October 3

Salzburg sightseeing & off to Vienna

House where Mozart was born on Jan 22, 1756

Now the Mozart Museum

Street in Salzburg

Jew Alley


Leaving Salzburg

Für Das Kind

In Vienna's Westbahnhof Station 2008, a tribute to the British people for saving the lives of thousands of children from Nazi terror through the Kindertransports

Hotel Rathaus Park. Our room the first set of windows above & to the right of the main entrance

der Wehrmann in Eisen (The Iron Soldier)

First displayed in Vienna in 1915. To raise money for widows & orphans of fallen soldiers, people could drive a nail into the statue of the Iron Soldier. It is said there is over 500,000 iron nails in the originally wooden figure. The Soldier is situtated in front of the MUSA Museum auf Abruf (Museum on Demand), next to Vienna's Rathaus.

October 2

It's Pronounced FOO-king

Salzburg, Austria

After a night at the Marcus Siticus in Salxburg and a very nice Frühstück,

Kelly went on her much anticipated Sound of Music tour. I had a quiet morning, with some local 'exploration' and a stop for a latte.

I got the rental car for our excursion to the Austrian countryside-

Like I said, it's pronounced foo-king

Oktoberfest

Österreich (Austria)

Ironically we are leaving the land of Oktoberfest for the land of The Sound of Music on the first day of Oktober. A little last minute shopping (and a stop at the famous Hofbräuhaus) in the Marienplatz area then off to catch a train to Salzburg.

Is that a stupid hat or what?

Ad in Munich subway. It reads, "Lionfood"

Speaking of lions, this guy from Bavaria yodels. Totally annoying! Hotel Markus Sittikus key.

Sept 30

Bavarian Castles

Those of you who are avid followers of my blog will remember that I visited the castles Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau last year. In somewhat of a reprise, we're baaaaaack.

Off to the Oktoberfest!!

This day was specifically planned to be spent at the Wies'n, the Oktoberfest grounds. Holiday over, I'm having a beer (or 2).

We wore Tracht, the local costume. I bought my lederhosen last year and the shirt this year. Kel's dirndl is selbstgemacht homemade.

The different Bierzelts Beertents have different atmospheres. We started out in the Ochsenbraterei, the oxen roasting tent, where they roast whole oxen on spits and serve Spaten beer. Relatively sedate, family type atmosphere. If you get up on the benches the security tells you to get down. We met some locals who were friendly. They refer to the non Bavarian Germans as Prussians. I think they got along better with us than the northern Gemans.

The food was great. I had the oxen, which is roast beef and Kel had the Wießewurst, white sausage. The ubiquitous Kartoffelsalat, German potato salad was good. The beer, of course good!

The Hofbräu tent is much rowdier. They don't tell you to get down from the benches, but will make you put your clothes back on.
Friendly foreign visitors in the Hofbräu tent (this one from Australia)

The Gemütlichkeit is evident!

Learning a Bavarian ditty!

Holz vor dem Hut. The wood in front of the shed.

Sept 28

Yom Kippur
Most of the day at services. Beth Shalom is a Reform congregation, but it is much more like a US Conservative congregation than the Reform ones I am familiar with. Many American members.
Nice community break the fast after Neila


Inside of synagogue

Bema

Sept 27

Back to blogging.

Flight in to Munich was uneventful. They didn't even check us at customs. Grabbed a cup of coffee at the airport and caught the S-Bahn to the Hauptbanhof. The U-Bahn to the Hohenzoleren Platz and off to find the apartment. As an aside, the street at the end of the Platz where we came up is Erich Kästnerstraße, Kästner being one of my favorite authors.

They must have left our bags out in the rain in Atlanta, clothes inside were wet!

Great apartment. Bedroom, eat in kitchen, hot tub, balcony, and well situated to bus & streetcar line.

We took a ride in to the Oktoberfest where we couldn't find a seat at any of the beer tents we visited, so we took some photos, shared a half roast chicken and then

had a coffee and an absolutely FANTASTIC torte at Bodo's Backstube

Erev Yom Kippur, attended Kol Nidre at Beth Shalom in Munich

Game On!

Game on!! Got up at 'oh dark thirty' (0400) to get out & checked in for the first leg of our international flight. Norfolk to Hotlanta.

High above the East Coast between ORF & ATL


Free pass to the Continental President's Club lounge. No Obama. After all, Continental is headquartered in Texas. Free wi-fi, snacks, drinks & liquor. Me and complimentary alcohol? Someone may rue that day!

In a rare fit of common sense, we actually got packed up before the last minute. Of course, as soon as someone found out that beer, wurst and pretzels would be involved in this trip, a little stowaway action was attempted. Munich would never be the same. Thus, we saved the free state of Bavaria.

Republican Party of Virginia Beach Breakfast

I attended the Republican Party breakfast this morning in Virginia Beach. Those of you who know me know I am a libertarian. I think there is also room to work within the Republican Party to try to move it more towards the ideal of individual liberty and limited government.

Jeff Frederick, the chairman of the state party was the featured speaker. Those familiar with state politics know that certain elements within the state party are trying to remove him from the chairmanship, citing the Virginia GOP election losses over the last year. I personally believe this to be a railroad job. Given the current political climate and unpopularity of the previous administration the national candidates' coattails were long and extended to the local districts.

Additionally, a candidate in this years upcoming election had some negative things to say about the Party Chair, when, in my opinion, said candidate should have stayed above the fray, as the AG candidate did.

I support Jeff and hope he can continue on as chairman and help right this ship.