Prague, Czech Republic : the western city in East Europe

Many people think of Prague together with Paris, Vienna and other European cities.  When we visited Praque in late September this year, we could see fashion show in the street, thousands of tourists in every parts of the city and enjoyed the warm weather. 

Prague is the capital city of Czech Republic.  The Vltara River flows through the city and provides it an easy mean of transportation and water. 

(Beautiful mechanical clock tower near the city square)

Many people may still remember the Prague Spring that induced the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Soviet Union and its allies in 1968.  In fact, Prague is also the home of an early church reformer, Jan Hus.  As a priest and a scholar, Hus had voiced out for reform in the Catholic Church early in the 14th century.  His stature in the city square was painted in black when the Soviet tanks entered the city after the Prague Spring.

(Jan Hus stature in the city square)

When you are in Praque, you will not miss the Prague Castle.  It stands close to the Vltara River and overlooks the city.  It was used by the former Habsbury emperors.  Franz Kafka's Le Castle wrote about the stories of its nobles and ordinary people in the Castle.  The President office of Czech Republic is now housed there.

(Local students attending their lesson in the Praque Castle) 

(Tomas Masaryk, the first President of Czechoslovakia)

Walking down the Castle, you will reach the Vltara River.  You can cross the river by the famous Charles Bridge.  There are many beautiful statures along both sides of the bridge.  You can see the city buildings along the river.

(City view from the Charles Bridge)

(Bridge tower of the Charles Bridge)



Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic : a romanic medieval town

On our way to Prague, the capital city of Czech Republic, we stopped over in Cesky Krumlov for one day.  Cesky Krumlov is a small town in the Bohemian region.  Its history can be traced back to the medieval time.  The town has been carefully restored with its original castle and town houses.  We prefer to stay in such lovely small towns when travelling in Europe. 

(Town of Cesky Krumlov surrounded by River Vltava)

(Local vendors in the medieval town center)

(School girls dressed up for performance)

Lords of Krumlov built the Gothic castle in the hill overlooking the town of Cesky Krumlov early in the 13th century.  The castle and the town preserve their original presence in the past centuries. The Czech government has succeeded in listing Cesky Krumlov in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Monuments in 1992.  Tourists from around the world are drawn to this small medieval town.

(Entrance gate to the Castle)

 

(Museum and watch tower in the castle)

(Time clock on the wall)

(Spot lights lighting up the castle at night)

Within an hour ride, we reached Ceske Budejovice.  It is the main city in the South Bohemian region.  It has a beautiful town square and many catholic churches.  Its Budweiser Bier was first made over three centuries ago in 1785.  When you are in Ceske Budejovice, you can try the original Budweiser.

(Water fountain in the town square center)

(St. Nicholas Catheral and the Black Town)

Vienna, Austria : art and architecture

Vienna has been the capital city of the Austria Empire for several centuries.  The city has drawn in a lot of talents around Europe to build up its impressive art and architecture.  Recently, my wife and I visited Vienna.  We were able to see a few of its baroque architecture and modern buildings.   

The Schonbrunn Palace is a good sample of the baroque  architecture. It was originally a royal pleasure and hunting ground.  Under the reign of Empress Maria Theresia in the 18th century, Schonbrunn was transformed into a show piece of baroque architecture.  Its beautiful painting and sculpture inside the palace offer lovely setting for musical events and performing arts.  The grand garden landscaping is ideal for staging of out door festivals, ceremonial occasions and firework displays.  

(One of the two fountains in the entrance courtyard of the Palace)

(Brass casting inside the Palace)

(Lovely garden facade in the Palace)

(Classical sculpture in the garden)

Vienna also has many interesting modern architecture.  The Hundertwasser House is one of them.  It was built by the Viennese artist, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, in 1985 as a public housing.  The building was decorated with artistic facades and roof gardens.
This reminds me of the Gaudi architecture in Barcelona, Spain.

(Exterior decoration of the Hundertwasser House)

(Small fountain in the house entrance)

Vienna is also well known for its musical art. Vienna Boys' Choir and the Vienna Orchestra are world famous.  That is why Vienna has many great musical halls.  The Vienna state opera house, Staatsoper, is located in the city center.  Next time you are in Vienna, you should visit it and enjoy one of its musical shows.

Budapest, Hungary : search for Hungarians' ancestors

River Danube flows through the beautiful Budapest, which is the capital city of Hungary and a gateway to Eastern Europe.  This ancient city has many interesting spots waiting for tourists to explore. 

More than two thousand years ago, this was the frontier city of Roman Empire in the Lower Pannonia region.  Romans stayed in the west bank of River Danube.  "Barbarians" were kept in the east of the river. 

