Prague Vienna and Budapest

What better time to visit three of Europe’s great cities as the UK strives to divorce itself from the continent’s precious union. 

Departing in a group of twenty from all parts of Ireland to join a similar-sized group from Scotland, we anticipated a spring-time escape to celebrate castles and palaces, cathedrals and spas, cakes and cocktails in the eastern heart of our beautiful continent.

  

We organised this holiday in the pre-internet fashion by booking through a travel company, for a change, instead of doing it ourselves.  

We had bought foreign holidays on two previous occasions with the same company,[i] both of which were good experiences.  

Four years ago they had taken us to Russia when we were guided around important sites in Moscow and St Petersburg,[ii] with five days in each city; and two years ago, we availed of their expertise on a five day visit to Iceland.

On this occasion, we spent four days (B&B in 4 star hotels) in Prague,[iii] two in Vienna,[iv] and four in Budapest.[v]

  

1 Prague

·        Our first full day took us on a guided walk of the city centre.[vi]  Hradcany, the hill topped by the UNESCO World Heritage 10-14th century Prague Castle, was the start.  At its centre sits the monumental 14^th century St Vitus Cathedral, the world’s seventh largest cathedral and the biggest in the Czech Republic.  Its twin spires rise from a majestic Gothic structure that was only completed in 1929, including Art Nouveau stained glass.  

Prague Castle Guards

St Vitus Cathedral Prague

St Vitus Cathedral stained glass & artwork

Afterwards we descended via Mala Strana (Little Quarter) to cross the 1357 Karluv Most (Charles Bridge) which is guarded by 30 saintly statues.  The oldest is St Ioano Nepomuceno (St John of Nepomuk). 

The day’s highlight was the fairytale-like 15^th Old Townhall century Astronomical Clock chiming at midday in Staromestske Namesti (Old Town Square) and featuring a parade of moving apostles peeping out at the crowds below and moving

like magic puppets past two upper windows.   For a different perspective, we viewed the city’s sights from a boat in the romantic darkness of that same evening.

Charles Bridge Prague nightime view from Vltava

·         Next day we travelled an hour out of town to visit Cesky Sternberk a Castle in rural Bohemia, a National Trust-like property which has been occupied by the Sternberk family for 780 years. 

Chapel in Sternberk Castle

 
 











 That night we attended a performance of Czech folk music and dance on the outskirts of Prague.  For me, the highlight was witnessing the musicians playing the traditional cimbalom instrument.[vii]  Their repertoire even included a rendition from Smetana’s Má Vlast (My Country), his gorgeous paean to Bohemia's great river, Vltava (The Moldau).

·         Our third and final full day in Prague, being a free day, provided the opportunity to discover the city for ourselves without a guide.  We began by taking the metro eight stops from Vysocanska to Narodni Trida – fast and punctual.  Doing this unaided makes you feel more like a local than a tourist. Finding your own way around, likewise, boosts confidence by compelling you to concentrate and learn.  The places we decided to see were both on the opposite side of the Vltava.  Instead of jostling with the crowds on Charles Bridge (named, incidentally, after Charles IV the 14^th century King of Bohemia who planned the city’s layout), we now knew to use an alternative way across the river.  We walked across the Legii (Legions) Bridge.  Despite its not earning a mention in either of my newspaper guides to Prague, our priority (because of our late mothers’ veneration of the Child of Prague) was the handsome 1613 baroque Church of Our Lady Victorious.  It is home to this small 47 cm statue made of wood and covered with fabric and wax. 

  
Our map showed that behind the Church lie the extensive Petrin Gardens which contain what our guide had called Prague’s own Eiffel Tower.  We could see it tantalisingly from lower levels.  Being a pleasant sunny day a steep uphill climb beckoned.  The effort is worth the grunt-work.  Petrin Tower was built in 1891

Petrin Tower

(two years after its Parisian cousin), it is adjoined by Prague City Museum as well as an 1891 exhibition pavilion with 15 distorting mirrors.[viii]  There are other imposing older religious buildings nearby.  On our way back, after crossing over the Manesuv (Manes) Bridge we walked around some of the Jewish Quarter including the Maisel Synagogue as a reminder of the vibrancy of that culture in Prague before the horrors of World War 2.  We ambled across Jan Palach Square, named in honour of the 20-year-old student who immolated himself in protest at the 1969 uprising's military suppression by Russia.  I recall the impact of that event well being the same age as Palach at the time.  To revive mind and body, a visit to the Staromestske (Old Town) restaurant for Czech strudel and pancakes seemed well earned

before walking to Namesti Republiky metro station and a return trip to Vysocanska and our nearby hotel.

