Zürich, Switzerland

Zürich's Christmas atmosphere is simply captivating with snow-capped Alps framing Lake Zürich and a plethora of holiday lights and Christmas trees in every square!

Zürcher Christkindlimarkt, located at RailCity, is Europe's biggest indoor market with more than 160 wooden market stalls tempt shoppers with colorful handcrafted trinkets, delicious St. Nicholas pastries, gourmet chocolates, butter cookies and mulled Glühwein wine. A 50' Christmas tree steals the show adorned with an array of 5000 sparkling Swarovski Christmas ornaments.

Located behind RailCity, the Live On Ice skating rink is set up against the backdrop of the Swiss National Museum. Hundreds of Christmas trees, a fondue tent, mulled wine and a cosy panoramic lounge keep the Christmas spirit alive.

Next, stroll over to Werdmühleplatz to take in the Singing Christmas Tree concert. Children from local schools stand on a tiered stage, arranged and decorated to look like a Christmas tree, and sing Christmas carols and other popular songs. A small Christmas market is also in the square.

Bahnhofstrasse is Zürich's main downtown street and one of the world's most expensive and exclusive shopping avenues. This year, new Christmas lighting known as “Lucy”, gives a special brilliance to the world-famous Bahnhofstrasse. Thousands of LEDs create moving clouds of light and gentle showers of luminescence.

The twin towers of the Grossmünster are regarded as perhaps the most recognized landmark in Zurich.The two towers were first erected between 1487 and 1492. Originally, they had high wooden steeples, which were destroyed by fire in 1781, following which the present neo-Gothic tops were added.

Across the Limmat River stands St. Peter Church. The steeple's clock face has a diameter of 8.7 meters,  was built in 1534 and is the largest church clock face in Europe.

A short walk from St. Peter is the Fraumünster abbey, founded in 853 by Louis the German for his daughter Hildegard. He endowed the Benedictine convent with the lands of Zürich, Uri, and the Albis forest, and granted the convent immunity, placing it under his direct authority.

Don't miss the beautiful guild houses all throughout the Old Town. There are fourteen historical Zünfte (guilds) under the system established in 1336 with the "guild revolution" of Rudolf Brun. They are the 13 guilds that predated 1336, plus the Gesellschaft zur Constaffel, originally consisting of the city's nobles. Perhaps most beautiful, especially decorated in twinkling Christmas lights, is the Hotel Savoy, formerly two guilds, tanners and shoemakers, united in 1877.

Of course, no trip to Zürich would be complete without dining on fondue. Restaurant Le Dézaley, famous for their array of fondues (cheese, chinoise, and bourguignonne). The moto Le vin se boit au Dézaley "pure le matin, a midi sans eau, le soir comme le bon Dieu l'a fait. (The wine in Dézaley drinks himself, purely in the morning, at noon with no water in the evening God has made him such) adorns the walls of the restaurant.

We dined on both the famous family secret recipe cheese fondue and the chinoise fondue. The chinoise is a Court Bouillon. Veal, beef, and chicken are dipped to cook in the broth and then dipped into an array of dipping sauces. At meal's end, the much flavored broth is served with or without sherry wine.

The history of fondue is centuries old. In the Alps, the herdsmen were cut off from much of the environment. The staple foods, which could be easily produced there, were bread and cheese and thus came about the fondue.

In Switzerland, the cheese fondue holds status of a National Court and many customs and habits have grown up around it. Thus, it is as common custom a participant who loses his piece of bread, buys a round of white wine, brandy, or the like, or gets up to sing a song.

To view all our pictures of  Zürich, visit http://public.fotki.com/Davis2001r6/italy-2011/thanksgiving-weeken/

Colosseum and Roman Forum - Rome, Italy

The Colosseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheater, was started between 70 and 72 AD under the Emperor Vespasian and completed around 80 AD under Titus. The name "Amphitheatrum Flavium" derives from both Vespasian's and Titus's family name (Flavius, from the gens Flavia).

The Colosseum had been completed up to the third story by the time of Vespasian's death in 79. The top level was finished and the building inaugurated by his son, Titus, in 80. Dio Cassius recounts that over 9,000 wild animals were killed during the inaugural games of the amphitheatre. The building was remodelled further under Vespasian's younger son, the newly designated Emperor Domitian, who constructed the hypogeum, a series of underground tunnels used to house animals and slaves.

Capable of seating 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology.

