Bratislava...Adventures at the *Hotel Kjyiev*

by OLGS, guest blogger.




DomTran and I left Vienna Sudbahnhof on the 14:28 for Bratislava. We arrived right on time less than hour later. The trip reminded us of the commuter train from South Station Boston to Worcester, but a little shorter in distance and duration. We took a taxi to our hotel, the "Kiev," which I booked for us on the Internet. DomTran and I knew that the hotel was an old, unrefurbished 1970s communist hotel; we had also read quite a few reviews, most of which noted the shabby carpets and fixtures, but some praising the good breakfast, included with the room.


The "Kiev" is old-fashioned in giving guests a key rather than a card for locking and unlocking the door. The key (shown against the doorlock) weighs about a pound or two and it makes sense to deposit it at the front desk when out and about. Our main critique of the "Kiev" is that only one of the two ancient elevators was in service and as we stayed on a high floor (# 14), we had some lengthy waits. The view, shown at the top, is quite lovely of a European capital that relatively few Americans visit.



By the way, DomTran took care that we always knew the whereabouts of the key. Guests at the "Kiev" are warned of the many possible fines that await them for abuse of property at the hotel. A lost key costs 50 Euros. We were also careful not to vomit in the bathroom, bedroom, or indeed anywhere in the hotel because of the steep fine schedule (see below).






DomTran and I are in Budapest tonight for the Hungarian National Day celebrating St. Istvan and the establishment of the old Hungarian kingdom in the Carpathian basin. We had quite a full afternoon, but must leave now for the Danube-side fireworks. Details tomorrow.

Nein Bruno; more Jugendstihl; from True Maria to Red Vienna

by OLGS, guest blogger.

Well, we did not make it to the late show of "Bruno" the other night. But yesterday (Tuesday) morning, we did set out for the Secession building and saw the 1902 Klimt frieze honoring Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Here's how the *Guardian* arts reporter described it when it was on tour in Liverpool last year. We also liked the sculpture of Marc Antony outside the Secession building, pictured above.

In the afternoon, we explored our neighborhood around the hotel and discovered the Maria Treu church from the mid-18th century.





It rivals KarlsKirche in Baroque gold-leaf and other features. Outside the church is one of the many "plague columns" as a thanksgiving to mark the end of an epidemic, this one the deadly 1713 outbreak. DomTran seems healthy aside the plague column.






Finally, in the evening, we went off to explore one of the "Red Vienna" neighborhoods, built by the Social Democrats in the 1920s. Here is a photo of your correspondent at EngelsPlatz.







This afternoon, we leave Austria for Slovakia. Bratislava is only 35 miles away, where we will post later tonight or tomorrow.

A visit to the Leopold Museum

by OLGS, guest blogger.

It is hot in Vienna today. DomTran and I spent as much of the day as possible out of the heat in the air-conditioned galleries of the Leopold Museum, located in the Museum Quarter, near the old Hofburg Palace grounds. I mistakenly thought the museum was named for some Leopold Hapsburg king or prince or other, but instead, it is named for a Dr. Leopold, a Vienna eye-doctor who collected 20th century Austrian Art. The permanent collection is especially strong in the work of the impressionist painter Egon Schiele. His works in his early 20s, between 1910 and 1914, included a number of haunting self-portraits, including the one above. He died of the Spanish flu in 1918, just a few days after his wife (and model) died of the same epidemic. His last act as an artist was to sketch a portait of his wife as she lay dying. His last act as a human being was to ask a photographer friend to take his portrait as he expired. That's it below, the artist dead at just age 28.






A more cheery traveling exhibit is some Jugendstihl works by the artist Josef Maria Auchentaller. He was Austrian-born but moved to Munich in the 1890s to join the "Jugend" magazine group. He returned to Vienna and joined the "Secession" group and helped edit their magazine. He and his wife took up another line of work, hotel-keeping, on the Adriatic coast after 1904 and the poster shown below literally promoted his family business. He and his wife Emma were chased out of Italy after that country and Austria-Hungary went to war in 1915, but after the peace, they returned to the Italian coast and resumed their hotel business until World War II. He died in his bed, unphotographed, at age 84.




Tonight, we plan to go see "Bruno" the film, thinking we might as well see it for its Vienna scenes and listen for how the locals react. Details tomorrow.

Sight-seeing in Vienna

by OLGS, guest blogger.

DomTran and I did a thorough bus tour of Vienna yesterday. Actually, we did three bus tours for one price: the first was of the 19th century Ringstrasse, the second of the Prater (think *Third Man*--Ferris Wheel scene) and the Danube; and the last tour was of the Hapsburg summer palace, Schonbrunn. We also strolled from the Opera to St. Stephan's Platz and had tortes and iced drinks at "Cafe Mozart" near the Opera. That's DomTran pondering the many choices on the summer menu at "Cafe Mozart." Very appropriate for a hot day in Vienna.

Mozart Requiem at Karlskirche

by OLGS, guest blogger.

