Vienna to Linz - Sat., 6 Oct 2012

This is Melk Abbey - about an hour directly west of Vienna.  It was built between 1702 and 1736.  As with many historical sites in Europe, it was difficult to get far enough away to get a picture.  I had to go across the valley into someone's cornfield (notice the cornstalks at the right) to get this shot.

Entering the grounds, you can't see much of the Abbey, but the grounds are beautiful as well.

The color is quite unusual, but one article I read said that this was the cheapest color of paint at the time is was first built.

Five minutes from Melk Abbey is the contrasting Schönbühel an der Donau (Schönbühel on the Donau River).  At first, I was puzzled because I thought Melk Abbey and Schönbühel Castle were on the Danube River.  It was only after our trip that I realized that the Danube River is only called "Danube" in English (from the Latin "Danubius").  The "Danube" flows though Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine, and Bulgaria and NONE of them call it the "Danube."  They call it "Donau, Dunaj, Dunarea, Donava, Duna, Dunav," etc., but not Danube.  We've been in Vienna, Budapest, and Bratislava -- all famous cities on the Danube -- and this was the first I realized that none of them called it that.

Next, we drove to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp -- near Linz.  We had driven here on a previous trip, but arrived just after closing time.  Alice was really disappointed that we hadn't gotten to go inside, so I made sure we got here plenty early this time.  (Alice likes to look at every picture and read every sign.)

It is a huge complex with rows of barracks that have been preserved/restored.

Many of the signs were in German only -- but the meaning was clear.

From the Concentration Camp, the "Stairs of Death" are visible (center of picture).  There was a granite quarry at the bottom and starving prisoners were forced to carry blocks (weighing as much as 110 lbs.) up the 186 steps.  Many didn't survive.  Ironically (as happens many times in Europe), right beside a horrific landmark is a peaceful little farm or town.

Bratislava & Vienna - Fri., 5 Oct 2012

Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is only about an hour from Vienna, so we drove there and back rather than staying overnight.  

This is a view of Bratislava (the castle is white with a red roof) from the freeway.  The population is 460, 000, but it has a "small-town" feel --

especially in the old part of town.

"Old Town Hall" ("Stará radnica") is definitely "old."  The tower was built in 1370.

 We happened upon a group that was playing some traditional music -- using some unusual instruments.

Recently (1997), however, several amusing bronze sculptures have been added to "Town Square" (Hlavné námestie).  The most popular is "Čumil," a mischievous sewer worker peeking out of a manhole.

The "planned" highlight of the trip was the Lipizzaner show.  (We bought our tickets a month in advance.)  They don't allow photography of the actual show, but if you're unfamiliar with Lipizzaners, I would suggest: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY3wmWT-sb8
That video is a traveling performance in America (that we have attended), but it's just not the same as being in this arena at the Hofburg Palace that was built specifically for this purpose in 1735.  We sat near the corner of the balcony and I took this picture before the performance.

I took this picture from the ground floor after the performance.

Vienna - Thurs., 4 Oct 2012

We stayed in a different city every night of our trip -- except Vienna.  Yesterday, we arrived late, found a small cafe (near the hotel) with GREAT food (which we vowed to revisit tonight -- and did) and a laundromat (across the street), so we ate, did laundry, and retired to the hotel.  Today, we saw Vienna -- and made sure we know how to get to the Lipizzaner show on Friday.  Vienna has a great U-Bahn (subway) system, so -- to avoid traffic and parking -- we bought a 2-day pass and and boarded the U-Bahn.

Our first stop was Karlsplatz.  We've been there before, but it's a beautiful place -- and it's where we needed to transfer U-Bahn lines.

Another advantage of riding the U-Bahn is that you end up discovering some obscure gems that aren't in the guidebooks.  This church (Minoritenkirche), built between 1276 and 1350 A.D., is hidden among some larger buildings, but happens to be right in front of the U-Bahn station.

We located the Spanish Riding School where the Lipizzaners are trained,

but Alice just wanted to pet the horses.

This is Josefplatz (around the corner from Michaelerplatz where Alice is petting the horses above).  Directly behind Alice is the entrance to tomorrow night's Lipizzaner show.

Our next U-Bahn stop was Stephansdom.  This cathedral was built in 1137 A.D., but reconstruction and expansion continued until 1511.  The colored roof consists of 230,000 glazed tiles.  (Because of neighboring buildings, it's difficult to get far enough away to get a complete picture.)

This is the "Upper Belvedere Palace" -- built between 1717 and 1723.  The "Lower Belvedere" was built between 1712 and 1716 but, apparently, was insufficient.  The gardens between the two (some of which are shown in the video below) are about 300 feet wide and 1700 feet long.

These are some of the fountains and gardens behind the Upper Belvedere.

