September 14 - 257/365

50mm lens, f/1.8, 1/30, ISO 800

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May 18 - 138/365

18-55mm lens @ 33mm, f/10, 1/200, ISO 200

Our second day in Vienna was spent touring three of its amazing palaces - the Hofbug, Schönbrunn, and Belvedere. The Hofburg was the regular home of the Hapsburg royalty, and the Schönbrunn just outside of the downtown area was their summer home (away from the stench of the city in the summer heat). This photo was taken at the last palace we visited, the Belvedere, which was the summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy. Eugene was initially rejected from the French court of Louis XIV because he was "short and ugly", so he instead offered his military service to the Austrian Hapsburgs where he went on to become one of the most successful military commanders in modern European history. This photo is of the view Prince Eugene enjoyed of the city of Vienna from the Belvedere... not bad, huh? :-)

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May 17 - 137/365

18-55mm lens @ 18mm, f/5, 1/25, ISO 800

After one night in "Sound of Music" country, we made the long drive from Obertraun to Austria's most famous location, Vienna. We had been anticipating the beauty of Vienna and were surprised at the enormous size of the city and the surprising modernity of it. There were indeed many elaborate baroque style buildings, and of course the famous Hofburg palace which we toured the following day, but still it was not the jolt back in history that we had suspected. Still, we enjoyed touring the elaborately decorated palaces of Emperor Franz Josef and his troubled wife, Sisi, and sipping coffee in Vienna's high ceiling plus cafes. Today's image is of one of the churches that we stopped in to see in Vienna, Augustiner Kirche, a great example of the amazing Gothic architecture that was so prevalent in both Germany and Austria. It was also the site for many royal weddings, including the wedding of Franz Josef and Sisi, and the French Emperor Napolean to the Austrian Princess Marie Lousie. I especially loved this church because of the beautiful golden chandeliers.

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May 16 - 136/365

18-55mm lens @ 32mm, f/5, 1/40, ISO 200

"The hills are alive....." Welcome to Salzkammergut, the Lake Region of Austria, also fondly called "Sound of Music" country since it is the region that best represents the beautiful countryside featured in the movie. Since my husband is NOT a big fan of musicals (in fact, he almost abhors them), we did not spend time touring the "Sound of Music" sights, but we did stay one night in the lake region. This image is of a town called Hallstatt, and the town we stayed the night in, Obertraun, was just 5 minutes away across the lake. Despite the gloomy weather that was continuing to plague us, we enjoyed the beautiful views of the alpine villages set on the lake with the majestic mountains jutting up in the background. These towns were also well known for serving fish freshly caught in the lake, so we welcomed the opportunity to take a break from our pork-focused diet. Hallstatt is also known for its large salt mines which has been a huge source of income for the town for thousands of years, but unfortunately we arrived in town too late to take a tour of the mines. Still, we enjoyed the serenity and beauty of the Salzkammergut.

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May 10 - 130/365

18-55mm lens @ 24mm, f/4, 1/13, ISO 100

We move from beer to cuckoo clocks, a product that is best known in the Black Forest region of Germany. We had finished up a 2-night stay in Baden-Baden and spent the next rainy, foggy day driving through the actual "Black Forest", called the Schwarzwalder in German, to our final destination for the day of Fussen. On our way from Baden-Baden to Fussen, we decided to stop in a small town called Triberg for a picnic lunch where we spotted a store that boasted it contained "100,000 clocks"! It was a total tourist trap, and we knew it, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see that many clocks at once.... and it did not disappoint. :-) Of course I had to take a shot of the plethora of cuckoo clocks we saw there.  Good thing the store didn't have them all set to go off at the same time!

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May 9 - 129/365

18-55mm lens @ 18mm, f/3.5, 1/6, ISO 800

The word "Germany" brings certain items/images to mind.... sausage, sauerkraut, castles, cuckoo clocks.... and of course, beer. LOTS of beer. At this point in our trip, we hadn't tried much beer. We had been sampling more wine than beer since we were in a region known for their wine. Not to mention that we hadn't been able to enjoy any biergartens since the weather was cold and wet and not good for sitting outside. So for our second dinner in the town of Baden-Baden in the Black Forest region of Germany, we asked our waiter which beer to try, unsure of which kind to try first. The next thing we knew, our young German waiter [who spoke good English] brought us a tray of beer "samples", which he ultimately did not charge us for. We tried Pilsners, Marzens, Dunkels, Hefewizens, IPAs..... probably one or two others that I can't remember. We loved them all. Of course we had our favorites, with the unfiltered Hefewizens being our #1 favorite throughout our trip. But the best part was the experience of talking to the waiter, being treated to a sampling of every local beer they had to offer, and enjoying a great meal of pretzels, sausages, sauerkraut, and other traditional German foods after a great day in the baths of Baden-Baden.

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May 8 - 128/365

18-55mm lens @ 55mm, f/8, 1/125, ISO 200

Nurburgring.... the king of all race tracks. So my husband tells me, because he is the car fanatic and I am the chocolate/shopping fanatic. :-) This is the most dangerous race track in the world, earning it the nickname "The Green Hell" and serving as the major benchmark for testing the performance of newly manufactured cars. Nurburgring was also one of the most anticipated attractions in Germany for my husband, who would have done anything to take a fast car around this track for a few laps. Unfortunately, that experience was not meant to happen for us that day for a number of logistical reasons that I won't bother explaining here. But he did get to drive a Lotus to tour the track that afternoon, where we got a personalized tour of the track up and close, watching lots of cars that were practicing for an upcoming "24 hours" race. It was amazing to see these cars whip around some of the turns on this track, trying to go as fast as possible but also follow certain "rules" that earned them points for staying within lines, hugging curves a certain way, etc [don't ask me.... I don't entirely get it :-P]. It was quite an experience to see, but I made sure to remind my husband of the entire afternoon I spent with him at the racetrack when I was ready to do some shopping in the next town. :-)

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April 23 - 113/365

28-135mm lens @ 130mm, f/5.6, 1/8, ISO 400

The countdown to our trip to Germany and Austria is on! Just a little over a week before we head overseas, provided there is no more volcanic chaos.... So we have started getting some of the last minute details ready for the trip. And one of the most important details for an overseas trip? Money. I found this nice stash of Euros that we had never exchanged back into US Dollars after our trip to Italy/Greece last year, so it will definitely be helpful this time around, too. Kind of looks like funny money, doesn't it? So much more colorful than US Dollars!

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