History – Page 17 – European Traveler

Corinthia Grand Hotel

By Don Heimburger
Photos by the author

In the sea of humanity which is Budapest, there is an oasis of calm and sophistication called the Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal.

Situated at Erzsebet krt 43-49 in the city center, this posh five-star hotel presents a grand facade, behind which lies 414 rooms, including 98 executive guestrooms on six floors, six junior suites, 22 one-bedroom deluxe suites and even 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments.

From the Grand Ballroom, which features 72 tons of inlaid marble (a centerpiece of the hotel), to the plush lobby, to the quiet and well-staffed restaurant, this well-appointed hotel is tops.

As Rick Steves has suggested, a top hotel is where he likes to stay when in a Eastern European city because of the service, food and cleanliness. Certainly the Corinthia fits this category.

SIX-STORY ATRIUM
As guests enter, a sweeping six-story atrium tops out with a glass roof, and a broad statue-lined staircase soars upwards to the mezzanine. Light-colored columns, delicate trimmed railings, large flower arrangements and pleasant desk personnel add to the atmosphere.

Relaxing at the hotel isn’t hard. It offers a Royal Spa, the first of which opened in 1886, with all the latest spa facilities and treatments, plus its own 50-foot-long swimming pool, saunas, steam bath, jacuzzi, fitness room, mud/seaweed baths and more.

The rooms are nicely appointed, with laundry and dry cleaning services available, tea/coffee makers in the room, iron and ironing board, and room service is available. Elevators take guests to their floors. Terrycloth bathrobes are available for guests in the rooms.

Languages spoken by the staff include English, Hungarian, German, French, Spanish and Italian. A concierge is available, as is a currency exchange, non-allergic pillows and a safe deposit box at the front desk. Parking is also available. There is a 24-hour security staff, complimentary access to WiFi wireless internet access, and internet access in rooms.

The breakfast buffet, one of the highlights of the morning, includes a variety of breads, croissants, muffins, coffee, champagne, hot and cold meats (bacon, sausage), eggs (scrambled and fried and made-to-order), fruits, pastries, cereals, juices, cheeses, baked beans, hash brown potatoes, pancakes, waffles, fresh vegetables, yogurts, and more. I came away fully satisfied with the morning breakfast. Service in the restaurant was always fast and friendly.

The Corinthia features five restaurants/bars, a nightclub, a number of retail outlets and 26 apartments for long term stays.

Room rates at the Corinthia vary depending on the season, but one night in May 2009 would start at about $245 U.S.

The hotel first opened for the Millennium Exhibition in 1896, where Josephine Baker, Heinz Rühmann and many other celebrities stayed at the time. Over the years, many famous writers and artists have been guests at the hotel.

During the last renovation, the hotel had a $100 million facelift that virtually gutted the entire building, leaving a beautiful hotel in the central part of Budapest.

For more information, contact www.corinthiahotels.com or www.corinthia.hu. E-mail is budapest@corinthia.hu.

Meissen Porcelain Celebrates 300 Years

Photos courtesy Germany Tourism

Founded in 1710, Meissen Porcelain is one of the world’s most successful luxury brands. It stands for the timeless connection between past and present, classic design and hand-made quality. This year Germany is celebrating the 300th anniversary of Meissen Porcelain with more than 40 special events and exhibitions.

Some of this year’s highlights included these exhibitions: Triumph of the Blue Swords at the Japanisches Palais in Dresden, focusing on the first 100 years of Meissen, showing masterpieces that are not usually displayed in public; All Nations are Welcome in the nearby town and modern factory of Meissen (January 23 – December 31); Philosopher’s Stone, a collection in the original workshop in Castle Albrechtsburg also in Meissen (May 8 – October 31); and The Fascination of Fragility with 500 pieces from Dresden’s state collection in the Ephraim Palace in Berlin.

Porcelain in Meissen and Dresden is not only available to the public during this jubilee year. The Saxon nobelman Augustus the Strong’s permanent collection is housed in Dresden’s Zwinger Museum in the rooms beautifully restored by the New York designer Peter Marino. The modern production center, its connected museum in Meissen and the original factory in the Albrechtsburg, are only 45 minutes outside of Dresden and accessible by fast train to visitors throughout the year. You can dine on Meissen porcelain, participate in workshops, watch the production and, of course, buy the products.

Porcelain manufacturing and collection is a major attraction throughout Germany, with special routes, museums and production centers. Two porcelain routes link places of interest with the manufacturing of porcelain: Along the 340-mile-long route in the north-east of Bavaria visitors can discover famous factories, the European Industrial Museum of Porcelain, the Rosenthal Museum and the European Museum of Technical Ceramics.
www.porzellanstrasse.de

A second themed route in Thuringia features factories where porcelain is made and decorated and where visitors can visit factory outlets, demonstration workshops and several museums.
www.thueringerporzellanstrasse.de

Another highly acclaimed porcelain factory is based in Munich in the beautiful Nymphenburg Palace. For 260 years the Nymphenburg production center produced dinner services and figurines for the Bavarian kings. At the adjacent museum more than 1,000 pieces of Nymphenburg porcelain from different periods are exhibited. www.nymphenburg.com/us/nymphenburg

Milestone Hotel Unveils Package to Celebrate the Royal Wedding

Following the official announcement that England’s royal newlyweds will move to Kensington Palace in June, the five-star boutique Milestone Hotel in London, which overlooks the royal palace and gardens, will celebrate the arrival of the new couple with the Live Like Royalty package and the specially designed “William and Catherine cocktail.”