The arena itself was 83 meters by 48 meters (272 ft by 157 ft / 280 by 163 Roman feet). It comprised a wooden floor covered by sand (the Latin word for sand is harena or arena), covering an elaborate underground structure called the hypogeum (literally meaning "underground"). Little now remains of the original arena floor, but the hypogeum is still clearly visible. It consisted of a two-level subterranean network of tunnels and cages beneath the arena where gladiators and animals were held before contests began. Eighty vertical shafts provided instant access to the arena for caged animals and scenery pieces concealed underneath; larger hinged platforms, called hegmata, provided access for elephants and the like. Separate tunnels were provided for the Emperor and the Vestal Virgins to permit them to enter and exit the Colosseum without needing to pass through the crowds.

The Palatine Hill, the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome and one of the most ancient parts of the city overlooks the Foro Romano on one side and Circus Maximus on the other. The Palatine was once the home of emperors and aristocrats. The ruins range from the simple house in which Augustus was thought to have lived, to the Domus Flavia and Domus Augustana, which were wings of a luxurious palace built by Domitian.

According to Roman mythology, the Palatine Hill was the location of the cave, known as the Lupercal, where Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf that kept them alive. According to this legend, the shepherd Faustulus found the infants, and with his wife Acca Larentia raised the children. When they were older, the boys killed their great-uncle (who seized the throne from their father), and they both decided to build a new city of their own on the banks of the River Tiber. Suddenly, they had a violent argument with each other and in the end Romulus killed his twin brother Remus. This is how "Rome" got its name - from Romulus.

The Foro Romano was the ceremonial center of ancient Rome; a market with emperors renovating old buildings and erecting new temples and monuments.

Many of the Forum's temples date to the periods of the Kingdom and the Republic, although most were destroyed and rebuilt several times. The ruins within the Forum clearly show how urban spaces were used during the Roman age. My favorites in the Forum include the following major monuments, buildings, and ancient ruins:

One of the most fully intact buildings is the Curia Julia, or Senate House, a stark brick building. The relief panels knows as the Plutei of Trajan, commissioned by either Trajan or Hadrian to decorate the Rostra, can be seen inside.

My personal favorite is the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, begun in 141 by the Emperor Antoninus Pius and was initially dedicated to his deceased and deified wife, Faustina the Elder. When Antoninus Pius was deified after his death in 161, the temple was re-dedicated jointly to Antoninus and Faustina at the instigation of his successor, Marcus Aurelius. It's strong foundation, columns, and rigid lattice ceiling kept it so well preserved that numerous attempts to pull the abandoned temple down were unsuccessful. The marks of steel cables pulling upon the columns scar those columns to this day.

The circular Temple of Vesta was one of ancient Rome's most sacred shrines and was dedicated to the goddess of fire. The flame, kept alive by the six Vestal Virgins, symbolized the perpetuity of the state and its extinction prophesied doom for the city. The Vestal Virgins were selected when they were between six and ten years old and served for thirty years. They were buried alive if they lost their virginity and whipped by the high priest if the sacred flame died out.

The white marble Arch of Septimius Severus at the northeast end of the Forum is a triumphal arch dedicated in AD 203 to commemorate the Parthian victories of Emperor Septimius Severus and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, in the two campaigns against Parthia (modern day Iran and Iraq) of 194/195 and 197-199.

Budapest, Hungary

Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with a unification on November 17, 1873 of right (west)-bank Buda and Óbuda with left (east)-bank Pest. Having spent all of our time on the Pest side of the Danube on our first trip, we decided to explore the hilly Buda side of the Danube.







Caving Under Budapest

Hungary’s capital, Budapest, is famous for its thermal baths, but only a few know that the hot water rushing up from deep underground created something else too. In the limestone mountains, under Budapest, the heated water formed a huge cave system, which is thought to be more than 100 km long. So we donned our overalls, helmet and head lamp to crawl (literally) in the second longest cave of Hungary, the Pál-völgyi–Mátyás-hegyi cave system, which is a real labyrinth system situated mostly under the elegant residences of Budapest. The 2 1/2 hour long tour leads on unbuilt, natural parts of the cave, with the supervision of professional caving guides. Be prepared to crawl, scramble and creep many times throughout this tour. I definitely do not recommend it if you are claustrophobic.




 Wine Tasting Beneath Budapest

The stone Faust Wine Cellar is part of the vast labyrinth system winding underneath Buda Castle. The inhabitants of the castle carved the labyrinth out of the chalk stone to provide escape during a siege in the middle ages. The cellar offers a wide selection of Hungarian wines from the country's best wine growing regions as well as traditional fruit brandies called pálinka. 


Gábor Nagy is the wine sommelier of Faust Wine Cellar and has a wonderful knowledge about each of the wines he serves. I tasted the white lovers and Tim tasted the red lovers. I started off with the pálinka. My white lovers tasting included a dry Egri Királyleányka from 2009, Villányi Chardonnay from 2008, Somoi Aranyhegy Olaszrizling from 2007, the Tokaji Tiszavirág "Mayfly" Cuvee from 2008 and the limited edition Tokaji Aszú from 1993. Each wine was simply better than the one before it.

