NO BUDA, AND ONLY A PEEK AT PEST

I didn't plan this leg of my journey very well.  I'm spending too much time traveling to get from one place to another.  So I had only two days to see Budapest, and you can't do it justice in that time.  My back was still in spasms and I decided I had to forego some sightseeing to get to one of the famous thermal baths here.  I booked myself for a healing massage at the oldest bath in the city.  I couldn't get in until the second day, so I had to take it easy on walking the first day.  I walked down Andrassy Boulevard mid-morning because it's supposed to be one of the most beautiful walks on the Pest side of the city.  

Who knew that there are two parts to this city--Buda and Pest.  Not me.  Anyway, Andrassy Boulevard takes you to Hero's Square, where you start to see the tourists.  I had to wait for a few minutes to get a good photo because some young guy decided to climb up by the horses at the bottom of the pillar and I really didn't want him in my picture.

The Italian embassy was right across the street and it warmed my heart to see the white, green, and red flying.

Adjacent to Hero's Square is the Museum of Fine Arts.  This photo is for my friend Andra.  We saw this Tolouse Lauttyrec exhibit in Avignon.

I decided to check out the museum's permanent collection, which is dominated by Dutch art.  I discovered a new (to me) artist whose one painting in this museum's collection was spectacular.  I wasn't allowed to take photos in the museum without a license, but I found this painting by the Austrian artist Max Lenz online.

After the hour long walk and 3 hours in the museum, my back gave out again and I had to head for my apartment where I was in bed for the rest of the day.  On the way, I stopped for an early dinner and had the obligatory bowl of goulash soup.

Every apartment is a liitle different in terms of the "extras" provided, e.g., salt. pepper, oil, etc.  But I was provided something here that was a first for me...condoms!  I had a good laugh when I saw them in the bathroom.

The following day, I walked again down Andrassy Boulevard because the spa is located in City Park behind Hero's Square.  It was a really nice park with lots of family oriented activities.  There was a nice lake there.

The spa is really beautiful.  And it's huge.  This is about a quarter of the outside pool area.  Then there are several pools in that yellow building.

It's very easy to get lost trying to find your way around.  It took me 30 minutes to find the room where the massage was done, and that's with a map!  I got immediate relief from my back spasms with the massage and then I spent close to two hours in the thermal bath.  It was a rejuvenating experience.  I met three lovely young women, two from Boston and one from Canada and we chatted the whole time about travel experiences and other sundry topics.  They recommended a restaurant near their hostel, and because they were clearly "foodies" like me, I went to find it.  

I had ordered and was waiting for my meal when the three of them walked in.  I was surprised because they were going to go shopping for souvenirs, but they couldn't find any shops in the area and were starving like me.  So, Sammy, Katerina, Jen and I enjoyed a traditional Hungarian meal together at, of all places, the Bali Cafe, and happily engaged in yet another gabfest.  These young women were absolutely delightful.

When I got back to the apartment, I wanted to relax a bit before I went to take a cruise on the Danube.  I was so relaxed after the massage and thermal bath that I nodded off and didn't wake up until close to 8 p.m.  I had to repack my luggage to get my check-in bag under 15 kilo (avoid Ryan Airlines unless you're traveling light) and also arrange for transport to the airport, so I missed the cruise.  I can't believe I was in Budapest and never saw the Danube or the Buda in Budapest.  I did see the Danube from the train coming into the city, but I really wanted to do the cruise.  I got what I really needed, though--pain relief, and it seems to be lasting.  

I flew to Milan today and am now on my way by train to Lucca, west of Florence, one of my favorite towns in Italy to meet Maggie, my Sydney friend, who will be spending the summer there.  I'll be with her for a week.

So I shortchanged Budapest, but I did get a few photos that will give you a feel for the Pest side.  This is the Opera House.

And this is a typical city street.

I don't know if this is an important building, but it should be.

I think I need to come back here again to give this lovely city its due.

A TASTE OF PRAGUE

I had planned to go to Amsterdam and Copenhagen, so how did I end up in Prague and Budapest?  Let's just call it a woman's perogative.

I thought it would be interesting to see life in a couple of the Eastern European countries.  I had heard from several fellow travelers that Prague is a beautiful city, so here I am.  It would be hard for any city to follow Paris, and it took me a few hours to realign my expectations.  But Prague is a beautiful city, just in a different way than Paris.  It has what I would call old world charm.  The Vitava River runs through it.

There's something about a river view that makes everything look more beautiful.  Prague is said to be a city of spires, and you can see from this photograph and others that it lives up to this reputation.

This is the famous Charles Bridge, which is lined with 30 baroque statues of religious figures.

It's also lined with people selling jewelry, art (including on the spot personal portraits), and a whole a lot of tourists.

This is one of the religious figures.

It's a great spot for taking photographs of the city and capturing more of those spires.

I visited the old Jewish cemetery, where the gravestones are packed this tightly together because the tombs are 12 layers deep!

I've never seen anything like this.

The Jewish quarter in the surrounding neighborhood is quite beautiful.

This is one of the large public squares where you can rent a traditional horse and carriage to tour the city.  I used my own hooves.

Some of the houses on this Square were quite artfully decorated.

This is St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle, which is the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. The coronation of Czechoslovakia's kings and queens took place here.

