Author: Peter Meggyesy

Sixteen years ago a 2 week driving trip through Hungary morphed into a randow wander through Vienna, Prague and Bratislava as well as Hungary, of course. Vienna was dazzling but our time was spent in the historic centre and we did not have the opportunity to visit Schonbrunn castle on the outskirts of Vienna. I have managed to settle this unfinished business.
Built in the 17th century this Baroque masterpiece is inspired by Versailles. It has 1440 rooms of which 40 are open to the public. It was the summer palace of the Habsburgs. It was here that Mozart first performed as a child to Empress Maria Theresa. Napoleon held his war cabinet here. JFK met Kruschev there in 1962. The gardens, in season, are a work of art. Now as winter approaches the gardens are basic but the complex is majestic and beautiful.

Germany as a country is a relatively new construct. Historically the Holy Roman Empire secured an agreement with the various Teutonic kingdoms who came together regularly in Nuremberg to elect one of their number as ruler. That arrangement lasted 1000 years. The formation of Germany as a country dates to the late 1800s.
The southernmost “kingdom” was Bavaria and to this day Bavarians still regard themselves as something other than German. One of Europe’s most visited attractions is our first destination here. Neuschwanstein Castle south of Munich was the inspiration for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle. It was built by King Ludwig 11 in the late 1800s in the Romantic style. He was inspired by composer Richard Wagner and his operas Tannhauser and Lohengrin and parts of the castle are modelled upon sets of those operas. He died before the castle was completed. Perched high up a mountain this doesn’t disappoint.

Munich is the capitol of Bavaria and our base for a variety of trips further north. It is a lively city with a pretty old city to enjoy. It is also the base of support and genesis of the NAZI party and Hitler so there is a darker side to it. The Germans here acknowledge that part of their history and memorialise it. Not with anything other than repulsion but it is history and did happen. Our role is not to whitewash history and pretend it didn’t happen. We must accept the past and learn from it so as not to make the same mistakes again. The Germans are certainly doing this with the Hitler past. We seem to be going the other way with woke and cancel culture where we refuse to listen to and acknowledge differing viewpoints.
Enjoy the pictures of this lovely city. It is a relaxed place with a great lifestyle. The food here is hearty and plentiful and the people love a beer. Not very healthy but a whole lot of fun!

“Nuremburg is the most German city” proclaimed Adolf Hitler. As the traditional seat of power and situated in the south of Germany near to his power base it was politically savvy to nail his colours to this city. Two years after coming to power he and his Nazi party constructed an amazing complex from which to stage the 1934 Nuremburg rally which was attended by 700,000 Nazi party members. The rallies had been held since 1923 but on a very small scale initially. The last rally was in 1938. The 1934 rally was filmed by the creative genius Leni Rieffenstal and produced as a propaganda film called Triumph of the Will. It is worth watching chunks of this to witness the mass of humanity that turns out, the incredible oratory of Hitler himself and the mesmerised look on the faces of the crowds. It is truly mind blowing to see the platform and the main stage intact and even more amazing to be able to freely wander up and stand where Hitler delivered his speech.

Nuremburg was formed in 1050 AD and became the seat of power for the assorted Germanic states in the 14th century. Throughout the middle ages and the Renaissance this was not just the economic and political capitol of Germany but also the intellectual and artistic centre. This is a beautiful city that fans out from the castle to old squares, medieval buildings and soaring gothic cathedrals making this a must see destination in Germany.

At the end of WW2 some 90% of Nuremberg was just rubble. The Allies targeted Nuremburg with aerial bombing as Hitler had earmarked the city as his spiritual home. Most of waht we see today is not ancient but reconstructed but wow, what a great job!
Postwar Nuremberg was chosen as the site for the court to try Nazis for war crimes and continues to do so to this day. A perfect bookend to the 1934 Nazi prewar rallies. Ironic!

Hitler and WW2 are writ large in Bavaria. Hitler’s home country of Austria is a stone’s throw away and the Nazi party genesis was in Munich the capitol of Bavaria. From 1928 to 1933, the Nazi party went from 2% electoral support to 40% enough to form coalition government and propel Adolf Hitler to the chancellorship. Two months after his election Hitler established Dachau as a concentration camp to inter his political rivals and to establish and fine tune his SS as one of the most sadistic and brutal police operations known.

