Okay, time to resume with the second half of my trip.  After Budapest, we drove to Austria and its capital Vienna.  A few decades ago, it would take hours, if it was possible at all, to cross the border from East to West Europe.  Now, you drive through abandoned checkpoints in seconds.  Ivy grows on buildings that used to house armed border guards.

Vienna differs from the previous cities I visited in two respects.  First, Vienna did not sustain damage in World War II from Nazi invasion, because its annexation into the Nazi empire was done relatively peacefully.  (there was, of course, some opposition like the Von Trapp family made famous in The Sound of Music).

Second, though liberated in part by the Red Army at the end of the war, it did not turn communist.  Austria managed this result by promising the Soviets to remain strictly neutral between East and West blocs.  To this day, Austria has never joined NATO. Also, unlike the Eastern European countries I visited, it has not removed tributes to the Red Army, like this one.

It has fantastic shopping, great restaurants and, most of all, the most stunning architecture.

Wow, everything looks so clean, artistic. You walk around most of the U.S. (or at the very least my town) and it all looks filthy and industrial, cramped and falling apart, no breathtaking sights...

Oh goody, more yummy pictures.  Thanks Anthony.  I've only made a day trip to Vienna but as the capital of the wealthy Austro-Hungarian empire it's a real treat that it escaped the ravages of the war.  I hope your home and garden haven't been damaged by the storm.

Very nice! What a wonderful trip, thanks for sharing the pics.

St. Stephen's Cathedral in the heart of Vienna.

The cathedral was bullt in the 12th century and is famous for its ornately tiled roof and gothic features.

Beethoven discovered he was deaf when he noticed birds flying out of the bell tower but could not hear the bells.

ps.  Caroline, the storm did not have a huge impact on my town.  We did not lose power or sustain much tree damage.

I love visiting old churches and always visit the cathedral when on holiday if there is one.  That tiled roof is lovely but what a sad anecdote about Beethoven. 

The Schoenbron Palace, the summer residence of the Habsburgs, the royal dynasty that ruled Austria for six centuries.

The most notable Habsburg ruler was Maria Theresa. She ruled Austria for 40 years, and was quite successful at it, all while giving birth to 16 children. One of her daughters was fortunate enough to marry a French king, but most unfortunate to do so at the wrong time: Marie Antoinette was beheaded during the French Revolution.

Austria takes great pride in its contribution to the world of music, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

I love Mozart's music.  I'd love to attend one of the public balls in Vienna - if thery still have them. 

The countryside is incredibly scenic too.  Did you manage any walks in the country or were you on too tight a schedule?

Our tour did offer a side trip to the Vienna Woods and a country style dinner but passed on that, preferring to stay in the City and go on our own.  We did the organized tour stuff in moderation because the kids (and us) liked having the freedom to wonder where we wanted.

St. Karl's Church

The altar

This church allowed you to take an elevator onto a loft area where you could see the murals or frescos on the domn ceiling of the church:

The remarkable aspect of Vienna was its condition.  Because it never experienced the time-freezing nature of communist rule, its buildings were in pristine condition (not layered in years of air pollution).  Its economy was far more advanced than its Eastern European neighbors too.  A greater assortment of shops, including name brands, and far superior restaurants and cafes.

Really grand and lovely fancy architecture.  Was Vienna ever bombed during WW2?  It's a long way off - maybe too far?  But those pillars on St Charles' church look like minarets.  All together it's an unexpected collection of styles and influences, don't you think?  Really looks exotic and 'foreign' which is very satisfying when you travel.  You don't want to see the same stuff as back home. 

The ceiling mural is so pretty.

Beautiful pictures! I visited Vienna with my parents when I was little. I only remember one landmark, the Golden Roof, did you visit that one?

Caroline, Vienna was bombed heavily by the Allies towards the end of the war but much of it was rebuilt.

Wimli, it's been a while since you visited this place.  Glad to see you back.  We never visited the golden roof site, unfortunately.

But we now proceed to photos of our next city, Prague in the Czech Republic.  The city has the most extraordinary architecture, but, as you can see and in contrast to Vienna, it still shows signs of the negative effects of smog on buildings that was ignored during 40+ years of communist rule.

The former Czechoslovakia was formed at the end of WWI. England and France were breaking apart the Austro-Hunarian empire and were planning to merge the Czechs into Austria and the Slovaks into Hungary. Those populations did not want to become small insular minorities within those countries, so they successfully petitioned Woodrow Wilson for the right to join together and form their own country. 

Czechoslovakia suffered the same fate as Poland and Hungary: invaded and occupied by the Nazis and then liberated and subjucated by the Soviets.

When communism fell in 1999, the Czechs and Slovaks peacefully agreed to break apart and form their own countries.

The world famous astronomical clock tower in the center of Prague.

The city is a great place to stroll around, drink beer and admire the scenery.

I've just googled that clock.  It's very complex with a colourful history.

When I was little, so many old building had blackened with age - just like that old gatehouse - that I thought it was the natural thing to happen.  Since I left the UK, they have cleaned all the soot off a lot of the famous black landmarks to the point where they all look brand new and I don't recognise them. 

Jup, it's been a while indeed.

One church clocktower in Prague (not sure if it was this one) was closed to visitors during the Communist era. It was supposedly stucturally unsound. When communism fell, the Czechs found the building to be completely safe but the clocktower filled with spy cameras and equipment to snoop on the nearby embassies.

The residence of the former ambassador to Czechoslovakia, Shirley Temple Black.

Olives for a martini, perhaps?

What is it with communism and walls?

The fundamental dialectic struggle in a communist society:

And the people choose the road most travelled:

Okay, best place to stroll and meander in Prague, the Charles Bridge.  Ranks up there with best places to hang-out in all of Europe in my view.

A pedestrian bridge that crosses the Vitava river, which is known as the Elbe in Germany.  The bridge is the place for a lovely stroll to view the city's buildings and the various statues on the bridge.  Great for people watching too.

The views from the bridge are spectacular.

People selling artwork, musicians playing tunes and everybody just breezing through and soaking it all in:

Ah Anthony, is that you looking amazingly happy?  

I don't look all that happy in that photo, do I?  Someone must have knocked over my beer.

Next stop was Slovakia.  The Slovaks were forced to form a country with the Czechs at the end of WWI.  When communism fell in Czechoslovakia in the late 90's, the two peoples peacefully separated.  We toured the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava.

An old church in Bratislava.

A temple in Bratislava.

Slovakia was the slowest of the Eastern European countries to adapt to capitalism after the fall of communism. People thought they were reluctant to permit free markets.  It was called the "black hole" of Europe.

Turns out, the Slovaks were just biding their time.  They looked at all the other Eastern European countries enacting complicated, progressive tax codes, and asked "what, after you take into account the deductions, exemptions, credits and loopholes, are they collecting?"  They determined it was 20% of income, so they adopted a simplified flat tax system instead, and lowered the rate to 19% to attract investment.

Slovakia's economy took off. It achieved economic results that eventually allowed it to qualify to use the Euro. To this day, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have not qualified for the Euro.  (Of course, that may be a mixed blessing today since, as it turned out, certain other countries appear to have falsified their financial condition to qualify for the Euro and now are dragging down the value of the currency).