Photos from Vienna and Dubrovnik

Vienna's Mix: Old (St Stephen's Cathedral) and New (glass offices)

Central Lawn of Schonbrunn Palace (the forest on either side is just the begining of the grounds)

The Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna

The Palace from far away

Vienna wins for prettiest Cappuchino

Us on Dubrovnik's wall

"Little Fried Fish"

Dubrovnik's old town streets, shiny from hundreds of years of traffic.

Dubrovnik

McKay:
We arrived in Dubrovnik by plane from Bratislava (an hour train ride from Vienna), rode a bus to town, checked into our sobe (a rented room in someone’s home and THE way to stay in Croatia), and walked the city wall. Dubrovnik is like a modern small town 500 years ago, if that makes sense. If you’ve been to any Italian small towns, this is similar. - old buildings, beautiful scenery, all woven into tiny secretive streets. The wall affords great views of the old city, surrounding hillsides, and the Adriatic. *Sigh* I love the ocean. I love the way it smells, even when it’s mixed with all those other seaside smells! After our walk, we went for refreshment at the bar that is very highly recommended by all tourist scources - Buca. Very difficult to find (unless you already know where it is) one enters through a hole in the wall of the city (the name means “hole in the wall”) out to tables balanced on jutting platforms overlooking the Adriatic. This scenic spot is easily top of my list for places to have a drink! There’s no way I can describe precisely how perfect this spot is – you will just have to go there yourself! It’s the best!

After the sun set (yea, I watched the sun set over the Adriatic on the Croatian coast yesterday!) we went for dinner at a recommended restaurant in the market square and found ourselves waiting in a line for a table (with the cafes surrounding this one showing empty tables) so we figured it would be good and continued our wait. We were well rewarded! The octopus salad was a lot like a bruschetta with fresh, flavorful tomatoes and a perfect mix of spices. My mussels (best ones I’d had since Ireland!!) were splendid! I love mussels and was so pleased to taste these stellar specimens. I think maybe mussels are better in rocky clear water? Rob ordered the “fried little fish” at the server’s conformation that they were very fresh and very good. She turned out to be precisely right and the fish turned out to be sardines! I’d never had sardines before. These were so tasty! You ate the whole fish and they reminded me slightly of eating a plate of French fries. Both meals were excellent and very filling and we both had a bit leftover. We loved this place and have decided to wait in future restaurant lines.

For dessert, we topped our wonderful meal with cones of gelato. YUM! Dubrovnik has good gelato! The last night of the summer concert festival was that evening so we strolled around to the side of the cathedral and watched the backs of the symphony’s cellists and base players with the other non-VIPs; non-ticket-holders “cheap seat” style. Perfect.

This morning, we absorbed Dubrovnik a little more and this afternoon, we’re on a bus to Split to see Roman ruins and stay overnight along our trek across the long coastal country of Croatia. Rob and I have chosen the left side of the bus for it s breath-taking over-the-cliff sea views and now I’m picking up too much of a glare to continue writing. (You’re pretty much caught up anyway). Later.

Vienna

Mckay:
We left Sopron early (again) and took a 9-ish train to Vienna. Already relatively certain I would fall madly in love with Vienna, I was excited to finally confirm my expectations. It’s a lot more modern than I expected with clean, efficient, and extremely well-marked public transportation (SO refreshingly wonderful!) Our room in Vienna was lovely with high ceilings, wood floors, and an informative hostess. Consistently, though, we are reminded that Europeans don’t like queen-sized beds (but favor two twins pushed together) and take showers in tiny phone booths. It’s just different. The weather in Vienna was lovely (we’d been rained on and chilled yesterday) and we took our first few hours in Vienna to tour the Art Museum. Rob and I saw some great Renaissance pieces, Italian and northern ones (ones I’m less familiar with, but growing to like), and I picked up a poster of one of my favorite paintings.

After the art museum, we walked and rode trams to some of Vienna’s sights: the Opera House, City Hall (where I was ecstatic to dine on some perfect Chinese noodles!), and St. Stephen’s Cathedral. We thought we would get some Vienna cake that evening, but were dismayed to find that our desired destinations closed at 8, along with many others.

