The View from our Balcony

Home Sweet Home

I made it home around 4:30 today. Glad to be here, but I did have a wonderful time on my trip. Finished Glitter Baby by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I'll have a review up in the next couple of days. I also found (and bought) Writing Jane Austen by Elizabeth Aston (an author I absolutely adore). I'm almost finished with it and loving every page.

Other than reading, I did a lot of museum going. I met up with my friend Jenn from graduate school in Kentucky and we went to the National Museum for Women in the Arts. It's a nice small museum and perfect for meeting up with someone you haven't seen in 10 years. Yesterday David and I spent the afternoon at the National Museum for the American Indian. There was an excellent special exhibit by Brian Jungen called Stange Comforts. I highly recommend you look it up and go if you're in the DC area between now and August 8th. http://www.nmai.si.edu/subpage.cfm?subpage=exhibitions&second=dc&third=current

We also went and ate out at some very nice restaurants. My favorite is Carlyle Grand Cafe where you can have the best beef ribs that will ever enter your mouth. MMM.

Still, very nice to be home and I plan to get to bed early tonight and sleep as late as I can tomorrow.

Off to DC I go

Heading out of the house in just a few minutes to catch a flight to DC. David's been there since Wednesday and will be there through Thursday of next week, so I though I'd go see him in between conferences. I hope to have some pictures to post next week.

Pictures from New Orleans

The storm that kept us from walking around the French Quarter when we go to New Orleans. Luckily it cleared in time for us to go to dinner at Bayona.

Me and the girls in the courtyard of Bayona.

David and the girls in the courtyard.
All of us enjoying our dinner.

In the hotel lobby after dinner.

At the Red Fish Grill with the awesome chocolate bread pudding.




Elizabeth enjoying hers.

Alyssa watching them pour her chocolate onto her bread pudding.


The remains of dessert.

Day 16--Vienna and Last Day of our Trip

On our last day of our trip, we slept in, had breakfast and then headed out to the Hapsburg Treasury Museum. I was really looking forward to this museum as I'd seen pictures of the amazing crowns, jewels, etc., but to be honest I was a little disappointed. It was so crowded with school tour groups that we couldn't get close to many of the exhibits, and when I was able to get close, the jewels didn't look real. I'm not sure how one vision tests the validity of a 20 carat sapphire or emerald, but somehow they looked plastic or glass.

Still, it was pretty impressive looking at the crowns and the baby bassinet and gold embroidered blanket. It looked like being royalty was probably pretty uncomfortable.

We also visited some of the monuments that we had passed by the day before but didn't get pictures of. The most interesting was the Jewish Monument dedicated to the 65000 Austrian Jews who were killed during WWII at concentration camps. The monument is a depiction of library doors that are locked with chains, the doorknobs removed. The books in the library form the walls of the monument but are all turned inward with the spines hidden because we'll never know the knowledge and art that these people could have contributed.

We then went for lunch at Nordeste. It's a fast-food seafood restaurant seen all over Europe and the food is really good.

We went back to our hotel to pack up and rest and avoid the rain and later headed to the Hapsburg crypt which, in truth was really quite fasinating. And creepy.

That late afternoon we met up with some friends who had also stayed an extra day after the tour and went to the Opera house to get tickets for the standing room area only. We didn't realize that we were actually getting the tickets and going to stand and so David didn't dress in his pants so we were told to leave. It wasn't a big deal as I wasn't all that excited about going anyway, but did want to see the opera house. We did some shopping and when the group was ready to leave we met them and walked to dinner at the Italian place we ate our first night in Vienna.

I want to go back to Vienna to see a few things--the horses (don't remember how to spell it) and the opera house, but we'll get real tickets for both events state-side before we leave.

I really like Vienna, and Austria in general. The people are so lively and friendly and I really enjoyed the beauty of the architecture and the spaces. We had a great time there, but were really looking forward to coming home. We'd been gone long enough.

Day 15--Vienna

On our last tour group day, we went on a walking tour of Vienna. It was hot, our tour guide, Wolfgang, was funny, historically accurate but a bit of a talker. We went through all these confusing corridors and alleyways, and without a map I don't think I would have found my way home.

Interesting insights: The Hapsburgs were VERY powerful, had palaces everywhere, and the pragmatic Austrians are now using as business building and housing for state employees. Imagine being one of the lucky ones who have rent controlled apartments in the Schonnbrun Palace. Mozart and many other musicians were extremely important to the building of the Austrian empire. I loved walking down the streets seeing the signatures in the sidewalks of all the famous composers whose music I played on piano.

After the tour, David and I broke away from the group and had lunch at a local restaurant and watched the physicians who were on strike parade through the city. It probably took an hour for them to complete passing by our table. I had fried asparagus that was just lovely.

