Austria: Vienna

Vienna, where it all began for our family!

Rachel and I met back in our college days when I was playing guitar right here (see below) & singing for money on a cold January night 20 years ago.  The actual spot where I used to stand now has a bench, and we joked that it's the Commemorative Bench honoring the start of our family.

Thus, began our unusual tour of Vienna where we didn't so much check out tourists sites on Day 1 but instead took the kids to our old stomping grounds....

Exact spot where Rachel and I first met while I was playing guitar and singing for money at the tram station

The Votiv church which is at the Tram stop where we met (visible when the tram in the picture above exits the station)...

We hopped on the tram and started around the Ringstrasse (where the old city walls used to be), pointing things out to the girls as we went.  We ended at the State Opera House where the best Kaiser Krainers in town are sold.  Kaiser Krainers are basically cheese dogs in a sour dough roll.  They are huge and we definitely could have bought 1 or 2 fewer than we did.

We ate near the Platz commemorating the Austrian Jewish victims of the Holocaust.  Rachel and I both remember being touched by this statue of a Jewish man in barb wire scrubbing the streets.  For her homeschool project, H is doing a paper on Hitler's rise to power and the Holocaust.  She has read a number of books already on the subject (Rena's Promise, Diary of Ann Frank) and was inspired to write this paper after visiting the Holocaust museum in Israel.

The fountain where we ate lunch...

Then we headed down Karntnerstrasse to our old school at Palais Corbelli...

We walked in and introduced V to the office staff and they said 'Hey, cool name!'   The girls walked around our old school and said "You guys picked well!!!"

Picking well?  Um, it was just dumb luck actually...

 ...or God stepping in and moving things together so we would meet (that gets my vote!)

We went to our first 'dance' together in this ballroom which serves as a classroom most of the time.  We waltzed in front of the desks on this day after taking this picture ;)

Inside joke picture...I was sitting in the upper study hall back in our college days and Rachel ran through the room.  I got up and followed her to this bathroom saying "whatcha doing...." in a goofy voice and then realized she was throwing up!!!

After visiting our old school, we headed to the park where Rachel and I used to picnic.  We had a favorite place just across from this statue of Strauss...

Or as AJ would call it the 'playground of Strauss'...

Then we took the girls to the exact spot where I first knew I was going to marry Rachel.  We had been dating for about two weeks and we were having a picnic here as the warmth of spring arrived.  Even though I was in college at the time, I knew exactly what I was looking for in a wife and on that day she told me her hopes & dreams.

As she spoke, it was like she was reading the list of everything I was hoping for in a wife and mother for my children.  From that day forward I dated Rachel as if she was going to be my wife.  And on July 2, 1994, she became my wife!  She has been every bit of what I hoped back then and actually so much more than I ever could have imagined.

At the spot where we used to picnic, we gave the girls Cross necklaces we had bought in Greece.  We gave them these necklaces here in hopes that they too will really think about what they are looking for in a husband so that as they start dating they will know quickly when someone is not what they are looking for.... but also know when God puts 'The One' before them....

Then we walked around the park, got an ice cream, and fed the ducks (which Rachel and I used to do)...

Finally, we walked down Karntnerstrasse again where many of the street musicians perform.  I had better luck in the tram and subway stations back when I was playing guitar in Vienna, but if you have something that is a crowd stopper (like this group with the odd bass and hammer dulcimer) then you can do well on this pedestrian street.

 We grabbed dinner and AJ konked out.

The sisters headed off....

....with Rachel to the musical 'Legally Blond' which was performed in German....

 They had a great time...

 and box seats...

The next day (June 13), we decided to make an 'AJ play day'   This little guy has been such a trooper during this entire trip.  The past month has largely been going on tours and seeing things that are of little interest to a 3 year old boy.  So, we thought it would be fun to find a park and just have a play day.

That is what we did...and here was his reaction when he saw the park...

The park included what has got to be the largest slide I have ever seen at a free public park!

That's AJ and me heading down the slide (and yes we were moving fast!)

Much joy at all the different things to do at this park...

The girls...

This was pretty much my job for about half an hour.  Even when our kids got tired of this I got roped into being the 'pusher' by the little Austrian kids (yeah, I'm a sucker for kids)...

Rachel had packed a picnic lunch and we snapped this shot after eating here...

Then it was back to playing...

Loved this park...they had this area where the kids could turn on water and it would run down this play area making wet sand etc.  Fun and messy....just what a little boy needs.

Then we headed over to the big person play toy swing!  (not pictured were the preening teenage boys trying to impress their girlfriends on the other swing)...

 We spent about 3 hours at this park and had a blast!  The rest of the day was for rest and home school.

On Friday, June 14 we headed to Schonbrunn Palace, another place where Rachel and I went when we were dating but also one of the biggest tourist places in Vienna.  We chose to focus on the gardens as they are enormous versus going on a tour of the 1,441 room palace (yes, you read that correctly!).  The gardens really are magnificent....

We got some "ooooooo's" out of the girls for this picture (kiss kiss)...I laugh at AJ

The girls...

The girls with the Photobomber (not Rachel this time!)...

Headed to Neptune Fountain as we started up the hill in the background above...

And we had MUCH fun with the statues that are all over the place in the gardens....

The hill has a beautiful view of not only the palace but the entire city of Vienna as well.  This was the summer playground for Austrian royalty for the better part of 300 years.  We had our picnic here today...

And played ball with AJ... ;)

My favorite picture of the day....

 Family pic...

 This series of pictures shows the monument at the top of the hill...

 its arches (notice the statue at the far left....)

The statue referenced above...

And the photobombing lion...ROOAAAARRRR! (that's what he saying here...)

Afterward, we found a sandbox while hiking through the woods.  This place was beautiful and enormous. We spent over 3 hours here just hiking and walking....

On the way back to our apartment, we stopped at St. Stephen's Cathedral in the middle of the city...

We have been studying Mozart and learned that he was married in this church in 1782.

We spent Saturday in Salzburg but will post on that day another time.  Sunday was Father's Day in the USA and the girls made some electronic cards for me + H wrote a poem (which isn't listed but will be once she emails it to me!).  Those pictures are in the Other Favorites Section below.

For our family, these days were just wonderful!

Til next time, God bless

Other Favorites

Father's Day

We teased V mercilessly for misspelling "Congratulations"  LOL.  We told her she has to use the short hand Congrags from now on....

And a poem from H....

I <3 u dad

Fathers are the ones who take care of us
Always gentle and caring
They love us no matter what mood we are in
Help us when we need it and even when we don't
Enjoy the sweet moments, create everlasting memories
Reassure us when we are not sure which way to turn
Share laughs and stories of the good old days
Do everything they can do to help out
Act only in love and faith
You are the best dad I could ask for

I love my girls.  AJ gave me a card as well.  A good day indeed.