A busy day

It was a busy day from the get-go today. I'm glad we slept late to start it off. First off was a treat for myself - the wireless mouse for the laptop was in its death throes, so I decided to retire it. I got a new one, and it's working just like it's supposed to. This year's flu shot came next - a longer wait than hoped-for - but it didn't hurt all that much. Voting early in our special state senate election took less than 5 minutes. And I felt good about both those things.

I did something today that I haven't done in a long, long time. I agreed to serve on the board of an organization. This is the Board of the Friends of the Library (the Chattanooga/Hamilton County Library). I haven't taken on such a responsibility in a long time. We spend so much time travelling that I haven't wanted to make a commitment that I couldn't keep. I do think this is a great organization, and I hope I can make a contribution. I certainly appreciate their giving me the opportunity to serve our community.

We had fun this evening. The UTC (University of Tennessee Chattanooga) men's and women's basketball teams (The Mocs) had their Blue/Gold games tonight. More than games, these are really scrimmages to introduce the teams to the fans, and get the fans excited about the upcoming season. We were already excited, but it's fun to do. The opening exhibition game is againse Lee University on Thursday.

Obit: Robert Goulet died today, 1933-2007.

Today's photos is one of John's - a fountain at a restaurant in Prague.

We're not sissies!

Autumn in Tennessee is so special! We had bright sunshine - the high for the day was in the mid60s - and they're predicting patchy frost overnight. To me, that's just about perfect!

Today was mostly a typical Monday. Swimming, coffee, Wal-Mart, washing, and bridge. The cards weren't too great, but the game is always good. I just wish we could find some more bridge-players.

We watched "The Queen", with Helen Mirren and James Cromwell tonight. What a great movie that is! Mirren is incredible. She truly was The Queen. I've always liked James Cromwell, but he played Prince Philip to perfection. If you haven't seen this one, check it out.

John went to the orthopedist because of problems with his shoulders. Exam and x-ray showed arthritis and bone spurs, probable bursitis and tendinitis in both shoulders. The doc told him that there didn't seem to be any problem with the rotator cuffs (surely was glad to hear that!). He got cortisone injections in both shoulders, and was given instructions for exercises. Also, no rowing for two weeks. He did the exercises this afternoon, and probably overdid. He said that by tonight, the pain was worse than ever. I hope he'll be better by morning, and will take it easier on the exercises tomorrow. Pain really ain't fun, and, as they say; Getting old isn't for sissies!

Today's picture is of St. Mathias Church in Budapest, Hungary.

Writer's block

This has been a real "vege-out" day for me. John was good and took two walks - on the Riverwalk and out in our neighborhood. So I'll just post photos of people from Prague, Budapest and Vienna.

Computer games

What games do YOU play on the computer? C'mon now - fess up! You know you play games. We certainly do, and I'm sure we don't even scratch the surface of the number and variety of games that can be found. I'll admit righte out that we don't play the shoot-em-up, action games. Some of the games that I play have a timer so you know how long it takes you, but I don't like to play against the clock.

OK, you say, "I don't waste my time playing games on the computer." Questions: Do you play solitaire with cards? Do you work jigsaw puzzles? Do you work crossword puzzles, jumbles, crostics, cryptograms, or sudoku in the newspaper? Do you play bridge? hearts? Do you play backgammon? Do you play dominoes? Do you play Rummi-Kub? Do you play scrabble? I'll bet you do.

Surprise! You can play ALL these games on the computer, on-line or purchased from the store, or maybe they were already installed when you bought your computer. Check it out! You'll be amazed at what you can find. And how much fun they are. You can play them by yourself or find people all over the world to play with and/or against.

Like the sound effects? Turn the sound up on your speakers. Hate the sound effects? Turn the sound off. I love playing solitaire when I don't have to pick the cards up, shuffle them, and redeal the layout. And no erasers needed for the pencil puzzles.

The experts tell us to "use it or lose it". This goes for our minds as well as our bodies. All these games exercise the mind, keeping it well-oiled and active. I've even found a word puzzle that is based on the news of the day, so I have to keep up witih what's going on in the world, as well as figure out missing words.

