One of the wonderful things about Europe is its ability to evoke memories of ages past. And now, in the post-Cold War world, there are even more opportunities to see a Europe of old – by visiting Eastern Europe. A trip through Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic (as my husband Jim and I did in the fall of 2003) offers a relatively inexpensive history lesson and a chance to see things the way they used to be.

We started our trip by flying from Hamburg to Vienna (a cheap one-way flight on Air Berlin) to take in the sights and sounds of the old world. After spending a day and a half sightseeing, sampling an original Sachertorte from the Hotel Sacher, and taking in a concert of Mozart classics, we headed to Budapest (less than a three-hour train trip). Although Budapest was more westernized than we had expected, it still had plenty of uniqueness. On our “Budapest Absolute Walking Tour,” we learned the amazing history of Hungary and saw breathtaking sights. We stopped in handicraft markets and bought some lovely gifts. We also ate very well in Budapest – the meals were hearty, delicious, and inexpensive! Luckily, the language barrier wasn’t too much of a problem, but the public transportation system was difficult to figure out (we would highly recommend buying a Budapest Card, which includes free public transportation, at one of the tourist information offices).

From Budapest we took a 2½ hour train ride to Bratislava, the often-overlooked (tourism-wise) capital of Slovakia. Bratislava was the most challenging place to navigate, but also the most interesting of the cities we visited. The influx of western money has not quite reached the city yet, which gave it the aura of a flower about to bloom. We found the stark contrasts of East and West there fascinating – beautiful, centuries-old monuments next to boxy Communist-era statues; a view from Bratislava castle that includes lovely old museums on one side of the Danube and ugly concrete tenement houses built in the 60s on the other; charming markets with handicrafts in the old town versus the three-year-old Polis City Center Mall in the newer town. Overall, the city was fascinating and well-worth visiting (but be sure to read the public transportation tickets carefully – we went three minutes over our timed ticket and were stopped and fined EUR 35 apiece).

Our next stop was Prague (a 4½ hour train ride from Bratislava). Prague is beautiful, interesting, crowded, and quite westernized these days – it is no longer possible to find inexpensive lodging, although food prices are still quite reasonable. As this was our second visit to Prague, we skipped the city tours and instead concentrated on specific areas of town, namely the Jewish Quarter and the Prague Castle area. Both were fascinating and ripe for photo-taking! We also enjoyed a chamber music concert in the St. George Basilica at the castle. Once again, the public transportation was difficult to figure out, but since we had lodging in the city (a nice, relatively reasonably-priced place called Pension 2000), we could walk to most places.

Our final stops were in Dresden (a three-hour train ride from Prague) and Leipzig. While Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic were fun and interesting, it was actually nice to get back to speaking German and using euros again! Dresden especially was very interesting; much like Berlin, it seems like the entire city is under construction, but it’s quite easy to get around and the history is fascinating. The skyline at night is especially breathtaking.

Overall, our trip was full of varied experiences, plus we learned a lot. We would definitely recommend visiting the east, and doing it soon before it gets any more westernized! To see more photos of our trip, visit our website (www.jk-productions.com); and for more information on the cities we visited, see the websites listed below. Happy exploring!

For more information on things mentioned in this article, see the following websites:
   Air Berlin: www.airberlin.com
   Budapest Absolute Walking Tours: www.absolutetours.com
   Budapest Card: www.budapesthotels.com/touristguide/BudapestCard.asp
   Bratislava Tourist Information: http://bratislava.region.sk
   Pension 2000: www.prague-hotel-info.com/prague/pension_2000