End Game: Europe 2010

Today we all had a free day in Vienna for our last full day of the trip. Pavel and I decided to go to Bratislava, Slovakia, for the day while the other folks either shopped or visited more sites in Vienna (or a little bit of both). This evening we had our farewell dinner at Zur Alten Kaisermuehle, a local restaurant dating back to 1893. It was a beautiful restaurant situated on the water, but unfortunately we couldn't sit outside near the water because it was raining.

With that our European tour comes to a close for this year. I think everyone had a great time during these two and a half weeks, and we hope you've enjoyed following along on our trip of a lifetime. We'll be home in Pittsburgh tomorrow (Thursday) around 10pm.

No Guide, No Problem

Today was the first time on this whole trip where we had activities scheduled but had no guide or transportation to help us get there. So it was up to us to navigate Vienna's streets and subway lines to fill our day, and I'm proud to report that everyone made it back to the hotel no worse for wear!

Our day started with the morning exercises at the Spanish Riding School located adjacent to Hofburg Palace, which we visited yesterday. I think most of us were a little underwhelmed by the exercises because they basically consisted of horses trotting around a big open arena-type building. Once in a very long while one would jump, and that was about it. We also couldn't take any pictures inside, so that made it even more disappointing.


After we left the riding school and ate lunch, we made our way to Schönbrunn Palace, the summer home of the Hapsburgs. As you can see, it's quite a majestic building with acres and acres of gardens to explore.

This evening most of us went to a concert that was a mélange of symphony, opera, and traditional dancing including, of course, the Viennese Waltz. We had to have been the youngest people in the there by 20 or 30 years. Still, it's difficult to say that you were in Vienna without having gone to some kind of concert. (I mean, we walked by the main opera house, and they were broadcasting the opera taking place inside on this huge outdoor screen for people to watch for free. Sound familiar, Penguins fans?) I think everyone had a pretty good time at the concert, and we made it even better by stopping off for some of the famous Original Sacher Torte at the Sacher Hotel on our way back.

Last Stop: Vienna

This morning we said goodbye to Budapest and boarded the train to Vienna. This was many of the students' first experiences riding an intercity train like this, and they got to experience both the good and the bad parts of train travel. On the good side, the seats on the train are generally more comfortable than the seats on an airplane. The bad part is that each person has to handle baggage by himself or herself, so it was a struggle to board and exit the train with all of our luggage. The train station seemed to taunt us as well by making us go down a totally unnecessary flight of stairs with our luggage. But it all worked out in the end.

This afternoon we had a relatively short walking tour of the city with our guide, Ulricke. We took the overcrowded tram to the Opera House area of the city and then toured Hofburg Palace, the former imperial palace of the monarchy. We got back to the hotel around 4:30pm, and many of us took a quick nap before exploring the city for dinner this evening. We have a lot of free time here, but many of us are going to see the Spanish Riding Exercises tomorrow morning followed by a visit to Schoenbrunn Palace.

No, Goulash Has Nothing To Do With Ghouls

We started our last day in Budapest with a morning visit to Szentendre, an art village about a half hour's drive outside of the city. The village is located in the so-called "Danube Bend" area, and as you can see, it lies on the bank of the river. We spent a lazy morning wandering around the city, lounging in outdoor cafes, and finishing our last-minute shopping.

After a free afternoon, we had our farewell dinner at a restaurant with traditional Hungarian dancing. We finally got a chance to try the traditional Hungarian goulash soup (basically a meat stew with paprika), and everyone seemed to like it a lot. The waiters were especially accurate in pouring the wine by holding the cask above their heads as shown above, but we weren't too excited to see them use their fingers to guide the stream into the glass. As I spent the whole meal hoping that they wouldn't pull me up on stage like the inebriated guy in the blindfold above, my fears were put to rest when they dragged Jeff up there. We were proud of the way he held his own on stage.

With that we must bid adieu (I don't know how to say "goodbye" in Hungarian, so we'll go with French) to Hungary. Our train to Vienna leaves at 9am tomorrow morning, so I'll sign on from there.

Parliament, Yet No George Clinton In Sight

Our day today started off with a tour of the beautiful Hungarian Parliament building. We were a little leery of the visit at first because a piercing fire alarm was being "tested" right when we got there, but fortunately they turned it off as we were starting the tour. One of the highlights of the tour was the chance to see the crown jewels. Amazingly enough, even today scholars cannot determine how the crown was made because the different metals that are adhered to each other require different temperatures to join. We also got to see the Hungarian version of the "changing of the guard." We played it safe and didn't try to make the guards crack like you're supposed to do in London. (The fact that these guys had giant swords may have had something to do with it!)

After the tour of the Parliament building, we boarded the bus for a relatively short city tour of some sites that we had not yet seen up close. We started at the Szechenyi Bath, which is probably the most famous of all of the Hungarian therapeutic baths. I think some people are going to go and try them out during our free afternoon tomorrow. We then walked to Heroes' Square, which provided the great picture opportunity above.

