Ali's Eurotrip!
Aug. 27th, 2016 08:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alisanneSo I meant to post about my trip as I was actually on the trip, but a crappy, unreliable internet connection made that impossible, so you'll have to put up with my recollections. Also, be warned, this post is VERY image heavy.
Day 1 - 2: Canada
We got to Toronto, met up with family, and had dim sum (yum!).
It was warm, but bearable (certainly it was cooler than home, so hooray *g*).
Here's a picture of the CN tower to prove we were there. ;)
Day 3 - 4: UK
We arrived in London in the morning, and because we were trying to stay up and not crash, we had afternoon tea in our hotel's lobby. Mmmm, tea.
That evening I got to meet up with fandom people!
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shiv5468, llaeyro and ely_baby came to my hotel for drinks and fandom gossip. They were all delightful and gorgeous, and it was tons of fun. :)
After going to visit Mummy the next day, we left for Austria on Wednesday.
Day 5 - 16: Austria and Hungary.
Eisenstadt is a picturesque town of 14K about an hour outside of Vienna. We stayed in a fairly basic hotel at the top of a hill that we ended up walking up and down A LOT. Also, I should say, the bathroom in the hotel was a bit of a deathtrap. This will be important later. :/
Also this is prolly the time to mention that there was no AC and it was HOT. Anyone know why Europeans insist that it's not hot there in the summer when it really is? *shakes head*
Anyway, at the bottom of the hill was the local palace (the winter palace of the royal family, the Esterhazys), which would function as our central gathering place over the next 2 weeks.
Here's the view from inside the courtyard:
The music hall, which is where the orchestra practiced, was gorgeous!
After a walking tour of the town so we could orient ourselves:
Leopolda's Temple
Interestingly, the buildings have statues in them:
Esterhazy Palace gardens:
we decided to break away from the end of the tour as we needed gelato, because, *hot*.
And then, because, well *wine* we went to a wine tasting hosted by a local vintner.
Mmmm, wine.
Just a couple sample bottles:
It almost made us forget that it was hot. Almost.
After dinner at the local Italian restaurant, where I ordered a 'pepperoni pizza' and got a pizza with banana peppers *rolls eyes*, we crashed. I later discovered that if I want what I consider to be pepperoni, I should order 'salami'. :P
Also? Sleeping when it's hot is not fun.
Which is why, the next day, we went to a local Lowe's type place and bought some fans. Whew, fans!
The next day we took a tour of the local Jewish museum, which was about as sad as you'd expect. Although the history wasn't as bad as it could have been. Evidently the local Nazi commander warned the Jewish residents that they would be rounded up before it happened, so many (the ones who could afford it) managed to leave the area. Tragically, those left behind were eventually rounded up and executed at Auschwitz, and the Jewish community never was rebuilt.
Then came our official tour of the Palace.
Not a lot of the original furnishings survived, but I did snap pictures of the chapel.
And I even managed a pic of St Constantine's body, a gift to the Esterhazy family. He's supposed to be 2000 years old.
Still looking good. ;)
We went to the local grocery store (I love going to grocery stores in other countries) and we saw these berries.
Since I was determined to be adventurous, I bought some. They tasted kinda odd, not especially sweet, so I looked them up. Guess what? They're tiny tomatoes!
Later I had a pastry made with them and it was good, but TOMATOES?! WTF, Austria? *shakes head*
The next day we toured the Bergekirche (Hill church),
where they had the most unique display of the Stations of the Cross I've ever seen. The whole back of the church is configured like catacombs with the life sized Stations' figures seemingly carved out of the walls. It was amazing!
Here are just a few (I took a TON of pics).
The Stations went all the way up the back of the church to the tower, where we got an amazing view of the town.
That evening we went to Mattersburg for Mass at the Mattersburg Pfarrkirche, and the performers did Haydn's Mass in Time of War.
Which is the first time I noticed this guy with the arrows:
We'll get back to him in a bit. ;)
Mass was lovely, as was the church
Afterwards, we went to Pottelsdorf for a dinner celebration thrown for us by Model Mattersburg.
The next day we went into Vienna to celebrate Mass at St Stephen's Cathedral (and where the singers and orchestra would perform Haydn's Mass again). Before we left, though, I noticed this guy again (lower left)
No one seemed to know who he was. Quite the mystery. *g*
St Stephen's was majestic.