2. Vienna

·         The coach-trip from Prague to Vienna was eased with a stop for lunch on the Czech side of the border.  Chvalovice attracts Austrian customers attracted by a variety of merchandise at prices that are low by their standards.  It includes casinos and nightclubs, even bearing a scruffy resemblance to Disneyland.

·         To help us to get our bearings of Vienna, our Hungarian guide brought us for a walk to the city centre.  We saw the exterior of the fabulous 19^th century State Opera House

At Vienna State Opera

(unfortunately with no tour of the sumptuous interior, as strongly recommended to me by a friend) followed by a visit inside St Stephan’s Cathedral.  Part Romanesque part Gothic, it dates to the 14^th century.[ix]  Composers like Haydn, Mozart and others have got married in this cathedral, Vivaldi’s funeral was hosted here and also that of Niki Lauda the racing driver.

Stephansdom St Stephan's Cathedral

·         Next day, we visited the grounds of the ornate Belvedere Palace.  Its parklands include a fountain-speckled Baroque garden which runs between the upper and lower parts of the palace, and a Botanical Garden.

Botanical Garden Belvedere Palace

·         If only to meet a challenge set by our youngest daughter, we enjoyed the legendary sachertorte chocolate cake in the Sacher Hotel’s Cafe Mozart. This is famed as the place where Harry Lime met The Third Man.

Sachertorte at Hotel Sacher

·         No visit to Vienna would be complete without a concert of Viennese music. Along with about half of our group, we attended a performance of works by Mozart and Johann Strauss in the Kursalon Wien with the Salonorchester Alt Wien – a small orchestra, with a soprano and tenor singing arias and a performance which received a well-earned standing ovation. 

 























 3.Budapest

·         En route to the Hungarian capital, we stopped in the resplendent town of Gyor.  Its Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady houses a 40-year-old connection with Ireland dating back to Oliver Cromwell.  When the English conqueror expelled Catholic clergy, Bishop Walter Lynch of Clonfert in County Galway escaped in 1649 with a special artwork, a painting known as the Irish Tearing Madonna.  Having originally settled in Vienna, Lynch eventually became the second bishop of Gyor and the miraculous painting is displayed prominently in the Cathedral.  In addition a plaque written in Hungarian on Connemara marble sits across the aisle.

The Irish Tearing Madonna, Gyor Cathedral

·         A highlight was our trip to the world coach-driving champions Lázárs Equestrian Park in Domonyvolgy about 35k east of Budapest. 

We were treated to a magnificent display of Hungarian Nonius and Lipanzammer stallions in dazzling displays of coach-driving featuring an array of superb horse-handling expertise. Prior to Lázárs, we had visited another National Trust-type of property, the baroque Royal Palace Godollo, the retreat of the Austro-Hungarian monarch Queen Sisi (Elizabeth).

Sisi Palace Godollo

·         No visit to Budapest should exclude bathing in its monumental thermal pools, dating back to the Ottoman occupation.  One of the eleven listed[x] and the one closest to our hotel (a 15 minute walk from our hotel crossing the Elizabeth Bridge) is the 500-year-old Rudas Baths.  Under monumental architecture, Rudas contains an array of pools, from very hot through medium to cool and cold, a cure for all ailments.  A massage and other treatments are available.[xi] You could spend weeks visiting these magnificent palaces of health.  

Rudas Thermal Bath

·        Budapest’s other monuments[xii] included elevated Buda Castle, Szent Istvan (St Stephen) Bazilika, named after the nation’s founder King Stephen and containing the relic of his right hand, the Shoes on the Danube memorial to murdered Jews,

the biggest synagogue in Europe, Erzsébet Hid (Elizabeth Bridge), Széchenyi Lánchíd (Chain Bridge)[xiii] and the adjacent Cave Church excavated from solid rock on the side of Gellert Hill and run by Pauline Order monks.

Sziklatemplom, Church by the Rock

Ten nights away including two days transferring by coach means that a lot of sight-seeing has to be condensed into a limited amount of words and time. The careful allocation of precious time, I have to say, is half the charm of a holiday like this.

Recommendations

The best restaurant meal was provided by the ornate Múzeum restaurant (established 1885)[xiv]  adjacent to the National Museum in Prague.  For the record, my main course was roasted pike-perch with spinach and pine-nuts served with a shrimp sauce and fine herbed potatoes; while my wife had goose leg with warm cabbage and apple and served with onion smashed potatoes.  

