Eastern & Central Europe

DSI_0113 — First stop: Prague, Czech Republic
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DSH_9818 — In the Old Town Square
DSH_9824 — “Prague’s architecture is a wonderland of ornamental details.” — R.S.
DSH_9811 — Memorial to religious reformer, Jan Hus
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DSH_9822 — The Old Town Hall
DSH_9827 — The medieval Astronomical Clock — rebuilt after World War II
DSH_9837 — Jan Zelivsky, a prominent priest in the 1400s
DSH_9843 — Souvenir Shop
DSI_0038 — We saw several Beer Bikes, many with bachelor parties.
DSI_0125 — After the Beer Bike ride, the bachelor party stripped and ran around the square.
DSI_0127 — The first Kiehl’s was in our old Manhattan neighborhood. Now they are all over the world.
DSH_9784 — Nostalgie Restaurant
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DSH_9859 — Baroque Church of St. James
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DSH_9880 — Statue celebrating hometown boy, Franz Kafka.
DSH_9923 — Vltava River
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DSH_9891 — The Charles Bridge
DSH_9893 — Bridge Tower, a gothic gate built by Charles IV in the 1300s
DSH_9909 — On the bridge
DSH_9919 — St. John of Nepomuk
DSH_9914 — People believe that touching the St. John plaque will make a wish come true.
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DSH_9960 — We start our Rick Steves tour.
DSI_0862 — Katerina, our tour director
DSH_9967 — Many buildings in Prague were constructed in the Art Deco style.
DSH_9988 — A fundraiser, Katerina painted one of these blocks.
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DSI_0037 — Church of Mother of God before Tyn, built in the 14th century
DSI_0110 — Jana, our tour guide for Prague
DSI_0073 — Medieval Prague
DSI_0064 — St. Vitus Cathedral
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DSI_0083 — Window where the “Defenistration of 1618” took place. Protestants threw Catholics out the top window. They survived.
DSI_0075 — Vladislav Hall in the old Royal Palace, where jousting took place
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DSI_0091 — Golden Lane, the medieval merchant street
DSI_0093 — Franz Kafka lived here.
DSI_0106 — The Three Kings
DSI_0142 — On our way to Krakow
DSI_0135 — Plants from which canola oil is made
DSI_0159 — Stramberk, where we stopped for lunch
DSI_0160 — Katerina serves us the locally produced liquor.
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DSI_0207 — Dinner at Restaurant Wesele
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DSI_0213 — Kay resembles Barbara’s friend Laurie.
DSI_0251 — Our guide to Krakow, Monika
DSI_0384 — The Main Market Square
DSI_0389 — A bugler comes out every hour to announce “All is well!”
DSI_0235 — Cloth Hall
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DSI_0255 — Monika showed us around town.
DSI_0260 — The Archbishop’s Palace with a portrait of Krakow’s favorite son—John Paul II.
DSI_0279 — Famous Poles
DSI_0265 — Ron & Denis
DSI_0374 — Kielbasa for lunch
DSI_0378 — and dinner at Grandma’s
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DSI_0387 — Jana III
DSI_0395 — Da Vinci’s “Lady with an Ermine” hangs in the National Museum.
DSI_0417 — Stained glass at the National Museum
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DSI_0425 — Heros left over from the Communist era
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DSI_0752 — Breakfast buffet
DSI_0430 — Click on the link above to see pictures we took there.
DSI_0782 — Breakfast in Poland, Lunch in Slovakia, Dinner in Hungary
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DSI_0798 — Don’t judge a book by its cover. We entered this doorway to find…
DSI_0797 — …The Church of the Holy Spirit, a baroque masterpiece, in Levoca, Slovakia.
DSI_0814 — An entrance to the Baradla-Domica Cave System, which stretches between Slovakia and Hungary.
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DSI_0824 — Dinner in Eger, Hungary
DSI_0828 — Rene and Ghayas
DSI_0830 — Wyatt
DSI_0839 — Leah
DSI_0850 — Denis
DSI_0852 — Joy
DSI_0844 — Hungary is famous for paprika.
DSI_0846 — Dessert
DSI_0855 — We start our tour of Eger.
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DSI_0870 — We are greeted by Anita, a school teacher in Eger.
