Over breakfast, I speculated about Linz. If I remembered correctly, there was a large town square surrounded by many architecturally different buildings from the middle ages and a main street with a tram running down the middle and lined with modern buildings largely retail fashion and the remains of a Roman wall. I didn't remember correctly, we've never been here before. Then again, this could be an accurate description of Linz. The reason for the speculatio...

Ah! Durnstein. A return to the site of my cycling misadventure. This time, no bike, and when Alan suggested a hike up to the castle, I made the proviso that that there be people to accompany me prepared to carry me back down the mountain. As far as I know, it was only a Californian couple who made the climb. My decision not to climb had something to do with alcohol. All will become clear. It was another -2c day with snow on the ground but non immin...

Taste of Christmas Walking Tour (am) , Schonbrunn Palace(pm) and Klosterneuburg Abbey Concert (evening) Today was going to be a massive day. We had decided to go on a morning walk (3 hours) of the center of Vienna and take in some 4 of the Christmas markets with samples of food and gluvein at three of them. Back to the boat for a quick 1 hour lunch before a coach to Schonbrunn Palace then back for a light dinner and 1.5 hour break before another coach to th...

Friday night Ches struggled to stay awake again but finally surrendered at 10.00pm and slept till 5.00am. I made it from midnight till 5.00 am. Adding on the 2.5 hour nap from yesterday afternoon, I figured we would do OK. I pottered till around 6.00 when I became desperate for a coffee. Peering out into the gloom, I realized it was snowing. I checked on line for a coffee shop open near by and discovered it was at the central railway station a couple of ...

We couldn't stay awake past 7.30 pm on Thursday evening. Struggled but collapsed in a heap. While we woke numerous times during the night, we managed to stay in bed until 4.00 am, so 8 or so hours of a kinda sleep. It was worth waking up early as we came in on the end of WhatsApp threads announcing that Malia had been guaranteed a place at UNSW in the B Science Data Analytics and Decisions degree. Wonderful news and a just reward for all her dedication. We...