TRAVEL ADVENTURE JOURNAL

I have to admit I felt pretty smug when I read about Google threatening to quit China because of censorship.  What I found especially troubling about the Chinese censoring the Internet is that you don't really know what you're missing when they block you!  Its not like a pop-up appears to tell you you've been censored -- you just get a page telling you "the link appears to be broken."  That's why it took us almost the entire China trip before we realized that our blog posts were being censored! 

It seems to me that rather than playing a game of make-believe with the Chinese government, Google is far better off telling them to shove it!  After all, aren't they the world's biggest search engine?  And what about their motto... "don't be evil"? 

On a separate note, I've been researching Morocco for our next adventure -- 

I was last in Morocco in November 1977 when I toured the north in a caravan of VW minibuses.  There were about a dozen of us (Canadians, Americans & Australians) who had met in Malaga while camping -- we were all nervous about traveling to Morocco and agreed to caravan together for self-protection.  At each stop we left one person behind with the minibuses to discourage intruders while the others went out and explored. 

Unfortunately we miscalculated and encountered Ramadan, the month-long holy period when most of the Muslim community becomes preoccupied with prayer and fasting.  We ended up retreating back to Spain prematurely and never made it to Marrakesh in the south, an omission that has plagued me ever since!  Adding insult to injury, every person I've ever spoken to about Morocco proclaims that the two can't miss spots are the medina in Fes and the Djemaa el Fna, the main square in Marrakech!

I'm hoping to remedy this decades long oversight very soon... 

Several readers have asked why my daily China blog entries were not viewable while we were abroad.  The answer is annoyingly straightforward:  the Chinese government blocked me from accessing my website.  I could not upload my posts as they were written!  At first I thought it was my Internet connection that was faulty, but when the problem persisted it dawned on me that this was deliberate!

Although I'd like to indulge my narcissism by inferring that my clever political commentary and witty yet subversive observations were the motive for being targeted by the Chinese government, the unfortunate reality is that virtually no personal or social networking websites are accessible using Chinese Internet servers. 

However, even though Katie and Teresa found early on that they could not access their Facebook pages, Maria, a fellow group traveler, realized that she could use her still functioning Blackberry to bypass their servers using her direct satellite connection.

Our return home was uneventful.  We flew from Beijing to Los Angeles, then on to Sacramento.  Gaining a day after crossing the international dateline, we arrived home late Friday evening. 

Despite its limitations, our China tour was an eye-opener, and it definitely offered tremendous value for the money. 

Should you have any interest in taking a similar tour, you can check out the China Focus Travel website at    http://www.chinafocustravel.com

The streets were bustling and we passed many shops filled with various goods as well as restaurants full of locals.  Its apparent that China is only nominally a communist state - what we have seen is clearly a mixed market economy with substantial private enterprise.  The streets are full of cars, buses, motorcycles and bicycles.  Food is plentiful and inexpensive.  Clearly the Chinese government has abandoned the command economy that led to the collapse of Soviet communism.  They have headed down an alternate path that relies heavily on free enterprise.  The major shortcoming, however, is that China remains an authoritarian one-party state.  But economically, China is strong and getting stronger, and the Chinese appear to be single-mindedly focused on growing their economy. 

Call me naïve if you must, but I see no evidence to indicate that China poses a serious military threat to the U.S.  (It is especially noteworthy that their military is an all volunteer force -- there is no draft.)  

Economically, however, THEY ARE EATING OUR LUNCH!!

There is no way of sugar-coating this.  They are taking our manufacturing jobs.  They are buying up our debt.  And  they are creating the infrastructure to sustain an economic superpower. 

When we returned from India I disparaged the notion that India posed a serious economic threat to the United States.  With their countless beggars, their streets piled with garbage, and their government obviously inept, it seemed clear to me that the U.S. had little to worry about from India.

However, unless the U.S. gets its act together China will own the twenty-first century.  Americans must stop arguing over political ideology, stop the demagoguery, and start working together to build the future.  There is simply no time to waste!

When we finally made it to the Great Wall there was a thick layer of snow and visibility was very poor.  As we ascended the steps to the top, snow continued to fall making the climb so treacherous that we had to cling to the guardrails and climb hand-over-hand.  I hiked for about an hour along the slippery stairs as they wound back and forth toward the top.   I still could not see anything up ahead due to the steadily falling snow, and as the walkway became even more difficult to negotiate, I started to feel fatigued and finally turned back.

However Brandon, together with Rick and Bob, two other group members, continued upward for another hour and eventually made it to the pagoda that marked the peak, where they would have been able to see the wall stretching to the horizon had the weather cooperated.  While waiting for their return, most of our group loitered in the coffee shop at the base. 

Our next stop was the Olympic Stadium, the Bird's Nest, built for the 2008 Olympics.  It was quite impressive up close and was surrounded by an enormous plaza.  Adjacent was the Water Cube, the Olympic swimming complex.  Both were architecturally very impressive although Ford informed us that neither had gotten much use since the Olympics.