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DSI_0882 — Barbara and Tom chatting with an 8th grader
DSI_0887 — We ate lunch with the children.
DSI_0894 — Anita was our guide at the winery in Egerszalck
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DSI_0914 — Toni Varadi played his violin while we tasted wines, sang, and danced.
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DSI_0926 — 99 Bottles of Wine on the Wall
DSI_1500 — Now we are in Budapest.
DSI_0942 — Our hotel in Budapest
DSI_0952 — On the metro
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DSI_0969 — Heroes’ Square
DSI_0981 — Magyar chieftain
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DSI_1023 — Vajdahunyad Castle
DSI_0994 — City Park Ice Rink and Boating
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IMG_5066 — Nick taking a picture of Ignác Darányi, an early 20th Century politician
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DSI_1016 — Stature of Anonymous
DSI_1056 — Our guide in Budapest, Elemer & Katerina
DSI_1032 — The famous Szechenyi thermal bath of Budapest
DSI_1039 — Bath Interior
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DSI_1068 — St. Stephen’s Basilica. We didn’t have time to go into many churches.
DSI_1081 — Memorial to the Victims of the German Invasion. As you approach the fountain, it drops to let you pass.
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DSI_1099 — Carl Lutz, credited with saving over 62,000 Jews, the largest rescue operation of Jews of WW II.
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DSI_1108 — Ronald Regan is venerated in Eastern Europe for helping to end Communism.
DSI_1115 — The magnificent Hungarian Parliament
DSI_1123 — A rally protesting environmental degradation occurred while we were outside the building.
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DSI_1153 — The Great Market Hall
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DSI_1195 — We saw a lot of Blueberries on our trip. They were made into liquors.
DSI_1206 — Shopping district
DSI_1516 — East German Trabant—reviled when built, now used for tours
DSI_1213 — Meeting point for our boat tour
DSI_1219 — We hopped on a boat for a “Danube by Night River Cruise.”
DSI_1229 — The Royal Palace
DSI_1258 — One of these tour boats was sunk by the 442-foot Viking Sigyn three days after our little cruise, killing 7 People.
DSI_1289 — Lady Liberty looks over Budapest
DSI_1357 — Parliament, Lady Liberty and the Chain Bridge
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DSI_1381 — Yesterday we toured Pest, today it’s Buda.
DSI_1394 — The Chain Bridge and Parliament
DSI_1510 — Fishermen’s Bastion—a 19th century fantasy
DSI_1407 — The Royal Palace close up
DSI_1411 — Prince Eugene of Savoy
DSI_1417 — Matthias Corvinus Fountain, 15th Century King of Hungary
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DSI_1441 — Matthias Church
DSI_1447 — Elemer took us into the courtyard, behind these doors.
DSI_1448 — Behind the doors are private apartments.
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DSI_1453 — Franz Liszt at the Piano—lived in this neighborhood
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DSI_1465 — Ruin of St. Mary Magdalene Church. The Bell Tower is all that remains.
DSI_1469 — The Coronation Mantle of the Hungarian Kings—cast in bronze.
DSI_1478 — Tile Roof. Hungary is knows for its terra-cotta tiles.
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DSI_1517 — For lunch, we went back to City Park for chicken & peppers at a food stand.
DSI_1520 — The Museum of Fine Art had just reopened with a Michelangelo exhibit.
DSI_1524 — Renior—€12 million
DSI_1529 — Pissarro (no relation)
DSI_1540 — Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist—Lucas Cranach the Elder
DSI_1541 — Christ and the Adulteress—Lucas Cranach the Elder
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DSI_1554 — They had several paintings by El Greco.
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DSI_1602 — On the bus to our next destination, Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia
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DSI_1789 — Plitvice Lakes National Park has 16 lakes and 150 waterfalls.
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DSI_1663 — Stephanie
