STL DPB ON THE ROAD - ST. MATTHIAS AND ST. STEPHEN

 

We visited the two major cathedrals of Budapest today, St. Matthias and St. Stephen.  I didn't know anything about the former. He was chosen by the other eleven apostles to replace Judas Iscariot. There are a couple of St. Stephens around but this one became the first king of Hungary in about 1000 CE.

The first photo is an amazing window in Matthias, The second is a wide view of the transept of Stephen. But while editing it there was something I couldn't get out of my head, https://tinyurl.com/ykjpasa2 .               

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - LEAVING VIENNA

 

We left Vienna on Friday morning on one of the perpetually late trains in this part of the world, arriving in Budapest late afternoon. Beautiful day in another beautiful city. It seems as if we are going down a stream from one linguistic island to another, Czech  to German to Hungarian. I learned some beer-related and courtesy words in Czech. We know a little German from school and several visits. Hungarian is a complete mystery. The roots of the language are thought to be from western Siberia and the only related European language is Finnish.

However, the stream we are floating in is English. It's everywhere and we rarely have difficulty communicating. It is the world's second language and, happily, our first.            

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - SIGMUND FREUD'S WAITING ROOM

 

Sigmund Freud and family occupied spacious apartments a short distance from our hotel. They are now a museum dedicated to his life and work, with emphasis on the harrowing misfortunes he and his family suffered at the hands of the Nazis after the Anschluss. There were some artifacts and photographs and an awful lot of documents written in German. Every section had many text boards written in German and English. It was fascinating but got to be more than our eyes and brains could manage. 

Only one room was re-created to look as it did a century ago. This is the waiting room he shared with his sister Anna, also a psychoanalyst. The consultation room is deliberately left bare but for a few old photos. The famous couch and other furnishings were moved to London when Freud fled Austria.             

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - ROLLING WOLFIE

 

Very few photos on Wednesday. We went to the morning exercises at the Spanish Riding School of Riding with the Lipinzzaner Stallions. No photos allowed of the horses to keep them calm. Then to the Mozart House, where pictures were also not allowed, not that there was much photogenic. But the sign outside the Mozart House was pretty cool.

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - THE BEAUTIFUL ARCHITECTURE OF VIENNA

 

The architecture of this city is fall over gorgeous. Most of it looks very old fashioned but there are some other, um, touches. This is the new entrance to a famous old museum, the Albertina. But then the second image is just to the left.

 

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - WRETCHED EXCESS

 

I'm not up enough on my art history to define the difference between baroque and rococo but this stuff is pushing the limits of one or the other. It's a style of design that leaves me feeling queasy. This is inside of St. Vitus Cathedral on the sprawling grounds of Prague Castle. The building itself is austere gothic. Not so much the inside.            

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - LIVE PROM PRAGUE, IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT

  

Or is was last night. We went to this cool restaurant just down the street from our hotel called Katr. Apparently nothing to do with the Gulf petrostate. Very dapper head chef. Printed English menu available, fortunately. The strange look of the room is because each table had a place for a grill where you could do your own meat to taste. This is no longer a thing but the look is eye catching.    

Vienna on Monday.       

 

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - AND GET YOUR WIG STYLED, TOO

 

Wandering around Prague in something between drizzle to light rain, a fairly miserable day. We came across this in part of the building where Woofie lived during his time in this city.                  

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - SOME GUY WHO WROTE WEIRD BOOKS

 

Out walking around Prague yesterday in the old Jewish Quarter when we happened upon  this arresting statue of Franz Kafka. I am at a loss to interpret it  (you could probably  look it up) but we are wearing ourselves out. Philip Glass wrote an opera on Kafka's book The Trial that we had in STL a few years ago.

First opera of the trip Friday night, Shostakovitch"s Lady Macbeth of Mtensk. OMG, the plot is lurid but I love the music.               

