MomTrips

Budapest 

Budapest is a larger and less attractive than Prague. It suffered much from Soviet Russian neglect. Nevertheless, I had wonderful unexpected experiences there, as well.

The Great Synagogue (above) is the second largest synagogue in the world, second only to the one in Jerusalem.  It is shaped like a Basilica and feels more like a church than a synagogue, not only in the shape but in the decorations as well.  It has an organ, which only Christians play during services (religious Jews are not allowed to play musical instruments on the Sabbath).  Liszt and Saint Sans played it in the 19th Century.  The structure was started in 1854 and completed in 1859.  Today there are about 80,000 Jews in Budapest.  More Jews survived WWII here because the Germans only first occupied Hungary in 1944.  Most of the artifacts from the synagogue and Jewish Museum survived WWII because the National Museum helped pack up the items in the Jewish Museum and hid them in the National Museum’s basement during the war.  Likewise, priests helped hide the Torah scrolls in a cemetery and they came through in good shape.

In the courtyard of the museum were 4 pillars with the names of the Christians that saved Hungarian Jews.  Seeing the many names restored my faith in human beings. It was into this synagogue that Jews were herded and processed to be deported.  

While visiting the synagogue, I saw equipment being set up for a concert. I asked and I thought they said it would be a Klezmer concert. I bought a ticket.  However, it was a Holocaust memorial concert. The synagogue was full of local Jews.  I was probably the only non-Hungarians there.  The program was completely in Hungarian including the singing of “Where have all the flowers gone?”  Most of the music was very mellow and moving.  One person read a poem and a vocalist was humming a tune to it.  I had tears running down my face and I didn’t understand a word of the poem.  I still get chills thinking about that night. Wow! This was an extremely emotional experience.

Also wonderful was my visit to Liszt’s house, which is now a museum. It housed a number of interesting pianos but most exciting was seeing Beethoven’s piano. 

Since Budapest is built on many hot springs, it was a must to go to one of the baths.  I chose to go to one frequented by the locals in the park. 

A 14^th century medieval synagogue was undergoing a renovation. Nearby, the archeologists also unearthed gravestones from that period.

Vienna 

I took a Hydrofoil between Budapest to Vienna.  The boat was much more fun than flying.

Vienna is a beautiful white city, with stunning architecture.  It was a musical Mecca in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.  There is the beautiful opera house, which was partially destroyed in WWII.  I could not attend a performance; therefore, I went on a scheduled tour.  

I heard a string quartet concert at the “Mozart House”.  Mozart lived in this house for a while and played in the same concert room.  It is a beautiful little room – sort of round – not much bigger that a regular living room, with decorated walls and ceilings.  There is room for about 50 chairs and a small stage.  I sat in the first row-center.  It was fabulous.  I kept closing my eyes and pretending that Mozart would walk in.

Today the performances are for the public, but they are sold out months in advance.  I was only able to see a practice, which was incredible.  I can only imagine how wonderful the performances are.

The Schonbrunn Palace, which is easily reached via underground, was built mid 1700s.  Both the palace and the grounds were just amazing.  The palace is huge with over 1,000 rooms.  I visited all 40 rooms that are open to the public using an excellent audio guide.

The rooms are basically as they were in the late 1800s.  You actually get to feel like the king and queen have just left. 

I was enchanted by the ancient musical instruments collection, which included harpsichords, clavichords and pianos and harps from Mozart and Beethoven’s times. The museum had an acoustical guide so I able to listen to some of those rare instruments.

The four-city tour was just perfect.  Krakow was the smallest and therefore cozy.  Prague is the most beautiful with Vienna a close second.  Budapest had the hot baths and the beautiful synagogue experience. They complimented each other.

Final comments: 

1. I learned a valuable lesson: After an overnight flight, hire someone to pick you up at the airport. I tried to save money and take a local bus in Krakow.  It was stressful because I didn’t know where to get off.
2. Small European cities are easy to get around – no need for a guide except for specific venues.
3. Do some research on what is available – I would have liked to see a Lipizza horse show, but I would have needed to get tickets in advance.

I had gone with ElderTreks to Peru and Nepal, and decided to book my next adventure to Finland’s Lapland with them.

