While my documentation is sparse, there are enough pictures and memories to attempt to recreate this trip. It was the only one with Dr. Walsh, who had a family emergency that caused him to leave the trip in Budapest and return home. We had an elderly gentleman as a tour guide who was a friend of our tour operator (Value Holidays in Wisconsin) who turned out to be semi useful at best; as I recall, he also had health issues and faded as we did reach Russia.
Liz Biz kept a diary, and thankfully shared it with me. Many of the comments are her, indicated with a *.
*London: Thistle Bloomsbury was our first hotel stop in London. I remember the beds being very short, the rooms small, and the inside of the hotel very beautiful. The old-style phone booths were a hit!
London was always a highlight, and we reached there in time for a parade celebrating the Queen’s opening of Parliament. The Brits certainly know ceremony, but it’s always instructive to see machine guns on
18th century uniforms, a reminder of the problems of security in the contemporary world. *Buckingham Palace was extraordinary! Olga, our guide for this one, showed us around. We were there also in time to watch the changing of the guards. We saw Westminster Abbey and where Prince Charles and William and Harry stay while in London. St. James Palace, where Prince Charles and Princess Diana were married was also on our itinerary! Next, we visited the Tower of London where lots of Medieval torture devices, and the Crown Jewels, were on display. One of the site visit highlights was to Harrods’s, world-famous department store, where I think I bought place card settings. Inside of Harrod’s was a display of Princess Di and Dodi. His father owns Harrod’s. We also visited Shakesperean Theatre where we saw all his plays in a 90- minute comedic performance. We saw Big Ben from a distance and a statue of George Washington in London. We also saw Parliament lit up at night which was stunning.
Our first traditional London cuisine (shepherd’s pie) looked unappetizing but was surprisingly delicious! Maybe the most memorable of our London experiences was celebrating Arsenal’s win over Manchester! The street riots and parties were so much fun! London knows how to party!
“Duomo” of the Galaries Lafaette
Paris was next on our agenda with our tour guide Paul who was a hoot. I remember the trip to the Louvre and Notre Dame. *Inside the Louvre, we saw the original Mona Lisa, famous statues, and beautiful paintings. World class art, as always. Notre Dame Cathedral did not disappoint either. The inside of the Cathedral was incredible. At the church of St. Denis were the graves of former French kings, which I had not seen before. We also saw the Arc de Triumphe and we were able to go all the way to the top. What a view! The unforgettable Eiffel Tower was just STUNNING! We saw the inside and the views were even more spectacular! We also went on a boat tour of Paris at night. The business visit was to the Galleries Lafayette, a
major department store in the mode of retail palaces of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The ceilings were spectacular!
The overnight train to Berlin was my first stab into going East. I remember asking the border guards for a passport stamp without success. *Our hotel in Berlin was by far our favorite. It was huge! I remember the German mall we went to was amazing. Not like the traditional US mall. Our tour guide was useful in steering us to the Pergamon Museum (the museum island is one of the treats of Berlin), which would, in turn, provide an introduction to ruins in Anatolia where I would see Pergamon and its contemporaries in Greek civilization.
We also got to see the church that housed the Hohenzollern mausoleum, with the crypts of many of the Kaisers. Unter den Linden was the fashion street that East Germany showed off, but the wall proved East Germans were really prisoners. A heady sight was the old airport, which had a monument to the airlift that saved Berlin during the cold war.
Our guide also arranged a tour of a newspaper, whose owner longed for the return of the Junkers, and the good old days of coddled communism. *A quick visit to the Allied Museum and off to maybe one of the most memorable parts of Berlin…the Toilet Bar…where most of us partook in drinking out of male bed pans. It was very cryptic in there, but oh what an experience! This is obviously Liz talking.
I caught a performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana that helped me appreciate that work!
Dresden rebuilt
On the way to Prague, one of the classmates discovered we’d go through Dresden. Though that city had been bombed to smithereens in World War II, the opera house (one of Wagner’s favorites) had been rebuilt, and parts of the old city remained.
Old Bratislava
From there, it was an easy ride to Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, with a charming old town. I had never heard of Bratislava, because it historically was Pressburg, where the Hungarian monarchs were crowned. We stopped at a building that commemorated the victories Napoleon won at Austerlitz, certified in the Treaty of Pressburg. While there, you could see Austria in the distance.