Dinner was noteworthy for the local specialty, Peking Duck, but I must admit that although it was tasty, I've never been a fan of duck - its just too greasy!   

Later in the evening, back at the hotel, our tour group got together for a small farewell gathering on the eighth floor deck adjacent to the terrarium, and we said our goodbyes to those who were flying out early tomorrow for the East Coast.  For the rest of us it will be a free day - we don't head out to the airport until  5 PM.

En route to our next stop, Tian'anmen Square, we stopped at an "official" government-sanctioned store that specialized in cultured pearl products.  I'm beginning to suspect that some of these shopping interludes are actually subsidizing the cost of our tour.

Although I wasn't interested in shopping for pearls, there was an abundant of impressive pearl products and Teresa purchased a classic luminescent pearl necklace.

Our next stop, Tian'anmen Square, site of the 1989 massacre of student protesters, was an extremely large open-air plaza built by Chairman Mao after he came to power.  The lesson of the Tian'anmen Square massacre was clear - don't challenge the government's authority!  However, as Christopher astutely observed, the current nominally communist regime is simply a dynasty by another name, only now its no longer hereditary!

Tian'anmen Square is located directly in front of the entry gate to the Forbidden City, and is dominated by a huge portrait of Mao.  Flanking the square on the left, facing the gate, is the Great Hall of the People, the Chinese Communist Party headquarters, and flanking the square on the right is the National Museum.  To the rear of Tian'anmen Square is a mausoleum where the embalmed remains of Mao are maintained  -- frankly, this business of preserving one's leaders for posterity has always struck me as one of the more morbid aspects of Communist regimes.  The square itself is relatively unadorned and is actually much less imposing than it appears on television.   

We entered the Forbidden City through the main gate under Mao's portrait, then passed through several more large gates.  Wen provided some details of its history and emphasized that until 1911 access was exclusively restricted to the Emperor and his retinue, including concubines, children, eunuchs, servants and dynasty officials.  We were told that the Forbidden City was home to 24 emperors over 500 years but is now simply a museum and tourist site.  Truth be told, I found it all rather dull!

After leaving the Forbidden City we walked for about fifteen minutes to Hutong, a nearby historic neighborhood.  Bicycle rickshaws then transported us for a short distance along a canal and several side streets to the modest home of an elderly Chinese gentleman, a retired government scientist who welcomed us and offered to answer any questions we might have about his life in Beijing.  It was interesting, but the authenticity of the setting seemed questionable when another tour group showed up while we were there -- tour groups are apparently brought here on a pretty regular basis!

By the time we left, it was after dark and the temperature had dropped dramatically.  Even with my many layers of clothing, I could feel the chill permeating, so it was a relief to get back to the hotel after being outside all day.

The tour bus dropped us off at the entrance to the Mount Taishan World Heritage Site, and we boarded a small shuttle bus which transported us along a narrow winding road to the base of the mountain.  You can either hike up the 7000 steps which takes about five hours or ride five thousand feet to the top in a cable car which takes about fifteen minutes.  Guess which option we chose!

About twenty minutes later we disembarked and prepared to hike the last 700 steps to the peak.  Unfortunately the entire mountain was blanketed in a heavy fog so there wasn't much to see.  We walked past a number of souvenir shops and food stalls, then followed the steep walkway to the temple of the mythical Jade Emperor, stopping at several Taoist temples along the way.

There were several winding paths that diverged from the main walkway ostensibly leading to other observation areas, so I decided to abandon the main part of our group to do some exploring on my own.  For about thirty minutes I hiked up and down a series of narrow staircases, but it was too foggy to see much so I finally decided to turn back.  However after another ten minutes, surrounded by heavy fog, I wasn't sure if I was heading in the right direction and I realized my surroundings had become eerily silent.  I turned around and started to walk back then realized I didn't have a clue as to where I was.  In a panic, I ran up and down the staircases where I had just come from, breaking into a sweat while repeatedly calling out to anyone who might hear!  The response: dead silence. 

I glanced at my watch and realized I had only fifteen minutes before I was supposed to meet up with the group at the cable car.  I began running full bore until I finally heard distant voices, then headed in that direction.  I finally encountered several security guards and frantically gesticulated to them my need for directions!  They looked at me like I was a lunatic then calmly pointed me back toward the cable car station.

When I rejoined the group and boarded the cable car for the trip down I was sweating profusely but immensely relieved that no one had noticed my absence.  What a fool I am, I thought to myself -- getting lost on a foggy mountain!!

It was a two and a half hour ride to Jin'an, and when we got off the bus at our hotel we were greeted by a fierce, bone-chilling wind.  The temperature must have dropped by thirty degrees since we'd left Tai'an!

After a group dinner at a very pleasant upscale restaurant near the hotel, we joined Rick and Colleen who invited everyone back to their room for wine and snacks.

After breakfast we rode to the nearby historic city of Qufu, birthplace of Confucius, the revered Chinese philosopher.  The grounds are a charming park-like setting that include a vast compound consisting of numerous dwellings and temples including the 16^th century Confucius Family Mansion where the descendents of Confucius lived until 1949.  (Apparently the head of the clan was tight with Chiang-Kai-Chek and ended up exiled to Taiwan.) 