Finland – Lapland

The trip began with a short stop in Helsinki, continuing on to Rovaniemi, the gateway to Lapland. Our group consisted of 15 travelers plus 2 guides.  Five of my fellow travelers arrived in Rovaniemi without their luggage – a good reason to travel with carry-on.  Their bags did catch up with them. 

Rovaniemi is not at all charming.  It was burned down at the end of WWII by the Germans during their retreat.  With only a dozen houses surviving, the town was quickly rebuilt in the late 40s and early 50s with an eye on speed rather than beauty.    The must stop in Rovaniemi is Santa’s workshop and Post Office situated in what used to be the edge of the Arctic Circle a while back.  (The Arctic Circle has shifted).  Santa’s workshop was touristy but fun.

On the way to Inari, we stopped for lunch in a Kota at a Husky farm run by Samis, the indigenous people of this area.  The Kota is a wooden structure, which looks like a tent.  The Sami people were nomads, and used these structures as they roamed through Lapland (which covers northern Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia).  The Husky trainer gave us a talk and demonstrated the use of the sleds.  We were able to visit their 80 dogs.

In Inari, we had our first sauna experience.  The Finns love their saunas and each hotel had these available for us.  It was wonderful to step into a sauna after a day’s hiking or boating, especially if it was chilly and rainy.

Inari has a fantastic museum, with an exhibit that was special for me.  

I learned some other interesting facts about the Samis, their migrations, clothes and their handicrafts.  Their language is related to Finnish and Estonian. I also learned that while bears hibernate, they give birth and nurse their young for 2 months.  They give birth in January and nurse till March.

Sanila Reindeer farm in Sevettijarvi was a case of missed opportunity.  The reindeer were just put out to pasture – they are allowed to roam all summer; therefore, we did not see them, we only saw the reindeer corrals.  

Our Sanila Farm hostess was a school teacher and showed us around the school, which runs to 9^th grade.  They have about 30 students and 6 teachers.  In her 15 years of teaching, the school had closed for bad weather only twice.  Many of the kids travel 30 minutes or longer to get to the school and are obviously hardier than our kids.  I did not expect the classrooms to be so well equipped.

Vadso, Norway

The drive from the Reindeer farm to Vadso went along the Fjords.  As we drove north, the trees became smaller and more sparce, until only arctic vegetation, scrubby little bushes, remained.  We were only about 1200 miles from the North Pole.

The open area above the cliff has a 360-degree views of the sea. 

The town of Vardo is the northern most fortified town in the world.  The Vardo fort cannons are fired on the first day that the sun reappears after the winter darkness and also for special occasions.  (The first day that the sun appears after the winter darkness is also a school holiday, therefore the kids sometimes call and say they saw the sun so that they can get a day off.)  It was about 50 degrees out and it seems that this is typical summer weather.  

In the museum we learned about the Vardo witch hunts, which took place about the same time as the Salem witch hunts.  The town’s population has dropped from 5,000 to 3,000 because the fishing canneries are closing.

Helsinki – our final stop

Helsinki is a lovely city with an extensive water front called the Esplanade.  

We were lucky that a piano concert was in progress and I could hear the wonderful acoustics. 

I love classical music, therefore, I took a day trip to Sibelius Park, built to honor the composer who is a national hero here.  His most famous composition is Finlandia.

In thinking back on this trip, it was informative and fun, but not extraordinary.  I was glad to learn about the Sami people and their customs.  I took some wonderful hikes and boat rides.  However, the two guides were outdoor types who would have preferred to salmon fish rather than take us around to cultural museums.  In addition, during the hikes, I always felt rushed.  This was my last trip with ElderTreks, but not my last group trip.  It was time to try new things.

Final Comments:

1. We did not use EldertTreks again for a few reasons (even though they were great at getting us to consider adventure travel).  
   a. They did not respond to my report about the uninterested guides.
   b. They did not arrange the trip, with an eye on the timing of the reindeer corralling.
   c. The transfers between cities involved long car drives on this trip as well as on the two previous trips with ElderTreks. 
2. We were ready to have more control over our itinerary.  
3. I like to hike at my own speed.  I need time to look around and enjoy the hike not just get somewhere.