It took almost the entire day to reach the city of Prague from Vienna, and there was only time for a quick walkabout in the city before our buffet dinner cruise last night. This was a three-hour cruise which started in the late afternoon but finished after 10:00 pm, affording us a look in the… Read More We are in Prague!
Today we visited the Belvedere Palace, which houses a collection of 24 paintings by the exceptional painter, Gustav Klimt, Vienna’s most important artist. Klimt was a founding member of the Secession movement. According to Wikipedia, Gustav Klimt (1862-1918): His work helped define the Art Nouveau style in Europe. Klimt is known for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d’art.… Read More The perfect souvenir
Tonight we went to an Austrian tavern, called a “heuriger,” where the beer and wine flowed freely, along with traditional Austrian food, and musicians played raucous but familiar music, while the people sang heartily and loudly. The musicians, a violinist and an accordionist, asked what nationality we were, which gave them a clue as to… Read More Revelry at an Austrian “heuriger”
Today the weather cooled down considerably, which was a great relief from the heat and humidity we have endured over the last week. The morning was quite pleasantly cool, but the rest of the day was rainy and cold, and for once I’m glad I brought my microfleece jacket. Today on our GoAhead tour, we… Read More Bus. Ferry. Rail. Cable Car. Gondola.
For our last day in Zürich, we decided to follow Vreni Griffith on her weekly walks around Lake Zürich to look at the colorful flower beds. Along the way we saw swans and ducks, an outdoor concert by a children’s Suzuki violin class, and an exercise class where the teacher and participants wore special attachments… Read More Last day in Zurich
When Bill Potter and I decided to book the tour “Highlights of Scandinavia: Sweden, Norway and Denmark,” he said that he was going to write to Hope Jahren to see if we could meet sometime during or after our tour. If her name sounds familiar, perhaps you’ve read her bestselling books, Lab Girl or The… Read More Happy times with Hope and Clint
I had set my alarm for 4:45 am in order to put my bag outside my room for pickup at 5:30, and found myself wide awake at 12:04 am! Luckily I fell back to sleep again, and woke up at 4:00, with plenty of time to spare. We left the hotel at 6:00 am for… Read More Reindeer hot dogs in Bergen
Even though we had a more leisurely call time of 9:30 am today, I still woke up at 4:00 am, as I have done for the last three mornings we’ve been here in Stockholm. We took a ferry ride across Lake Mälaren to Drottningholm Palace, built in the 16th century and called Sweden’s Versaille. It… Read More If it hadn’t been for the bridge …
It’s just a few minutes after midnight in Stockholm and I’ve just crawled into bed at our hotel! Our plane left Honolulu on time Sunday morning at 7:00 am, so Jieun Newland and I decided to pick up Bill Potter at 5:30 am, meaning that I set my alarm for 4:30 am and we would… Read More 26+ hours to Stockholm!
For the first time ever in my professional career (that’s almost six decades!), I am working in a parish which will formally recognize the efforts of its choir. In this week’s parish newsletter at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, The Rev. Paul Lillie wrote: … at the High Mass Aloha Hour there will be a reception… Read More Choir Recognition