We took a tram to the grounds then walked another mile or so to the burial site of Confucius, a relatively nondescript grave marked with an obelisk.   The cemetery grounds are expansive and have served as the exclusive resting place for the many descendants of Confucius for more than 2000 years.  Only Chinese whose surname is "Con" may be buried here.  Each grave is marked by a raised mound and there are mounds as far as the eye can see.  Ford informed us that the entire grounds were desecrated by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution and many artifacts were destroyed at Chairman Mao's direction in an effort to eliminate "old" ideas.  However, subsequent to his death, the grounds were restored and are venerated once more.

After lunch we returned to our hotel to get checked in and cleaned up.  (Some of us at least - unfortunately some of the rooms were still not ready.)  An hour later we met Ford out front and walked down the main road about a kilometer to the "free" market.   Apparently it's called the free market because until about twenty years ago it was the only place where you could freely buy goods without government issued ration coupons.  It was an interesting market, most noteworthy for its cleanliness, despite rows and rows of market stalls offering a huge assortment of fresh meats, live seafood, poultry, vegetables, nuts, spices and cooked foods.

After returning to the hotel we enjoyed another group dinner, again with the dishes rotating around a large round table on a lazy Susan.  By 8:30 PM (along with everyone else in our group) we were exhausted and sleep-deprived from the overnight train and were back in our room sawing logs! 

After checking out of the hotel at 11 AM, we headed to the Mongolian Barbeque for an early lunch.  I'd never had this before so it was a novelty for me, scooping up various meats and vegetables then having them stir fried quickly and served back to you. 

From there we headed to the Shanghai Museum, a modern edifice with a more-or-less traditional museum collection with displays of Chinese artifacts dating back several thousand years - interesting but nothing exciting.  We exited the museum around 3 PM and walked to the nearby Peoples' Park, a bustling patch of manicured greenery that featured beautiful floral gardens.

According to our map, we were in the vicinity of the former French Concession, the area controlled by the French prior to the end of World War II.  We walked for several blocks as directed by a local Chinese passerby, but really could not find anything that appeared historic.  I checked our 2009 Fodor's for guidance but it only noted that if you wanted to see anything of historic interest, you'd better hurry before the "merciless wrecking ball" arrived!  What we saw seemed to be mostly new construction and not much of historical interest, so we finally gave up for lack of time and headed back to rejoin our group by the museum. 

The tour bus transported us to a nearby performing arts theater that featured an acrobatic show - we were skeptical and expected it to be kitschy - it was a variety show reminiscent of the old Ed Sullivan TV show, with jugglers, a magician, contortionists, etc., but was actually quite entertaining -- I couldn't for the life of me figure out where the magician stored all those birds that she repeatedly pulled out of her coat sleeve!

Later, we enjoyed a group dinner at a nearby restaurant, seated at three large round tables with each table having a rotating lazy susan in the center to share the many dishes, some of which were recognizable and some of which were not, but overall a very interesting assortment of dishes.  Its remarkable that virtually all of our meals have been included so far considering the low price of the tour.  

Afterward, we headed to the train station and boarded an overnight train to Tai'an.  We settled into a small first class compartment with four beds -- it was substantially nicer than what we'd experienced in India.  There was some excitement when Ford realized one of our group was missing - Rick apparently had a few drinks at dinner and boarded the wrong train!  Fortunately Ford found him before the train left the station!

Ford awakened us at 5:30 AM in anticipation of our arrival in Tai'an at 6 AM and we were met by another tour bus and taken to our hotel.  It was too early to check-in so we were directed to the hotel's buffet breakfast before continuing with our day.  Simultaneously, two other tour buses arrived and a swarm of aggressive Chinese tourists attacked the buffet like a horde of locusts, and we were left to pick over the leftovers!

Our second stop was Silk Factory No. 1 (Nos. 2 & 3 no longer exist), where the process of creating silk fabric from silkworm cocoons can be viewed up close.  Although raw cocoons are brought in from silkworm farms in the surrounding countryside, the laborious process of actually creating the fabric is done on-site.  Strands from eight or so cocoons are unraveled then combined on a master spool - this creates the thread that is then woven into silk fabric.  Seen up close, it is actually quite gross -- what's left after the silk is removed is a pile of wormy larva -- ick!

Following a tour of the silk factory, we boarded one of the ubiquitous canal boats and maneuvered our way through narrow city canals for an up-close look at the historic center of Suzhou before boarding our bus for our return to Shanghai. 

We met Ford along with the rest of our tour group which consists of twenty-seven people including ourselves, then proceeded to the Nanjing West subway station, about four blocks from the hotel.  The weather was perfect, about 70 degrees, sunny but smoggy.  Six stops later we emerged adjacent to the Oriental Pearl, the third highest transmission tower in the world, and rode up to the observation deck.  The tower kind of resembles a UFO with three large spheres "as if a pearl were descending from heaven" we were told.   The observation deck includes a "skywalk" - a platform with a clear Plexiglas surface and a view directly down to the ground.  But despite my bravado, I was unable to compel myself to walk on it - my knees simply got too shaky!

