You will travel over water

3 days after Easter on the Traunsee, we were along the Rhine with its famous hilltop castles.

2 days after that, we took a cruise through the Norwegian fjords, and a train ride back through the gorgeous mountains. 

Now we are in Oslo.

Check the blog website

Hi, all! To those that subscribed: I just learned that something I have been doing makes the blog too big to send you notifications. Please go to https://marykevintravel.blogspot.com/ to see the most recent posts. In future, I will stop doing what has been preventing notifications from being sent, so I hope you will get them in future.
Thanks for your patience!
- Kevin

Catching Up

     The next day started cold with art in buildings designed by Hundertwasser

    

     and ended warm with drinks along the Donau Canal.

    

     BTW: It may appear we drink more in Europe (and we might), but it seems more a part of the culture here, as this sign on the pub across from our hotel shows.

    

     I had never heard of Hundertwasser before my first trip to Austria in 1995, but I have been a big fan ever since. He designed a block of public housing units that I nicknamed the Fred Flinstone building because they are so interesting, off-kilter, and (if you ask me) fun.

    

     But his rationale was, "Why should these people have to live in boring buildings?" We also visited a museum whose building he designed that also housed his art. There was a photo show of rural life, its positives and negatives. Here are a couple of our faves.

    

     Along the way, we went to an Apotheke (Pharmacy) whose sign in the window explained that the owners' grandmother had worked in the same pharmacy in the 1930s.

    

     We finally found the Jewish Memorial, which we had tried to find earlier but failed three days in a row.

 

     The next day involved another train ride, this time to Gmunden, a small town on a big lake where people come in summer and winter for outdoor activities and indoor spas. When we told people in Vienna that was our next stop, they asked, "Why?" The main reason was to ride out Easter (as big a holiday as Xmas in Europe). But we also wanted a smaller quieter place mid-vacation and a nature experience to balance our city ones. All our hopes came true as we wandered the town on the first day.   

      The weather was magnificent (26C/70F and sunny each day).

      The views were fantastic.

 

   

     And the attic studio just out of town that we rented made for a great retreat.

     The next day we went up the lower near mountain, Grunberg.

     We took a cable car to the top and immediately rode back down on a "summer toboggan," a sort of monorail.

     (Not Mary! Or Kevin)

     We then set off on an hour hike to Laudachsee, a mountain lake.

   

     That made for a full day. The next day, we stayed closer to home. Mary had a recovery day, and Kevin explored the town by foot.

    

     The next day was Easter (today! And I'm caught up!). We took a boat ride on the lake.

   

     Then we came home and took a long nap. It's been relaxing and invigorating.

    

     I summarized the last few days to catch up to my pictures. Remember there is a comment tool at the bottom of each entry on the blog's web page. Please let me know what you want more or less of. Thanks!

   

We Get a Little Ver-Klimt

     It's hard to keep up with blogging when we are moving so fast.

     The first day in Vienna was rainy and my camera battery died, so not many pics or activities. We did go to where Karen

     (remember Karen?)

     Told us to go for the best apple strudel: Fraunhuber.

     She was right. I had had apple strudel at all the favorites (Sacher, Demel, Central, Hawelka) back in 1995, and this was the best yet.

    

     See how happy we are! We walked up the pedestrian-only Graben

    

     Past Stephansdom

    

     and then went home to prepare for the next day.

     The next day, we started by going to Voll Pension ("full board" at a B&B), a place I had found online that hires older people to work at a café and do the cooking serving, etc. In addition, they are committed to creating a cross-generational atmosphere, noting that all ages do better when they mingle. This is in keeping with Mary's beliefs and work with older people.

     We waited a while to be seated, and I worried we would wait a while at the table, too. I was anxious to get to the museum we planned to visit that day. The restaurant was busy so we were seated at a table with two other women (common in Europe; not so much in the U.S.). We placed our order, and did indeed spend a long time waiting for the food. Eventually the man came out and apologized, saying that "the engine is broken." He said something else, and one of the women helped us understand that he wanted to give us some "egg liqueur" to make up for the wait. The ice was broken, and we spent a good long time talking with our table mates Evelyn and Martina.

     I got a candid shot of Evelyn in this pic trying to capture the décor inside and ornate window frame across the street.

     They were teacher teachers (they taught future teachers). Evelyn specialized in art, and they were on their way to see some museums that day. They were kindred souls in other ways, too. We discussed the benefits of European life (such as being offered what turned out to be alcoholic egg nog for breakfast). And the struggles of average people to live in a world run by the wealthy. By the end of the two hours, we felt we had made a connection. We then went to see the Leopold Museum.

     Klimt,

      Schiele,

      and other Vienna artists are some of our favorites.

     And the Leopold has one of the best collections, including a lot of painting by Schoenberg, best known as a composer introducing atonal music. We spent hours there soaking in the art and had to abandon our plans to go to another museum that day to prevent Stendahlismo.

     The next day, the first item on the agenda was Rothko at the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

   

     We were very lucky to be in town for this. He's one of our favorite artists, and his works have to be seen in person to sense all of the under-layers' colors. Again, we spent a long time there and limited our day to one museum.