Some favorite photos

We walked up and down this hill many times between the hostel and town. The foggy greyness was with us for most of the first week.

Mondsee countryside.

The Basilica at Mondsee. St Michael is the patron.

A funeral procession.

Box lunch sandwich made us laugh.

A tunnel on the road to Eagle's Nest.

The canal which brings water to Salzburg.

The Mondsee basilica at night.

Mallards and a duck with lovely tail feathers in a pond in front of one of the numerous palaces.

Across the Danube.

Folks in photo teased me about the computer store.

From one country to another across the Danube.

Parliament in Budapest.

Chain Bridge in Budapest.

Now it is time to put Austria behind me and get on with life. sniff.

From the ridiculous to the sublime

This was our room in the youth hostel in Mondsee. Roomie was Joan here.

This was our room in Vienna. Roomie was Shelly. That was confusing especially for me.

(This isn't my roomie.)

In Budapest we were back to a traditional hotel room. I didn't take a photo.

People

These are some of the photos of people I took. The first is waltzing on the sightseeing boat on Lake Mondsee. Note the camera waiting. When asked what she does with her photos, she said nothing. Pretty much true for lots of us. But I did find my Vienna roomie in one of my Vancouver photos. We didn't even know we were there together in June.

Two new friends.Water bridge at Hellbrun Castle.

Listening to the tour guide. We clumped like this often. Lovely weather we had. Ugh.

My first week roommate and I at Eagle's Nest.

Illinois friends and more at Eagles Nest.

Waiting, waiting, waiting. In this case for rehearsal to begin. At least we could sit down.

Our conductor.

A common sight as we all poured over maps of Vienna and Budapest constantly.

Ducky travels everywhere.

This ice cream cone was gorgeous. Petals like a flower.

Gals at a mountaintop stop for a view of the Danube.

More folks at that stop with the Danube in the background.

The retired teachers who included me in their group. My 2nd week roomie on the left.

There was a mirror above us.And more photo takers.

Candles

Upon hearing of my upcoming adventures, the Senior Warden at Holy Cross in North East asked if I would light a candle for the church in the cathedral in Salzburg, Austria where we would be singing mass. Well, I lit candles for Holy Cross in the Basilica of St Michael in Mondsee, the Salzburg Cathedral (Salzburger Dom), St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, St Stephen's Basilica in Budapest and the Esztergom Basilica.

My favorite was in St Peter's in Vienna. Holy Cross's candle is the one on the bottom row on the right. This is the archangel shrine with my friend Michael flying above. The statues are Raphael and Gabriel. We sang mass and a short concert here on 24 September.

Late lily

I was surprised to see this daylily blooming outside my front door when I got home. It was part of an exchange last fall. It lived in the house all winter in a pot and wasn't planted outside until late spring. I wondered if it would survive at all. Obviously it did. A pleasant surprise.

Finally - hallelujah!

For those of you who have followed my adventures all year, there is exceptionally good news. I came home with my wallet intact. Well, I don't exactly have a wallet now. But I didn't lose it this trip.

In January, my wallet disappeared after I got home from Spain - somewhere between picking the car up and getting home. In June, my wallet fell out of my pocket in the Toronto airport. Fortunately I was able to recover it almost immediately. In August I left my wallet in a restroom in the Columbus, OH airport.

Now I'm carrying a purse which I hate to do but this one is relatively small, has compartments for the iPhone and camera and can be over my shoulder or around my waist. So far it has worked.

Partway home

I'm now back on US soil tho I won't be home till sometime tomorrow. I'll be happy to get back to the recliner with the Macbook BUT I already miss new friends I may never see again. Two weeks with the same people can foster strong bonding. sigh.

Will have lots of photos to blog but may need some incentive so push me.

Friday shuffle

1. Moonlight in Vermont - jimmy Bruno
2. Guilmant: melody in G - roger nyquist
3. Schubert: mass 2, agnus dei - dawn upshaw
4. Craz - patsy kline
5. The model church- the bluegrass album band
6. Gabrieli: Magnificat- chanticleer
7. Papirosn - jowel klezmorim
8. Mendelssohn: ave maria - corydon singers
9. Summer wind - monte Alexander
10. Willie and laura Mae jones - dusty Springfield

Blogging from the iPhone is not the easiest thing to do. I am not bothering with links obviously. Next Friday I will be home. Halleluia.

Budapest 2

walked at least 20 miles today. At least from st stephens down along the Danube to the market then to the hungaria hotel with a couple from Connecticut.

Funny meeting familiar faces here.

In case anyone is curious, I can't get my primary email here. My hotmail account works.

blogging from budapest

the hydrofoil was really fast but noisy. Had long delay at a lock which made us quite late. Traffic here is nuts. First impression is grey, dishevelled and ugly. Had hard time figuring out where pedestrians cross. Had great supper. Now we have our first night in the same room. Sigh. Back to reality. Laundry and all.

Last day in austria

yesterday was schoenbrunn palace day. Two of us went to another museum after while the shell(e)ys wandered around town. We found the concert church, lit another candle and checked out a fancy glass place.

