Here's the map of the tour:
It rounded up 6 countries--Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Czech--and 12 cities--most of them well known big towns such as Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Prague--in 11 days.
How do I remember them? I remember
The Castle
By a real king wanting a dream castle and devoting his reigning lifetime building it, risking bankruptcy of his kingdom, this Disneyland emulated fairy tale castle in southern Germany was as real and fanciful as I imagined it to be before I visited it.
How do I remember them? I remember
The Castle
By a real king wanting a dream castle and devoting his reigning lifetime building it, risking bankruptcy of his kingdom, this Disneyland emulated fairy tale castle in southern Germany was as real and fanciful as I imagined it to be before I visited it.
The Salt
Was the source of wealth for Salzburg (Salt City), Austria, hometown of musical wizard Mozart. A two-hour underground tour of the salt mine was both entertaining and educational.
Was the source of wealth for Salzburg (Salt City), Austria, hometown of musical wizard Mozart. A two-hour underground tour of the salt mine was both entertaining and educational.
The Caves
Of Slovenia is another cool underworld I've never experienced before. Didn't they find some pre-historic Neanderthal remains in caves like these somewhere around this part of the world, I recall?
Of Slovenia is another cool underworld I've never experienced before. Didn't they find some pre-historic Neanderthal remains in caves like these somewhere around this part of the world, I recall?
The Lakes
At Croatia's UNESCO sanctified world treasure 16 Lakes National Park are yet another pristine beauty hidden at one obscure corner of old Europe, while Lake Wolfgang in Alpine Austria is bustling with sailboats and swimmers and paragliders and resort villages and even appears in the movie "The Sound of Music".
The Rivers
Our "fill-in-the-gap" pre-tour Rhine River cruise took us through the famous Loreley Rock and gorge and views of some famous castles again; the Danube River in Budapest that divides the city into hilly Buda and plainy Pest brought us views of its grand cathedrals, palaces, monumental buildings on both sides as well.
The Music & The Dances
On the night in Vienna we went to an optional concert that was worth every penny for its impeccable performance of Mozart and Strauss pieces and operatic singing; on our arrival in Budapest a "Hungarian Night" dinner and entertainment featuring high-strung folk dancing and multi-lingual singing was equally enjoyable.
On the night in Vienna we went to an optional concert that was worth every penny for its impeccable performance of Mozart and Strauss pieces and operatic singing; on our arrival in Budapest a "Hungarian Night" dinner and entertainment featuring high-strung folk dancing and multi-lingual singing was equally enjoyable.
The Austro-Hungarian & The Holy Roman
The Holy Roman Empire was a loose confederation of mostly German speaking states and principalities since the 17th century on (and is therefore neither holy nor Roman nor an empire, as some would joke), before it was finally dissolved by Napoleon in 1806, but was a formidable polity during High and Late Middle Ages when it was ruled by powerful kings and "cooperated" with the Pope and its territories extended to northern Italy and eastern Europe and parts of western Europe.
One powerful king of Bohemia (part of Czech today) who became a Holy Roman Emperor was Charles IV, who built the famous Charles Bridge in Prague by laying the first stone himself at 5:31am on 9 July 1357, believing the magical number 1357 9, 7 5:31 (same reading forward and backward) will add extra strength to the bridge.
The Holy Roman Empire was a loose confederation of mostly German speaking states and principalities since the 17th century on (and is therefore neither holy nor Roman nor an empire, as some would joke), before it was finally dissolved by Napoleon in 1806, but was a formidable polity during High and Late Middle Ages when it was ruled by powerful kings and "cooperated" with the Pope and its territories extended to northern Italy and eastern Europe and parts of western Europe.
One powerful king of Bohemia (part of Czech today) who became a Holy Roman Emperor was Charles IV, who built the famous Charles Bridge in Prague by laying the first stone himself at 5:31am on 9 July 1357, believing the magical number 1357 9, 7 5:31 (same reading forward and backward) will add extra strength to the bridge.
They are celebrating King Charles' 700th birthday in Czech this year.
The House of Habsburg was one of the most influential royal houses of Europe. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs between 1438 and 1740. The house also produced emperors and kings of England, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Russia, etc.
The Austrian Empire was created out of the realms of the Habsburgs by proclamation in 1804, in response to (or for fear of) Napoleon's First French Empire. Geographically it was the second largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire and the third most populous after Russia and France at the time.