And of course, Prague is memorable as an example of what Europe could have been like without World Wars, at least the buildings. Hitler spared the city as a museum, while he gassed its inhabitants. The old areas–the Charles Bridge, the palace, the former synagogues with the roll call of Holocaust victims… In Prague, we saw many old historical buildings, Liz reported. *I just remember it being such a beautiful city and wanted to return one day. We hiked up to Prague Castle and saw incredible views from the top, especially at night. There were many houses that “shorter” soldiers fit in, and I have a great picture of Professor Hoyt fitting right in the doorway. We saw the American Embassy in Prague and listened to retired, rich men that would play music in the square every day. Prague Castle Square was neat, and we learned a couple is buried inside the castle. We ate at a traditional Prague restaurant and performers danced while we ate! They even pulled a few of us up to dance with them.
Budapest, was once two cities, and once the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary. Liz remembered *our tour guide explaining from a distance that this side was ”Buda” and this side was ”Pest.” The bridge now connects them to become Budapest! There was very stunning architecture around the whole city. It has a stunning Parliament building on the Danube, which still has bullet holes from the 1956 uprising. I liked the cigar section of the Parliament building, where parliamentarians could leave their cigars and come back to smoke after the session. The Opera House had a special section for Franz Joseph, and of course me.
The Great Synagogue, built in the 1850s in the revival Moorish style was one of the birthplaces of Zionism. It’s the largest synagogue in Europe, and–before World War II, housed a major Jewish community. It included a number of early Zionists.
I think I purchased tickets for everyone for the Budapest Opera House, where the orchestra played a Mahler symphony. At least one of us enjoyed the performance! As I recall, several “assumed” it was over after the first movement and went to enjoy other entertainment! Dr. Walsh and I also visited an old restaurant that specialized in exotic animals, such as bear or boar. Yum.
*While others toured Budapest, a group of us “may or may not” have rented a car and drove to Austria. The Viennese Ferris wheel was a highlight along with their many beautiful buildings.
With Dr.Walsh and our tour guide gone, we went on to Moscow, with the massive subways built with slave labor and the Kremlin, where the rulers lived. It was my first trip to Russia, and as I stood there on Red Square, where so many May Day parades touted the greatness of Mother Russ, I noted the McDonalds and KFC. I thought,” The Cold War is Over, and the West won.” Even the Gum Department Store was carved into Western boutiques.
We rode the subway, built by slave labor with incredible art–socialist realism style.
As impressive as the military was, the consumer world behind it was hollow. No wonder the Russian Civ book we read was “Cement.” Fitting.
Culture included the Bolshoi Ballet which took place inside the Moscow Theatre, and a Tchaikovsky piece based on Eugene Onegin. However, I was really impressed with the Tretyakov Museum near the Kremlin, where I discovered the Russian impressionist painter, Arkhip Kuindzhi, whose birch forest paintings reminded me of places in Pictured Rocks. Lots of Pushkin, too.
*We toured many gorgeous churches. Outside one of them was a flame burning for the unknown soldier. The Lenin Mausoleum, which is located inside the Red Square, houses Vladimir Lenin’s body which is on public display. You can see his face and body! Another favorite was touring the Russian Vodka Factory. You could pretty much drink this Vodka straight – very different from what we receive in the US.
And the opportunity to buy matryoshka dolls and other souvenirs on Arbat Street.
We took the overnight train to St. Petersburg and saw the city Peter the Great built to inspire Russians to abandon their non-European features. Castles and Palaces housed Romanov splendor until 1917, when the Communist Revolution toppled one dynasty for another. The Hermitage was impressive, partly because the Romanovs purchased and the Reds confiscated art. To think, the country produced so many wonderful musicians and artist. And, as Leningrad, the city bore the brunt of a Nazi siege for almost three years. Ironically, one of the first things (International Communism be damned) rebuilt was the Palace of Peter (Peterhof) and the Amber Room.
Our last night (remember this was May above the 60th parallel, a great time for long white nights) we toured the canals of the city, toasting Moskva! in the easy-to-get vodka that is probably Russia’s primary drink. Chanting Moskva, Vodka, and waiving at locals on one of the white nights as we said good-bye to the trip.
*Again, many stunning buildings built throughout St. Petersburg. Our tour guide always had her sunflower stick pointed up high so we wouldn’t lose her. She treated us to Champagne and food while we watched performers folk dance.
*Overall, this trip is one for the books! I will never forget all the adventures we took and sites we saw. Professor Hoyt and this group was top notch, and these memories will last a lifetime! We covered a lot of territory, and, as I recall, we traveled by public transportation in many of our cities. That was neat. But be careful to keep your ticket in Budapest. If you didn’t have one, you might get arrested! Fortunately, we watched that happen to others.