Hungarians do not take these Romans as their ancestors.  Instead, they trace their roots to the Magyars who came from northeast and settled in Hungary in the ninth century.

(Leaders of the seven tribes in the Heroes Square)

(Hungarian parliament building in the east bank of River Danube)

(Bridge across the River Danube joining the former cities of Buda and Pest) 

(Hungarian Royal Palace overlooking the river cruises)

King Stephen I who had unified the country in the 10th century was recognized as the first king of Hungary.  He also led his country in conversion to Christianity.  His right arm (the Holy Right) was kept in the St. Stephen's Basilica.  There are organ concerts held in the basilica during summer .

(St. Stephen's Basilica)

Budapest was not only the frontier city of the Roman Empire, it also stood between the Austrian and the Ottoman empires.  In the fifteenth century, Budapest was under the rule of Ottoman Turks for about ninety years. 

(Monument in the Hungarian Royal Palace commemorating the defeat of Turks)

There is an interesting question for historians.  Were Huns related to Hungarians?  Huns, the horse riding nomads from central Asia, moved into eastern Europe in the fourth century.  It was a general belief that Huns induced the eventual downfall of the Western Roman Empire.  If you are interested in history, you can read more in Maenchen-Helfen, Otto. The world of the Huns: studies in their history and culture. London: University of California Press, 1973.

Dresden, Germany : reclaiming its past glory

Dresden is the capital city of the Saxony state in Germany.  It was a major cultural, economical and political center in Eastern Germany and Eastern Europe.  However, it suffered its deadly destruction before end of the Second World War.  The city was nearly levered off by the bombings of the Alliance air force.  After the Second World War, Dresden became part of East Germany. 

The city reconstruction works took half a century.  With the unification of Germany, Dresden has gradually reclaimed its past glory.  The city has rebuilt its economic and cultural importance.  Major historical landmarks have been reconstructed with great efforts.  You can feel the proud of the citizens who have made this happened.

Dresden Fraudenkirche (the Church of Our Lady), a Lutheran church built in the 18th century, is one of the city landmarks.  The church was destroyed by the bombings with only the status of Martin Luther remained.  After half a century, the church was reconstructed to its original form with parts of its remaining sandstones.

(Status of Martin Luther standing in front of the reconstructed Frauenkirche)

(Baroque style pipe organ restored in the church)

You can see status of Frederick August I around the city.  He was Saxony's Prince-Elector and developed Dresden to one of the major European cities in the 18th century.  He later reconverted to Roman Catholic and became King of Poland.  That is why you will find Kutholische Hofkirche (the Church of the Royal Court of Saxony) a Roman Catholic cathedral.  It is just within walking distance from Frauenkirche.

(Many beautiful paintings are kept inside the Kutholische Hofkirche)

(Kutholische Hofkirche has one of the largest pipe organ)

The Semperoper (the Opera House) is another beautiful architecture restored to its former glory. 

(Semperoper is still the best opera house in Dresden)

The Furstenzug (the Procession of the Princes) was lucky enough to escape the destruction of bombings in the Second World War.  It is one of the largest porcelain artworks.  Princes of the Saxony were shown in the 103 meter x 9.5 meter wall of porcelain tiles.

(Beginning part of the Furstenzug)

Dresden is located nearby the German Alps region.  It is one of green cities in Europe.  Within an hour ride, you can reach the green forests.  You can see the beautiful River Elbe flowing through Dresden and its suburb area.

Bled, Slovenia : a beautiful resort town

Bled is a small town in the Northwest of Julian Alps in Slovenia, bordering Austria.  The town develops around the beautiful glacier lake, Bled Lake.  It has been a resort for the European nobles and riches in the past two centuries.  It is still one of the major tourist spots for Slovenia. 

This fall, my wife and I had opportunity visiting this lovely place. 
We had lunch in the Bled Castle while enjoying the picturesque scenery of the Bled Lake.  There is a small island in the lake.  People can take a short boat ride to the island and visit the church there.  A few resort hotels are built along the lake with many other private resort houses around.

(Slow moving rowing boat in the Bled Castle below the Bled Castle) 

(Rowing boat is the only mean of transportation to the church in the island of the Bled Lake)

(Resort house along the Bled Lake)

(White swam swimming leisurely in the lake)

We enjoyed our leisure walk along the lake shore.  Then, we settled down in the hotel cafe for the afternoon tea and Kremsnita (a local favourite pastry).  We could see swam and duck swimming in the crystal clear lake.  There were also people practising rowing in the lake.  Four world rowing champions were held here in Bled.