A note on the international food market in front of City Hall. This is where I got those amazing noodles. Rob and I walked up and down all the booths to find exactly what we wanted. Each booth represented a different food ethnicity. Rob followed his nose (and is usually rewarded for such behavior) and ordered what he thought was from a big stewing pot of Mediterranean meaty goodness. It turns out that he ordered a salad. Rob almost cried. Of course, it wasn’t just a salad. It had potatoes, and thinly sliced chorizo (which Rob said tasted like liking a horse). Knowing he “made his own bed,” he slept in it and ate most of the salad but finished off my noodles.

The next day, we got to the Schonnbrunn Palace just when it opened (a brilliant touring suggestion for anyone!) and toured the rooms and halls with hardly any other people! We looked later and saw the halls teeming shoulder to shoulder with lines like Disney World. We win at touring.

The rest of the morning, we toured the palace grounds and gazed amazedly at the sculptured gardening and different idea of “far” in those times before metros and cars. The Palace was the country getaway, taking about half a day to get there from the city center. It took us about 15 minutes on a metro.

For lunch, we hit a great outdoor café and finally got our Vienna cakes. They were wonderful! Light, moist, flavorful, fancy, and perfect with a cappuccino. The rest of the day we filled with shopping and touring any last-minute sights around the ring of the city center. While I was shopping, Rob had been smelling a sausage stand so we dinner-ed there and could not have been more pleased! Rob let me taste his (I was holding out for cake) and I decided he would have to get another one because I would be eating this one. It was basically a large pig-in-a-blanket, but it was also so much more. Mmmm. Next stop: Croatia!

Rob:
They say Vienna is like Paris without the French. I’ve never been to Paris but I really like Vienna. The people are kind, the city is beautiful with a great mix of old and new, and who needs the Eifel Tower anyway (Cobraaa!) This was the home of the Hapsburgs when they weren’t in Prague hiding from the Ottomans. These are the guys that ruled about half the continent for 600 years and lost it all in WW I. Needless to say they had cash. If you can think of a way to Bling something they have done it. Their palace in the country rivals Versailles with a minimum 150 acres of forest and lawns for grounds. The inside of the palace would make the most extravagant rappers blush with envy. They also had two other large palaces in the city which were equally lavish, with smaller grounds. I can’t even fathom the amount of money this takes. One of the longest sitting Emperors was Josef Franz, seeing the people’s need for rights and the beheading of some of his relatives in the French Revolution, he became a very frugal and hard working ruler. The people liked the change and they felt more included in the government.

Vienna is not a late night town. Our previous attempt to get cake had been shut down by the early closing of EVERYTHING. We figured it was Sunday night; that makes sense. Monday evening after the “hot dog” in the square we planned on another round of cake. Again! Everything in the main square shuts down at 8PM. So lame.

We had about an hour in Bratislava, Slovakia, before we had to be at the airport. We decided to take a tram downtown and see a little of the town and then catch the bus to the airport. To our dismay once we got to the town we couldn’t find the bus stop for our bus; 25 other buses but not ours. It went by but didn’t stop. Anyone who spoke English either didn’t know or didn’t care how to help us. There was a driver for a different line who spoke no English who tried to help but could not understand. When we broke down and asked what a good price for a taxi was, his eyes lit up, “Taxi, there, there, is taxi” and proceeded to show us where the taxi was. We knew where the taxi was already and just paid one to take us to the airport. It was an adventure.

Food

The “best restaurant in the world” certainly lives up to its name. Formerly, I compared a lot of great food to the Driskill in Austin under Chef David Bull – “this is amazing, but it isn’t as good as the Driskill.” Now, my comparison will sound like, “but it isn’t as good as the Gundel.” It was truly amazing and shall now be the standard by which I shall measure all other food.
I ordered the tasting menu (I’ve always wanted to!) and Rob ordered another tasting menu. We began our courses with goose liver (which admittedly, I thought I wouldn’t like) and it was superb! Who knew goose liver tasted so good? The Hungarians. It tasted a little like fois gras (duck liver) and mine was done with a lightly sweet and a little fruity layering paired with a muscat wine (mmm, tasty!). Rob’s was a little more robust with a smoky flavor and a less sweet wine.
They used mostly local Hungarian wines.

The first course was listed as
McKay:
Goose Liver Torte with Sour Cherry Balm and in Tokaji marinated dried Apricot-Cranberry Ragout

Rob:
Tokaji Aszu-flavored Goose Liver Pate stuffed with Golden Raisins, paired with Brioche and Red Paprika Jam

The second course was

McKay: Tomato Soup with Celery Oil, Vodka and Parmesan Chips. I feel now that I have finally tasted tomato soup. For a comparison, it tasted similar to the Campbell’s tomato soup, but also as different as the tiny overflow of water down a steep hill is from the pounding magnificence of the Iguazu Falls – both waterfalls, but one substantially more so.