DomTran arrived safely in Vienna yesterday afternoon, and after a short nap, we set off for a night of music at the Karlskirche. The program was Mozart's *Requiem* and we enjoyed the music and the setting. Charles VI had the church built after a plague in 1713 and spared no expense, judging by the amount of gold leaf widely applied. The top photo is of the altar and high backdrop. The bottom photo is of the ceiling, some fifty meters high.

Next stop Vienna... for DomTran and OLGS

by OLGS, guest blogger.

I complete my four weeks of language class at the U. of Debrecen tomorrow, Friday the 14th, and immediately set off for Vienna (Bécsi in Hungarian) to meet Domestic Tranquility herself. We plan a leisurely trip along the Danube with five days in Vienna, one in Bratislava, and four in Budapest, before returning to the Twin Cities.

The laptop is fixed, sort of, so we will be able to blog together, and just in time to celebrate the Haydn bicentennial in Vienna.

A Bécsi következő (next stop, Vienna).

They come back

Although OLGS is enjoying the fleshpots of eastern Hungary, our house does not lack for summer camp elements right here in ol' Minneapolis. There's Joe College grad, who says he has a housesitting gig, and Joe College, who is supposed to be leaving for India in three weeks, and Joe High School grad, who starts at the U of M shortly and is engaged with his parents in a lengthy discussion of dorm vs. apartment. The fact that both parents have nixed the apartment idea means little to him. He keeps trying. His persistence speaks well -- he will probably go far, but not into an apartment right now.

Light blogging until I go to "MediaMarkt"

by OLGS, guest blogger.

My laptop computer is not accepting a charge from the electrical adapter. For whatever reason, the laptop refuses to recognize the adapter (original equipment) as a genuine Dell product.

So I will have to go to MediaMarkt and see if someone there can help fix the problem. Until then, I will only blog irregularly...

A day trip to Oradea, Romania (formerly Hungarian “Nagyvarad”)

by OLGS, guest blogger.



The diakok (students) of the Debrecen Summer Institute boarded two buses early Saturday morning. Destination: the Romania border city of Oradea, or in Hungarian, “Nagyvarad” (aka Great Castle). Oradea is about 35 miles east of Debrecen, but there is still a border checkpoint and non-EU visitors, such as your correspondent, must show a passport. It’s even more of a hassle to return to Hungary from Romania, as the Hungarian border guards search some vehicles for contraband cigarettes. It took up an hour each direction to cross the frontier. The accompanying photo shows the line, about half-way through our wait. If/when Romania becomes a full member of the EU, the border control will be disestablished.





There are remains of a large castle built in the 13th century *after* Genkhiz Khan and his soldiers sacked the city, not that such a fortress would have stopped the Great Khan. The castle was rebuilt in the 16th century against the Turks, again unsuccessfully as the Sultan occupied the city from 1660 to 1693. The Hapsburgs built a third castle on the same site in the mid-18th century, presumably against the Russians, but maybe still the Turks. Anyway, the surviving barracks are now largely empty except, oddly, the Department of Art & Design at the University of Oradea takes up one building. The large windows probably make for good studio space.



The glory of the city is its judgendstihl/art nouveau architecture.



Some of the work rivals what I saw in Prague last year on UWEC’s Central European Travel Seminar. Some of the buildings are also in terrible condition. We asked our guides why this was as we walked around the city. Their answer, as best as I understood it, was that the Romanians were too incompetent to realize the development potential of the city to international tourism. We heard the same refrain from the Hungarian representatives to the City Council. They greeted us at City Hall and talked at some length about their minority status. Too bad most of the students tuned out, due to the heat, fatigue, or hang-overs from the previous night’s “buli."



My personal favorite building was not art nouveau, but rather a simple late 18th century church known as the “Moon Church.” The steeple has a gizmo (not the technical name) that rotates to show the phase of the moon. I checked that night and the gizmo, made in 1795, is still accurate.

Travel weekend; photos forthcoming

by OLGS, guest blogger.

I went traveling over the weekend to former Hungarian cities, one in Romania just over the border, and one in Slovakia, just over the border. Both have wonderful late Hapsburg art nouveau/jugenstihl/secessionist architecture. I'll make a longer post when I have time to organize my photos, but now I must prepare for language class. Rather: Prepare for language class ! (as we are studying the imperative today).

Tamás Vásáry and the "Zoltán Kodály World Youth Orchestra" play Debrecen

by OLGS, guest blogger.

Tonight, the University of Debrecen and the City of Debrecen and the Ministry of Culture hosted conductor Tamás Vásáry and a student group he founded called the "Zoltán Kodály World Youth Orchestra," in honor of an earlier Hungarian composer. Here is Tamás Vásáry's home page.

The students met their conductor twelve days ago and planned a program of two Kodály pieces, one an excerpt from an opera "Háry János" that includes a folk song taught to Magyar language students in the summer program. Very timely.

Next, the conductor escorted to the stage the pianist Tamás Erdi to play the Ferenc/Franz Liszt "A-dur zongoraverseny." At this point in my report to readers of *Domestic Tranquility* I have to note that at Hungarian concerts, no printed progams are distributed. Instead, somebody gives a mini-lecture at the beginning and announces the pieces to be performed, so I might well have gotten it wrong and it was actually Liszt's Sonata in B Minor. Mr. Erdi has made a recording of this piece, available on the "Hungaraton" label, but unfortunately, not available in the U.S.



