Week 2: Austria

Well, our trip to Austria was eventful, that's for sure! I was just getting over my stomach flu, Mom had back trouble, and of course we get a call 10 minutes before leaving the house that our flight has been canceled! Flight 1 was canceled (due to oil prices). We didn't make Flight 2 on standby. Flight 3 was delayed (due to brake problems), and then eventually canceled. We did make Flight 4 to Chicago, but of course missed our connections. But in the end, it all worked out, and we got there safely - and more surprisingly, our luggage arrived with us!!!

I'm trying a new way of doing photos below, so let me know what you think of the slideshow. (Hint: Turn up the volume)

After we arrived in Linz, Austria, Michaela and Tom picked us up at the airport and we were able to spend a wonderful evening with the Potrusil family at their home in St. Florian. The next day we took a drive to a village on the way to Salzburg, trolled around in a boat on the lake, and had lunch in the mountains. After we got back to St. Florian, we were able to a get a tour of the "farmhouse" where the wedding reception was going to be held. I think I was expecting a fancy barn, but it was definitely not that - it was beautiful! And the gardens were spectacular. Then later that evening we were reunited with Lotje (another '97 Willmar foreign exchange student) and her boyfriend Timon, who were from the Netherlands. We enjoyed a nice dinner with them and got to learn a lot about the Netherlands, and the differences/similarities between there and Austria.

Saturday afternoon was Michaela and Tom's wedding. People have asked me about the differences to American weddings, so I'll touch a little on that here. First, the bride and groom have a civil ceremony at a courthouse where the marriage becomes legal. These days, it often happens several days before the church ceremony. Second, the guests meet the bride in the courtyard of the church so that she can welcome them individually. Then the groom leads everyone into the church. Bridesmaids and Groomsmen are not common, although Elisabeth and I did get that great honor! Typically the attendants (one each for bride and groom) from the civil ceremony will also be the ones to observe and sign the church's marriage certificate. One note here - the wedding was held in German, and so I couldn't begin to describe any differences here, but it seemed to follow a Catholic ceremony to the best of my knowledge! After the ceremony, the bride and groom lead everyone to another courtyard where the Agape is held. Here, each guest greets the new couple with money and flowers (gifts were not very popular), and we have bread and wine while the 4 piece orchestra is playing.

From there, it's on to the reception site (yes, they still honk horns, but not as obnoxiously as Americans do - surprise, surprise). Here we have a raspberry fruit cocktail called Bola (?), and assuming it doesn't start to pour (Ahem...), you enjoy a nice time in the awesome gardens. The reception itself was spectacular! Much fancier than what I am accustomed to, however, not everyone from the church is invited to the reception, so I suppose you can go a bit fancier then. Anyway, we were served an awesome 4 course meal (ask to see pictures - we took them!) and an unlimited supply of drinks all night. Most things from here on out were similar to American weddings - speeches, cake, first dance, and the dance itself. One other thing I want to mention are the "sky lights" (Michaela's mom was trying to explain to me what they were, and all I could think was fireworks!). Tom and Michaela included an Asian tradition of lighting these paper lanterns and sending them up into the sky at midnight. It was really awesome to see and would be really neat to see in the US (if it weren't for law-suit happy America).

I could go on for awhile, but this is already getting long, so let me just say that the wedding was absolutely beautiful, we had a wonderful time, and we want to say Thank You to Michaela, Tom, Maja, Rudolf, and Renata for everything you did for us - we hope we can return the favor when you come back to the US!

On Sunday, Mom and I went on the train to Vienna and were even lucky enough to stay in Michaela and Tom's place while they were away on their honeymoon (thank you again!). Elisabeth gave us a fantastic tour of Vienna where we got to see the Danube, the Universities where Elisabeth and Michaela study, St. Stephan's Cathedral (Stephansdom), Parliament, and several other sites of Vienna. Thank you, Elisabeth, for taking the time and being such a wonderful tour guide!!! We really loved all the sites, but especially the time just hanging out with you and Sara in the cafes!

Well, this about marks the end of my time in Austria. I have many more photos and several more stories if anyone is interested! Stay tuned for Week 3: England, coming soon...