Here are more pictures from our trip, all of Austria. The United Nations where Bernie and I are standing, the view from Leopoldsberg overlooking the Danube River, cobblestones to make the road while we were in the Wiener Wald (which is the Vienna Forrest), the monastary from Mehlk (sp?), an inside view of the paintings on the ceiling..14th century, our delightful icecream dessert from Tichy's. These are just a few of the many pictures we have.

Peggy, I'm sure I have repeats of yours. PS I also want to tag you to list 8 random things about yourself. Write soon.

Eight Random Things About Myself...

I've been tagged by Natalie so here goes. I've so enjoyed reading the random things about my daughters and their friends and, I'm a little unsure of what my response would be.

1. I so admired, respected, and loved my grandfather on my mother's side. He lived with us off and on while I was growing up. He helped by always fixing and repairing things around our home. He never complained and he made us all laugh. He was sweet and sensitive. He even baked homemade rolls for us. When we got home from school, he would have a warm snack ready for us. In some ways, Bernie reminds me of my grandfather because he is incredibly handy and can fix, build, and repair almost anything.

2. We have been blessed with four wonderful children who taught me much about myself. I didn't know anything about raising kids since I was the first to get married in my family. Little by little and with God's help and grace, Bernie and I have thoroughly enjoyed parenting. Laughter and a sense of humor sure does help.

3. I used to be awkward and completely unassertive. When we were building our duplex, Bernie was gone a good part of the time. I would take the three girls who were, Natalie an infant, Gretchen a 3 yr old and Bridgette a 4 yr old to Pay N Pak to buy lighting fixtures or whatever. Sometimes it was very busy and chaotic. I also had to deal with hiring a carpet layer, talk to the contractor, find someone to install the vinyl and choose the colors and patterns etc. going to the different stores. It brought me out of my shell so to speak because of necessity.

4. I love dark chocolate and I really do enjoy hazelnut and coffee icecream.

5. I think my mom and my sisters are some of the best cooks ever.

6. I used to be so scared when the kids rode their bicycyles close to the edge of the white line and also when we rode over the overpass it used to freak me out. I have a fear of heights. Also I hate it when Bernie gets on a high ladder to hang windows or do whatever. I have to close my eyes.

7. I love to ride on the back of the motorcycle with Bernie. He's such a good driver. We have this great intercom system and listen to music or talk. It helps if its a nice day. I don't like it if he goes too fast and I let him know it.

8. My mom is one of my greatest heroes. She gives of her time and talent always and her policy is open heart - open home. She loves to entertain and so do I. She always told me if you want your house to get cleaned, invite someone over. She's right!!

9. This is a bonus. Grandparenting is the best. Our grandkids are so smart, cute, funny and beautiful. We absolutely think the world of Emme, Levi, Finn, and Greta. I pray we will be good grandparents.

I forgot that I need to tag someone so I tag DeEtta, Ramona, and Susie. So let's hear from you ladies!!

Our Big Fat Greek Vacation 2007

I don't know why these pictures posted twice...They are from Greece again. The pictures of Bernie and I standing near the wall of the ancient monastary buit in the 14th century high upon a mountain ledge bordering the deep canyon. We hiked up and down to get to where it was built. It was so cleverly hidden from their enemy, the Turkish Moslems who were always attacking them. The painting on the wall was actually painted where monks had built a church. The church was down lower than the monastary itself.

Tom and Mom are standing side by side with the exact same pose..the pose you do when you're entirely hot and sweaty.

Bernie took a fantastic photo of a hummingbird sipping nectar from those beautiful flowers after dinner one evening. The last one is of the rock houses they build in mountains. Everything is built from rock, structure, roof, steps, etc. The hotel owner told us, nowadays they cannot use rock from their own country Greece but must import stone in from Albania, their neighbors.

T

Second Edition - Austria/Greece 2007

The first photo is of the Riesenrad which is the world's largest ferris wheel located in Vienna. The cars are very large which hold approximately 20-30 people. It is veeerrrry slow. The park which is called the Prater just celebrated it's 100th anniversary.

The other photos are of us just getting into Greece. Bernie is pointing at a lemon tree alongside a beautiful flowering vine. The two bathing beauties are of Peggy and Mom. Another world's largest is the canyon you see pictured here out of the Zagori area. It is the deepest, narrowest, gorge in the world. It was breathtaking. We drove up and zigzagged around for miles on end until we reached the top. The weather up in the mountains was somewhat cooler which was nice.

Wunderschoen! Ausgesichnet! Tol! Aufwiedersehen Wien und Griechenland!

We're home after a memorable three week vacation to Vienna and Greece. It was Bernie's first time to Vienna, Austria and my first trip to Greece. We visited museums, palaces and gardens, downtown, churches, relatives, and many restaurants the first week in Vienna along with Tom, Peggy and Anthony, and of course, Mom.

The second week was quite an adventure visiting Greece. We flew in to the island of Korfu located on the northwestern coast of Greece bordering Albania. From there, we ferried on to the mainland landing in Ecumenista. The climate is quite warm and is sort of tropical with palm trees and loads of fruit trees. The palm trees sort of surprised me for some reason. We saw orange, lemon, pomagranite, fig, olive, and many other fruit bearing trees. The terrain was mountainous and we got into some very rocky areas. The food was exceptional...souvlaki and gyros, fresh baked goods every morning and delicious desserts. The water is absolutely sparkling turquoise and clean unlike some areas in Mexico and Hawaii. Mom had arranged travel through a travel agency called, Fly, Drive, and Sleep. It consisted of renting a car and travelling to our destination town or village through mountains and coasts, finding the location and spending either the night or two nights in a pre-arranged hotel.
Bernie was quite the driver leading the way in our small Kia and Peggy being the second driver following in her tiny Chevrolet. We saw castles, fortresses, Roman ruins i.e. the ancient Roman stadiums, Acropollis, churches and monastaries from the 14th century. The Romans worshipped many gods but the particular area we were in, they worshipped mother earth and the oak tree. Kind of like many people today.

All in all, I'm so gratefulto God for this opportunity to have visited and experienced this vacation with Mom and family. Without her, it would not have happened. More pictures and stories to follow.

"To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven..." Ecclesiastes 3:1