Thank you and Good Bye Vienna.

During our fourth week in Vienna Paul had to make a quick trip back to Sydney for a couple of work issues. He didn’t have much time to socialise but thank you to all those who fed my poor husband while he was away. Kerrie, Penny and especially Susan for putting on a huge family feast.

Thank you Susie for the Tim Tams and Vegemite. The Vegemite will go slowly each morning but the entire packet of Tim Tams was demolished in an all-Aussie attack.

Thank you to Mel and Ali for your little treasures and a touch of Dee Why Beach. The girls loved opening their boxes full of special treats.

Thank you to Grandma Linda for the home made ANZAC cookies, Colgate toothpaste and Manly Daily. We are just about up-to-date on peninsula happenings.

Our stay in Vienna was made all the more enjoyable by the wonderful Moser family who helped us beyond belief. Thank you Wolfi, Christine and Nico for your kindness and fun spirit of adventure you shared with us. It is very much appreciated and you are a big part of our memory of Vienna.

We are now about 220 days into our yearlong adventure and as we come closer to the end it seems to be racing past. We have been extremely fortunate to have experienced life in many places and met some amazing people, visited old friends and even older relatives.

The anticipation of moving on and finding out what lies beyond is nudging at the urge to just stay and enjoy.

The decisions are tough but the course is set. We move on to our 20th country this year and look forward to whatever sights and sensations it brings.

ThankfulLee.

The Naschmarkt.

Every Saturday in Vienna there is a huge Market called the Naschmarkt, it goes for about 1.5 kilometres over the Wien River.  There has been a market here for more than 400 years. We have gone to it twice before and have got some great bargains.

We decided we’d go back, but the only difference this time is that we don’t have dad with us. Dad is away for a week in Australia to get his work sorted out then he will come back. It has already been 4 nights since he left and we miss him very much.

So yesterday we rode our bikes there and walked up and down the market to see all our favourite stalls. At the Naschmarkt there are many different things like fruit and vegetable stalls, cafes, fresh flowers, yummy sweets, people selling their home goods and junk, beggars on their knees and even tourist shops.

It is a very interesting Market where you could spend a whole day looking around. The fruit and vegetables stores did the best peaches and nectarines and we would always buy one and the juice would drip all over our faces and onto the ground. They also did delicious fruit juices which were squeezed right in front of you and you could see just how fresh they were, I enjoyed an orange juice whilst mum had an orange and pink grapefruit juice.

The restaurants sell unusual foods from all over the world including Thai, Japanese, Indian, Spanish and lots of Mediterranean food.

The flea market part with people trying to sell their house goods were like a big garage sale and it went on and on. We bought a traditional Austrian hat which was second hand, but really good quality and was only 5 euros ($7.50) What a bargain!!! We then searched for badges and feathers to put on the hat like the traditional hats are. I also bought a leather necklace and a fossil to put on it all together it cost 4 euros ($6). The fossil was 50 million years old. I love old fossils and shells and found my 3 euro fossil so amazing. People also sold things like accordions and violins and others sold old typewriters, watches and third hand clothes.

There were also people who begged because they were so poor. There was one man with legs that only went down to his knees, who had strapped foam to where his knees would be. We all felt very sorry for these people but didn’t want to encourage them to beg.

One strange thing was the amount of tourist shops in a local market.  They sell Mozart chocolate boxes, key rings and pencils, Swarovski crystals and lots of pictures of Klimt’s “Kiss” printed on everything from tea towels to handbags.

We enjoy the market every time we go. This time mum packed our books in her backpack and we stopped on the way home at a park and read on the grass on the sun. We have all found books to read at a bookstore down the road from us that sells some English books.
I'm reading 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'
Maisy is reading 'Merlin's Dragon'
and Mum is reading 'One Day'
Hope Dad will bring us more books from Australia.

Because the weather is so hot in Vienna at the moment we were very thankful when we came across a water fountain, and we dipped our feet into it and the water would spray everywhere.

Another had lots of ducks and Maisy and I fed them our bread rolls. They were so grateful and quacked back to say thanks. 
We are having a wonderful time in Vienna and I never want to leave it. But I never want to leave any country once I have spent time there. They all have their ups and downs and we see both, but still love it.

Charlotte

FIREWORKS.

A few days ago our family and Georgina, Joanna and Andrea went on a 3 hour drive from Vienna to Buda-Pest which is the capital of Hungary. On our last night there we got baby sat by my dad’s Aunty Andrea.  And late that night we went out and had dinner with her. 

It is funny that we were watching fireworks in Budapest because that is where Katy Perry filmed her music video for Fireworks. So we all walked to the Chain Bridge to watch the fireworks. All the fireworks were for 1 special occasion, St Stephens’s day, and he was the 1^st king of Hungary and this is the day he became a saint. The fireworks had to happen when it is dark so I was very sleepy.  Charlotte and I got a lot of shoulder rides.

