What is one to do on a lovely evening in Vienna? Take a sunset carriage ride, of course! Founded by Emperor Joseph I in 1707, Dorotheum is still operating as one of the world’s oldest major auction houses. The Ankeruhr clock offers a small special feature at 12 o’clock noon. For several minutes, all figures of …
What a strange day… I managed to purchase online the absolute, very best seat in the house to see the world-famous Spanish Dancing Horses here in Vienna – front row centre. Before leaving the apartment, I something quite sad happened, and the vibration of that seemed to then follow me… I walked to the nearest taxi …
I decided to go for a wander… …and while I did not resist the temptation to go into the Swarovski shop, the hoards of Asian tourists made it feel like a crowded local market, so I was saved from staying long enough to make any purchases… Time for lunch… Cafe Frauenhuber is in a former …
What a marvellous morning! Renee, Bethany, and I started at the Fiaker stables – the Fiaker are the Viennese horse-drawn carriages… Marco took us into the stables and we were able to get up close and personal with the horses… The police on the intersection above were doing a roaring trade…….. Heavenly… a Victorian-era glove …
Time to depart… Poor Bethany – at one point there was a luggage avalanche, but we saved her just in time… 🙂 My Romanian friend and driver, Adrian. We were travelling through the Carpathian Mountains and then Transylvania on what was originally a road built by the Romans… This fort dates to just after the …
It was a bright, shiny, sunny day as we headed for Constanta on the Black Sea coast of Romania… …over the River Danube… …complete with a monument to the nuclear power plants and atomic energy… These are fascinating – a Romania design to protect the shore… …and the purpose of our visit – the now …
Our next destination is Snagov Monastery, located on an island at the northern end of Snagov Lake… …but first a short detour to another monastery… …and a bite of lunch… This is my friend, Adrian… …and it’s a good thing Adrian knew where he was going – finding this place was quite the adventure! There …
Leaving Bucharest early in the morning, we head up into the Carpathian Mountains on an existing medieval route linking Transylvania and Wallachia, in search of Peles Castle – built between 1873 and 1914 for the German King Carol I of Romania. Btw, although Romania is the second poorest country in Europe after Bulgaria, it sells more Ferrari …
It has been a fascinating week here in Old Town Bucharest… There were meetings of the EU Foreign Ministers being held here and most of the delegates and their entourage were staying in my hotel – needless to say, the place has been crawling with secret service! Thankfully, there is now only a handful remaining …
The day was cloudy, foggy, damp, and quite dreich (Scottish word) when with my driver Elisei, I set out in search of Bulgaria – as one does! Bucharest itself – particularly the Old Town – is quite lovely, but on our way our of town, Elisei advised that we were going through a part of …
