David & Renee's European Vacation 2009

London - Brugge - Paris - Germany - Prague - Salzburg - Budapest

London

We arrived Saturday, mid-day and took the tube (metro) from Heathrow to the west end. It seemed like a long walk on crowded streets with heavy luggage to the Hazlitt’s hotel, but the location was perfect! We were right in the heart of the theater district, but on a quiet street near Soho Square. As we walked around, we asked “where can you hear some live music with dinner?” Several people suggested The Pizza Express. That sounded like cheap pizza by the slice joint, but when we stumbled upon a restaurant by that name, we asked the young employee if this was the place for jazz. In her broken, Bulgarian-English, she said that she was headed over to the “other one” where they host jazz shows in the basement. She said that there was somebody big tonight, so they are probably sold out. David suggested that we might get in just because we knew her. After pulling some strings, she got us two stools at a bar to see a totally sold-out show featuring Brian Simpson, Nick Colionne, and Dave Koz (one of the best saxophonists & showmen). What a start!

Sunday morning, we met up with Westmorelands (friends from Houston who now live near London). They took us on a guided walking tour of London that included Big Ben, Parliament, several churches, Buckingham Palace, etc. Among other things, we learned that the phrase “cheerio” comes from wealthy people calling “Chair Ho” when they were ready to be carried home. We had a great time catching up with our friends and seeing the sights of London.

In the afternoon, we caught up with David’s co-worker from Huddersfield, John Fury who managed to get us tickets to the Arsenal vs. Chelsea soccer match. It was a huge game and a great atmosphere, but the home team lost 4-1.

Monday we walked around Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly, the British Museum, etc., had a great dinner and went to the Phoenix Theatre to see “Blood Brothers.” It was a great, but sad musical.

Brugge, Belgium

On the Eurostar train, the trip to Brussels, and then on to Brugge was quick. Brugge is a charming, medieval town with lots of restaurants, shops (lace & chocolates), and canals. The Walwyck Hotel was perfect! It is very close to everything but on a quiet canal where all you hear are the birds and church bells. At the Curiosa Tavern, we ate ostrich. It probably isn’t a local favorite, but it was fantastic! It is as tender as veal, but has the grain of a good steak. The specialty in Brugge and all of Europe this time of year is large, white asparagus or spargel. We took a relaxing canal tour, visited several churches, climbed to the top of the tower, and learned that French fries are not French, but Belgian. We went to the Chocolate Museum and a local shop and carefully selected specific chocolates for our friends. Unfortunately they melted and re-formed into big blocks of mixed chocolate! Forest Gump was right.

Paris

Spring time in Paris was like winter in Charleston. It was cold, rainy, and very windy, but we visited the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Sacre’ Coeur, and the rest of the usual sites. To be honest, we would have been happy to have skipped Paris.

Germany

In Germany, we stayed with our friends the Sweitzers, who took us to their church, their favorite Doner shop (Turkish shaved meat), served us awesome local pastries, and took us on two field trips. Heidelberg is a quaint town with a fantastic castle on the hill with a beautiful view of the river and town. On the way home, Debbie took us past Kaiserslautern University where Brian is considering graduate work in a few years.

In Trier, we saw a 5 th century castle, some beautiful churches, ancient baths, and another charming town full of shops. Most of all, we enjoyed catching up with our friends and getting to know the kids better. We are envious of their assignment that allows them to see so much of Europe any time they want. Sorry we missed you Greg.

Prague

Everyone warned us that RyanAir offered cheap flights, but charged a lot for heavy luggage, but we didn’t do the math and were shocked at a $300 charge for our luggage when the tickets only cost about $25 each. Lesson learned.

Prague is like a huge version of Brugge. The Charles Bridge Residence was a great suggestion despite having no real reception area. The taxi driver unlocked the door and handed us a key and an envelope of information, but Prague is easy to navigate. The Astronomic Clock in the middle of town is a big draw every hour, but we were glad that we bought a “Prague Card” that gave us access to the tower (above the clock), the old town hall (behind the clock), many attractions at the castle, etc. We had dinner ½ way up the hill which provided a great view of the city and castle at night.