Rob: Home-made Pea Soup with buttered noodles. It was like a light broth. Tasty with you-know, veggies and noodles in the bottom. I think som pea soups can be heavy and it wasn’t. It was very good.

McKay: Pan-roasted Tiger Prawn served with Vegetable Blini, White Wine-Garlic Sauce and slowly baked Paprika Cubes. Good texture, light dish. The garlic sauce and paprika cubes (like roasted red peppers) gave this a pleasantly spicy taste while still being delicate with the taster’s palette. Also, blinis were served at our wedding! They are small pancakes, but much more.

Rob: Pan-fried Filet of Balaton Fogash with Vegetable Batons. Those veggie things looked like Lincoln logs stacked. Cooked very well and to the right consistency. The fish wa very good. A tad drier than I like it, but good. Not as good as the prawns, though.

McKay: Home-made Goat Cheese Sorbet. Yea, I was really curious too! How do they do sorbet (which is normally sweet) with goat cheese (which is normally, well, goat cheese)? With help from heavenly taste angels! That’s how! Oh. My. This may very well be the best thing I have ever tasted. Ever. Period. It was indeed sweet, but light, with a slight lemon tone, all with a smooth, creamy goat cheese undertone. I LOVE goat cheese sorbet and WILL try to reproduce this. Best thing. Ever.

McKay: Grilled Veal and Beef Filet with Green Asparagus and Bernaise Sauce. Of course this was good. Filet and Veal are always good. The texture was excellent and the dish was certainly above average, but being from Texas and a family of meat-lovers, I’ve had some pretty good meat in my time. I only write so little about this course because the other courses were so outstanding that this one pales in comparison.

Rob: Crisp-baked Duck Breast and Drumstick Mikszath Style served with parslied Mushroom Pudding and Cherry Sauce. Rob wins at main dish. It was crispy and flaky like a pastry on the outside and soft and juicy on the insdie like a Sunday roast. It was perfect. It ranks number two of my best meals ever.

McKay: Floating Island Dessert with Raspberry Pearls. This one looked a little, well, odd. There were three large balls of foam (a little bigger and fluffier than big marshmellows) in a bowl. The server (with ceremony) poured a pitcher of cream into the bowl. Hmm. Okay. Rob wishes he took a video of my face because as the flavors registered, my face went from “hmm…” to “ooo” to “wow” to “holy tastebuds, Batman! This is amazing!” The texture was between a marshmellow and a soufflé – much like meringue. But the flavor was packed in that light pearl! It was like all the best parts of the ripest raspberry burst on your palate at once and remained there having a wild dancing party until the foam dissolved and you were left with a happy buzz. Further, the cream he poured was so much more! It was like the really good, melted, remaining part of the tastiest vanilla bean ice cream. I found no shame in spooning the succulent cream straight.

Rob: Classic Crepe a la Gundel. The name says it all. It was a wonderful really thin pancake served with a huge dollop of dark chololate sauce. It was a perfect end to a perfect meal.
My meal ended with a cappuccino and a little sadness that such a wonderful meal experience must end. But like they say… all good things… *sigh* I’ll still have the memories… and the constant noble foodie quest to one day find something even better.

Transportation Adventure

McKay:
Our day of Hungarian small towns was fast-paced to say the least. We awoke at our beautiful hotel at 5:15 and left on the train at 6. We arrived in Vesprem before anything opened and successfully took a bus then got directions to walk to the city center, all without speaking any Hungarian (nor they speaking any English – fun challenges!). We walked (carrying our packs) about 45 minutes around Vesprem and saw where the queen used to be crowned. Just as things were opening, we took the bus to Csopak where we got off at a stop that required a 30 minute walk that happily showed us some small town Hungarian living: yards, streets, some thatched roofs. We arrived at the train station (downhill from the bus yay!) and took another 10 minute walk to the beautiful lake, picnicked outside the fence (we had to pay to get in where we were, so we just sat outside the fence and looked), and then walked back to the train. Csopak reminded us of Panama City Beach because it’s all about the lake (crystal clear water) and is full of the wide range of bathing-suit-clad floaty-toting beach goers that flood Panama City.