After intermission, the youth orchestra played the "Csajkovszkij" (English: Tchaikovsky) Fifth Symphony. I expect that maestro Vásáry has conducted this piece numerous times, but he put such energy into his conducting and brought such a response from the student musicians that the large audience applauded and applauded for ten minutes until finally the orchestra played an encore, fittingly, of one of Brahams's "Hungarian Dances."

Quite a night for Debrecen to honor its most famous living artist.

Magyar Film Klub, Part II: "Merry-Go-Round" 1956

by OLGS, guest blogger.

Last night, the Magyar Film Klub screened a 1956 movie, "Körhinta" ("Merry-Go-Round"). The Internet Movie Database has a short summary.

The film is set in the fall and winter of 1953-54, somewhere in the Hortobagy countryside near Debrecen. The opening scene took place in the fall, harvest carnival time in Debrecen, although I could not recognize the locale.

The Hungarians are very proud that "Körhinta" took second place at Cannes in 1956, although I must say that the film has not worn nearly as well as last week's "Somewhere in Europe." Our student group laughed aloud at the klunky Romeo-and-Juliet storyline. Also, rather than swoon at the leading man, Imre Soós, our crowd hooted when, lovelorn, he knit his forehead and his eyebrows overlapped! One interesting detail: the Juliet character, played by the actress Mari Töröcsik, has a family surname in the film of "Pataki." I never made the connection between that surname and the former governor of New York.

Update: new photos from new camera

by OLGS, guest blogger.

Well, the new Nikon "CoolPix" digital camera from MediaMarkt is easy to use. I'm posting the first photos I snapped, taken of the "Furdo Strand" today. I particularly like the smashed-in window over the letter "H" on the big sign. It's where the docent/security guard assigned me for my changing space yesterday.

It's almost 5:00 p.m. in Debrecen, "Akcio" (sale or discount) time, so I've convinced several of my classmates to go for an afternoon swim.

Visszontlatasra!

A swim at the Strand

by OLGS, guest blogger

One tram stop away from the University of Debrecen is a group of run-down thermal "furdok" (bath spas). The one most popular with the students is the "Strand" which has a forbidding concrete exterior. The photo, taken from the spa's website in winter, incredibly, makes it seem warm and inviting, compared to its actual shabby fortress-like appearance. With my new camera, purchased at MediaMarkt, I will take a picture of the Strand on a future update to this post.

The Strand shows the same suspicion of people that seems endemic in post-Communist Central Europe, that is, people will try to take advantage of you if you are not careful. Exhibit "A" is the ticket sales. The Strand has a very good deal with reduced admission of 500 forints ($2.50) after 5:00 p.m. until closing at 8:00 p.m. The ticket booth is in bullet-proof glass with one of the ubiquitous non-functional microphones to communicate (or shout through the glass)with the bored ticket-seller inside. Upon payment of 500 forints, the ticket recipient walks five meters to the entrance and has the ticket checked by the next official. The Strand can't be too careful about people who might want to bypass the ticket booth! The same mentality is even evident at the University: a diner at the college cafeteria has to present a ticket to a student monitor. Otherwise, who knows? Any bum off the street might come in and dine on cafeteria food.

Back to the Strand-- once inside, I found three pools outside: the thermal pool, very warm at 99 degrees F; a kiddie pool with a rickety-looking waterslide; and the "Aquaticum" which was a wonderful, clean, low-chlorine pool, half-roped for laps and half open. I entered the Aquaticum and began my laps, thinking I would swim ten laps, the same as the former Joe High School swam competitively for Minneapolis South High. On my eighth of ten laps, an official shouted something at me in Magyar. To my delight, and his, I actually understood it: move to the right-hand lane, the open part on the other side of the pool. Got it, did it. Then after I finished my laps, I realized that the Debrecen "Orkakok" (Orcas) were training set aside for lap-swimming.

I resolve to go purchase some goggles this afternoon and visit the Strand again.

A visit to a palinka factory

by OLGS, guest blogger.

The Debrecen summer program took an overnight weekend excursion. Three buses full of students set out early Saturday morning for Kceskemet, a country town southwest of Debrecen and southeast of Budapest. We visited three folk-art museums, but the highlight for most students was a Saturday night visit to the Zwack family distillery, makers for more than a century of "Barack" palinka. No, the family did not anticipate the election of an American president by that name. "Barack" means "apricot" in Hungarian and the Zwacks annually turn out thousands of gallons of apricot brandy.

Sunday was a long day, with a side-trip to Budapest and an evening stop at a winery in the "Bulls Blood" region on the way back. The alcohol-soaked theme continues tonight with a Debrecen-region palinka tasting, but I have too much homework, so I will hit the books, not the bottle.

Alas, my old Kodak digital camera went kaput just a few photos into the trip. I'll continue blog-posting but without my own photos.