Vienna

Sorry to leave Prague behind but on to our final stop, Vienna. I liked it much more than I expected to. Contrasting Vienna to its neighbors, Prague and Budapest, you can see how it benefited from being free of Soviet occupation and how the others suffered. Vienna is perfectly modern and First World. It also feels rich in comparison to the others. The other cities have catching up to do - and they are working at it!

St. Stephen's cathedral, which dominates the square in the city center:

Vienna is another city on the beautiful Danube, though it isn't right on the Danube and they built a canal to connect to it. It's still lovely:

Scene of Vienna:

The legendary Hotel Sacher:

And Sacher's great gift to the world:

There is a great coffee culture throughout these cities, and many variations on tortes and cakes. 

The Schonbrunn Palace, a mini Versailles. That was my first reaction when I saw it, and it turns out it was modeled on Versailles. 

And the famous Lipinzzaner horses in their palatial stables:

Jewish Prague

The Jewish community in Prague is very old, with successive synagogues and cemeteries built on top of each other:

The oldest synagogue, called the New Old synagogue because it is built on the site of an older one, dates from 1270 and is one of the oldest in the world. It is still in use.

 Other synagogues in the very compact Jewish quarter:

And the magnificent Spanish Synagogue:

A Polish artist has created an open project to document where Europe's Jews lived before the Holocaust. When an individual's home address is located, and verified, the project places a metal plaque at that address. Here are two in Prague's city center:

Praha

Nestled in a bend in the river, Prague has been settled for at least 1500 years. Atop Castle Hill, Prague Castle has a commanding view of the river and the town. The Czechs call it the Vltava River but many of us know it by its German name, the Moldau, made so memorable by the great Czech composer, Smetana. This so beautifully evokes the wide and rolling river: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G4NKzmfC-Q.

Scenes from the river:

Looking up at the St. Vitus cathedral at Prague Castle:

The changing of the guard:

And looking out through the gates of the castle:

Crossing the Vltava on the Charles Bridge:

A scene in Prague:

What a beautiful and captivating city!

On the road

After our sobering day at Auschwitz, we boarded our motor coach and headed for Prague. Throughout the trip, the roads were astonishingly good. The point of the EU is to foster trade and roads are a critical part of the infrastructure for commerce. Most roads were newly paved, with clear signage and passing lanes in steep terrain. There were road crews in many places, probably scrambling to finish projects before the first snow. Since we were headed mostly between major cities, the roads were probably equivalent to the interstate. But we also took some lesser roads and they were also good. This was not like driving in Mexico or Costa Rica. Quite impressive.

Oświęcim

The Polish town is Oświęcim, about an hour west of Krakow. The German name is Auschwitz. A former army barracks, it was transformed, along with nearby Birkenau, into a factory of death. 

We have seen these images so many times in books and films. Strangely, it looks exactly the way I expected. 

I knew it would be difficult to go here but feel strongly that we must honor the memory of those who died. We must also ensure that the fact of this place is not forgotten and we must educate each generation that these horrors occurred. Hannah Arendt described the Holocaust's perpetrators as the banality of evil. Auschwitz has a utilitarian banality. 

Through this portal, boxcars arrived with human cargo:

Growing up in a post-WWII, secular Jewish world, the Holocaust was a frequent topic, a reference point. My family lost relatives in the Holocaust. But for younger people, and for non-Jews, this is not familiar territory. I was surprised and heartened by how my tour mates absorbed the experience. Many had questions. Many bought books in the book store and started reading them on the bus to our next stop.  

There are countless searing images but, for me, this was the most heartbreaking:

These are tallit, prayer shawls confiscated from Jews when they arrived. Why these survived is a mystery. But the deeper mystery is why any of this occurred. What magic would happen when all the Jews were gone? It is such an unfathomable question. 

From hunger

So much of the food of Eastern Europe evokes the familiar cuisine of my Ashkenazi roots. Sour flavors from vinegar, brined vegetables, fermented yogurts, sour cream, and other cheeses. Dark breads with caraway. Plump and chewy rolls that might as well be bagels. Potato pancakes served with sour cream and apple mash. And chicken soup.

This is the food of people who were often starving. Potatoes, which are cheap and can last a long winter. The expression, from hunger, characterizes the desperation of people who had to make do with limited choices. Pickled and fermented foods last a long time. It's not the cuisine of people with many food options. But now, for me, these are foods that remind me of my childhood. We didn't eat this way out of hunger and we only ate this way for certain occasions. My father, a superb cook, would often slice a banana into a bowl of sour cream, which was a favorite treat.

The emphasis in this part of the world is on meat and potatoes. There are traces of vegetables but hardly the fresh, green, crisp foods we take for granted. And fruit is limited to pale gray grapes, bananas, and lots of apples. But not great apples.

They have the money to eat meat and it takes center stage, which does not leave a lot of options for vegetarians, though every establishment does its best to accommodate. Many of my travel mates relished hard core goulashes, sausages, and local favorites like venison medallions wrapped in bacon. All served on giant platters and intended as individual servings. Who says American portions are out-of-whack?

Breakfast was a generous buffet at most hotels, with a spread of pastries, breads, cheeses, sliced meats, pickled vegetables, and eggs. Every buffet featured a Nespresso-style coffee maker and the lattes and cappuccinos were delicious.

Krakow

Once we crossed the border between Slovakia and Poland, it was a short distance to the city of Krakow on the Visla River. It's one of the largest cities in Poland, though its population is about 700,000, and it is also one of the oldest. It has been a center for education for centuries, its Jagellonská university's graduates include Copernicus and Pope John Paul II.

There's an enormous square in the old city of Krakow, with an imposing church in the middle of it. Somehow, none of it made a big impression on me, perhaps because it was cold, drizzly, and dark. Adjacent to the Jewish quarter (ghetto), is Oskar Schindler's factory. I skipped that tour only because I found it so difficult to manage on slippery cobblestones. I also skipped a tour of a church built into a salt mine.