On Wednesday (June 27), we visited the National Natural History Museum. The collection has been compiled over a 250 year period and encompasses over 20 million objects. The museum was begun by Franz Stephan, the husband of Maria Theresa. It contains fossils, birds, animals, fish, reptiles, pottery, etc. A highlight was a bouquet of precious stones made for Maria Theresa.
In the evening Denny, Pat and I went to the Fan Zone to watch a bit of the European Cup Semi Final Match between Germany and Turkey. It was wall to wall bodies, the most congested area that we have ever been in. An estimated 70,000 fans were there. The actual contest was held in Switzerland in a stadium that held 50,000. We watched a little then a severe storm warning was announced and we decided to leave. Most people stayed and we could hear the noise every time big play or goal was scored at our hotel room. Germany ended up winning the game in OT over Turkey 3-2. Even though there was a downpour in Vienna it did not dampen the spirits of the crowd.
We began our trip home on Thursday (June 28) with a 7:05AM take off from Vienna. Our first leg to Frankfurt was on Lufthansa. The flights from Frankfurt to Chicago and Chicago to Minneapolis were on United while the final leg from Minneapolis to Waterloo was on Northwest. There is quite a difference in service and quality between Lufthansa and United. The flight attendants and counter personnel are friendlier and more professional on Lufthansa. They want the flight to be as pleasant as possible for the traveler. Overall, our journey took approximately 27 hours including the time changes. The most striking changes we see as we come back are the cleanliness of the streets and other public areas as well as how quiet it is. We were met at the airport by our niece, Cathy. We were so happy to see her smiling face.
This will be our last entry in our blog for this year. We have again enjoyed our experience “On the Mediterranean” and hope that it has been interesting for you to read as well. We are scheduled to return to Alexandria on the 17th of August for our third year (Insha-Allah). So until then “Ma ‘salama”.
