Budapest

What: The street by our hotel that is lined with awesome restaurants

Attendees: Roy and Yours truly

Comments: Not much to say really, I pretty much eat here every day. Thank gawd there are tons of restaurants.






What: Escalator down to the subway at Kalvin Ter (this is where my hotel is)

Attendees: Roy and Yours truly

Comments: This escalator is rocket fast. You really have to watch out or you will be destroyed. There are really corny adds for bad movies and businesses around Budapest.





What: Saint Stephen's Basilica

Attendees: Roy and Yours truly

Comments: This place was huge much like the rest. You can see this church from pretty much anywhere in Budapest. The decoration in the church is much darker than in the German churches.





What: Statue Park

Attendees: Roy and Yours truly

Comments: I am almost positive that this statue in particular was in the Goldeneye (game and movie?). The hands are probably about twice as tall as I am (that's 12 ft for people that don't know me, or my height, well).






What: Statue Park

Attendees: Roy and Yours truly

Comments: This statue was really huge, maybe 2 and a half stories? The lady said that it was a running joke, when the statue was in its original location, that the guy is saying, "Sir, you forgot your towel". Most of the Hungarians weren't really "down" with the communists post 1956 so there was plenty of internal mockery between them.









What: Hungary's Statue of Liberty

Attendees: Zoltan and Yours truly

Comments: This statue sits really high and is located at one of the highest points surrounding Budapest. You can see the entire city from up here. The statue was erected when the Soviets "freed" the Hungarian people from Nazi occupation. After the Soviets left Hungary in 1991 there was great debate regarding whether to move the statue or not. They decided to keep it but remove the Soviet statues that surrounded it to statue park.







What: Pariament Building

Attendees: Zoltan and Yours truly

Comments: This is probably the most captivating of all the buildings here in Budapest. The picture really doesn't do it justice from a size point of view. Zoltan said that during communist rule there were three large red stars on the points of the three middle towers. The Danube is what is in front of it.



What: Just your run of the mill Gypsy Circus

Attendees: Roy and Yours truly

Comments: Um yeah, so this was set up in front of the office here. There were small malnourished horses/ponies wandering all around as well as semi-violent dogs. We didn't go in. Zoltan said they (the gypsies) probably stole everything for this production.

Chiemsee [28 April 2007]

What: Palace at Chiemsee

Attendees: Reinhold, Monika, Yours truly

Comments: This picture looks out from the palace. This is one of King Ludwig's unfinished castles. The palace is located on a small island and is surrounded by a very dense forest. The terrain around it reminded me very much of the northwestern US. This fountain started to go off after I had already put my camera away.



What: Palace at Chiemsee

Attendees: Reinhold, Monika, Yours truly

Comments: This is a picture looking directly at the palace; a 180 degree turn from the previous one. The palace is modeled after the one at Versailles, France. King Ludwig was obsessed with several people. A French king to name just one, which is what led to the construction of this massive palace. The main entrance to the palace located along the southern edge was really something out of this world.

Wasserburg [28 April 2007]

What: Wasserburg

Attendees: Reinhold, Monika, Yours truly

Comments: This town was really charming and very small. Reinhold pointed out that it had a Tuscan influence. In fact he said that Munich was considered the northern tip of Roman architectural influence (not in those words of course). Many of the buildings in this town were painted vibrant colors. The town had a very Italian feel to it.


What: A really cool church in Wasserburg. Can't find the link for this one either.

Attendees: Reinhold, Monika, Yours truly

Comments: This was the only church that we encountered the whole trip that was gated off (this pic was taken through the bars of said gate). Note the yellow ceilings.

Regensburg [27 April 2007]

What: Just your ordinary beautiful street in Regensburg. This was par for the course for walking around this town.

Attendees: Hanns, Klara, Reinhold, Monika, Yours truly

Comments: We walked around for quite a bit this day. The weather was completely awesome as usual and there were lots of birds chirping. Along the streets and in gardens there were massive amounts of Lobelia growing. This seemed to be the case for most areas in Germany that I visited. I told Klara that my mom, aunt, and grandmother plant lots of it during this time of year. She seemed happy to know this.

What: Regensburg Cathedral

Attendees: Hanns, Klara, Reinhold, Monika, Yours truly

Comments: This church was really big, but very dark inside so really none of my pictures turned out from the inside. This was highly disappointing as it was really nice in there.












What: A very old church in Regensburg, so old in fact that I can not find the link for it. This isn't the major church in town but is certainly the most ornate.

Attendees: Hanns, Klara, Reinhold, Monika, and Yours truly

Comments: I went to the back of this church and saw dates that went as far back as the mid 800's. There were also a couple of skeletons that were on each side inside glass boxes. This church had a mini church off to the right after you entered it. In the basement which usually is reserved for a tomb I found an even smaller cathedral which looked like it was reserved for smaller more intimate ceremonies.

What: Old stone bridge of Regensburg

Attendees: Clara, Hans, Reinhold, Monika, and Yours truly

Comments: This bridge was very old and spans the Danube river. There were some people sun bathing on the other side. Where this picture was taken was a very old restaurant that has been flooded many times. It had the most sour sauerkraut that I could ever dream of. I think they said it ferments for 10 years. My aunt Chris would love it! I literally felt it in my cheeks for the rest of the day

Munich [26 April 2007]

What: Olympiapark, Munich

Attendees: Reinhold and Yours truly

Comments: This was the first day in Munich. We did the most walking this day and the weather was amazing, as were the sights. You can see the beginnings of a large hill on the right. Under this hill is all the debris from when Munich was bombed relentlessly during WWII. They covered it with dirt and now is a really nice rolling green hill with trees. The architecture here is really something to see. Also the BMW HQ is located next to this. This is a must see

What: Munich Residenz

Attendees: Reinhold and Yours truly

Comments: We went here the first day as well. I was getting very sleepy at this point. In fact I think I fell asleep standing a couple time. I was kept awake however by the awesome beauty this palace had. The picture to the right is the Antiquarium (Hall of Antiquities) which was the most notable sight in the palace. This place was huge. We headed to the Hoffbrau house after this and had some really good beer.


What: Frauenkirche - Cathedral Church of Our Lady

Attendees: Reinhold and Yours truly

Comments: Perhaps my favorite thing to do in Europe is to check out the churches. They are truly amazing especially when you consider they were built by hand. Pictures just really can't even capture the immense size of the interiors of these churches. They are always cold as the huge amounts of mortar used in their construction keeps them well insulated. There is usually a tomb/catacombs that you can visit which is always interesting which you can find in the back of the church.

Allianz Arena [27 April 2007]

What: Allianz Arena, a very large sports complex located on the outskirts of Munich. My cousin Daniel says that it holds 67K people and the Reds play there. Apparently that team is really awesome. The shell turns three colors; Red, White, and Blue. Surely not in that order?

Attendees: Reinhold, Monika, and Yours truly

Comments: This place was really a marvel to look at, you can see through its semi translucent skin. On the way there Reinhold took his Benz to somewherez around 220kM/hr. I think this was the fastest speed that I have ever experienced in a car. The Benz handled it well of course.

Dinner at Klara's [26 April 07]

Menu: Sauerbraten, potato dumplings, creamy cucumber salad, and cranberry sauce. Oh and of course Weissbeer.

Attendees: Yours truly, Klara, Hanns, Reinhold, Monika, Manfred, Susie, Daniel, Stephan

Comments: A very good meal and conversation. I think I may understand what Hans is saying, maybe not. Oh well, lots of beer, lots of food and laughs, can't ask for more than that.