and we enjoyed.
We scored on a hotel in the suburbs - these do work well in Europe as public transport is so easy and accessible. So 20 minutes by metro to a classy hotel in the suburbs but the best part with the incredible breakfast buffets of meats, cheeses, breads and fruits and vegetables and then the workout pool with a current so that you could swim lengths staying still. Of course I enjoyed the steam room and the sauna. We managed to have time in the late afternoons for this - since we are finding that we need some down time each day...so in order to manage the evening out we took a break in the afternoon. The day we didn't we were pretty tired but still savouring our experience that day.
The only hitch in the holiday was that our plan to go to Krakow was not working out...good thing that we didn't have reservations there as Rick Steeves good idea did not fit together. So we decided on an extra night in Prague to figure out plan B. It was either Bratslava for 4 days or Vienna...and Clive wanted to do Vienna on another trip. Since Bratslava for 4 days was not too appealing ..and we had a lonely planet for central Europe with us - we decided to go to Vienna this trip! Best decision ever.
But as we were leaving Prague with our Starbucks coffee in hand and just across the street from the bus to Vienna that was leaving in 15 minutes we were stopped by two apparent police officers and told that we had not crossed the street at the corner. They were just finishing talking to two younger people for the apparent same infraction. They asked to see our passports and looked pretty official right down to the brush cuts so clean cut they were. We said that our bus was leaving; and they said that they could charge us from 2000-20,000 kroner....and emphasized that 2000 wasn't much ($20 or something, I believe ....strange thing to say). Anyways we had no currency left as we were leaving the country so I followed their advice and went into the bus depot looking for currency exchange (I was a bit frazzled) and ran back saying that no money was available and our bus was leaving. So the guys told us that they would let us off. We were relieved - as we did not want to miss our bus. After we got on our bus, Clive started wondering if indeed they were cops....I looked up the uniform on the internet later and saw that they did not have hats. Then Clive reads in a yahoo news item that some fake officers blew up a bridge - they fake identification passed the scrutiny of people asking. Then we arrive in Budapest and pick up a leaflet telling us to be wary of fake officers. All officers have id, they do not collect money but can only issue tickets, etc. So each time we thought of it we realized that these were indeed fake cops doing a good job of collecting money off unsuspecting tourists....now that could not happen on an escorted tour ...what a great story and a few moments of pressure to get out of the apparent jam.
Vienna turned out to be the highlight - we would say. We both enjoy popular classical music so we had 4 evenings at concerts and the opera. They are worth going to just for the buildings and the prices are so reasonable and tickets available at the last minute. Every seat seems to be a good seat. We had a standing ticket for the Opera and it was wonderful - a rail to lean on, a good view, a designated space and a little screen in front of you with and English translation - and on top of that buying tickets 20 minutes before the performance.
And Vienna was only 3 hours by bus from Prague.
We loved the coffee houses with the delicious coffee and cakes and the wonderful ambiance. We had sausages and beer on the street and a couple of memorable meals here...esp. lunch at a great design place with a massively high ceiling.
We spent a day on the Danube and wandered in a couple of the towns at either end of the boat ride. Don't think that I want a boat cruise down the Danube - maybe a bike ride on the path beside the river. Saw a few castles in the distance but not as interesting as I was expecting...and this is supposed to be one of the best sections.
Only 3 hours by bus from Vienna to Budapest! Got sorted out there pretty quickly and mastered yet another system of public transport to get to our hotel. A little tricky reading the maps at first as the letters are so different and there was no English in the station. However, as usual, we managed to get a metro and bus pass for the number of days that we would be there and got ourselves settled so that we could get out to the oldest spa in Budapest in the late afternoon since the weekend is the only day that both sexes are allowed in.