We took the train to Sϋmeg where we (sick of carrying our packs) hid them in some bushes near the empty train station, prayed they’d be okay, and started our walk towards the center and the uphill medieval castle. We were lucky the church we wanted to see was open because the town was completely deserted. Eventually, we made it to the castle and found the townspeople. Apparently, Csopak puts on this medieval show every summer weekend for paying Hungarian tourists. We were thrilled with the novelty of the show we watched at the castle, however cheesy. Then, we toured the castle (one the few medieval style ones left) and then made our way down to watch the joust. A little pricey, we opted for the commoners’ view – standing in the bushes, peeking over the ledge with other cheapskates. The joust was entertaining, although no one aimed a lance or knocked anyone off, but rather threw axes at targets and lanced hanging rings.
Returning to the train station and ready to move on, we found our backpacks intact (thanks, Lord!) and waited for the train to Ukk. Now this is where the transportation adventure gets even more fun. They were doing construction on the area of train track we were on and were using buses to pick up the routes. The train that arrived for us was two trolley cars long. We were dropped at the Ukk train station and walked to the back to get on a bus (like a greyhound bus). We picked seats far away from the obnoxious children with frosted hair, annoying in any language. We could tell by his vulgar English-word t-shirt and the heavy metal music playing on the speakers that this bus driver didn’t mess around. As the bus wound its way through the tiny towns, children ran out to the street and waved and motioned for the driver to honk the horn, also fun in any language.

When we arrived at our transfer station, the train we rode was actually just ONE car. Teased by bigger trains, this little guy found fulfillment carrying weary travelers to connections through small Hungarian towns. The business-meaning bus driver picked up the conductor with the bus en route. The nicest conductor I have ever encountered, he made sure we got on the right train to Szambathely, practically walking with us to the door. I tried to send out positive vibes for our little train to arrive in this bigger station proud and with his ego intact, but I’m sure I detected some smirks from the high-speed trains.

Once in Szambathely, we stowed our packs (at a locker this time) and made our way through the horrible weather (it was dark, raining, and cold) to the medieval festival the town is famous for. This one is more like the Renaissance Fair in Texas than the cheesy show we saw in Sumeg. Starving, we ordered a gyro and a wonderful Hungarian pizza baked in a clay oven and ate them huddled under a building overhang. Weather being what it was and time being short (taking a train-bus-train is a little longer than one anticipates), we browsed some of the fair, got an amazing dessert (rolled, spiraled dough, cooked rotisserie style over coals to caramelize the sugar coating – heavenly!), and walked cold and wet back to the train station.

As we rode the train to our last (thankfully!) destination, my eyes were actually rebelling against me and closing without permission. By the time we arrived at our hotel at almost midnight, we were exhausted. Therefore, my information I printed about Sopron went unused except on our walk back to the train station in the morning as we turned and took a look at the firetower (one of the town’s attractions).

Our train to Vienna was restful to not be on my feet and we reached our hotel with no problems (and with the help of a very nice bus driver who, knowing what street I wanted) actually got out and pointed me down it. So nice! (but I certainly hope it isn’t because I look clueless!)

Pictures

A few Pictures of Budapest: Air Race Couse Air Race Winner Hotel Stairs Castle Hill at nightBrief snip of fireworks show View from castle hill. Small altar in the cave church The Public Baths Our dinner table at the Gundel

Budapest

Rob:
Budapest is AWESOME! Granted the time we were there was the best time to be there but still. We did develop a love hate relationship with the city.

Hate: We arrived in the city and we needed Hungarian money and the ATM in the train station was out of cash. Because of a misconception I thought we had to pay cash, up-front, for our hotel which meant we needed to find some. The money changers in the train station were my only option in the station and I read the sign backwards. When it says “buy” it means you are buying their currency, not them buying yours. I got it reversed which is the worst possible exchange rate. Despite my wife’s intuition to go elsewhere I thought I was getting a good deal until it was too late. NEVER, EVER, change currency in the train station unless you have no choice and you use small amounts.