Over the years leading up to WW2 Dachau imprisoned not only political rivals but also of course Jews, criminals, gypsys, communists, homosexuals, prostitutes and diseased and infirmed.

It was a prison work camp where the inmates were expected to work as slave labour. Of course torture, maltreatment, malnourishment and abuse was de riguer. As the first of a network of such prisons the death rate was high but it was from punishment, abuse and maltreatment. This was not an extermination camp such as Auschwitz in Poland.

When the Americans arrived in April 1945 the spectre of emaciated survivors was distressing to the GIs but not as much as the piles of bodies stacked as if they were firewood! While not as confronting as my experiences in Rwanda and the Cambodian killing fields this still provokes reflections upon mankind’s inhumanity to fellow humans.
Dachau was destroyed at the request of survivors in 1965 only to be rebuilt as a memorial to the victims of Nazi Germany. It is now an autumn leafy tree lined shrine. The suffering of those thousands under Hitler is a quiet remembrance. We all dedicate a minute of silence to those who perished here.

“Can I do a wine tasting” is met by a disappointing “No” and I am crestfallen. “But if you come back in an another hour, you can taste our full range and wines from all around Europe.” My eyes light up and then comes the most unusual addition, it’s free! I am there with bells on.

Liechtenstein is a tiny country sandwiched between Austria and Switzerland. Only 25kms long it has a population of only 38,000. It is one of th more expensive destinations on the planet and one of it’s main “industries” is being a tax haven.
On the hilltop above Vaduz is the castle still occupied by the Prince of Liechtenstein. Unfortunately the photo opportunities are marred by renovation works.

The compact little old town is a pleasant stroll.
The outskirts of Vaduz is framed by the headwaters of the iconic Rhine River. Across the border is Switzerland.

We farewell beautiful Salzburg for the Tyrolean city of Innsbruck. The 2 hour drive actually takes us through Germany in part before turning back into this city in the heart of the Austrian Alps. The venue for the 1964 and 1976 winter Olympics, I should not have been surprised that this is a city rather than a smaller town which is what I imagined.
The Nordkette cable car is our first stop here and the two cars take us up above the snow line to 7400 feet above sea level. The skies are overcast and the wind howling cuts right through me as we walk outside reducing the ambient temperature to below zero. It is a struggle to get around and keep the hands and cameras functioning.

Nonetheless this is a white snowy wonderland with a birdseye view of the city below. Having had our fill of photos we thaw out and enjoy a hearty lunch with a view.
Down in Innsbruck we arrive with only a couple of hours of daylight left. The sun is now setting here at 4:30pm. As we set out to explore the old city a drizzle graduates to rain. The historic old town is small but surprisingly pretty and we do what we can dodging the rain and taking photos.

Our last stop is St Jakob’s Cathedral a beautiful 15th century church. As with so much throughout here and going up to Germany it sustained heavy damage from aircraft bombing at the end of WW2. The subsequent restoration is amazing as this is an impressive, authentic structure.

My life partner insists, we must go to Mondsee, so 3 hours driving in the solid rain gets us to a beautiful pale yellow Baroque Cathedral. The first movie I ever saw as a boy in a picture theatre was Sound of Music. It turns out that my wife and her mum fell in love with the movie and dreamt about visiting the countryside portrayed in the Oscar winning movie. This cathedral is where Maria marries von Trapp. It is ornate and beautiful and brings tears to her eyes as memories with her now deceased mum resurface.

Salzburg is only a short drive away. Apart from being fairytale beautiful it has two touristic themes, the Sound of Music movie and its most famous son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The latter was born here and spent his childhood here. By age 5 he was performing concerts for the public. At age 9 he was composing music. This musical genius had a flame that burned brightly until his premature death at age 35. My first port of call here is his birth house which is now a Mozart museum.

