There is a big, multi-level food hall in central Budapest known as the Covered Market. It is geared toward tourists as much as locals. We have no idea why we would buy a jar of paprika. We use it only occasionally in cooking and buy it at the supermarket. Lots of visitors wanted some, though.
These posts are going up on different days. It's Monday here but will be seen Sunday in North America. We are taking a half-day trip out of the city today, home tomorrow.
That's a new idea to me. The people onboard seemed to be having a noisy good time. Another exhausting day in another very interesting city. I've got a lot more pictures to edit. We're spending today and tomorrow here. Home Tuesday.
A new country for us, Slovakia. Only six million people, with the capital, Bratislava, at about a half million. The country punches above its weight, with a huge auto industry exporting cars all over Europe.
The old town of Bratislava is charming. A favorite spot is the contemporary sculpture of Cumil, the friendly sewer worker (https://www.nomads-travel-guide.com/places/cumil-statue/) who pops up to say hello to the world. Lots better than the monuments to monarchs and wars.
Stock im Eisen-Platz, Vienna, outside St. Stephen's Cathedral. We have only one brief day in this interesting, vibrant city. We'd love to come back with more time, but we wonder if age and spines will rule out future trips like this.
I usually limit myself to one photo. However, yesterday we went to Melk Abbey, situated on a hill over the Danube in Austria and I was pretty impressed. I can't begin to explain its history and architecture here, so if you want to learn about this Baroque blockbuster, I suggest you go here: https://www.stiftmelk.at/en/ .
My Catholic elementary school made us learn Roman numerals. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the year over the gate is 1718. Corrections welcome.
Vienna today.
In America, a river ox bow is an area where a river forms almost a complete loop, not quite cutting off the neck to form an island. There are lots on the lower Mississippi, which are quite striking to view from the air. There is one on the Danube, passing through beautiful scenery of low hills, forest and farmland.
After devouring our sausages in Regensburg Sunday afternoon, we went out to the street to find a large and loud group of young women and their supporters marching through town. The themes were feminism, consent and, to use an American expression, enough of mansplaining. I doubt that Google Translate got all the subtleties, but the orange and green sign means something like "unsolicited advice from strange men," and the black on orange "protection is not a privilege, but a right."
Around the back of the cathedral, there was a smaller group who were apparently supporting the old Iranian monarchy. I think that is the pre-Islamic Revolution flag, and I heard the name Pahlavi mentioned. I wonder what they hoped to accomplish.