Unbeknownst to us, there were two major events going on in Vienna while we were there.  Alice found a brochure in the hotel (that she's holding in the Karlsplatz picture above) that said (or so she thought) that there was a "wine festival" going on in the "Prater" -- which is a public park that includes an amusement park.  So we went there.  It didn't seem like a wine festival -- it seemed more like a beer festival -- so I Googled it.  It turns out that we walked into "Wiener Wiesn" ("Vienna Oktoberfest") -- only the second year this festival has existed.  Although, just like at Munich's "Oktoberfest," they celebrate their heritage by wearing lederhosen and "pioneer dresses" -- and drinking beer -- the atmosphere is much more subdued than Munich's (as we would later learn).

This year's Wiener Wiesn (September 27 - October 7) boasts 165,000 visitors (we were two of those) and the consumption of 5000 schnitzel and over 22,000 gallons of beer (we were none of those).  There were 3 tents with "traditional" music groups.  This was the most traditional -- the others mixed a little rock and roll with their accordions.

Besides Wiener Wiesn, there was a music festival, called "Waves Vienna" (October 4-7) going on.  Modern bands were playing in several venues outside the Prater (as per my Google search) and we just happened upon this one in front of the Prater U-Bahn station (notice the ferris wheel in the background).  Unbeknownst to us at the time, this is "Dust Covered Carpet" and they have a couple of albums on iTunes.

Graz to Vienna - Wed., 3 Oct 2012

This was a hiking day.  It's only about a two hour drive from Graz to Vienna, but we spent a couple of hours hiking Myra Falls and another 2 or 3 hours hiking to and from Hamilton Castle.

Myra Falls is about an hour southwest of Vienna.  It's about 2000 feet long, but only drops a total of 230 feet, so you have to admire it in several segments (that are each about 20-50 feet in height).  This is one of the lower segments.

This is one of the middle segments.

This is one of the upper segments.  A couple of German-speaking ladies kept trying to get in my pictures (they were successful here), but, by going in October, hardly anyone else was there.

This castle (about 35 minutes southwest of Vienna) is really called "Ruine Rauheneck," but since our former bishop proposed to his wife there, we call it "Hamilton Castle."  It was first built prior to 1130 A.D., but was destroyed by the Serbs in 1477.  It was rebuilt, but then destroyed again in 1529 -- this time by the Turks.  The entrance has a moat (under the bridge in the foreground) and the tower can be seen in the background. 

Although most of the inside is in ruins (hence "Ruine"), it is still very peaceful and fascinating in its beauty and antiquity.

The tower is still intact and the view is incredible.  Part of the castle wall can be seen to the left and another castle can be seen across the valley.

Ljubljana to Graz - Tues., 2 Oct 2012

This may have been our second most picturesque day.  Slovenia is a small country (smaller than Maricopa County in Arizona and less than 4 times the size of Utah County), but it is very photogenic.  Predjama Castle (yesterday's entry) and the pictures below are just a sample.

This is the "Triple Bridge" (or "Tromostovje" in Slovene).  The stone bridge (in the middle where the tour group is) was built in 1842, but because it was narrow and crowded, a pedestrian bridge was built on each side of it in 1931.  Now they are all pedestrian bridges.  The pictures in yesterday's entry were taken from the left side (toward the bridge where the lady has a green bag) and today's picture (2 below) is taken from the right (toward the bridge where the lady has a blue bag).

When the "Dragon Bridge" (or "Zmajski Most" in Slovene) was opened in 1901, it had the third largest arch in Europe at the time.  It was dedicated to the 40-year reign of Franz Joseph I of the Hapsburg Dynasty (hence the 1848-1888 on the side).  There are two green dragons guarding the entrance to each side.  The back of two of them can be seen above.

This picture was taken from the Dragon Bridge -- looking toward the Triple Bridge.  (There is another bridge between them that partially obscures the view.)

Škofja Loka (pronounced Shkohf-ya Loh-ka) has one of the best preserved medieval urban centers in Slovenia.  The column (above the mini-van) was erected in 1751 in thanks for turning away plague and fire.

This stone bridge in Škofja Loka was built in the 14th century.

Looking across Lake Bled ("Blejsko Jezero" in Slovene) to the north, Castle Bled ("Blejski Grad") can be seen.  Parts of the castle date back to 1011.

Looking to the west across Lake Bled, you can see the only natural island in Slovenia.  The church on it was built in the 15th century.

Upon entering Austria, we stopped at a gas station and I snapped this view of Wörthersee (Lake Wörther), which is a 12-mile lake that used to be an exclusive summer retreat for Vienna's nobility -- sometimes referred to as "Austria's Monte Carlo."  Even though "normal" people are now allowed at the resort, we were content to glimpse from afar.

