Random

This entry is by Duchess.

Let's go back to Saalfelden, Austria. The picture above might be an Austrian edelweiss, or it might be a Jacksonian highway weed. Hopefully the first.

I met an Arab in the Alps. Which actually isn't too rare in Austria. For those who know Caleb, that is his renown LYDA GREEN sweatshirt.:)

Since we were in the Austrian Alps, it was appropriate to bring the hills to life. This is my family's take on The Sound of Music:

Maybe my brothers are stud boys after all...

. . .

How could there ever be any doubt.

 Forgive me, but that headband on Caleb's head is nowhere to be found. Some Austrian hiker is going to have a nice surprise when they find my headband.

After the hike I was feeling motherly. That's also a look of "It's okay, brother, to be weird sometimes. We all forgive you."

Next stop: Vienna. Caleb told you about the Lipizzaner stallions. This is inside their arena. Caleb's making sure everyone knows we're here with his reflective shirt. 

We got the chance to go to the Austrian National Library, located here in the Hofburg Palace. The balcony above Caleb's head is where Hitler declared Austria under German control. Daniel's hair is just a huge wave of red.

In the image below, you see a perfect picture of the Mr. Collins (think Pride and Prejudice) and proud sister.   

One of the most magnificent things we experienced was the Vienna Boys choir, and a couple days ago we figured out that the current choirmaster is a Baylor grad! 

Move over, dude.

We thought that the orchestra was amazing as well. Little did we know that we were listening to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra! And it cost nothing...for a price. We had to stand for the entire two hour catholic service. So worth it. We were wiped afterwards. At least our legs were.

Hang in there.

Caleb's out.

Mom's out...uh, mom, you okay down there???

While in Vienna, we had the wienerschnitzel (which actually means 'schnitzel from Vienna'), a thin breaded chicken, delicious, but we Southerners still got 'em beat in the fried chicken sense. We met these really nice girls from the US whose parents are missionaries in Austria.

I was about to eat a fry when this picture was taken.

Closer...

Closer...

Just let me at those fries. 

On the way to the meal, Caleb did a little victory jig halfway across the road.

One of the most amazing architectural buildings in Vienna was this church, St. Stephen's Cathedral. Here is the Stephensdome, within.

On the subway, almost home.

So long for now.

Signing out, Duchess of Dwelling 8 (Victoria)

A Day in Salzburg

On our trip to Austria, we had the opportunity to spend a day in Salzburg--a little over an hour by bus from the city we were staying in, Saalfelden.  Salzburg was wonderful.  Although many Austrians do not seem overly excited about "The Sound of Music," for many of us Americans, Salzburg is known to us as the city where the film is set.

Just walking around the city was a lot of fun.

The view overlooking Salzburg was beautiful. 

Victoria has this cute face she does.  

The Green boys, overlooking Salzburg.

As I mentioned above, we enjoyed seeing a view of the sites from the Sound of Music.  Here we are at the Nonnberg Abbey, where Maria was a novitiate.

And here we are at the Abbey reenacting the famous scene where the Von Trapp children come to see Maria!

Caleb and Daniel in a small room in the Abbey.

Victoria, in the Abbey in Salzburg.

Enjoying the Abbey.

The entry to the Abbey.

Reenacting one of the dance scenes from The Sound of Music--the beautiful Mirabella Gardens in Salzburg.

In Salzburg, we stopped by the house were Mozart lived.

Overlooking the river in Salzburg.

 Goodbye Salzburg. The hills are alive!

Enjoying Austria

Friends, we have been back from Austria for several days, but there are fun pictures to post here.  The children have had fun catching Daddy in fun poises.  I enjoy it myself . . .

We went to Haas and Hass coffee and tea shop--which has the largest selection of teas and coffees in Vienna.  Very fun.

I really do love my children.

We are here in the nunnery in Vienna where Maria Von Trapp was a novitiate (Nonnberg Abbey, in Salzburg).

The streets of Vienna were a blast.

Stay tuned for more on Austria from Victoria and Dianne!

The Lipizzaner Stallions in Vienna

This is Caleb

                 While in Vienna, we Greens went to the Spanish Riding School (one of moms hopes), home to the famous Lipizzaner stallions. Wow, it was amazing what some of the horses can do. We did not actually see a show, but we did get to see the horses and take a tour of the riding school. Here are some of the things that we saw:

The tour guide asked us how much we thought these saddles were and we guessed WAY to low, like $3000. The black ones on the bottom run from $5000-$7500. The white ones on the top are $15,000-$25,000.

This is the actual place where they perform. (Daniel and I thought about dropping the GoPro (camera) down just so we could be there.)

Here on the right is the world's biggest horse walker (think giant hamster wheel on its side).

And the local cat...

Traveling to Austria

The Green family recently had the great privilege of traveling to Austria.  I (Brad) had the opportunity to speak at a week-long gathering of OSM (the Austrian version of IFES--International Fellowship of Evangelical Students).  The Executive Director of OSM is Christian Pichler, a wonderful young, Christian man.  He and others were wonderful hosts.

The students at the training week were super.  I spoke in English, and they seemed to translate just fine.  But, I did try to work on my German--mainly outside of class.  It was a lot of fun.  Here is Christian Pichler, a super fellow.

 We enjoyed a number of meals with our new friends.

The view from where I was speaking was beautiful.

We are thankful for the work of OSM in Austria, and hope and pray the ministry prospers!