Visiting friends in Germany, Austria and Slovakia

I left The Netherlands on saturday the 29th. of March. First stop was München where I visited Kathrin Bruggner. She was with me in the Evangelization school in Vienna. We didn’t see each-other for nearly two years, so it was time to meet again. I went to Munich by train. I like traveling by train because you can see a lot of the country you are traveling in.
Germany is really beautiful and it is just exciting traveling with 300 km/h between Cologne and Frankfurt am Main. ICE trains are really comfortable. My fellow travelers were funny this time. I was in between a group of Americans who did a tour around Europe. They were very loud but funny, so I wasn’t irritated by it. At around 5 PM I entered the main station of Munich. There Kathrin was already waiting for me. We dropped my suitcase in a locker and immediately went to the city center. We visited a few churches there and we were at the main square. I have added a picture of the town hall. After that we went to Kathrin’s place. She lives a bit outside the city center in a nice flat. I could sleep on the couch that can be transformed into a bed. Kathrin has one roommate who also did an evangelization school. They get along well together so that is really good situation! I left my luggage at her place and then we had a good meal at a nearby restaurant.

Sunday we first went to Holy Mass in a church near the town hall. That Holy Mass was really something. It was all in latin, that wasn’t that abnormal but there was also a complete orchestra on the balcony in the back of the church. So I didn’t notice that before. When it was time for the ‘Kyrie’ they started playing all of a sudden and there were well trained ‘opera’ voices singing. That was really beautiful! After the Holy Mass we did a one hour bus tour across the city center. I really liked that. It was a good way to see a lot in a short time. Munich is beautiful. Nice buildings, nice churches and a few very beautiful streets. Here I have added a lot of pictures taken from the bus. I had the luck that I could sit completely in front in the bus so I could take nice pictures. After the bus tour we went to a restaurant to eat something. We decided to taste something of the local kitchen. So we went to a place where they serve typically ‘Bayerisch’. I had Knödel with bacon and eggs and it was very good. They serve large portions in Bayern and Austria. They eat pretty heavy there.
When we were finished eating there was only little time left. I had to be at the station again at 15.30 hours. My luggage was still at the place of Kathrin. So we visited a few nice churches and I could take some pictures with my flexible tripod ‘Gorillapod’. Here to the left there is the Peterschurch where we had Holy Mass earlier that morning. The building style of the churches in Bavaria is baroque. So the churches are characterized by a lot of wall paintings, statues and angels! This Peterschurch was nice, because all the decorations weren’t too much. My visit to Kathrin was quick but it was really fantastic. Nice to speak to her again and visit some things with her.

At 15.30 hours I left Munich. I had a train voyage that lasted about 4 hours. We travelled alongside the North-side of the alps. The view was fantastic most of the times. I love the mountains because we don’t have any in The Netherlands. You can see so much from a train.

About 20.00 hours I arrived at the building of the academy. It was so wonderful to be there again. I really love Vienna. Such a beautiful city! I hadn’t been there for 3 years and that was too much for me. It was nice to be at the most normal things again. Like in the subway or subway stations. That evening I met already with Siegfried. He still lives in the academy building. A bit later his fiancee Anna came also and we made an evening walk through the city. The Acadamy building is right in the center of the city. I made a lot of photographs on monday. Here there are a few!

In the afternoon I went to the southern train station to catch the train to Bratislava. I had three fellow students from Slovakia when I was in Vienna. Because of conversations with them I got really curious about that country. The capital of Slovakia is only an hour away from Vienna. Anastazia lives in Bratislava and her fiancee, Jozef, also lives there. Jozef was also with me in the academy. He recently got a job in Scotland however and he left only a few days before I came. But it was good to meet Anastazia again.
In Bratislava I was picked up by the brother of Anastazia. I had seen him also a few times so it was easy to recognize each-other. With Frantisek I went to the center of Bratislava. We went for a drink there and after a short time Anastazia also arrived.

That evening Anastazia and I had dinner on a bridge over the Danube river. A small nice restaurant over there with an excellent view on the Danube river and the city on the other side. After the dinner we went again to the city center and we walked a bit over there. Later we met at a bus stop with Frantisek again and I went home with him. He lives on the other side of the Danube. It was very nice of him that I could stay there. In the morning there was not much time. Frantisek had to start at 8 o’clock and I could go with him to his work. That was cool because he works for the Slovakian ministry of Finances. Here I have added pictures of my visit in Bratislava, including a picture of Frantisek in his office. So I got to take a look there too! I stayed about half an hour there and then Anastazia came to pick me up. We had breakfast together in the town center and when we were finished Dasa who was also with me in the Academy arrived. She lives 1,5 hours away in a town called Trencin.

Dasa and Anastazia took me to a place called Devin. It is a bit outside of Bratislava. Devin is truly beautiful, with a castle ruin above the village. It is located at a place where the rivers Morawa and Danube meet. It was a strategically important location and therefore the castle was built. We walked there in a relaxed way and just enjoyed the site. Down again from the higher located castle we had a drink in a nearby cafe and we went to Bratislava again. In Bratislava we walked all the way up to the castle that is on a hill in the town. On the site where the castle is located you have a wonderful view on the city and the river Danube.

We had dinner afterwards. After all that walking we had a nice Pizza. When we were finished we walked to a site where there was an even better view on the city. We walked through an area that is almost like San Francisco in America. Steep hills and huge villas where the rich and famous live from Slovakia. Walking down again, Dasa left us and went to Trencin again. Anastazia and I went to church for Holy Mass. We had Mass in an amazing church. The church is as blue inside as it is outside. Being there was a good experience. The church was almost full, on a normal weekday. The Mass was difficult to follow for me because it was completely in the Slovakian language. But it was truly wonderful to be there.
When the Mass was over it was already evening. Anastazia took me to a cafe in the center of Bratislava. It is a very special cafe because mentally handicapped people work there. They also sell products that were made by these handicapped people. When it was about 20.30 hours Anastazia took me to the trainstation again and I drove back to Vienna again.

The last three days of my vacation were not that intensive as the first four. I visited a lot of churches in these days. Also a lot of other nice places, like the Hofburg. In my year in Vienna I also did a course about the European Union. For that course university students joined us. There were also excursions to Brussels and Warsaw with that group. Because of those excursions I got to know some students from outside the house as well. Wednesday I met with three of those students: Agnieska, Christian and Emese. The boyfriend of Agnieszka and the wife of Christian also came to the dinner, which was very nice! We had dinner in a good restaurant and stayed till the restaurant closed. It was good to meet them all again! Here there is a picture of us in the restaurant.

Thursday I met with Martin Seidler whom I also know from the year in Vienna. We visited a few churches and chatted underwhile. In the afternoon I met with Klara and Siegfried. Klara gave me a cd from the church choir where she is in. We went to the Belvedere castle but the rain poured down and then Klara invited us in her appartment. We cooked together and had good conversations. Friday I took some time to visit my favorite place in Vienna: Schonbrunn castle.

There is a nice park behind it where you can walk and discover new things every time. In the evening just before I drove back I visited the Elvis museum. Emese Bordi, the same Emese that I met on wednesday evening has opened that museum with her boyfriend. They have some interesting material, including a guitar that belonged to Elvis himself!

I can look back to a vacation that maybe was the best I ever had in my life. It was so nice to meet so many friends and just being in Vienna again was absolutely wonderful!