Vienna, Austria - September 2007

First and foremost - the place we stayed was legit. Some of you heard about the drama surrounding accommodations in Vienna but in the end we were ok. Yes, the bathroom sucked and we had to take a lamp from the bedroom and put it in the bathroom so we could actually see in the shower and maybe it smelled a bit of mildew. But hey, we had a comfortable bed and hot water (most of the time) so I was happy.

















Upon arriving in Vienna, Cassidy and I walked a few blocks into the 1st District, which is where we would spend most of our time enjoying the sights. After walking and getting somewhat acclimated to the layout, we found an Indian restaurant and settled in with a couple of Austrian beers. We decided to make it an early night so that we could get a full day of sights in the next day.

We started day 2 with a large cup o' Starbucks (just to clarify, I don't like to SEE them, but I still love a strong cuppa to get me going) and then headed to St. Stephen's Cathedral. It was built in the 12th century and is another example of the Gothic design that we see over here quite a bit. We were able to go up one of the towers to enjoy views of Vienna, but quickly left due to the cold and wind!

Next stop was the Hofburg Palace Complex. It was the winter palace of the Hapsburgs and it is HUGE! It is a city within a city that houses multiple museums, churches, not to mention the actual living quarters. We visited the Imperial Apartments, Silver & Porcelain Collection, Sissi Museum, and the Treasury. All except the Treasury were interesting and impressive. Even Cassidy enjoyed looking at the old porcelain and silver (for a limited time). It just gives you a glimpse into how lavish their lifestyle was. There was different tableware for every occassion, complete with gold, silver, bronze and family crests on each of the thousands of pieces. We listened to our guide book and paid the 20 Euro to see the "amazing treasury collection" and found it was not at all worth our time or money. However, we did get a good laugh out of it when Cassidy wanted a picture of him "trying on the crown". Yes, we are that easily amused.





Afterwards, we strolled around the grounds where I visited the horses and then we ate a late lunch in a park. Much to their liking, I shared mine with the pigeons. We found so many beautiful old buildings that weren't in our book and just wandered through them while I snapped some pictures.

That night we had tickets to an orchestra performance at the Musikverein in the Golden Hall. Per Frommers, this is "one of the four acoustically best concert halls in the world". We were there for a concert that was mostly Mozart and the music was magnificent. There were also a couple of opera numbers which I did not like. I have never been to an opera before and I cannot say that I will be jumping to go again anytime soon.













On day 3 we had tickets to the Lipizzaner horse show. It is basically a dressage show with some "tricks" added into it. I loved it because I used to ride horses and am familiar with how difficult it is to make a horse do anything he doesn't want to do...let alone prance around in unnatural gaits to the beat of classical music. The auditorium is part of the palace and was ridiculously beautiful as you can see by the picture. Understandably, they don't allow pictures during the show so that the horses can concentrate so I don't have any good action shots.

We spent the rest of the day at Schonbrunn Palace, the summer home of the Hapsburgs. Mind you, this summer home is no more than 10 miles away from their winter palace and their idea of a summer home is about 1,400 rooms small. Ahh, to be royalty! This palace was just as extravagant as the other. Behind it was their own park complete with a labyrinth that Cass and I each managed to get through on our own. No David Bowie sightings in here though (anyone watch Labyrinth as much as me during their childhood?).


That about covers Vienna. It lived up to our high expectations and we enjoyed our time there. One curious thing though, they eat a whole lot of ice cream. I'm serious, we saw people at 10 am eating huge sundaes or waffle cones full of ice cream. We originally thought they were tourists...but later decided they weren't. I'm not judging b/c I fully support this lifestyle, but I thought it was worth mentioning. And to end, some random pictures during our Vienna visit...up next, Prague.

Budapest, Hungary - August 2007

Hello! Cassidy and I are back from our quick 2 week vacation through some of Eastern Europe's biggest cities. Since there are so many pictures and I tend to spend too much time putting these blogs together, I'm going one city at a time with the write-ups.

Our first stop was Budapest. We loved Budapest. I can say that I was the most impressed with this city and to me, it rivals the beauty of Paris. Everything about it was great. First, the B&B we stayed in was the best B&B we have ever stayed in. If any of you ever go to Budapest, please visit http://www.kapitalinn.com/ and book it. I am telling you, you will not be disappointed. I am a bit in love with the couple that owns the place (2 guys that are the nicest men in the world) and am considering going back just to hang out with them. Here I am forcing them to take a picture with me:
Budapest was severely damaged in WWII and the population is still adjusting to changes since the fall of Communism. Currently they are rebuilding the city and to me it seemed like they were making great efforts to retain the old facades while gutting interiors. We loved the energy of the city. There are so many fun, trendy restaurants and little shops to stop into. To us it felt a little like NYC in some areas. Although there are a lot of new places, it still didn't feel too "Americanized" like many of the big European cities do. We didn't see a Starbucks or a McDonalds during our walks, which was nice.

Night 1 we arrived and headed out to see the city all lit up and it took our breath away. The Danube cuts the city in half between Buda and Pest and they light the buildings up at night along the river. I added pics of the Buda Palace and the Chain Bridge at night.