And, incidentally, here's our arrow dude again.
We asked in the Cathedral and were told (incorrectly) that he was Anton Pilgrim.
After Mass, we had lunch (more pizza, this time with salami), then walked to the Vienna Opera house. Gorgeous building.
and of course, we saw arrow guy again:
After that we went to Zentralfriedhof to look at the graves of famous musicians, then headed back.
Dinner was at the local Chinese restaurant. It made me chuckle that the people running the Chinese place basically only spoke Chinese and German. It certainly made ordering....interesting. ;)
That night we managed to log onto the internet long enough to find out that the arrow guy is St Sebastian, patron saint of archers. He's all over the place as a protection from the plague.
Basically, he was ordered to be shot by arrows by the local leader in attempt to kill him for being Christian, left for dead, was healed by St Irene, but then later was clubbed to death as punishment when he went to again admonish the same local leader for all the bad things he was doing. Ah, the lives of saints...
The next day we toured the Haydn House (where the composer lived)
And we heard all about the ladies in his life. There were a lot of them. *g*
That evening we attended a reception by the mayor and then a fabulous chamber music concert put on by orchestra members.
And I have to say, traveling with musicians was fun. In the evenings as we walked around the town, you could hear them practicing and it was like having live music follow you around. :)
The next two days were 'free days' with no planned tours, so we vegged for one and then, since the next day was my birthday, we went into Vienna to meet up withsmirkingcat.
We had lunch (mmmm, Asian food) and then she took us to Hotel Sacher for Sacher torte.
I ended up with Sacher torte as my birthday cake (not too shabby!).
We also went to the Natural History Museum
This raptor moves! The first time it happened all the kids screamed. *g*
and we saw St Sebastian again.
The next day was the gala concert at the Esterhazy Palace, followed by a reception. And that was the first place I encountered ice since being in Austria. I'm afraid to say I made a bit of a hog of myself, helping myself to two large glasses of ice for my drink. ;)
The following we visited Forchtenstein Castle (think of it as the Esterhazy's storage until for their weapons).
There is a crocodile hanging from the ceiling in the entrance to the courtyard to 'ward off enemies from the East'. Pretty creepy.
They do have an impressive weapons collection, though.
And an impressive chapel
Also, I had to take a picture of this outfit because it looks to me like the perfect Hit Wizard uniform. Yes/Yes?
The next day was a trip to Melk Abbey.
Incidentally, its chapel is the location for filming the wedding scene in The Sound of Music.
And here's the view from the top of the abbey:
Unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures of the best part of the tour, the library. *sigh*
It was GORGEOUS and has something like 100,000 books, some of them from the 900s AD. It's fabulous and I would totally live there.
Next was our cruise on the Danube, where we passed several fortresses
and vineyards *g*
Our next day of tours was to Hungary, with a brief stop at Franz Listz's house in Raiding first. :)
Hungary is where the Esterhazy's Summer Palace is located, and we got a very in depth tour. They have a lot more of the original furnishings than the Winter Palace does, which is interesting since the Russians occupied the Summer Palace during WWII and basically wrecked the place. Still, they have done an amazing job of restoring it. And, in fact, the current Prince Esterhazy still lives there.
Palace:
Entrance hallway:
Music room:
See how the upper windows look like violins? It's deliberate. :)
Reception room:
The Prince's study:
The Princess' bedroom
Lunch that day had an...interesting menu.
Of course I had the 'grey cattle'. *g*
Last that day, we visited Rust (pronounced Roost), whose claim to fame is its beach and the pelican nests on the houses.
The next day was for celebrating Mass at the Birgekirche (the same place where the Stations are located) across the street from our hotel.
And for packing to go to Prague!
Oh, and back to the deathtrap of a hotel bathroom. One of my friends who was on the trip brought her husband and he slipped in the bathtub and fell one morning, breaking 2 ribs! Since they were supposed to go with us to Prague, that didn't work out, but it was still fun on our own.
Day 17: Czechoslovakia
Prague is just plain gorgeous, you guys. There is fabulous architecture everywhere.
All I can do is show the pictures and say I am totally going back one day.
Random picture of a hat shop forenchanted_jae.
Random church we wandered into off the street
The Astronomical clock
Gothic Cathedral
Random alleyway
Fancy drink at the hotel bar
We stayed at the Radisson, which was awesome, and which happened to have the only Michelin star restaurant in the country. Sadly, we needed reservations like a month a head of time to go. :/ But, we did eat at the 'casual' restaurant. I had to take pictures of our food because....damn. If this is casual, I'm kinda scared of the fancy place!
