Austria

View of Graz from above

So my friends, I am behind on my blog posts.  Mostly it has been a lack of time because it feels like we have been going from early morning to late at night every day.  Also, we didn't have good internet in Italy which made me late (I had to do the Italy post from Austria).  So, now I'm doing the Austria post from Germany.  Maybe I'll be able be able to catch up as we are watching the Germany vs. Ghana soccer game on TV (well, I'm half-heartedly watching as Kira and Janna are yelling at the TV).

So, Austria... We got to visit with David's friend from the International House (and Amy's former roommate) Evelyn Wiesler.  We had a wonderful visit with her and her family.  We loved her house because David and I got to stay in the guest quarters which were in the old stables behind the house.  We got to have a bit of a break from the children because they stayed across the yard at Evelyn's mother's house.  They also had a cherry tree with ripe cherries, so we got to have fresh cherries with every meal.  I could eat cherries all day!!!!

Graz's distinctive red roofs

They took us on a tour of Graz, including taking us up the hill to the Schlossberg and clock tower to overlook the town.  It was interesting because there was some sort of race going on where the team members had to run up and then down this steep hill and then go through an obstacle course at the bottom which involved climbing over hay bales.  They also showed us some of the old shops in Graz that had been in business for hundreds of years.

We also got to go to a Catholic church and watch the choir (which sang in English!) and see about half of the people in the church service dressed up in their traditional Austrian clothes.  After that we went to a festival in a nearby town where they celebrated the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph in the late 1800s.  Many people were dressed in period costumes and playing period instruments.  We really enjoyed being there because the town was an old spa town and it was so cute!

People in period costume

After we left Graz, we headed to Salzburg.  We first climbed the big hill to see the Festung Hohensalzburg.  It was fun to wander around and see all of the fortifications that had been added over the years.  As they pointed out, no one ever breached the walls -- the only one who won against them was Napoleon and they just gave up without a fight when he arrived.

Salzburg with the fortress on a hill in the background

View of Salzburg from the fortress

 The next day we walked around the old town.  We looked in lots of churches and saw some of the beautiful Baroque style for which Austria is known.  Daniel commented that he liked the churches in Austria much better than those in Italy because they were much lighter inside (both in terms of having more windows and also being painted in much lighter colors).  We were lucky enough to see an "Organ and Meditation" concert being offered in the Salzburg Cathedral.  That church is really neat because it has 4 smaller organs in the front and one great organ in the back.  We got to hear one piece [Frescobaldi] on a small organ and 4 pieces on the large organ.  My favorite was a Mendelssohn piece that sounded beautiful on the large organ.  But, even the Messiaen piece (Celestial Banquet) didn't sound bad on that organ (the single tones work well in that large cathedral with lots of resonance).  My second favorite was by Tournemire.  David was so excited that we got to hear that concert!  I think we really enjoyed Salzburg as a city!  I think on future trips we would want to spend more time there. 

Churches in Salzburg

One of the 4 small organs in the Salzburg Cathedral