After lunch we walked to the art history museum and saw some very impressive paintings and statues. The Egyptian collection was also astounding. We then decided to do a little shopping and stopped in at Tiffany to try on some fancy diamond rings. We also did a very touristy thing and had a sachre torte (chocolate heaven) before going back to our hotel to rest before our final group dinner.

Our last group dinner was bitter sweet. The food wasn't good at all, however, but the company was great. We were a little reluctant to all say goodbye. Somehow you realize on these tours that though you've had a wonderful time with your fellow travelers, the likelihood that you'll get together again is slim--or even keep in contact. So, we said our goodbyes and went back to our hotel for some much needed sleep.

Day 14--Travel to Vienna

Day 14 was actually the roughest day of our trip--emotionally. We left Hallstadt and drove through the beautiful Austrian country side to Mauthausen, a WWII concentration camp where several hundred thousand prisoners died during the Nazi occupation of Austria. We watched a video about the camp first, and then went to the barracks area where David broke down crying because of the horrible feelings in the place. Then afterwards we walked along the outside area and looked at different monuments erected by countries whose Jews had been killed in Mauthausen. There is a very steep stairway where the prisoners used to have to carry rocks up from the quarry. Over 180 steps, many of them uneven in both slant and rise, caused the deaths of many men because of their sheer exhaustion while they were carrying over 40 pounds of rocks on their backs. I took no pictures here because I was simply too overwhelmed and sickened to do so. David took a few, but instead of sharing these, I will link to the Mauthausen wiki site so that you can learn more about this concentration camp if you are interested.

After the camp, we went as a group to lunch at a roadside cafeteria. I don't know if it was my mood or the food, but I didn't eat anything.

Then on to Vienna for a very weird transition into the glory and beauty of the Hapsburgs--Schonnbrun Palace. Modeled after Versailles, this palace was the summer residence of the Hapsburgs. It is fully furnished inside with tributes to the different family members of the Hapsburgs of note. No photos inside, so all the pics I have are of the lovely exterior of the building and the gardens, which were phenomenal. I loved the rose garden because everything was in bloom (unlike Baden-Baden) and it smelled heavenly.

We checked into our hotel and then were on our own for the rest of the evening. After settling in, David and I decided on a recommended Italian place not too far from our hotel where David had pizza in the spirit of the Italian flag (in honor of the European soccer championship that was going on while we were in Europe). It was red, green and white striped and looked like the Italian flag in pizza form. Really wonderful too. Then we looked around this pedestrian mall area and finally went back to our hotel to unwind from a very emotionally stressful day. It was still hot.

Day 13--Hallstadt

Our two days in Salzburg complete, we headed for a short drive to Hallstadt, Austria, which is in the lake district. Because our two other attempts at riding a luge had been hampered by the weather, we took advantage of a brand new luging site to go for a quick ride. I didn't ride, but David did twice. On the first time he flipped over at the very end. He just picked himself up and went on.

Because we were deep in Sound of Music country, we stopped at the lake from the beginning of the movie and took advantage of the beautiful photo op. Then on we drove to Hallstadt, our destination for the day. It was a nice short drive and we were there before lunch.

Parking at the bottom of town, we walked to our hotel, which is right on the lak in the middle of town. These little lake towns are literally built "into" the mountain, so they go "UP, UP, UP" from the lake and provide some astounding views from the top. We checked in, got lunch and then headed around town for some shopping. Hallstadt is a salt mining town, so we bought some salt and a few other little souvenirs and then headed back to the hotel for a quick little rest before more exploring.

We decided to go visit the two churches in town. The first was a protestant church built by the city's miners. It's interior was very plain and the lay out was very weird, it being rather wide and shallow rather than deep like most churches. We then followed the signs to the Catholic church, which looked like it sat on top of the Protestant one, but it doesn't. You take several flights of stairs straight up to the cemetary and the church. The church itself is very small with lots of gold and gilt altar pieces and art work inside.

Then we headed out for the real thrill--the bone chapel. Because land space is so scarce in these little lake towns, they had to dig up the buried dead after so many years, clean the bones and bleach them, and then pain the skulls with decorative art work to commemorate the dead. They display them in a chapel. It was really quite impressive.

And the view from the top was amazing!

Since it looked like rain, we headed back DOWN to the hotel and rested until our group dinner--which was rather unimpressive.

I really enjoyed our break from our vacation in Hallstadt. It was such a pretty little town that I wanted more time to just lay back and explore...do a little hiking, rowing on the lake, chilling out in my great big room.

Sight-Seeing in Salzburg--Day 12

We woke up bright and early to go on a guided tour of old town Salzburg. We first went to Mirabel Gardens--sight from the night before with the Milk Festival. There was no signs of the festival having taken place--instead it was simply a beautiful garden with a wonderful view of Old Town and the fortress behind.

