Today is Monday, September 17, 2012--a day to celebrate the
life of John’s Mom, Grace Scott Laing. We thought much of those at home, both family and friends, as they gathered to pay tribute to her. We began
our day with prayers that all would be well with those traveling, praying, and
speaking at this important event. We look forward to hearing the recording of
the funeral knowing it will be a time to lift spirits and comfort hearts.
We began our day, many miles from those gathering in Springville. We are in Deutsch Wagram at the Huszes, where we awoke to a peaceful cool fall morning. We showered
and dressed then joined our hosts for an early breakfast of wonderful Bröchen, cheese, meats, fresh
fruit and tea before bustling our bags back in the car to take Sis. Husz to one
of her many doctor’s appointments for the week.
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| Austrian farmhouse and shop with fresh berries and fruit Essig (vinegars) |
While she was there President took us to a charming Austrian farmhouse where the proprietors make berry vinegars, and jams, as well
as wines, and sell fresh berries. My mom would have adored this place.
Everything was charming and open for our view.
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| Stainless steel kitchen |
The “kitchen” where they produce
these wonderful items was polished stainless steel and we sampled the vinegars
from tiny crystal goblets! The flavors were amazing and I wanted to bring some
of each home with us to us for salads. Knowing everything would have to be
shipped home, we limited ourselves to one bottle of Himbern Essig but it was difficult not to also buy the apricot
version as well. Oh well raspberry is our absolute favorite so we came away
very satisfied to have been there and seen the place.
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| Sampling fruit vinegars--in crystal goblets |
We dashed home to unload Marikka’s case of raspberries,
through together a sandwich to eat (“So we wouldn’t starve,” Pres. said), then
bustled away to pick Sis. Husz back up and leave for Sopron, Hungary. We
assured the Huszes we would be happy to take a train but they insisted on being
perfect hosts and getting us all the way there, after driving the route we
would take to walk to their home from the little Bahnhof nearby.
We arrived in Sopron just 15 minutes before our dental
appointments so quickly left our luggage at the hotel and walked with Marikka
through the block to a street directly behind our hotel, climbed the stairs to
her dentist, Dr. Elod, where we told her goodbye and she left to find President
Husz circling the block to take her back home.
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| John being well cared for Sopron style--the dental captitol of the world |
Sopron, Hungary is called the dental capital of the world
for good reason. There are some 300+ dental clinics in this little town of 60K
people. We figured it would be a fun experience to do as the Austrians (and
other Europeans) and have our teeth cleaned and any other work we might need
for a price only half what it would cost in Germany or at home. We were
grateful for the recommendation as to which dentist to go to. Confident is owned and operated by a
husband and wife team. He teaches dentistry at the University of Vienna and
both are first rate in their profession as is their assistant.
We “enjoyed” the experience both similar and quite different
from a cleaning in SLC. For one thing after my initial example the assistant
told me the price and asked if I wished to continue. When she finished with the
cleaning she then asked if I wanted “Farber”—whitener.
In my very poor Deutsch I asked what it would cost and was assured it was
included. After John’s initial exam he was told his teeth were so good his
procedure would be only half price—now that
I have never had happen at our dentist at home.
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| Dental "art" in Confident |
With shining smiles we bide the friendly folks at
“Confident” goodbye and returned to our hotel to rest, read, and relax before
taking our daily walk around this interesting old town. Right on the same street we discovered the Church!
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| Sopron's location for our Church, just down from our dentist |
Our hotel is a 4-star hotel that is very old and very
baroque. Our room has antique furniture with heavy wooden bedsteads and
wardrobes, a tiny two-person table and a big tub in the bathroom, and included
breakfasts. The hotel staff is friendly and helpful and we are glad to have
these few days to unwind before finishing out our mission.
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| Pannonia Best Western Hotel--Sopron |
We have been aware all day that as we walked around that Mom Laing’s funeral was just beginning and we
thought of everyone gathered for the family prayer, funeral, burial, and
luncheon and were grateful that all our kids could attend to represent us so
well. We are anxious to receive the audio of both Pop and Mom’s events so we
can hear the talks and remember together these special people.
