The European Tour Jim arrived on the morning of the 25th and we spent the day walking around Paris. He was jet lagged, but he could manage with very little sleep. Had dinner in a seafood restaurant and got on an overnight train and arrived in Nurenberg in the morning of 26th. Checked into a hotel and then immediately left for Bayreuth. Bayreuth is a small town chosen by Wagner to run his now famed Bayreuth festival. He also lived for the last 10-15 years of his life there. The town is full of streets and shops named after the characters in his opera, there is a Parsifal Apotheke (drugstore), for example. We walked around the opera house he built for his festival. Unfortunately, the tour for the opera house was in early morning and by the time we got there, the evening performance was about to start, so we couldn't get in. We then went to the house Wagner lived in (Wahnfried) which is next to a beautiful Hofgarten. The house was bombed down during WWII and rebuilt and turned into a museum in the 70's. Jim is a devout Catholic, so we also visited the local churches. In fact, he looked for churches every day for the rest of the trip. As you know there are a lot of churches in Europe and they are much more elaborate than the ones in the States. We returned to Nurenberg in the late afternoon. The old town Nurenberg is a walled city decorated with magnificent churches, fountains and statues. Walked around all night and had saubraten and beer for dinner. Speaking of beer, the German beer is truly great. I couldn't drink American beer. Every time I do, I get an allergy attack, but I discovered on this trip that I had no problem with German beer, very strange. We went to Rothenberg the next day. This is supposed to be the most medieval German city. It is great, but also a tourist mob scene. There was some American high school band playing Hollywood flicks in the center square and there were a lot of people (mostly Americans) listening for hours, and I wondered as to why these people went to Europe in the first place. After we got back to Nurenberg, we couldn't decide whether to stay there for an extra day, walking in the old-town or going to Munich. Then it started to rain and the decision was then made for us and we took the next train to Munich that night. Arrived in Munich late, and it was still a bit rainy, but we decided to walk around the downtown area and ended up in a famous beer and sausage place. We decided to go back there the next day for dinner. On the 28th, we went to Neuschwanstein, the fairy-tale castle built by the mad King Ludwig II. This guy became a fanatic Wagner fan after seeing a performance of Lohengrin. He then decided to spend lavishly to build a castle with each room decorated with characters and themes from Wagner's opera. He also spent an enormous amount of money supporting Wanger, both personally and for his Bayreuth festival. Eventually, all this puts a severe financial strain on the small kingdom of Bavaria and his ministers decided to overthrow his majesty. Ludwig then went insane and died a mysterious death in the lake near the castle. The castle is situated in the Alps with two lakes, one on each side. The view both from inside and outside of the castle is astonishing. We went hiking all morning and went inside the castle in the afternoon. Another tourist mob scene. Dinner at the beer and sausage place, yet another tourist mob scene... * * * Jim had carefully planned the trip all the way up to Munich. Beyond that we had a few options. One is to go to Salzberg, Vienna, Budapest and finally visit my friends in Turin. This essentially means one day a city and be constantly on the run. The alternative choice was to skip Salzberg and Budapest and Turin, but go to Venice instead. We finally decided to take the more relaxed second option. The train ride to Vienna took 5 hours and it gave us a much needed rest. Arrived in Vienna at the dusk and spent the rest of the evening in the old-town tourist area centered at a place called the Stephanplatz. The main feature of Stephanplatz is a huge cathedral. Of course, Jim was fascinated, but by then I was "churched out", so to speak. Jim also brought with him a tourist guide book that suggested some restaurants and we decided to look for them. There were all sorts of people dressed in wigs and period costumes pushing tickets for Strauss and Mozart concerts. One of them almost talked me into it, but Jim nixed the idea. I didn't insist because I am not a big fan of Strauss and in general consider myself a music snob and disdain music concerts for tourists. We found the dining place and ordered buffet. There was a guy playing the accordion. Halfway through the dinner, some Italian guy started to sing arias from Verdi's opera and