Birthday Week Twenty22!
One year passed so fast and we are back to our birthday week travel once again. The best part of this annual trip is that it has fixed dates so it can be planned well in advance. This year we planned a trip to eastern Europe to the countries of the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia, which we touched upon on a brief day trip. Last year we thought nothing can be better than celebrating your birthdays in Spain and France, but to our surprise, eastern Europe has nothing less to offer. Especially the cities of Prague and Budapest can take you back to Europe’s glorious past.
@Prague, Czech Republic
The week started by landing in the magnificent city of Prague. As we started to move towards the old town from the outer districts of Prague where the airport is located, we started getting a prologue to what our next three days are going to look like. It was less like traveling in space but more like traveling back in time to the middle ages. Briming with history of Salvs Prague greeted us with her typical autumn weather of sunshine and cloudy skies. The highlight of Prague was reaching the old town square where the beautiful astronomical clock from the early 15th century stuck 9am then crossing the Charles Brigde to reach the John Lennon wall. If someone is into Historical buildings, the city is a living library to read from. Cherry on the cake was our visit to the state opera where we witnessed the musical performance of the Sleeping beauty.
Hallstat, Austria
As we continued in our Journey to Salzburg, the historical tint started to fade and the natural beauty of the Austrian Alps began to take its place. The serinity reached its peak when we reached Hallstatt. The picturesque village on the lake side surrounded by mountains dates back to 800BC. Surely its the most beautiful village I have ever visited. The crafted houses poping out of the mountain side with their flower decorated balconies are no less than an alpine fairy tale. Before heading towards hallstat we had a brief stay at Salzburg. The top places that we liked the most are the Hohensalzburg Fortress which has never been captured in the history, the beautiful Mirabell gardens and the love-lock bridge. We found the capital city of Vienna to be very similar to Paris. It has it own charm and history but the magnificence is comparable to Paris. One new experience was visiting the Museum of natural history where we saw real jurassic fossils of Dinosuars. At Salzburg we also went to the house where Mozart was born.
After a brief tour to Bratislava, which is the capital city of Slovakia, where we saw the blue church coming directly out from a Fairytale we moved to our last destination that was Budapest. ‘Straddling the Danube River, with the Buda Hills to the west and the Great Plain to the east, Budapest is a gem of a city.’ If some magiclamp give me the option of settling in any of the cities we travelled, Budapest will be the place. The city is so uniquely mordern and yet so historically preserved. It seems like someone has designed it not for the residents but for the tourists. Any place you stand near the Danube and you will find yourself surrounded by some of the historical marvels. In the night the city lights up like a string of pearls held strongly by the river. The twin city of Buda and pest can have a deep artistic impact on anyone inclined towards beauty. The Buda castle sitting high up in the Buda side of the river and the views of the pest side specially the parliament building on the river bank is surely a breath taking sight. The Mathias Church, Fisherman’s bastion, the patliament building and the many bridges are a must visit. We also took the river cruise and that too twice, once in the evening and then when the lights were on in the night. In the evening cruise we disembarked in the small river island and then walked back to the city via the bridge. Though we spent the last three days in Budapest before our flight back to Delhi but surely these were the most magnificent.
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