We then walked across the river and through several little alleys to a market square--where David and I would later come for our lunch picnic. We visited several churches and graveyards and went back to the cathedral where we saw the labyrinth the night before. We got a Sound of Music introduction along the way.

Which, by the way, was one of the most annoying things for me about visiting Salzburg. It is a beautiful city with lots to offer, including being the birthplace of Mozart. But the Sound of Music dominates everything you see and do here. And while I did enjoy the movie, I don't really care if it is "factual" or if the movie producers changed a few things in the story to accommodate what would make a good and interesting movie plot. But everyone felt the need to "set things right" as if somehow it discredits the movie that basically put Salzburg on the map. Maybe I'm being picky, I'm not sure.

After our tour, David and I went back to the market and got lunch and then went to the river to eat our humongous pretzels, strawberries and coke. It was so cool by the river I wished I'd brought my jacket. Considering that it was 90 degrees elsewhere, it was very nice being cold.

Then we toured the museum of Mozart's birthplace. A very disappointing museum. We should have toured the residence, which, according to the rest of the tour that went there, was awesome. We went back to St. Peter's Church where I was the night before that was so crowded. I wanted David to see this church because it was so stunningly beautiful. There was a organist and singer practicing for a wedding--they were performing "Over the Rainbow." It was great hearing the music in that old church.

We then did some shopping (David got a painting and I got a necklace) and hung out until time to get ready for our Mozart Dinner Concert, which was one of the highlights of the trip. We had some decent food and wine broken up with music--both instrumental and opera. For one of the performances, the singers came over and sang our tour-mate Carl the "happy birthday" song. It was really sweet.

Travel to Salzburg--Day 11

David and I had been to Neuschwanstein Castle last year and didn't really wan to go back, so we departed from the tour itinerary and rode a train from Munich to Sazburg on Day 11. We slept in as much as the heat and city noise would allow and then went down for breakfast at the hotel. While eating breakfast we could look out into the back courtyard and parking lot of the hotel. We watched as an English speaking couple (we could read their lips, but didn't hear them so don't know accents) attempted to back out a Mercedes station wagon from a very tight parking spot. They only hit planters, the wall and a few other items before ripping off the passenger mirror and giving themselves enough space to finally get out. It was really riveting and quite entertaining.

We then walked to the train station, which was only a couple of blocks from our hotel, bought our tickets and ran to our train because we only had a few minutes to get there. Then we sat in European train comfort for 2 hours progressing towards Salzburg. There were no exciting events during this train ride. Arriving in Salzburg, we attempted to get a map from the information booth but didn't have much luck and finally figured out how to get to our hotel. It wasn't a very long walk, but it was miserably hot. We checked in and went for lunch at a restaurant around the corner from our hotel that was wonderful. I had a salad that had fried cheese, egg rolls and soemthing else, and David had a "farmer's pie" which reminded me of "shepherds pie" in Ireland. The dinner was wonderful, so we had dessert. I got a fried banana and David got a chocolate concoction.

After lunch we walked down to the river and sat and watched the water race by. It was so much cooler down by the river because the water was glacial melt and was very cold--natural air conditioning. We stayed down there for a bit and then walked back to the hotel for a nap before joining our group for dinner.

We all went to dinner just down the street from the hotel and had wienerschnitzel (fried veal) which was ok...not amazing, but not bad either.

After dinner we went to the Milk Festival which was in Mirabel Gardens. The purpose of this festival was to educate locals on the fact that the EU imposed prices on milk were causing serious problems for farmers being able to make any money. The farmers were protesting by pouring out fresh milk for 2 days and this festival was enacted to educate people on what products are made from milk. There were people dressed in white with lights shining on them performing to different components of milk--bacteria, proteins, etc. It was really neat.

Then we went to enjoy the Long Night of the Churches. This is a festival that happens once a year in Salzburg and we were lucky enough to be there for it. Most of the 44 different churches open late and put on a show of some kind. They are are lit up by candlelight. It was one of the best events of the trip. We went to three different churches before heading back to the hotel for sleep--it was close to midnight by this point. My favorite was the labyrinth in the cathedral. At one church, that I found stunningly beautiful, there was a well known men's choir performing and the place was so packed that I actually feared for my ability to get out so I left before hearing any of the performance.

Munich--Day 11

After a very hot night and terrible sleep, David and I skipped out on the group tour of old Munich. We figured we knew how to get there, could walk around and see the things we wanted to and then hit a couple of museums. So, after breakfast we set out on our long walk to the old town area and as we were in an underground street crossing (the area worked as a street crossing under a major intersection, a subway station and a mini-mall) we saw Woolworths and had the brilliant idea that maybe they'd have a fan. They did and life became so much easier for us. So, we walked the mile or so back to our hotel to put up the fan. (total walking ~2 miles).

