All's Well That Ends Well, in Copenhagen

You'll have to read all of this to understand the title, or if you are so inclined, you can just scroll to the bottom. But that would be cheating, now wouldn't it?

The weekend in Kleinmutschen with Pamela, Rudi, Traude and Ralf was really nice. What with Ralf's barbecue, Traude's breakfasts, and Pamela's desert, I must have put on 2 or 3 kilos. How they manage to stay so slim is a mystery to me! Besides eating, they showed me even more of Burgenland. Not to forget Ralf's parents. And please tell Fredi I'm sorry I didn't get to spend any time visiting with him.

Brandie, I thought I had something that would really interest you. We went to an Immigration Museum, a history of Burgenland migration to/from the Americas. My home town, South Bend, was even mentioned. I found a book about a genealogical web site for Burgenland families with my Grandfather and Grandmother's family names. I was sure you'd be interested, Brandie. Guess what? Your name was already there as a participant. You're way ahead of me.

We also visited a Burg. As in my last trip, the difference between Burg and Schloss, both castles, isn't clear. We finally decided the best way to differentiate between them, is to think of Burgs as the homes of the warriors, and Schloss' as the homes of the ruling class.

On Sunday, Pamela and Ralf took me to Klagenfurt, about three hour ride from Klienmutschen. As a side note, I'd love to drive those roads in the MX5, top down, .... In Klagenfurt, we went to MiniMundus, a really fascinating place. MiniMundis has well over 100 scale models of famous buildings throughout the world. Very detailed, and very accurate. I'd been to a number of the places, and was really impressed with what they have done. Examples are St. Peter's Square, the Acropolis, the White House, Independence Hall, Taj Majal... You get the idea. Where possible, they've used the same material s the original. If in Austria, try to include it. It's worth the time.

Then Pamela's boss, who lives there on weekends, and in Vienna during the week, met us and took us on a tour of Lake Worthsee (hope I spelled that OK). It's really a beautiful lake, and another reason to visit Klagenfurt. She also led us to an outstanding restaurant where we ate on the deck and had a view of the city.

All good things must end. On Monday, after a typical fine breakfast, Pamela and Ralf took me to the Vienna Airport. Unfortunately, on the way, Ralf got a speeding ticket. Besides being bad luck, it was an interesting process for me. The offender is allowed to pay the fine on the spot, directly to the Police. (Don't know if they accept credit cards.) If you pay by mail, the fine is more, I believe. One wonders what percent of the fines don't make it to the community. Even with the stop, we made it to the airport in plenty of time.

The flight to Copenhagen, with a change in Heathrow, was fine., except for a rough landing in Heathrow. Arriving in Copenhagen, for the most part, was a snap. Found the train into town, found the hotel with not even a single wrong turn. The room is fine, if rather small. Nearly enough room to turn around in. The bath is a combined shower, toilet and washbasin, in a space about 3' by 3', maybe less. Trude had packed me a lunch, so I had two excellent meat and cheese sandwiches for supper, then wandered around town to get my bearings, before turning in for the nite. One heck of a thunderstorm during the nite, but the morning was dry, if cloudy and a bit chilly.

So what ended well? Nearly all of my stuff, including me, that made it on the plane in Vienna on Monday made it to Copenhagen. Nearly all but my suitcase, that is. After watching the carousel roll around empty for some time, I concluded that my suitcase didn't arrive with me, so I reported it missing. The confident clerk assured me it would show up, and gave me the baggage link on the BA website to check it's status. Checked it this AM, and there was no information available. Took a walk around town, felt dejected, picked upon, you name it. Went back to the hotel, still no info. Planned the rest of the day, including a shopping trip for new unmentionables, and was about to leave when the sun came out, and I saw a message for me on the hotel message board. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and a suitcase. It had been delivered within the last hour. Scrub the shopping trip. All's well that ends well.

Love,

Dad/Grandpa/Dick

Last day in Wien

Yep, leaving this evening to visit the relatives in Klieinmutchen. Hope I spelled that right. Ive had a pretty nice time here in Wien. Arrived after a fine flight, and didnt really suffer much from jet lag. Either Im immune, or old age makes it less noticeable. (by the way, I cant find the apostrophe on this keyboard, so ill just ignore it)


On Tuesday, I went to the Schloss Shonbrunn, the home of Franz Josef and his ancestors through the years. Saw the zoo, which I could have skipped. Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My. But all I found were bears. Lions and Tigers must have been sleeping in the nice warm weather, around 30 C (84 F), and humid. Also on the grounds were the Palm House, (a huge tropical plant hothouse with some really nice flowers), a tour of the residence, or royal chambers, which was quite elaborate, they lived very well and very nice grounds in general. Nice view of the city from the Glorriette, top of a hill overlooking the grounds. More on Schloss Shonbrunn on Thursday. Had to come back, as my camera battery ran out, and although I had a spare memory card, I left the spare battery in the Pension. Smart, right?

