Budapest

All photos from Budapest!
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We had planned on spending four days in Budapest, before heading to Cairo en route to Kenya. With the current events unfolding in Cairo, though, we decided that flying into the chaos would not be so wise. Last minute, we re-booked our flights to go to Nairobi directly from Budapest, with a layover in Doha. (Luckily, airlines for our original flights into and out of Cairo gladly refunded us our tickets.) Now we have an amble 6 days in Budapest - more than we've had in any other city on this trip.

Not being able to see the pyramids aside, everything worked out great. Six days was not at all too much for Budapest. We happened to be there during Hungary’s National Day and took full advantage of it! During the day, we visited the Museum of Terror (all museums were free that day), and at night, went to see the fireworks along Danube, with Castle Hill in the backdrop. We also saw a cultural festival happening in Castle Hill that weekend, with displays of many local arts and crafts.

Budapest was historically two distinct towns, with Buda on the west side of the Danube River, and Pest on the east side. Now the city is seamless and has beautiful riverfronts on both sides of the Danube. We spent a bunch of time walking around there, crossing various bridges along the river, and walking up to hilltops on the Buda side of town for views of the city. Of course, we also spent half a day at one of Budapest’s famous baths. It’s a favorite local pass-time.

We’re off to Nairobi and the start of the more adventurous part of the trip. In the next month, we will be covering Kenya, Turkey, Dubai, and Nepal!

Museum of Terror. I really like how this picture turned out. 

Hero's Square

Fireworks over the Danube River 

Parliament Building

Music fountain at Margaret Island

Outside Szechenyi Bath

Biking the Wachau region

In a day-trip from Vienna, we biked from the town of Melk to Krems along the Danube River. This region in Lower Austria, known as the Wachau, is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for architecture (monasteries, castles, ruins), urban design (towns and villages), and agricultural use (principally for the cultivation of vines). Overall, it was probably my favorite day-trip so far on the trip, and we have done many!

The tricky part was figuring out the logistics - train schedules to and from Vienna, and most importantly, how to rent a bike one way. It turns out that there’s a bike rental shop right by the river in Melk that allows drop-off in Krems. By 11am, we were on our way with our bikes! 

We stopped at many places along the way, including the monastery at Melk, several hilltop castle ruins, towns, and wineries. Wine from the region is surprisingly good and cheap! We found a great wine garden by the river that offers tastings of local wine by the glass. 

The bike ride itself is only about 30km and mostly flat, but it took us an entire day with the stops. The weather was just perfect, and the views from everywhere were spectacular. I particularly enjoyed walking up to the hilltop castles for views over the region, and biking alongside vineyards and through villages. There were so many great pictures from the day, but here are my favorites:

Taking a break near the monastery at Melk 

View of the valley

One of the several hilltop castles we visited. Although left in ruins, the castle offers superb views of the region.

Passing through an old town.

Vienna

We took a 4:30am train from Prague to Vienna three days ago, which, in retrospect, was not such a great idea - we were both too tired to do much the day we arrived.

We spent most of the second day wandering around the city. The architecture is beautiful: Hofburg Palace, Stephansdom Church, Schloss Belvedere, etc. In between the buildings, there are many parks where you can soak up the sun and the beauty of the place. And given how Mozart-obsessed the city is, we had to see a Mozart concert. Although a bit too touristy, we really enjoyed the performance staged in the Golden Hall. The music was great, the performers were entertaining, and the setting was just perfect. (We found out that there are many similar performances every night, held at different venues throughout the city. Without any comparison, I have no idea if there’s any difference between them in quality.)

Further afield, we rented Vienna’s CityBikes and rode out to Schloss Schonbrunn, the Habsburgs’ summer palace. The bike sharing program was easy to use, efficient, and fun! We also took a day-trip to the Wachau region along the Danube River. We had wanted to take a day-trip to Bratislava, Slovakia, but didn’t have enough time for it.

One random side note - after traveling through Berlin, Prague, and Vienna over the past ten days, we’ve had enough of sausages and schnitzels. Any chance Budapest will have more exciting food?

Mozart concert in the Golden Hall

Schloss Belvedere

Near the Hofburg Palace

Schloss Schonbrunn

Prague

Photos from Prague:
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Prague is a medieval city packed with tourists in the summer. I can see why it’s a popular destination. The city has a compact old town filled with shops and cobbled streets, a beautiful castle area, and of course, the famous Charles Bridge. 

We also took a daytrip to Kutna Hora to see the Church of Bones, which is decorated with thousands and thousands of bones. The town has a great beer garden where we had a delicious Czech meal, and underground tours of medieval silver mines. 