then another Italian guy joint in. After that, some Austrian guy sang some unrecognizable but charming folk songs. End result, buffet-- really bad, experience--charming. After dinner we got on a tram way that goes around the downtown area. By then, it was late and the tram way was lighted. The upshot of this is that we couldn't see much. When the tram way passed the city hall (Rathaus, reads Rat-house, a great name for a place filled with politicians, n'est pas?), we saw a huge crowd gathered in front and decided to check it out. It turned out they had a sort of outdoor concert in front of the Rathaus. There was a huge projection TV in the middle, larger than anything you have seen with monster size speakers on each side. The TV was showing a taped version of Bernstein's concert playing Mahler's 4th. It wasn't a real concert, of course, but under the star light and a huge crowd, it had a mood of its own, so we stayed there till the end and decided to go back the day after for a Karajan concert of Mozart's Requiem. We went in search of Beethoven's grave the next day and ended up in an immense cemetery a few miles outside the city. It claims to have over 3 million graves and bells were ringing as we entered--new ones were still arriving. All the musicians' graves were placed together in a prominent spot in the cemetery and visitors were constantly coming in to pay their respects. Beethoven never married and Schubert never had any children (I think), but theirs are the most visited today. Brahms, Strauss and Hugo Wolf were also buried there. I remembered how Schubert died in his thirties and in poverty. He insisted to be buried next to his idol, Beethoven. Schubert and his music has occupied a soft spot in my heart. Beethoven was grand and lofty while Wagner was grand, mythical and remote. Both were fierce and unpleasant personalities and while one recognizes their musical genius, it is best to admire them from a distance. Schubert's music is quietly lyrical. I touched his grave stone and had Jim taking a picture of that. I did the same with Beethoven's but didn't feel the same connection. Schubert's unfinished symphony and Beethoven's 5th were the first two symphonies I encountered. While I no longer listen to the 5th much, the unfinished symphony is still playing in my car radio regularly. It is lyrical, expressive and, most of all, spiritual. This symphony and his impromptu serve as a refuge at night after a day of Wagner. As you probably remember from the movie Amadeus, Mozart was buried in a mass grave. However they claimed to have dug him out and reburied him next to Beethoven. I don't quite believe them because it was done in the 19 century and forensic medicine just wasn't very sophisticated then (no DNA tests). In any case, the idea of digging someone up 50 years later sounds a bit morbid. We also went to the mass grave where Mozart was originally buried and discovered a small monument there too. Went to visit the Vienna amusement park that night and rode on the famous ferris wheel. For Jim, it was The Third Man and for me it was Before Sunrise (I have to admit that I like that film not for any deep artistic reasons, but because of the French babe Julie Delpy). Jim took a few roller-coaste rides and I got a few pictures of the scenes from the movie. Will see how these pictures turn out. The day after was reserved for the palaces in Vienna. As you recall, the Habsburg dynasty ruled the Holy Roman empire (later the Austrian-Hungary empire) from the 13th century to the early 20th. The imperial family collected a lot of widgets and gadgets and other assorted junk over the 600+ years and there was a lot to see. You don't hear about Princess Diana in this part of Europe. They have their own version instead--Empress Elizabeth, nicked named Sissy (some how names like Sissy just don't sound very imperial). In any case, her pictures and statues were everywhere from fashion shops to chocolate boxes to ice cream parlors. She wasn't too happy about her marriage either and traveled a lot although her husband (emperor Joseph something. Can't seem to remember the numero. Must be getting old) was faithful and devoted. She also had problem with the press and ended up being assassinated by some Italian while in Venice (I think). There was a protest group of gays and lesbians outside the palace, claiming that Sissy had a lesbian lover from Australia. Go figure. The Europeans have a funny thing about their royalties (Witness the recent brouhaha about the funeral for Tsar Nic the second of Russia). Emperor Joseph is still loved here although he was the person who single-handedly destroyed the Austrian empire by starting WWI. If you remember, he sent his son Archduke Ferdinand to Serbia to "make a