Haus Franziskus Mariazell

... having trouble coming up with a question, so that’s what I will probably spend the weekend doing, along with reading. I can’t believe I’ve been here 2 weeks and I have yet to actually study, but there just wasn’t anything to do until now.

Webster took us on a 1 hour tour of the Vienna highlights on Tuesday, which was a nice opportunity to get our barrings and know what we all wanted to see. On ...

... Great view of the town and countryside from the terrace. We went back down to the town to wait for the buses to take us to the ship. The bus ride was nice, passing through villages along the river. Our boat was waiting for us at the town of Grein. As soon as the last person was onboard, the ship was pulling away. Had a nice leisurely dinner with some friends we have made from Pittsburgh. Then had a chat with Tunde on Skype and I worked on updating my blog.

... had another nice dinner and then decided to walk around and check out the town. We walked back along the pedestrian street to the main square and then down the road back to our hotel, doing a little window shopping and photographing along the way.

This morning we had breakfast at the hotel then decided to go into the shops we peaked into last night. We didn't buy much but had an enjoyable morning exploring Bruck an der Mur in the daylight.

... back inside to the abbey library. This is really impressive and beautiful. It is still an active library - they still acquire books and important people use the library for study. They also have a collection of speech capsules, the most recent acquisition being one from the Dalai Lama on his visit here.

From the library you reach the exciting conclusion of your visit, the abbey ...

... next - again a beautiful city on the river. We stayed two nights...ahhhh luxury of hotels after sleeping in a van. It was stinking hot (mid 30's) and would have been unbearable anyway.

Today we arrived in Bratislava, Slovakia today. A much quieter city - only about 500,000 people here. Nice change of pace after the hustle and bustle of Budapest.

So we think that the Vienna, Budapest and ...

... on the Danube river. Every passenger was on deck as we left Melk to watch (for 2 hours) the most dramatic and beautiful scenery slowly float by (which included acres and acres of vineyards which nicely complimented the wine tasting event on the deck). The people on the river are fun too .. waving and doing crazy stunts!

DAY 37 - VIENNA TO AUSTRIAN TYROL Today we travelled towards Hopfgarten in the Austrian Tyrol. On the way we stopped off in the town of the Sound Of Music movie. Here I visited the church from the movie and we also had some lunch. Next we stopped at Swarovski Crystal World, which was so much more than I expected! Before actually going into the shop, you go through all these different rooms of abstract art, interactive displays, a room of mirrors like you are inside a crystal, a floor that ...

... crazy Hungarians that drive around taking the junk before the city gets to it-it only poses as a problem when your child leaves toys in the front yard)-well we found these retro green pillows and knew they needed to be our.. so they are..ha! mariazell is the most popular marian pilgrimage site in all of austria. last fall (while andy was ...

... consequences if we are caught doing so. Needless to say, we were a little nervous about how to present the gifts and at who to smile. I have now learned how to appropriately give gifts and stare. fº I spent my first afternoon in Mariazell cross country skiing. I had to communicate in German for the first time at the ski rental place and found moderate success. (I knew how to say my shoe size in German) After two 20 minutes trails, I ...

... had a drink at the stand, then went inside the chapel. Ornate, of course. I lit a candle, much to Paul's distaste. We walked down to a Stations of the Cross rotunda, but it was in horrible repair. Driving along, we saw storms in the mountains. We turned to cross a pass, and suddenly, were in the midst of a hail downpour. It was so powerful, we had to pull off the road ...