Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle

travel planner For more information on Insight Vacations premium escorted vacation packages, visit insightvacations.com. The rest of the day was spent touring the Ringstraße, or Ring Road. It's a boulevard created by Franz Joseph I of austria after the circular city walls were torn down, and a true showcase for the habsburg Empire. It comprises opera houses, parliament buildings, hotels, universities, museums, palaces, cathedrals and a beautiful Town hall. Before leaving Vienna, a Canadian friend tweeted that I must check out the National library. of course, I headed straight there, and like everything else in this city, it left me speechless. ThE hIsToRIC hEaRT oF EuRoPE Travel three hours by bus in any direction, and you're exposed to a new culture. such is the reality of wondrous Central Europe. last stop? Beautiful Budapest, Hungary. We checked into the centrally located Hotel Sofitel on the Pest side of the city. Buda and Pest are actually two parts of the city separated by the danube River. Buda is the more elevated portion ("bumpy Buda"), whereas Pest tends to be much flatter ("plain Pest"). That evening we cruised up the danube, along which the buildings, espe- cially the magnificent Hungarian Parliament Building, were brightly illuminated. I can imagine that even the most esteemed dignitaries would be impressed, let alone this Canadian journalist. The following morning, we headed to Buda to take in the splendour of Fisherman's Bastion, designed in the late 19 th century. It's a remarkable vantage point from which you can take in the ships floating down the Danube, and all of Pest across the river. Photo opportunities abound here. a stop at the famed heroes' square, which stands in honour of the great leaders in hungary's history, is also highly recommended. Interestingly, heroes' square can be reached by public metro, which dates back to 1896 and is in itself a World heritage site. and don't forget to sample the strudel in Budapest. I rec- ommend cottage cheese with lemon strudel and, of course, the apple strudel. Our final dinner was at the famous Gundel Restaurant, a Hungarian culi- nary institution. Eating there on the last night, surrounded by those with whom I had spent my time, I drifted off to the place where I was four years ago. I thought about how different I was yet these cities have hardly changed. They are timeless masterpieces and that, of course, is their eternal appeal. Stylish hotels throughout Hawaii and Guam for the savvy traveler. 866.406.2782 | AquaHotelSpecials.com

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