(Resort hotel along the lake shore)

(Rowing boat cutting through the calm water surface)

Slovenia is one of the small EU countries with about two million population.  With its close economic and social tie to the former Austrian empire, Slovenia is better developed than other Balkan countries.  The French car marker, Renault, has a plant in Slovenia. You can find Renault cars everywhere in the country.  Automative export to EU forms an important part of the Slovenia economy.

Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia : beyond the beautiful natural scenery

The first sight of the Plitvice Lakes National Park was beautiful and peaceful.  Layers of water moisture from early morning rain partially covered up the forests around the lakes.  When we walked along the wooden path on the lake shore, we felt that we were inside a picturesque paradise.

The Plitvice Lakes National Park covers about 300 square meters of natural forests, waterfalls and 16 lakes.  The park sits on the limestone area and forms the unique karst landscape. 

(Sign board at the entrance to the national park)

The 12 upper lakes are bigger in size and the 4 lower lakes are more picturesque.  The river Plitvica flows into the water system and creates the lake water fall (Veliki Slap).  Dissolved calcium carbonate turns water into milky white and forms the tufa sedimentation in the lower lakes.  With abundant water around, flora and fauna grow densely around the lakes and hill slopes.  There are many trouts in the lakes with ducks swimming around. 

(The lake water fall, Veliki Slap)

(Plants growing in the waterfall)

(Trouts swimming in the lake)

(Calcium carbonate precipitation on the surfaces of fallen tree trucks turned them into marble white)

The Plitvice Lakes National Park was recognized as a world heritage by the UNESCO early in 1949.  Each year, it attracts hundreds of thousand visitors to see its natural beauty.  It is now one of the major tourist destinations in Croatia and Eastern Europe.  Tourism business is important to the local economy.

If you look at the map, you will find the Plitvice Lakes are in vicinity to Bosnia-Herzegovina.  They are separated by few steep mountains.  

Before arriving the national park, we came through several villages along the road.  Many village houses were covered with bullet holes.  Few empty houses were lying idle among the villages.  Suddenly, this reminded us the bitter Balkan wars in the Ottoman - Hapsburg history and modern time.  The last crash just took place twenty years ago.  Local Serbs attempted to clean out their fellow Croats.  Ethnic fighting had brought great hardship to the local communities and made damages to the national park.  The national park was able to recover its glory just ten years ago.

Pergamon Museum, Berlin : museum management challenges

This fall, my wife and I were in Berlin.  We took this opportunity to visit the Pergamon Museum in the Berlin Museum Island. 

(Exterior of the Pergamon Museum)

One of the major exhibits in the Pergamon Museum is the Pergamon Altar, which is also called the Zeus Altar.  The altar was presented as quasi reconstruction from the rubbles unearthed in Pergamon of north eastern Turkey. This unveils master pieces of Hellenic art to the modern world.  Pictures of the altar and its marble sculptures appear in many many books on ancient Greek mythology, art and architecture.

(Visitors seeing the quasi reconstructed Zeus Altar inside the museum)

The altar is decorated with beautiful marble statues featuring the battle of the Greek gods and the Titans.  Visitors can watch these statues and recall the interesting Greek myths of Zeus, Athena, Venus, Cupid and other Greek gods and giants.  These are very fine examples of the Greek art.



The altar was first unearthed by a German engineer, Carl Humann, in Turkey about 150 years ago.  It was then brought back to Berlin.  Historically, this represented the rise of the Prussian power in the nineteenth century.  It is interested to note that the altar was taken by the Russians after the defect of Germany in the second world war.   The altar was returned to Berlin after absence for ten years.

We had been to Pergamon last year.  Obviously, the Pergamon Altar was missed there.  Instead, we were much impressed by its hillside theatre.  If the altar was restored on site, the impact would be much greater.

(Ruins of the original site of the Pergamon Altar)



(The Pergamon theatre can host thousands of spectators)

The Pergamon Museum also has many treasured historical artifacts of the Ancient Near East, including the famous Ashtar gate of ancient Babylon.  Similarly, Germans excavated the historical ruins in Irag a century ago and then quasi reconstructed them in Berlin. 

(Part of the Ashtar Gate)

(Reconstructed wall with its original bricks)

(Imaginary creature only found in Babylon - animal with snake head)

The collections of the Pergamon Museum are very impressive and of great historical values.  However, it still face many common museum management challenges.  It is an academic debate that whether such quasi reconstructions properly reflect their original forms.  These artifacts could be more meaningfully displayed in their original sites.  The legitimacy of the foreign hosts keeping these artifacts.