First came the amuse bouche (some kind of fried mushroom - it was delicious):
Potato truffle gnocchi with chive emulsion:
Oxtail broth with vegetables and ravioli:
Lamb chops:
Braised beef:
Marinated pear with nougat malt ice cream:
The next day we left Prague and we were supposed to be home by late Friday night, but the flight back into the US was cancelled for weather, so we ended up having to go WAY out of our way to get home. As in through Edmonton and Vegas. :/ Don't ask. :P
Finally got home Sunday just in time for work on Monday.
And that's it!
While I was gone I missed AC and ice, LOL, but it was a fun trip nevertheless. *G*
Day 1 - 2: Canada
We got to Toronto, met up with family, and had dim sum (yum!).
It was warm, but bearable (certainly it was cooler than home, so hooray *g*).
Here's a picture of the CN tower to prove we were there. ;)
Day 3 - 4: UK
We arrived in London in the morning, and because we were trying to stay up and not crash, we had afternoon tea in our hotel's lobby. Mmmm, tea.
That evening I got to meet up with fandom people!
shiv5468, llaeyro and ely_baby came to my hotel for drinks and fandom gossip. They were all delightful and gorgeous, and it was tons of fun. :)After going to visit Mummy the next day, we left for Austria on Wednesday.
Day 5 - 16: Austria and Hungary.
Eisenstadt is a picturesque town of 14K about an hour outside of Vienna. We stayed in a fairly basic hotel at the top of a hill that we ended up walking up and down A LOT. Also, I should say, the bathroom in the hotel was a bit of a deathtrap. This will be important later. :/
Also this is prolly the time to mention that there was no AC and it was HOT. Anyone know why Europeans insist that it's not hot there in the summer when it really is? *shakes head*
Anyway, at the bottom of the hill was the local palace (the winter palace of the royal family, the Esterhazys), which would function as our central gathering place over the next 2 weeks.
Here's the view from inside the courtyard:
The music hall, which is where the orchestra practiced, was gorgeous!
After a walking tour of the town so we could orient ourselves:
Leopolda's Temple
Interestingly, the buildings have statues in them:
Esterhazy Palace gardens:
we decided to break away from the end of the tour as we needed gelato, because, *hot*.
And then, because, well *wine* we went to a wine tasting hosted by a local vintner.
Mmmm, wine.
Just a couple sample bottles:
It almost made us forget that it was hot. Almost.
After dinner at the local Italian restaurant, where I ordered a 'pepperoni pizza' and got a pizza with banana peppers *rolls eyes*, we crashed. I later discovered that if I want what I consider to be pepperoni, I should order 'salami'. :P
Also? Sleeping when it's hot is not fun.
Which is why, the next day, we went to a local Lowe's type place and bought some fans. Whew, fans!
The next day we took a tour of the local Jewish museum, which was about as sad as you'd expect. Although the history wasn't as bad as it could have been. Evidently the local Nazi commander warned the Jewish residents that they would be rounded up before it happened, so many (the ones who could afford it) managed to leave the area. Tragically, those left behind were eventually rounded up and executed at Auschwitz, and the Jewish community never was rebuilt.
Then came our official tour of the Palace.
Not a lot of the original furnishings survived, but I did snap pictures of the chapel.
And I even managed a pic of St Constantine's body, a gift to the Esterhazy family. He's supposed to be 2000 years old.
Still looking good. ;)
We went to the local grocery store (I love going to grocery stores in other countries) and we saw these berries.
Since I was determined to be adventurous, I bought some. They tasted kinda odd, not especially sweet, so I looked them up. Guess what? They're tiny tomatoes!
Later I had a pastry made with them and it was good, but TOMATOES?! WTF, Austria? *shakes head*
The next day we toured the Bergekirche (Hill church),
where they had the most unique display of the Stations of the Cross I've ever seen. The whole back of the church is configured like catacombs with the life sized Stations' figures seemingly carved out of the walls. It was amazing!
Here are just a few (I took a TON of pics).
The Stations went all the way up the back of the church to the tower, where we got an amazing view of the town.
That evening we went to Mattersburg for Mass at the Mattersburg Pfarrkirche, and the performers did Haydn's Mass in Time of War.