Love: As it turns out the hotel did not need cash up-front, they take it later or in Mastercard. The hotel was beautiful from the spiral stair case leading up and around the concierge desk to the room itself to the outstanding location. We dropped our stuff in the room as quick as possible and went to the Danube River. Budapest was hosting the Red Bull Air Race Championships in the center of the city. If you don’t know what they are, search google or youtube.com to find out. They are every bit as cool in person and more. Seeing those race planes flying low under the famous “Chain Bridge” at 350km/hr and then doing a high speed stunt course about 30 feet off the water was an experience I’ll never forget. The home town (Budapest) race hero, Peter “The Godfather” Besenyei, was unable to make it into the top 8 which was disappointing to the crowd but the USA took 1st and 3rd and we got to hear the “Star Spangled Banner” played super loud on Hungary’s National Birthday (like our 4th of July). HA USA! USA! USA! And there was a helicopter that could do backflips – wicked cool. In Budapest the people that attend the Air Races would attend NASCAR in the USA so we got to see the redneck side of Europe; with a pretzel, a 0.5l Löwenbrau in a can and going shirtless, we fit right in.

Love: August 20th, St. Istvan (Stephen) Day, is the Hungarian Independence Day and celebration of the most favorite King. The all day festival includes dancing, a huge birthday cake for the city and street activities and vendors as far as you can see. This year’s theme was: Medieval fair. We were able to have traditional Hungarian goulash, made in a huge cauldron, from a whole cow that they rotisserie roasted right there in the square. So good! We also had a piece of fry bread covered in sour cream, cottage cheese, spices and mozzarella. It tastes a lot like a pizza but the locals eat them everywhere and it was fantastic. The festival ends with fireworks along the Danube. It was the most amazing display of fireworks I have ever seen. There were fireworks launching from two bridges on either side of us, the mountain top to our left and the island just down the river to the right and from 10 stations in the center of the river, all in a 20 minute coordinated show. It was so cool and with Budapest’s castle hill as the back drop, wow!!

Hate: The French. We had a gorgeous spot picked out to watch the fireworks, secluded, roped off and behind the street vendor booths along the water. It was kind of off limits but we made quick friends with the security guard and he was fine with the two of us and a couple of his friends hanging out there. But then the French, from Paris (the worst kind), showed up and started dancing around, clowning, and making a big racket. The guards came back and told them to leave and the Frenchies faked only understanding French and wouldn’t go. The guards even tricked them into speaking English twice and with an, “A-ha you do understand me!”, they would snap back into playing dumb. The French refused to leave as long as we got to stay and when one guard went to get the cops the guard we had befriended motioned that we should probably leave, we did. Jerk French.

Love: Budapest is much larger than Prague and even though the map is the same size you quickly find it takes a lot longer to get from one place on the map to another. The public transport is very straight forward and easy to use so we made our way around mostly via tram, metro and bus. On the castle hill, one of the best vantage points to see the city, most, if not all, of the pay-venues are not worth the money. The gem for us was actually the small museum in the lower level of the Hilton. The hotel was built on top of the ruins of an old church and had to incorporate them into the design to get permission to build at all. We were the only ones there and it was very cool. If you go into the gift shop in the front of the hotel it is free and a quick right-left-down the steps; the café in the back of the hotel charges to go through their door, sneaky. The hotel bar up the stairs from the museum has a large window where the church entry used to be and it looks out to where the ruins of the alter area stand.

Hate: The Medieval Art Festival had over taken half the hill. You had to pay to get in and it effectively blocked every exit from the hill we tried, making us back track and walk down the way we came. We probably should have just paid to get in and saved time and enjoyed the setting

Love: The cave church. This chapel was bricked up by the Soviets but is now available again. The church in the cave is a beautiful change from the norm and with so few people and “enforced” silence it is extremely peaceful.

Hate: Up stairs of the great market hall. For the most part is a souvenir market where every other booth has the same stuff and won’t haggle the overpriced junk. There are some worthwhile goods but they are expensive also.

Love: The ground and basement of the great market hall. The ground floor houses a fantastic meat market and fresh fruit stands. Obviously if you have no kitchen then buying anything is limited but it is fun to browse. The basement has a modern grocery store which is best for dry goods, sodas, and their extensive Hungarian wine section, which is about half the price of the upper floors. The Egri Bikavér red wine is famous in the country; look for the bull on the label. There is also a fishmarket down stairs with many large tanks of live fish and a sushi house.

Love: The Baths in the park; minimum of two hours and worth missing some sightseeing.

Love: Taking my wife to the fancy dinner at “the world’s best restaurant”, the Gϋndel. It was very tasty and refined.

Hate: Early wake up to hop trains through Hungary.