Eisenerz

 We drove to Eisenerz and toured the iron mine.

 We took a tour on HAULY. It's a giant earth mover.

 Here we are on the very top.

 We went to Gerti's Mostschank...

... and played with the rabbits after dinner.

 A nice hike home!

The cat came along, too.

Wiener Neustadt Cathedral

 We took the train to see Oma and Opa today.

After lunch, while Oma and Opa were taking their nap, 

we decided to visit the Cathedral in Wiener Neustadt.

 The building was begun around 1200. It was an Imperial church and also the seat of a bishop.

 Check out the late-romanesque vaulting!

 This 10-foot crucifix was originally displayed in the middle of the church.

It was made around 1500.

 This is one of the 12 apostles from the 1470s.

 We lit two candles, one for Oma, one for Opa.

 This is Saint Thomas. Any resemblance?

 Thomas thought that this was the Padres friar. 

He seems to be on a roll lately.

 The tiny tower museum was closed.

 But the facade was still very impressive.

 This is the view from the Bishop's palace.

And this is the entrance into the Bishop's palace. 

I guess they remodeled it during the Baroque period.

Biking in the Prater

 We rented bikes and took a little tour around the Prater Island.

 We rode all the way to the southern tip where the Danube and the Danube Canal come together.

 A little break along the "grey" Danube.

 Along the "Freudenau".

 And then in the "Hauptallee" the main drag in the Imperial Hunting Grounds.

 Thomas wanted to try something new: Esterhazy Cake, full of hazelnuts.

 This is the "Meierei", an inn founded in 1973 for the World Exhibition.

 

 Then we tried new stuff at Tichy's.

 Elisabeth came with us and had her first ice cream at Tichy's this year.

Thomas didn't like his dish. I thought it was ok.

Ice Cream, You Scream

 We checked on Elisabeth today.

Thomas got a nice hair cut.

 We made some reservations for next week.

 Then we went for a walk in a park nearby.

 Elisabeth told us about an ice cream place that makes the best vanilla ice cream in Vienna.

We had to check if this was true by comparing it with Tichy's.

It was a two-ice-cream day....

At the Art Museum

 It is always nice to find some of the old Asterix books at the apartment.

 Yesterday we went to the Art Museum.

 We saw the Vermeer and some Rubens.

Question: Can you find the "extra" foot in this picture?

(Answer: Follow the sky down and voila!)

 This is a portrait by Velasquez of Philip Prospero, Son of King Philip IV of Spain. 

The little guy always ran away in the big palace so they put a bunch of little bells on him. 

He died at age 4.

 After the museum we walked around a little. 

This is Heldenplatz (Square of Heroes).

In the back is Archduke Karl, he won against Napoleon at the Battle of Aspern; 

not a big enough victory to push back Napoleon but big enough to get him a nice statue!

 Today we visited my parents. We watched tv together. 

They look pretty comfy!

 Then we wanted to take a picture of Opa and Thomas together.

They are the same height. I said "SMILE".

We said, come on Opa, you can do better!

This is the second try. Opa smiling! 

Pretty funny.

Back in Vienna

 My sister Elisabeth looked very good after her big surgery. 

Here she is in the garden of the sanatorium.

 We had ice cream with Karin. She is my mom's nurse.

 We checked out the new train station in Vienna. It is not quite finished.

We had coffee with Gerda.

 We saw Oma and Opa.

We had some crepes.

  Then we went to the Technology Museum. It was a rainy day.

 I think this was just our first taste.

We will be back for more.