Our New Year's Letter

1 January 2012 found us in Kona, Hawaii, celebrating Christmas and ringing in the New Year with our family and good friends George, Diane, and Susie Pittman. We knew that Scott and I were headed to England. Scott was to leave at the end of the month and I would follow him in March. What we didn't quite understand was just how different our new home would be, and how many amazing adventures we would have in the months to come.

In 2012 we celebrated 2 weddings! Jennie and Zach were married in Iowa in March and then Katie and Chris married in Chicago in June. Both occasions were great fun and we were really thrilled to be able to celebrate with family and friends.

Dan overcame several obstacles including a broken leg which had him pretty much in bed for 2 months during the summer of 2011, and a job that caused him to work long, long hours, to receive his M.B.A. from Drexel University in May. He has since changed jobs and is now working at Princeton University. No one is more proud of him than Scott and I!

Moving to England has given us an opportunity to do some travelling. We have been to Scotland, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, and, of course, England! We have seen more castles and churches than we can count and learned more history than we'd ever imagined! We have been awed by two different sets of stone circles, roamed through Roman baths, and walked on Hadrian's Wall. We've had pizza in Naples, beef wellington in London, and weiner schnitzel in Vienna. We've come to love French wine and appreciate button key music. We've looked for 'Nessie at Loch Ness, stood at the floor of the Colosseum in Rome, and roamed the halls of The Louvre. Scott has learned to appreciate Monet and Degas and I am working on being more appreciative of modern art.

Along the way we have met some really great people! Each day we are finding more and more to appreciate about England, from the beauty of the lakes and fells to the "keep calm and carry on" spirit of the Brits.

Trafalgar Square at Christmas

It has been an amazing adventure!

As 2013 begins we know that Dan and Jamie are engaged, and are planning a wedding in May of 2014. We are also anxiously anticipating the birth of our first grandchild. Jennie and Zach are expecting a little boy in May. We are excited about the year to come and are hopeful that we will have some more visitors here in England.

As we reflect on 2012, and look forward to 2013, we can certainly say God has been good to our family. We have been truly blessed.

Vienna: Schönbrunn Palace

 On our last full day in Vienna Scott and I decided to visit Schonbrunn Palace. The palace itself has 1441 rooms and was used by various members of the Habsburg family as their imperial summer residence. We took a short taxi ride to
reach the Palace and grounds and enjoyed an audio tour of some of the rooms inside this massive structure. The Palace was quite impressive on it's own, but the gardens include a Desert House, a Palm House, and even a zoo! After spending an hour or so touring the Palace we set off through the gardens to see the rest.

We were in the midst of a cold downpour, so we gratefully ducked inside the Palm House first thing.

The Palm House

Inside The Palm House we found lots of beautiful flowers and plants. While we thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful flowering plants, the palm trees made us wistful for the warm tropical breezes of Hawaii.

The rain had let up a bit by the time we finished the Desert House and the Palm House, so we decided to head for the zoo. Mind, we are still on the grounds of the Schonbrunn Palace! Right away I spotted the house for the panda bears and we did manage to see them, sort of. They were all curled up in a ball snoozing away in the trees! It seemed as if several different species of animals had been moved to somewhere warmer for the winter, but we did find lots of creatures like these beautiful animals.

Within the zoo compound we came across an exhibit that included fish, turtles, snakes, and lizards. We were quite chilled from the cold misty rain so we were happy to spend some time in here warming up and checking out the exhibit.

We found these guys outside the exhibit. I've always associated flamingoes with warmth and sunshine,
but these guys didn't seem to mind the cold rain a bit.

Sadly, it was time to return to England where the weather was warmer, although definitely no drier. We will always remember the Christmas we spent in Austria. The warmth of the people, the food, the lights, and the breathtaking Alps will be a memory we treasure always. 

Austria: The food, the lights, and the fun!

If Austria had a national food it would have to be either weiner schnitzel or gulasch. In each restaurant we went to we asked what their special dish was, and invariably the answer was weiner schnitzel.  During our week in Austria Scott and I sampled lots of  weiner schnitzel and we can say that we enjoyed trying some authentic Austrian cuisine. On our second night in Vienna we were directed by our hotel to a little restaurant which was actually located under the Albertina for dinner. During the course of our meal we were serenaded by a gentleman and his button key instrument.

Yes, he pulled a chair up at the end of our table, sat down, and began to play and sing.