Day 2 we walked around on the Pest side of the river and began our day at St. Stephen's Church. It is the largest church in Hungary and took over 50 years to complete. It survived WWII and in fact, important artworks were brought here during the war in order to protect them. However, the best part of the church is the hand. What hand you say? Ohhh... they have the preserved right hand of King Stephen, Hungary's first Christian king that died in 1038, in a light up case in the Chapel of the Holy Right. No joke. It's a hand that's pushing a thousand years old. Some pics of the church and the hand...


Next we headed towards the Parliament, which we were hoping to tour. However, because we got a late start we missed the tour time. The outside itself is worth a visit though.

It is a huge Gothic building right on the river built in 1902. I imagine the inside is as ornate as the outside. Cassidy and I then walked south along the Danube (which is not blue, by the way) when we saw a bunch of shoes along the promenade. When we got closer we realized there were not real shoes, but permanent. I took a picture not knowing what they symolized, but understanding it probably was not a positive thing since they were facing the river. I asked Albert and he explained to me that it is a memorial for Jewish people in Budapest who, during WWII, were shot at the river's edge and fell into the water... it was chilling to know that and then look at the picture again. However, further down the Danube we got our first view of the palace and the Chain bridge during the day. Legend has it that the man who sculpted the lions on the bridge drowned himself in the river out of shame because he forgot to sculpt tongues on the lions.

Day 3 had took us to the Buda side of the river. This was also our first of mainy rainy days. The sun did make an appearance in the afternoon and we set out on our adventure for the day. The Buda side has a whole area known as Castle Hill, which has been named a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. It consists of the Royal Palace, which now houses several museums, and the Castle District, which is a medieval neighborhood with cobblestone lanes and cute little buildings. To get up the hill you can take a funicular or walk up...we opted for the funicular. It's about the experience, right? We didn't actually go in any of the museums since we were pressed for time, but we spent a few hours wandering and taking pictures from high on the hill of the Danube below. It was absolutely beautiful. The first picture below is the Chain Bridge with the Four Seasons Gresham Palce behind it and behind that you can see St. Stephen's Church. The next picture is the Parliament as seen from Buda...huge, isn't it?
Some other pictures are just from us walking around and taking snaps in the Castle District. The one were I look a bit confused is because I am standing in front of a home that Frommers told us is one of the most photographed buildings in the district. We couldn't figure out why, but we took the picture anyway. Perhaps it's the most photographed because it's the most unremarkable building that managed to get a write up in a travel book?

Finally, on our way back to the B&B we passed this gem. Who knew that Colombo had such a following in Budapest?

When it came time to leave, we were sad to be leaving a city that we enjoyed so much and hosts that we loved, but we were really looking forward to our next stop - Vienna! To wrap up, here are random pics of us during our days in Budapest!

Feeling Guilty, My Boys

After posting pictures of the dogs yesterday, I felt guilty that I haven't even posted pictures of my very own boys that I have at home. They aren't quite as receptive to the whole "camera in the face" as the dogs are.

For those of you that haven't had the pleasure of meeting my boys - Lucky (or Lucka as I usually call him) is the large black cat. Yes, that is a torn ear and yes, he has a shady eyeball. This is what happens when you get your cats from a rescue group. However, I think he is the best looking cat this side of the Atlantic.

Pierre is my skittish pretty boy...hence the French name. Although very affectionate with me, he is not often seen by visitors. Unless he is "hiding" under the bed. As you can see below, his version of hiding is akin to an ostrich sticking his head in the sand. He can't see you but we can see him.

So there they are. I love them to death and would be lost without their everyday companionship while here in Spain!

I'm off to our trip! I'll be posting in a couple weeks about my Eastern European vacation.

California, July 2007

California. Just saying the name makes me happy. I love the weather, I love the ocean, and I love that some of my family is out there. Also, I love that English is commonly spoken (well, in some areas).

When my mom asked me to come out to spend her days off with her, I jumped at the chance. I was ready for a break from Spain and I wanted to put my new camera to use by photographing my most photogenic subjects so far - the bulldogs Daisy and Otis. I literally came home with about 400 pictures of them. Here are some of my favorites:













Aside from following the dogs around, I also managed to do a lot of relaxing and some wedding stuff. Mostly it was just quality time together - which at times meant watching Bridezilla marathons...guilty pleasure. We also had a nightly pastime of watching two spiders spin gigantic webs in her front yard. I like spiders (as long as I don't find them in my bed) so it was fascinating to watch them build these things. I'm certain anyone that witnessed us watching them thought we were a bit nuts, but that's half the fun.

Cassidy also made it out for 3 nights before heading up to San Francisco for work. Most of his time was spent in the sun either swimming, reading, or grilling ( a much missed part of apartment living here in Madrid). Friends of ours happened to be in San Diego from NYC so we were also able to squeeze in some time with them!

At the end of the trip we were convinced that eventually we would like to live in California. Although we think we will be heading back to Chicago to live...our next might be CA...but who knows where life will lead us.