It was the longest show of fireworks I had ever seen. 
My favourite fire cracker thingy was one that went sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo high,  it started off red then orange then green then it would fade then another firework would come. The show went for 30 minutes and at 20 minutes there was this finale and I was convinced it had ended……….. But then I saw a lot of little sparks very low then they got bigger and bigger and bigger until they got normal size.In the morning we drove back to Vienna.M@D!$oN

Beautiful Budapest.

Széchenyi Spa

Saturday was an especially good day for Lee and me as we managed to sneak off by ourselves to a natural thermal spa just within walking distance of our apartment.

Charlotte and Maisy were being entertained by Joanna and Georgina. 

Twins of our girls, just add 10 years.

Our apartment for the 4 days we stayed in Budapest was on Rakoczi Utca. It was undoubtably built during the communist period and seems to have survived without a scrap of maintenance since. The lift ride down the 3 floors was always a bit of a gamble. After clunking the doors shut, there was no light to see the button you needed to press for the ground floor. Feeling in the dark for the bottom button you knew if you got it right when the lift just suddenly dropped and shuddered.

So off we went winding our way through the streets of the everyday people that lived in the city. I will say that the whole place needs a pressure wash to give the buildings back their colour and to get rid of the often smell of urine. However, not to let that sway us we really thought Budapest was very charming and pretty (especially at night).

The thermal spa was quite grand and lavish with 3 very large pools outside, from 30 to 38 degrees with one of them having jacuzzi like bubbles all around, and about another 11 inside with various temperatures and cloudy waters. They get the water from 1246m underground and pump it through the entire complex.

The architecture of the surrounding building is beautiful in about the same yellow colour as our house back at DY with black domed roofs and arched windows. We sat in the outside pool for an hour sipping cool beverages and enjoying the sun and the lazy heat.





Paul

Free Budapest Walking Tour.

ArchDuke Joseph and Suzi

Well, after visiting more than a dozen major European cities we have finally found the FREE city tour that walks you around the towns and tells you everything you wanted to know and more. Then at the end of the tour you simply tip if you are satisfied. Thanks for the heads up Joanna.

http://www.triptobudapest.hu/

So, on our second day in Budapest we met our tour group at 10.30am on Vorosmarty Square at the Lions Fountain. About 40 people turned up for the tour and after brief introductions from the leaders we split into two groups and headed off with our two energetic and informative female tour guides for a 2 and a half hour FREE tour.

Hungary put on a scorching 35° degrees for it's capital on our tour day. As we sat under the shade of a wilting tree our guide Suzi talked of Hungary's troubled past. Budapest is a city that has been downtrodden over the centuries and its people bear the weight of countless defeats. The decisions of past leaders have had them on the losing side of every battle, war and conflict they have ever entered into.

EGO SUM VIA VERITAS ET VITA
St Stephen's Basilica

The day after our tour (20th August) happens to be St Stephen's Day, the National day of Hungary which commemorates the life of Saint Stephen, the First King of Hungary. His coronation was on the 1st January 1001 and a magnificent gold crown was given to him by Pope Silvester II as a blessing. This crown still exists and is the oldest surviving royal crown in history. Also said to still exist is the right hand of King Saint Stephen and many miracles are said to have occured at his tomb.

Statue of St Stephen

For many centuries the towns of Buda and Pest existed on either side of the Danube River until 1872 when they united and formed the capital city of Budapest. The Buda side is home to the resplendent Buda Castle and palace complex. It is more hilly and therefore has the best views over the river of the picturesque townscape. It is slow paced and romantic. The Pest side is far more lively with its shops and eating areas. The very impressive parliament building is on the Pest side. This is apparently the largest parliament building in Europe, built to be exactly one metre longer and one metre wider than London's Parliament house on which it's design is based. Saint Stephen's crown is displayed here.

From Fisherman's Bastion on Castle Hill looking over the Danube to Parliament House

We walked over the Chain Bridge built in 1849, the first bridge over the Danube to link the two towns. It was considered an engineering marvel in it's day and today the heavy iron bridge stands for the strength of the people.

Upon crossing to the Buda side it was an immediate uphill hike in the searing heat to the castle. This medieval castle has been partially destroyed and rebuilt numerous times in its 700 year history having been beseiged 31 times. The last being in 1945. The Siege of Budapest was one of the longest and bloodiest battles of WWII. The fierce battle lasted 102 days between the Soviets and the German/Hungarian forces and resulted in the deaths of more than 80000. The Soviets occupied Hungary for the next 45 years during its communist rule.

