Seconds, please

I felt excited and a little nervous to be heading back to Prague. Excited, because I loved it so much the first time and nervous because I feared it would be much changed now that Prague had been back open to the west for nearly 20 years.
It some ways, both of those things were true. Mark hadn't been to Prague before and we enjoyed our visit and he could see why I liked it so much. And yet, the throngs, and I mean comparable to Venice throngs of tourists could get a little old. For example the very cool old clock in the main old town square. Every hour, the bowels of the clock open up and the twelve apostles parade around to mark the passing of another hour. And, like clockwork, every hour there are about 200 people crowded around it looking up for the apostolic show.
But there is good reason that so many people want to visit Prague it is a beautiful city that charmed me as much this second time as the first. It is funny going back to a place you've been before. I was convinced I had the general layout and direction of the city in my head from my first visit and therefor could adequately navigate us from point to point. And I did well, generally, in a that general way. Specifically I kept getting us to dead ends. And every time I could look up or around and say, "you see there it is, right there, that way." Actually getting there was always more of a challenge. Despite our misguided wanderings we had a good time in Prague. A good first for Mark, and seconds for me.

Vienna and The Kiss

Vienna is a city of art, culture and refinement. In addition to being the home to Mozart and a plethora of museums it is also home to the less well-known histories of the “poke a nun” and “beach a bitch.”
Don’t ask.
Okay, well if you must know, Mark narrated a tour of some of the lesser known tourist spots of Vienna for me. A tour not many are lucky enough to experience. No one else in fact I’m sure.
We had major problem during our days in Vienna. It was sweltering. Temperatures of 40+ (that’s 100+ back in the States) and humid. Sticky, sweaty, I don’t care if we do or see anything even if we are in Vienna hot. Fortunately one of the things on my list for Vienna was a certain museum which I figured would be air conditioned and out of the sun. I’ve actually had very few lists during the past months of being away. I am usually (as anyone who has ever lived with me can attest to) a devoted list maker. I make to do lists, shopping lists, what I’ve worn for the past month list (a certain Jane Kim Gauger would want to be sure I included the what I’ve worn list, in any list I make about lists). But I am a relaxed enough traveler that I don’t feel the need to make lists while on the road. Besides I don’t have enough clothes in the backpack to warrant a list of what I’ve worn over the past month.
But, in Vienna as we struggled to get motivated to even leave the hostel, I came up with a list of one item for Vienna.
“The Kiss.”
Photographic reproductions of Gustav Klimt’s most famous painting don’t really do the piece justice. I suppose that’s probably true of a lot of art. Seeing the real thing gives you a real sense of why it is widely considered a masterpiece. For “The Kiss” the pleasure of the real thing lies in the color. Klimt painted with real gold and silver that not only shimmers and shines in person but gives an almost 3-D quality to the piece.
We sat on a bench in the gallery for a good 20 minutes just looking at the painting and soaking up its beauty.
Artistic bliss.
And the bench was right by the air conditioning vent. I’ve never loved a painting more.

Salzburg & Eisreisenwelt (or something like that)

Okay so there are 2 audiences that we’re addressing here:
The sound of music – nice little movie about perfect little kids that skip in the hills and sing songs and play in the hills and “ahem, It’s wonderful really, it’s a nice little place with a great musical…did I mention its my wife’s favorite musical”
I personally couldn’t wait to get out of Salzburg largely due to the heat we experienced there but more importantly with how we would be able to find complete escape from it when visit the largest ice cave on the planet just about an hour to the south.
Imagine the biggest cave you’ve ever seen, and then imagine something a whole lot bigger. This cave is bigger. Its accessible from Salzburg by a 1 hour train ride, a 15 minute walk, a 20 minute bus, then another 25 minute walk, then a gondola ride, and then another 20 minute walk. And at last you come to this:
Did I mention its 42.5 km deep!!! This cave is dark and huge, its so cavernous winds can push their way out the entrance at 120 km/hr. We felt the icy wind, and then proceeded to tour the first kilometer of it which requires you to hike 1500 stairs to get to where you want to be.
And all along the way you see 25 meter ice stalagtites and stalagmites...
ice walls...

ice shapes...
and ice tunnels...
We froze in there, for about 90 minutes but everyone one of those was worth it.