Guests can also enjoy a taste of royal life with the hotel’s “Live Like Royalty” package, staying in suitably named rooms such as The English Rose, The Kensington Palace Studio, The Regency Suite, The Princess Suite or The Buckingham Suite—with entrance to Buckingham Palace included. Also, in July, guests visiting Buckingham Palace under the Milestone’s Live Like Royalty package will be able to view the Duke’s and Duchess’s wedding cake and the Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding dress, which will go on display for the summer.

Created by Head Bartender Markus Rottensteiner, renowned for inventive cocktails, the William and Catherine Cocktail combines the flavors of Williams Pear, Williams Pear Schnapps and champagne.

The Milestone’s package includes two nights’ accommodation in a bedroom or suite overlooking the palace, full English breakfast, champagne afternoon tea, and two tickets to either the Queen’s Gallery or the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace.

The Milestone Hotel is known for its sumptuous interiors and has just unveiled its recently refurbished master suite, the Tudor Suite. Comprising one bedroom and one sitting room, the regal Tudor Suite offers luxurious stays with features such as a gold four-poster bed, custom made ivory silk curtains and furniture and art sourced from Christies and the finest auction houses around the world.

Couple Finds Marriage Bliss at 6,000 Feet

by Don Heimburger

Topping Out Wedding Destinations

Wedding “destinations” in the Germanic lands can sometimes be unusual.

Take, for instance, the June 2006 wedding of Swiss-born Hans and Birke Mebold of Rheinfelden, Switzerland.

“Our wedding was something special,” says Birke. “All this talk about the most beautiful day in your life…but it really was the case for us. The whole wedding took on a kind of momentum all its own.”

The Meholds first were officially married in a small church called Johanniterkapelle in Rheinfelden, home of Switzerland’s most popular beer, Feldschlosschen, and the town in which the couple both work.

Following the 11 a.m. ceremony, and a small reception, the couple was whisked away on Rheinfelden’s biggest fire truck with its blue lights flashing wildly. Both Feldwebel Hans and Birke are Rheinfelden fire brigade volunteers of 16 years and five years respectively, with Hans head of the town’s traffic regulations and security section.

HELICOPTER RIDE
Where the couple’s fire truck ride ended, their helicopter ride began, to the 2,100-foot-high resort town of Eptingen where they met a bus full of 50 wedding guests of family and friends.

At Vitznau on Lake Lucerne, the group boarded a specially-reserved Mt. Rigi Railway steam locomotive and two-car cogwheel train consisting of No. 16, an 1923 oil-fired engine, and the Belle Epoque, a stately parlor car built in 1873 and coach No.10, built in 1871. The crew assigned to the wedding train consisted of a driver, a fireman, a conductor and one hostess dressed in period costumes for each car.

As the steam train ascended up the side of steep 6,000-foot-high Mt. Rigi on a clear, warm spring day, the guests were served refreshments. The train passed quaint farms, pastures filled with grazing sheep and cows, and hiking trails.

At Rigi Kulm, the group was welcomed by the alpine horns of Ruedi Imlig and his brother. Then a second wedding ceremony took place in the small chapel on the top of Rigi.

The wedding steam train for Hans and Birke Weber chugs up Mt. Rigi

Bride Birke Weber steps out of her special railway car at the top of Mt. Rigi; her new husband, Hans, follows.

Train hostess Lucia Weber on the Belle Epoque, an 1873 salon car

DINNER AND DANCING AT THE TOP
The guests then enjoyed dinner and dancing at the Hotel Rigi Kulm. “The scenery at the top was so beautiful and the food was excellent,” says Birke. Afterward, dancing was provided by Gunter Pichler and his GP Music band.

“My great grand aunt had taken us to Mt. Rigi last year, and we were stricken by the incredible view from the top,” says Birke.”When we thought about a location for our wedding, it didn’t take long to decide to go to Mt. Rigi.” She admits the travel arrangements for buses, trains and helicopters were a bit daunting, however.

The happy couple and guests returned from the mountain after midnight on an electric cogwheel train, and later spent their honeymoon in Sweden. If this is what they planned for their wedding day, it sounds like this couple is never going to have a dull moment.

Hans and Birke Mebold, a year after their wedding, stand in front of the Rheinfelden, Switzerland church where they were married before their many relatives and friends.

Noah’s Ark in the Netherlands

When the massive central door on the side of Noah’s Ark was opened, the first crowd of curious townsfolk was there to behold its wonder.

Of course, it’s only a replica of the biblical Ark, built by Dutch creationist Johan Huibers, as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible. The ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That’s two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house.

LIFE-SIZE ANIMAL MODELS
Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras, bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold. A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine. Biblical scholars debate exactly what wood was used by Noah for construction.

Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, using modern tools and with help from his son, Roy. Construction began in May of 2005. On the uncovered top deck — which was not quite ready for the opening– will come a petting zoo, with baby lambs and chickens, and goats and one camel.

Visitors on the first day were stunned. “It’s past comprehension,” said Mary Louise Starosciak, who happened to be bicycling by with her husband while on vacation when they saw the ark looming over the local landscape.

There is enough space near the keel for a 50-seat film theater where kids can watch a video that tells the story of Noah and the ark. Huibers says he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands, where church going has fallen dramatically in the past 50 years.