The dinner cruise on the river was fun. We learned that you don’t have to know English to sing songs in English as long as you scat. We don’t know the story behind the locks, John Lennon’s wall or the strange baby statues, but suffice it to say that Prague is an eclectic mix of beautiful churches (we attended an organ concert at one), the arts, and much more. We are glad that the Seelys suggested this awesome city.

Salzburg

Salzburg is to Budapest as Brugge is to Prague; a small tourist town that is easy to walk around. We met a couple in Prague who were from Salzburg and they suggested a restaurant called Eulenspiegel. They served the best lamb I have ever eaten. In 3 days, we did almost all of the tourist stops: Boat ride Hellbrunn Castle (with the trick fountains), the fortress, Salzburg Museum, Mozart Music Theater & Dinner (at St Peter’s), and even the Sound of Music Tour (including a visit to the lakes in the mountains).

Not speaking German and not being catholic, mass at The Dome was unusual, but it is a beautiful church. The Salzburg Card is a good value and if you go, you have to try the Salzburger Nokerl dessert. Thanks to Miriam for suggesting this town.

Budapest

When we arrived at the train station, the Seelys took us straight to Trent's 8th grade Hungarian culture night where they fed us traditional dishes and showed us a couple of Hungarian dances. After visiting the Campus Crusade offices, we did some sightseeing and then went to the Opera House to see the Budapest Philharmonic. We ended our trip with visits to Castle Hill and the Terror Museum; which gave an overview of the history of Hungary under communism. Most of all, we enjoyed catching up with the Seely family.

Overall, we had a great vacation. You can check out a condensed version of our photos here.

Here are some observations on travel & Europe:

• Location – Picking a hotel in the heart of town is almost always worth the price.
• Trains – Train travel within Europe was very easy.
• Packing – Pack as light as possible and then take some more out of your suitcase.
• Advice – Always take advice: restaurants, what to eat, where to go, what not to do.
• Photos – Use fill flash (turn the flash to “on” rather than automatic) when taking pictures of people in front of scenery
• Plan on a lot of walking
• Pay attention to the downspouts on old buildings … and the doors
• Don’t take your dog

• Nobody in England is British. We met more Brits in the rest of Europe than we did in London.
• Just because you don’t care much about museums doesn’t mean that you don’t have culture. Eat some yogurt and call it even.
• There are lots of churches in Europe, but people are not very religious.
• We have adopted the British phrase “the queen wishes it.”
• Europeans deal with a lot of hills, but haven’t discovered automatic transmissions, nor ice.
• Motorcycle gangs aren’t very menacing on scooters.
• Venus Williams would kill Venus de Milo at tennis (“look Ma, no arms!”)
• Springtime in Paris can be like winter in Charleston. (The weather was awesome for the rest of our trip.)
• The asparagus in Europe have been victims of Bunnicula (they are white).
• In Germany, the signs often say “Ausfahrt.” Don’t laugh.
• Nobody in Europe uses old-fashioned crutches that go under your armpit. Maybe there’s too much hair in the way? They all use brace / cuff crutches instead.
• Cross-country ski poles are much cooler than canes, but serve the same purpose.
• Docent explanations in other languages take 2-3 minutes. When they repeat in English, it takes only 15 seconds.
• Hungarians have a different word for everything... except service.
• Just once I want to see a statue of a pigeon with little guys on horses all over him.
• Pay no attention to the people who say blue jeans or white tennis shoes will make you look like a tourist. The camera around your neck, map in your pocket and the fact that you are always looking up give you away. And everyone wears jeans anyway.
• You can’t go anywhere without finding someone who knows of Paul Bowers.
• Catching up with old friends is just as much fun as seeing old stuff.
• Every town in Europe has a castle, old churches, a boat ride, music, nice restaurants & shops.
• When you pay a lady's way into the toilet, is that the opposite of buying her a drink?
• Europeans go to the grocery store daily, but bathe once a week.
• Eastern europeans love pork including something they call the knee or knuckle. Awesome!
• America should adopt the technique of traffic lights going from red to red+yellow to green.
• Europe could really use the influence of Charmin & Downy.
• Do it!

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