Last day in Vienna

The Royal Treasury was most fascinating. Power and money certainly rule in this world. This royal baby's christening outfit, blanket and pillow have silver and gold woven in the fabric.

The crowns, sceptors, robes, etc., made me think of how these items mentioned in the scriptures for the righteous, are used here to exercise power over others.

We noticed that the sword is composed partly of "email."

The royal bassinette was a little fancier that we're used to.

The last evening, we were able to attend a Christmas concert in the Music Viern (or something like that.) I didn't have my camera inside, but the building was very ornate, and the Schonberg Choir and Orchestra were really wonderful.

The next morning we flew to London, unaware that Heathrow had been closed for almost 3 days and there was a massive backlog of travelers. Luckily, we got home a few minutes before midnight on Christmas Eve, very grateful to be able to get a flight to Boston, then DC.

It was a great experience, and the four of us enjoyed our week in Austria.

Vienna, Austria

Christmas Markets were everywhere in Austria. There are outdoor booths beautifully decorated for Christmas, selling all kinds of Christmas items. We loved just walking around. Everyone was dressed warmly, so it wasn't bad being outside.

"City Hall" was beautiful, and had a Christmas Market in the open area in front.

I was fascinated with the Christmas decorations.

We had schnitzel two nights in a row. This night, it was so big it overflowed the plates. It is really good!!! Mark had recommendations of places to eat, so we walked all over this part of Vienna finding the restaurants.

Mark and Steve are on the balcony of the back of Schonbrunn Palace, where Empress Maria-Theresia gave Mozart some royal clothes to wear as he performed around Europe. He performed here when he was 6 years old. This is the palace of the Hapsburg Dynasty, which ruled Germany, Austria, etc. since the 13th century. It is unbelievably big and beautiful. Some of our modern presidents have had meetings here with world leaders. The grounds around the palace were huge, but all covered with snow. We could tell they would be beautiful the rest of the year.

We also spent a morning watching the magnificant white horses at the Spanish Riding School, although I don't have any pictures of that to post.

Leoben, Austria

After Salzburg, we drove to Leoben where Mark works, and saw his University and office where he works. We went shopping at the indoor mall close by(which gave us a break from the cold outside) and he showed us around town
There were beautiful Christmas decorations everywhere.

Austria continued

After visiting Ludwig's castles in Germany, we drove to Salzburg, Austria, where Mozart, and later the Von Trapp family lived. The centuries-old fortress on the top of the hill about killed me to climb up there, but was very interesting to see. Underneath it, is the "theater" where the Von Trapp's sang their last concert, but we didn't get to see it. We did get to drive by the Abbey and the Gazebo, and traveled a half hour to the cathedral where the wedding scene was filmed. The cathedral was beautiful, and at a restaurant there we had the best apple struedle with warm vanilla sauce ever!

The country-side in Austria is absolutely beautiful, even when covered with snow.

Christmas trip to Austria!

Steve, Gretchen and I flew to Vienna, rented a car, drove to Leoben, picked up Mark, then drove to Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. I don't know how they found it in the dark, but we got there around 11 PM. The next day, we toured the massive castle.

It was snowing slightly and very cold, but the short walk from our hotel to the castle fit the Christmas Season.