Sehr Schön Schönbrunn (very beautiful Schönbrunn)

Today, with our grandparents (the Whitakers), we went to Schönbrunn, pronounced shoen-broon! Anyway, it is a big palace! Schönbrunn means beautiful fountain or beautiful well. There is a big fountain outside with great statues!

Maria Theresa lived in Schönbrunn. If you don't know who Maria Theresa is, you might know her daughter better. She had sixteen children, eleven daughters, one of whom was Marie Antoinette, who had her head chopped off be a guillotine during the French revolution.

 So we went inside, and it was cool. There was lots of really interesting stuff, but they didn't set it up very well. There were things like beds, couches, portraits, and we got free audio guides. My favorite parts were the outside gardens and stuff though. They had three labyrinths! A couple were small, and you could see over the top, and if you kept walking in one direction you would reach the exit, but the first one we went into was awesome! The bushes were high up so you had no clue where to go, and there were lots of different ways to choose! We reached lots of dead ends, but finally made it to the lookout perch that was at the end!!!

The last time we went to Schönbrunn it was raining, and cold, so we didn't go inside, or do much. This time we spent a long time there, and it was really fun!!!

                     

Go with the Flow of the BBQ

the day after biking (see post: liking or disliking biking) we had a flow house barbeque! my dad and John made burgers and sausages, my mom made drinks, we all put out salads, chips, sodas, dessert and more! we invited Doc.O, our art history teacher, and we partied! they were delicious burgers, and wonderful desserts! it was fun to hang out on the back porch with all the students!!!

liking or disliking biking?

 On Friday the 26 of April, we went on a Long bike ride. my dad and I rode a tandem bike, because he was worried I would get tired biking for about 3 hours, and that I wouldn't be able to reach the petals. I could barely reach them! Anyway, I got a helmet, which you can see a student decorated, and we rode on! enjoy the pics!

the monastery, Melk! this is in the town Melk, that we trained out to, and rented the bikes at!

Me and my decorated helmet. the yellow on top is dandelions that Sarah put in!

the Danube! we saw many sights on our bike ride, this one one!

the next few photos are sights seen on our ride!

here is Gabe, or as some call him Maximilian, gibber, or Gabuh!

Brooke! the one who made it all happen!

here is John on his bike!

And George!

This is John Roberts, my moms godfather.

the sign says Willendorf. this is where the Venus of Willendorf was found! and here we are passing through! if you don't know about the Venus, then check my post about the natural history museum, called NaturXocolat!

And another beautiful view!!!

we have decided. did we like it or dislike it? you tell me! it would seem like it! all the wonderful views! but there was one problem... the next morning. all of us waking up, barley able to move our legs! we were all so sore! despite that, I think we can all say that it was totally worth it! I hope the students would agree; WE LOVED IT!!!

Buda or Pest?

Pest. We were on the pest side of Budapest. Budapest used to be split into 2 halves, the city Buda, and the city Pest. Now they have joined together, but if we had come a long time ago, we would be on the Pest side.
We just returned from Budapest. It was a trip with all the students! We went a day early though. Budapest was really nice, our hotel was great, our beds were terrible, it was sunny and warm, and over all, really fun! But all the architecture was Neo, meaning new, so it wasn’t really old, it was just a copy of what things would look like. For instance, Neo Gothic, would look like a Gothic style building, but would really be built recently. There is a lot to say, but it will probably be covered in my mom’s blog “Interwhits” or my brother’s blog “G Whit Witty.” What I am going to blog about was the first night, the night some of you know about from my mom’s face book page….

The dreaded Doop night:

So we are in the taxi, just gotten of our train, and heading to our hotel. I pull Doop out of my bag, and Gabe wants to hold him. Recently, I had found a piece of sea glass, Doop sized, so I put it in him as a heart! Gabe wanted to feel the heart, once he did; I placed Doop in the cup holder in the taxi.

We are in the hotel, I open my bag…… Doop is not there. My dad goes and looks through the hotel, he’s not there. We come to the conclusion that Doop is in the taxi. I’m upset, and we go out to dinner. Okay food, still upset. Driving back to the hotel, still upset. At the hotel, still upset, my dad gets a taxi guy to take him down to the train station. My dad gets there and sees the taxi we were in pulling away! He goes up to a line of taxi people and tries to ask them if they could get the guy to come back. Soon an English speaker comes, and says that the guy who drove us would be back soon.

My dad walks in the door with Doop in his pocket!!!

 

The Best of the Rest of Buda and Pest!

St. Stevens’s church: Doc. O. is there giving us a tour! It is a big church, really pretty! We see a choir singing, and then we go to see the mummified hand of St.Steven! It was cool, and weird!

The hot pools: we went to hot pools! My mom and dad stayed in the sauna, while Annie, john, and Olivia took us around! There were lots of different pools; it was fun to jump in the really hot one, then jumping into the freezing cold one! The most fun was the whirl pool! It was a spinning circle, with jets that pushed you around, SUPER FAST! I’ve been in lots of pools that spin, but none were close to how fast this was! Plus, the water was warm!!!

Dinner with Doc.O and herb: We took Doctor O. and herb (our art history, and history teachers) out to dinner! It was really good food, and fun to be around them!!!