Look around and see what you can find. It's worth wasting (or investing) a few minutes. And I'd love to hear what kind of games YOU like to play.

Today's picture has nothing to do with puzzles. It's another photo from Prague - what a lovely city this is.

No painting today

I went to the doctor this morning. Nothing specific - just needed an Rx filled and they said they needed to touch base with me before that. Not a problem. Just a weigh-in (LOST 10 pounds - don't know how that happened - unless all that walking in Europe), BP check (130/70), chest listening, and chat. We really do like our family doctor and feel that he takes very good care of us. He's very conservative and doesn't order lots of unnecessary tests or meds, but is quick to refer us to a specialist if it's needed. He noticed a jump in John's PSA value over a year's time, and referred him to the urologist. And, of course, this got the prostate cancer diagnosed and treated at a very early stage.

We got our usual good workout at swimming this morning. Our instructor loves to work us hard and get our heart rates up and to forget about the cold water.

I enjoy talking to a friend from the swim class this evening. She's been in NYC helping to take care of her new (and first) grandbaby. She just wanted to chat and let us know what she's been doing. Her daughter and son-in-law are getting ready to open a coffee shop. A plug for any readers in Queens - watch for Espresso 77, at 77th St. and 37th Ave. It'll be a good one.

I hated missing going to Studio 2 this morning - I can't remember the last time we were in town and I didn't go on a Friday. I'll have to make up for it and talk more when I'm there next week. And maybe even paint more. That would be a good thing. When Vicki gets her co-op gallery going, I'm going to have to be more productive, to have new paintings to show. Betsy called tonight and said she enjoyed seeing photos of my paintings. I just thought - I have photos of paintings that no longer exist. One of the joys (or curses) of acrylic painting is that it can be painted over (and over, and over). I may look at something and decide it just doesn't work, and I'm just as likely to completely cover it with new paint and start again. Always interesting!

Today's photo is an artist sketching on the Charles Bridge in Prague.

We got to sleep late this morning - at least late for us - between 7:30 and 8 a.m. It was NICE! I'm glad we're finally learning how to do that, AND to have the opportunity to do it from time to time.

A special early morning surprise was a call from a SeniorNet friend who lives in Chattanooga. We've been communicating on line for more than a year, but this is the first time we've actually talked on the phone. We're working on it, and I'm hoping that we'll actually meet in person before too much longer.

We had lovely weather today. I do love the cooler weather, and our high was 64. John's not too happy about it, but then he has to listen to me complain about hot summer weather. He's had to change to his "winter uniform" - jeans and a sweat shirt. I got out a sweat shirt today, too - and it felt good. We haven't turned the heat on yet, though.

As they burn out, we're gradually changing our light bulbs from incandescent to fluorescent. I'd prefer more wattage than we're able to get from the fluorescent at this time, but I'll get used to it. It's certainly one of the easiest things we can do to decrease our energy use.

I've e-mailed a cousin and an old friend in Houston about our going to be there for my 50th Rice reunion. My cousin will be out of town that weekend, but we'll be seeing her in January in any case. It'll be an interesting weekend in any case.

The doctor's office actually called me this week to make me an appointment. I had contacted the pharmacy for a refill, and the doc said I needed to be seen before getting the refill. I am glad that they're keeping track of things like that. It's surely good medicine. I will have to miss painting tomorrow, but I guess I can handle that. It has been a while since I've been in for some routine stuff, so I guess it's a good thing.

Today's picture is of Prague's red tile rooftops.

October Miscellany

We had lots of varied weather today - showers, sunshine, coolness - a lovely fall day.

The images from the aftermath of the fires in California are just awful. I can't imagine being in such a threatening situation.

Cheney's family tree: Click here for a wonderfully nasty editorial cartoon. And click here for another one on the same subject.

