Last Stop before Shanghai

It's been such a long time since I left Shanghai - almost 3 months - it feels somewhat surreal to be getting ready to head back on February 17.  I have totally enjoyed being "home" in Elmhurst and living in this beautiful house we have here again, before someone eventually buys it.  

It was great to have Chris and all of our daughters together for the holidays - first for Christmas in Watkins Glen and then a whirlwind trip to Elizabeth's apartment in Brooklyn, to visit our dear friends Paul & Karen Craig in Weymouth, MA, and then to Cape Cod for the Deane family Christmas gathering at the home of Chris's brother Ken and his wife Laurel.  The drive back from our hotel in Framingham, MA to Elmhurst made for one incredibly long and painful day, even with 5 drivers and the Divergent books on CD, but we were back home to celebrate New Year's Eve with our Elmhurst friends and still had a few days together at home before Chris headed back to China and Beth back to work.  

However, once Samantha and Miranda returned to school for the new semester, it became very quiet for me home alone.  Fortunately, Chris returned from China just a little over two weeks later, coming back here to avoid Chinese New Year in Shanghai and spend a couple of weeks in the U.S.  Now we're getting ready to return, but we are first taking a little side trip away from the cold and snow of Chicagoland.

Chris has a business meeting and dinner in Fort Lauderdale, Florida tomorrow, so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity for a short vacation.  I'm going to go with him for his business dinner in Fort Lauderdale tomorrow and then we'll visit the Everglades National Park and Shark Alley on Thursday, staying in Miami on Thursday night.  Samantha's weekend freed up when she learned she wasn't riding in this weekend's horse show (she's on the Emory Equestrian Team), so she's going to fly down on Thursday evening and join us.  Friday morning, we'll head down the Keys to explore, read, relax, and enjoy an area of this country we've never visited before. 

After the whole "polar vortex" aspect of this winter in Elmhurst, I'm really looking forward to a break from the snow and also to being able to wear shorts and walk on the beach for a while - plus, I'm hoping to take some great pictures.  Once we drop Samantha off at the airport on Sunday for her return to Atlanta, we're going to get together with Bill & Marion Bailey, our neighbors when we stay at our family cottages on Seneca Lake near Watkins Glen, NY.  So, all-in-all, it should be a wonderful trip.

I have followed the adventures of my friends and family back in Shanghai, loving the fact that Facebook allows me to see some of their photos and hear about what's happening with them there.  I am looking forward to getting back to our nice little apartment in JinQiao and dropping back into my life there.  And, of course, enjoying the warmer weather back in Shanghai as well.  Fortunately, I missed the worse of the air quality issues (I hope).  

Chris will be traveling extensively during the next three months that I'm in Shanghai, but the good news is all of the visitors we're expecting.  My sister Kate and brother-in-law David are coming in March to visit Peter, Nickle & the kids, but I'll get to tag along on some of their adventures while they are in town.  At the end of March, our youngest daughter Miranda is coming to visit during her spring break.  We're planning to spend a few days in Kuala Lumpur at the beginning of her visit and then coming back to Shanghai to show her around the town.  And, in April, our oldest daughter, Elizabeth, is coming to visit over Easter and her 24th birthday.  We are planning to go to Xi'An to see the terracotta warriors while she's visiting.  Peter and Nickle may have some more visitors this spring, so I'll probably tag along for some of their fun.  Also, by the time Elizabeth leaves in late April, I'll be getting ready to pack up and head back to the U.S. for summer.  Whether I return to Elmhurst, if our house has not yet sold, or to a new home in the Watkins Glen area, it will be great to back here to see friends and family in the U.S. again.

I really have the best of both worlds, being able to spend time with friends and family in both the U.S. and China, alternating throughout the year.  I've decided to change my job title from homemaker to world traveler - it sounds so much more interesting and more accurately reflects what I spend my time doing these days.  I know my mother would be proud.  :)

Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest

After going to Bologna and Salzburg, we fit in some more sightseeing in Vienna as well as short trips to Bratislava, Slovakia and Budapest, Hungary.  Not having seen a lot of Eastern Europe while we were living in Germany, we decided it was a good chance to fit in a few sights.

We took the train back to Vienna from Salzburg on Wednesday, November 27.  Samantha had class on Thursday morning, so Elizabeth and I went with her to the W.U. campus, as we hadn't seen it yet.  She showed us around the campus, which is brand new construction - it just opened this semester.  The buildings on the W.U. campus are quite distinctive and all very different.  A different architect designed each building and they are very modern and unusual.  We looked at the library, which has ramps inside that seem to go to different floors, depending on which ramp you take. 

Once Samantha went off to class to take a test, Elizabeth and I hopped back on the U-Bahn and headed to Stephansplatz, in the center of Vienna.  Elizabeth hadn't seen St. Stephan's or the Graben yet, so we went to walk through the pedestrian area and see the Christmas market and decorations.  Unfortunately, it was so cold, we quickly sought tea and warmth in a cafe. 

