I love traveling, especially the whole planning process. But, there is a point where some of the details just become tedious. Spending two weeks trying to find a hotel room/apartment in the part of town that I like for a price that I could afford that offered me the option to walk everywhere started to look hopeless. I would get frustrated and stop searching. Start fresh a couple of days later. I'm happy to report that all of the rooms have been booked and we're happy with all three places.
Vienna: We are staying at the Sacher Apartments, part of the famous Sacher Hotel and owned by the family responsible for the famous Sachertorte. More on that later. The hotel is right next to the famous Opera House with views of St. Stephen's Cathedral and within easy walking distance to everything! From the hotel's website: In 1876, the Hotel Sacher in Vienna was established by Eduard Sacher, son of the creator of the Original Sacher-Torte, a unique chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam. In 1880, Eduard’s 21-year old wife took over the hotel and established its noble reputation. “I am the Master in the house,” the Grande Dame of the Sacher-dynasty is known to have said. She loved cigars and little dogs, some say she owned several hundreds of them. Throughout its existence, the Sacher has been a popular meeting point for the aristocracy, politicians, business people and artists. Its guest book is signed by celebrities such as the Prince of Monaco and his wife Gracia Patricia, Indira Gandhi, Queen Elisabeth II. and John F. Kennedy. Artists, like Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan or Marcel Prawy were also frequent guests.
But it wasn’t just the charm and luxury that built the Sacher’s international reputation. The Original Sacher-Torte actually became the world’s most famous chocolate cake. In fact, the cake is fifty years older than the hotel!
The story of the legendary chocolate cake filled with apricot jam began in 1832. Franz Sacher was a 16-year old apprentice at the court of Prince Metternich when he was asked to create an especially delicious desert for distinguished guests. The guests loved it, and it became known as the Sacher-Torte. Today, the Sacher-Torte is exported across the world. Every single cake is hand-made according to Franz’s original recipe, which is a well-kept Sacher secret.
Bratislava: We rented out a great little private apartment in the Old Town area. We are there for three days and two nights, so it'll be a great little home base to explore the city and all of its great statues that I've heard so much about.
Budapest: We are staying in the Kalvin House in Budapest. It's right near the Vaci Utca and the Great Market, a couple of blocks off of the Danube on the Pest side. The people there seem extremely friendly. This was another hard place to find, but once we did it was worth the wait. We're right in the center of all of the sites. The bus/metro/tram station is a block away. We're near one of the bridges to cross over the Buda side. So we're all good. So I guess it was all worth it to find some cool places to stay.