We got our 2007-08 basketball tickets for the University of Tennessee Chattanooga Lady Mocs. We are ready for the college basketball season to start. The only game we'll miss is when the Lady Mocs play the Lady Vols - but I guess we can handle that. We won't miss any of our home games, and I guess we'll get to one of the tournaments in March. We'll have to choose - the Southern Conference (UTC) Tournament is in Charleston the same weekend as the Southeastern Conference (Lady Vols) Tournament in Nashville. Oh, well - we don't have to make that decision yet.

We also got notification that our tickets to the remaining Chattanooga Symphony season have been processed and are being mailed out. John figured it out that there'll be no conflicting dates between the Symphony and the Lady Mocs. We'd hate to have to make such a choice.

Today was oil/acrylic painting day at Studio 2. I worked on 3-4 different paintings. I do have a good time "playing in the paint" with the acrylics. And occasionally I come up with some results that please me.

Today's picture is of some folks enjoying an al fresco lunch in Prague.

FOUR inches!

We've had 4 inches of rain in the last three days. And we still have more rain predicted for the next couple of days. That's almost more rain that we've had total since last spring.

Of course, it's all relative. At least we're not on fire. The fires in CA are just incredible! Our family out there (John's sister and BIL in Torrance; granddaughter Alison in San Diego) are out of harm's way, thankfully, but of course being affected by the smoke and winds. We do hope they'll get some relief soon.

Click here to read an article in the New York Times about SeniorNet. I talk about SN all the time, and this has a great piece about what's done in the SN centers around the country. I wish we had one here in Chattanooga, but there are several of us here who participate in the on-line Discussions. Check it out sometime - SeniorNet . It's free, although paid membership is optional and always welcome.

I've got lots of knitting going on right now. Usually, I try to finish one project before I start another - and now I have four going on at one time. As always, I have a pair of socks going, and that's the one I need to finish first. After all, I have orders for two more pairs already. Then there's the sweater that Kate asked me to do for her. Well, that's not quite true. She told me about it, and I volunteered to do it. Well, maybe she did whine just a little bit. Last week, Vicki asked if I would knit her a V-necked sleeveless sweater. Piece of cake, right? So that's on the needles, too. And, of course, the major project is the afghan I've started for a wedding present for Matt and Amanda. But I have until May to get that done. Guess I know what I'll be doing on the RiverBarge while watching the rivers go by.

Now that I've covered the trip, I guess I need to find something else exciting to do to write about. Y'all stay with me while I work on that.

Today's photo is a rose in Prague.

The end of a great trip

On our last full day in Vienna (and of the trip), we decided to right the tram around the Ring Road and get off to check out things we hadn't seen before. Our first stop was at the Parliament Building. Tours in English were available, so we booked one, then walked across a small park to the Rathaus (the City Hall). The Rathaus wasn't open for tours on that day, but we walked around the park and took pictures until time to return to the Parliament Building.

This was our first bilingual tour, and the tour leader did a great job of doing part of the spiel in German, and then repeating in English. The architect who building the building loved everything Greek, so everything about it is Greek. About half of this huge building was destroyed during WW2. The main, semicircular, now-ceremonial chamber remained intact. Amazingly the Bohemian crystal back-lit ceiling survived the war. The other chambers for the bicameral legislature are more functional, but not nearly as elegant.

We had not gone through St. Stephen's Dom and Platz, even though it was right in our neighborhood. So we headed there next. St. Stephen's Dom is a huge, soaring, Gothic cathedral, and is badly in need of restoration. There is scaffolding on the exterior, so work is being done, but the interior is very dark and gloomy. The building of these cathedrals was quite a feat.

We spent the late afternoon packing for our early pickup, then went for dinner. We've always eaten in neighborhood cafes and restaurants, and the food has been exceptional. We finished up our last evening as most of the rest of them - playing bridge. For the three weeks, Al just beat out John for high, Ann was third, and I had less than half as many points as any of the others.

Our flight home was reasonably uneventful. Ann & Al had some trouble getting from Atlanta to LAX, but eventually did (although their luggage didn't). What a great trip this was! We really aren't big city people, but these are three spectacular cities, with SO much history. We can certainly recommend this trip, and any other trip with Untours.

Today pictures are John's and mine - the Crystal ceiling in the ceremonial chamber of the Parliament Building, the Rathaus, and St. Stephen's Dom.

