Easter Plans

Happy Easter to you all!

This has been a good Holy Week, and I'm looking forward to the octave of Easter. I'm planning to fly to Vienna tomorrow morning with a couple other seminarians, where we will stay at the Klosterneuberg -- a quasi-monastery where one of our classmates at the Angelicum calls home. The "Stift," as they call it, is just outside of Vienna, so they offered to take us into the city whenever we need to go there. I think we will be spending most of our time in the city. I don't know if we'll make it to any concerts or other shows -- we'll see if there are any last-minute tickets available.

After three days in Vienna, we'll pick up a rental car and drive to Salzburg for the remainder of the week. There we'll see Mozart's birthplace, and take the "Sound of Music Tour," which promises to be interesting. One of the highlights will be the Mozart Dinner Concert: a meal as it would have been prepared in Mozart's day, accompanied by musicians playing and singing Mozart's works. I've heard that it's a lot of fun, and a good meal to boot.

One day while we're there, we'll take a day trip into Germany (Bavaria) to visit Langenisarhofen, where Grandma Thomas was born. I've always wanted to go there (perhaps I was enthralled with the name!), so I am looking forward to seeing the place. It's a tiny town, so there won't be much to see and do, but it's close enough to Salzburg that it merits taking the trip there. On that road trip we will also swing through Marktl am Inn, where Pope Benedict was born.

I'll be back on Saturday evening with photos ready to show you. So stay tuned... and in the meantime have a very happy Easter.