A Viennese Coffee House
When we docked in Vienna, we were greeted with an overcast and rainy day. Our morning walking tour of central Vienna proceeded in spite of the rain. We sloshed past the Opera House, the Spanish Riding School, the Lipizzaner Museum and many other sights.
By the time we reached St. Stephens Cathedral and its spikey towers, our guide Peter knew we were drenched and chilled. He suggested we visit a Viennese coffee house.
What a treat! We found Gerstner's Coffee House not far from Stephansplatz. We learned that Viennese coffee houses provide small food dishes like sausages as well as desserts, cakes and tarts. Unlike some other café traditions around the world, it is completely normal for a customer to linger alone for hours and study the omnipresent newspaper. Along with coffee, the waiter will serve an obligatory glass of cold tap water and during a long stay will often bring additional water unrequested, with the idea to serve the guest with an exemplary sense of attention.
Pictured above is the light sponge cake pastry with a raspberry and cream filling and a light dusting of powdered sugar on top. We all enjoyed the wonderful pastries and delicious coffee. To the right, other patrons eagerly peruse the selection of pastry delights.
In the afternoon, Esther, Marilyn and Stew visited the Schonbrun, the Baroque palace on the outskirts of Vienna which was the summer residence of Hapsburgs. The palace was finished under Maria Theresia in the mid-eighteenth century and totals 1441 rooms.
That evening, they attended a delightful classical concert of music by Strauss and Mozart presented by the Vienna Residence Orchestra. Unfortunately, I was feeling "under the weather" but was able to rebound by the next day.
Bratislava Surprises
Our day in Slovakia and its capital city Bratislava brought us many surprises. We toured the older section of the city including the seat of the Slovak government next to Bratislava Castle. Bratislava Castle dates back to the 10th century with a great deal of history which is easily found online. Bratislava Castle and its surrounding area has been beautifully restored by the Slovak government. Below is a photo of the Castle positioned on a hilltop high above the city.
From the castle you have great views of the city below including the Apollo Bridge and the Bratislava's unusual New Bridge. The unique New Bridge design boasts the UFO Cafe with a 360 degree panaroma of Bratislava.
Also unique in design, the Apollo Bridge is a modern span across the Danube which was built as a single span on one bank of the Danube and "slid" into place.
We found the Paparazzi Restaurant in the lower old town section of the city. Its signature piece of sculpture stands just outside the restaurant as a tribute to the Italian photographer Paparazzo, the first paparazzi. We enjoyed visiting with the staff and consuming their refreshments.
During the Cold War and Communist rule, Slovakia was part of Czechslovakia. Our guide grew up in Bratislava and related how the Russians, always present, stayed in the background while the Czech Communist party members were the visible authorities. From Bratislava Castle she pointed out the high rise apartments constructed south of the Danube during the Communist rule as well as the not too distant Austrian border. The border however is separated from the city by cleared land that previously was well patroled to discourage flight.
Budapest Sail Away
Our nightime departure from Budapest was a fantastic sight! We sailed up the Danube at 9 PM. All bridges and government buildings are beautifully lighted each evening. The photo below shows the famous Chain Bridge that connects Buda and Pest. Buda Castle is seen on the hilltop in the background.
The beautiful Hungarian Parliment building glows on the Pest side of the Danube. The Hungarian Parliment's design mirrors the British Parliment building on the banks of the Thames.
Looking back, we get our final glimpse of Budapest as we sail up the Danube to Slovakia and new adventures.
Where Are We?
Around the year 1000 Stephen I, King of Hungary, organized a feudal state on the Central European model and introduced Christianity. A few years later merchants from central and western Europe settled in Buda and Pest and helped both places to develop rapidly. In 1241-42 
Mongols stormed the Danube towns of Buda and Pest. A few years later the construction of the Castle of Buda ordered by King Bela IV was completed. The royal court moved to Buda in 1347 again, when work was begun to expand the fortification into a palace in contemporary Gothic style. From then on Buda became a royal town, while Pest developed into a prosperous trading center. In the second half of the 15th Century Matthias Corvinus extended the Royal Palace and Buda to became a center of Renaissance culture.
