That's Prague Castle in the background.
Standing before some cool willow trees.
Stained glass windows inside the cathedral.
Todd and I one our way to the castle
This is Charles Bridge from the top of the castle
Prague is so easy to get around, the people are all very nice and they speak english, the food is cheap (and delicious) and the views are amazing. I want to go back to Prague sometime soon, but I also want to visit some of the other countries and see what they have to offer. I don't know where I want to go next, and I hope I can get some more time to travel before winter break, but we've been coming up with some great adventures for the winter break also.
Standing before some cool willow trees.
Stained glass windows inside the cathedral.
Todd and I one our way to the castle
This is Charles Bridge from the top of the castlePrague is so easy to get around, the people are all very nice and they speak english, the food is cheap (and delicious) and the views are amazing. I want to go back to Prague sometime soon, but I also want to visit some of the other countries and see what they have to offer. I don't know where I want to go next, and I hope I can get some more time to travel before winter break, but we've been coming up with some great adventures for the winter break also.
3 comments:
WOW, like storybook pictures of medevial times. What kind of food do they eat there? You have to describe it a little more in detail.
Send over the aroma if you can.
Great pix, Kyle! Thx for sharing. Wish we were there. What's your next trip? I heard there was a holiday this week...Tuesday? What was it.
georgia
Nice pictures from the world traveler - you are becoming an expert on Europe.
Try Skype again when you can - I am starting work now at about 4 p.m. your time - so should usually be available to answer.
The Financial Times had a special section on Hungary today (Oct. 25). The rest of this post is one of the articles...
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FT REPORT - HUNGARY 2007: Splits threaten to undermine success
By Thomas Escritt and Stefan Wagstyl, Financial Times
Published: Oct 25, 2007
Once a star performer among the European Union's new members, today, Hungary is disturbed by doubts about its political stability, social cohesion and economy.
The country, which prided itself on preparing faster for EU enlargement than the other nine states that joined in 2004, is worried about its ability to meet the challenges that have emerged since accession: modernising a bloated welfare state, responding to economic globalisation and healing deep-rooted political divides dating from Communist times.
Some Hungarians wonder out loud whether their country is "in crisis". Others do not put it so strongly. But many people feel troubled, especially by doubts over their political leaders' abilities to instil a new sense of direction.
As Laszlo Csaba, an economics professor at Budapest's Central European University, says: "There is a low level of trust in politicians. We never had much, but before 2004 we had to get into the EU. Now it has all come to the surface."
At first sight, the gloom seems exaggerated. Hungarians are richer than they have ever been in terms of average income per head.
Volkswagen, IBM, General Electric, Siemens and a host of other multinational groups have developed big operations, not least in business service centres supporting activities across Europe and sometimes beyond.
EU aid is pouring in. The imposing Habsburg-era mansions of central Budapest are being brought back to life in all their gilded glory as hotels, banks and luxury homes.
From abroad, Hungary is seen as a favourite destination for holidays, shopping expeditions and discreet visits to a low-cost cosmetic surgeon. Budapest is full of tourists sampling the spas and the chocolate cake at the Gerbeaud café.
The country's relations with its EU partners are good - and it maintains better links with Moscow than most of its neighbours.
So what is there to worry about? Above all, there is the economy. After years of government overspending that culminated last year in a fiscal deficit of 9.2 per cent of gross domestic product, last year the prime minister summoned the political courage to impose a tough austerity package.
Almost immediately after retaining power in elections, Ferenc Gyurcsany ordered swingeing tax increases and spending cuts designed to cut this year's shortfall to 6 per cent. The correction - one of the largest-ever in the EU - has brought a sharp slowdown and the first drop in real wages in a decade.
At the same time, Mr Gyurcsany's Socialist party, together with its Liberal coalition partner, has introduced structural reforms, including healthcare and university tuition charges and a shake-up of local government. Pensions reform is planned for next year, including steady increases in the retirement age.
Janos Koka, the dynamic, liberal economy minister, says a complete overhaul of the state through marketoriented reforms is required.
"In effect, we demolished the Berlin Wall here in Hungary [by allowing east Germans to flee to the west in 1989]," he says. "But we failed to reform the public administration, heath care, education, transport, or the municipalities. We need to make these changes in order to make the results of our efforts sustainable."
