Back in USA

.We're not home, yet, but getting closer.

We got off our big, beautiful ship, Oasis of the Seas, yesterday and stayed in the Best Western.  Karen picked us up this morning and drove us to Orlando to stay a week in a big, beautiful World Mark condo. It's 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, bigger than our house. We will be here for a week. This is the fountain in the lobby. And the grand piano.

It is very near Disney World. Here are more photos.

Cruising home on Oasis

We went back across the pond with the same ship, the Oasis of the Seas. It had dry docked and changed a few things. Some things didn't work as well as b4, like the TV/computer system, but we still loved it, and had a great time.

I had developed sciatica and it was getting worse each day, very difficult to walk. Manfred was having similar pains. So we took a series of acupuncture treatments, which was so convenient. No need to drive somewhere, find parking place, etc. -- just go down the elevator. My sciatica went away. Manfred didn't see that much difference. It was expensive. 

We totally enjoyed the boat, in spite of some bad weather. We especially liked the food. We used the Solarium a lot, this time, and the hot tubs. The big show was Cats -- fabulous. We saw other great shows, too. 

Maria Alm RCI resort was great

 We had such a good time, having breakfast in our kitchen, having coffee on our balcony, swimming in our pool, driving around the beautiful countryside, visiting cute little villages, eating great food.

 

On October 11th & 12th we return to St.Gipgen. On the 13th we turn in our car in Salzburg and take trains to Frankfurt. On the 14th we proceed by train to Rotterdam. There we will board the same boat we came on, the Oasis of the Seas, to go back "across the pond" to Florida. 

RCI resort in Maria Alm, Austria

We are spending a week here at the Marco Polo Alpina hotel in a beautiful ski resort town in the alps. We love the hotel, which leaves that Italian one for dead. Our apartment is so nice -- living room, kitchen, balcony with beautiful view. There's a nice indoor pool, a restaurant and a bistro. The surrounding area is also very nice. The only problem is that the Internet connection is terrible.

Having a wonderful time in St.Gilgen

We are staying in the best guesthouse in the world. We have the most beautiful views in the world. We get to drive around to beautiful lakes and cute villages and eat wonderful food. We get fresh baked rolls and fresh milk every morning.  We get to get together with friends to talk story. We can video chat with friends in America.

For Manfred's big 8-0 birthday, our friends took us to a little lake where we walked about a kilometer to a little restaurant on the water's edge. There was no road there, no cars, no car sounds, no motor sounds whatsoever. The food was wonderful.

Yesterday we drove to Hallstatt, most enjoyable.

Today, we drove to Salzburg to reserve our train tickets for the trip to Rotterdam to catch the boat. We are going 1st class on high-speed trains, so reservations are important. Last time we didn't reserve and we had to travel 2nd class (Yuk!).  The countryside was rainy and foggy, misty and mysterious, quite lovely.