The living history was wonderful, one of the best parts of Europe for me. The castles, museums, palaces, especially the plague towers, old churches and cemeteries - I enjoyed all of those. But, just like everywhere else, people make the place. We met some unforgettable characters over there, quite an international group! In this last blog I'd like to share some pictures of them.
Saucy Ljuba, the manager at Sigma. She was our first friend in Klingenbach.
Immigrants from Croatia, Kreso and wife Tania love to dance more than anyone I've ever seen.
Thoughtful Milijana and her adorable children, Mena and Milos. They're part of the Novi Sad [Serbia] contingent at Hotwell.
Milijana's polite husband, Bora, with Spica, also from Novi Sad.
Croatians Dudo and Marija with their daughter, Mara. Dudo lived in Bosnia during the '90s war and shared some of the awful stories with us. He always seemed so happy. Marija used to crack me up - she always had something to say about everything!
Genuinely sweet guy Vladimir from Romania
Intense Chombe and quiet Josipa. Both from Croatia, they met at Hotwell and married and had baby daughter Zara last year.
Croatian pair Zarko and Andrea, the quietest couple I've ever met.
Charming and talkative Dragan from Novi Sad took us around when we first got to Klingenbach. He is quite a character! With him are Bob and Yu Mei, part of Hotwell China.
Principal company owner Vanja from Croatia
The other company owners, Mijo and Kreso, also from Croatia
Company lawyer Michael, one of the few Austrians at Hotwell, helped us navigate through the government bureaucracies.
I'm looking at computer pictures from Karin's wedding with, from left to right, Romanian Ionna and Austrians Karin, Christina, Gigi, Ringo and Monika. This is a fun group.
On a day trip to Vienna, Austrian Gitta and her budding-lawyer-daughter, Christina, were my guides.
Sweet, intelligent Andy from Mumbai, India, by way of Georgia Tech
Handsome and talented young Marjan from Novi Sad
Herr Mayor Johann Frank and his wife, Sylvia. He was unfailingly courteous to us.
Hotwell employees' kids playing at one of the outdoor parties at the Lower House
They enjoyed watching the Red Party put up their flagpole on May Day.
Our delightful landlord, Burschi, the proprietor of the restaurant/bar over which we lived. He is definitely a character and one of our favorite people in Klingenbach. The combination of his English and my German was hysterical and frequently frustrating for both of us. Unfortunately, I was never able to get a picture of his camera-shy wife, Hilde.
Burschi, the way you usually see him - behind the bar!
Burschi's eldest son, Michael, and fiancee, Desiree.
In the middle of the picture strides charming Thomas, Burschi's middle son and our translator, and his partner, Tina. He's wearing a gray suit and carrying the white umbrella, and she wears a flowered dress. To the right is youngest son Stefan and his [now ex] partner, Jasmine, both dressed in black.
Janusz, one of our favorite dogs. The Viszla is the mascot at Schoko's Restaurant and always greeted us for petting when we went there to dine.
And Ecco, our other favorite dog in Europe. He is Zarko and Andrea's dog and can chase a ball longer than any dog I've ever seen. It's funny watching him trying to eat or drink while not letting go of the ball.
This is a Croatian restaurant in the Hungarian village of Kophaza, east of Sopron. They have a shrimp dish I really loved. From left to right are Vladimir, Zelko, Dragan and Bob.
Probably the most memorable person I've met anywhere is the irrepressible Spica, originally from Macedonia.
I'd like to close with a few of my favorite pictures.
Chombe, Spica and me
My beautiful Kate with handsome Colin in the lovely garden at Hampton Court Palace during my London trip
With "Henry VIII" at the first gate at Hampton Court Palace
My first Mother's Day with Kate in several years
These good-looking soldiers are among those who conduct the Key Ceremony at the Tower of London each evening.
Kate, Colin and me at Liesl's gazebo during "The Sound of Music" tour in Salzburg
And the best for last... who else? The hubby! Bob and me all gussied up at the Fasching Ball in Klingenbach.
Our experience in Austria was so many things - interesting of course, sometimes fascinating, frequently instructive or informative, once in a while downright wonderful, sometimes frustrating, occasionally infuriating - but one we're so happy we were able to have. We feel like we learned a lot about other people, and we're certainly much more tolerant of people who don't speak English here. We've been on the other side of that now! The opportunity came at probably the only point in our lives when we were able to take advantage of it.
I loved doing this blog, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. But now that the "Innocents" are back home, this is the last chapter. Auf Wiedersehen!
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