I awoke this morning to some very sad news. Matthew Hazelwood, a dear friend, colleague, and teacher died suddenly from a massive heart attack. Northern Michigan has very prematurely lost one of its finest. Matthew has done a ton for me since giving me my first professional big gig over five years ago.
After a slow start from hearing this news, I quickly remembered that I needed to kick it in high gear this morning! I jetted into downtown Vienna to tour St. Stephen's Cathedral, home to many important Mozart events and much more. This is the most important church in the country, and is home to the Maria Pocs Icon. After my book guided tour, I climbed the south tower for a fantastic view of the city.
From there I headed out to Schonbrunn Place, considered the only palace in the world to truly rival Versailles. My time was very limited, and I was fortunate to have a previously purchased combo ticket that allowed me skip all of the lines. I had to rush through the palace more than I would like, but at this point I feel like I have seen Palaces galore. Furthermore, Schonbrunn had tourists galore. What I really did want to spend time in were the outstanding and mammoth gardens. Unfortunately, the gardens were somewhat disrupted by work crews preparing for a concert, so it was not really possible to enjoy them to the full extent. Knowing my timetable to get to Budapest, I made the trip around the gardens a very hasty one and jumped on the subway to get to the train station. (If I missed the train, it would have been 2 hours until the next to Budapest...hence the importance of sticking to my schedule. That is one thing about the trains and doing so much--I have to be very disciplined with my time.)
Budapest is one of the few places for which I have not had a guide book (others being Strasbourg, Aachen, Maastricht, and Ljubljana). For these places, I always do a significant amount of online reading, but that by no means compares to my "worth their weight in gold" guidebooks. Even knowing about the big sights in Budapest, I was essentially showing up blind. Upon arrival, I quickly realized that the train station was not the area that I wanted to hang around. I quickly changed all of my remaining Kuna (Croatia) into Forint so that I would have some minimal money. I had to spend about 15 minutes just trying to find a descent city map and get my bearings...and that was 15 minutes more than I would have liked. The station was probably the shadiest place I have been to on the trip. Not only pretty dilapidated, it was also full of characters like vultures waiting to descend on some lost and confused prey. Once I half figured out how to best get downtown, I got out and just started walking. While the subway was a possibility, downtown was walkable, and I always like to explore and get a feel for places by just walking the streets. The walk downtown was safe enough...but not for the meek.
Upon arriving downtown, I was immediately struck by the beauty of he buildings. Building after building was gorgeous (although sometimes run down). I saw the opera house, great market hall, and many of the public squares. Upon locating St. Stephen's Basilica, I climbed the dome for a panoramic city view. The view was worth every penny (or Forint), and it gave me a real sense for the layout of the city as well as the places I needed to go. There I was, realizing that I was looking down at one of the top cityscapes in the world with the Parliament, Buda Castle, Mathias Church, the Citadel, and so much more with the Danube slicing through the middle.
From the Basilica, I headed to the nearby over the top gothic Parliament. This icon of Budapest is an absolute behemoth, with literally miles of hallways inside. If you saw a picture of the Parliament with its perch on the Danube, I am sure you would recognize it. The building was heavily guarded, and had some fantastic gardens around it. The building in itself was a quite a memorable sight.
From the Parliament, I took a nice Danube stroll to the Chain Bridge. Absolutely incredible to see how gorgeous this city is. From there, I hiked up into Buda, which I found to be much nicer than Pest. I checked out Buda Castle and Mathias Church while taking in the incredible view. I really enjoyed my little day trip, and I would certainly go back in the future. Budapest does have many rough edges, but it has to be one of the coolest cities I have ever been to. It also is home to many, many tourists more lost than you.
On my way back to the train station (lots more walking and exploring), I swung into a grocery to pick up some things. To give you an idea of the cheapness, I bought 3 L of water, 1 L of CocaCola Light, and an ice cream bar for less than $2 or 550 Forint. Unbelievable.
Tomorrow is another packed day, but first a good night's sleep. The morning holds Mass to hear the Vienna Boys Choir followed by a "concert" Mass also Downtown. Then it is off to nearby Bratislava for the afternoon and evening. Tomorrow night, I will take a train to Prague. I am also determined to have a nice meal. I think my last one was in Fussen several days ago, as since I have been picking up stuff from groceries or eating on the run!
Well, there it is, I guess by tomorrow night I will be in my 15th and final country of the trip!
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