Monday, April 6, 2015

Monday’s Austria Scoop ~ @oddlynn3 #LynnCrain #AWriterInVienna #PCers



Hi Everyone!

Well…now I can honestly say that I’ve lived in a place where the weather phenomena is weird…this past week it snowed while a thunderstorm was going on. I had heard of such things but had never been in a place that it happened.  What’s even more strange to me is that it happened twice. And here, I thought it was all ready for spring. Boy was I wrong.
Most of the time, I was inside because my writing schedule dictated that I be at my desk, butt planted firmly in my chair. Still, that did not take away from the beauty that I saw outside my window. Many of the days, the clouds started out as big puff balls that morphed into the dark, nasty things that bring rain, thunder and more.
Matter of fact, there were a few times in the evening where I just stopped to watch the clouds. Tornados are pretty much unheard of in these parts but that doesn’t mean they won’t happen. With the clouds moving as fast as they were and the unstable air conditions, it made me stop and look more than once. I was thankful that even though the masses were swirling, none of them had that sick, green color I’ve seen on tornado-spawning storms.
At least now, I could look and see things in the late afternoon because we finally switched our clocks forward. We do that a full three weeks after everyone in the States and it causes more than some issues when I try to call people there. So while the rest of the world is already spring forward, Europe waits for a few weeks before catching up. Wonder who decided that one.
One of the things I do love about this city happened yesterday. Some of you may not realize that this is a country of churches. Another fact is that this place is still deeply religious with most of the churches being Catholic. They are some of the most beautiful places in the world because many of them are old and ornate. Some are dark and make me wonder just what made the people stay within their walls. I mean, who would want to be drowned in darkness every day? Not me!
Yet, there is one wonderful thing that happens on holidays. Especially, the religious ones and since yesterday was Easter, it happened yet again. The bells ring for a long period than on normal days. We were blessed with the sound as we did our walks this weekend but more so on Sunday as the Christian faiths celebrate the rising of Christ. I love the sound of this place when those bells ring. It’s like nothing ever experienced before.
The week has been hard on Pup Harry. During each of the thunderstorms, he retreated to his kennel. I guess he figured it was better than being under the bed. It got very dark and very loud for a few minutes during both of the storms. I’m thankful he doesn’t have the same reaction to the bells though when he was younger he certainly didn’t like them. Now that he’s grown, they don’t seem to bother him at all.
This week’s pictures are all of the churches around the city. The one at the top is Stephansdom, one of the oldest churches in the city. It was built upon a Knights Templar church. The second one is of Karlskirch and is right down the block from us. The last one is of a Russian Orthodox church that I can see directly outside my office window called St. Nicholas Cathedral.
Hope you enjoyed this little look into Austria. See you all next week!


Lynn 

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