More Skating Day!

Matthew having trouble with his hurt finger, with his skates, and with
being normal in pictures.  Or maybe this is normal!

More Skating Day!

Matthew having trouble with his hurt finger, with his skates, and with
being normal in pictures.  Or maybe this is normal!

More pictures of Ice Skating day!

More pictures of SKATING

Schoenbrunn Palace Tour - Travel Notes - Tour Ideas

So Sunday before last we went to the Schoenbrunn Palace. BEAUTIFUL!
The kids semi enjoyed it. The best part of the tour for the little
guys was the audio recorder devices that told them about the rooms.
One the most basic level this Palace is the summer home of the
Hapsbergs gazillion years ago. Most notably, Maria Theresa and King
Leopold, and Marie Antionnette and Napoleons wife and son all lived in
this house at one time or the other. Franz Joseph and Elizabeth were
really famous royals who lived here also. I will let you read about
it here http://www.schoenbrunn.at/en/. It was amazing!!!!! Beautiful.
Think Biltmore Estate TIMES 25 or so. I am trying to keep all the
history straight but it is really hard when you are talking about
hundreds of years. American History is so short so I am having a hard
time keeping it all straight. I forgot my Story of the World book but
am having it sent straight away so we can ALL read it again! Some
pictures are attached of us on this very very cold day. A tip to the
traveler, in the winter you can get a Winter Pass that lasts 1 month
from the date of purchase and you can get into all 5 attractions at
the Schoenbrun on different dates within that month. We have only
used one so far and that is the Palace Grand Tour.
http://www.schoenbrunn.at/en/

--
Annamae Giles

Skating at the Rothaus

Yesterday we had the pleasure of taking the kids ice skating in front of the Rothaus (City Hall). Particularly striking was the contrast between a new world order consisting of skate rental, man made ice rink, 80's music (OK, not so "new world"), and refreshment stands, and the old historical buildings that framed us in on each side. My attention was being torn between watching my kids and staring at the amazing architecture. 

Lillian was a whiz on the rink. Matthew struggled but was happy to have a sister who would skate him around the rink. Aiden seemed to get better with each loop around the rink. The rink was quite extraordinary; it was actually two separate circular rinks connected by paths that ran around and behind each of the rinks. There was also a "kiddie" rink made of fake ice where parents could walk along side their kids as they held onto plastic penguins for balance. Matthew did his "training" here, as he called it. But when asked if he was getting good enough to get on the real ice rink he replied, "no, I'm getting worser." But minutes after this statement he proclaimed, "I'm good. I can skate." He has never been short on confidence.

The weather was spectacularly warm and we all had a good time. The photo above is my attempt to capture the contrast between new world and old world order. The building in the background is actually not the Rothaus. It is a famous theater that sits across the road from the skating rinks. It actually faces back toward the Rothaus.

Want to Love on a Giles Kid?

You wanna love on a Giles kid?  They would love some mail....  here is the address.  Just put their name at the top of the envelope!

Gustav Tschermak-Gasse 20

1190 Vienna, Austria