Which is the first time I noticed this guy with the arrows:
We'll get back to him in a bit. ;)
Mass was lovely, as was the church
Afterwards, we went to Pottelsdorf for a dinner celebration thrown for us by Model Mattersburg.
The next day we went into Vienna to celebrate Mass at St Stephen's Cathedral (and where the singers and orchestra would perform Haydn's Mass again). Before we left, though, I noticed this guy again (lower left)
No one seemed to know who he was. Quite the mystery. *g*
St Stephen's was majestic.
And, incidentally, here's our arrow dude again.
We asked in the Cathedral and were told (incorrectly) that he was Anton Pilgrim.
After Mass, we had lunch (more pizza, this time with salami), then walked to the Vienna Opera house. Gorgeous building.
and of course, we saw arrow guy again:
After that we went to Zentralfriedhof to look at the graves of famous musicians, then headed back.
Dinner was at the local Chinese restaurant. It made me chuckle that the people running the Chinese place basically only spoke Chinese and German. It certainly made ordering....interesting. ;)
That night we managed to log onto the internet long enough to find out that the arrow guy is St Sebastian, patron saint of archers. He's all over the place as a protection from the plague.
Basically, he was ordered to be shot by arrows by the local leader in attempt to kill him for being Christian, left for dead, was healed by St Irene, but then later was clubbed to death as punishment when he went to again admonish the same local leader for all the bad things he was doing. Ah, the lives of saints...
The next day we toured the Haydn House (where the composer lived)
And we heard all about the ladies in his life. There were a lot of them. *g*
That evening we attended a reception by the mayor and then a fabulous chamber music concert put on by orchestra members.
And I have to say, traveling with musicians was fun. In the evenings as we walked around the town, you could hear them practicing and it was like having live music follow you around. :)
The next two days were 'free days' with no planned tours, so we vegged for one and then, since the next day was my birthday, we went into Vienna to meet up with
smirkingcat. We had lunch (mmmm, Asian food) and then she took us to Hotel Sacher for Sacher torte.
I ended up with Sacher torte as my birthday cake (not too shabby!).
We also went to the Natural History Museum
This raptor moves! The first time it happened all the kids screamed. *g*
and we saw St Sebastian again.
The next day was the gala concert at the Esterhazy Palace, followed by a reception. And that was the first place I encountered ice since being in Austria. I'm afraid to say I made a bit of a hog of myself, helping myself to two large glasses of ice for my drink. ;)
The following we visited Forchtenstein Castle (think of it as the Esterhazy's storage until for their weapons).
There is a crocodile hanging from the ceiling in the entrance to the courtyard to 'ward off enemies from the East'. Pretty creepy.
They do have an impressive weapons collection, though.
And an impressive chapel
Also, I had to take a picture of this outfit because it looks to me like the perfect Hit Wizard uniform. Yes/Yes?
The next day was a trip to Melk Abbey.
Incidentally, its chapel is the location for filming the wedding scene in The Sound of Music.
And here's the view from the top of the abbey:
Unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures of the best part of the tour, the library. *sigh*
It was GORGEOUS and has something like 100,000 books, some of them from the 900s AD. It's fabulous and I would totally live there.
Next was our cruise on the Danube, where we passed several fortresses
and vineyards *g*
Our next day of tours was to Hungary, with a brief stop at Franz Listz's house in Raiding first. :)
Hungary is where the Esterhazy's Summer Palace is located, and we got a very in depth tour. They have a lot more of the original furnishings than the Winter Palace does, which is interesting since the Russians occupied the Summer Palace during WWII and basically wrecked the place. Still, they have done an amazing job of restoring it. And, in fact, the current Prince Esterhazy still lives there.
Palace:
Entrance hallway:
Music room:
See how the upper windows look like violins? It's deliberate. :)
Reception room:
The Prince's study:
The Princess' bedroom
Lunch that day had an...interesting menu.
Of course I had the 'grey cattle'. *g*
Last that day, we visited Rust (pronounced Roost), whose claim to fame is its beach and the pelican nests on the houses.
The next day was for celebrating Mass at the Birgekirche (the same place where the Stations are located) across the street from our hotel.
And for packing to go to Prague!
Oh, and back to the deathtrap of a hotel bathroom. One of my friends who was on the trip brought her husband and he slipped in the bathtub and fell one morning, breaking 2 ribs! Since they were supposed to go with us to Prague, that didn't work out, but it was still fun on our own.
