Vienna to Amarillo 10/31-11/1

Vienna, October 31, Wednesday, the last day

Oh, my goodness.  I had to check to see if I had legs or just stubs left -- still two legs -- but they are tired.  I think I have walked miles, befpmostly looking in shops and at buildings.  I even rode the tram some.  Garrett will have to identify some of the things I took pictures of.  It was chilly, but not uncomfortable.  The trees are loosing their leaves, the people are bundled up, Christmas decoration shopping has started.  We stopped for coffee and cake again about noon, so I am not hungry for dinner yet.  Austrians walk a lot, so, even if they eat cake, they seem to be in pretty good shape.  It is easier to walk in Vienna than it was in Rome because the sidewalks are smoother.

This is part of the breakfast bar we see each morning: boiled eggs, vegetable salad, tomatoes, cukes, egg salad, olives, pickles, 3 kinds of yogurt, hazelnuts, raisins, 3 kinds of cereal, several cheeses, several meats, 2 juices, coffee, tea, cocoa, several breads, butter, honey, jams

                                   Garrett and Goethe

                                       Garrett and Schiller

 

We went back to the gasthaus we have been to before for our last dinner this trip.  Both of us had the garlic cream soup and we shared the cevapcici and fries.  It was delicious, and not too much.  Then we had to pack to go home.  We went to bed about 8:30 since our pick-up time was 3:45. 

 

Vienna, November 1, Thursday

We got up at 3 and were ready to go in half an hour.  The man at the desk fixed coffee, and the van came by at 3:45.  Making the reservations for transportation has been worth the time and money.  There has been someone there for us every time scheduled.  It took about 25 minutes to reach the airport, and we were through the check in and security in just a few minutes more.  It was very smooth and easy.  I got some pictures out the window on the way down into Frankfort.

 

In Frankfort we had to move to another terminal again and go through security again.  It went smoothly.  We boarded the big bird home on time and took off.

It was a LONG ride.  My seat mate (since I was in the middle) had been a teacher in the Greek school I went to.  She taught English and ESL.  The food was good and the wine was plentiful.  They even gave us Bailey’s Irish Cream.

Houston was not fun.  We had to go through customs, get our bags and recheck them, find our terminal and wait for the plane to Amarillo.  We had been told the flight would be late leaving, but it was on time.  Carl and Celeste met us at the gate; we were glad to see them, but didn’t stay long.  We wanted to get home!  It was a lovely trip.

Rome 10/23-4

Tuesday, October

Yesterday we had to wash as we had no clean clothes left.  It went very easily as there are 2 laundries near the hotel.  While they were washing we went on a walk in the neighborhood.  Most of the stores were not open yet.

Later we visited the Massimo museum of sculpture.  From the mosaaics I have gotten some quilting ideas.  The statues were laid out cleanly, not too many per room.  I especially liked a bronze of a philospher sitting and took a picture of his head.  There was also one of Sapho that I liked.  My feet were killing me, so we came back to the hotel and found a trattoria for dinner.  It was already after 4:30, and we had not eaten since 8:30 breakfast.

The dinner was good.  Garrett had a thin veal steak and vegetable soup.  I had pizza.  We finished up with gelato.

Wednesday October 24

We saved the forum and coloseum for our last full day.  Oh, my aching body!  It was really wonderful, but the paths are mostly rocks and cobblestones.  It is hard for me to walk on them.  Aparently Rome has been built and rebuilt over the centuries and is made up of many layers of civilization.  It it a fascinating place. 

The forum covers a huge amount of ground.  There are columns and rocks every  where.  I don't know how they can find out so much about them.  Things are well documented so we could understand what we were seeing.  It would have been better to have had a book or plan.  Also we needed water and had not taken it with us.  A lot of cats live on the grounds of the Forum and in the Coloseum.

We ended at the coloseum with at least a half million people.  Our tickets let us in both.  We came back to the hotel on the metro for a rest before dinner.

Rome 10/22-3

Tuesday, Oct. 23 

We went to the Vatican yesterday.  I think you could spend days there and not see it all.  Our guide was very nice and knowledgeable.  She answered all our questions and told us what we didn't know to ask.

We had some time before the tour, so we walked around the neighborhood.  Since we had been in the direction of the train station several times, we went the other way to the shops south and east of the hotel.  We saw the back of Santa Maria Majjiore and lots of tour buses.

 

Our ride and guide came about 2.  We went through the museums on the way to the Sistine Chapel.  I took quite a few pictures of the statues, mosaiics, and paintings.  Italians have been collecting and making statues for centuries, and there were a lot.  The guide said that, like most museums, the ones on display don't begin to show everything there is in storage.

 

I think only pictures can show the magnificence of what we saw.  I know my words cannot.  The Sistine and St. Peters are beyond beautiful and magnificent. There was a mass going on, so we didn't get to go in the area of the Bernini canopy, but we could see it.  Remanants of the canonization services the day before (chairs, curtains, barricades) were still in place.  There were a lot of people there!  We walked on the square and down to the metro for a ride back to he hotel.  The metro was crowded too because it was about 6 p.m.  I was very tired.

 

There is a funny thing about the electricity in the hotel.  When you unlock the door to come it, it is dark inside.  You place your key card in a recepticle by the door for the lights to turn on.  When you leave, you take the card with you.  If you are alone in the hotel room and the other person has left with the key card, no lights will turn on while he is gone.  That was okay with me.  I took a short nap while Garrett was gone.

Sunday we ate at a restaurant in the neighborhood.  I had risotto with asparagus and a pork chop.  Garrett had lasagna and a big salad.  We splurged on dessert, tiramisu and chocolate mousse  It was all good.  Last night I had salad and lasagna and lemon gelato.  Garrett had salad, ravioli, and chocolate cake.  We drank a bottle of sparkling water and a small bottle of wine.  We have only been eating 2 meals each day, breakfast and dinner. 

Vienna 10/27

Vienna, Sunday, October 28

I don't know what we will do today.  Yesterday it was cold and rainy all day, but we walked anyway.  We went downtown to the pedestrian district and walked with hundreds of people, all carrying umbrellas most of the time.  We went into Stephansdom, but couldn't see much because of the crowds.  They seemed to think worship services were more important than tourists.  Feature that!  We did get to hear the orchestra and singer practicing for that night's concert.  The tickets were very expensive, so I was glad of a small sample.

 

There was a shop with children's tracht clothing, the traditional clothing of Austria.  It is coming back into style  We had fun looking at the tiny models wearing it.  I had read in a magazine that it was something to look for.

 

I got on the Internet last night and found a fabric store on the shopping street our hotel is near.  I want to check it out tomorrow.  There is also a Swarovsky crystal store downtown that I want to go into; it's a cinch I can't buy anything there, but I'd like to look.

 

This is the 150th anniversary year of the birth of Gustaf Klimt, so there are things everywhere about him.  At least 2 museums have his work on display.  I'd like to go to the Art Nouveau museum.  We have seen copies of his work, especially The Kiss everywhere: cards, prints, umbrellas, even in a pastry shop.