Central Europe: Prague Czech Republic, Vienna Austria, Regensburg Germany, Bratislava Slovakia and Budapest Hungary.

This summer we sailed down the Danube from Germany to Hungary. We started our trip in Prague which is the capital of the Czech Republic. There was no sign of the old 'iron curtain' although we did go to the museum of communism, which looked like an old movie set inside. It made the old days of Soviet rule seem very dark and bleak. No sign of all that now! Prague is a very 'in' place right now and there were huge crowds of tourists. Globalization has made everything so familiar and almost everyone speaks English. For me the high points were a trip to the symphony and the amazing hotel we stayed in, the Imperial. It is self described as an 'art deco' hotel but it is so much more. The architecture (and the menu) in the restaurant were its stand out features. I wasn't impressed with the shopping but maybe I didn't go to the right places.
Next up was Passau and Regensburg in Germany. Two very nice towns where you don't have to go anywhere special to find great food and ambience. They both have a relaxed small town feel. Shoe shops everywhere especially Birkenstocks! My husband does not stop talking about the leberkase    he ate in Germany, a meatloaf-like concoction of sausage and cheese that is baked in the oven (see picture below).
From Regensburg we sailed on the Danube to Vienna. Spoiler alert the Danube is not blue! Not even close: greenish brown more like. One of the guides explained to us that if you go high up in the hills, when the sun is full at mid day, on a day when the sky is cloudless (and wear your blue tinted glasses:) looking from above it can appear to be blue. Sort of sounded like the sighting of an eclipse!
Unfortunately this year central Europe suffered an unusual heat wave, temperatures were 25 degrees above normal so Vienna was hot. There were hoards of tourists everywhere and it was hard to appreciate the usual tourist attractions. Believe it or not we didnt even sample the famous viennese chocolate cake. Of course, we took in a symphony which was nice and although we didnt go into any stores except to cool off, there was obviously excellent shopping to be done.

Onward to Bratislava and its huge iconic castle. Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia the other half of the former Czechoslovakia. I always knew the name of that country because I remembered hearing that my mother as a student had ventured behind the iron curtain with my Dad in the 50's and apparently that was a major deal. Its very western now and in the city we didn't need an interpreter. Partly because of the heat and the walking we got a little castle/cathedral/palace weary on the trip because they are all so much larger than life. The logistics of building these structures however has me in awe, how could they move those huge stones without any cranes? How many centuries of back breaking work would it take to create them even today?

Our last stop was BudaPest in Hungary, this is a city made of two cities Buda and Pest (pronounced Pesh). Two things you should know if you want to go here: the cost of everything is soooo reasonable, great place to shop and remember to go to the peoples market down the street from the shopping mall in Buda and get the world's best cheesecake from "Pam's". There is the antique and knick knack market that all the tourists go to downtown. My advice is don't bother with it unless you just want to buy paprika, which is what Hungary is famous for. The people's market is much better, better quality, better prices, more authentic. Last but not least just outside Budapest about 30 minutes ride is a town called Szentendra, it is referred to as an artist's colony but it is so much more. The shops are so quaint and they sell everything. One even had anti-aging face cream with 'stem cell extracts'! The antique stores have real antiques at very reasonable prices. If you are a shopper Hungary is for you!

Travel is inspiring and informing, it would be great if more people would travel and interact with people foreign to themselves and their way of life, maybe then we could begin to stamp out xenophobia.