After her exam was over, we met Samantha back at Westbahnhof to catch a train to Bratislava.  Vienna, as the capital of Austria, and Bratislava, as the capital of Slovakia, are the closest national capitals in the world, less than an hour apart by train.  We took the train to Bratislava and then a bus over to the heart of the old city to wander the cobblestone streets.  Unfortunately, the cobblestones are so uneven and in such poor shape, it was easy to twist an ankle.  Cobblestones may be pretty, but I prefer walking on even pavement.

The streets of the old city are beautiful and we stopped at two different Christmas markets.  In addition, we stopped for lunch at a traditional Slovakian restaurant.  We had researched what traditional dishes are and so Elizabeth ordered Bryndzové halušky, which is a type of pasta similar to gnocchi in goat cheese and it was very good.  As was the break from the cold.  We were only in Bratislava for the afternoon and took the train back to Vienna in the evening, but it was nice to see a different country, even if only for a day.

After we returned to Vienna, we met Samantha's friend Nastia, from Russia, to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner at Frank's American Restaurant.  We had a wonderful meal - they brought us our own
 
turkey, just for the four of us, as well as mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, and peas.  We could have had pumpkin pie, but were too full to even try it.  Nastia had never had a Thanksgiving celebration before, so it was interesting to share the meal and try to explain the essence of the holiday to her.

On Friday, we spent the day in Vienna, as Samantha didn't have class until late in the afternoon and that way she had some time to spend with us sightseeing.  We went to the Natural History Museum and then to the Sacher Hotel for some lunch and the famous Sacher Torte.  Samantha caught the train to class and Elizabeth and I jumped on the hop-on/hop-off bus for a tour of Vienna.  We went out to the Danube River, past Schönbrunn Palace and all over Vienna, although we didn't hop-off at all, given how cold it was and how late in the day it was getting.  It really gets dark early in Vienna. 

Saturday morning, Elizabeth and I boarded a train to Budapest.  Samantha stayed in Vienna to study and work on a project.  She had already been to Budapest and loved it, so she was disappointed not to come with us.  Budapest is about a 3-hour train ride from Vienna, during which, of course, Elizabeth slept.  We took a cab from the train station to our hotel in the Castle District in Buda, right next to Matthias Church.  It is such a beautiful area.  We dropped off our suitcases, bought tickets for a bus tour and an evening boat tour, and headed to a neighborhood restaurant named PestBuda, for a traditional lunch, including Hungarian Goulash. 

After Walking around the Castle District, we were picked up at our hotel and taken across the Danube River to the Pest side of Budapest, where we boarded a bus for a tour.  What a beautiful city!  Unfortunately, we got there late enough in the afternoon that the sun was setting during our bus tour and it became harder to see the sights.  Fortunately, unlike Vienna, Budapest makes the most of their river views and has beautiful lights shining from the river onto their landmarks, from the Castle, to Matthias and the Fisherman's Bastion, to Parliament.  

 
 
Between the bus tour and the boat cruise, we walked around the Christmas Market in Budapest, although it was so crowded, it was hard to really enjoy it.  We found a few pretty gifts to buy, unique crafts as well as a huge cinnamon bread swirl that Elizabeth was eating for days.  We had a Hungarian potato pancake, which wasn't nearly as good as the German ones we love, and then headed down to the docks to catch our boat.  The city is absolutely beautiful from the water, especially with the holiday lights in addition to the city lights.  We had some champagne and watched the sights go by and really enjoyed ourselves.  Afterwards, we had planned to go to a restaurant recommended by the concierge at our hotel, but found we were too tired and not that hungry.  Because we were using Chris's Hilton points for our hotel room, we were assigned a room on the executive level, so we stopped in the executive lounge, got some bread, cheese and fruit and took it to our room to eat while we watched The Hunger Games.  We had to head back to Vienna on a 7 a.m. train the next morning, so we made it an early night.  We had just the briefest visit in Budapest, but were very impressed and I'd love to go back.


Sunday was our last day in Vienna, so we headed back to Samantha's apartment after we got off the train.  We picked her up, as well as the rest of our luggage, dropped that at our hotel, and then headed out to do a little sight-seeing with her.  We ended up going to the movies and Samantha and I saw Catching Fire, but Elizabeth went to see Thor, as she had plans to go to Catching Fire with Miranda the following weekend.  We had a fun day with Samantha and ended up back in our hotel before our early taxi to the airport and flights back to the U.S.
 