At the base of the tower is the Shanghai History Museum which tells the history of Shanghai utilizing a series of elaborately constructed period dioramas.  The detail was astonishing and included a re-creation of the Shanghai waterfront, the Bund, as it appeared at the end of the nineteenth century, as well as various storefronts, an opium den, the stock exchange and a depiction of the district known as the French Concession.  Historically, Shanghai had been divided into a number of "concessions", areas that had been conceded by the Chinese to the various colonial powers subsequent to the opium wars of the mid nineteenth century.

After exiting the tower and museum, we descended into the West Bund tunnel, an underground passage beneath the Huangpu River that connects Pudong on the east bank, to the Nanjing Dong Lu, a pedestrian mall on the west bank.  The tunnel itself was kitschy but entertaining, as you rode a Disneyesque people mover through a techie laser light show.  We then spent the next few hours on our own strolling along Nanjing Road, stopping for a light lunch at an authentic Chinese hole-in-the wall noodle soup stand before eventually returning to the hotel around 4 PM.

We met up with Ford and the rest of our group at 6:30 PM, then walked from the hotel to a nearby public bus stop where we grabbed a short ride to the waterfront, then set off on a scenic boat tour.  Cruising down the river, we were treated to an elaborate display of spectacularly lit waterfront buildings, with continuously changing light displays that easily rivaled the magnificence of the Las Vegas strip!  

Our guide from China Focus Travel met us at the airport -- he introduced himself as "Ford", and advised us that he would be accompanying us throughout our tour.  We boarded our tour bus for a thirty minute ride to the hotel while Ford provided an informative orientation, cheered us up with a few jokes, and then warned us about taking counterfeit currency from street vendors!  He told us that although tomorrow was a "free" day in Shanghai, he had a tentative plan if we were interested.  He advised us to meet him in the lobby in the morning at 10 AM, and then we headed to our hotel room to try to get some sleep.

Several readers have asked where we stayed on our Eastern European tour.  Those places we would recommend are listed here. 

I think you'll likely get the best prices if you make your hotel reservations through Expedia.com or Booking.com rather than directly through the hotel.

Hotel Columbus Krakow, Poland

http://www.hotelcolumbus.pl/angielska/index.php

Hotel Peregrinus Budapest, Hungary

http://www.peregrinushotel.hu/index.php?lang=eng

Hotel Atlantic, Prague, Czech Republic

http://www.hotel-atlantic.cz/en/

Pension Adalbert, Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

We bade farewell to Katie, who will continue to post her progress on her blog:  http://katiestravelsabroad.blogspot.com/. Our shuttle arrived promptly, and without any complications we soon found ourselves jetbound for New York. 

While we waited at JFK for our connecting flight, we watched as dark storm clouds gradually moved our way.  Hopefully we'd get out of here before the weather caused problems.

We boarded our flight on schedule then taxied out to the runway.  After waiting on the tarmac for thirty minutes, the captain announced that our take-off would be delayed while a "weather system" passed through. 

Two and a half hours later, still sitting out on the tarmac, we waited patiently while torrential rains pounded us and thunder crashed all around.  When we finally took off three and a half hours late, there was a round of spontaneous applause.

It was nearly 1 AM in San Francisco when we finally made it back to where we'd left our car.  Soon we'd be home!  But no -- the car battery was dead.  Fortunately the parking security officer had a portable battery starter -- this must happen a lot!  Still, it was nearly 4 AM when we finally heaved our tired butts into bed!

We departed Krakow by train at 9:30 AM and after making a quick connection in Katowice, eventually made it back to Prague just after 6 PM.  We returned to the Atlantic Hotel where we'd stayed two and a half weeks ago (-- had it really been that long?) -- then headed out for one last evening on the town.

We made our way to the Charles Bridge stopping at several shops along the way and picked up a few items to take home, then headed back to the same restaurant where we'd eaten our first night -- U Vejvodu.

Once again we had a terrific meal which was enhanced by copious amounts of Pilsner Urquell.

I'd seen several patrons consuming an odd-looking dish -- some sort of meat suspended on a rotating skewer above the serving platter.  So we inquired and were told that it was a "pork knee."  I was fascinated by this so I ordered it, and lo and behold -- it was, in fact, an actual knee -- I knew because after I'd stripped and eaten all the meat, what was left were the knee bones: the tibia and fibula.

Back at the hotel, I arranged for an airport shuttle pick-up for 7:30 AM, then we packed our bags.  We were feeling a bit sad knowing that we'd be leaving Katie behind in the morning and starting the long journey home.

Today is our last sightseeing day.  Tomorrow we take the train back to Prague and the  following morning we fly home.  Having only one day left is something of a dilemma.  On the one hand, I feel like I should pack in as many sights as possible, eat as much food as possible, and drink as much beer as possible.  On the other hand -- well, there is no other hand -- we just need to do it all!

