Tag Archives: spring
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Venice

We are going to Venice this morning for a day.  There are a number of ways of getting there, but since we have a car we going to drive across the Liberty Bridge and park at the first available parking garage.  Parking in Venice is interesting.  We pulled into the first parking garage which has […]

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Ljubljana Old Town

After 11 months of being here and traveling rather extensively my wife said – finally a country I haven’t been to yet.  Slovenia has about 2 million people, 270,000 of which live in its capital – Ljubljana. It is a picturesque and beautiful little city with a lot to offer.  While Ljubljana does not have any […]

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Stiftskeller St. Peter (803) – Salzburg, Austria

According to some sources, including the restaurant itself of course, the Siftskeller has been serving food since 803, making it the oldest restaurant in Europe. Not 1803 – that’s not a typo. Eight-oh-three. Although we can’t personally verify this data, we can certainly attest to the quality of food and service. We started with a […]

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Sankt Georgen

Sankt Georgen im Attergau is where Anna’s dad spent 9 month some 35 years ago waiting for a Canadian visa.  After defecting from Poland and surrendering his passport to Viennese Police he was sent to Sankt Georgen refugee camp, which was located on the lower level of this lovely hotel in a quiet village on the […]

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Road Trip

We are setting off on a little holiday with Anna’s parents.  First we are driving  to Sankt Georgen im Attergau, in Austria where Anna’s dad begun his journey to Canada some 35 years ago.  We are then going to spent 2 days wondering around Salzburg, a day in Ljubljana, Slovenia and then off to Treviso, Italy […]

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Morning Walk

In an unusual turn of events we are out of the house before 9 am.   Out of the house, through the park to the bakery to get some fresh bread.  Our parents are here, and in about an hour more guests from Poland are arriving for the weekend. It’s going to be fun.

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Art Deco and More

Art Deco is everywhere in Budapest, but so are great many  other buildings in Romanesque, Gothic, Gothic Revival, Neo-Classical, Baroque, Hungarian secessionist, Renaissance and modern styles.  For anyone with any interest in architecture Budapest is a treasure trove of amazing examples of different architectural styles – more often than not standing side by side.  

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Hungarian Parliament Building

The Parliament Building  on the bank of the Danube  is currently the largest building in Hungary and together with St. Stephen’s Basilica the tallest building in Budapest standing at 96m. The number 96 refers to the nation’s millennium, 1896, and the conquest of the later Kingdom of Hungary in 896. About one thousand people were involved in construction of the Parliament, during […]

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St. Stephen’s Basilica

The church is named after Saint Stephen I of Hungary, the first King of Hungary (c. 975–1038), whose incorruptible right hand is housed in the reliquary.  This is the most important church building in Hungary, one of the most significant tourist attractions and the third highest building in Hungary. Equal with the Hungarian Parliament Building, it is one of […]

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Budapest Day 2

Today on the exploration agenda is more of the Pest side of Budapest.  We are taking it easy today by having a nice, long and relaxing breakfast.  After the breakfast we are heading towards the Danube to see the Parliament Building, The Great Synagogue, Gellert Hotel, Great Market Hall and St. Stephens Basilica, among other […]

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Pest side of Budapest

After a nice visit to Buda site of Budapest we crossed the famous Chain Bridge,  to  Pest side of the city.  This, architecturally speaking, is the modern part of the city.  Pest side of the city is a treasure trove of Art Deco, Neoclassical and Classical architecture, perhaps mores than Prague.  For me that is […]

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Buda Castle

Buda Castle is the historical castle and palace complex of the Hungarian kings in Budapest, and was first completed in 1265. In the past, it has been called Royal Palace  and Royal Castle. Buda Castle was built on the southern tip of Castle Hill, bounded on the north by what is known as the Castle District which is famous for its Medieval, Baroque, and 19th-century houses, churches, and […]

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Matthias Church

Originally built in Romanesque style in 1015, the current building was constructed in the  late Gothic style in the second half of the 14th century and was extensively restored in the late 19th century. It was the second largest church of medieval Buda and the seventh largest church of medieval Hungarian Kingdom.  Officially named as the Church of Our Lady, […]

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Weekend Pad

This will be our home – away from home, away from home for the long weekend while we explore Budapest.  So far our impressions are pretty good and we are looking forward to staying here and sampling the breakfast tomorrow morning, and each morning after that.   We are about 10 minute walk away from […]

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Getting There

We are on our way to Budapest, Hungary.  It is a great and leisurely drive, the roads are pretty much empty and there is not a lot of construction.  We made 3 quick stops, two of which were to buy road vignettes – a precautionary measure to avoid unpleasantries with border control like the last […]

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St Martin’s Church

This is the main church in Colmar, built in Gothic style in yellow and red sandstone.  Originally the church was built in Carolingian style around the year 1000.  There are  a number of unique and rare features and ornaments in this church dating back to the 1300’s.  With Sarah Pacini on the horizon we stopped in for a […]

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Ribeauvillé – France

We are spending a nice spring weekend in France.  Out in the middle of the French countryside about 80 km outside of Strasbourg is a picturesque little town called Ribeauvillé. Ribeauvillé is home to about 5 thousand people and a lot of very old and colourful Bavarian looking buildings dating back to the 8th century.  Surrounded by […]

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Bismarck

At the end of our short street is a boulevard that separates our neighbourhood from the moat canals and the parks down below.  On the boulevard there is a massive statue dedicated to Bismarck.  It is quite old and a bit damaged, undoubtedly by both wars.  This place is great for either getting to the […]

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St. Klara

St. Klara is a small church in the Old Town district of St. Lawrence on the King’s Road between St. Lorenz Church and Frauentor Chruch. Dating back to  1270, St. Klara is  one of the oldest preserved sacral building in the city.  During the Second World War, the church was badly damaged in a bombing raids […]

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Spring Warmth

There are more and more signs of Spring.  Flowers are springing everywhere, buds on the trees are coming out and shrubs are starting to bloom.  Also the local beavers are out of their dens and out in full force sharpening their teeth.   We are up to mid teens in temperature which makes these outings […]

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More Snow

Apparently it snowed last night, not much but enough to leave residue of  some white sprinkling on the roofs.  I think today was the coldest day that we can remember  pushing +2C maybe +3C.  It was actually chilly.  We did not find a lot of snow but we did find more signs of spring which […]

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