St Matthius Church. Coronation church at Buda Castle

We ended the official FREE tour under the 100 year old statue of St Stephen on horse back. Our tour guide collected so much money from her positively pleased group that Paul had to lend her his cap to hold it all in. She then invited us all to join her for lunch at an 'unknown to tourists' eating place behind the castle. It was a typical Hungarian meal at a very decent price. Lots of meat, paprika, soup and dumplings. Not finished yet, our ever-enthusiastic guide sent us out with instructions to visit the Festival of Folkart and Crafts. Here we found another hat to add to our collection . This one comes with the memory of Uncle Buck. "A lot of people hate this hat. It angers a lot of people, just the sight of it!".

Locks attached to a gate and inscribed with lovers names
 have their keys thrown into the Danube to seal their love forever.

The heat was almost unbearable for some Aussie girls. We just had to cool down with our feet in some water and since there was no salty blue ocean within cooee we dipped our toes (and more) in the closest water fountain we could find.

We ate Hungarian doughnuts which are like a tubular coil of pastry covered in sugar and baked on an open fire as we watched craftsmen and women make and sell their wares while children danced and sang the Hungarian way.

Apart from the history and culture of Hungary we also learnt that the Rubics cube, the Biro pen and the match were invented by Hungarians along with the concept of nuclear chain reaction.

HistoricaLee.

10.

Completely unedited, unabridged and unadulterated by mum. Happy birthday gorgeous girl. Mum xxx

Yesterday was my  10th BIRTHDAY yay yay yay. The night befor my birthday it was storming raining and thundering and on the day of my birthday it was soooooooooooooooooo sunny..........not a clould in the sky. Befor mum and dad said we cant wake them untill 6:00 so at 6:01 Charlotte woke me and said ''Madison it is 1 past 6 lets go wake mum and dad''. So we jumped on mum and dad and they finally woke up and said ''is there any anything speciel today'' I said '' yes yes its my birthday''. I got some presants. I got 3 pens,2 henna pens ,5 pencils,1 michanical pencil, heaps of leds , 5 rubbers ,1 ipod docking station ,1 nail polish, 1 rubber /pencil shapener, 1 pensil case, 1 lip glos ect.  

I was also really lucky because my 2nd cusins were with me and there mum, there names are Georgina, Joanna and Andrea.

First in the day we went to  a heaterd pool with 2 water slides and 1 of them is pitch black with flashing lights. It was soooooooooooooooooooooooooo much fun.

                                           http://www.thermewien.at/informationen/english

Then we went to the Prater.[ A masive theme park].
http://www.prater.at/GeneralInformation.php?LI=1
MY favourite ride was the one I was most scared to go on .
It was a 100 or more meter high fast swinging chair ride.
It is the highest chairswing in the world. 120m high.

Charlotte, dad, Joanna and Georgina went on the Voltanic, it is an up side down roler coaster . I would have vomiterd . Charlotte closed her eyes all the way around.

We went on the oldest feris wheel in the world. It was slow and lovely. I could see all the places in vienna.

We stayed soooooooooooooooo long at the Prater so that mum did not have time to go home and cook my favourite roast dinner with vegies and yorkshere pudding  so we went out and had a troditinal veinna dinner and tonights dinner is .............................. a roast beef. I cant wait untill tomorrow and see what we will be doing.

M@D!$oN

In the trees.

Another perfect day in Vienna and we were out the door at 9 am. It was a public holiday Monday for the Assumption of the Virgin Mary so Wolfi, Christine and Nico were free and  joined us for the day. We drove 45 minutes through Vienna, just out past the fringes of the city to the start of the woodlands and the hills to a town called Puckersdorf.

Our day was to be spent hanging high in the trees of the forest as we joined in the adventures of an aerial ropes course and maneuvered our way from tree to tree via wobbly bridges, tightropes, spider nets, flying fox and more.

www.kletterpark.at/de/purkersdorf/irenental

We all enjoyed an action packed day at Kletterpark. The kids put in a fantastic effort on the very challenging course sometimes way over 10 metres above ground. Maisy was under the 140 cm minimum height for the black course but somehow that got lost in translation and she managed to spider her way around.

Easily agreed upon as the most ridiculously challenging section of the course was the buckets. Wolfi led the way like an expert and even though it seemed impossible we all managed to make it around the course, ending on a 130 metre long zipwire.

After such an energetic morning we all went home for lunch and a rest but not so for Nico who is competing in the Vienna Chess Tournament. We rode in later to watch him play at the beautiful old Town Hall. He is playing like a champion and has won his first 3 games. He has games against adults from around the world but he takes on each game in his stride and plays with extreme focus. One game against a 60 year old Polish man lasting 4 hours and 4 minutes. WOW

After the game we enjoyed a meal at the food markets infront of the Town Hall and then rode back through the city to our apartment and a very peaceful sleep to rest our aching muscles.

AchingLee