Home(?)

We're back in the Hague safe and sound after an exhausting trip that included a 6:30am flight back. We thought we'd stay up all night and catch a cab to the airport around 4:45, but, as you can imagine, it wasn't a very smart decision and we slept the majority of the day as a result.

We spent the last week in Budapest and Vienna, and since we have quite a few (27) photos to show you, I'll try to keep my writing short. Suffice it to say that as far as I am concerned, if you can only visit two cities in continental Europe, they should be Paris and Vienna. In Vienna, everything just makes sense.

So, in some sort of chronological order – with commentary interspersed throughout – here are a few photos from our trip to Prague, Krakow, Budapest and Vienna.

Prague






I think we mentioned that we went to see a Czech hockey game. The tickets were $12 for the best seats in the house – a nice surprise after being used to NHL prices.



In Prague, as in Krakow and Budapest, there are many relics and/or traditions left over from the Communist era. One that we particularly liked is a wall of graffiti known as the 'Lennon Wall' (referring to the Beatle, not the Soviet leader with a similar name). It's basically a wall that was used to advocate for peace and freedom in the 60s and 70s. Even though Communism no longer exists in the Czech Republic, the wall continues to be used as a symbol of peace in the world.


And lastly, our trip to Prague would not be complete without this:


One of the many beers of choice in the Czech Republic is none other than the original Budweiser (not to be confused for that cheap rip-off known only to marketers as 'the king of beers'). At the cost of $1.50 CAD for a .5 liter pint, this stuff is consumed like water in this part of the world. It's no surprise that the Czech's consume more beer per capita than any other country in the world.

Krakow



Krakow is home to the second oldest university in Central/Eastern Europe and boasts none other than Copernicus as part of its alumni. Some 500+ years later, the original building is now a museum which houses the earliest known globe containing an image of North America (though, at the time is was placed south of India). Here is the courtyard:



We might not have had a traditional turkey for dinner, but we were able to consume copious amounts of this on Christmas Eve/Day:


Jealous?



On a more somber note, one thing Grace and I were able to do on our trip was something that I have wanted to do for quite some time which is to visit the Auschwitz memorial museum at the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps. For the most part, we were reluctant to take many photos, but this one, taken at Auschwitz II (the second and largest of the three camps that made up Auschwitz) somehow summed up my experience. In the last days of the war, as the Soviet army approached the camp, the Nazi's blew-up or burned most of the barracks and gas-chambers to get rid of the evidence of what took place. As the wooden barracks burned away, what remained were the somber brick chimneys, scattered endlessly for as far as the eye can see.


Budapest

Perhaps fittingly, the next part of our trip was to Statue Park, a place where old relics and statues of the Soviet era have been brought together for display purposes.


Budapest was quite cold, so our photo taking was kept to a minimum.




Vienna

One of the things that makes Vienna so incredible is it's cafe/bar culture. I have never seen such a diverse number of cafes and bars that were all equally amazing. One bar, Das Mobel, changes its interior design every few months as groups of local designers contribute furniture and lighting to the space. All the elements are for sale.




And last but not least, we spent our New Years in Vienna dancing to Gloria Estafan while thousands of fireworks we being ignited by mischievous children everywhere.



Happy New Year!