The days of the week blur together as we walk, talk, read, laugh and try to strengthen John’s legs the best we know how. We did indulge in his getting a body massage on Monday evening, which seemed to really help, at least for that evening. The weather has been perfect, cool, breezy and sunny though Wednesday turned cooler with a sprinkle of rain. We enjoyed walking around the inner city with its old churches and museums. We had to do some tricky navigating to find our way in since there was some construction going on around the fire watchtower. Once in, however, we loved seeing the charming old houses with their inner courtyards. The Goat Church was pretty impressive as well—though why it is called
that name escapes me!
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| Beautiful walks in this old old town |
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| Walking Sopron's interesting streets |
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| Goat Church?? |
In the evening we decided to try out the
Erhardt restaurant that was recommended
at the top of the list of places to eat in Sopron so we set out in the drizzle
with John using his sticks and me holding the umbrella over us both. We found
it on Balfi Gasse with no problem and enjoyed the wonderful dinner—which we
split, as usual. It is always so nice both in not over eating and in not over
extending our budget, eating a very nice dinner for about 7.00 euros or
$9.00.
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| Erhardt Restaurant. . .in the rain |
Because I like to take new
walking routes, John conceded in our approaching our hotel from a different
direction which should have worked great, but we both thought the street
leading to the hotel looked to be a dead end so we went beyond to the next one
before turning down. By this time it was colder, windy, and raining hard. I
could no longer really read the map so we trudged along, occasionally having to
keep our umbrella from taking flight in Mary Poppins fashion. Bless him, John
kept on trekking, though for the life of me I don’t know what other choice
either of us had. We finally made it back to the hotel, but not until
realizing
we had way over shot our destination. It was good to be back home where we
could dry out and climb into bed with the heating pad on to watch the first
half of
Pride and Prejudice.
Thursday dawned sunny and bright with a breeze. In order to get a little walk
in John agreed to walk up from the hotel to see if the street that had appeared
to be a dead end really would have been a clean shot home to the hotel. It was!
John, still worn out from our long walk in the rain the night was uninterested
in more hiking about so I went exploring on my own while he went to the sauna
and then worked on his journal. While
out and about I found a tiny little thrift shop tucked back in and there bought
a linen tunic blouse for 2,000 forints ($9) after bargaining in Chinese fashion
to talk the clerk down from 2,500. Then I went looking for a bakery museum
noted on my map. I found it but it didn’t open until 2:00. Along my way I also
found another recommended restaurant that looked fun to try.
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| My Sopron thrift shop tucked back in a courtyard |
When I returned to the hotel, John was game to go for lunch
and then the museum. We enjoyed both. Our elderly guide at the living museum
demonstrated all the bakery implements and generally was delightful.
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| Old Bakery oven |
On our way back we discovered another thrift
shop on the main drag that I came back to check out further after getting John
back for a rest. There I found a linen skirt for about 5 euros and a blouse
from another shop—my souvenirs from Sopran.
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| Stunning flowers all over town |
In the evening we packed up and turned in after a bowl of
soup and two expensive cups of hot water. Generally we ordered hot water to fix
our own tea and never had we been charged for it but for a little pub we
stopped in for supper. Oh well, you can’t always win. I turned in and watched a
good portion of the remaining half of
Pride
and Prejudice.
Friday we got up in good time and finished packing then I
went out to buy bread to go with our cheese, milk, and meat for a lunch in
Vienna. We went for our usual breakfast at the hotel and then headed out for
the train station after I paid our bill.
I walked ahead with the suitcase in order to purchase our train tickets for
the 9:13 am train, though I wondered if we’d make it or need to wait for the
10:13. But we did. Just barely. We
climbed aboard and pulled out of the station saying goodbye to Sopron, glad to
have come for our little break. We have
found it a wonderful place to be for these few days.
