Family in Trumau!

                                                         Goodbye Rosalie and Joseph!

 

 Yesterday we said goodbye to the TACers, and had our first day with just the nine of us who will be here till next summer. Before the family arrived here in Trumau we had a few relaxed, quiet days with just the four of us WYD travelers, and we had a few skype sessions with the family, with faces from, Trumau, Brilon, New Hampshire and Pasadena. With Margaret in South Carolina we had family in BASICALLY every country in the world. (Not quite.)
     The day before Rosalie and Joseph had to leave for Paris we took a trip to Vienna with all but Jenny, Irene and Jakie. We walked about the "ring" that surrounds the old city, and saw lots of beautiful, old buildings. Of course Dad has been reading all about Vienna and the places we saw, and so did a wonderful job as leader/tour guide.

On our way to Vienna!

     After some confusion and exploration, we found out that our car is in fact barely short enough to fit in the parking garages right in the middle of the city, and that it is fairly inexpensive to park it there. Hurray! Many more Vienna visits to come. We parked right near the Parliament building where apparently Hitler used to go and listen to...whatever they did there...when he was a street artist in Vienna. 

Beautiful statues!

We went looking for St. Stephens, and it didn't take us too long.  It was a little hard to miss. 

Here it is!

Rosalie thought it was grand, but....

       

The rest of us expected it to
be bigger. 

   We got some ice-cream, or Eis, (Now we know how to say that in at least five languages,) and walked back to the car, stopping now and then, and then and again, and every minute or so to admire. There were horses and buggies everywhere, and once we made it to our car, the GPS brought us right back to horse and buggy central. Of all the slow moving vehicles to get stuck behind, it really wasn't a bad option. 

Trying to find the way back

Our day is complete. 

     We drove back to our apartment in time to walk to a little Austrian restaurant that Dad found on one of his exploration walks. It was a lovely evening, and we got to walk next to the beautiful river that runs by the ITI to get there. It was definitely an adventure--Mom and Dad did a great job speaking German to the waitress and the rest of us looked on in blissful ignorance. I find that it's rather nice to not have any idea what the menu says, because it's no easier to decide what to order when you can read it. Just cover your eyes and point!  Everyone was pleased with what they got, and we hope to return there many more times before our stay here is ended. 

Good find, Dad!

I was there too. :)