it might be best to just try to breeze through some of what we did, in the hopes that along the way i will recall the major points. we did so much that it will be difficult!
to start off with, we got to verona thursday night and toured the city. it was beautiful. the fact that shakespeare was inspired to write romeo and juliet there makes perfect sense.
what we saw:
the vienna secessionists at the leopold museum, where i picked up a new artist of note: koloman moser.
extravagantly decorated churches
and free concerts everywhere we turned
budapest is oftentimes described as a smaller version of vienna and indeed the cafes there were just as splendid as those in vienna. the turkish baths though, a distinctly budapest institution, were wonderfully different and unique. to be able to sit in a heated pool outside at the end of october and after a long day of walking was blissful, to say the least.
after budapest we spent a full afternoon and evening in milan, and of course enjoyed another amazing aperitivo. while rather aesthetically underwhelming, milan definitely has a distinctive character. just walking down the streets you can tell that it really is a young, cosmopolitan city. in fact, we flew in and out of there because it is significantly cheaper than anywhere else in italy. you can literally get anywhere from there, and for a reasonable price too.
although it was really nice being back in italia and being able to understand the language, prague the next day was the an absolute blast. in total we spent three days in the city, and it was a great way to end the trip. between the partying, the touring and the eating, it would probably be best not to say which consumed the most time, but it was undoubtedly a fun city!