May 28 Budapest

Today we boarded our cruise boat to take us to Amsterdam via the (not so blue) Danube, the Main and the Rhine rivers. After dinner the boat was moved from its first berth to one closer to the city. This allowed us to watch as it sailed past the various buildings on the river, all lit up and looking beautiful.

The Danube water looking not unlike the Yarra.

Parliament House

State Opera House 

Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary - the oldest church in Budapest 

One of the beautiful bridges across the river

Corvinus University

Budapest. University of Technology 

Chain Beidge - the first bridge across the Danube in Budapest, opened in 1849

May 27 Budapest, Hungary

 We arrived in Budapest  at midday to a beautiful Summer’s day. Our hotel is not far from Széchenyi Thermal Bath Park, a huge green space containing a number of tourist attractions. 

The first of these was Vajdahunyad Castle, built in 1896 and described as a fantasy pastiche and made up of buildings covering building styles from the Middle Ages to the 18th century.

  

  

                                                Toronytura Tower

This part of the castle is now the Agricultural Museum.

Just outside the park is Heroes Square, commemorating the leaders of the nation over its 1000 year history.

On the edge of the park is the Museum of Ethnology, an award winning building that is partly underground and with a roof that looks like two hills facing each other and covered with grass and trees. The front of the building has hundreds of ethnographic motifs from both Hungary and other cultures.

There was no description of this installation on the rook of the Museum..

May 26 Helsinki

 Back in Helsinki to a beautiful, if not particularly warm, day. The city library is an expansive building that looks like a ship or a spacecraft, located just across the road from the parliament building, the City Music Centre and the Kiasma Museum of Modern Art.

City library

Parliament House

  

Kiasma Museum of Modern Art

The sculpture in the pond is named "Women & Children" and is made up of found bronze sculptures, with water streaming from their eyes symbolising seeing or perception: they see us as we watch them. The intention is to create an interplay between agency and vulnerability.

The Helsinki Music Centre is another wonderful building where an International Violin competition is currently in progress. We were able to join a lecture on the Stradivari and other related violins with Peter Livonen, Concert Master of the Paris Opera Orchestra and previous winner of this Violin Competition, demonstrating the sound of a Stradivari, a Guadagnini and another 18th century French violin to the same design as the Stradivari.

Sculpture, “The Song Trees”, inspired by a folk tale of a giant pike that came out of the sea and began to sing and all the birds around were silent.

Cloakroom in the Music Centre. Everyone wears thick cloaks in winter so the cloakroom 

for a concert hall is 5 times or more than anything we’d find in Australia.

Sculpture inside the centre

Climate change protest on the Main Street of Helsinki 

May 24 Parnu, Estonia

 Another cold and overcast day with light rain in the afternoon. We decided to walk to the beach, which unsurpringly empty. But the walk was through beautiful parklands.

Lookout near the harbour

In the afternoon we walked into town where there was a Saturday Street Food festival in progress. Lots of yummy treats. Then it was the Parnu Museum with exhibits dating back 8000 years as well as a display of national costumes over time.

8000 year old pendant portraying a person, originally thought to be woman and called Madonna but later opinion is that it's a man.

Fire truck

Sun dial

property 

Rooster from the top of tgecspire on St Nicolas Church which was destroyed by the Soviets. The rooster was taken by a family and buried to stop the Soviets from destroying it. It was discovered some 50 years later when the property owner was digging in his backyard.

Traditional dress from a the area 

Red Tower - the only remnant of the city wall.