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - HOCKEY NIGHT IN CZECHIA

 

I don't know when these posts are going up in various time zoned but I wanted to get something published. We got to Prague Thursday afternoon in the usual state of jet lag. Walked around  the corner for dinner on a wet evening. The local cuisine is hearty. Ice hockey is a big deal here and Czech teams do well in international competition.       

A BIG BUNCH OF ARTIC (SEE LINK)

 

I edited maybe a dozen Artica photos yesterday and I want to get them uploaded before we travel today. Each has something to say for itself but there isn't time to comment on every one. This display was four or five folding tables long, with printouts of a single words wrapped around blocks of wood. Visitors were invited to arrange them into any kind of mini-poetry they pleased. This was one of my Artica favorites.

Check the album with many images at https://www.flickr.com/photos/bobcrowe/albums/72177720336009626/ . All the images will be on my Facebook feed Thursday mirning my time. Today's a long travel day and I'll try to edit some of the burn of Our Lady of Artica along the way.            

AROUND ARTICA

 

I'd like to survey some of the work at Artica before I get busy with other stuff. Wednesday into Thursday is a long travel day and there will be plenty to shoot at our destination. This structure invited visitors to write out their wishes and feelings and clip them into a structure called a dream catcher. Zoom in if you can.                    

ARTICA - PRELUDE

 

It was Artica this weekend, The Lou's wonderful, free-form, outdoor arts event, https://www.articastl.com/ . This was its 25th anniversary and I've made a lot of images here over the years. Sunday concludes with the burning of the effigy of Our Lady of Artica, which we will get to. Finishing touches being applied here.             

COLOR FOR COLOR'S SAKE

 

Rainbows everywhere, but I guess that's part of the point. Probably the last photo from Tower Grove Pride. Artica is this weekend and we hope to go today. Usually get some good pictures and the weather should be good for the bonfire.                   

DDARE BIONIC

 

More color and fun at Tower Grove Pride. I know who this person is without looking at the festival website, since we've crossed paths through the St. Lou Fringe, where I'm the photographer and board prez. It's Darrious Varner. who performs as DDare Bionic. Darrious also works in the newsroom at St. Louis Public Radio.                    

DJ

 

Not sure who was sponsoring this tent at Tower Grove Pride. There was a sign to the left of the crop inviting people to dance but no one was. No idea how these machines work but it's not my kind of music anyway. Not into the piercings, either.                   

CITY DAILY PHOTO SEPTEMBER THEME - SOFT

 

Color, texture, balance, focus. From the Missouri Botanical Garden annual orchid show. See what other City Daily Photo members find squishy or tender at https://citydailyphoto.org/2026/09/22/october-gallery-soft/ .                 

THE WORKERS OF THE WORLD AREN'T INTERESTED

 

A booth at Tower Grove Pride that was getting absolutely no traffic. They had enough capital for a nice tent and printed materials. Now, it current terminology, my politics could be described as pretty out on the progressive side and I'm good with the idea that unrestrained capitalism is predatory and destructive, while communism has been an abject failure. Some nations have shown that there is a middle way. Still, I'm happy that this country lets these people be there to have their say.             

CHACON A SON GOUT

 

It is not unusual in this country to see people who are simply covered with tattoos. Mrs. C and I think they are abhorrent and disfiguring. Both of our children got them, one all over, one more discretely (the route of the Chicago Marathon he ran on his calf). Skin belongs to the owner. Each to their own taste. https://youtu.be/WtTnCeuYkgI?si=Rj_RzNRPB9p3tAyN                    

THE PASSING SCENE

 

What with my creaky spine, sometimes I'll sit or lean on something at the side of an event, flip up the LED screen on my camera leaving it on my lap, and shoot what goes by. When the camera is not up to my face, people don't know I'm taking pictures. This trio swung over by me and I had quite a conversation with the man on the right. He noticed my Fujifilm camera. He's a FF shooter, too, and we had a chat about why they are so wonderful.