Spring Breaks

One of the wonderful latitudes afforded Senior Missionaries is to enjoy visits from family and friends.   This last month, we were absolutely delighted to have our daughter Dakin and her family pay a visit.  In addition to the desire to come see and learn more about our service here in Austria, the purpose for their trip was to meet up with their oldest son, Luke, who has completed his missionary service in Denmark.  We are so very proud of him and the gospel of Jesus Christ he has brought to many these last two years.

In this post you will hopefully enjoy our short break as we spent a few lovely days together with family.

On the 1st of April, we made our way to Salzburg to meet up with Dakin, John and their family.  The most direct route took us through the Salzkammergut, a very picturesque area with beautiful lakes and mountains.  The weather gave a beautiful twist to the scenery with some leaves beginning to return and snow melt already in play.

5 Days with Dakin & John's Family - Beginning in Salzburg

After spending several days in Denmark, including a day visiting LEGO House--home to the Worldwide LEGO organization in Billund, Denmark--John, Dakin and family flew to Salzburg, arriving later that evening. 

During their visit we enjoyed lovely weather.  Here's a view of the center of Salzburg--home to important people, including Mozart and the famous scientist, Christian Doppler.  We were fortunate to stay in the residence of Christian Doppler.

With a shared love for the Sound of Music, we previously booked the Fräulein Marie Bicycle Tour.  This provided an outstanding way to see Salzburg and retrace scenes from the movie.

Here we are at the square and fountain where Julie Andrews sings I Have Confidence, then reaches in and makes a splash.  We continued to make our way up towards the Abby, where you can see our very own Fräulein Maria on her bike.  The view from the Abby southward to the Alps was unforgetable.

The churches and cathedrals are beautiful works of stone and glass, replete with timeless artistry within.  In this picture you can see how Mark wondered what it's all about as his mother and siblings took in the grandeur and solemnity.  It was a joy to hear voices of nuns singing during our visit, just as they have for hundreds of years. 

As we left the Abby we made our way to Schloss Leopoldskron, the estate set on the lake which was used for the patio and lake scenes in the movie.  Of course, this was not the actual von Trapp home, but it was the home of Max Reinhardt, who was portrayed in the movie and the organizer of the Salzburg Music Festival in which the von Trapp family performed.  The famous gazebo where Liesel and Rolf danced and where Maria and Capt. von Trapp fell in love is no longer on the Schloss Leopoldskron estate but now located on the park grounds of the Heilbronn castle, just a mile or so further on our ride.

The Salzburg Salt Mines

The prosperity and growth of Salzburg and the surrounding region can be attributed to the natural occurring salt that has been mined in the mountains extending to the southeast. Tunneling for salt in this region has been active for thousands of years, and the mines are the oldest salt mines in the world.  We toured Salzwelten (Salt World) Salzburg, about a 20 minute drive from the city center.  

In spite of the fact that the tour traversed what seemed like miles of tunnels, we saw only a small fraction of a vast underground network.  The mining tunnels covered a very large land space.  In fact, we crossed international boundaries into Germany while we were hundreds of meters underground.  

Traveling to the Top of the Alps - Hoher Dachstein

From the Salzwelten salt mines we traveled southwest into the Alps.  We arrived at the boarder of the providences of Salzburg and the Steiermark (Styria) where we live.  On this boarder is one of Austria's most prominent Alpine peaks, Hoher Dachstein.  Here we rode a cable car up to the observation station which overlooks Alpine peaks in all directions.  On the northside of Dachstein there is also a permanent glacier.

Go Native - Wear a Dirndl

Dakin had expressed a real desire to find a dirndl while here in Austria.  Traditional dress is something that is still part of the Austrian culture, and traditional clothing stores can be found in every town.  We are very fortune to have made friends with a shop owner who has an extremely well-stocked 2nd hand traditional clothing store.  We're delighted that Elizabeth and Rebekah got in on the fun of going native!

For some time it has been Trudy's desire to hear the Vienna Boy's Choir.  As we were in Vienna on the Sunday our church broadcasts its semi-annual conference from Salt Lake City, we had no standard Sunday services to attend.  This presented a chance to hear the Vienna Boy's Choir weekly Sunday morning Mass performance at the Hofmusikkapelle (Royal Music Chapel).  Our seats were on the 3rd floor just opposite the Boy's Choir, with John & Dakin across the knave.  The boys' voices sounded like angels.  Truly, this is the only thing that one might compare them to--though as of yet, I have not heard an angel's choir, and I pray that it will be many years until I do! 

Afterwards, we were able to continue our enjoyment of great artwork, which we had begun the day before at the Albertina Museum.  We then made our way to the Wien Museum, which presents a history of Vienna over the last 2000 years.  Our grandson Luke had made a study of Albrecht Dürer during high school.  Here we can see him with Dürer's world famous Betende Hände piece.

Springtime Celebrations

John's birthday comes in the middle of April.  Our good friends,  Monika and Wolfgang (who has a birthday just 2 weeks later) celebrated with us.  We enjoyed a delicious meal of homemade Rouladen, followed by Pavlova for dessert. 

Leading up to Easter, we enjoyed daffodils and tulips coming into bloom.   In German, daffodils are nicknamed Osterglocke, or Easter Bells.

In April, we celebrated our 45th Anniversary!  With good friends, Peter and Heidi, we enjoyed a delicious meal at a lovely Alpine restaurant not far away.  With the sun shining on new leaves, the world is reborn in Spring.

As spring appears all around us, it's a good time to take a break.  Feel the warmth of the sun and the beauty of it's rays.  

Take a break from the old way of thinking about challenges in your life.

Let Christ break through into your life and see what a difference He can make.

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