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DSI_1791 — The largest waterfall
DSI_1812 — Over one million people visit the park every year. Even on a rainy day, there were long lines.
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DSI_1892 — Rovinj, Istria, Croatia
DSI_1876 — We stayed at Katarina Island Hotel.
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DSI_1915 — What a fabulous resort!
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DSI_1831 — Our best dinner—at Masteral Seafood Restaurant
DSI_1880 — Church of St. Euphemia
DSI_1870 — Instead of killing St. Euphemia, the lions licked her wounds.
DSI_1860 — We had lunch with Tom & Karen.
DSI_1928 — Mary and Ghayas
DSI_1931 — Margaret
DSI_1952 — Our guide in Ljubljana, Mattea
DSI_1956 — France Preseren of Preseren Square
DSI_1974 — Dragon Bridge. The dragon is the symbol of Ljubljana.
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DSI_1963 — Door celebrating John Paul II
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DSI_1971 — Milkomat, 24 hour milk machine
DSI_1985 — Joy, Grace, and Ghayas enjoying Black Forest Gateau
DSI_2012 — Zabreznica is famous for beekeeping.
DSI_1986 — Each hive has a little illustration on it.
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DSI_2023 — We became connoisseurs of honey.
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DSI_2044 — Now we’re in Bled, Slovenia.
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DSI_2163 — Pletna boats
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DSI_2056 — We were rowed out to the Church of the Assumption on Bled Island
DSI_2075 — Katerina was always ready with the local firewater.
DSI_2078 — The liquor was made from Blueberries. This was to fortify us before climbing up the 99 steps behind us.
DSI_2085 — We climbed the clock tower to see its workings.
DSI_2105 — Stephanie rings the bell, to get a wish.
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DSI_2141 — We walked around Lake Bled—exploring.
DSI_2127 — Gothic Revival St. Martin’s Parish Church
DSI_2133 — Plain on the outside but the interior was richly decorated.
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DSI_2145 — This young boy serenaded us at our last dinner, at Okarina Restaurant
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DSI_2152 — Yum!
DSI_2166 — More yum!
DSI_2176 — The Alps—On the way to the airport
DSI_2188 — We’re in France!
DSI_2199 — Château de Fontainebleau
DSI_2286 — François I, the original builder of Fontainebleau
DSI_2324 — There were many of these great halls.
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DSI_2209 — Royalty gave their dogs names and portraits.
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DSI_2382 — Napoleon’s throne
DSI_2380 — Napoleon’s emblem was the honeybee.
DSI_2386 — Napoleon slept here.
DSI_2371 — More honeybees
DSI_2397 — The Royal Chapel
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DSI_2435 — Renting a boat is a delightful pasttime.
DSI_2418 — It is hard to take in the full scale of Fontainebleau.
DSI_2420 — We are picnicking with Agnès & Jose-Maria
DSI_2447 — Al fresco dining back in Paris with Jose-Maria & Agnès
DSI_2450 — Teddy Bears like this were all over Jose-Maria’s neighborhood.
DSI_2476 — A couple dancing on Rue Mouffetard, our favorite place to browse in Paris.
DSI_2452 — On Rue Mouffetard there are fantastic produce shops…
DSI_2453 — …and pastry shops.
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DSI_2473 — Oysters
DSI_2522 — We’re walking in Jardin des Plantes on the way to Notre-Dame de Paris.
DSI_2491 — Grande Galerie de l’Évolution
DSI_2505 — Roses were in peak season.
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DSI_2569 — Walking along the Seine to Notre-Dame
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DSI_2533 — A bicycle recovered from the depths of the Seine
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DSI_2570 — We approached Notre-Dame, but we couldn’t get any closer.
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DSI_2616 — Au revoir Paris, until next time.

Eastern & Central Europe

Visit to the: Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory.

We also visited: Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camps.

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