Mr Gyurcsany has run into intense criticism over the reforms which go to the heart of a much-cherished welfare state. The opposition Fidesz party has waged a relentless war against him and is now preparing a referendum with questions on healthcare and university charges.
He has made matters much worse for himself by admitting to a private meeting of Socialist party officials that he won last year's election by lying about the public finances.
The words caused a storm when they were leaked last autumn and led to violent protests outside Parliament, the worst since the end of Communism.
Fidesz is demanding an early election on the ground that the prime minister has lost all credibility. The Socialists say the conservatives offer no alternatives, but they are themselves sometimes restless about Mr Gyurcsany's leadership.
The prime minister insists he will stay the course, saying: "Sometimes you have to decide whether you would like to be popular or useful. It is conflicting. You have to choose."
Mr Gyurcsany's plans foresee Hungary's deficit falling to 3 per cent in 2009 - in line with the criteria for euro entry - and growth gradually recovering.
But this outlook has been clouded by the global financial turmoil and concerns that a possible slowing of the US economy could affect growth elsewhere.
The financial upheavals of the past few months have had limited direct impact on Hungary. Budapest bankers say an expected fall in interest rates could now be delayed, slowing credit growth from its current high levels and slightly reducing economic growth.
Gyorgy Suranyi, head of central and eastern Europe at Banca Intesasanpaolo, the Italian group, says: "Changes in international market developments could have an impact on Hungary as a net debtor."
Other observers are less sanguine. The International Monetary Fund in a recent report singled out the economies of eastern Europe as particularly vulnerable to economic shocks.
While it did not mention any country by name, it pointed that those with high current account deficits are especially exposed. Hungary's deficit of 6 per cent of GDP is among the region's larger current account gaps.
There is a danger in all this gloom, though, of overlooking the country's economic strengths.
It remains a magnet for foreign investors looking for manufacturing, product development and business services centres in central Europe. Exports grew 18 per cent last year and are forecast to grow by a further 15 per cent in 2007.
Wages remain about a quarter of west European levels. Although competition is growing from lower-wage countries further east, those multinationals that have put down roots in Hungary continue to invest and to draw in their suppliers.
The government wants to encourage companies to invest in higher added-value activities. Mr Koka says: "We are not talking about assembly line jobs, but research and development and engineering posts."
However, Hungary also faces challenges familiar to other EU members in eastern Europe: an ageing population, a growing pensions burden, skills shortages and poor infrastructure.
With so many people retiring early, the employment rate is very low - only 57 per cent, compared with an EU average of 63 per cent. Increased EU funds in the 2007-13 union budget will help address these problems, providing money for training, for example.
But, with the government tightening its belt, the country will find it harder to finance its share of the spending.
Meanwhile, Hungary is on the EU frontline when it comes to dealing with Russia - the union's most difficult neighbour and its biggest external source of energy.
Budapest sees itself as particularly dependent on Russia, as gas imported through Russian pipelines accounts for nearly half of Hungary's total energy needs.
Successive governments have tried to maintain good relations with Moscow and Mr Gyurcsany is no exception, having frequent meetings with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Hungarian officials insists that these contacts are not made at the expense of solidarity with EU partners and that Budapest backs the EU-sponsored Nabucco plan to bring Caspian region gas to Europe via Turkey, avoiding Russian territory.
Mr Gyurcsany would be better placed to deal with his economic and foreign policy challenges if his political position were not so weak.
Not only must he bear the cross of the economic reformer but he must carry it over some of eastern Europe's most divided terrain. Socialists and Fidesz supporters are so hostile that workplaces are often split into rival camps
People on dates try to establish first if they are politically compatible.
These antagonisms date back to Communist times and arguments over the biggest upheaval in post-1945 Hungarian history, the 1956 anti-Soviet Uprising.
They have been exacerbated by post-1989 politics, not least by the constant power struggles between Viktor Orban, the Fidesz leader, and a succession of Socialist rivals. Dissension was kept in check by the need for unity for Nato and EU accession but has re-emerged with a vengeance.
Hungary may be able to make its way in the EU despite these splits. Business can work around them. But political hostility will not help create a cohesive and contented country.
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