Last Day in Vienna, Sunday May 16

Yes, we did get back on Monday May 17 - after 24 hours from door to door!!!! We encountered the Iceland volcano ash cloud experience which required us to be rescheduled and rerouted from Vienna to Paris to Boston to Minneapolis! We were fortunate because we arrived at the airport at 5am for a 7am flight to Amsterdam which had been cancelled - others arriving later did not get to leave that day!Our last day was lovely - we attended a full Catholic mass with baptism (in German) at the Augustinerkirche (Augustinian Church) - it was beautiful and the organ, soloist and choir performed works by Mozart, Haydn and others. Quite the experience. It was a cold and rainy day (46 degrees with sideways winds) - the heads of many Hapsburg rulers are buried here - not sure where they put the rest of the bodies...can't recall.

After church we ambled over to Kunsthistoriches Museum (English is Museum of Art History) and encountered these heads! - it's a bit eerie - also saw many fine works of art - I am the art fan - the man with me is not!.

Before looking at art we had lunch in this beautiful cafe under the dome. It is common practice to seat others with you in Europe so two guys from San Francisco sat down and I said "Hello" - he looked at me, laughed and said "I thought you were German - you look German" - told him I am by background but not by language or place of birth!

Back to reality now - going to Alex's t-ball game tonight after having takeout pizza. I am organizing my thoughts about my final posts and pictures on our trip which will include a side trip to a Polish emergency room (life indeed is a journey), my usual best and worst lists and any other random thoughts. Bet you can't wait! As for me I am off to buy and plant flowers.