THE FIREMEN COME

The ever growing water stain

  It's a good thing it was such a nice afternoon because the rest of the day was a little stressful.  I woke up to a huge water stain on the ceiling in our kitchen.  No answer at the housemaster's apartment, so I emailed our landlord who lives out of the city.  After a few hours he called to say that the housemaster was on Holiday and his son (who was standing in for him) couldn't be here until 6:00 PM.  The water appeared to be coming from the upstairs apartment, but there was no answer at the door of our 90+ year old neighbor.  The decision was made to call the Fire Dept.  Soon the Firemen arrived (all 6 of them.)  What a sight!

What a nice bunch of guys!   I wished I had baked some chocolate cookies for them!

 They all clopped through the apt. to the kitchen and began scrutinizing the water stained ceiling.  They determined that they would probably have to break down the door of my upstairs neighbor.  Before getting physical they checked several nearby apartments to see if anyone had keys to this apartment  Bingo!  Someone did.  We were all bracing ourselves thinking we might find this elderly woman in a bad state, but she was there and just not hearing the banging on the door.  The problem was not emanating from her apartment, though.  So, another call to the Landlord to figure out what to do now.  Much of the communication was a little hampered by my lack of German, but somehow we managed.  Tomorrow a repairman will come to begin tearing out wall to find the leak.  It could have just waited a few more months and we'd be gone!  

Greg was in the hospital today and got to miss all of the excitement, but he was having his own fun.

Wien Privatklinik (a thirty minute bus ride from our apartment.)

 He had surgery on his knee to remove floating cartilage pieces that have been causing much pain when walking.  In the States it would be out-patient, but in Austria you spend the night and aren't allowed to go home until a visit from a therapist occurs.  Due to the water leak and my persistent cough (leftover from some respiratory crud) I was unable to be with him during surgery.  I arrived at the hospital for a short visit as he was having lunch, which was catered by the Imperial Hotel.  Quite the food!  Definitely unlike any other hospital food I've had the privilege of tasting.  The surgery was at 7:00 AM and they weren't allowing him to stand up until 6:00 PM, at which time the therapist would help him figure out his crutches.  Now, to figure out how to get him home in the midst of repairman and leaks.  I guess he'll just have to call a taxi.  :-) 

ST. STEPHEN'S CATHEDRAL FROM UP HIGH

This afternoon was the grandaddy of all field trips!  Our tour guide was the head architect of Stephansdom.  He was definitely excited to be able to tell us all about the history of Vienna's most famous cathedral.  It was fascinating!  The cathedral first began being constructed in the 1100's.  There is a combination of Gothic and Romanesque architecture.  The people of Vienna grew weary of the drabness of the Gothic style and wanted to change it, but were overruled to just add other architecture for a mix.  It is interesting to look at the ceiling and see the two different styles.  Parts of the cathedral were damaged during the war, not by bombs, but by fires from neighboring stores and buildings.  There was no water to put the fires out and even if there had been water only women and children remained in the city as the men had gone to fight in the war. 

Our tour guide explaining the small replica of Stephansdom that was built several years ago.  The blind are able to feel it and picture in their mind what Stephansdom looks like.

On the outside walls are monuments like this one that has scary faces.  They felt they were keeping the bad spirits away and wanted the inside to be a place of peace and tranquility.

These numbers on the outside of the building during the Nazi time stood for Osterreich (Austria.)  The O for the beginning letter and the 5 stood for the fifth letter of the alphabet.  Symbols were kind of a code for the people to be able to hold things that were dear to Christians in time of persecution and war.

We were led through a dark, dank narrow passage to climb  winding stairs that went up to a level that used to be a roof.

This was the elevator we rode to go a little higher.  It was a circular, very small elevator and we were crammed in like sardines.  I've overcome much of my "elevator trepidation" living here.  Still we were only 1/6th the height of the highest point of the dome.

This was what we saw when exiting the elevator.  It is a hole with a sliding door that opens to reveal the floor level.

Looking through the hole.  As you can judge by the two people, it is a long way down.

Walking the catwalk way up. 

I love this look of pure joy on Jenny's face as she snaps pictures.

See the larger window through the buildings?  This is my friend, Mary's apartment window, viewed from Stephansdom up high 

 

Down below.

The roof tiles that were added in more recent years.

Getting up close and personal with the organ.  I've only seen these giant pipes from great distances.

 

Love these spiral staircases inside.

The front of the cathedral is now scaffolding-free.  Our guide said that if there comes a day when there is no scaffolding on Stephansdom then it will be bad times.  Scaffolding present means that there is money available for renovation.

We felt so blessed to be able to take advantage of this tour as it is very rare to go into the places we were privileged to see.  Afterwards we walked in the cold to one of those classic Vienna coffee shops.  It was nice to end a perfect afternoon with the cozy experience of a cup of Viennese coffee and a yummy apfel strudel. 

WE DID IT!

The Petrina, our boat.  The boat ( primarily from oak wood) was built on the island of Hvar in 1887.  The owners are from Vienna and were on the boat for part of the trip.  They seemed to enjoy  getting to know all of us. 

 What a great week!  It was probably one of the most challenging weeks of my life.  I never imagined that at age 60 (well, almost!) I would be doing bike rides like this, especially in such a beautiful country.  There are so many highlights of this trip that it is difficult to cover them all.  We loved getting to know all of the great people on board.  There were those in their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and even 70s and all levels of biking.  Some had no trouble getting up those hills, but were very cautious on the downhills and others whizzed down the hills, but not so quick getting up them.  I know one thing for sure: I was much stronger and more confident by the end of the week. All in all it was a great week with a great crew, good food, and a fabulous bunch of people from some very interesting places.   This trip will not be soon forgotten!

PICTURES THAT NEED NO WORDS