All-in-all, it was a wonderful trip.  I really enjoyed seeing Vienna with Samantha before Elizabeth arrived and had a fantastic time traveling with them to Bologna, Salzburg, and Bratislava, in addition to visiting Budapest with Elizabeth.  Although it was cold and often snowing, we had a wonderful time seeing all the Holiday decorations, Christmas markets, and beautiful scenery. Most of all, it was wonderful to see Samantha and her school, meet one of her friends, and travel with two of my beautiful daughters.  I wish Chris and Miranda could have joined us there, but hopefully we can go back someday and enjoy this area of the world with them as well.

Salzburg

When I was a little girl, I was crazy for Julie Andrews movies, from Mary Poppins, to Thoroughly Modern Millie, but her crowning glory was my favorite, The Sound of Music. I can't even remember the number of times I asked my mother to take me to see it or watched it on TV (no DVDs or even VCRs back then), but I think it's safe to say I've seen it in excess of 15 times and I still love it. I was so disappointed, when we were living in Frankfurt, that all of Austria we saw was Innsbrook, not Salzburg.  So when I made plans to visit Samantha in Vienna, the top thing on my list was the Sound of Music tour of Salzburg.

 

We took the train from Vienna, arriving in Salzburg in mid-afternoon. We checked into Hotel Elephant, which is a pretty little hotel in the old city, and headed out to the beautiful Christmas market in the shadow of the fortress and the to see the ice skaters in Mozart Platz.  While very pretty, the lightly falling snow was also wet and chilly, so we sought an early dinner down one of the picturesque side streets off of Mozart Platz.   On Wednesday morning, we walked back to Mozart Platz for our pick up by the tour company.  We changed to a big bus and headed off on the tour, which I thoroughly enjoyed. 

Fortunately, Wednesday was a beautiful, sunny day, although still quite cold.  The light dusting of snow made everything look magical. We first drove around downtown Salzburg, past Nonnberg Abbey, where the original Maria grew up and where she and The Captain were actually married.  We drove past the marionette theatre where the Lonely Goatherd scene was shot, which is still used to stage marionette plays to this day.  We headed off to the outskirts of Salzburg to see Leopoldskron Palace, where the back scenes of the movie were shot, when Maria and the children fall out of a rowboat into a lake upon seeing the Captain's return. 


We learned that the movie was actually set in several locations, although many of the interior scenes of the whole movie were filmed on sound stages in L.A.  Exterior shots were filmed in Salzburg, though.  The lake behind Leopoldskron Palace is beautiful as are the grounds.  This is also where the gazebo scene was filmed - "I am 16 going on 17" -  although the gazebo was moved as the Palace is now a conference center and tourists were too disruptive for the conferences.

We next went to a picturesque little Christmas market, which is just next to the new location of the Hellbrunn Gazebo.   We had to take pictures there, although it is locked, so we couldn't go inside.  From there, we drove past Frohnburg Palace, which a private home, but it was used as the exterior of the Von Trapp villa, including the tree-line lane that leads up to it, where the children hung from tree branches as their father and his guests drove beneath them on his way home.


We next had a long bus trip into the lakes region outside of Salzburg, which was absolutely stunning.  I tried taking pictures out the window of the bus with limited success.  Fortunately, we did stop in some lovely spots to take pictures.  The lakes regions were filmed for the opening and ending scenes of the movie, shown in panoramic scenes of the region, and they are just beautiful.  We also saw bits of Untersburg Mountain, peaking through the snow and clouds, upon which Maria sings Sound of Music in the opening scene and where the family allegedly climbs to safety at the end of the movie. Of course, in real life, the family escaped Nazi Austria on a train to Italy.

We arrived in the town of Mondsee, where the interior of the Mondsee Cathedral was used to film Maria and the Captain's wedding.  This Cathedral was beautiful and felt very much as it looked in the wedding scenes of the movie.  I was so obsessed with this movie that I used the music from that wedding as the processional for my own, and I still love that music to this day. 








Unfortunately, once we saw the inside of the Cathedral and had purchased a few souvenirs, there was little else to do in Mondsee, as most of the restaurants and shops were closed, even though this is planned as our lunch break.  We found a small bakery cafe, as did almost everyone on the tour, and bought some "kaiser brotchen" (cheese baked on delicious rolls) and hot chocolate to warm our hands.  Then it was back on the bus for the return to Salzburg, all the while watching some footage from a special anniversary edition DVD and listening to the soundtrack from the movie.

Once back in Salzburg, we checked out another small Christmas market, and then walked through Mirabell Gardens, where much of the Do-Re-Mi song was filmed.  Then we walked over the Salzach River and back to our hotel, where we picked up our bags, called a cab, and caught the next train back to Vienna.


It was a short, cold, snowy visit to Salzburg and I'd love to go back someday, but it was a lot of fun.  My daughters made a little fun of me and my long-held desire to go on the Sound of Music tour and see Salzburg more for it's role in that movie than for it's heritage as the birthplace of Mozart or the home of the Salzburg Music Festival or it's historical and architectural wonders.  But, I was so happy that we saw the sights, took the tour, and made time during this quick trip to Vienna to go and see the city that brought me so many wonderful memories and brought the world one of the most-loved movies of all time.

