Finding Beauty EVERYWHERE

This morning we met Verena and traveled to a small town called Götzendorf to help with some community service. The girls were all troopers for sure...though cleaning up the cemetery wasn’t hard. We helped to keep it nice ... raking up leaves and sticks. The workers were super nice, though only one spoke much English. It is interesting to be in a cemetery. My mom loves cemeteries ... I remember walking through the one close to my house when I was in labor with Jordan. I thought of her today too. I looked at the dates....some as old a death date of 1906. Another one was the final lying place of 10 Russian soldiers in 1945. SOOOO much history here.

Fun (or weirdly interesting) fact I learned today — we bury out dead next to one another with HUGE cemeteries. The Austrians bury families on top of one another. They dig down 2 meters 10 centimeters and put the body in...but not in a fancy casket like ours, all sealed up and expensively ornate and beautiful. Instead, it is in a box. They get 4 tons of dirt out of each hole. When they put that dirt back in, the casket obviously lowers with time. In 20 years, the entire thing has decomposed so much that only bones remain. Therefore, they again dig down til they find bones then lay the next casket on top. We saw as many as 6 names in one plot. If it is less than 20 years, they dig down til they hit the casket then put the next one in. The families are given the option of cremating the bones and putting them in an urn, or putting all the families bones in another coffin.

Just interesting. But BEAUTIFUL cemetery....the families take care of the plot. Very little grass can be found, but rather gravel and huge marble slabs marking the site.

I think the most difficult part of today was waiting....after our first hour long raking experience, we went to their shop for coffee - only none of us drinks coffee. Nor do we smoke. So, soon I was getting light headed and a headache. Rachel and I went outside. I can’t believe the others didn’t, but no worries. It was their break so we took a break. The next cemetery was significantly smaller and already fairly kept up ... didn’t take long. Back to the shoot for a few minutes then they took us to lunch! A buffet — so we could see what we were eating. Austrian food is ALWAYS delicious so all was good.

I REALLY enjoyed hanging out with Verena from the AAIE - she is spectacular. She is funny, kind, and smart/wise. She has been a BIG help to me.

When we got back, the girls headed home — they are off to Venice, Rome, and Zurich for this long weekend. Rachel will stay ... but will probably head somewhere close on Sunday and Monday. I , on the other hand, am relaxing in the city I love. Sleeping in, walking in such a relaxed way that I get nowhere very fast. I may even see if I can have dinner with Elizabeth.

I scouted out how to get to and from the airport and how to have Natalie get herself back to the city, store her luggage, and then meet up with us on Sunday the 16th. Krista is coming on the 13th to head to Salzburg with us - that will be FUN!! When I got back to Stephansdom I looked at all the venders outside - it is Pentecost weekend. I didn’t find much until a young man sitting at a tiny little machine with a beautiful blue stone, engraving an edge. It intrigued me. I’m not a jewelry person, but I stopped and talked to him. He told me ALL about it....even came out and helped me see the stones better. His name is Nico and he is from Argentina. Suave....that is the Argentine way. But I was sold. I walked away but quickly came back for more. I think I found the one I want to get Kelsey. It is a light blue, similar to her eyes. It is expensive but not outrageous. I hope it is not gone when I go back tomorrow.

Here are a few pics of my day - community service and sauntering through the backstreets of Vienna to Karls Kirche. I even sat on the benches and took in the breeze, listened to the many people playing music and dumped all my small coins to them. I enjoyed just sauntering!

And I love getting home early and putting my feet up. I have seen a lot of Vienna, so I no longer feel like I have to spend EVERY LAST minute out and about. It is nice to relax for sure.