We  started out exploring Kazimierz, which is all that remains of the Jewish quarter in Krakow.  We strolled through Szeroken square, a small space in the heart of this district that is lined with restaurants specializing in Jewish cuisine and has a number of bookstores selling Jewish memorabilia.  We visited two very old synagogues on the square, the Remu'l Synagogue (built in 1553) adjacent to the old Jewish cemetery, and the Stara (Old) Synagogue -- both are now museums since there are very few Jews left in Krakow.   These empty synagogues left me with a sense of sadness and a greater appreciation of the tragedy Poland experienced with the loss of their Jewish community -- before the war, this had represented the single greatest concentration of Jewish culture in all of Europe.

In the afternoon we strolled over to the Wawel Castle grounds.   This was once the site of a fortress but what remains is a reconstructed cathedral and castle complex that overlooks the Vistula river and offers great views of the city.

We walked along the Planty, a park that surrounds the Old Town -- it was a medieval wall and moat until the park replaced these about one hundred years ago.  We also came across a fascinating outdoor exhibit which chronologically described Pope John Paul II's travels during his papacy -- it included detailed maps that plotted his many journeys around the globe. 

We relaxed in Krakow's market square afterward and drank beer for the remainder of the afternoon, then finally headed back to Kazimierz for our final authentic meal of Polish stew and perogies!

Today is the day we'd set aside to see the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. 

We had debated this day at length.  Since we had already been to the Terezin camp outside of Prague (as well as Dachau several years ago), we had considered passing on it.  But the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex is the most notorious of the Nazi death camps where nearly 1.1 million people perished at the hands of the Nazis, and we simply felt we needed to see it.

The truth is, this was the most chilling display of evil I have ever seen.  I will never forget the mountains of shoes, the human hair stacked up to the ceiling, and the enormous pile of hairbrushes and toothbrushes, all of which completely filled several large rooms and which represented only a fraction of what the Nazis collected from their victims after murdering them.

Oddly enough, the other sight that I won't soon forget was the several large groups of Israeli schoolchildren most of whom were wrapped in Israeli flags, singing songs in Hebrew as they toured the place.  I simply wasn't sure what to make of this.  Was it akin to whistling in a cemetery?  Or were they parading their survival (and triumph) over the Nazis deadly plan to wipe out the entire Jewish race?  I just don't know.

Viewing the site of what was likely the most heinous crime in human history, it is hard to put into words what one feels in such a place.  And it also begs the question, how is it that so many were compliant in this horror story?  It is undoubtedly a permanent stain on the history of the human race.

There was steady rain falling as we headed over to Market Square, the center of the Old Town Krakow.  When we arrived it was pretty quiet -- clearly the weather had put a damper on most activities.  We checked out the Cloth Hall, a relatively small covered central market filled mostly with souvenir shops, then dropped into St. Mary's Church, also in the square (for a quick look), and then the Town Hall Tower.

Since the weather was clearly not conducive to strolling and showed no signs of clearing, we decided to pay a visit to Krakow's "famous" Wieliczka salt mine, the source of the town's wealth for the past several hundred years, and fully operational until recent years.

After a thirty minute bus ride, we were dropped off at the entrance to the mine where we signed up for a tour of two to three hours (we were told).

We proceeded into the mine by traipsing down at least twenty flights of wooden steps before we finally entered a claustrophobic but well-worn mine shaft where the guide began the tour by explaining the mine's history.  It was actually quite intriguing because the continuous excavations over hundreds of years have created a virtual underground town beneath the surface, including at least two small (man-made) lakes, an interior cathedral decorated with icons carved from the surrounding salt, a cavernous ballroom (available for wedding receptions) and (of course) a cafeteria-style restaurant.  It all felt very weird knowing we were thousands of feet below the surface -- sort of Disney-esque yet still authentic.

We emerged like moles several hours later via a narrow mineshaft elevator that held only nine people per compartment, but had three compartments stacked one on top of the other -- it was open air and very creepy.  (Teresa shrieked when we jerkily began our ascent to the surface!)

The rain had subsided although there was still a cold wind, but when we returned to the market square a large stage (which had been empty earlier in the day) now featured some sort of music festival, including singers, folk dancers, musicians, and later in the evening, a rock band.  We found a table under a nearby umbrella and settled in for the next few hours, drinking beer until it eventually got too cold (and dark) to remain.

We then retreated to a nearby restaurant with an open wood-burning stove and enjoyed an authentic Polish meal including borscht, perogies and various mystery meats.  After all the beer, especially as cold as we were, I think anything would have tasted delicious!

After an early start, we got to the train station in time for our 9:28 AM departure.  We were scheduled to arrive in Breclav at 12:54 PM, with a three hour layover until the 4 PM train to Krakow, so we figured we'd have a leisurely late afterhoon lunch during the interim.

About 11 AM, our train came to a complete halt.  We waited patiently for nearly an hour without explanation then finally resumed our journey in fits and starts for the next four hours.

Eventually we were told by other passengers that the tracks were blocked by fallen treees due to a severe storm the night before, and in fact we saw evidence of repair crews removing tree limbs and debris from the tracks and also repairing overhead power lines.