Tokaji Aszú is the world-famous wine that is proudly cited in the Hungarian national anthem. The original meaning of the Hungarian word aszú was "dried", but the term aszú came to be associated with the type of wine made with botrytised (i.e. "nobly" rotten) grapes. Aszú berries are individually picked, then collected in huge vats and trampled into the consistency of paste known as aszú dough. Must or wine is poured on the aszú dough and left for 24–48 hours, stirred occasionally. The wine is racked off into wooden casks or vats where fermentation is completed and the aszú wine is to mature. The casks are stored in a cool environment, and are not tightly closed, so a slow fermentation process continues in the cask, usually for several years. The concentration of aszú was traditionally defined by the number of puttony of dough added to a Gönc cask (136 liter barrel) of must. Nowadays the puttony number is based on the content of sugar and sugar-free extract in the mature wine. Aszú ranges from 3 puttonyos to 6 puttonyos, with a further category called Aszú-Eszencia representing wines above 6 puttonyos. Unlike most other wines, alcohol content of aszú typically runs higher than 14%. Annual production of aszú is less than one percent of the region's total output.

Tim's red lovers tasting also started with the pálinka, followed by Pannonhalmi Rose from 2009, the Villányi Pinot Noir (our least favorite with a strong taste of vegetables) from 2005, the Villányi A Cuvee from 2000, and the Tokaji Szamorodni from 1999, which was the least sweet Hungarian dessert wine.

The Tokaji Szamorodni type of wine was initially known as főbor (prime wine), but from the 1820s Polish merchants popularized the name samorodny ("the way it was grown" or "made by itself"). What sets Szamorodni apart from ordinary wines is that it is made from bunches of grapes which contain a high proportion of botrytised grapes. Szamorodni is typically higher in alcohol than ordinary wine. Szamorodni often contains up to 100-120 g of residual sugar and thus is termed édes (sweet). However, when the bunches contain less botrytised grapes, the residual sugar content is much lower, resulting in a száraz (dry) wine. Its alcohol content is typically 14%.

I left the wine cellar with a bottle of each the Tokaji Tiszavirág "Mayfly" Cuvee from 2008 and the limited edition Tokaji Aszú (5 puttonyos) from 1993, both sweet Hungarian dessert wines.

Buda Castle District
The whole Castle District in Buda, with its ample historic sights and wonderful panorama of the Danunbe and Pestm is part of UNESCO's World Heritage Site.

The Halászbástya or Fisherman's Bastion is a terrace in neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style. It was designed and built between 1895 and 1902 on the plans of Frigyes Schulek. Its seven towers represent the seven Magyar tribes that settled in the Carpathian Basin in 896. The Bastion takes its name from the guild of fishermen that was responsible for defending this stretch of the city walls in the Middle Ages. A bronze statue of Stephen I of Hungary mounted on a horse, erected in 1906, stands between the Bastion and the Matthias Church.

The oldest part of the present-day Buda Castle was built in the 14th century by Prince Stephen, Duke of Slavonia, the younger brother of King Louis I of Hungary. The Gothic palace of King Louis I was arranged around a narrow courtyard next to Stephen's Tower. King Sigismund of Hungary greatly enlarged the palace. During his long reign it became probably the largest Gothic palace of the late Middle Ages. The last phase of grand-scale building activity happened under King Matthias Corvinus, when Italian humanists, artists and craftsmen arrived at Buda. The Hungarian capital became the first center of Renaissance north of the Alps.

The spectacular Matthias Fountain (Mátyás-kút) decorates the western forecourt of the palace. It shows a group of hunters lead by King Matthias Corvinus together with hounds, a killed deer, Galeotto Marzio with a hawk and Szép Ilonka with a doe.



To view all our pictures of Budapest, click here.

Visegrád, Hungary

Visegrád is a small town on the right bank of the Danube in the Danube Bend. Visegrád is famous for the remains of the early Renaissance summer palace of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and the citadel or "upper castle."

The citadel, atop a 328 meter high hill, was originally built in a triangular shape and had two towers. It dates back to the 13th century and was home to Hungarian kings. It  later became their summer residence. New wings and an external wall were built during the Angevin period. Around 1400 King Sigismund also had a third curtain wall constructed and enlarged the palace buildings. At the end of the 15th century, King Matthias Corvinus had the interior part of the castle renovated. The upper castle also served for the safekeeping of the Hungarian royal insignia between the 14th century and 1526.

The hexagonal Solomon Tower was built in 1258. Vlad Tepes, aka Dracula, was imprisoned here between 1462-74.