I had anticipated relaxing in one of Vienna’s long-established coffee houses. Perhaps because of our short time in the Austrian capital, my award for best coffee shop instead goes to one in Hungary.  On our final day before heading to Budapest’s airport, we happened to find Auguszt Belvaros.[xv]  This is a magnificent family-owned 149 year old institution which serves the best selection of naturally-flavoured cakes with beautiful coffee and hot chocolate. 

To mark the previous evening, our final night, with a sense of occasion, we sought out a cocktail bar and found the ideal place.  The St Andrea Wine and Skybar[xvi] sits above Vorosmarty Square and has won architectural awards.  It serves up a cool modern vibe, an impressive array of locally-based affordable cocktails, with the enticing bonus of a panoramic view over Budapest.   

Conclusion

When the UK Government announced that the elections to the EU Parliament would take place on 23 May, it was apparent that getting back to Belfast before 10 pm in time to vote was going to be difficult.  This became more so when the departure from Franz Liszt airport was delayed by 20 minutes, not helped by the inclusion of two stops (Banbridge and Sprucefield) by our bus from Dublin airport to Belfast. 

As we approached our destination, I phoned a taxi company with a forlorn hope of getting us, literally, to the church on time.  Emerging from the bus weighed down by two heavy suitcases and with less than 20 minutes until the deadline, I found a helpful driver waiting and waving.  I explained our mission and he entered into the spirit of the occasion accepting an impossible challenge in good humour.  Obligingly he whisked us through the city traffic as fast as he could legally travel. 

With 5 or 6 minutes left on the clock we made it and cast our votes.  Basking in the warm glow of an awe-inspiring continental holiday, the only response was to return the compliment and endorse our enduring citizenship with Europe. 

©Michael McSorley 2019

References

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[i] Travel Department www.traveldepartment.ie

[ii] https://michaelmcsorleytravel.blogspot.com/2015/05/moscow-and-saint-petersburg.html

[iii] www.clarioncongresshotelprague.com

[iv] www.bestwestern.com BW Plus Amedia Wien

[v] www.museumhotel.hu

[vi] 48 hours in Prague Belfast Telegraph Weekend 6 Feb 2016

[vii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NhCJMoDd5E (clip includes The Third Man theme)

[viii] 48 hours in Prague Belfast Telegraph Weekend 21 June 2014

[ix] 48 hours in Vienna Belfast Telegraph Weekend 19 September 2015

[x] Budapest The City of Spas www.spabudapest.com

[xi] www.rudasfurdo.hu

[xii] 48 hours in Budapest Belfast Telegraph Weekend 30 January 2016

[xiii] 48 hours in Budapest Belfast Telegraph Weekend 27 September 2014

[xiv] https://muzeumkavehaz.hu/en/

[xv] https://auguszt.hu/auguszt-belvaros/

[xvi] https://standreaskybar.hu/

The Rose of Tralee

When you haven’t visited a beautiful place for too long, the result is that its breathtaking natural beauty and the creative culture can become an all too distant memory. 

And yet Ireland’s far south-west is easily accessible.  It’s available without having to endure the irritation of security at airports and ports.  To avoid the discomfort of security queues and the invasiveness of body-searching when going abroad, the relaxing alternative is to remain on terra firma.

My wife and I decided on a late summer tour from one end of the island to the other, from County Antrim to Co Kerry, from Belfast to Dingle.  The children, now parents, were very young when we last set foot in Killarney.  

Regardless of prognostications about impending gloom in the wake of Brexit, a lot of history - much of it good - has been recorded on both sides of our “seamless” border since then.

To make travel easier, not to mention our retirement objective to reduce carbon footprint, this journey offered the ideal opportunity to leave the car locked up at home.  We would travel by train, tram, and buses with a couple of short transfers by taxi.  Where we live, there is a wonderful benefit for resident 65+ year olds to use all forms of public transport at no personal cost.  Apart from buses, trains, and trams it even includes publicly-run ferries, a generous facility which operates equally in both jurisdictions (hopefully unhindered in the future by Brexit). 

So, apart from the bragging rights for good green credentials, driver fatigue and road rage disappear.  The chauffeured traveller can peacefully read a thriller novel while sipping green tea, and delight in making family and friends jealous with photos of beautiful scenery.

The novelty of our experimental trip was instanced at the end of the first stage of the journey when, on arrival in Dublin, we transferred from Connolly station direct to our hotel[i] on the new (to us) Luas line.  This sleek modern tram took us efficiently (Luas being the Irish Gaelic word for speed) across the city centre at our leisure and without fuss, thence a short walk to our overnight stop.   

The choice of hotel was determined because it is adjacent to Hueston station from where, next morning we would take the train to Tralee, the county town of Kerry, population about 35,000.

