[NOTE: I corrected the spelling of Wien after Claus (pesky Germans!) pointed it out :-) ]

Our trip to Vienna, Austria was fun. One of our stops was Schönbrunn Palace.



The palace had a lot going for it and we spent most of the day there. One of the activities was to get lost in the backyard maze.



Laura enjoyed peeking under the statue's clothing...



... and while Laura's attention was diverted, Sabrina took advantage by breaking the palace rules.



This palace has a long history. One interesting tidbit is that this is where 6-year old W.A. Mozart played his first royal concert in the presence of Empress Maria Theresia. Since Vienna is famouse for classical music we decided to celebrate by attending a concert, featuring popular compositions of Mozart and Johann Strauss.

On one of the days we found some water spouts, the girls went crazy with joy - Vienna was hot!




The official language of Austria is German, they spell Vienna as "Wien". You've probably heard of one of its famous dishes, the Wiener Schnitzel! Although Laura and I have heard the words "Wiener Schnitzel" neither of us knew what the heck it really was. So we ordered it - it reminds me of a thin country friend steak (made out of pork) that is deep fat fried.

Although we went and saw a lot on our 6-day vacation the coolest thing was seeing the Rinas bonding.

Got a light?

During the summer it never really gets dark. This is what it looks like at 3am

Chili Beer

Laura found a fun beer at the supermarket today - chili beer!



I don't normally eat or drink hot stuff, but I like this. I can only drink it in small quantities however; I then need something a bit softer on the palate. I think the funniest part is the warning label, only in the United States do they need to warn people not to choke on the pepper.

Kan du tale dansk?

The title asks if you know how to speak Danish, which is not an easy feat. When the Danes encounter something new, instead of coming up with a new word they instead just overload an existing word or slam two existing words together. To give you an example, here is a real Danish sentence and then the English translation:

Real Danish Sentence:

Får får får? Nej, får får ikke får, får får lam.

Try reading that outloud and guess what you think it means. Give up?

English translation:

Sheep have sheep? No, sheep don't have sheep, sheep have lambs.