Vacation - next few days

Well, the problem is that the hotel in Budapest was not internet friendly, and when I figured out how to blog, I wrote a completel day's report, and then it got screwed up and I lost it, so I am behind. And will never catch up.

Where did I leave off, I do not know. I also do not know how to do a question mark on this keyboard. (you would have learned a lot about Hungarian keyboards if my last message had gone through).

Our last full day in Vienna included the Secession museum, which was weird. It included the famous Klimt mural for the turn of the century Beethoven exhibit which has its own room in the basement, and a very helpful guide who was happy to have someone, even me, ask her questions, and two weird exhibits on the upper floors.

The Cathedral of St. Stephens is impressive enough and we did a quick gander inside, and were caught by a Bosnian dressed like a Hapsburg who wanted to sell us tickets to the nightly concert at the Kurhaus in the park across the street from the hotel, and we said ok for reasons unclear and paid about $35 a ticket for what I assumed would be a mistake and it was. We were told to get there early to get a good seat and we did, right behind the Wooggys (more about them later) and saw a group of music students under uninspired conducting play a group of waltzes and other schmaltzy pieces while two people balleted and two others opera'ed. We left after the intermission, realizing that the second half would simply be a repeat of the first. They oversold the room, by about 50 people; I think there were about 400 in the room and they do this 7 nights a week. That is something. We met a nice IT man from lebanon traveling by road with his two children from Beirut to France, a very exciting trip.

After that we had supper at Finmollers, which has been there since 1905 and serves very good food in pub-like setting (not a bar, but a restaurant). I had my only Wiener schnitzel which was too much to eat, and Edie had fish. Our waiter was a Serb from Bosnia, who was educated to teach political science but was an emigree and had no choice but to be a waiter. 40 years old, and all alone in the big city. Nice man.

After Bosnia day, we went to jewish day, and went to the two jewish museums and the holocaust museum, and visited the only synagogue to last through WWII, because it was in teh same building as the jewish community records which the nazis needed to keep and therefore could not burn on Kristalnacht. A very good speaker/guide. Exhibits at the museums included one devoted to the 100th birth anniversary of Elias Canetti, Bulgarian jewish nobel prize winner, and the history of Jews in Vienna. Also, the architecture of new \jewish synagogues and community centers worldwide.

Did I tell you about stumbling by accident on Fabios, a restaurant Edie found in a guidebook, and having a terrific lunch, or about the elegant shopping in the city, or the MAK where we say exhibits on jugendstil, wiener werkestette, etc.

One day........

budapest was next, and we are already in prague. i will try to catch up.