Day 17: Czechoslovakia
Prague is just plain gorgeous, you guys. There is fabulous architecture everywhere.
All I can do is show the pictures and say I am totally going back one day.
Random picture of a hat shop for
enchanted_jae.Random church we wandered into off the street
The Astronomical clock
Gothic Cathedral
Random alleyway
Fancy drink at the hotel bar
We stayed at the Radisson, which was awesome, and which happened to have the only Michelin star restaurant in the country. Sadly, we needed reservations like a month a head of time to go. :/ But, we did eat at the 'casual' restaurant. I had to take pictures of our food because....damn. If this is casual, I'm kinda scared of the fancy place!
First came the amuse bouche (some kind of fried mushroom - it was delicious):
Potato truffle gnocchi with chive emulsion:
Oxtail broth with vegetables and ravioli:
Lamb chops:
Braised beef:
Marinated pear with nougat malt ice cream:
The next day we left Prague and we were supposed to be home by late Friday night, but the flight back into the US was cancelled for weather, so we ended up having to go WAY out of our way to get home. As in through Edmonton and Vegas. :/ Don't ask. :P
Finally got home Sunday just in time for work on Monday.
And that's it!
While I was gone I missed AC and ice, LOL, but it was a fun trip nevertheless. *G*
no subject
Date: 2016-08-28 05:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-08-28 08:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-08-28 01:02 pm (UTC)But, being German, I have to add some thoughts... ;)
Well, we are suffering under a horrible heatwave, crops ruined and people getting heatstrokes all over (northern) Europe, heat records broken all over the place... this is not normal weather.
Why do you call salami pepperoni? That's a vegetable. ;)
Au s chwitz
Redcurrants are tomatos?
no subject
Date: 2016-08-28 08:54 pm (UTC)LOL! If you ever visit the US, order peppers if you want peppers. If you order pepperoni you will get spicy salami. :P
According to this site they are. :)
no subject
Date: 2016-08-29 05:09 am (UTC)Redcurrants are one of the most common berries in pretty much every German garden. (The white ones, too.) I remember we had them when I was a child, so many of them we couldn't even eat them all, and my mother made jam of them so they wouldn't go to waste. Also, I was curious and checked your link, those really are tomatoes, not redcurrants, at all. *g*
I actually have a ceiling fan in my bedroom, but I never use it. I'm too paranoid just looking at it. Because of Twin Peaks. No, no, I'm joking. It's just that the thing doesn't look very trusty - on the highest setting it moves so much I fear it will crash down on me.
no subject
Date: 2016-08-30 02:44 am (UTC)Yeah, now I'm not sure what I tried. When I Googled it came back as tomatoes, but even if they were redcurrants, they are not tasty in their natural state. :/ Jam I can see. And, really, the pastry I ate with them in it was yummy. Clearly they are meant to be cooked with.
I couldn't survive without a fan in my room. :)
no subject
Date: 2016-08-30 06:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-08-30 10:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-08-31 05:30 pm (UTC)And they are eaten 'raw' (im my household they sort of vaporise before you can make cake or jam...)
Oh, and the grey beef https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Fert%C5%91d-Hans%C3%A1g_nemzeti_park_Sarr%C3%B3d.jpg is grey
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Grey_cattle
(Have I mentioned that I'm a buiatrician?)
no subject
Date: 2016-09-03 05:36 pm (UTC)Ohhhh. The cattle are grey? How cool!
no subject
Date: 2016-08-29 06:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-08-29 08:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-08-29 05:13 am (UTC)I've always wanted to know - what's the deal with the "gelato" I hear mentioned so often, mostly by Americans. Because I did encounter that word in my childhood, and then it was simply the Italian word for ice-cream. Has it come to mean something different now?
I love the architecture pics a lot! Old churches, old buildings - they are so beautiful, so interesting.
no subject
Date: 2016-08-30 02:47 am (UTC)Yeah, the architecture was fabulous. The best part of the trip, IMO. :)
Aww, wish I could have met you! Maybe another time. <3
no subject
Date: 2016-08-30 06:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-08-30 10:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-08-29 02:00 pm (UTC)(Aside from terrible bathrooms, of course.)
no subject
Date: 2016-08-30 02:48 am (UTC)Thanks, hon!