Until Next Time…

Today was our last day in Vienna.  It started out with a walk around the inner city before breakfast.  We noticed some police cars driving down the pedestrian streets which I have never seen in all my times here.  Then we noticed some policemen walking fast towards the church.  Next we see that a helicopter flew very low to the city.  We decide to head back to our hotel for breakfast when we notice saw a large crowd by the church and the helicopter landing in the middle of the city.  We walked over there to see what was happening and they had an area blocked off.  The helicopter was life flight and they moved a person from an ambulance to the helicopter.  I still can’t believe that they were able to land a helicopter in that small space.  Hopefully the person is OK.  The helicopter took off which of course blew over plants and was very windy to be that close.

We went to Schönbrunn park, the Naschmarkt (outdoor market) and then ate schnitzel.   It was a great day, but now I must focus on packing.  I do look forward to being back home and having a shower that has hot water, and I don’t have to hold the shower head.  I had a great trip and look forward to my next travels…where ever that might be.

Emu at SchönbrunnSONY DSC lederhosenSONY DSC

Vienna at night

We flew from Slovenia to Vienna, Austria.  The flight was  on a little airplane with about 12 rows.  It was surprising how smooth the flight was considering we had to fly over the mountains, and it was stormy.  On our way into Vienna I thought I saw lightning and shortly after our little plane hit some turbulence that made our plane go back and forth.  Looked like our wings were trying to wave.  I haven’t experienced turbulence where it feels like our plane is going to sideways.

We made our way to our hotel in the middle of Vienna.  We headed out right away to try to find dinner since it was already 8:00 PM.  The place we wanted to eat had at least an hour wait so we decided to get a sausage from a good stand nearby.  We then walked around for awhile and I tried taking some photos at night.  I took some photos of some cakes, city hall and Stephansdom.  It was a good start to my favorite city.

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Lake Bled, Slovenia

We drove from Rovinj, Croatia to Lake Bled, Slovenia.  I was thinking this would be an easy drive and not much traffic.  It was easy until we reached the border.  It took us about 45 minutes to cross the border.  I was just happy that it was downhill or else I would have been in trouble with the manual car.  Most of the drivers were European Union citizens so they were able to just wave a little card and go through.  I had to go in the non-EU line which was slower.  They asked the passports and then just stand around and talk to their buddies while they hold up the line.  Finally he looked at the passports and then asked me where I was going.  I said Lake Bled but he didn’t understand where I was going.  He asked if I was driving a rental car and if I had my international drivers license.  I have never been asked for this card but I did have it…somewhere.  As we hurry to try to find the card, he hands me back our passports and said we can go.  I can’t imagine how slow this line is in the summer.

Lake Bled was as peaceful as I remember.  It was raining but we were still able to walk around.  Last year, we didn’t manage to have time to take the boat out to the island to see the famous church that people like to get married in.  We had plenty of time on Friday since our flight didn’t leave until 18:00.  It takes a half an hour each way on the boat and you get 30 minute on the island.  The 99 stairs up to the church are steep and hard to imagine that a groom has to carry their bride up those stairs.  There is a rope in the middle of the church that you can pull 3 times to make the wishing bell ring.  I really wanted to swing on the rope like Julia Roberts does in Runaway Bride but since there was a sign that said you can’t do that I just pulled the rope.  We finished our boat trip and grabbed some pizza before heading to the airport.

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Closing Thoughts Croatia

Today, was our last day in Croatia.  We will be driving from Rovinj to Lake Bled, Slovenia.  This morning there was thunder over the sea and dark clouds but it seems like the rain stays over the sea in Rovinj.  I enjoyed visiting Croatia and learned more on this trip about recent history than I knew before.  Croatia is planning on joining the EU this July, and I wonder how things will change over the next couple of years.

They build their chimneys to look like little houses in Istria.
Rovinj SONY DSC This was our view this morning from our balcony.  Kind of a sea view but funny in the description of the place they didn’t mention or show a cell tower in the photo.SONY DSCThis house was very creative with their planters.  It is made out of little rocks and seashells.
IMG_0433 I didn’t try this cafe but I like that they use the stairs as part of their seats by using cushions.IMG_0434