Europe Summer 2013

     I am not in Europe.  I am home again.  I returned on Sunday 18 August after 50 nights in Europe.  I can not say that I am glad to be back.  The rest of my week in Vienna was great. The weather was good and I went to a bunch of places with my friend who had not been there in years.  It is always nice to show someone around a place that you have been to many times and know very well.
     We went to the Kaisergruft to see the tombs of the Habsburgs.  We went through the entire Hofburg, the Schatzkammer, and the Kunsthistorisches Museem.  All are well worth a visit even if you have been there before especially the art museum.  We went to Schoenbrunn one morning.  We also went to the Belvedere.  One thing I did that I have not done before and which I would recommend if you are there for a week is to buy a week pass for the metro.  It cost 15.95 euros and is well worth it.  It allows you to get on any tram or bus or metro as often as you want for the week.  I used it a lot.  If you make 5/6 rides it pays for itself and it does make it very convenient to hope on one of the trams and go to another part of the city very easily.

Vienna 12 August 2013

     Yesterday Sunday 11 August I arrived in Vienna.  I came by train from Brno.  The train was a direct ride and was very easy to do.  I got off at Wien Meidling.  Then I took a cab to good old Konig von Ungarn Hotel.  In my opinion the best place to stay in Vienna.  It is located on Schuler Strass which is a street that begins behind Stephans Dom on the left.  I checked in to the same room I always stay in and then walked over to KohlMarkt and Levant Restaurant where I had a durum and 2 beers.  After I returned t o the hotel and slept a little and then I went to the café next to Levant for a before dinner Aperol.  I had dinner at L'Asine, my bar on the street that runs next to the Hofburg and ends at the Albertine.  I had a salad and veal scallopine and a few wines.  It is much more expensive here than in the Czech Republic and more expensive than Bamberg or Weimar so I guess I'm a little price shocked.  My dinner tonight was at Ilona Stuebl.  This is a little Hungarian restalurant on Brunnerstrasse.  I have eaten there every time I have been in Vienna.  I was a little apprehensive this time because I took my friend Ernest and he hates most restaurants.  But it went well.  I had a large Bauern salad and a beef and potato dish that is a little like pot roast.  I drank 2 1/2 liter beers and it cost me 35e
    Tomorrow we plan to go to the Hofburg and all the museums in there.

Brno 9 August 2013

  After my first night in Prague I visited the art collection in the Sternberg Palace.  It is worth a look although there are no "big ticket" pieces.  It was so hot that after I walked down the hill, I took the tram up, I went back to the Hilton and went to the pool.  I was the only swimmer and it was very nice and refreshing.  The Hilton Old Town is where I stayed, in case I did not say it before.  It is perfectly located and has exactly what you expect from a Hilton and the price, including breakfast is reasonable.  On my 2nd full day I hired a private guide for a city tour from Prague Saints online.  He showed up on time and the 4 hour tour I thought I had arranged was actually a 7 hour tour.  Needless to say we went to every corner of Prague and I saw every site that anyone would want to see.  The guide was a young college student who knew the answer to every question I had and we had some very informed and interesting conversations throughout the day.  He was worth every penny.
     I left Prague on 8 August and went to Brno, where I am now, by direct train.  It cost 220 Czech Krones - about $11.  Brno is the historic capitol of Moravia.  There is nothing to see here other than enjoying the surroundings.  The food and drink are very, very reasonable and the people are very, very nice.  At the city museum and art museum at the old fortress called Spitzberg, they were actually waiting for me at the end of one exhibit to take me to the next!  The food and the beer is really good but that is all I am doing.  Eating, drinking and sleeping.  I am staying a the Barceló Palace, which I highly recommend.  It is beautiful and my room is large and well done, with air-conditioning!  It is ideally located to many, many bars and restaurants.  One I will mention is just up the street and is a bar called the Havana Club.  The drinks are cheap and the servers are wonderful

Prague, 6 August 2013

  Last night I ate at a place I remembered from the last time I was in Prague.  It is on Aneska 2 and is called U Cerveneho kola.   It is just lovely!  You go through into a court yard to eat.  There are about 14 tables out there and last night there were only 4/5 used, including me.  It is very peaceful and nice.  The food is very good.  I had 2 starters, one hot and one cold.  The cold was the pate with bread - very good.  The hot was asparagus gratin.  Also very good.  My main dish was goulash with bread dumplings and a small salad.  I drank a Campari and 3 glasses of wine.  It all cost 1010 kc.  The service is very efficient and nice and I enjoyed the peace and quite and being away from all the crowds.    Today all I did was take the tram up to the palace hill and go to the Sternberg collection.  The collection is very nice and it took a while to go through although there is no big block-buster piece.  After I walked back down the hill and stopped for 2 beers.  When I got back to the Hilton it was about 2 o'clock and I went to the pool because I was so hot.  The pool was great!! I had it all to myself and went for 2 swims and read a paper.   I do have to say that Prague is filled to the brim with tourists.  You almost can not walk down the street in the touristy areas.  There seem to be two types.  Low rent southern Europeans and well heeled retired Americans on a tour.  It does not matter really.  They are all dressed like idiots and are totally inconsiderate of anyone else.  My advice to someone traveling to Prague, and it is still worth a visit, is to try and avoid the major tourist attractions.  There was basically no one but me in the art museum.  Last night after dinner I walked down to the Charles Bridge and it was terrible.  You could not have walked across if you wanted to there were so many people there.

Bamberg 4 August 2013

   I have been in Bamberg, Germany since 24 July.  I have not been able to write because the apartment that I have rented does not have access of any kind.  Right now I am in a restaurant that lets you have access for 2e.  My 12 nights here in Bamberg have been OK.  The weather was good.  Although some days were very hot, but it is summer.  I made a day trip to Coburg.  It is a nice day out and takes about 30 minutes on the train.  I walked around and went on the guided tour of the city palace and enjoyed it a great deal.  Coburg was the capitol of the duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and the reigning dukes lived there.  Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert was from there as was her mother so there is a lot of portraits and memorabilia if you are interested in that.  I had lunch at the Ratskeller right on the main platz.  It was perfectly nice.
     I can not report anything new about Bamberg.  I ate twice at a restaurant called Casa Italia and loved it.  I had eaten there before.  It is never crowded and the food is very good.  The wait staff are great and it is nice to spend a quiet evening there with good food and good wine at a good price.  I also ate at the little place on the canal.  I don't know the name but it is behind the Tourist office and directly over the bridge.  The food is good German food.  You get a lot of it, it is fresh and well made.  The prices are tremendously good.  Go there.
     I do think this is my last summer here in Bamberg.  It has become over run with tourists.  There are nights when every restaurant is full.  also the apartment I rented was in a residential area, which was nice, but there was constant, and I do mean constant, traffic.  I am exhausted because the noise makes it almost impossible to sleep.  Tomorrow I go by train to Nurnberg and then with the bus to Prague.  I am staying at the Hilton and expect to arrive early in the afternoon.  I am going to take a nice shower, crank up the AC and SLEEP.  I can't wait! 
     Before leaving Bamberg I do want to make one last recommendation.  At the end of Markkus Strasse is a bridge.  Over the bridge on the right is a bar called Lewinsky's.  It is GREAT.  They have indoor and outdoor seating and in the evenings if there is a sporting event on TV they have it on inside on a large screen.  I went there to watch Bayern Munchen play in the semi-finals and finals of the Audi Cup.  So if you want to have a few beers and hang out with the locals go there and grab a seat out back and enjoy.

    Next stop Prague