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Tour of Austria-Hungary

Trip with mom and Helen to Budapest, Vienna and Prague.

Image: Shortly after takeoff from Bergen Airport Flesland. Eikelandsosen just above the engine, and the Hardanger fjord to the right. Image: Sørfjorden in Hardanger. Image: The coast of Poland. Image: The Váh river valley in Slovakia. The lake is the Nosice water reservoir by the town of Púchov. Image: The Danube! The river makes a bend just north of Budapest. This is also at the southestern point of where the Slovak border is in the Danube. Image: First order of business after checking in at the hotel was getting some food. We were already aware that the exchange rate between NOK and HUF is 1:30, but it still feels weird to get a lunch bill for over 13k. Image: Our hotel was right next to the Opera in Budapest. And Szent István Bazilika (St. Stephen's Basilica) was just down the road. Image: One of the many Jewish temples in Budapest. Image: Urania Movie Theater Image: Budapest-Nyugati ("Western") Railway Terminal Image: One of the streets in Buda. Image: At the foot of the castle hill in Buda, there's a tunnel through the hill right next to the funicular going up to the top of the hill. Image: Inside the tunnel. Image: We tried some Romanian wine for dinner. I liked this one a lot. Image: Enjoy! Image: Mom having a good time while waiting for the food to arrive. Image: And Helen as well. Image: Some boring wall has been turned into an art project. Image: At the Széchenyi Chain Bridge. Buda castle in the background. Image: A guardian lion at the bridge. Image: View towards Fisherman's Bastion and northern Buda. Image: The pedestrian path on the bridge, round the tower closes to Pest. Image: Mom and Helen taking pictures. Image: Breakfast. Got us some freshly squeezed orange juice. Image: Sparrows seemed to be nesting in that potted plant. They were certainly keen on stealing bits of our bread. Image: Buda castle viewed from the tram line by the restaurant where we had breakfast. Image: We decided to cross the Chain Bridge to get to the Buda side and take a bus to the Citadel from there. Image: Best to cross under the road. Image: They certainly put some effort into tiling their tunnels. Image: At the Citadel. Some monument overlooking the city. Image: View of the city from the lookout point. Image: Buda castle from the Citadel. Image: The Freedom monument viewed from behind, along the Citadel walls. Image: Helen found some guy with an archery stand and had to give it a go. Image: Panorama of Pest from the Citadel. Image: A statue allegedly symbolizing the defeat of evil. Looks like Hercules defeating the Hydra. Image: Another statue, this one symbolizing progress. Put me in mind of Prometheus. Image: View of southern Budapest (and Helen) from next to the progress statue. Image: The goddess Helen, on the steps of the freedom monument. Image: Budapest. Image: The main part of the freedom monument. Image: View along the Elisabeth Bridge towards the Rudas Baths. Image: We decided to take a river cruise on the Danube. Here we see Buda castle and the funicular leading up to it at the end of Széchenyi Chain Bridge. Image: This is the Margaret Bridge at the south end of Margaret Island. Image: Heading back south at the other side of Margaret Island. The Parliament building in the background. Image: The Hungarian Parliament Building. Image: The Mihály Vörösmarty Statue at Vörösmarty tér. Image: St. Stephen's Basilica from down the street. Image: St. Stephen's square, in front of the basilica. The verse "Ego sum via veritas et vita" from John 6:14 is written above the entrance. Image: Statue on the wall. Image: View of the inside of the dome of the basicila. Image: Panorama of the basilica, starting at the floor and panning upwards. Image: Helen had a raspberry and lime drink at the restaurant where we ate dinner. Image: Helen had some sausages with salad. Image: And I had hortobágyi palacsinta, which is Hungarian stuffed pancakes. Image: And I had a strawberry and mango drink. Image: On the bus to Vienna. It started pissing down and we had to walk for a bit to get to the bus stop at the train station. Image: The bus had a GPS screen onboard, which was handy for keeping track of the progress. Image: After checking in at the hotel in Vienna, we took a trip to Naschmarkt. These are two of the three Vienna Lines houses by Otto Wagner (Majolikahaus to the left). Image: The Naschmarkt market. Image: Day two in Vienna, we visited Schönbrunn castle. Image: Information on the palace grounds. Image: After doing the tour through the palace, we went to the Crown Prince Garden. Image: View of the palace from the top of the gate to the Garden on the Cellar. Image: View towards the park from the same location. Image: The eastern Najadenbassin (naiad, or water nymph fountain), with the obelisk in the background. Image: View from the Najadenbassin towards Taubenhaus. Image: One of many decorative urn sculptures. Image: Fake Roman ruins were in vogue amongst the aristocracy across Europe for a while. Schönbrunn couldn't be without one. Image: Mom in front of the Roman ruins. Image: The fountain at the Roman ruins. Image: The Obelisk Well. Image: The Obelisk Well up close. Image: The statue Heracles with Three Curberos, located along the Meidlinger Glorietteallee. Image: The Schönbrunn Gloriette, at the top of the hill south of the palace. Image: The gloriette from the front. Image: Details on the east wing of the gloriette. Image: Getting that far, we had to ascend the gloriette, of course. View towards the palace. Saint Stephen's Cathedral in the center of town dominates the skyline of Vienna. Image: View towards the north north-west. Image: Another picture of the palace, this time from the very top of the gloriette. Image: View westwards, and the little tourist roundtrip train. Image: Image: The Neptune Well at the bottom of the hill. Image: Any proper palace garden needs a labyrinth. I ran into a dead end here. Image: Some kind of spirit stones at the tree in the middle of the labyrinth. Image: View of the labyrinth from the platform under the tree. Image: A plaque showing the original labyrinth. Image: The western Najadenbassin. Image: Maintaining the park requires some serious mobile scaffolds. Image: Heading back towards the palace via some small side gardens. Image: Time for some dinner. We found a nice place not far from the Musikverein, which is our destination for the evening. Image: The cordon bleu was pretty good (mom is having Wiener schnitzel). Image: Helen in her seat at the Golden Hall in the Wiener Musikverein. Image: I've seen this hall on TV many times, as I've usually watched the New Year's Concert from there. It's great to finally be there in person. Image: The audience is starting to fill the seats. Image: The programme of the evening (taken on the way out). The concert was a fantastic experience. Image: Inside St. Stephen's Cathedral. 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