Sarah,
Three months later comes my reply.
My excuses for that, its shows how volatile
the internet can be.
Thank you for your commentary and your view.
Krak�w (Poland): I agree. Lovely.
I think that Americans travel when they travel to more
destinations than Europeans mostly do.
Americans are more used to distance, because they also are used to travel inside the USA longdistance.
Europeans are more local oriented in their differant countries with cultural, language borders.
The Euroepan Unity is one of the leaders, the real unity will take many more decades. For tourists it is nice that Europeans cherish thair heritage, old arts and crafts (for tourist and commercial reasons) and that Europe is an
Open air museum of architecture, cultivated landscapes, infrastructure, religious life (all the churches, Cathedrals, monastries, Sinagogues and other religious buildings).
For young Americans it must be strange to see buildings and churches of 1000, 700 or 500 years old,
while the oldest buildings in the USA may be 250 years old. I think that because of that old history and the roots of their European heritage that Europe is so fascinating for Americans. While the young dynamic, innovative,
energetic, creative and scientific Unated States of America have a big attraction on young Europeans.
I think a combination if Vienna and Budapest (according to the historic Austrian-Hungarian double monarchy of the Habsburgs) in a short Holiday is lovely. In Vienna you can feel and smell the grandeur
and the delecacy of the 18th century baroc and the 19th century Jugendstil, Motzart and Mahler (musical director of the Vienna Opera) and Classicism.
In Budapest you have two significant parts: Pest is the lower and bigger part, where the British stile Houses of Parlaiment lay next to the Donau river. You can feel that West meets East in that part of the city, in the Turkish influence in the language and the oriental buildings next to Western Cathedrals and Churches.
You can easily use public transportation, tram, bus or Metro. You have nice typical Hungarian market halls where you can buy nearly everything a tourist wants.
And besides that you have Western stile shops and supermarkets. Because of the tourism and the nearby Austria the prices can be in some places be higher than in other East-European cities (except for Prague which ahs the same thing). I just did not go to Tourist Hotels or caf�'s and restaurants, I went to local pubs and restaurants in smaller streets with locals.
I like the crossover of Western and Eastern European stiles in Prague and Budapest. In both places I enjoyed a Guinness beer in an Irish pub, but went mostly to local pubs and restaurants.
Back to Pest:
On a square with soldiers marching up an down, you have two museums. One old art mueseum with a wonderful collection of Egypian objects and mummies,
and one fairly good Museum of contemporary (Modern)
art. Just walking doen the boulevards was a joy overhtere like it was in Prague and Krakow, the old atmosphere, the houses with iron balconies, observing the public passing by. Walking along the Donau river, crossing bridges, seeing the green hills of Buda on the other side. I haven't been in Buda, where you have the Spa resorts, the famous hot water wells with curing water. Unfortunately I did not went there then, but I heard from fellow travelers who went there that it was wonderful, relaxed and a feeling of relief.
Try them if you go there!
I also like Scandinavians, because they are English speaking people and very social, in a rare way.
Like Americans find us Duch liberal we find the Scandinavians liberal. They had the best develloped wellfeare state system in the world.
I have Danish friends in Copenhagen, a bright optimistic city I like. I have not been to other Scandinavian countries, but I heard of the overwhelming environment of Norway (that must be something like Alaska or British Columbia in Canada).
All those fjords, landscapes with endless flat squares with rocks. A rough, bitter climate it must be.
People in the North seem to suffer form depressions due to the lack of light (and sometimes of to much light in the Upper North, where the sun never goes down in some periods. They call it "Northern light" overhere).
The cry of edvard Munch symbolises that for me.
InTuscany and Umbria you just have to make your own plan and drive thrue the country, stop in villages and walk eround enjoying the landscape and the architecture of farmshouses, churches and castles.
Everywhere there are museums where you can see fresco's. Perrugia is such a wonderful city built on a small mountain and with neighbourhoods downhill. Huge Itallian renaissance buildings, big squares,
romatic evenings sitting outside under an umbrella eating your Piza or Pasta and watching the beautiful buildings in the dusk. Arezzo has beautiful famous wall paintings in a very high renaissance church.
The fresco's are so beautiful that only for that it is worhtwhile visiting Arezzo.
Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg: It is very hard to describe your own area, because it is so common to me, the BeNeLux. I suggest to you to see Luxemburg city, the Luxemburg country of hills, small mountains and green fields with lovely villages and towns is wothwhile visiting. You can have nice walks, and eat good diners overhtere. The same thing with the Belgian Ardens, lovely landscapes, vilages with old farms, farmcastles, countryhouses, churches, small historical towns. Durbuie, Bastonge war museum (verry interesting and impressive permanent exhibition),
Liege/Luik, the Capital Brussels ( athriving European capital with a neighbourhood with good restaurants,
good museums and parks), and the wonderful Flemish cities and towns Mechelen, Gent, Brugge and Antwerp.
The Belgian coast is also nice for a few days or so.
In Holland you have to decide where you go.
From Belgium-Flanders you could go to the province of Sealand and go to Walcheren to the historic towns of
Midelburg and Veere. Veere lies lovely at the Sealand lake. Via the Sealand bridge you could drive to the North to Rotterdam. You could chose to go another direction and enter Holland via the Caholic South of Brabant or Limburg. Brabant has the nice cities of Breda and S'Hertogenbosch (famous becaus eof it's Cathedral). Limburg has a continuation of the Ardens in smaller hills. Maastricht is a nice city to visit.
Rotterdam is a modern city with a multi-cultural population. It is the biggest port of the world.
It has good museums and is an example of Modern European architecture, and city planning. Duch people love that city or hate it (there is no way inbetween).
The Netherlands is the official name of the country, and the name is correct, because Holland makes only a small central part of the Netherlands, the two Western provinces South-Holland (Rotterdam, Delft, The Hague, Gouda and Leiden), and North-Holland (Haarlem, Amsterdam, Zaandam, Hoorn, Volendam).
So the American "The Netherlands" is actually a better geographically describtion of my native country, than the British one. Actually Duch people often say Holland to foreigners, because it is easier to pronounce.
But better is to say, the Netherlands!
Pieter