Franz Joseph I, a Habsburg, of course, was the longest reigning emperor of the Austrian Empire. Probably due to the heavy lobbying of his famous wife Sisi, who was the cousin of the "loony" Bavarian King Ludwig II who built the said dream castle above, who detested the suffocating Austrian/Habsburg court rituals but was a great fan of Hungarian culture, he agreed to elevate the Kingdom of Hungary to the equal of the Austrian monarchy, thus the Austro-Hungarian Empire was formed, in 1867.
Franz Joseph died in 1916, two years before the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dissolved at the end of World War I.
They are commemorating the 100th anniversary of Franz Joseph ("the forever Kaiser")'s death this year in Vienna.
The Austrian Empire was created out of the realms of the Habsburgs by proclamation in 1804, in response to (or for fear of) Napoleon's First French Empire. Geographically it was the second largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire and the third most populous after Russia and France at the time.
Franz Joseph I, a Habsburg, of course, was the longest reigning emperor of the Austrian Empire. Probably due to the heavy lobbying of his famous wife Sisi, who was the cousin of the "loony" Bavarian King Ludwig II who built the said dream castle above, who detested the suffocating Austrian/Habsburg court rituals but was a great fan of Hungarian culture, he agreed to elevate the Kingdom of Hungary to the equal of the Austrian monarchy, thus the Austro-Hungarian Empire was formed, in 1867.
Franz Joseph died in 1916, two years before the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dissolved at the end of World War I.
They are commemorating the 100th anniversary of Franz Joseph ("the forever Kaiser")'s death this year in Vienna.
Travelling today is quite different than yesteryears, by that I mean the omnipresence of WiFi and wireless internet makes self-help traveling even better and easier. During this trip, I used Google Maps to know where I was, Google Search for the stories behind the places I visited, and Google Translate to convert Slovenian and Croatian texts to English while at convenience stores or out in the wild. "Shoot (photos) first, ask Google later" was the new traveling motto I used to joke with my fellow tourists. I actually learned more through Google and internet about the places I visited than from all those tour guides combined.
But nothing beats going out there and seeing the real things, or talking to people from different parts of the world and learning through their perspectives, even when sometimes your feet were hurting tired or the crowd was too much and the time too little you couldn't see or enjoy as much as you wanted to. All's worthwhile, though, including the time you spent on hotel bed going through Wikipedia reading stories about the things you saw or places you visited that really roused your interest.
So next time when my highness presents her perfect tour plan I'll nod my head and say go again.
* For photo-by-photo explanations of the tour, go to my Facebook album
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10210668871703103.1073741833.1387569224&type=1&l=37e54b131c
* For the Hungarian Night dancing, go to
https://youtu.be/h7h1a-rURvY
* For the Hungarian Night hat play, go to
https://youtu.be/u0R1majorCg
* For the Hungarian Night singing American, go to
https://youtu.be/EP_C7DFbmAQ
* For the Hungarian Night singing Chinese, go to
https://youtu.be/MbhwDNUiZcE
* For the rail ride out of the caves, go to
https://youtu.be/vfIp4h9xgzk
* For the salt mine cruise, go to
https://youtu.be/uKh5C7NuXoQ
* For the Munich town hall glockenspiel show, go to
https://youtu.be/AzL09-I5JcU
But nothing beats going out there and seeing the real things, or talking to people from different parts of the world and learning through their perspectives, even when sometimes your feet were hurting tired or the crowd was too much and the time too little you couldn't see or enjoy as much as you wanted to. All's worthwhile, though, including the time you spent on hotel bed going through Wikipedia reading stories about the things you saw or places you visited that really roused your interest.
So next time when my highness presents her perfect tour plan I'll nod my head and say go again.
* For photo-by-photo explanations of the tour, go to my Facebook album
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10210668871703103.1073741833.1387569224&type=1&l=37e54b131c
* For the Hungarian Night dancing, go to
https://youtu.be/h7h1a-rURvY
* For the Hungarian Night hat play, go to
https://youtu.be/u0R1majorCg
* For the Hungarian Night singing American, go to
https://youtu.be/EP_C7DFbmAQ
* For the Hungarian Night singing Chinese, go to
https://youtu.be/MbhwDNUiZcE
* For the rail ride out of the caves, go to
https://youtu.be/vfIp4h9xgzk
* For the salt mine cruise, go to
https://youtu.be/uKh5C7NuXoQ
* For the Munich town hall glockenspiel show, go to
https://youtu.be/AzL09-I5JcU
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