Vienna and Budapest

The real meat of this leg was in Budapest and Vienna – two cities I know well and have been blessed with the opportunity to spend some significant time exploring. Budapest is a lovely city perched dramatically on both sides of the Danube, with the most spectacular Parliament building in Europe.

I was there to see Wagner’s Ring, a cycle of four operas — well, three operas and a prologue if you want to get picky — performed over a period of six nights. Seeing the Ring is one of my hobbies, and this was the second time I’d done it in Budapest. It is presented as a semi-staged concert, with incredible video imagery supporting the singers.

On one of the “off” days during the Ring, I made my down to one of the many tongue-twister towns in Hungary, Szekesferverhar. It has significant symbolic importance for Hungary as a site for its monarchs. Today it’s a quiet place to wander the cobblestones for a couple of hours and have an ice cream. Very pleasant, and a lovely day to boot.

Lastly, I spent a few concentrated days in Vienna. Nothing too earth-shattering to report, as I returned to some “old favorite” places, saw three operas and finalized the next stops in my voyage.

For those who have not been to Vienna, there are too many sites to include in this short update.

I’ll mention a few highlights, along with encouragements to visit when you can. Heck, I’ll be happy to show you around. Vienna was the seat of empire, the Hofburg and its many museums and sites. The Ring Road that marks the center city also has a series of incredible museums, including the twin Natural History and Art History museums that face one another.

But nearby also stands one of the most impressive and successful urban renewal projects in recent years. Across the street lay some former stables. These have now been refurbished, populated with shops, restaurants, more museums, and in the former courtyard area, two new museums have been built. The aptly-named Museum Quarter (MQ for short) is a vibrant, must-visit stop in Vienna, and elegantly extends the area of museums from the inner city.

And one final shot of an area in Vienna that I like quite a lot – the 2nd district, just across the Danube channel from the inner city.