Bologna

As soon as Beth's flight from NYC landed, we stored her big suitcase and dragged her upstairs to check in for our flight to Bologna, Italy.  While it might seem odd that she hadn't seen anything of Vienna yet, we all decided that we wanted to visit Bologna and take this incredible tour that Samantha's doctor had recommended. So, we flew to Bologna on Friday, changing planes (and literally racing throughout the airport) in Rome.

I can't help but mention the lovely older Italian man in the Vienna gate area who asked if we were all sisters and exclaimed that Samantha and Elizabeth we so lucky to have such a young-looking mother. It seemed like a good omen of Bologna to me, but maybe not so much.

We landed in Bologna in pouring rain and took a cab to the hotel, which was basic but nice. We immediately headed out to walk around and found a fun open-air market, where Beth bought some cute flats for 5€.  When we got hungry, we stopped a great restaurant filled with English speakers and delicious food. The pasta and desserts were incredible, just as we expected in Bologna.  But after a couple glasses of wine, the jet lag started to catch up with Elizabeth and we headed back to the hotel to sleep.

We were picked up at 7 a.m. On Saturday for our Italian food Days tour.  After picking up a Swedish family at the train station, we drove about an hour, in the pouring rain, into the Italian countryside.  I'm sure the drive would be beautiful on a sunny day. We first went to a factory that produces Parmaggiano-Reggiano cheese.  We had to get there so early to see the cheese being made step-by-step.p, except for the milking of the cows and delivery of the milk to the factory.   We saw the 20 huge vats in which 2 standard-sized 100 lb. wheels of cheese are cooked. We watched the cheese master check when the cheese is ready to be cooled into one large block, divided into 2 cheese cloths, and then moved into plastic forms to make rounds or wheels of cheese,  it was really interesting to see the plastic inserts put into the plastic wheels on the second day to imprint each wheel of cheese with the Parmaggiano-Reggiano logo and the governmentally-regulated markings, including date and vat number. The cheese is moved to stainless forms and then, on day 20, is moved to racks to age for at least a year.  At that point, governmental quality control agents check the cheese by tapping all around it and determine if it's grade 1 or 2, which determines how long it can be aged, or if it's just cheese, which can't be aged.  They have to scrape the imprinted Parmaggiano-Reggiano cheese markings off the "cheese" and draw lines through the words if it's grade 2.  We also learned that ricotta, which is a dairy product but not really cheese, is made from the leftover cream and whey that are produced in the production of Parmaggiano-Reggiano. 

While this was all very interesting, tasting it was even more fun. :)

From there, we drove a short way to a beautiful villa where they produce balsamic vinegar.   This was also fascinating, as we learned about the Government-regulated quality control on the DOP balmasic, which is made in a pain-stakingly slow process. We got to taste-test several types, including some on vanilla gelato and some fresh ricotta made that morning - yum!

From there, we all went to an elaborate, long Italian lunch with the 3 Swedes, 2 other Americans (a mother and her 23-year-old daughter from Orlando, although the daughter has been in Germany for a year working as an au pair) and our guide, Alessandro. Lots of different food, including pumpkin soufflés and polenta gnocchi and everything with Parmaggiano-Reggiano on top. :) And, of course, lots of wine. What a wonderful way to spend a rainy day in Bologna. 

After we got back to Bologna, we wanted to go shopping a bit before dinner, so I said zi'd need to stop at an ATM, since I'd gap had to pay Alessandro in cash. By the time we made our way through the crowds to an ATM, my purse had been opened and my wallet stolen with me none the wiser. Unsettling, to be sure - I loved that wallet and still can't remember exactly all that was in it.  Fortunately, I'd left my passport and a couple of extra credit cards in the hotel for just such an eventuality. The biggest hassle is no ATM card, but fortunately I have 2 adult daughters with me. I sent Samantha some cash online and she took out more cash from her ATM. Just really annoying, as I'll have to get a new drivers license, health insurance cards, AAA cards, and all that sort of stuff, but fortunately Chris was at the apartment in Shanghai and could cancel the credit cards, so the new ones should be waiting for me whenI get to Elmhurst.  

On Sunday, we wandered the streets of Bologna, sight-seeing and eating. We stopped at a couple of famous churches, the Bologna Museum, the towers and the Piazza Maggiore. We had some good food and had a nice leisurely day, in the rain. Monday, we went back to airport - it was finally sunny - and flew to Rome, ate some delicious Buffala mozzarella there, and then flew to Vienna. After a quick dinner nod luggage sorting at Samantha's apartment, Elizabeth and I headed to our hotel for some sleep. Next, to Salzburg!