WE ARRIVE IN VIENNA -- 15 July 2015

                              We flew from France to Vienna and took a taxi to the vacation
                                                 apartment we have rented for two weeks.

                                          We have a lot of luggage -- over 100 pounds each.
                                    And we had to pay $100 for the 3rd suitcase we checked.

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                                       Here is the front door of our apartment on the 3rd floor. 
                                                  We're glad the building has an elevator.

                                                          You enter through the kitchen.
                               It's furnished and has most everything we need to make our meals.

                                   Off the kitchen is the bathroom.  It's a strange arrangement.
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We're very lucky to have a little washing machine....

 

 

                                    
                                                                        and a dryer. 

                                               The next room is a nice living/dining room...

                                                                        and cable TV.

                             Through the dining room is the bedroom.  Don't you love the art?
                                             It's Klimt.  I should appreciate it more, I guess.

It has been 100 degrees for days and days.  We have no air conditioning and neither do the streetcars and subways.  Occasionally we get into a bus and are surprised it is air-conditioned.  But it's only a 5 or 10 minute respite from the heat.  Most days I only go out for short trips unless I want to risk heat exhaustion.  I came close a couple of times so I have been waiting until late afternoon to venture out.  Thankfully our landlady sent over  two large fans so we can sleep a bit better.

After about 10 days of this heat wave it has now cooled down to the perfect weather.  You don't feel hot or cold, but just right.  So now I'm starting to enjoy being in Vienna.

2015 A New Adventure -- We set off for 6 months in Vienna

 

OUR ADVENTURE BEGINS IN FRANCE!

7 July 2015

Roger is taking a sabbatical leave from BYU to compile an index of German census records.

This has apparently never been done before because it is such a complex issue.  Each province made its own rules about when and how to do its census -- nothing is standardized.  He has spent months making initial contact with archives all over Germany to get as much information as he can via mail and e-mail to eliminate the need to travel to every area.  We decided to make Vienna our home  base and rent the BYU Study Abroad apartment for 6 months and make trips to Germany as needed.  There is a Study Abroad program in progress until mid-August so we have rented a vacation apartment until then. It comes with maid service!

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Here we are in Aix en Provence.  Aix is pronounced "X".

 

We started our adventure by flying into Marseille, France. Our former American neighbors,

the Francoms, have moved with their 4 children to a small village about an hour from there.

Meredith picked us and our 200 + pounds of luggage at the airport and drove us to their home.

They have rented a nice house with a pool in the village of Greoux les Bains.

The Francoms and Minerts in the Provence lavender fields.

 

We stopped at a local honey producing market to buy honey made by bees who feed on lavender. They had many other types depending on where the hives are placed.  Honey = Miel in French.

Meredith and daughter Sophie with Roger in Greoux les Bains on the main street.

Their pool was a life-saver in the very hot weather.

They took us to a beautiful lake...

                                                  and to a museum in Aix en Provence.

Then there was the unfortunate incident of the bee.  We were on our way back to our car from our visit to Aix when I felt something crawling under my clothing.  I sneaked into a stairway to look and couldn't see anything.  But I kept feeling the crawling feeling so I pounded on my chest to smash whatever it was.  I felt a terrible pain and smashed some more.  I still could see nothing so thought I must be imagining things.  It wasn't until an hour later when we were home and changing into our swimsuits that I discovered that I certainly hadn't imagined anything.  I found this bee with its stinger still in me!  The bee was dead, fortunately, so I pulled out the stinger.  I have been suffering the terrible itching after-effect ever since.  Thankfully I brought along some essential oils.  Lavender and peppermint are very helpful for reducing the pain and itching of a bee sting!