Contrasting the Old with the New

Boats on the Bodensee

These brightly colored boats on the lake in Bregenz were so pretty. One early evening I had to walk part of the way home by myself after dinner at the monestary so I decided to stop and rest there close to where the boats were tied. It was so peaceful watching the sun go down. There were people strolling along the walkway and someone was playing music at the gazebo there on the water.

Up the Hill in Old Bregenz

Lindsey Looking Like a figure from a DaVinci Painting

I miss this Place

Having Fun on Silvretta

Harry cheesin' it up for the camera and Deb Thrall, if I had known we could hike up the mountain that way I might have gone with you!!

The Bavarian Flag

I loved the colorful blue and white flags of Bavaria. I left Munich wishing I had bought something with that pattern on it. I had a second chance when we visited Lindau so I bought a bandana to bring home with me. I keep it close to my bed to remind me of my fabulous trip.

No Words. . . .Dachau

Meal Preparation at the Winery

During our visit to the winery we ate a fabulous meal that was prepared in this massive cast iron skillet. We watched as he mixed vegetables, pasta and seasoning together into a delectable dish that we all enjoyed. This was such a great day.

Lindsey and Me

Waiting for the opera to begin.

The Sound of Music Tour

We visited several of the sites where filming was done for The Sounds of Music. My favorite of course was Mirabell Gardens. The gazebo we saw was only used for a couple of the shots. The rest of the footage was filmed at a second gazebo. Our tour guide told us that they have to keep the gazebo locked because people always wanted to go in and dance on the benches and on more than one occasion someone fell and got hurt.

St. Peters Cathedral Salzburg

Near Mirabell Gardens

I guess everyone who passed this tree sat or attempted to sit on this branch. It was so slick it was nearly impossible to get your backside up on. Jackie tried but just couldn't quite make it. I don't know how I did but I made it and she took my picture. The branch was propped up with a huge concrete pillar.

OK Lindsey and Erin, you need to explain!

Sweet Music in St. Peter's Cathedral

Ahhhh the sights and sounds of Salzburg!!!!

Ohhhh was he good looking . . . I mean good on the guitar!!!

Salzburg, Austria never looked better. ALL of the scenery there was wonderful.

The Exterior of the Catacombs

The Ascent into the Catacombs

These are the early Christian catacombs carved into the rockface above the church cemetary. The final communal crypt LIV (by the catacombs) contains the body of Mozart's sister, Nannerl, an exceptionally gifted musician herself, and the torso of Joseph Haydn's younger brother, Michael (his head is in an urn stored in St. Peter's). Pretty creepy huh!!!

Jackie in the doorway of one of the few rooms in the catacombs

In the Catacombs

Our exit from the Catacombs

Jackie and the Cheese!

Jackie looks quite uneffected by the smell of the Stinky Cheese place.

Let's Talk Cheese!! Stinky Stinky Cheese!!!

This had to be one of the smelliest places I've ever been in my entire life but the cheese was exceptionally good! Not everyone liked the cheese either. I think it was difficult to get past the smell and just enjoy the good taste.

How Cute and Oh so close!!

I thought this was the cutest little car and Oh how brave it's driver must be to park ON the bumper of the car in front. We saw several Smart Cars while in Austria. Can't say that the driver of this car is too smart though. My Aunt Nancy says that you don't have to park a Smart Car, you just pick them up and put them in your purse!

More from the Open Market

Visiting the open market was great. The fresh flowers were what grabbed my attention first but then you couldn't help be amazed at the fresh fruits and vegetables, the fish, meats, olives, and the people.

Another Incredible Sunset on the Lake

The Mayor of Mader's Official Mode of Transportation

The mayor of Mader met us at the elementary school and gave us a tour of the building and grounds. He was so keenly aware of how the building functions and how it was designed to be eco-friendly. They believe that a clean environment makes for good learning. He dooesn't have a car that he drives around town for official business. . . he rides his bike.

Recycling Containers at the School in Mader

A visitor to the recycling containers

While Joe discussed the use of the recycling containers a lady walked up and began to place items in the dumpster.

The Whole Reason We Were There!

The whole reason we were in Austria,Switzerland and Germany was to look at Environmental Sustainability. They are so far ahead of us in how they dispose of their waste. Recycling is a way of life for the people in Bregenz. Around the city are centers where people bring all of their recyclables. Most families will have one small bag (Wal Mart size) of garbage a week. Everything else is recycled. Joe is showing us the recycling location closest to the student center where our classroom was.

Photo Books

Hey I'm happy!!!! I got my first photo book back from the trip and I'm very pleased with the quality. And you won't believe it but I ordered it from CVS. You can put the whole book together with captions at home using their software at CVS.com. It was sent to their store in about four days. If you don't want to scrapbook but are looking for a great way to have a keepsake of the trip this is fab!!! Check it out if you get a chance. Or I could suggest the online lab that I use for my enlargements and prints and that's Mpix.com. They are incredible too although I was a bit disappointed with the last hardback book that I ordered from them. The binding was messed up just a tad. They were more than willing to correct the problem but I wasn't that concerned about it. There's another site that you can check out too that my friend Karen shared with me this morning and that's blurb.com.
I'll be posting some more pictures in the days ahead so if you're not bored out of your gourd stay tuned!!!!

It's getting random now!!

My posting of photos is getting very random now. I tried to stay in sequence as best I could as I sorted through all 2000 shots. I think I did pretty good up to this point. I'm still waiting to hear from some people before I post any photos of them. I chose not to do that without their permission. Everyone you have seen so far gave me that permission. Beth W. sent me a link to her website and she has some wonderful photographs of the places we visited, She and Holly went to Vienna and saw some amazing things there too. I hope that more of our group will share photos so that we can continue to remember this incredible trip.

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Morning Mist

We were up early to leave the mountain and some young men were at the lake with their boats. The mist was heavy but through the mist I caught a glimpse of two of the men rowing across the glass-like surface of the water.

Selvretta at Dusk.