Padova to Ljubljana - Mon., 1 Oct 2012

It's only about an hour and a half drive from Padova, Italy to Slovenia.  In fact the western part of Slovenia was part of Italy from the 1300s to 1947.  Then, Slovenia was part of communist Yugoslavia until 1991 -- when it became independent and democratic.  We were a little apprehensive as to what the current atmosphere would be, but were pleasantly surprised to find out that it is very much like the rural parts of Germany and Austria.

Not only the atmosphere, but also the countryside looks very much like rural Germany or Austria.

Our first stop was the Lipizzaner Stud Farm in Lipica -- where the Lipazzaner breed was first begun in 1581.  The name "Lipizzaner" is the German-ized form of "Lipizza" -- which is the Italian version of "Lipica" (since Lipica was part of Italy at the time).  But, fascinating history aside, Alice just likes to pet the horses.

Our next stop was about 30 minutes away at Predjama Castle.  The original castle was built into this cave in 1274 A.D., but was destroyed by seige and rebuilt in 1511.  The second castle was destroyed by an earthquake, so this is the "modern" castle -- built in 1570. 

We walked through the castle and were even able to climb above the castle -- inside the cave.  The inset (besides obscuring a man who wouldn't get out of my picture) shows the view looking outward.

As if the "castle in a cave" concept weren't fascinating enough, the castle/cave has a river running under it.

We spent the night in Ljubljana (Lə-yoob-lə-yahna) which is the capital and largest city in Slovenia.  It only has a population of 272,000 and has a "small-town" feel.  The view from our hotel window included the top of the Franciscan Church (partially obscured on the left) and the castle.

Ljubljana's town square is beautiful at night -- especially when viewed from this bridge (just southwest of the town square).

Florence to Padova - Sun., 30 Sep 2012

On Sunday, we had planned to attend church in Florence and then drive to Modena on our way to Padova.  Modena is the world's leading producer of Balsamic vinegar -- and Alice LOVES Balsamic vinegar -- so before our trip, I had made a couple of e-mail inquiries about it.  A couple of days before our trip, I got an e-mail from a lady saying she would be happy to show us how they make it in their home and we decided to take her up on it.  So, early Sunday morning, we drove about an hour and a half to church in Modena, but we were having trouble finding it.  Thinking it would be held in a rented office building (like most wards we've attended in Europe), we had parked the car and were looking for it on the wrong side of the road.  I happened to look across the street, further down the road, and voilà:

The Modena Italy Ward

These barrels are kept in the attic of Giorgio and Giovanna Barbieri.  Balsamic vinegar is made purely from grapes -- with no additives whatsoever -- and aged for 12 to 25 years in barrels made of cherry, or juniper, or oak, etc. to give it a specific flavor.

The Prato della Valle (a small portion is shown above) in Padova is the biggest plaza in Italy and one of the biggest in Europe.  After driving from Modena to Padova, we checked into our motel, took our Sunday nap, then walked around the Prato della Valle after dark.

Riomaggiore to Florence - Sat., 29 Sep 2012

This was perhaps our most picturesque day.  The 5 towns (called the "Cinque Terre") are, without a doubt, some of the most beautiful places on earth.  Not only are the towns charming, unusual, and gorgeous, but they're located on hillsides on the Mediterranean, just a few hours drive from the French Riviera.  In fact, the Cinque Terre are often referred to as part of the "Italian Riviera."  Since they are in northern Italy, the heat never gets deadly like it does in southern Italy and -- since they are on the Mediterranean, they never get extremely cold.  Our favorite town is Riomaggiore, which is the southernmost of the five.

To get the best shot of Riomaggiore (this shot), you have to climb way out on the rocks in the harbor -- but it's worth it.  (The first shot was taken from about the location of the person in the red shirt in the lower right of this picture.)

If you climb to the castle (which is just below the Italian Pine trees in the upper left of the top 2 pictures), you can look north toward the other 4 towns (which are all in the bay between the ridge in the foreground and the one in the background).

From the fifth town, Monteroso al Mare, the other four are visible.  Corniglia (the only town without access from the sea) is directly above the boat on the far right.  Vernazza is just above the bow of the boat to its left.  Manarola is visible (to the right of the boat on the far right) and a tiny bit of Riomaggiore can be seen over the ridge from Manarola.

"Il Gigante" ("The Giant") is a 46-foot concrete sculpture (sculpted in 1910) of Neptune at Monterosso al Mare.  Although he lost his arms during allied bombings in World War II, he's still an imposing figure if you compare his size to Alice (standing below).

13 years ago, they were shoring up the Leaning Tower of Pisa, so I couldn't climb it.

This time I climbed it and got a spectacular view.

By the time we got to Florence, the sun was going down.  We drove to Piazzale Michelangelo and got a great nighttime view of the old part of the city.  It was a little too dark for the still camera, but

not too dark for the iPad.