Hungary to Austria

After leaving the House of Terror, we made our way over to the beautiful Dohany Street Synagogue, the second-largest synagogue in the entire world.We arrived right around sunset; the brilliant blue sky as a backdrop for the buildings two towers was simply magnificent - the whole building appeared to glow. This photo really doesn't do it justice, but it gives you a faint idea:

On our bus tour we learned of an ancient decree which directs the Jewish people to build a school if there is only enough money to build one building and both a synagogue and school are needed. (This is because a school may be used for worship.) Something about that statement really resonated with me - this deep reverence for knowledge and education...it means something.

We really enjoyed our time in Budapest - the weather was perfect, which made it ideal to wander the streets by foot and explore both sides of the Danube by bus and on foot.

Our next stop was Austria! Before heading into Vienna, we first ventured to beautiful Schönbrunn Palace. As with the previous few days, the weather was perfect (if not chilly). The gardens surrounding the Palace were fantastic - beautiful trees, arbours, fountains and statues. The city of Vienna itself was wonderful. Upon arrival we did a short bus tour which pointed out the sights and gave some background. Afterwards, we spent a an hour or so wandering the streets before we opted to head into the Leopold Museum (which is, in my opinion, the most interesting museum I have ever visited). The draw for me was Gustav Klimt - one of my favourite artists - but upon exploration of the Leopold Museum, I found that I was even more enraptured by the works of Klimt's protégé, Egon Schiele. There is something incredibly haunting and honest about his work...it's just brilliant. As luck would have it, in addition to the permanent collection, the Leopold was also showcasing an exhibit on Schiele entitled "Melancholy and Provocation." If you're interested in seeing it -which I highly recommend - you have to get to the Leopold before January 30, 2012.

After the museum we spent a few more hours wandering around, admiring the architecture. In the evening, we went out for a lovely dinner and took in a show which included - what else? - classical music, ballet, traditional dance, and opera. It was fantastic! It is such a shame that our time in Vienna was so short - it's a fantastic city with so much to offer. We would love to go back!


It's hard to believe that after a magical day in Vienna our next stop would be one of the worst imaginable. En route to Prague the following day, we stopped for several hours at one of the deadliest concentration camps of the Second World War: Mauthausen.