In 1526, the Turks took Buda and Pest. It was 1686 before Charles of Lorraine was able to reconquer Buda and Pest for the House of Habsburg. Various measures taken during the reign of Empress Maria Theresa led to a further economic upsurge in Buda and Pest, largely brought about by an influx of German-speaking settlers. In 1777 Buda was made a university town but lost this title to Pest a few years later. The left bank of the Danube soon became the intellectual and political center of the country.
The Chain Bridge was opened in 1849, with the aim of helping Buda and Pest to merge more quickly. In 1867 Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth ("Sissi") were crowned in Matthias Church. The Austro-Hungarian monarchy of the Danube came into being. In the history of Budapest the year 1872 stands out as a milestone, for it was then that the three separate settlements of Pest, Buda and Óbuda (literally "Old" Buda) were united into one city with a population of more than 150,000. Budapest officially became the capital city of Hungary, and underwent rapid growth in size and eminence. This was the city's golden age, and coincided with the Hungarian millennial celebrations in 1896 when the continental Europe's first underground railroad was opened.
Towards the end of the Second World War, in the autumn of 1944, Budapest became a front-line town and suffered severe damage, especially in the castle quarter where units of the German army were barricaded in. From February 13th 1945 onwards Soviet troops controlled the whole of Budapest and thereafter it was ruled along strict Soviet lines. In the autumn of 1956 political turmoil and economic hardship fueled popular uprisings which were savagely put down by Hungarian and Soviet forces of law and order. The inner city presented a picture of devastation.
In the 1960s and 1970s much inner-city building and reconstruction took place, such as the opening to traffic of the Elisabeth Bridge, extension of the underground network, renovation of the old city center, especially the castle quarter, and the building of large luxury hotels both in the castle quarter and on the Pest bank of the Danube. What soon became known as "goulash communism" encouraged an upsurge in tourism, and visitors from both Eastern and Western Europe as well as the US.
The shot below is from Gellert Hill overlooking the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary. Buda Castle, to our right, is more than 1300 years old and dominates old city of Pest which lies to our left. Today, Buda and Pest are one.
It is a beautiful and fun city to visit! It has been rebuilt following the damage of World War II and the Soviet invasion. The Reds pulled out in 1991 leaving the Hungarian people to pull themselves back to their heritage. And they have done it! We are enjoying their enthusiasm and pride.
Sixty percent of the city was destroyed in World War II. Rebuilding started after the war but the city suffered further damage in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and subsequent Soviet armed invasion. Bullet holes are still seen on buildings in Pest and in Budapest Castle. However, much of the city has been restored to it's original state. While there has been modernization, the authenticity of the architecture has been maintained.
Economically Hungary is suffering from it's days of Communist domination. The Communist government financed its socialist largesse by borrowing heavily from neighboring countries to pay for free medical care, wages and retirements while collecting no taxes. Today, the Hungarian government and the Hungarian people are repaying the "sins" of the past. We Americans need to pay attention!
Why I Edit Images?
The more I learn about photography, the more critical I am of my photographs. Exposure, color, saturation, cropping... are image qualities that can often improved with a little editing.
Years ago I watched my dear wife tear open each package of newly printed photos and delete (rip up) any shots she thought were "bad". After converting from film to digital in 2003, I print only select shots. Realizing this, I promised my wife that I would delete all "bad" shots and print only "good" ones. Of course I kept that promise, but now it doesn't often come to that!
In my photo gallery "Enhancements: After and Before" you can compare Straight Out Of the Camera (SOOC) vs. edited images. The edited "after" image is shown first, followed by the SOOC image. Which image do you prefer?
I edit images, just like I edit writing. This blog isn't the rough draft, and most images are not SOOC. Sometimes in writing, and sometimes in photography, you get everything right and there's nothing to edit. It doesn't happen very often and when it does, it sure feels great!
I edit photos because I want to present the best images I can.
P.S. I learned that Ansel Adams altered the 1970's reprint of his most famous photograph, Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941, to remove some random clouds in the upper sky area that always bothered him. And in his celebrated Winter Sunrise, The Sierra Nevada From Lone Pine, California, Adams deleted the big "LP" that the town's high school students had laid out in whitewashed stones on the hillside.