I had a wonderful vacation with the Lee-Johnson family. We explored Prague, Vienna, and Budapest in 8 days. Now, Matt is back in the US starting his program in L.A. and I only have one more month here in Germany. The time has flown by, but I am excited to be back soon, just in time for boating season!
Check out the highlights of our trip below:
Lee/Johnson family and I in front of the Brandenburg Gate
in front of the Reichstag (Germany’s federal government building)
We started the trip in the capital of the Czech Republic. Here is Prague’s old town square with the Church of Our Lady in the back right.
the astronomical clock chimes every hour with a short show
Anna Chromy’s Il Commandatore, in memory of Mozart’s Don Giovanni premiered October 29, 1787 in the Estates Theatre in Prague.
David Černý’s In Utero statue of a pregnant woman. We all climbed between the legs of the statue, up into the “womb” and climbed back out to reenact our births. I have never come across such an interactive statue before! You can see Matt coming out head first in this picture.
on the Charles bridge over the Vitava River
You can see Prague’s castle behind us.
Mr. Lee and I
the Lennon wall: I love the graffiti above the peace sign saying “Czech mate”
St. Vitus Cathedral is situated entirely within the Prague castle complex. It is one of my favorite churches I have visited this year.
metronome in Letná Park
Before we left Prague, we all tried the green absinthe at a bar next to the old town square. The drink has about 70% alcohol content so it really burns your mouth!
After Prague, we took the train to Vienna. Here is the Rathaus (city hall), where the Eurovision singing competition was going on while we were there.
Hoher Markt Clock (Ankeruhr)
Hundertwasserhaus: an expressionist apartment building designed by the artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser
Matt and I in front of Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace, the imperial summer residence for the Habsburg monarchs
After touring the inside of the palace, we walked through the beautiful gardens. This was my favorite sight of the trip despite that it was pouring rain while we walked through it. I couldn’t take enough pictures to capture the beauty of these gardens!
in front of Vienna’s Natural History Museum
Off to Budapest! The city is divided by the Danube River into Buda and Pest, which did not have it’s unification until 1873. Here is the St. Stephen’s Basilica on the Pest side.
We climbed to the top of the basilica for a marvelous view of Budapest
We were tired of walking around the whole trip so we decided to be like your average tourist and take the Hop On Hop Off tour bus around the city.
Matthias Church on the Buda side of the river
We took a cruise on the Danube and saw stunning views of Budapest’s parliament building
Matthias Church is in the back
Hungarian National Gallery
Bálna: the glass whale where different markets and events take place
On my last night in Budapest, we had drinks at a ruin pub. Old buildings and unused outdoor spaces are transformed into cheap and chaotic bars.
The next morning we took a tour of the parliament building.
Assembly hall of the House of Representatives
scale model of the parliament building
view of the city on the top of the Buda hill
Fisherman’s Bastion
Matthias Church
Wayfaring 