Central Europe, revisited...

Due to a camera malfunction, the pictures from my trip to Central Europe with Katie may never be forthcoming. Thus, I've assembled a few images to give you all an idea of what we've been up to. Of course, we'll never really be able to re-create those pictures of the two of us in the Czech prision ... but I'll get to that later.

Krakow, Poland
Our first stop was Krakow, quite a change from the numbing modernity of Warsaw. St. Mary's Church in the main square was very impressive, and completely over-decorated on the inside ... from this tower on the hour you can hear a bugle player sound the melody used to warn the town of Tartar attack in the 13th century.

They were really into brick in Poland...

We also got a glimpse of the interesting (and sad) Jewish heritage of the city. This is the "Old Synagoge" in Kazimierz, the part of town in which we stayed while in Krakow, that was origionally predominantly Jewish.

The oldest Jewish religious building in Poland:

We also ended up with an afternoon free before we headed out of town, and Katie brilliantly suggested that we take a trip to visit the Wieliczka Salt Mines. These mines are 700 years old, and have been a tourist attraction since Victorian times. This actually goes a long way in explaining how weird they are.

As you walk down the miles of salt tunnels, you pass lots of "salt sculptures" like these Gnomes:

Budapest, Hungary
Budapest was fun, though a bit less exotic that I thought it would be. The city consists of the two united towns of Buda and Pest, we stayed in Buda, and I have to say I preferred Pest (which had been re-built in the late 1800's and reminds me a bit of Paris, actually).

I particuliarly enjoyed the thermal baths for which the city is famous. They were quite refreshing, especially in the 90 degree weather!

Our hotel turned out to be in the "Citadella", a fortress built by the Hapsburgs after the 1848 revolution, that now houses a hotel, a night club and (I'm not making this up) a WWII Wax Museum.

Despite the weirdness of our hotel, the view was superb. This shows the "Buda" side of the river:

Vienna, Austria
Vienna was a nice thouroughly Western European break from our trip. We spent our days touring the Hapsburg palaces, looking into expensive stores, and snacking at the Coffee Konditorei. There was also a bit of unexpected art to see in Vienna. For example, this is what happens when you ask Gustav Klimt to do a mural based on Beethoven's 9th ... not exactly what I would have envisioned:

This is only a bit of Klimt's homage to Beethoven and Poetry:

And, of course, no trip to Vienna would be complete without a visit to Demel's. Katie and I fought for a seat on the terrace, and then procceded to try the Sacher torte and Coffee. I also tried the "Anna Torte" because the name begged me to. It was covered in Hazelnut chocolate fondant (I have decided that I am a genius).

The cake window at Demel:

Prague, Czech Republic
Prague is one of the most beaultiful and interesting cities I have ever seen! Two things that captivated me were the art nouveau everywhere, and also the astronomical clock (which I made Katie see twice, no joke)

I know I'm supposed to be an Art Snob, but I still love Alphonse Mucha. This is a window that he designed for the Cathedral in Prague Castle

This clock is amazing! The windows open and little wooden saints pop by, while all the time the figure of Death is ringing a bell and inverting his hourglass.

This display amuses simple minds like mine, I suppose.

And if you're still wondering about that Czech prision, Katie and I stayed in a Communist Prison that had been turned into a Youth hostel ... we figured it couldn't be more scary than the Wax Museum, and the location was fabulous. I actually recommend it if you are planning a visit.