Another gorgeous day..

On another gorgeous day, we took the Metro out to Schonbrunn Palace. These palaces are just incredible - huge and beautifully constructed and decorated. Obviously no expense in money or workmen was spared. We all enjoyed our tour through the rooms, and walking through the gardens.

On our way back to town, we stopped to walk through an outdoor City Market. The stalls were mostly operated by Turkish and other middle Eastern vendors. It's always fascinating to see all the produce and goods offered for sale. We ate lunch at one of the cafes there, and got some bread and cheese for breakfast.

After dinner, we took the tram to the Musikverein for a concert by the Vienna Mozart Orchestra. The hall is worth a visit just for itself - fully decorated with carvings and gilding. Reportedly, the acoustics are the best in Vienna. What fun when the orchestra members took the stage in full period (18th Century) dress - white clubbed wigs, black pumps with buckles, white hose, black knee breeches, and brightly colored frock coats (ivory, green, turquoise, blues, red, gold, etc.) The program was all-Mozart, of course. The encore was a medly of, what else, famous Viennese waltzes.

Today's pictures are John's - the Schonbrunn Palace from the gardens and a display at the City Market.

Wow!

The next day was surely one of the high points of our whole trip - attending the performance at the Spanish Riding School. We've all heard of the Lipizzaner horses, and their fancy steps and their leaps, the "Airs Above the Ground", and we've probably seen them on TV. But I never would've expected to be seeing the real thing - AND in Vienna! Ann ordered the tickets months ago - as soon as we made the reservations for the trip and had specific dates.

We arrived and climbed a LONG marble staircase to find our seats in the single row around the railing of the balcony overlooking the arena. The arena floor was covered by carefully raked tanbark, and lit by crystal chandeliers and the large windows on the long sides of the space. The arena is longer and slight wider than a basketball court. We were able to take lots of photographs before and after the performance, but no photography was allowed during the event.

I know next to nothing about horses, but even to this totally ignorant eye, these animals, their riders/handlers, and their training is amazing. There were about six "acts", beginning with a group doing simple maneuvers, probably some youngsters getting actual performance experience. One act was one horse with his handler walking behind or just off the hip, using long reins. The handler put the horse through all sorts of gaits, but all done at the man's walking speed. The final group were the most experienced horses and riders, doing a "dance" that rivalled the precision marching of any college marching band. What a special experience!

For dinner, we headed out to a wine-growing area to a recommended restaurant. The focus was definitely on the wine. We sat at long tables in a cobblestone courtyard under grapevines. We went through a buffet line for our meal - pick what you want, and then you're charged by the weight of the food. It was an excellent "country" meal. The wine-drinkers opted not to try "sturm", the newly bottled wine from this season. We'd been told it was very, very sweet, and had a huge alcoholic content.

Today's pictures are from the Spanish Riding School - from our seats before the performance, and from the floor level afterwards.

A day in the Wachau, Austria

Our Untours-provided day trip out of Vienna was definitely one of the high points of the trip. We took the train to the small town of Melk, where we were met by Norbert, our self-named "un-guide". What a charmer this gentleman is! He first drove us to the Abbey in Melk - definitely "super-Baroque" in design.

We then drove through the Wachau Region of Austria along the "left side" of the Danube. This is an area of gorgeous scenery, lined by wide, level bicycle trails, terraced vineyards, and small towns with cobblestone streets. We even got off of the main road and drove along some of the roads intended for bicycles. One of the towns was Willendorf, which is where the Venus of Willendorf was found. I've seen photos of this prehistoric fertility symbol, but didn't really realize where it was found. Ann and Al had seen at the Museum of Natural History in Vienna.

Norbert stopped and to let us walk through the town of Durnstein. The town lies on a land-step above the Danube and below a huge ruined castle. This is where Richard the Lion Hearted was held captive for many years. There are lots of tourist shops in this town, and part of the roads is lined by vineyards.

