Hortobagy

"Hortobágy is not only part of Europe’s Great Plains region, the largest uninterrupted natural grassland in Europe, but also the place of herdsmen who have preserved a very ancient way of life. The outstanding landscape of Hortobágy, known as puszta, in eastern Hungary is a unique example of the harmonious coexistence of people and nature. Through the considerate use of the land, both the diversity of species and habitat have been preserved. Traditional Hungarian domestic animals (nonius horse, Hungarian grey cattle, racka sheep, water buffalo, mangalica pig), as well as herdsmen, shepherds and horsemen are a regular part of the landscape."

How cool does THAT sound?  I found this description online, it was near Eger, and so I planned on a day to go see it.  Now....remember, we're out here in Eastern Hungary (the most western of the steppes of Russia) in late February.  I never realized that.....NOTHING happens in Winter.  OOPS.  As D and I agreed, "my run of creating magical travel moments didn't work out this time."  If you click on Hortobagy Nonprofit, you'll see what I hoped we would see and experience.  This was a reminder that THOROUGH research is critical!!  Regardless, pictures of what we saw.....

Hortobagy Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

The famous 9 arch bridge of Hortobagy

It's been a COLD winter.  Hungary's second largest river, the Tizla, was frozen over.

In the winter and spring, this part of Hungary along the path of migrating birds.  These bird lookouts were all over the place.

We came to see birds, horses.....any animal.  These scraggly woolly guys are all we saw.

A church?  Nope, turns out this modern building is going to be a shopping mall.  Even rural Hungary is modernizing....with some interesting architectural choices to boot.

The old and the new.

Eger, Hungary

First stop in Hungary, the little town that could....Eger.  If you look for it on the map, it's right up near Slovakia about two-thirds the way to the Ukraine.  Here's we're looking down on to Dobo Istvan Square and the Minorite Church.

Why is Eger so famous?  Back in 1552, the Ottomans were running rampant of Eastern Europe and taking Magyar (Hungarian for Hungary) cities.  But the citizens of Eger, led by Istvan Dobo held off the Ottomans and thereby became heroes to the Magyars! Notice the woman on the right throwing a pot of hot tar!!!  Everyone was in on the battle.

Another statue of the Eger battle

Senator Haz, the oldest building in Eger, and the location of our hotel.

A minaret, a leftover of the time when the Ottoman's ruled this part of the world.  We climbed to the top.  Look how skinny it is and you can imagine how claustrophobic it was.

The Eger Cathedral, Hungary's 2nd largest church.

Eger's Lyceum, one of the country's most important teachers college.  It has an amazing library (books ordered by size), an astronomical museum and a camera obscura.

Back to school to see the sites of the Lyceum....but all of the sites were closed.  Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the trip!!!

Playing on the cannons up at the castle complex.

D made me pose for this picture!!!

Hungary is famous for having thermal hot springs everywhere.  This huge complex out in the Eger countryside is the newly constructed Salt Hill Thermal complex.

Two and a half hours soaking, playing in the fountains and the bubble pool....

.....makes a boy tired so I ended the afternoon in the jacuzzi.

When the Ottoman's occupied the area, many citizens moved to houses dug out of the sides of hills.  These cave homes are now home to small mom and pop wineries.

In driving around, Zoltan here came out and was so cute he invited us in to taste his "sweet" wine.  It was actually gross.  BUT the only common language between us was GERMAN.  The Hungarians, being so long under Vienna's influence generally have German as their second tongue, and me, because I took German way back in high school.

Amazingly, I was able to pull out some of that rusty German and I was so psyched when something I said made sense to him and he would jolt his head and respond in kind.  The power of language.  Here he is asking me to try and translate some Chinese words in his guest book.  I had to tell him, sadly, that I can't read Chinese.

Look at this PILE of meat for dinner.

Eger's church at night.  Beautiful!

Vienna -- Monday February 20th, 2012

A walk through central Vienna and you come across this anti-fascist monument.  We're looking at the "The Gates of Violence" which are the gates to a concentration camp, with soldiers and gas masks.

This is a Jewish person forced to scrub off anti-Nazi graffiti

The Albertina Museum steps.  The museum is home to an amazing Impressionist collection, both permanent and temporary.

An amazing Renoir

After lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant (hello Italy, why don't we have that kind of food?) D and I stopped by the Natural History Museum.  Here I am out in front with my namesake elephant.