Then we walked back to old town and looked around and visited three different churches: Frauen Kirk, St. Peters and St. Pauls, walked through an open air market and then headed to the Deutsches Museum (total walking ~2.5 miles).

The Deutsches Museum is actually made up of three different museums devoted to technology. We visited the general museum which has exhibits on mining (VERY interesting as you're walking around in a cave below the museum the entire time), aerospace (David loved it), rocketry, physics, chemisty, textiles (pitiful), marine navigation, ballooning, photography and moving film. Some of the exhibits were interactive, and overall it was an extremely well-done museum. It was HUGE and was paused in the middle for lunch. (total walking ~1 mile).

Then we decided to walk along the river to the English Gardens. The river was beautiful and provided a cool breeze. We took it slow and easy and ended up resting a few times along the way. (total walking ~1 mile).

The English Gardens are wonderful...and huge. We only walked around a very small portion of it, but saw the surfers, a bunch of teenagers frolicking in the river, sunbathers, some baby swans and their parents. After the English Gardens we walked over to the Hofgartens where we rested until time to meet up with the group for our evening dinner at a beer garden--Hofbrauhaus. (total walking ~1.5 miles).

Dinner at the Hofbrauhaus was just ok, but it was fun, with an umpah band coming over to play for our group. We then walked back to our hotel for a much needed shower and some sleep. (total walking ~1.5 miles).

We estimated our walking for the day to be about 10 miles (adding up my numbers here gets you to 9.5). It was a wonderful day, even if it was miserably hot, and made me want to stay in Munich for 3 or 4 more days. Munich is a beautiful city with a lot to offer tourists. If we had stayed in a more centrally located hotel with air conditioning, I would have been perfectly content to end out my vacation going around Munich and the nearby towns. I definitely intend to go back one day.

Travel to Munich--Day 10

Much to our sadness we got up on Day 10 to head into Munich. I was really sad to leave the Swiss Alps behind. The day was spent traveling by bus stopping for lunch in Lindau Germany. We stopped in Lindau last year, so David and I didn't take any pictures while we were there.

After Lindau we drove on to Munich (it really was a boring day) arriving in time to have a short walk through town before dinner. We were almost in culture shock from the heat, noise and crowds of people. We walked into the old town area, looked around and got oriented and then went to dinner with our group at a local beer hall. The food was uninspiring and the room was miserably hot.

Our first day in Munich was really not a lot of fun. As I said, we were in culture shock after having spent such cool, clean days in the country. Going into such a big city was overwhelming. Plus our hotel was in a crummy part of town. There was a casino across the street and strip clubs all around the area. It was sort of like staying in Bourbon Street. Plus it was hot. I hadn't been hot like that in years. And, for whatever reason, Europeans don't use air conditioning as much, so it was miserable everywhere. We thought to fix our plight by drinking cold water, but the wait staff didn't seem to understand that when we wanted a large glass of water, that would be one that would hold more than 4 ounces.

On a different note, I head out for my monthly trip to Jackson today and won't be back until Friday when I'll resume my trip story telling.

Interlaken, Trummelbach Falls, and Murren--Day 9

I love Switzerland. I could have stayed in Switzerland for the rest of my life--if I were rich, but that's a digression. Switzerland is beautiful, clean, and just about the most wonderful place on earth.

We left Murten early in the morning and headed to Interlaken where we spent about an hour walking around and shopping. Interlaken is the largest town in the Berner Oberland and is at the entrance point to the Lauterbrunen Valley. It's a pretty little town, but even before the season started it was overrun with tourist and touristy little shops. There was a pretty river here that David and I went and sat by while we waited on everyone else to get back to the bus.

Then we drove to Trumelbach Falls. Last year on the Best of Europe tour we went to Trummelback Falls and I absolutely loved it. It's so pretty and amazing. It was even more so this year. Trummelbach Falls is a waterfall that is inside a mountain. You begin the experience with a funicular ride up into the mountain and then walk up inside to the top where you can look through the hole at the top of the cave and see the sky while hearing the water pounding down inside this mountain. It's amazing. We were there earlier than last year and they had a lot more snow in Switzerland this year so the water pounding through the mountain was deafening and very very cold.

After Trummelbach Falls we hiked as a group to Stechelburg where we got on a gondola and rode up to our homebase for the next two days: Murren. I can't even begin to describe how quaint and wonderful Murren is. It's a tiny little Swiss town with all the wonderful food and people that go with it and unbelievable views of the Jung Frau, Eiger and Monc mountains. Though our room was really small, we felt like we were on top of the world with views of the amazing scenery on two sides. We went into town for a very late lunch and were so happy that we were able to find a restaurant open to serve us (lunch very rarely is served after 2pm).

We went back up to our room to rest--I read, David napped. That night we had a group dinner and enjoyed alphorn music and a group of yodelers.