While at the Schloss, there was a lot of thunder. Remember Richard the Rainmaker AKA Droughtbuster Dick from NZ and AU? Hes here also. But luckier. At an outdoor cafe with umbrellas my table was the only one that kept dry. Most of the others got somewhat soaked.

On Wednesday, I took a train ride to the Hungarian town of Sopron. My relatives took me there the last time I was here, and I enjoyed it, so I went back for more. Train ride was about 1.25 hrs, very pleasant. Walked around the town for a while, and found the old town in the center. Had a nice lunch there in an outdoor cafe. In fact, all my meals except breakfasts at the Pension have been in outdoor cafes. Sopron is a nice day trip, if you are ever in the area.

When I got back, I just wandered around town until I found a nice looking restaurant to have supper in. Wien (Travel snob, arent I?) is really a nice city to wander in and practice getting lost. Im getting good at that. Not really. With a map and a little bit of luck, its really easy to find your way around. And by the way, the U-Bahn, or subway system is great. Easy to use, runs often, gets you anywhere you want to go.

On Thursday, I wandered the town a bit more, taking photos of all the interesting buildings. There are plenty of them, too. Found, of all things, an AU pub, so I stopped there for a very good cheeseburger, and my favorite AU beer, Victoria Bitter. What a treat.

Then back to Schloss Shonbrunn for more photos and a visit to the Carriage House, A display of many of the truly ornate carriages used by the royalty. Even tiny ones for the royal kinder. Lots of hand work went into those, let me tell you. Another spot there to visit was a simulated desert environment. Looked a little like my days in AZ as a kid.

And the highlight of the day was the fact that there was a concert there by the Wien Symphony Orchestra. To be seated, one had to have an invitation, which I think came if one donated to the cause. I didnt know about that, and probably couldnt have afforded the expected donation. But the common folk could sit on the ground around the periphery and hear very well. Glad I got there 2 hours early. The crowd really built up. And they had two huge TV screens, so we could see it as well. An unexpected highlight was that Bill Clinton was there to accept the donation, 1,000,000 euros, if I heard right. Couldnt tell what the cause was.

P&P R, While there, I spoke to a Canadian couple who were visiting their son. Hes the coach for the Vienna Vikings, the local football (not soccer, US football) team. Sounds like something you might be familiar with.

I think thats about all I have for Wien. Next edition will probably be from Copenhagen next week sometime. And yet another keyboard to get used to. Now to copy this into the blog.

Love,

Dad/Grandpa/Dick

On the road at last

Well, tomorrow is the day. I'm having dinner tonite with a very attractive friend, and then tomorrow Doug and Tammy will drop me off at the airport. My flight leaves LAX at 17:50 and I arrive in London at noon. Change planes, leave Heathrow at 14:55 and arrive in Wein (Vienna, actually, I'm already becoming a travel snob, and I haven't even left) at 18:10. How many actual hours that is, I don't have the slightest. I think they are 9 hours ahead of CA, but who's counting. So the next time you hear from me, it will be from one or another of my old familiar haunts in Wein. After all, I was there once before.

Lets hope my backpack passes BA's strict limits. It's right on the borderline of being too big. I'd really hate to check it, with my cameras, etc. in it. I guess I'll find out tomorrow. Considering the long flight, and that the only parts over land will be at nite, I chose an aisle seat for the first leg. I do have a window from UK to Wein. And I hope I'm spelling that correctly Wein and Wien are both valid German words, I've found. One is Vienna and one is wine. Time will tell.

That's all for now.

Love,

Dad/Grandpa/Dick

Pre-Departure

Well folks, it's that time again. I'm leaving Sunday, May 20th for another trip to Europe. I'll be gone until September 7th. And that turned out to be pretty good timing. Unbeknown-st to me when I made my reservations, my grandson, Jeff Smith, will be married on September 8th. I'll leave additional details about that to Jeff and his fiance, a lovely young lady, I might add. Good choice, Jeff.

Moving on, the main part of the trip will be in Scandinavia. I'll be there from May 28th until August 25th. Unless, of course, I miss a plane. Then, who knows? I'll first spend time in Vienna and also visit relatives in Austria. At the end of the trip, I'll spend a few days in Madrid and Barcelona before visiting Mi Amigo Bueno, Pepe and his family on the island of Menorca. I've tried to learn a little Spanish, Pepe, but what little I have probably will come out with a Scandinavian accent.

As in the past, I'll send periodic e-mails of my progress. And like the last European trip, I'll also post them on the blog. The address of the blog for this trip is:

dick-scandinavia.blogspot.com

There's a link to the old blog:

dickstrip.blogspot.com

That also links to the new one. Ain't technology great?

And now, it's time to get moving on that practice packing I've been talking about for days now. At least talking to a few of you.

Love,

Dad/Grandpa/Dick