Day 2 of our stay in Vienna, we took a hop on, hop off, Red Bus Tour. We hopped off when we arrived at the Hofburg Palace. Have you ever heard of the Habsburg’s? I never had but yet that dynasty ruled for over 6 centuries starting in 1276 and ending in 1918. This family has ties in all kinds of countries! This is only one part of their palace.       The palace has 18 wings, 2550 rooms and 19 courtyards. The wealth and magnificence of the place is incredible. This is also where you would see the famous Lippazanner stallions. This is just a breezeway (for lack…

There is so much history in the city of Vienna! So much so that I went for 22 hours without eating. Let’s just say that is rather unusual for me. I love food! But there was so much to see and not enough time to see it all that food had to take a back seat. 🍽️ But after a day of touring the incredible Hofburg Imperial Palace (I will have to tell you all about it!), we took the recommendation of a local and went to Vapiano, a gourmet Italian eatery. Warning: This post is for all foodies, so if you not really into that kind of thing or…

We booked our hotel online here in Vienna while in Arizona. After driving around for at least an hour here in Vienna, getting lost and then finding ourselves and then trying to find a park that was reasonably close to our hotel, we parked and started walking. (We’re staying in historic Old Town Vienna). We were understandably confused when our GPS said we had arrived and there was no sign of a hotel. Finally Russell saw a small sign that said Aviano Boutique Hotel. The “grand opening” was a mere 3′ across and the building itself was sandwiched between two much larger businesses. Peeking in the door, we were wondering…

Celebrating 25 years of marriage 4 years late can be pretty nice, too and that’s exactly what we’re doing. We have embarked on an anniversary getaway/adventure to Austria. Neither one of us has ever been here, so it’s all going to be new and exciting. The beginnings of our trip did not lead us to think it would be any different than other vacations we have taken in the past. There’s always plenty of adventure and uncertainty to be had. Forrr surrreee. Back to the beginning of our trip – while still in Arizona. It was a nice change to fly out at a reasonable hour. We arrived at the…

Our days at the ocean over, we continued up the coast. We passed these “enchanted” forests where everything was covered in moss.   I had never seen anything like it before.   Seattle, Washington was an interesting blend of old and new.   After a week traveling up the coast we arrived in Canada for the main reason we were on this trip – the wedding of a family friend. The day of the wedding arrived and we made haste to get to the church for it started at 10:30am. I’ve never been to a wedding that started that early before but it worked out well actually. My son, Wesley…