We just recently returned from Austria, the Czech Republic, and Hungary and if you like history and you haven’t been to these countries, they are must visit destinations.
As much as I would like to take credit for planning such a historic-rich trip … it was happenstance. As one who loves history, and is aware of the close relationships among the Austrians, Czechs, and Hungarians, I completely was not thinking of this when I made the arrangements. Visiting these three countries really pulled all that history together … the Austrian-Hungarian Empire!
These three countries, despite being part of the Austrian-Hungarian, are quite culturally different. Vienna is quite different from Prague, which is not like Budapest. Of course, prior to the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, these countries and their territories were distinct and the Empire did little to change that.
In summary, Vienna is probably culturally west. Prague is very old and the western edge of Eastern Europe. Hungary, a culturally rich eastern European country, is proud of its historical role in stopping the advance of the Turks.
A visit to one or two of these destinations would be incomplete.
2 responses so far ↓
admin1000 // Monday, July 21, 2008 at 2:30 pm |
Eastern europe rocks! there is so much to see even so the comunists didnt do much to maintain those cultural heritages…we went on a east germany-Hungary-Romania trip last year and it was brilliant…
here is sth. about east germany/ Thuringia:
http://thuringia.wordpress.com/
P.S. If your interested in a blogroll exchange, just give me a note.
WalkinGates // Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 1:37 pm |
Could not agree with you more about Eastern Europe. It is a historical and cultural treasure that has been overlooked largely by the West and US until recently … at least that’s what the tourism industry say.
Thanks for your comment. There’s more to come about our trip.