It was a very pleasant experience - low circular ceiling with a bigger pool in the middle and pools at each corner. Lots of atmosphere. Each pool is a different temperature and the biggest is just above body temperature so you could sit for a long time. The saunas varied in temperature from moderate to very very hot (I had to put on thongs to walk on the floor it was so hot). I managed a few minutes here - and that was a real trial. Then out to the cold shower where you can pull a string and cold water dumps on you. Then I opted for a 20 minute scrub on a massage like table. People on various tables and a choice of soap or relaxation massage. I opted for soap - well, the guy is totally impersonal soaps up each appendage and scrubs and rubs like heck for the allotted time and then you like a hunk of meat roll over for the same to happen on the other side. Sounds awful but I actually really liked it and it is pretty relaxing after.
Then we scored another memorable meal at what is the equivalent of a michelin guide restaurant. Quite by accident the place that we were looking for was closed and we wanted something close. Some guy that we asked suggested this and it was fun! Atmosphere, service and a very interesting menu. The onion soup started with onions in the bottom of a bowl and they poured on the broth which had balsamic vinegar on it. We were encouraged to try the rice pudding dessert - a national dish apparently. Well, it came with thin slices of dried kiwi and sour cherries and very creamy! Much better than Clive had at school - he enjoyed it despite his idea of rice pudding.
The days flew by as we managed a folklore evening, an opera and an operetta - each top notch and brilliant and in such fine surroundings and such good seating for such cheap prices.
We enjoyed walking the city center for 2 days and a day at the palace. Always a latte in the morning and a wonderful lunch sampling sort of French inspired meals with a local twist. Of course the sour cherry strudel was on our list to try. We ate desserts on this trip - and we usually skip them ...but here they are wonderful. We tried to get a rest in the afternoons so that we had the energy to be entertained in the evening.
One evening was an interesting challenge - one of those special travel moments that you don't necessarily sign up for. We enjoyed the folklore show and then thought that we wanted to go to a pub type restaurant that was on our list of pubs to experience. We found it alright - and it was full. So we ordered a beer and waited for a table for another wonderful experience eating stew in this noisy atmospheric place full of young people. We left and, of course, knew the buses back to our hotel. But alas, it seems that the last buses were gone and only night buses were available - from where and to where? So Clive thought that we must take a taxi. I thought great, but all of my reading said don't get a taxi on the street corner as they are notorious for ripping off customers. So Clive agreed and we went into a five star hotel and the concierge ordered a reputable taxi for us. So that worked out fine - just had to think a bit after all of our ambling and frivolity. In fact, the taxi driver told us what the fare to the airport would be and it was just over half of what our hotel would charge. But of course our hotel would not use this company. Interesting how the posh hotel could get us a taxi and our hotel had restrictions. So we arranged our taxi to the airport by calling ourselves and managing to get the person (who speaks English according to the ad) to understand us.
Our final stop was London. We went to the Collaborators at the National - brilliant serious drama and the next night to Lion King (no seats for War Horse) by default. I loved the Boris bike - riding in London short distances and parking the bikes. I got a better idea (certainly more recent) perspective of London. The bikes let you join up little pieces and save your legs. The buses work for journeys that are a little longer. Again food and drink in London is so goooood. Not like the days of 30 years ago. Out to lunch and then theatre in the evening and always hoping that the day is long enough for a rest at some point though we did not manage this in London. Even got a late night pint and did not worry about the late bus being there!
I do love travelling independently. We learned the bus and metro systems, we got to more shows than I can imagine possible, we navigated about and saw what we wanted between meals and drinks, we encountered the locals serving us and a few tourists as well. Like in Prague chatting with the guy from the US who was in Prague to sing in Don Giovanni for the summer or the South Africans living in London or the rugby team member who got treated like crap because he did not go on the overseas tour the year before. We created our experience. We found that in Europe that you don't have to stay right in the centre because public transport is so good. The internet is invaluable for booking hotels and sometimes even checking out the plays and concerts.
We were not planning this trip so quickly after our last trip but with Jenn and Jordie expecting a baby in late June and not having the vision for the fall we thought that we would jump on the opportunity now. As it turned out we did have the interest and enthusiasm to enjoy every moment. We are now home to enjoy the summer and a new baby to welcome.
