Cole is ready to play ball

We're Home!

Burano Pictures

Colored houses are the attraction in Burano. We ate at a restaurant there that had good pizza.

3 Euro umbrella

It was rainy and windy in Venice. This umbrella didn't do so well in the rain.

Italy

We are in Hotel Bologna. Here's pic of our room. It looks like IKEA furniture. We ventured out and took a bus to Venice. Then we rode the Vaparetto through center of Venice. It was a lot of fun. It's a bit rainy, but we got Gelato anyway. You'll also have to ask Faye about her Calzone experience.

Gelato in Venice

Stop numero ono was to find some gelato in San Marco plaza.

Train & Bus to Venezia

We got up bright and early this morning to go to Venice. We took train from Baden about 10 min, then caught 4hr train ride to Villach, then we took a 3hr bus ride to Mestre. We are now Italia. Our experience on the train went much smoother this time.

Dinner for 25

Some pictures of Stockerwirt and our main course. I had wild boar schnitzel and Sandy had the duck spring rolls. The wild game is caught from the local area. It is also seasonal to have pumpkin soup, which was excellent.

Stockerwirt

The Haus took us to an Austrian restaurant called Stockerwirt. Jeff H. had wild boar schnitzel and I had Chiliente which was a duck spring roll. We also had a vitamin salad which was very good and pumpkin soup. Faye got peasant. For dessert we got Weischel Traum 'Cherry Dream'.

One of the STWs birthday was this day also so the sparkler was what they brought her for a special dessert.

Last Day

Jeff took a picture of the Food Services team. Today was our last day. Lorrie and I stayed to help clean the kitchen. Faye, Jeff H. & Jeff Z. joined the guest services team to help them clean the student housing and prepare them for the next session.

As part of final kitchen cleanup I got to clean the big stove and Lorrie polished the brass on the stove. They take it apart and clean each piece so I helped clean the silver parts. Then we prepared lunch and finished cleaning the rest of the kitchen. It went by fast. Now we are packing and the staff will take us to an Austrian restaurant called Stockerwirt tonight.

Preisfeld Loop

We took a walk this afternoon after the students had left and our cleaning was done. There is a small town nearby that has several walking paths. We took one that takes you by 5 German soldier graves. That might seem depressing but the meadow does have a pretty view.

Tomorrow I'll be in the kitchen with Lorrie. The rest of the crew, including the maintenance team get to help guest services clean the student quarters.

My prayer partner gave me a sweet handmade card today with a chocolate bar from Czech Rep before she left.

Farewell Dinner

Tonight was the farewell dinner for the students. It was complete with a Thanksgiving dinner and candlelight. Dessert was a Haus tradition, oreo cookie ice-cream.

It's still hard to believe they take their final exams tomorrow morning. I was able to hear my prayer partner's testimony this morning at breakfast. She said that when she was a teenager she was trying to find a pain free way to commit suicide. She took an English class and the teacher was a Christian. She invited Barbara to an after school club and she went to it. It was the first time she felt accepted for who she was. It took her 3yrs of struggling with God, but she finally decided to give her life to Christ. I wish you could see her smile and hear her laugh. She is so cheerful and full of joy you wouldn't know that she had such a rough time. I'm so glad that she is here and that I've gotten to meet her. She is from Czech Rep and attends a seminary school there. She will soon be teaching children English and I know she'll make it fun for the kids.

Our honored guest, Wilford, came for breakfast this morning and again for dinner tonight.

Sent from Sandy's iPhone

Winding Down

The session is winding down for the students. Many of them had to read over 1,000 pages of material prior to coming, write papers, spend time in classroom instruction from 9am-6pm, some have presentations today and they all have their final exams Thursday. Then, the students will leave...so sad. We will miss them all.

We met one student from Poland who said he was so sad because starting Friday he'd have to go back to his normal food. However, he said if he ate like this everyday he would have a different problem. He currently has his own renovation business and plans to use that as a ministry to provide people work. In the past, he worked with teenagers through college age which he has now passed on to another.

Last night we had a campfire once all the clean-up was done. A few students came and an honored guest. There is a neighbor, Wilford, he has been Sunny & Robert's German teacher and friend for a long time. I think he's in his '80s. His wife is very ill, she's dying of cancer. He is not a believer but he came to our campfire last night. He's a very sweet and funny man. He's very sad because he lost his first wife to cancer about this same time of year and now his second wife who is only in her '60s now has cancer too. Some of the maintenance crew washed his car yesterday and some of Wilford's neighbors help do his laundry. He had also ate dinner with us last night too. Michelle got the privilege of hosting his table.

Auf Wiedersehen (Vee-der say-en) Good-bye

Sent from Sandy's iPhone

Fruit of the Spirit

As part of my daily duties I set up bananas for breakfast. They have a special banana room down in the basement. I also get to dry the bananas when they arrive along with washing the apples and oranges.

After breakfast I take 10 apples & 10 oranges to make a fruit platter for the students that goes out for their break time. They apparently don't get fruit or very much of it so they love the fruit.

Baden

We had worship service this morning. The Moldova and Romania students did the service. We can't post pictures of the students to protect their safety, but Jeff got a few we can show you when we get home. We also have some good ones of our prayer partners. The students sang some songs in English and some in Russian.

Then the Haus staff took us and the students to the town of Baden. We walked around the Rose Garden Park and town. Eis Peter was closed but we found some Eis in another cafe near the Mozart Park.

That's what I call banana bread!

Anniversary at the Stift

We were blown away that everyone had passed a card around to sign wishing us many more years of happy marriage. After our chores were done, a bunch if us went down to the Stift for desert and they treated us again.

Thank you for a very memorable anniversary. We will enjoy the cards for years to come.

Painting

Jeff Z has been painting the underside of the balconies the last couple days.

I finished the interior wall I have been working on. Caulked the corners a couple days ago after Jim finished taping the drywall joints. Today I finished up with a fresh coat of paint.

Everyday brings some raking or power blower for all the leaves. I guess it has been a long time since I have seen this many leaves.

Happy 11th Anniversary!

Jeff got me a sweet card that's in German. He used Google translater so this is what we think it says.

We also received a very cute bookmark and card from Karen W. They were also very sneaky and had everyone sign a card for us. Jim & Dot also gave us a cute card too. Karen S. was also sneaky and paid for our dessert at the Stift restaurant. We left a lasting impression for the waiter Jerry who took care of 11 crazy Americans.

Kitchen Pictures

Hot Dog Stick Bun?

Well, Faye was successful but we don't know how. We carefully ordered kase krainer but got sausage cut up on a plate with mustard. Faye successfully got the hot dog in the long bun with cheese. Oh well, it was very good!

Naschmarkt in Vienna

The Haus staff took the students and us for a day in Vienna. We decided to walk through the Naschmarkt. It was very colorful with all kinds of fresh fruit and vegetables. They also had Kebops which is like a gyro that Jeff & Jody decided to try.