We finally got into Breclav at 3:30 PM, nearly three hours late.  So much for our leisurely lunch!  We had to setlle for buying a handful of snack items from the station convenience store before boarding our connection to Krakow.

When we finally got into Krakow it was after 10 PM and dark, so we grabbed a taxi for the ten minute ride to our hotel.

Teresa and Katie wanted to get in some shopping today so we took a break from sightseeing, strolling the length of the Vaci Utca, then beyond it into the commercial heart of the city.  Eventually we found ourselves at a western-style mall, the Westend City Center. 

There were two levels of shops which seemed to be variations of your typical mall chain stores.  However I only recognized a few storefronts and could not see any sign of a major department store that would normally anchor a mall.  Overall, the decor was unimpressive and somewhat dated, although I'm not sure when the mall was built -- obviously some time after 1989.

Since we had hiked quite some distance and it had become hot once again, we hopped on the metro for a quick trip back to our hotel, stopping at the Great Market Hall for a late lunch of goulash soup and stuffed peppers.

After cooling off at the hotel, we again made our way back to the Danube Palace which was our meeting point for a sunset cruise down the Danube River.  As we sipped champagne on the top deck of the riverboat, we took in the grand views of the city on either sides of the river:  Pest on the east bank and Buda on the west bank

Clearly we've barely touched the surface of this grand city, but tomorrow it's on to Krakow!

In light of the considerable distance we covered yesterday, it seemed appropriate to take a more leisurely approach today, especially with the mercury expected to top 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Using the metro, we made our way to the city park for a relaxing afternoon "taking in" the thermal baths.  Apparently the city is located over a geothermal spring which supposedly is endowed with "medicinal" properties.  The public baths, which were constructed in 1896 for the millennial celebration, consist of hot pools, mineral baths, steam baths and whirlpools, in addition to several outdoor pools as well as indoor pools.

We soaked for several hours, moving from one temperature controlled pool to another. (According to the signs, the pools ranged from 18 C to 38 C.)

We'd had our fill by late afternoon, so waterlogged and sunburnt we headed back to the Great Market Hall where we had an early dinner of cabbage rolls and sauerkraut which, I assume, is the Hungarian version of a "light" meal. 

After resting in our hotel room for an hour, we headed by foot to the Danube Palace where we took in a spectacular presentation of folk music and dancing by the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble.

The location of our hotel on the Vaci Utca adjacent to the Great Market Hall and the Liberty Bridge is ideal.  Vaci Utca runs several kilometers parallel to the Danube River and is abuzz with outdoor cafes, shops and strolling violinists. 

After wandering the entire length of this walkway we entered the Great Market Hall, built in 1896 as a central marketplace.  Its an enormous building that resembles a cathedral from the exterior but is more like a huge railroad station inside, framed with huge ceiling-high girders that make it resemble an erector set, similar to the construction of the Eiffel tower.  Its been in use pretty much continuously since 1896 and is packed with a vast assortment of food stalls, vegetable and fruit stands and bakeries, together with fresh meat and fish vendors.

We enjoyed a light lunch of pork chops and potatos at a cafeteria style restaurant on the second floor.  We then made our way to the nearby Hungarian National Museum where we had hoped to see the ostensibly free exhibit on the communist era, however we decided not to bother when they wanted to charge the standard museum fee.

Instead, we made our way over to the centrally located Elisabeth bridge, crossed over the river, and followed the adjacent walkway in the direction of the Chain Bridge, one of Budapest's major landmarks.  From there we climbed the terraced steps to the top of Castle Hill which provided a panoramic view of the river and the city.  The Royal Palace is at the top, however its only a reconstruction of the original palace which was destroyed during the war.

We strolled throughout the Castle Hill area for a few hours, bypassing various museums, past several landmarks including the Matthias Church, Fishermen's Bastion, and St. Istvan's statue, along quaint cobblestone streets.

One odd site was located within the Hilton Hotel which is built over the medieval ruins of a thirteenth century Dominican church.  You can only see these ruins by actually entering the hotel and proceeding into the lower interior infrastructure.

We eventually made our way down to the embankment of the river then followed the pedestrian walkway , crossing the Liberty Bridge to get to our hotel.

Although it was after 7 PM, the temperature had become oppressive with no breeze so we spent the next hour cooling off in our air conditioned room.  With the sun setting, we finally headed back out for a late dinner along Raday Utca where we found more than a dozen (packed) outdoor restaurants over a stretch of several city blocks.

We were packed and just about ready to leave for the train station on our way to Budapest, when the toilet in our room decided to back up and began spilling water everywhere!  We frantically threw towels down as water flowed onto the parquet floor and carpet.  Yikes!  The owner was going to have a cow -- and we hadn't even put anything weird down the toilet!

After we did our best to clean up the mess we went to check out -- luckily he had gone out and left his son in charge.  Whew!  No scolding!  We'd been walking on eggshells with this guy from day one, and frankly I'd had my fill of it!  Note:  Should you ever find yourself in Vienna, DO NOT stay at the Pension Schweitzer Solderer -- the owner is a real jerk!  (Before we left we also discovered that he had a computer with a high speed Internet connection that he could easily have offered to us to contact home when we'd first arrived!)