Roommate and friends are trying to figure out the ubahn stops. They are going to the flohmarkt. I am taking a vacation from people, packing and catching up with the news. We sing mass and a 20 minute concert at St Peters this afternoon then have a banquet. Very early tomorrow we catch the hydrofoil for Budapest. No idea what we will get into there except the two shell(e)ys will no longer have "private" bedrooms. Her light was on at 4 this morning and I was obviously also awake.

I am tired of cigarette smoke!!! I had a terrible sore throat yesterday and thought I was getting sick but apparently not. Am tired enough tho.

We had enough Austrian food in mondsee and have eaten Egyptian and Mexican food. LOL.

I'm looking forward to going home. And getting reliable internet access. Argh

one down, one to go

tonight the concert went very well. Tomorrow we sing mass at the Dom. Then it is on to Vienna. Having a very special but slightly confused time.

No Friday cats or shuffle

At 2€ for 24 minutes, I will not try to blog Friday stuff. I will just say Hi and all is going well here in Mondsee. The week is going all too fast. The concert should be excellent. The mass is a little iffy. The folks going to Vienna seem be among the best singers in the group. That is good. Hope you are all as well and happy as I am tho I wish I had laundry equipment!!!

all ok

having fun. Great roomie. No wifi. Very expensive Internet. 3 cafes for 184 people. Hugs.

The first phase of a journey

It was a long, wet, stressful drive from home to Newark today. At times the rain was so hard that I had trouble hearing the radio. Lots of traffic including some really slow drivers who held everybody up. Then it took 45 minutes to find the hotel because the directions were wrong. But the party this evening with a portion of the OCICBW clan made it all worth it. I'm not doing photos but others will eventually. Check Telling Secrets. I'm too tired to care at the moment but those people sure are fun to be with.

Don't know about blogging for the next two weeks. I'm off to Mondsee, Austria tomorrow for a week of singing with the Berkshire Choral Festival then a few days in Vienna and Budapest.

Friday shuffle

Actually it is my iPhone now but I haven't taken a photo of it yet.

1. Lilies in the Moonlight Polka
2. Strauss: Drei Männerchöre, Vor Den Türen - Chanticleer
3. Bruckner: Ecce Sacerdos Magnus
4. Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto#2 C minor - Lang Lang
5. Whatever Will Be, Will Be - Doris Day
6. A Million to One - Jimmy Charles
7. Clarke: Trumpet Voluntary
8. Handel: Israel in Egypt, And in the Greatness... - Taverner
9. PDQ Bach: Intro to Echo Sonata for Two Unfriendly Instruments
10. Torroba: Concerto de Malaga - Pepe Romero

I'm too tired and too lazy to try to link any of these.

Back to politics briefly

A great source for links to admittedly liberal political commentary is the blog Just Another Black Sheep. A satire which will offend many but is very well done is Jesus Christ quits Christianity after viewing Republican Platform.

Daily Episcopalian has a piece on Christianists which resonates with me, as the expression goes.

As I've written and said before, what is it about loving God, loving others, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, etc. that so many "Christians" don't understand? Are their Bibles missing the Gospels?

I'm not really a far left Democrat but I'm certainly not one of these Republicans and admit I don't understand them or their reasoning.

Remembering the day

There are many remembrances of 9/11 on the blogs. Two remembering a special "saint" are here and here. One who was nearby is Counterlight. My favorite is GAFCON's.

Prayers for all who still have difficulty dealing with the reality of religion turned against its supposed source. It's enough to drive thinking people away from religion, eh?

Party, party

Well, supper near Newark, NJ anyhow. If you will be in the neighborhood, please join me for supper this Friday - 12 September 2008. If you are on Facebook, the invitation and eventually the location are here. Otherwise please email me - pseudopiskie at windstream dot net if you can come.

Why pray?

When watching the news, I often pray sort of automatically for things that are contrary to my beliefs. For example, I'm thinking, "Please steer Ike away from Mimi and the people who have not yet returned home after the last hurricane."

I find it difficult to ask God to interfere with nature but I admit I do occasionally. Sometimes my life would suggest that there is someone or something that influences the rain or snow or other phenomenon in my favor. I realize that is terribly egocentric but I assume I'm not supposed to be doing something if the weather seems to be preventing or delaying it.

When I pray for others, which is the usual pattern, I ask for guidance in dealing with whatever situation they find themselves in. I request patience and peace and insight and others' inspiration, whatever is needed to get them thru or make the most of whatever is happening. I ask God to send love, light, peace, whatever is needed.

I guess life is somewhat easier if God can be blamed for both good and perceived evil. For me, I'm the one who messes with life. God is there to help me work thru challenges by giving me someone to talk with. The God I chat with is neither Santa Claus nor Mother Nature.

So, please, God, help those in the path of weather's death and destruction deal with what may seem like no future or at least an uncertain one. You are always there for me and for them. Please find a way to help us all learn to listen and act in community as you would have us live. Jesus gave us the guidelines. Help us understand and implement them.

By the way, God, that goes for our politicians too.