Living La Vida Loca

After our few days in Budapest, we sailed along the Danube River which – thank goodness – had enough water level the entire way to avoid any detours and bus rides that others had experienced other seasons as the river ebbed and flowed. With the exception of our last stop in Prague where we had four days to explore, each of the other stops were basically one day and sometimes an evening, so we really just got a “taste” of the cities and towns we stopped at along the way. I will try here to share a few highlights.

Bratislava: Its history spans centuries. Once the capital of the kingdom of Hungary, it crowned 11 kings. Bratislava made it through a bleak Communist era, and to showcase their identity after the split of Slovakia from Czechia in 1993, it created its own brand of humor as well as humble remembrance of sad things past. Its history spans the centuries. Once the capital of the kingdom of Hungary, it crowned 11 kings. On the lighter side, there are some fun sculptures scattered about – such as Cumil, a rubbernecking sewer worker peeking out of a manhole, and Napoleon hanging out at a park bench in one of the town squares!

On the more serious side, Bratislava today memorializes the removal of the entire Jewish community by the Nazis.

This statue is a Holocaust Memorial to the 105,000 victims from Slovakia “Pamataj” means “Remember”. A beautiful synagogue stood where this sculpture is – the place of worship was bulldozed to make way for a highway overpass.

Vienna: I’d describe this city’s vibe as “regal” – the architecture of the cathedral, the various museums, the parliament compound, virtually all of its historic center is steeped in history and grandeur in architecture.

We definitely didn’t spend enough time exploring Vienna due to the cruise schedule but got to experience one of the highlights of this trip here. We got to experience a concert by a local small symphony and opera singer in the House of Strauss. This was where the famous family of composers worked and performed their works for many decades. A real treat!

The following few days we visited a number of smaller and very picturesque cities – Krems, Spitz, Linz, and Passau and Vilshofen. In all honesty, my aging memory cannot recall all the individual details of these historic areas, but best is for me to share some images of the exquisite landscape, ancient monasteries, and some nooks and crannies we enjoyed.

Prague: The last stop on our trip was truly special. While we had four days there, we could have stayed longer as the city is both vibrant and full of things to explore. Prague is a very walkable city with a distinct old center that has both charm and rich history. I was super proud of Andrew that he trucked up some really heavy-duty steps with me to reach the top of the castle mount where we saw a changing of the guards.

Jews are believed to have settled in Prague as early as the 10th century. The first pogrom was in 1096 (the first crusade) and eventually Jews were concentrated within a walled ghetto. In 1262, the community was granted a degree of self-administration. The ghetto was most prosperous towards the end of the 16th century. In 1850, the quarter was renamed “Josefstadt” (Joseph’s City) after Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor who emancipated Jews with the Edict of Tolerance in 1782. In its glory days, it’s said there were 18,000 inhabitants. Two years before Jews were allowed to settle outside of the city, so the share of the Jewish population in Josefov decreased, while only Orthodox and poor Jews remained living there.
Most of the quarter was demolished between 1893 and 1913 as part of an initiative to model the city on Paris. What was left were only six synagogues, the old cemetery, and the Old Jewish Town Hall – now all part of the Jewish Museum in Prague which we visited. It’s hard to picture the old “quarter” now because so many 20th century buildings and retail operations have moved in to service the tourist trade.

Nonetheless, we were very moved by our visits to one of the synagogues that has been converted to a Holocaust memorial, and the Old Cemetery where it’s said that burial plots go 14 people deep due to lack of space. This is very counter to Jewish tradition but nonetheless generations of our people are memorialized here.

One of the most striking features of Prague is the 14th-century pedestrian-only Charles Bridge to the historic old city center, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The bridge is lined with some incredible statues and the backdrop on both sides of the bridge reflect the many centuries old city architecture.

One last very fun experience was a folklore dinner where we got to try Czech specialties, regional wine and beer, and be entertained by traditional Czech music and dance. Andrew even got into the act when guests were invited to make music and dance too! Very cute.

Before leaving Prague, we were able to track down two of my team members from working for Microsoft while in Barcelona many moons ago. Martin and Lukas worked as developers based in Prague, and I had a great rapport with them during my stint as a project manager. I tracked them down when we know we’d be in their city, and it was such a treat to get to see them and share a drink and hearty fare at a local biergarten. This is exactly the kind of experience both Andrew and I live for when we travel!

In all, this three-week trip to both Italy and down the Danube was wonderful. We loved the company of my brother and sister-in-law and hope we can enjoy more adventures together.