Beyond that this is an enchanting place with sparkling alleyways, an imposing hilltop castle and an array of stunning Baroque and gothic churches. Salzburg does not disappoint!

Mozart square

Quite a tongue twister the capitol of Slovenia, is a compact attractive little city. The old town now has a more Germanic architectural feel about it. The main Preseren square is named after Slovenia’s national poet. The large grey Viennese style town hall contrasts with the salmon pink Baroque Church of the Annunciation. Further on the main Cathedral of St Nicholas is a masterpiece of gothic art. Beautiful winding alleyways make this a lovely place to spend some time wandering.

The small river Ljubljana winds its way through the town. The pretty bridges spanning the river feature the unique triple bridge which comprises three separate bridges side by side.

Further downstream is the Dragon bridge. Built in 1901 it was at the time the world’s longest single span bridge. It is adorned with four dragons, the symbol of this city. Legend has it that Jason and the Argonauts killed a dragon here and established the city.

Overlooking all of the town is the Ljubljana castle. Commenced in the 11th century it affords a beautiful view of the rooftops of the old city.

The weather has finally caught up with us. For the first time we have grey skies and drizzle sometimes with rain. There is no let up, no break in the clouds through which I can optimise my photos. Bled is a tourist town less than an hour north west of the capitol Ljubljana. It sits at the head of a glacial valley at the foot of the Jullian Alps and has a Swiss Alpine vibe to it.
The morning starts with a drive up the hill to Bled Castle. Built in the 15th century it affords magnificent views across the lake and down to Bled Island and its monastery.

Half an hour drive up the valley at Lake Bohinj we take the Vogel cable car up 1000 metres to 1535 metres. In the winter this is a ski complex. No snow today but 6 degrees celsius with a roaring wind that makes it feel subzero. Oposite us the views are close up of the Julian Alps.

After lunch at the cablecar restaurant a short drive then a 545 step climb through the drizzle to Savica Falls. The steady climb ascends through beautiful autumn forest to a the rushing headwaters of the Sava river as it plunges off the rock face. This is the headwaters of the same Sava river that I saw end at the Danube in Belgrade. Quite poignant to witness both the birth and termination of a river on the one trip.

Our crossing into Slovenia is easy and uneventful. Slovenia has a small length of coastline and the tourist jewel on the coast here is the 16th century Venetian built town of Piran. Strangely the only road into the old town has a police car blocking vehicular access. We are on foot and very quickly discover what is happening. There is a distinct tell distinguishing the locals from the tourists today. The locals are wearing gumboots!
The waterfront promenade has the sea initially lapping up to the very edge of the road. Further in the waves actually surge onto the road until there are areas where the road is a couple of centimetres underwater with houses sandbagged. On questioning, this is not an unusual event throughout winter and the locals have just gotten used to it.
The town is picture postcard perfect with a sunny Italianate central square and colourful buildings lining a maze of narrow alleyways.

An hour drive north has us close to the capitol and we visit Postojne Cave. I love limestone caves and will take any opportunity to visit any one that comes within range. On arrival we are told that these are the largest in Europe. The cave has an unusual feature a little train that takes us to the depths of the cave where we proceed on foot for a 1 hour tour. The train ride is surreal. I expected a short run through blasted tunnels but instead it takes us down through chamber after chamber of beautiful limestone decorations. I have visited many caves all around the world and this is the largest I have ever been to. Unfortunately the tour commentary was in German but I have listened to so many in the past that I am sure I was not missing anything. At least it allowed me to wander around and enjoy the photographic opportunities.

Late afternoon has us at Predjama castle, a ridiculously unlikely castle built on a cleft in the cliff face over a network of limestone caves some 800 years ago. There is an interesting story about a robber baron called Erasmus. The full story is too long to relate here but he survived a siege for 1 year and 1 day utilising his caves to get out and acquire food to outlast the siege. Eventually the besieging army bribes a servant who points out the castle toilet. When Erasmus utilises the toilet next the servant signals the army who catapult a rock up there and destroy the toilet and kill Erasmus literally while he is on the throne. Erasmus is buried under a tree near the church. Six hundred years later parts of his tree are still alive.