Bratislava

My good friend Beth visited last week so we could continue making progress on a collaborative project, give a talk and do some sightseeing. We worked, went to the baths, she gave a talk and then we spent one day in Bratislava, Slovakia. 

We took the train up Saturday morning - took about 2.5 hours - then used our handy Rick Steves book to do a self-guided walking tour through old town, the castle & then had some good food & drinks before heading home on the train. 

The little guy was tired and fell asleep on the metro on the way home.

Hungarian Academy of Sciences Library

Our February Fulbright event was a tour of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Library. 

We got a tour of the library & some reading rooms. 

The library was founded by Count István Széchenyi (left) and has an allegory,
a painting in the center of one meeting room, said to be a woman the Count
loved but who was married. After her husband died, they were
able to be together (maybe 10 years later).

 

The nicest part was probably seeing two of the special collections - 

the Oriental collection & Manuscripts. Amazing pieces of history in these collections, 

including items from the 2nd century. 

Pictures here from inside the gorgeous assembly hall. 

Themes of poetry & science were repeated throughout the room.

We also toured an art collection upstairs and then had a very fine 

lunch in the Academy restaurant. The multiple glasses & types 

of wines (paired with each course) induced a lovely afternoon nap when we got home.

Paris!

We planned a trip to Paris as a late birthday trip for K, her choice. We went over winter break so the kids wouldn't miss any school, and we always hope that the cooler temps will keep all the other tourists away. We figured out into the trip that doing one big thing each day as early as we could, following by eating then some relaxing in our hotel rooms, then dinner out. 

Trying to hit up another tourist destination in the afternoons proved to be too much work for the kids, and nobody enjoyed so we didn't bother. That said, we still saw a lot in our 5 days there. 

First day we dropped our bags quickly at the hotel & ran to the Eiffel Tower where we had a reservation. After going up in the tower, I will say I find it much more majestic from the ground. 

The rest of the week we went to the Christmas market along Champs-Elysees, visited The Louvre, the Catacombs, The Musee Picasso, the Arc de Triomph (just from the ground), ate along Rue Cler, bought a beret, and a few more trips back to the Tower to see it again.

We have far too many pictures to post them here, I think we'll need a 'Paris' album. This trip helped me plan an upcoming trip to Rome knowing how much touristing the kids could handle in one day.

Parliament Tour

We have monthly activities for Fulbright, and December's activity was a tour of the 

Hungarian Parliament building & surrounding area.

The building is gorgeous on the outside, a definite landmark of the city along the Danube. Some pictures from our tour inside. 

One highlight was definitely seeing the crown jewels, complete with the crooked cross, though no pictures are allowed in that area which is guarded by two soldiers. After our tour indoors, we went outside with a Hungarian scholar who explained the significance of the various statues that surround the Parliament building. We weren't able to stay for the entire tour before heading to the Fulbright Christmas party later that evening, because kids get cranky after a certain amount of touring... (as evidenced by pictures)...