The train ride to Budapest was uneventful and we arrived at our hotel, the Peregrinus, adjacent to the Vaci Utca, the main pedestrian drag, at 4 PM.

After getting checked-in, we made our way down to the street and got settled in at a small nearby cafe where we met two young German men (late 20's, 30'ish), Andy and Andres, with whom we drank more than a dozen large steins of beer over the course of the next four hours while exchanging views on world politics and history! 

Over breakfast, we'd met two women, Robin and Brenda from Connecticut, who joined us today for our day trip into the countryside. We travelled by bus along the Danube River for about an hour, passing by the Vienna Woods and several small towns with adjacent orchards full of apricot trees laden with fruit. Eventually we pulled over by a dock where we waited about thirty minutes for our boat tour.

The scenery was a dramatic change -- a vast panorama of verdant hills topped with an assortment of ancient fortresses, churchs and castles with the fast-flowing river wending its way through valley vineyards and orchards.

The riverboat carried us past some spectacular scenery for nearly two hours. Because of the heavy rains the river was flowing exceptionally fast and the water level was only slightly below the adjacent villages -- our guide explained that frequent flooding was a serious problem here with flooding as recently as last month.

While on board we availed ourselves of the local specialties, apricot liqueur and apricot schnappes.

We stopped for a light lunch before entering the Abbey at Melk, then we were escorted through the museum, chapel and library while our guide explained the history of the monastery and the efforts to rehabilitate it in recent years. The restoration was truly amazing -- most aspects of the abbey looked like they were built yesterday despite being more than 500 years old. A small display case explained that the abbott had sold the abbey's original Gutenberg bible to fund the restoration.

On returning to Vienna, we spent the evening wandering through the Stadtpark (city park), a pleasant but uninspiring patch of greenery with a duck pond and assorted statues -- no comparison to, say, Central Park in New York!

Later, back at the pension, we spent the rest of the evening visiting with Robin and Brenda who described their home on two acres in rural Connecticut, and we exchanged e-mail addresses before bidding them farewell.

We awakened this morning to a torrential rainstorm -- what an abrupt change -- last night we were suffocating in ninety degree heat! To avoid the rain we took the U-Bahn (subway) to Schonbrunn to see the Hapsburg summer palace. Although it was only half a mile from the station we looked like drowned rats by the time we arrived. We signed up for the "Grand Tour" which included forty rooms and an audio guide, but it felt like a rip-off since so much of the tour was the same stuff we'd heard at the Hofburg. The grounds were vast and reminded me of Versailles, and I would have liked to wander around but the rain never let up.

I had wanted to head over to the heurigen, the wine gardens, to sample some local vintages as well as some schnitzel or sausage, but this also proved impossible due to the weather -- every outdoor venue was abandoned, even the ice cream emporium!

We settled instead on a quick visit to a nearby kebob & pita stand for a quick bite then returned to the room where Teresa decided to take hers apart "to get rid of the tomatoes" -- but she ended up making a huge mess and got grease all over the tablecloth. Fearful of a reprimand by the owner, she and Katie tried to hide it by rearranging the tablecloth and placing the telephone over the grease stains.  (We'd already figured the guy's a control freak about keeping the place tidy -- there were notices posted all over the place listing everything that was not allowed. (In fact, it reminded Katie of Professor Umbridge from Harry Potter.)

Feeling trapped by the weather we made a dash to St. Stephen's Cathedral to see the interior -- frankly I wasn't impressed -- I guess these places are just too large to maintain properly.

Hoping for better and experiencing museum fatigue, we signed up for an excursion tomorrow into the countryside.

I haven't decided what to make of Vienna.  I'd had an image in my mind based on a photo I'd seen in my sixth grade Social Studies textbook, and I must still have expected to see well-dressed Viennese strolling along the tree-lined banks of the Danube River.

But we discovered quickly that the Vienna depicted at the turn of the last century is not the Vienna of today!  The Danube actually flows several miles away from the city, apparently having been diverted to prevent flooding (I think).

We spent the early part of the day at the Hofburg, the former palace and residence of the Hapsburg royal family until the collapse of the Austrian empire at the end of the First World War.  We toured the Imperial apartments including the living quarters of Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth, as well as the massive collection of silver and porcelain used by the royal family.  We also toured the "Sissy" exhibit which tells the compelling story of Empress Elisabeth - she was the nineteenth century version of Princess Diana, and also died tragically after a difficult life in the public eye.

Later in the day we toured Vienna's famed Opera House and were surprised to learn that much of it had been destroyed during the Second World War and had been later rebuilt. 

Afterward we stopped for an ice cream break at Zanoni & Zanoni, a popular local emporium that was packed with both locals and tourists.  They had the most magnificent selection of ice cream concoctions I've ever seen, including the caramel sundae I ordered which included hazel nut and coffee ice cream with chocolate and caramel sauce topped with whipped cream !