We crossed the Danube and went up into the hills on the other side of the river. There have been settlements in this area for over 2000 years. Norbert showed us a remnant of a Roman road, where the grooves of the wagons can still be seen. He drove us through beautiful hills and farmland, with occasional vistas of the Danube and an occasional abbey on a distant hilltop.

We finally arrived at an Inn for our special lunch - an amazing 5-course meal - which took almost 2 hours. On the way to the train station, Norbert stopped to show us one more charming village church, with amazing gilded and carved wood altars contained in a tiny building. The train and metro got us home about 7:30, and we could just savor the day.

Today's photos are of shopping in Durnstein and of grapes from the Wachau vinyard region.

Vienna museums

Our first full day in Vienna was our second rainy day on the trip. We had our orientation meeting and arranged to do the Untours-sponsored event - a day-trip out of Vienna. We also ordered tickets to a concert by the Vienna Mozart Orchestra.

After the meeting, we went looking for the Hofbrau and the Spanish Riding School to pick up our tickets for a performance of the Lipizzaner horses. This is the one things we arranged before the trip. After picking up the tickets, we went in different directions. The rain picked up, and we managed to get ourselves lost before we finally got on a bus and found our way to the Leopold Museum. We saw a lot of Hungarian and Austrian artists, and got reacquainted with some other ones. We refreshed with some coffee at the museum, and went through another floor. Finally our feet gave out, and we headed out. By now, the rain had moved out, and we did an exploration ride on the trolley around the Ring Road.

More rain the next morning, but it finally slacked up. We headed out to go to the Albertina Museum. This was definitely a high point. The art is in a new building; royal rooms are in the old palace part of the building, with all the gorgeous rugs, parquet floors, chandeliers, etc. Click here to see the Albertina Museum web page. The sun was shining brightly when we left the museum. Our second museum that day was the Kunst Museum - the very old museum. It's a gorgeous old building, with some great stuff. They have a Vermeer, which is always special. And 8 Rembrandts (4 portraits and 4 self-portraits).

By now, my knees were really hurting, so we called it a day. There was some more rain while we were eating dinner, but it didn't keep us from finishing the day off with some bridge.

Today's picture is of the courtyard outside the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.

Budapest to Vienna

Our next museum was the Budapest Art Museum in the City Park. This is a huge museum,and we spent nearly the whole day there. There was a special exhibit about Pre-Incan cultures in Peru, with marvellous artifacts. And even the rest of the museum was spectacular - the permanent collection - another special exhibit of engravings - and the building itself. Click here for a picture of Durer's engraving "St. Jerome in his Study". The reproduction, of course, doesn't do it justice.

Another find at another museum was other work by Gustave Klimt. We're familiar with his Art Deco paintings of women, stylized, with lots of gold paint. Imagine our surprise at finding Study of a Blind Man. What a gorgeous portrait this is!

Our transfer to Vienna was a 3-hour train ride. Our apartment, again, is wonderful - right in the middle of the St. Stephen's area - the heart of Old Town. The building was built in 1902, and had been recently renovated, with very contemporary interiors to the apartments. The lobby, marble circular stairway, and Art Deco elevator remained as charming as ever. Our apartment even has a computer and internet hookup. We had a fantastic wiener schnitzel for dinner - our best yet.

Although we'd been assured before we left that our ATM card would work, it did not in Prague or Budapest. We managed to get buy, but it was very frustrating. It was quite a relif when it DID work in Vienna. We've been having words and lots of phone calls with our bank since we got home trying to find out what happened. So far, they've not been able to trace the problem.

Photo today is of the staircase and elevator at Riemergasse 8 in Vienna.

Two more gorgeous days in Budapest

Another gorgeous day in Budapest. John didn't want to spend another gorgeous day inside museums, so we headed off to take the cog railway up into the hills and ride the Children's Train. What fun that was - to see these youngsters in their uniforms, handling all the responsibilities of their jobs. On this sunny Sunday afternoon, the railway and train were full of families with small children on outings. Ann and Al thoroughly enjoyed their day at the Museum of Natural History and Museum of Applied Arts.