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| Taking the train to Vienna from Sopron |
On the 70-minute train to Vienna we enjoyed the last of
Pride and Prejudice and finished it just
as we pulled into Meidling, Wien. We had
considered going straight out to Husz’s in Deutsch Wagram but decided instead
to stash our luggage at the West Bahnhof and then head into Vienna, free of
lugging two computers and our big duffle bag.
After purchasing all-day passes to all public transportation
in town, we headed for the Kunsthistorisches Museum to enjoy a little culture.
I was so proud of John. He had been trudging along on his sticks well. Before
getting to the museum, however, we stopped at a park bench and ate our
Hungarian bread sandwiches, fruit, and milk to gain a little energy for the
adventures ahead.
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| Vienna's wonderful museum--one among many |
At the museum, we borrowed a wheelchair so I could save
John’s walking quite so much and enjoyed seeing the Pieter Breugal room to see
Hunters in the Snow and other works. I
climbed up to see the Gustav Klimt murals, but left John below, since we didn’t
want to abandon the wheelchair, nor having him climb up the stairs. I could see
from above he also enjoyed a little nap while I was gone.
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| Hunters in the Snow--Beugal |
I liked the Egyptian rooms with the interesting décor as
well as the many ancient pieces on display and the Gustav Klimt murals.
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| Eygpt's treasures on display |
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| Interesting Klimt paintings tucked around the columns |
Finally we decided we’d had enough
and returned the
Rollstuhl and left
for the ring-road
Straßenbahn to get
an overview of this wonderful old city.
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| Vienna's wonderful public transport was easy to use |
Our next stop was a walk into the inner
streets to see
Demels where we
watched pastries being made (though we didn’t indulge), and walked
Kohlmarkt which boasted of
Chanel and
Gucci among other posh shops—me contentedly wearing my Chinese
knock-off Gucci jacket and Channel watch.
Neither of us could care less for the expensive real ones.
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| Demel's--pastry in the making |
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| Posh shops on Kohlmarkt |
Having for now seen enough of city bustle, we returned to
the U-bahn and headed for Heiligengeiststadt where we then caught a 38A bus for
Kahlenberg and the access to the Weinerwald—John’s desired destination. It was
a fun trip and we walked up along the leaf-strewn paths glad to have had the
chance to come.
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| John's walk in the Wienerwald--finally! |
On the way back we stopped at Grinzing and had dinner outside
at a charming restaurant called
Rudolfs
before heading back to the West Bahnhof to reclaim our gear and catch trains
out to Deutsch Wagrum—and home for now.
We arrived at about 8:30 pm having walked—not counting the museum
where John rode—seven miles! That was a lot for both of us. Thank goodness for
our both having been walking daily!
It was nice to climb up to our room, unload our stuff and
say hello to Sis. Husz and to her daughter, Sandra, who had arrived Tuesday
from Canada. We were so sorry to hear
that Sis. Husz is going to need more surgery—this time to remove a broken
Heparin Lock in her chest. It is worrisome for her both because it is no fun to
have added health issues after being through so much but also because it will
likely delay her return to the temple. I emailed Kathy immediately and asked
that she put her name on the Salt Lake Temple prayer roll since our temple
isn’t open.
After our project we were invited to celebrate President’s
birthday at a lunch with nearly their entire family. It was fun to meet the
other boys and their grandchildren. We were particularly taken with Jacob who
reminded me of what John must have been like as a child. He talked non stop but
was so cute (and his Deutsch, much to John’s chagrin, was perfect!). Home
again, we enjoyed a good nap before heading off for the evening session of
stake conference. We were pleased to see Brother Schauperl and his wife, and a
couple of others who had visited our temple and the meeting, with its excellent
translators (the best of them the Husz’s son, Michael, was very good) was
totally focused on the temple.
Sunday we had a quick breakfast and then drove for an hour
to attend stake conference at a sport’s arena in Oberlaa-Therme. After the
Huszes visited with friends we returned for Sunday dinner, a nap, and finally
getting my blog for the week completed. It has been a wonderful, and very full
one!