After relaxing in our room for a few hours, we headed back out and called home once again to check on Brandon's progress - he sounded like he was still having a lot of discomfort.

We strolled over to a nearby canal, a branch of the Danube which I suppose is what passes for the local river these days.  Although there was a walkway along the canal and a few low-end restaurants, there was a lot of graffiti and the overall impression was that of neglect, which I found somewhat disturbing.  So we headed back into the city center near where we'd eaten last night and enjoyed another late evening dinner outdoors.

We chose to take a private shuttle (minivan) to Vienna rather than the train which would have involved at least three changes.  The cost was similar and the trip at least two hours less.  When we checked into the pension we'd booked at about 1:30 PM, the manager grimly handed us an urgent e-mail message from Christopher to call home due to a family emergency! 

We rushed off to try to find an Internet café, and Teresa frantically ran into a nearby restaurant for directions, explaining that we had an emergency.  The surprised owner was sitting with his laptop at a table and immediately offered to let her use it, so she logged in to find a slew of urgent messages from home.  It was then that we realized we hadn't checked our e-mails for at least 48 hours!

We learned that Brandon had crashed his bicycle while out on the bike trail Sunday evening and had been taken by ambulance to the hospital with a head injury and a broken collar bone.  He'd had an emergency CT scan but apparently had only suffered a concussion.  He'd contacted our friends Bob and Katy who had rushed over to be with him, and in the morning when they brought him home, Uncle Daniel (of "missing runner" fame) came over to look after him.

When Teresa finally found a telephone and called Brandon, he answered himself even though it was only 5 AM back home.  It had been two days and although he was a bit better he admitted he was still in a lot of pain and could not easily get around.   He also told her he'd had a second CT scan since Daniel and Christopher had thought he was getting worse and had taken him back to the doctor.  Although a teary Teresa offered to come home, Brandon insisted it wasn't necessary.

Somewhat reassured, and very relieved, we spent the next few hours wandering around the historic center of Vienna, trying to get oriented.  Later, as it was getting dark, we made our way to Am Hof square not far from St. Stephen‘s Cathedral, and found a nice little outdoor restaurant with an excellent selection of authentic Viennese dishes.  Teresa and Katie especially enjoyed the pork and sauerkraut platter.

Today had been the hottest yet, with the daytime temperature over 90 degrees, and as it was still very warm and our pension had no air conditioning, we opened our fourth floor windows to the street to try to let in a little breeze.  At 3 AM we were abruptly awakened by the sound of a nearby fire alarm, and after a quick check Teresa determined it wasn't coming from our building.  Even after the police arrived, however, the alarm continued blaring for the next ninety minutes, and I finally resorted to digging out a package of earplugs I had packed.  Needless to say this made for a long night, and the sun was coming up when we finally got back to sleep!

Our itinerary for today was ambitious.  Brewery tour at 11, castle tour at 1:30, whitewater rafting through the town at 4.  We had a lengthy discussion regarding the wisdom of exploring a brewery and sampling its wares before noon,  but the lure of the beer won out.

It was actually an excellent tour.  The brewery has been in operation for more than 500 years and brews both traditional yeast beer in modest quantities as well as mass production beer.  The brewing rooms were underground where it was a balmy 20 degrees F. and we took turns drinking beer straight from a huge tank - delicious!

The castle tour at 1:30 was entertaining although I don't really remember all that much of it since I had a mild hangover by 2 PM!  Fortunately we had all sobered up considerably for our rafting trip at 4 although we were insightful enough to hire an experienced river guide!

We'd met an Australian couple, Neil and Wendy, who were staying at our pension, and Neil joined us on the rafting expedition.  His daughter had been here and told him about the rafting and he'd always wanted to try it!  Plus, he helped defray the cost.  (Ha ha! That's Scott for you -- Teresa.)  We discovered that the river was running much higher and faster than normal, and our leisurely float turned into some serious white water rafting!  By the time we pulled out we were completely drenched, so the late afternoon cloudburst could do us no further damage. 

After drying off we were famished from our big adventure and ordered a giant meat plate at a nearby restaurant - I'm not exaggerating when I say that we got a giant platter stacked with grilled beef, pork and turkey steaks together with piles of French fries, baked potatoes and potato croquettes, as well as sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and onions.  Washed down with half liter mugs of beer and we were about ready to explode!

We spent the better part of the day getting to Cesky Krumlov.  We had planned to catch the 9:45 AM bus, but when we got to the station we were told there were no more seats   available.  Ditto with the 11 AM bus.  So we trudged over to the train station about a mile away and bought tickets to Cesky Budojevice at 11:15 with plans to catch the local bus from there to Cesky Krumlov.  It was all quite exasperating but we finally made it there at 3:30 PM.

After an early dinner we strolled though the town, a remarkably quaint and well-preserved nineteenth century village, with cobblestone streets and a town square, all adjacent to a fast-flowing river and an enormous castle.  We spent the rest of the evening drinking the local beer and planning our day for tomorrow.  Top of our list:  the Eggenberg Brewery tour at 11 AM.