Another way to look at it

In the states when they put up a traffic warning sign (stop ahead, exit at X feet, etc) they go back a round number of feet and erect the sign. In Belgium they put the sign where they have room, then measure how far it is to the thing. In our village, for example, is a school-crossing-ahead sign: 65 meters. My favorite is on the way to the commissary: pedestrian crossing ahead, 62 meters (though it looks like only about 61.5 meters to me).

Spotted Today

Forsythia, daffodils, and crocuses blooming. The endless winter shows signs of ending.

Finding My Roots

The more I read about and saw in Vienna, the more I felt like I was in my grandparents' homeland. I don't know exactly where Grandma and Grandpa Mendl came from, just that wherever it was, it was in the Austro-Hungarian empire. It struck me as probably not coincidental that Grandma and her sister, my Great Aunt Mary, bore the names of Empress Maria Theresa (or María Terézia in Hungarian). So I was especially interested in the Hungarian items in the Hofburg Schatzkammer, or Treasury. We expected to see crown jewels, which we did; what we didn't expect to see were coronation robes, liturgical vestments, reliquaries, and on and on. You may see more about this later - with a Belgian connection.

In the meantime, below you'll see a Hungarian coronation robe and some Hungarian jewelry. Unfortunately I haven't mastered the art of a steady picture-taking hand, so these are a little blurry.

Schloss Schönbrunn

Schönbrunn Palace behind Rita


The Gloriette at Schönbrunn behind David

David and Rita pick another warm and sunny day to tour Europe...

The guidebook says this palace rivals Versailles but I think it might be even more magnificent. We used the audio guides for the tour (well worth it), but of course I remember only bits and pieces. Among those are that Empress Maria Theresa had 16 children and that Empress Elisabeth, the much-younger-than-he wife of Emperor Franz Joseph, was always on a diet to maintain her slim figure, was athletic, had hair that took hours to do, and hated court life. In any case, the 39 rooms we visited were beautifully decorated with lots of gilting and crystal. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures inside or we would have captured the Ultimate Princess Bedroom for Sarah.

Did I say it was cold? It was. Cold and windy, with the snow blowing horizontally. We didn't spend much time in the gardens. Maybe we'll go back in the spring.

History in the making

This is probably not the first image of Vienna you expected to see on our blog. Nevertheless, it made an impression on us.

We had gone to take pictures of some of the grand buildings on the other side of the Hofburg complex, including several in the museum quarter and the Rathaus, when we heard drums and excited voices and saw a crowd gathered waving flags. So we wandered over and realized it was a rally celebrating Kosovo's newly announced - just that day - independence. Like I said, history in the making.

Why Vienna is the greatest city in the world

Bacon-wrapped sausage.

Skyscapes

Belgium is flat. Even the hilly part, the Ardennes (think, Battle of the Bulge), is not all that unflat. As a result, the sky takes on more importance, and you find yourself more sensitive to changes and textures and colors up there than on the ground. Yes, it's cloudy a lot, but as you can see we do get some nice weather. It sweeps in off the Atlantic and the English Channel, and it tends to be quickly changing bands of rain and wind and clear and cloud. I've heard several regions make that old joke about "If you don't like the weather around her just wait 10 minutes." But here in Northern Europe it's true.

Not About Belgium

For those of you who don't know this, my Grandpa Mendl was a bronze chaser, meaning he created molds and cast objects in bronze. We've always had a lot of stuff lying around that he made, from the dinner bell that called us home as kids to the turtle pictured here that until last weekend was brown and dull with the dirt of ages on it. The turtle's shell lifts up to reveal a small receptacle, probably for holding cigarettes. Grandpa made a lot of little ash trays too. so even though I don't remember, I suspect he smoked.

The photo below is one of those ash trays, this one featuring an image of Teddy Roosevelt in quest of a ferocious tiger. The ages have not been kind to this piece; even with a vigourous scrubbing with some pretty powerful brass cleaner, some discoloration remains. Nevertheless, if you've ever seen these pieces in our house, you'll notice a huge difference. Too bad I didn't think to do this sooner!