stand" against Serbia nationalism (as recent history demonstrates with striking clarity that one shouldn't mess with Serbia nationalism). The Archduke got assassinated and his majesty issued an ultimatum to the Serbs which essentially demanded the Serbs to give up everything, or military occupation. Amazingly the Serbs accepted everything except one. His majesty sent in the troops nonetheless. It was pretty clear from the beginning that the Austrians wanted war and would take any excuse to start one. The rest was history--They lost (thanks to us Americans) and the Habsburg's rule ended. At first I thought, the Habsburg was a figure head by 1914, mais non! The parliament didn't exist before 1892 and wasn't a very effective institution. Before 1892, the Habsburg was an absolute monarch. One has to give credit to the Habsburgs for holding on for so long. It was in fact a miracle if one considers what a crazy bunch of people they ruled over and the kind of internal and external threats they had to deal with. The empire consisted of the present day Austria, Hungary, Czech, Slovak, part of Romania and Poland, northern Italy and who knows what. Mon Dieu, they lasted over 600 hundred years, longer than any of the Chinese dynasties in history! Mozart Requiem at the Rathaus under the moonlight and late dinner on the bank of Danube--Squid and beer. Rode the tram way around the city the next morning before leaving for Venice and stopped in a park dedicated to local musicians and had pictures taken in front of a statue of Schubert (Beethoven and Mozart weren't born there, so they didn't count). By then we had learned that food on the trains was bad and expensive, so we stocked up and headed out. * * * Venice is our last stop. Our train ride took about 10 hours as it snailed through the Alpine passes. The scenes were breath-taking as usual, but I have seen better in U.S. For natural wonders, nothing beats the American West. Jim took pictures from time to time and I read some math and then went to sleep. One problem we had was that the train would arrive in Venice at almost 11 o'clock at night and we didn't have a reservation for hotel rooms, but we figured that the weather would be mild and in the worst case scenario, we would just sleep on a bridge next to the station. It was already dark as we approached Venice and suddenly the train was on water and I immediately turned off the light. It was at that moment that I was certain that we had made the right decision to come to Venice instead of going to Turin. Well, the weather was more than mild. In fact, it was 95 degree and 95% humidity. We did find a hotel, but without air-condition.... Cars are not allowed in Venice. One either arrives in Venice by train or by car. If by car, one has to leave the car at the entrance. The buses, taxis and horse carriages of Vienna are replaced by water buses (motoboats), water taxis and gondoles. We wandered around the city till late. The city had the appearance of being run down. The buildings were repaired to the point of just functioning and no more. However it was beautiful beyond words, especially at night, with the moon above the water and ancient buildings dimly lit by scattered lights and intoxicated lovers drifting down the streams in gondoles. The night was unbearably hot and full of bugs. Found a new place with AC the next day, but the weather had cooled down, so it was much ado about nothing. Spent the day in the famous city center square filled with pigeons. They were a spoiled bunch and wouldn't eat the bread crumbs thrown at them, but you could buy a bag of corns and they would eat out of your hands. There is the huge Saint Mark's Basilica. The interior is covered with golden mosaics, painstakingly put together over the centuries. Jim was in heaven. Quaint shops and restaurants in narrow and crowded streets. Venice is in the middle of a lagoon and walled in from the Adriatic by the island of Lido. We sailed to Lido in the late afternoon. To our surprise, we found cars there and Jim said something to the effect that Venice was a tourist trap and the real rich people lived here. Finally we reach the Adriatic sea. Vienna was probably the furtherest from Paris, but as I looked out into the immense Adriatic, I had a feeling that was hard to explain. It was something approaching a sense of climatic finality. Had a wonderful meal in Lido consisting of pasta with clams and calamari avec vin blanc, bien sur. The water buses run all day all night to and from Lido. I spent the last night riding the buses in the lagoon till three thirty in the morning. As the night progressed, the city became dimmer and dimmer. The sea was an immense piece of black silk flooded by the silver moonlight-- radiant, romantic and mysterious.