Highlights of Trip to Czech Republic and Hungary - May 2010

My friend, Pam, and I took a three week trip to Czech Republic and Hungary.  Here are some highlights of our trip.

Prague Castle - Icon of the city

 

Sunset - Prague Castle

Pam and I - First night in Prague

 

Charles Bridge on a rainy night

 

Tyne Church in Old Town Square

Astronomical Clock

Below the Astronomical Clock

 

St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle

Inside St. Vitus Cathedral

St. Wenceslas Chapel inside St. Vitus Cathedral

Our hotel in Prague 

 

Our apartment building in Budapest

View of Basilica from the balcony of our Budapest apartment

 

Basilica at night

Zoltan Kodaly's grave in Budapest

The Danube River separates the cities of Buda and Pest.

Danube River at sunset

We were in Europe for 21 days, visiting Prague, Kutna Hora, Zlin, Breznice, Luhacovice, Buchlovice, Roznov, Kromeriz, Vizovice, Szentendre, Budapest and Lake Balaton.  I'll share more photos and stories about the places we visited in the days to come.

Jeannette

Bleeding hearts are growing

The bleeding hearts plant in our garden is blossoming!

Red Bird in the Red Bud

We are quite partial to cardinals at our house.  I had a bit of luck yesterday photographing a young pair chasing each other around the red bud tree. Most of the time, they were quite well camouflaged in the pink blossoms, but a couple of the photos turned out rather well.

He was the toughest to photograph.

I took this photo from the living room window with my telephoto lens.

I can only hope he'll return, so I can try again.

I had better luck with the female.

Love the red beak.

"I'm ready for my close up, Mr. De Mille."

"This is my best side."

"What is that over there?"

You can see why the cardinals are attracted to this red bud tree.

The bleeding hearts are getting prettier every day.

Birds and blooms are good therapy.

Jeannette

CD Cabinet is done!

Dave put all the finishing touches on the oak CD cabinet today.

18 drawers to varnish.

Only 17 more to go.

All done.

Librarian's drawer pull.

Each row can hold 50 CDs.

Daffodils in the front garden.

Red bud tree in the back.

Pita thinks that the water on the balcony tastes better than
the water inside the house.

Pita got a clean bill of health from Dr. Becky this morning. Pita has lost only 3 ounces in the past three years, which is about the same as me.

Jeannette

Bleeding hearts

The bleeding heart plant is my favorite. I only have this one in the garden on the north side of the house.  It did not do well last year, so I'm hoping for a good show of hearts this year.   I think it looks promising already.

Little tiny hearts right there in the center getting ready to bloom.

Dave is getting ready to stain the 18 drawer fronts for the CD cabinet he is building.

18 oak drawer fronts, ready to be stained.

Drawer slides have been installed.

I've started moving back into the little alcove next to the guest bathroom.

This "pie cooling rack" has a nice green marble shelf.

I like the way this piece allows the new ceramic tile to show through.

So far the theme for this corner is "games and travel."

All of the books are from places I have visited - Prague, Boston, New England, Old England, Pennsylvania, and of course Nebraska.  I'll keep adding books as I run across them during my spring cleaning projects.  So many are packed away in boxes.  I'm looking forward to making them more accessible and easier to find.

The beautiful spring weather is drawing everyone out of doors, even Pita.  She insists on some alone time on the balcony in her favorite chair every day.

Pita, enjoying a little fresh air on the balcony.

I'll be back when the bleeding hearts are in bloom.

Jeannette

Preview of Hungary

This is a special entry for Pam.  I want to show her some photos of Hungary, and this is easier than emailing them.  Pam and I are planning a trip to Czech Republic and Hungary in May, so I want to share these photos taken in May 2005 when I visited Budapest with Gabor & Kati and another couple.

So, Pam, here is a small preview of places I would love to revisit while we are in Hungary.

Pest and the Danube behind me.

Katalin.

Buda is on the left and Pest is on the right side
of the Danube River behind her.

St. Matthias Church high on the hills of Buda.

Another view of St. Mattias Church.

Museum on Hero's Square.

Inside Keleti Train Station.

The Basilica in downtown Pest.

Another view of the Basilica.

Szentendrei, an artists' colony near Budapest.

An artists' stall in Szentendrei.

I bought the big round piece for my grand piano.

Visegrad on a bend in the Danube.

Another view of Visegrad.

Winery on Lake Balaton.

Another view of Lake Balaton from the winery.

I think my memory is accurate.  However, note to Gabor & Kati: Please let me know if I need to change any of my captions.

I could go on and on (and I probably will in a future post), but for now this should be enough to give you an idea of why I want to return to Hungary.

Jeannette

Before and After

Remember this?

Little alcove in our entry  - BEFORE

First I painted the walls dark green.

Then I made some sheer curtains.

Next we had the carpet and vinyl removed.

Today the ceramic tile was installed.

The installer will add a matching grout tomorrow.

So much nicer with only one type of flooring in the guest bathroom and anteroom.

Dave has been busy, too!

He built these 18 drawers to store our CDs.

Then he made this oak front plate for the CD cabinet.

Too many CDs to count.
Dave just measured how many inches of space we would need.
They are stacked two-deep.

Pita, on the other hand, only wanted to sunbathe on the balcony.

Pita will be 17 years old on April 1.

Lessons can be learned from cats.

Jeannette