VALENTINE'S IN VIENNA

FABULOUS, STUPENDOUS are just a couple of the adjectives to describe our trip to Vienna. Many of you know I surprised my beautiful bride with a Valentine's Day trip to Austria, the birthplace of Nana, the grandmother who gave Linda many of the tools and the confidence to make it in life. We left Billings Montana early on the morning of February 12 and made it to Vienna the next morning. Above is an intial sampling of our pictures, with views of parts of the Hofburg Palace complex. Starting at the bottom, Linda stands in front of one the gates, this one leading to the Spanish Riding School, home of the Lipizzaner stallions. We were not allowed to take pictures as we watched them do their morning excercises, but in the background of the 5th picture, you can see a picture of one of the stallions in the cafe where we later had our afternoon coffee and pastry. The second picture shows Linda inside the courtyard of the Palace complex and in the next one she admires the amazing craft of needlepoint in one of the shops in the complex. In the fourth picture I am in one of the many rooms of the Imperial Silver and Porcelain Collection within the Imperial Apartments. In the next picture I am enjoying one of at least 4 apple strudels I tried during our stay in Vienna. Next, Linda admires the jeweled crown and staff of one of the monarchs, displayed in the Schatzkammer, or Imperial Treasury. The last picture shows the architecture viewed from the gate in front of which Linda was standing in the first picture. More to come...JIR