To view all our pictures of Visegrád, click here.

Szentendre, Hungary

Szentendre is a small town at the foot of the Pilis Hill along the Danube Bend. Szentendere was part of the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire under Ulcisia Castra from the 2nd centuty AD. In the 13th century the Mongols and then the Turks in the 15-16th century destroyed the town. It was rebuilt in Baroque style in the 17th century and has preserved the townscape since. After the Turks left mainly Serbian refugees settled down then Hungarians, Slovaks, Germans, Greeks and Romanians. Each ethnic group had establsihed its own town part adding a versatility to the townscape. 

In the Main Square (Fő tér) is the Baroque cross that was erected in 1763 to commemorate the fact that plague avoided the town. The Baroque-Rococo Blagovestenska church also stands tall in the Main Square, built in the mid 18th century by settlers living in the Greek quarter next to the church. Above its wooden gate are frescoes of St. Helene and St Constantine. 

Winding streets lead off from the Main Square packed with museums, restaurants, cafes and souvenir shops. Stop by any of the shops to find Tokaji wine, pálinka (Hungarian fruit brandy), Hungarian paprika, and goose liver.

Stop by the Labirintus Restaurant in the National Wine Museum for a delicious Hungarian meal. You can dine in three different rooms: in the Tokaji Room in the cool cellar, in the Kupa Room on the ground level, or in the Vadász (Hunter's) Room on the first level. In The 220 year old cellar system, you can taste and buy fine Tokaji wines.

We dined in the Kupa Room which hosts just 24 people. Its countryside atmosphere is reached through the exhibition of authentic objects from the every-day life of the village. Try the garlic soup in the rye bread bowl and the turkey breast stuffed with peach and camembert. 

Don't miss a stop in the Szabó Marzipan Museum, where you can follow the process of confectioner work and marzipan handicraft. The display cases have marzipan creations of many Disney characters, a 2 meter tall Michael Jackson made of white chocolate, a Princess Diana, the 160 cm long Hungarian Parliament building, and a wedding cake so large that it would need 970 eggs, 25 liters of cream, 15 kg of butter, 35 kg of sugar, 15 kg of chocolate, 20 kg of flour, and 10 kg of icing. 

To view all our pictures of Szentendre, click here

Dinosaur Footprints in Casera Casavento

On the morning of September 30, 1994, a group of students visiting the Parco Naturale Regionale delle Dolomiti Friulane discovered by chance the first fossil footprints of the "Dinosaur of the Park." They were imprinted on a Dolomitic boulder dating back to the Triassic period, that is more than 200 million years ago. The dinosaur footprints found in the Main Dolomia of the Dolomites open a very interesting issue, since their discovery demonstrates without a doubt that the presence of the dinosaurs in the Italian peninsula was not occasional as it was always thought to be. The footprints, which have been found in Casera Casavento, can be observed on a boulder situated in the nearby stream called Ciol de Ciasavent.

To see all our pictures of the Dinosaur Footprints and Italian fall colors, click here.

La Partita a Scacchi (Human Chess Game)

In 1454 in the small town of Marostica, which then still belonged to the Venetian Republic, two noble knights, Rinaldo D'Angarano and Vieri da Vallonara, challenged each other to a duel to win the hand of the beautiful Lionora. Taddeo Parisio, father of Lionora and Lord of the Marostica castle, not wanting to make an enemy of either suitor or loose them in a duel, forbade the encounter in conformity with Cangrande della Scala's Edict. He decided the two rivals should play a chess game: Lionora would take the winner as her husband and the loser would in any case join his family, marrying Oldrada, the younger sister. The Lord also decided the challenge should be honored by an performance of armed men, fool-soldiers and knights, with fireworks and dances and music.

The game took place in the town's main square, which was inlay-ed with marble to resemble a giant checkerboard. Each knight had people dressed to represent the various chess pieces and they carried a white or black ensign. Each knight would call out their move and the people would move according to the instructions of each knight.

To complicate things more, Lionora was secretly in love with one of the two knights. Lady Lionora secretly informed the population that if the winner were her beloved, the Lower Castle would be illuminated by white light so that all the town's people could share in their joy.

To commemorate this historic event, the people of Marostica recreate this human chess match every even numbered year. The event involves over 550 characters and last two hours. Once the sun sets, the event begins with archers high on the towers of the Lower Castle shooting flaming arrows to the outskirts of the chess board. In a burst of flames, the chess board comes to life. The orders are still given to the characters and cast today in the "Serenissima Republic of Venezia" dialect. The game ends in a celebration of music, dance, and fireworks.

To view all my pictures of the Human Chess Game, click here. To see a short video of the spectacular finale, click here.