A year ago: Salzburg/Munich

A year ago this weekend... we did our first overnight trip when we went to Salzburg and Munich. Now I could check off visiting one country of my ancestry-- Germany! At this point, I was so used to hearing German being spoken that whenever I heard someone speaking it, I thought it was my second language-- French!

When we went to Salzburg, there were many sights that were very familiar to those of us who
have watched The Sound of Music. Regina had fun posing with the famous statues of the
conclusion of Do Re Me as we entered the snowy garden area of Salzburg. We were very
glad to be in Prof. Wolter's tour group because this is where her family is from!

This is a man standing on top of a gold ball in a square
in Salzburg. No, it's not a crazy, adventurous
Franciscan student. It's just a statue!

For dinner, we went to the oldest restaurant (I'm not sure if that is in the world, Europe, or what...) --St. Peter, founded in 803 A.D. There we had weiner schnitzel, potatoes, and Apple Strudel-- yum! And I got to use the minimal amount of German that I knew-- "enschuldigung-- schprechen sie englisch?"

At the Residenz Museum in Munich, Germany. Megan and I had a grand time together-- and it was quite by accident how we ended up exploring the city together! We went to take a bathroom break after our tour with Fr. Brad, but we both got separated from our friends and couldn't get hold of them. So we decided to get some lunch at the open market and look around for them. When we didn't see them, we decided to go on our own and explore the town! We did a holy hour at St. Michael's Church and explored the Residenz Museum where they had lots and lots of relics of Bible-time Saints.

After that we just walked into random stores that looked intriguing, such as a chocolate store and a spice store (which smelled delicious!). When it was almost time to go back, I was looking at the map as I was walking out of a store when I almost ran into this bronze statue in the middle of the road. Then I realized as I passed it (and as Megan reached out her hand to pull me away) that it wasn't a statue... it was a street performer dressed up as a gold statue-- that was a close one!

On the way back, we stopped at a pizzeria, and they spoke to me in German
but to Megan in English! Haha! Must be my German ancestry!

And if you're wondering how I'm remembering all these things, well some I just remember and looking at the pictures, but others, I'm so grateful that I was very disciplined with my journal keeping!

A year ago: Vienna

It has now been one whole year since we began our adventures in Austria. I can't believe that it was that long ago-- we have such wonderful memories of it that it feels as if it was only yesterday!

This weekend a year ago we had just finished our first week in Austria and were getting ready to go to Vienna, or as the locals call it, Wien!

Julie and Claire had a grand time at Melk Monastery. There isn't
really a story for this one... it's just a really cute picture!

As part of our tour of the Kartause, we got to go places we weren't normally allowed.
This place is above the choir loft in the church and above all the beautiful frescoes
of St. Bruno on the ceiling. We are walking on the ceiling! It was very nerve-wracking,
to be walking on the newer, lower ceiling put in place of the original gothic one (which you
see above in the picture) but, oh, what an adventure that was!

Haha! This one. Um, this is Claire-- with a street performer in Vienna. We were walking around Vienna on our own after the tour exploring the city. When we passed by this performer, Claire waved to him. And he reached out to shake her hand to shake his-- which she did, but then became part of his act-- which you see depicted. This was toward the beginning of our adventures-- we had no idea what was going on! It was harmless and she just stood there for a minute as we got this picture and we were then on our way. But, oh! what a story!

I don't know how much I'm going to be able to keep up with this, but I'd like to post a picture with a short story that corresponds to what we did a year ago.