Vienna

Vienna, Austria.....What can I say!! It's a beautiful city.

On October 12th, Mark and I flew to Vienna. We met Kara, Mark's sister there for a 4 days. This was also a special trip for Mark since he studied at the University of Vienna for one year in college 26 years ago. He hadn't been back and was now going to show me and Kara around.

We were starving upon arrival at our hotel. We found a local restaurant. I thought I was ordering a wurst, but I was VERY wrong. What I had instead, was a plateful of bologna!! Once I accepted the fact I wasn't eating wurst, it didn't taste too bad.

Kara arrived a few hours later and we went to a pastry shop where she had a sandwich and we all had a pastry. Mark was impressed with a moist delicious Saca torta, I had some kind of apple struddle with cheese which was great. Vienna is known for it's good pasteries and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to enjoy some of them. Afterwards we walked to the old area of Vienna.

The weather was colder that we had expected and I ended up wearing a sweatshirt most of the time. Kara was in layers and got to use my pashmina from Turkey. I think she really liked it.


Mark and Kara

Kara took us on a horse and buggy ride through the old city of Vienna. The driver was a cranky young woman. She took a picture of us, but it was so blurry I couldn't use it here.

We got tickets to hear some classical music of Mozart and Strauss. The musicians were dressed in period costumes and the performance was in the Hofberg House. (this was the home to the Hapsburgs-the ruling family for many years) It was GREAT!

Mark took us to the dormitory he stayed at while studying at the University of Vienna. At first he thought this he is standing in was it, but after walking around for a while he realized he had no idea which was his dormitory as the whole place changed so much. But he had fun looking around.

One day we went to the summer home of the Hapsburgs. You'd think that it would be far from their winter home, but it was only a few miles a way. This is the back of the palace. The gardens were beautiful, but not too many flowers there when we were there.


This is one of the statues on the roof of the palace. The bird had been sitting on the statue and I waited for it to fly off and this is what I got. I have been taking a photo course and I was trying different things.



Mark and I are in front of this structure in the "backyard" of the summer home of the Hapsburg's.
Don't know what it was used for when the Hapburg's lived here, but today there is a cafe inside. The pool is situated behind this building. Its quite a hike from the house to this building. By the time you get here in the summer, you are definitly ready for a swim!



Kara and Mark are in the garden in the "backyard". The building in the backround is the same building that Mark and I stood in front in the previous picture. Like I said.....it was quite a hike to get there.







While in Vienna we got to see Steve and Shannon and meet the newest edition to their family.....Benjamin. He was about 2 weeks old here. Steve works for Mark in Sarajevo. When Shannon got pregnant, they decided to have the baby in Vienna as Sarajevo is not known for its great medical care.

We had a lovely dinner one night with Steve, Shannon, Mark, Kara, me and Anesa-a young Bosnian woman studying law at the University of Vienna. Her father is the tax director for a city called Brčko (no I didnt spell that incorrectly-it is pronounced Birchko). We spent the weekend at their house back in August before Anesa went to Vienna and she did all the interpretation for us. She is quite a special young lady.

Vienna was a great place to visit and I think I could spend more time there.