Assertions by Tressa: Vienna Highlights

Life for us in Vienna became different after the Madduxes left. My title on the trip became less “tourist,” and more “housewife and supporter of science.” Staying the next 3-4 weeks in Vienna meant that we had to learn how to become temporary residents. I spent most mornings shopping for and making lunch for Scott and myself. Then I would take lunch to the museum where we would eat together. Many of my afternoons were spent trying to catch up my blog, shopping, or on an occasional excursion to a museum, or reading in a park or garden. In addition, once a week or so, I would load up all our dirty clothes in my pack and make the 30 minute trek by metro and walking to the wash center to do our laundry. All these daily/weekly activities took up a majority of my time during the weekdays; therefore, I don’t have too many exciting things to report from the last three weeks. However there have been several highlights worth sharing.

Making new friends at church takes the number one highlight slot. We were blessed to meet up with a Bob and Raija Lojek who live in Vienna on our first Sunday, August 2. They are also friends with Jerry and Sara Steele who are close friends of ours in Iowa. Through Facebook, Raija was sweet enough to welcome us to Vienna and invite us to their church on Sunday. We happily accepted their invitation and ended up enjoying bible class and worship there for the next three weeks. Church was always followed by lunch and lively conversation that turned into coffee which usually turned into dinner. They showed us some great places to eat including a great sushi place called Natsu. We ate with them there twice, and went on our own several times as well. We had a blast getting to know them as huge sushi fans, runners, and wonderful people! We had quite a lot in common and many travel stories to share. Getting to spend time with them has been one of the brightest parts of our European travels.

Highlight number two would have to be spending the next Saturday, August 8, at Schoenbrunn Palace with Scott. In my previous blog update I have already explained why I love this particular site and you have already seen pics from my visit. However, Scott was not able to come with us on our last visit, and he didn’t want to miss seeing one of his favorite sites in Vienna. As always we had a great time touring the opulent rooms of the apartments, and strolling though the gardens. I have included a couple pics here.

Highlight three was the next weekend starting on Friday, August 14. Friday was a short day for Scott because the Natural History Museum was doing some fumigation in some of their working areas. This means that he could only work a half day, but the all the exhibits in the museum would still be open. After lunch Scott and I spent the rest of the day re-exploring the exhibits at the Natural History Museum. We had such a great time that afternoon. We took several goofy pictures that I have included. It was nice to just get to play with him all afternoon. If anyone reading this blog gets the opportunity to go to Vienna you must see this museum. I think it has something for everyone even if you’re not into nature. The building itself is worth seeing. Even if it didn’t have excellent exhibits, which it does, it is worth seeing. The architecture and interior decoration are impressive! (yay Franz Joseph and Baroque architecture!)

We spent the next day, Saturday, Aug 15 at the Art History Museum. The building that houses this art collection is a twin of the Natural History Museum, and they face one another with a lovely courtyard in the middle. Overall that area is one of my favorites in Vienna. We spent the whole afternoon looking at the history of Dutch and Italian art. As you may know by now, I am the art fanatic, Scott is not. However, he was sweet enough to go with me, and also to go with an open mind. We had a great time, and he discovered that he likes Dutch artists, while my preference is for Italian ones (duh). Scott is more Rembrandt while I am more Caravaggio.

The following Monday, August 17, while everyone back at Strawberry Hill Elementary in Anamosa, Iowa was beginning a new school year, we took a day trip to Brno in the Czech Republic. Scott had a few important skulls to measure there. There isn’t much to report about this trip. It was just a work trip, and we didn’t get to see anything spectacular. As soon as Scott was done with his work we hopped back on a train to Vienna and were “home” by dinner time. The next weekend would be our last in Europe, but probably our most intense for traveling. Somehow we would have to go to Bucharest, Romania, and Thessalonica, Greece (yes, the one in the Bible), and back to Vienna in order to catch our flight back to Iowa on August 30…wish us luck (I think we’ll need all we can get)!

More pics:

Sushi at Natsu with Bob and Raija