There were many beautiful stained glass windows.

There were also several beautiful side altars.

Across from the cathedral is St. George's Basilica.

I also toured the castle, but there's not really much to see there. It certainly isn't Versailles. This is the Kings throne room, one of the few rooms in the castle open to the public.  

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The castle sits on a hill overlooking the city.

Prague has its own little miniature Eiffel Tower perched on a hill across from the castle..

When I was leaving the castle complex, a changing of the guards was in progress.

As I was walking down the hill, trying to find my way back to the tram stop, I heard a clomping from behind me. I turned around to see this group of uniformed musicians coming around the bend. I have no idea who they were or where they were going, but it made a nice photograph.

I had only two days in Prague, and I think two or three days is enough for a city of this size.  I will now do my Prague swan song.

PARIS IN THE SPRINGTIME

It's difficult to write about Paris because words just don't seem to be adequate.  This is a city that's not only full of art; it is a work of art itself.

I was in Paris all last week. It's spring, but the weather was still pretty cool.  Being a lover of impressionist art, my first day was spent at the Musee d'Orsay.  

As you can see from the banner, there was a special Van Gogh exhibition.  When I entered the museum, my favorite impressionist artist was Monet; when I left, it was Renoir.  I guess I'd just never seen so many Renoirs in one place to develop an appreciation of his work.  Here are two of my favorites.

After spending several delightful hours at this museum, I walked along the Seine and took about 20 pictures of the Eiffel Tower from afar.  Here's my favorite shot from that collection which includes two of the beautiful pillars of Pont Alexandre III.  You might also notice the dark gray clouds. This is what Paris looked like most of the week I was there.  But, I was pretty lucky, because it didn't rain as much as was predicted.

Okay, maybe I have two favorites.

On the way to finding the famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées, I passed by this statue of Winston Churchill marching in front of one of Paris' palaces.

The Petit Palais is a beautiful building that houses one of the many art museums in the city.

A little farther along the way, I ran into Mr. DeGaulle, also marching.

I finally found the famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées and tried to imagine Parisians lining the streets to welcome the American soldiers marching into the city decades ago.

With all the traffic, it was impossible to get a really good shot of the Arc de Triomphe from where I was, and by this time I was just too tired to walk any closer.  

That evening, I enjoyed a delightful dinner hosted by my friends Caroline and Nathalie (who I met in New Zealand) and Nathalie's mother Isabelle.  They kindly included my friends from Brisbane, Paul and Diana, who just happened to be in Paris at the same time.  It was delightful to spend an evening dining on delicious food and wine at the home of a Parisian, so much more enjoyable than eating at a restaurant, and I could kick myself for not bringing a camera!  

The next morning, I put myself trustfully into the hands and scissors of a French hairdresser who spoke very little English. He called a friend of his who was fluent in English and explained through his friend what he planned to do with my hair. Here's the result.  Tres chic, eh?

Then I spent the rest of the day at the Louvres.  Oh my, that is such a huge place.  My friends here in Paris advised me to decide in advance what I wanted to see and then focus on just a few areas.  Of course I went to see the Mona Lisa, but you couldn't get near it because there were so many people.  I also saw several other da Vinci's, a lot of French artists' work, and some fantastic sculpture.  I didn't take any photographs inside the museum, because it was just too crowded, and the museum's website has a great records of much of their collection.  As you probably know, the Louvres was once the royal palace and I could barely get it all in a photograph from across the river!

The following day, my Parsian friends took me to Versailles....oh my!  We had lunch before our tour and Caroline and Nathalie had the French version of a hot dog, which is served in a split baguette with ketchup and bernaise sauce.

You get an idea of how huge this palace is at the entrance courtyard.

I took oodles of photographs, but will share only a few here.  The camera just can't do justice to this palace and its grandeur, plus there are all those pesky tourists who make it almost impossible to get a clean shot of anything!  I got just a few without tourist heads.  

This is the famous Hall of Mirrors, when the cost of mirrors was dearer than gold.  The models in the first shot are the lovely Caroline, Isabelle, and Nathalie.

In the chambers of the queen, where she laid her royal head in her royal bed.

A gallery of paintings.

We walked through the extensive gardens to see a couple of petite palaces that were also on the grounds.

Here's one of them and probably my best photo of the day.

There were many fountains in the gardens.  This was my favorite.

That evening, I enjoyed another dinner at Nathalie's apartment and met her brother Èdouard and his partner Jean-Louis.  This time I got a picture...from the left, Jean-Louis, Èduoard, Isabelle, Nathalie, and Caroline.  Maybe this is my best photo of the day.

After dinner, us four girls took a drive to see Paris by night.  This is the beautiful Operà House.

The famous Moulin Rouge.

The Bascilica de Sacré-Cœur, where a crowd of people was sitting on the steps singing along with piped music from the 1970's.

And who knew that on the hour after dark, the Eiffel Tower goes twinkly?

I went to the Rodin Museum the next day, but my iPad hadn't recharged and was pretty much dead, so I have no photos.  While I was there, my back went into spasms, so I left before I finished the museum tour.  I'll have to go back to this museum.

I feel I haven't done justice to this glorious city that I loved at first sight.  I'm so happy that I'll be returning to Paris at the end of June.  Maybe I'll buy those pink gloves.