My favorite day in Prague, though, was the day we spent wandering around off-the-tourist-path parks and stopping at outdoor beer gardens along the day. The view of Old Town from the surrounding hilltops is beautiful. We discovered so many wonderful hang-out spots in Prague.  My favorite was the microbrewery at the Strahov Monastery - apparently it’s been using brewing the same beer for centuries! It must be so much fun to live in Prague and get to go to these places regularly. 

St. Nicholas Cathedral

The riverfront

Charles Bridge and Old Town

Church of Bones

You can see seven bridges from this viewpoint

Beer garden by the Vltava River. We loved this one so much that we went back the next day. 

View from our walk

Berlin

Photos from Berlin:
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Berlin was nearly destroyed during WWII but is now a modern, gleaming capital city fit for the industry prowess of Germany. The construction still continues. While we were there, many historical buildings were being restored and the main avenue of Oranienburgerstrasse was being turned inside out for its entire length.

There are dozens of worthwhile sites in Berlin. We visited the Holocaust Memorial, the Reichstag, the Topographie des Terrors, and the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, among others. I was very impressed by how well intricate historical details were documented and presented, both in these attractions and in countless memorials and sidewalk exhibits throughout the city. Many of the sites are free, but make sure to get an appointment for the Reichstag online before your visit.

We also took a daytrip to Potsdam, where several Prussian empire palaces remain. Most were saved from damage during the wars. The gloriously-decorated mansions were a nice break from the more sobering sites in Berlin. We made it through the major palaces in a day.

The three days we had in Berlin was not enough; I wish we had more time to explore the various neighborhoods of the city, but our journey through central Europe continues - we’re off on an early morning train to Prague!

Berlin Cathedral, with the TV tower in the background

Modern dome at the top of the Reichstag

Really nice main train station

The longest remaining section of the Berlin Wall (East Side Wall)

Sanssouci Palace at Potsdam

Stockholm to Copenhagen

We spent a week driving from Stockholm, Sweden to Copenhagen, Denmark. Even though the entire drive can be done in six hours, I’m glad we took the week and lots of detours. Here are some highlights along the journey:

Oland, Sweden - it’s a birdwatcher’s paradise in this UNESCO World Heritage site. The Island is also filled with preserved old towns, burial mounds, and fortress ruins. On our first day there, a huge angry storm-front moved in from one side of the island, drenched us for a couple of hours, and then blew off to the other end as quickly as it had arrived. When the sky cleared near sunset, we walked along the shore to view a variety of water fowl. We were joined by about a dozen others wielding massive spotting scopes on tripods. Perfect destination for a weekend getaway.

Old windmills are found throughout the island

Birdwatching at the southern top of Oland

Along the drive to Oland, we passed many beautiful farms. At dusk, a magical layer of mist hovers around them. 

Copenhagen, Denmark - a vibrant city where we had our first sight of international food in about a month. It’s substantially larger than the other Scandinavian cities we visited. We saw the crown jewels of the once-impressive Danish kingdom and the Golden Tower of Tycho Brahe where he made his famous astronomical observations. Copenhagen is a great city for walking - many of the downtown shopping streets are pedestrianized, and the Nyhavn canal is beautiful and absolutely buzzing during the summer.

A square in central Copenhagen 

Nyhavn canal

In front of the Rosenborg Palace

The coast of Denmark - we saw the Kronborg Fortress which was the entry-point into the Baltic Sea where the Danes collected tolls from passing ships for many centuries. The fortress was lost to the Swedes in 1658. It now stands as a museum demonstrating the lifestyle of the Danish loyalty at it’s height in the sixteenth century. The nearby town of Hornbaek has white sandy beaches, a delicious seafood shack, and the best ice cream shop we've been to since Italy.

Kronborg Castle

The beach at Hornbaek. The sand is perfect and it's surprisingly warm!

The harbor at Helsingor, with Kronborg Castle in the background. There was a music event that day - you can see the party happening right behind the boats. 

The Cliffs of Mon - the white cliffs of Mon were formed at the bottom of the sea from the accumulation of microscopic plankton skeletons. The region later uplifted and natural erosion has left a sheer wall of shimmering white chalk by the ocean, which frequently crumbles in large avalanches. The cliffs are also home to the rare peregrine falcon, whose spectacular dive is the fastest animal movement on the planet. Well-marked walking trails allows visitors to enjoy the cliffs along the ocean and from atop. Plus, there’s an excellent museum showcasing the geological features of the cliffs.

Several wooden pathways allow visitors to descend to the bottom of the cliffs.

These cliffs are really tall!

What a gorgeous day!

The view from the top of the cliffs is just as amazing.