We went further afield for dinner this night, and took the Metro to an area near the Opera House to a pedestrian esplanade that was lined with restaurants. We ate outside, of course. Each chair had a blanket draped over its back, so patrons could wrap up if it got too cold. We saw this many times in all the cities.

The next day, we walked to the nearby St. Stephen's Basilica - one of the Budapest landmarks. I overheard a guide saying that the gorgeous stained glass windows were only 2-3 years old - they had been redone using the old windows as patterns. We walked toward the Parliament Building looking for various pieces of public art that we had seen from the trams. There are so many squares with old and new sculpture.

The most moving piece was a memorial to Jews who were murdered by Hungarian partisans in 1944-45. The Jews were lined up on the riverbank, shot, and pushed into the Danube. The 2005 monument consists of 60 pairs of shoes, cast in iron, lined up along a stretch of the riverwall. It is heart-wrenching.

We finished our day with a trip to the City Market, and an evening concert by the Danube Folk Dancers. Another great day in Budapest.

Today's pictures are from the Children's Train and of the Shoes Monument.

A day out of Budapest; making lasagna at home

Our trip out of Budapest was an all-day excursion to the Bend of the Danube, and the towns of Szentendre (St. Andrew's), Visegrad, and Esztergom (Stephen). What a lovely day this was! We had great weather. We reached Szentendre early, fortunately - the main groups of tourists arrived about the time we were getting ready to leave. Szentendre is a charming town of hills, cobblestone streets, little shops, and galleries. Mostly we wandered around on our own. Ann, Al, and I arranged to go through the museum of a Hungarian potter, Margrit Kovacs. She decided to leave her clay sculptures and money for a museum to Szentendre, when she died in the 1977. Her free-standing sculptures and wall pieces are wonderfully figurative with faces (I realized later) are taken from Medieval altar pieces and paintings.


Our next stop was Visegrad and a wonderful ruin of a medieval castle that had been overgrown and lost until 1932. It's still being excavated and restored, including a great citadel on top of the hill behind the castle. We also ate lunch at a lovely country restaurant overlooking the citadel.
Esztergom is a town built on a bluff overlooking the Danube, with Slovakia on the other side. Built on the bluff is a huge basilica, one of the largest in Hungary, built from 1822-1869.


After we got into Budapest, we got caught in a mammoth traffic tie-up, caused by a motorcycle/bicycle event ,causing streets to be closed. It took about 2 hours to go what should've taken about 20 minutes. Our guide finally let us out near a Metro station, trusting us to get home by ourselves.
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At home today, it was a busy day. I went to the grocery store, and got all the ingredients for making lasagna. That's a major event around here, since I make it in huge quantities. The sauce simmered all afternoon, and assembly started right after supper. When it was all over, we had nine 10x10 pans of lasagna. It was amazing - I don't measure anything...just start cooking, and then see how it comes together. I wound up using every bit of the sauce I had made, all the cottage cheese, and almost all the lasagna noodles. I don't know how that works out. The trickiest part was making enough room in the freezer to get the pans in. Once they're frozen, they can be stacked. Three of them are actually spoken for. I'm glad I don't "cook" very often.
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Today's pictures are of the entrance to Margrit Kovacs Pottery Museum and of the Citadel in Visegrad. (I don't seem to be able to post any photos tonight - I'll try to add them later.)

Budapest Castle

We caught the trolley right outside our apartment this morning, and rode across the Danube and up into the Buda Hills to the Budapest Castle and Old Town. This covers a huge area on the hilltops, and has great views of the river and Pest (including our street).

In all these wonderful old European cities, there are layers and layers of previous inhabitants. Each new group or generation builds in the same places, on top of the remains of older stuff. There are a number of places in the Budapest Castle where partially excavated Roman ruins are visible. At least we assumed they were Roman ruins - large expanses of stone rooms - there was no signage giving information. We didn't take a tour of the castle - just walked around. The buildings are in various stages of restoration - clean and shining - dark and dingy - shrouded in scaffolding. But it is magnificent. Several of the churches have the gorgeous, colorful, patterned tile roofs.