Not positive, but I believe there is some weiner schnitzel on that table somewhere!

One thing that stood out to us, though, were the shops filled with sweets. The most famous, Demel, is located in Vienna. We had heard of this shop several times from a couple of sets of friends, and it was mentioned as a "don't miss" in our tour book about Austria. We decided to check it out one morning and, after seeing the incredible array of treats we decided to return in the late afternoon for tea. 

Yummy!

The cafe at Demel had some beautiful crystal chandeliers. This is some of the detail on one of them.

The Christmas lights in Vienna were beautiful, so we thought we'd share :)

Vienna

Vienna, or Wein as it's called in Austria, is the capital and largest city in Austria. It is not far from Salzburg, just about 3 hours by train, and we planned to spend the last few days of our Christmas holiday exploring this beautiful city. Nicknamed "The City of Music", Vienna has bee the home of Mozart, Strauss (both Johann I and Johann II), Hayden, Schubert, Beethoven, and Brahms, to name just a few. We had a wonderful time walking the streets stopping to peek inside St. Stephensdom Cathedral and wandering through several museums. We were also able to spend some time at one of the training sessions for the famous Lippenzer stallions. It was still Christmas week, so just being there amidst the crowds enjoying the beautiful Christmas lights and decorations was lots of fun.

We knew of Vienna's music reputation, so we booked a concert: "Sound of Vienna". What a great experience! We were treated to some beautiful classical pieces sprinkled with a few Christmas Carols. In addition to the orchestra, there were a couple of numbers interpreted with ballet, and a couple of numbers included some light opera, performed by very capable singers.

Crystal chandeliers are quite common throughout Austria, and this one in a ballroom

of the Kursalon Wien was really beautiful!

Part of the orchestra entertaining us.

Just a block or two down the street from our hotel, and right in the centre of Vienna, is the beautiful St. Stephensdom, or St. Stephen's Cathedral. The first thing we noticed was the amazing roof which consists of about 260,000 glazed tiles. Pictured in the tiles are a double headed eagle, the symbol for the Habsburg dynasty, and the coats of arms for the City of Vienna and the Republic of Austria. The inside of the landmark is equally breathtaking! Whilst this cathedral was threatened 

during WWII, it was saved from destruction as the commander instructed to destroy it disregarded his orders and left the cathedral standing. Unfortunately, civilian looters set nearby buildings afire as the Russians entered Vienna, and the winds pushed the fire into the cathedral. The entire city of Vienna came together to repair their beautiful cathedral and seven years later, in 1952, it was fully reopened.

This is the Kursalon Wien. Built in the mid-1800's this building has been used fordances and concerts almost from the start. Many of the concerts were conducted

by Johann Strauss, or by his brother Eduard. This is where we went for the concert.

Restoration work, including cleaning years of soot and pollution, is going on
now at the cathedral.

Inside the beautiful St. Stephansdom in Vienna

Scott and I started our first full day in Vienna by just walking around. We had a general idea of where we wanted to go, and what we wanted to see, so we headed off. After the St. Stephensdom we found our way to the Spanish Riding School, famous for the Lipizzan Horses. We were able to buy tickets to watch their morning training exercises. The horses were quite beautiful to watch. No photos allowed in here, but Scott kindly took a photo of a postcard.

Vienna is also famous for world class museums, and we were able to enjoy two of them, the Kunsthistorisches (art history museum)  and the Albertina. Kunsthistorisches houses the collections of the Imperial Habsburg family and includes works by Raphael, Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Titian along with many others. There is also a large collection of Egyptian and Near East works. The building itself, built in 1891 for it's current purpose, is amazing. 

      This is the entrance to the Kunsthistorisches. 

Each area of this museum was designed to show off a specific
collection of art. This is the inside of the dome. 

The ground level of the dome is a cafe. We enjoyed a nice lunch and cafe Mozart
whilst enjoying the beautiful architectural detail and art around us!

We came across several artists who were copying the paintings of the masters.

The second museum we visited was the Albertina. The Albertina houses an extensive collection of print and graphic arts, as well as a collection of impressionistic and early 20th century art. We had a nice time looking at the artwork on display in this museum as well.

Here are a couple more of the beautiful buildings of Vienna......

City Hall - There had been a large Advent market here, but it was in the process of being
dismantled when Scott and I visited. We think they were taking down Christmas to
prepare for a New Year's Eve celebration.

The "porch" at City Hall

City Hall at Sunset