Leopold Museum

The Leopold museum is a part of MuseumQuarter, Vienna. It is one of the world's largest complexes of modern art. A friend and I have wanted to visit the temporary exhibit that was ending on July 1st; we finally got around to it today. "Clouds: Fleeting Worlds" was such a fun exhibit about the different aspects of cloud depictions. We went in having little to no expectations and were delightfully surprised of how much we enjoyed it.

Some of my favorites:

Budapest (Part Three)

What can I say, Budapest has really surprised me. Hungarian is a language on its own. I learned during our trip that because it's not derived from any other languages, people have to know a second and, sometimes, a third language. Almost everyone we came across spoke English quite fluently (better than the Viennese). This city and its people have a rebellious spirit. They've always bucked tradition and want to move on to new things. It's very apparent with their food. Maybe it was also because we were steered away from all the tourist traps, but the food was fantastic. Amazingly inventive. We've had some of our best meals there.

Quick side note.  Budapest was host to the first McDonalds behind the "Iron Curtain".  You can read more about it here if you want: http://www.ricksteves.com/news/tribune/budapest.htm



Public transit: The older lines have the communist era cars running the tracks, but really cute looking stations.

Street signs and a post box

  

And lastly, you would think that this was a lot of money right? Nope! It's equivalent to about $44. Those forints make you feel rich!

Budapest (Part Two)

There have been three times in my life that I've cried in a museum or memorial because of how raw the material is.  We've been to the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Dachau concentration camp, and most recently the Berghof documentation center. The one thing these places have in common is the Nazi era.  All these places brought me into a very emotional state.  Budapest struck me a fourth time.

In Budapest, there is a memorial that pushed me over the edge. It's called "Shoes on the Danube". Sculptors Gyula Pauer and Can Togay have created this memorial for Jews who were forced to strip naked and face the river, to be shot dead and washed away. The bronzed shoes depicted all the women, children, and men who were so callously killed. There are about 60 pairs of shoes, and even on such a hot day, Hubs and I were there for a good 25 minutes looking at each pair.

We also went to the House of Terror, which is a great museum that has exhibits about the communist era and the acts of evil they committed against the Hungarians.  The museum also pays tribute to the victims who were detained, and even killed, in this building.

On a lighter note, we went by the U.S. embassy (we were not allowed to take photos of it) and had our picture taken with a bronze statue of Ronald Reagan. 

Budapest (Part One)

Budapest has a wealth of history and it's usually overlooked as a desirable destination when one thinks of Europe. HUGE MISTAKE! This city's been bombed to shreds by the allies and Germany in WW2 for control of power. And to this day, it still has many reminders of the communist era such as public transit and buildings. There is so much to see and do that even a long weekend wasn't enough. Though we DID almost burst into flames because it was so damn hot and humid. Stay tuned for a few more posts on this wondrous city!





Szent István-Bazilika (St Stephen's Basilica)

"Buda" side

"Pest" side