We went looking for the only monument in Budapest dedicated to a Muslim. I didn't get there because the hill was too high for me, but the others saw it. This man was responsible for bringing rose bushes to Budapest, and his monument is a low building with wonderful rose gardens. Unfortunately, the roses were past their prime, but interesting nevertheless.

We didn't take a boat trip on the river in Budapest. We looked at some of the companies and their routes - they didn't go any farther than the areas we had seen from the land side. We have had gorgeous weather, so have gotten to wander at will. The city is very open and easy to explore.

Today's pictures are taken at the Castle. First is of the Chain Bridge across the Danube with our street going away from the river to the right of the Pest end of the bridge. Second is part of the restored and cleaned Fisherman's Bastion at the Castle.

Getting started in Budapest

On our first full day in Budapest, we started to just explore and get a feel for the layout of the city. The Danube runss through the center of the city. Buda (the hilly city, the older city) is on one side, and Pest (the flatter, the more commercial area) is on the other.

We took the trolley into Buda to ride the cog railway up into the hills. We got some glimpses of houses through the trees, but not a great vista that we had hoped for. The Children's Railway runs further uphill from near the end of the cog railway. This unusual railway was started under Communism, to train youngsters to grow up to run the railway system. Now, the kids go to a regular school, but also run the railroad as a tourist attraction. They are about 10-14 years old, and do everything except the actually running of the trains. Ann and Al went on to wait to ride the Children's Railway - John and I headed back down on the cog railway.

We eventually wound up a the City Market. What a fantastic place - two huge floors of booths selling produce, meat, bread and pastries, tourist items, prepared foods to eat at stand-up tables, wine, clothing, table linens. We didn't begin to cover it all. We decided to eat at one of the stalls, and found "langos". It basically a fried Hungarian flat bread (like Navajo fry-bread!), and you can get it with almost any kind of toppings. We had a traditional topping - butter and garlic. Yum!!! Travelling is just as much about trying local foods as it is about seeing the sights.

Today's pictures are of a man sleeping in the sun at the cog railway station, and of some produce at the City Market.

Rain and moving

On a rainy day, we took our umbrellas and headed off for Stare Mesta - Old Town in Prague. Charming narrow streets paved with cobblestones. The rain slacked up, and we looked through some of the glass shops, and an open air market. After lunch, the rain picked up again, so we decided to head home. This was our last day in Prague.

The next morning, we were picked up and taken to the train station for our transfer to Budapest. We had to schlep our bags more than we would've liked in the train station, but eventually got settled, and had a nice 6-hour train ride through the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary.

Our smooth transfer in Budapest landed us at our nice apartment on a busy street in Pest - centrally located near the river, the main transfer Metro station, St. Stephen's Basilica. Our 5-story building was an old one, with a locked door leading into a courtyard. The apartment had been recently redone, very contemporary, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, living room, kitchen/eating area, and a washer/dryer. We had been planning for this one, and started the first load of wash that night before we left for our orientation meeting at a nearby cafe. After the meeting and dinner, we spent a long time trying to get the dryer to work. It never did, though, and we wound up hanging our wash to dry on a drying rack in the living room. It worked!

Today's pictures are of a rainy day in Prague, and a wonderful painted building in the Stare Mesta.

Music, music, music!

On our next day in Prague, we took a trip out of town - to the town of Kutna Hora. It was a nice small town, although larger than we had expected. It was a lovely sunny day, and we enjoyed walking around the town, looking at churches and at the vistas from higher areas.

It's a shame that we had to go to the wonderful old European cities to hear such great music and remind us that we have this all the time, right here in our own backyard.

We went to the Chattanooga Symphony's opening concert tonight - an American Masters program - Charles Ives, Ferde Grofe (Grand Canyon Suite), Duke Ellington (New World A'Comin'), George Gershwin (Rhapsody in Blue). Great piano solos by Leon Bates. A great program.

The Symphony programs always open with the Star Spangled Banner. It is thrilling to hear it orchestrated, played at the proper tempo, with the entire audience singing along, loudly and confidently.

Today's picture is overlooking the town of Kutna Hora, Czech Republic.