The best things we did on this three-night stay based in Tralee[ii] were a visit to Dingle, a tour round the beautiful Ring of Kerry, and a theatrical evening at Siamsa Tíre.

Lying thirty miles south-west of Tralee, Dingle provides – apart from an array of sights[iii] - an impressive range of restaurants, mostly specializing in fresh locally-caught seafood.  These are sufficient reason for a visit and probably explain the droves of discerning foreign visitors from Europe and north America.  These tourists are attracted by the same catch as the town’s most famous resident.

One of the best things to do in Dingle is to go on a boat trip, the most popular being the short journey to see Fungie the dolphin.  Having arrived in Dingle Bay in 1983, Fungie has become such a huge attraction that a bronze sculpture of him is on display at the harbour. Several operators provide tours “all day, every day, all year round.”  Apparently it can border on chaotic in high season when numerous boats jostle for position.

Nowhere else in the world, apparently, has a dolphin adopted a place long-term like this, meaning that this bottlenose’s continuous presence over 35 years is unique to Dingle.

Our journey along “Ireland’s most spectacular mountain road, the Ring of Kerry” started and finished in Killarney, long famous for its jaunting cars. The commercial bus tour took us, along with about 20 mostly American visitors anti-clockwise around the Iveragh peninsula which lies on the southern side of Dingle Bay. 

Killorglin village was the first place of interest, being famed for Puck Fair.[iv]  The clue is in the name – poc being the Irish Gaelic word for a male goat.  The high point of the annual event is the crowning of a wild goat as a King of the Fair.  He sits in an exalted position for the duration of the 3-day event keeping a watchful eye on proceedings.

The main attraction of the Ring, however, is the magnificent coastal scenery and rugged countryside which includes the lakes of Killarney.  The broadcast of a television documentary a few days after our return home helpfully explained that tourism in this part of the country owes its origins to the advent of the railways in 1853 when Killarney’s station opened, followed by the Great Southern Hotel in 1854.   

Celebrity endorsement followed with a subsequent and successful visit by Queen Victoria in 1861[v].  The monarch was responsible for naming one beauty spot Ladies View.

On an otherwise amusing and informative tour, the only aspect of the driver’s commentary which dismayed me was his remarks about the island of Skellig Michael which lies 8 miles off the coast.   

He repeated the story of the filming of part of the latest Star Wars film[vi] and the benefits to the local economy.  He omitted to mention its significance as a World Heritage site,[vii] being the location of one of Europe’s earliest Christian monastic sites, a place of enormous archaeological importance and also a special haven for wildlife.  

When I advised some of our visiting colleagues of these facts, they were more impressed with this than by the Hollywood angle.

After plenty of bracing fresh air, a cultural evening of “mirth and music of the land” is the perfect match.  Siamsa Tíre means exactly that, a pleasant diversion with musical entertainment.  It is the name of the National Folk Theatre of Ireland which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year and lies next to the centre of Tralee. 

The company’s repertoire brings Irish folklore to life through music song and dance.  I was lucky enough to see its original show Fadó Fadó, Long Ago, a tale of rural life on a simple homestead over the four seasons.  The mesmeric quality of singing, both solo and choral, alongside the intricacies of traditional Irish dancing and backed up with skilled musicianship were an uplifting combination of perfect harmony.

Tralee is a good base from which to explore County Kerry.  Less touristy than resort towns like Killarney and Dingle, it is the venue for the enduringly popular Rose of Tralee pageant.   Incidentally, the county’s other main town, Listowel, has won the award as Ireland’s Tidiest Town 2018[viii].   

As the county town, Tralee has a bustling commercial town centre, a beautiful central park complete with an impressive rose walk and garden, and a pleasant riverside walk to the Blennerville Windmill.  Roses abound.

©Michael McSorley 2018

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[i] https://www.ashlinghotel.ie/ Aisling in Irish means vision or dream.

[ii] https://www.therosehotel.com/

[iii] https://www.authenticireland.com/14-things-to-do-in-dingle/

[iv] http://puckfair.ie/history

[v] An Irishman’s Diary Irish Times 30 April 2011

[vi] Irish Times 9 December 2017 https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/ireland/experience-the-force-a-guide-to-the-star-wars-magic-in-kerry-1.3317637

[vii] http://www.worldheritageireland.ie/skellig-michael/

[viii] Irish Times 24 September 2018 https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/tidy-towns-listowel-in-co-kerry-announced-as-2018-winner-1.3639448
Note:- Photos by the author, except for those of the sculpture & Skellig (sourced from google images), and Siamsa Tíre (from its Facebook page).