The only piece I wanted to see, and really one of the highlights of my entire trip, was this 25,000 4-inch high "sex-symbol", The Venus of Willendorf

We studied her during the first week of Art History.  She's faceless and feetless and all breasts.

But she is clearly representational of...(maybe fertility) but proof of the concept of art, even 25,000 years ago.

That evening, D and I went to the House of Music.  It was totally amazingly interactive.  The Dice game, had two players each roll a die (red or blue) the number that came up had a certain melody.

When all put together, the two parts played together to form its own, "original" waltz.

The same concept up in the Mozart area.  Type in your name, and he "composes" a piece based on the letters of your name.

The best part of the museum is getting to "conduct" the Vienna Philharmonic.  Here I am conducting....

The first time I tried, I did such a terrible job, the orchestra stopped, and one of the violinists chewed me out.  You can read him saying "but this is too much!"  Hahaha!!

Try two was better as I successfully conducted the philharmonic through "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik"

The Museum kicked us out at 10PM...and here was dinner!! Good German style food!

Vienna -- Sunday February 19th, 2012

The Augustiner Church, part of the Hapsburg Hofburg Palace Complex, is where royal weddings (and many modern ones too) take place.

On Sundays, an amazing service takes place with a live orchestra and choir.

Added bonus.....Antonio Canova's Tomb for Archduchess Maria Christina

From this angle, you can see the immense sorrow of the procession.

Walking around town, it took me a while to figure out this was Vienna's equivalent of a newspaper box.

And this AWESOME clock where each hour a different historical figure marches across the clock face.  Look closely and you can see the figure that has already passed and is about to enter.

Ever heard of the Sacher Torte?  Invented right here in Vienna.

Sacher torte.....dry (VERY) chocolate cake, with a layer of marmalade and crusted with sweet chocolate.  The original recipe is under lock and key and seen by fewer than 50 people ever.

Vienna claims to be the classical music capital of the world, and one reason is that you can go to a public bathroom and do your business while listening to the Blue Danube Waltz!

Around the turn of the last century, a few Viennese artists (the most famous being Gustav Klimt) resigned from the Vienna Kunsthaus and created the "Secession" movement.  They built this "modern" building.  It's affectionately called the "Golden Cabbage" after the gold dome on top.

"To Every Age Its Art, To Every Art Its Freedom"

The contrast between the classical architecture and the Secession kind of lets you know how "radical" this building must have been when it was built.

Walking through an underground passage, you can only imagine how excited I was to see this as one of the displays.

The number of digits of Pi spanned 50 feet!!

Next stop....The Wien Kunsthistoriches Museum!!

First thing you see ascending the stairs.....ANOTHER Canova.  This time "Theseus Defeating the Centaur"

That's me staring in AWE!

Raphael's "Madonna in the Meadow"  I recognized this from Art History.  I didn't realize Vienna was so full of famous art!

This one I just liked....it's titled "Summer." I guess you are what you eat.

This hits JUST KEEP ON COMING, this is Caravaggio's "David With the Head of Goliath"

Why so many pictures........

.....of the same girl?

These portraits, by Diego Velazquez, were painted of Maria Teresa of Spain, who was to be married to a Hapsburg in Vienna.  These were paintings sent every few years as documentation of how she was growing up.  Life before digital photos and email!

The Kunsthistoriches has a large number of paintings by Flemish painter Bruegel.  This one is "Children's Games"

I need to learn about the Northern Renaissance...of which I know nothing.  But I do know the Northern painters had fewer religious subjects and painted landscape and scenes of life, like this one, another Bruegel titled "The Hunters in the Snow"

Vermeer's "The Art of Painting"  In a quick Google search, apparently the painting is one of the last paintings of disputed ownership.  Apparently Hitler purchased the painting from a family.  It was rescued by Americans and presented back to Austria.  The family is now in litigation.

Rembrandt...a man known for portraits.  I particularly liked this one.

Another one that caught my fancy.

Venice's Dogana....been there!

St. Peters....live there!

For some reason, whenever I see and Adam and Eve of this style...I think Cranach...and I'm always right.

After three hours of museum, D and I took a tram out of town about a half hour to a "Heuriger".  There are many vineyards near Vienna and many of them bottle their own wine and set up little restaurants.

Festive and simple.

Wienerschnitzel!!!