Innsbruck

Some people come to Austria for the Museums and Classical Music of Vienna and Salzburg, others simply come to hike and explore caves, fortunately we managed to do all four. We took our overnight train from Brasov Romania to Vienna managing to see absolutely nothing of Hungary from the hours of 1am to 6am except passport control. Staying all of 1 hour in Vienna with a promise to return we connected to Innsbruck. Kate has been to Innsbruck before when she was 5. Its where JP taught her to skip. And you can see here she still knows how and is delighted to show anyone.
When you’re not skipping chances are you’re hiking, at every point while standing anywhere in the city of Innsbruck if you look up you’re guaranteed to see the top of at least one mountain clambering up a short distance behind any building.
We spent 2 of our 3 days getting up into the hills.
Nice long hikes, all very rewarding...

.... and a bit tiring

McDonalds by Mark

Based on the title of this I’ll keep this short.
When you travel the way Kate and I travel, meals are … well lets just say repetitive: 1 Baguette, 1 tomato, splash of mayo, maybe a pickle or two if we really splurged and a pack of a local meat usually ham, or something that looked awfully like it. So its not all that surprising that every now and then something awakens in you that craves a taste of home. I can recall a few times when Kate could be heard saying “can you imagine how good a Starbucks Frap would taste right now!?!” I would usually nod, and say yeah that would definitely hit the spot. We would continue to battle the eastern European heat wave and settle on a bottle of water tucked away un-chilled at the back of a shelf next to a can of beans or some strange vegetable. Well for me it was McDonalds, and it wasn’t so much talk but action mostly because McDonalds can be found anywhere in the world and when you’re on day 23 of consecutive Swiss army knife lunches that awakening had occurred. I not only wolfed down some meal deal, I went back for my next meal because it just tasted too good. Lunch Dinner Done…or was I? The bacon and egg McMuffin should not be missed especially when your options just aren’t that appealing. 3 days later I’m on my 5th meal at McShat, and I’ve now formed a pact with Kate.
Mark: “If I ask to go to McDonalds again don’t let me go okay!”
Kate: “Okay, no problem”
Mark: “I’m serious, no matter how much I beg and plead don’t let me go”
Kate: (chuckle) “okay, yeah I can do that”
Mark: (pause)…”cause I can see myself physically picking you up and carrying you into a McDonalds with me because you won’t let me go, and you’ll have to promise to drag me out of the store before I can get an order placed”
Kate: “okay…I will definitely not let you go to McDonalds”
Mark: …”okay good!”
(Silence)

96 minutes later

“Katy, lets go to McDonalds, a Big Mac sounds so good!”
(Chuckle) “No…. no way”
“Awe c’mon … I didn’t mean all that stuff I said earlier”
“No!”
“Pleeeeeease”
“This is a setup, you’re just asking me to check if I’ll let you go, and if I do you’ll blame me, so No”
“No honest, it’s not a setup, I really won’t get mad let me go please
(5 minutes of continuous badgering later)
“Okay fine! Go. Go to McDonalds, you want to go so bad, its your body go have another Mickey D’s but don’t blame me”
(I completely stop dead in my track)
(Silence)
“You caved!! I can’t believe you caved your were going to let me go, I said no matter what!! …. Gasp!!”
At this point I take a punch in the shoulder
I don’t know if there is a moral to all of this or not.
I do know that I didn’t have it again for about another 23 days, and but instead of dipping 5 times it only happened once.

"Dracula's" Castle

Even though I've never read Dracula, Transylvannia still holds a certain appeal. I mean, it just sounds cool to answer the question, "where are you headed?" with "oh, you know, just Transylvannia."
The guide books will tell you that Bran castle is the heart of Dracula country. In fact, it is sometimes even referred to as Dracula's castle. Nevermind that so-called real Dracula, Vlad Tepes, the man whom Bram Stoker's fictional character is loosely based on never even visited the castle let alone lived there. Despite this oh-so-tenuous thread, the Dracula connection is pimped to death (pun intended) at the base of the castle's hill. You can buy Romanian souvenirs of Dracula fangs, crosses, t-shirts, etc all made of course in China.
Happily when you actually get up and into Bran castle the Dracula-weary are treated to a spectacular view of the Romanian countryside a Dracula-free tour of the castle.
There may not be vampires living at Bran castle, but there is a vulture hovering.
Long story short:
Queen Marie of Romania lived in the castle
Communists seized it in 1956
8 Years ago Queen Marie's nephew, an American resident files to reclaim the castle from the government because of "fond childhood memories there during formative years."
Government gives it back
Fond childhood memories are forgotten and the castle is now for sale... $80 million bucks and Bran could be yours.
We took the real estate tour and while a castle would be nice for one's investment portfolio, I actually think there are better properties out there to spend my millions on.