This morning Elenka and I caught the eight-forty-five train from Banska Bystrica to Vienna. Five-and-a-half hours later after checking into our hotel in the Museum Quarter, we made a bee-line for Hofburg Palace, the winter residence of one of Europe's greatest dynasties, the House of Habsburg. I wanted to get the real scoop on what went on between Emperor Franz Josef and his queen, Elisabeth of Bavaria.   Empress Elisabeth was quite likely anorexic lo...

We've just arrived in Vienna from Riga and have taken a cab to the train station. There's a glow on Ellen's face. We're on our way to Brusno.

  The day had been warm and sunny. It was evening now and a strange fog seemed to settle in the streets. Ellen and I were having dinner at a restaurant in the Museum Quarter looking out at one of the world's most magnificent cities, Vienna.  "There is a level of comfort I've come to truly enjoy in the civilized world," Ellen said. "Riding to work on the streetcar at home in Toronto is like taking a journey with the creatures from 'Night of the Livi...