Our tour ended in the Budapest Castle area where we had the great view overlooking the Danube River with the city on each side (Buda on the left and Pest on the right). Unfortunately we couldn't easily get a group picture at the lookout because what seemed like the entire Japanese nation descended on the overlook area at the same time as us.

After the tour we had a free afternoon and evening. Many of us went shopping at the central market before it closed at 3pm, while some others stayed and the castle and a few caught up on some much needed sleep.

An Abbey-Normal Day at Lake Balaton

Greetings to all of you Young Frankenstein fans out there! Today was a travel day into the Western Hungarian countryside to visit Alcoa in Szekesfehervar (impress your friends at parties by pronouncing and spelling that one!) and Lake Balaton. We started off at the Alcoa plant where the managers there took us step by step through the process of making forged aluminum wheels for medium- and heavy-duty trucks. Unfortunately but understandably, we couldn't take any pictures inside the facility, so I got a few students to pose by the sign on our way out. The thing that struck most of us about the visit was the amount of automation present in the facility. We only saw about 20 or 30 workers in our 90-minute walk through the facility; the vast majority of the work is done by manufacturing robots, which was really neat to see.

After Alcoa we stopped at a restaurant that had outdoor seating in a beautiful garden and had a great lunch. We then drove another hour out to Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Europe. The water there is famous for its pristine blue-green color, and they even have a ban on motorboats on the lake to maintain the natural beauty.

High on a hill overlooking Lake Balaton is the Benedictine Abbey of Tihany. It houses the remains of one of the first and only kings of Hungary dating back to the 11th Century. The interior of the abbey is unexpectedly ornate, with beautiful statues and trim carved out of wood and painted to look like they are made of marble. Outside of the abbey is the small village of Tihany with its many outdoor cafes and shops. We walked around there for a few hours and then endured the two-hour ride back to Budapest.

Tomorrow we have a tour of the Hungarian Parliament building followed by a short city tour by bus. Then we have another free afternoon. So long until then!

Zwacked Out On Unicum

Today was a long day for all of us. It started out with a terrific lecture by Dr. Yusaf (I call him "Admiral") Akbar at Central European University loosely covering the Hungarian economy as well as the economic situation in all of central and eastern Europe. I say "loosely" because he made many asides and non sequiturs throughout the presentation to keep everyone's interest. He also added in plenty of jokes about the Russians at Pavel's expense. I was a little bit worried when I saw on the schedule that he was supposed to talk for over two hours about the local economy, but it turned out to be one of the most interesting and enjoyable presentations that I've ever seen. The students also held their own very well during his quizzes about economic terms and political history.

After the presentation, we visited the headquarters of Zwack Unicum, the company that produces the quasi-famous liquor of the same name. After a brief presentation, video about the company's history, and a stroll through the company museum, we got to sample three of their products. This was not an entirely fun experience, as you can see from the picture above taken just after the tasting. Everyone except for one person thought that the traditional Unicum, the national liquor of Hungary, was some of the worst tasting liquid we ever had put in our mouths. The samples of the other two liquors that they company produces were better, but I think they were still outweighed by how terrible the first one was. The advertisement, known as "The Drowning Man" who sees his salvation in the form of Unicum, was all over the building and museum. Pavel was really creeped out by it, and I had to show a lot of restraint to resist buying him a t-shirt with the advertisement in the gift shop.

But it was nice to see that his trepidation did not deter him from becoming a part of the poster before we left the Zwack facility.

In the early evening we took an hour-long cruise on the Danube River, which divides the city into the "Buda" and "Pest" parts. Most of us sat outside on the outer deck of the boat, and thus we had to sacrifice the recorded guided messages that were playing on headphones in the seats inside the boat. That means that I'm not completely sure what buildings we saw, but it was definitely a magnificent sight. I do know that the large building above is the Hungarian Parliament (which we will visit on Saturday morning), and the building below is the castle and royal apartment building by night.

Tomorrow we're off to Alcoa and Lake Balaton, so we're preparing for a lengthy trip on the bus. Hopefully they give us the really nice Mercedes bus that we had when we arrived!

Welcome to Budapest: Now 100% Volcanic Ash-Free

Today was mainly a travel day for us. Other than getting up at 4am to check in for our flight, there were no other problems. Now that we're in the heart of central Europe, we hope we've escaped the worst of the problems and that the volcano won't be a pain in the ash any more for us. (I had to use that one...I couldn't resist!)

We had a free afternoon after checking into the hotel; and while some people explored the city a little bit, many of us napped either on purpose or inadvertently. This evening we had a welcome dinner at the Bagolyvar Restaurant (pictured above), which is the more casual sister of the best and nicest restaurant in Budapest. We had a great dinner to start off our visit here including some terrific Hungarian cherry strudel.

Stay tuned for a bunch of pictures tomorrow because we are visiting a company in the afternoon and then we have a cruise on the Danube River in the evening.