Wednesday, July 25, 2007: Again, it has been a while since
the last post. Last time, I wrote, I mentioned translating some of Andreas’s
work. The next day (Tues), the girls went with Andrea’s to Dresden to see the
Jazz orchestra again. This a good thing, because this allowed Jenn to see
Dresden and the Jazz orchestra…both of which she missed. Hannah also had a
chance to go back which gave her another chance to visit her favorite
country…Germany. The girls took a bus with the actual orchestra…they said they
were uncomfortable and the border police stopped the whole bus to check the two
Americans passports. Chris and I lounged and went around the city…recovering
from a mentally and physically challenging weekend. The next day we regrouped
and we met with Andreas to get another solid agenda for the next few days.
After recapping, we went home to start editing more of his work and rewriting
his introduction as well as the tutorial. Once it was completed we recorded
sound bites using Audacity so that Andreas could use his tutorial to walk
through the site in English. After hours of recording we were exhausted…I
believe we finished somewhere around 4:00 a.m. The next day we booked our
hotels in Salzburg and Vienna for the weekend at our local Wi-Fi desert shop (I
hope we don’t overstay our American welcome). Chris is now beginning to feel
terrible as we head over to Andrea’s home to deliver our finished products. He
is starting to sweat, feel nauseas, paling, and getting a fever. Andreas makes
some hot tea to help…it doesn’t seem to help him much. We go home to get rest.
Now Thursday arrives, it is time for us to get on our train
for Salzburg. Our window will not stay open so we use three bike locks together
to rig the window open. Thank God Jenn bought those things…best dollar store
investment yet. Eastern Europe is facing a heat wave that has been uncommon
here for a few years. The trains do not have AC. The train trip was to take 7.5
hours. Once we started entering the countryside, Austria was amazing…it was
just how I pictured it. Chris is still not feeling well, he is sleeping a lot
on the train and constantly feeling sick. I was feeling alright, about two
hours left of the train ride I began to get dizzy and blacked out…no one
noticed because I was already laying down; but it was the first time I got
concerned. We arrived at the train station in Salzburg around 12:30 a.m.;
luckily our hotel was in walking distance. We had reserved three nights at the
Renaissance Hotel (you know you are at a nice city when this is your only
vacant and cheapest resort). Two soft double beds…Amen! The next morning we
went to have our complimentary breakfast. For a minute I thought we were so
disoriented from the night before we woke up in Iran. There were more Muslims
than I could count. Off to Mozart’s birthplace and residence. I do not really
have a thing for Mozart, but I did it for my Grandmother (music lover and
educator) and for the sheer pleasure of saying that I have been there. Well, I
was there, got the T-shirt, saw his crib, many locks of his hair, and multiple
oil paintings. Breathtaking right?...The two things that I found of interest
was his original piano’s and his first, original print masterpiece that he had
written at age 5. By now I am not feeling so well…but we are off to the
Hellbrunn Castle. Hellbrunn means “Hells Springs” or “Fountains from Hell”.
Translation…hot springs. Aside from the amazing gardens and the intriguing
history of the beautiful structure itself…was the trick water garden. The king
at the time had used amazing feats in hydro-engineering to create this wonder.
When you first walk into the garden there is a table with water flowing from
the center…picture a chair at the head of the table and five seats on each side
with water flowing out of a lions head at each corner into separate bowls then
disappearing…unknown to the guest hydraulic pumps were in each of the guest
seats, when he lifted the lever…all of there rears were soaked and water
sprayed on them from all over the park. Everyone is wet but the king. Long
story short…water gags through the whole garden. I think this guy would have
been a fun king…working with water is right up my alley. We now began to head
home to see how Chris was feeling…he decided he didn’t feel well enough to go
with us. By now, I am not feeling so great either…I decide to go for a swim at
the pool. Came back and played (destroyed) Chris and Hannah at a playful game
of Hearts. :) The next morning we had planned to go to Berchtesgaten to see the
Eagles Nest. None of us felt up to it…Hannah and I now weren’t feeling well…we
decided to go the next day. Jenn and Hannah went to the Apothecary (Pharmacy)
to get some meds. They came back with Carbo and a Saline solution. I was
beginning to get a fever. The girls then went to the Mirabelle Gardens while we
stayed at the infirmary (hotel room). The doctor became concerned when we heard
that Chris was having pains in his kidneys and nausea on top of it; he gave us
a few warning signs to watch out for and told if it got worse to see a Hospital
immediately. He thought it might have been food poisoning. Still feeling sick
on Sunday, we decided to force ourselves to go to Berchtesgaten anyway. Jenn
had gotten up early in the morning and went to the airport in Salzburg to fly
to London. Once our train arrived in Berchtesgaten we were to get a bus to the
top of the mountain where a lift would take us to the top…bus driver said it
was too late…TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT. So we took bus to Konigssee instead. This
place is what all the postcards must be made of! Crystal blue water between
mountain peaks with a quaint town in between.
The next morning (Monday) we jumped on a train to Vienna.
Once we arrived we checked into the worst hotel ever in existence. I will let
someone else blog about that. Still very weak we all decided to take a nap and
go see the city. Three hours later we go to the center…pretty…but boring. We
found a Starbucks…(not the biggest fan, but hit close to home). With no energy
we went back to the hotel. The next day we went to get breakfast. With symptoms
not seeming to get any better but only worse, I decided to go to the emergency
room. Once we arrived they immediately took my blood and then asked to see the
others…then they took Chris’s blood. They gave Chris an I.V. with a bag of
saline and had us lay down until the results came back. Hours later, they doctor
came in and told us that our white blood cell count was low and that it was a
viral infection…the only thing to do was “EAT PRETZELS AND DRINK COKE”! A
little T.O.’d, I had the I.V. removed and called my doctor at home. The nurse
gave other suggestions and said that if things do not improve in the next few
days to call back. Immediately we went back to the hotel, grabbed our
belongings and went straight to the train station. Prague ward-bound. The trip
was smooth and only lasted 4 hours. Today, Weds, we went to get appropriate
groceries, and decided to go visit the Jewish synagogues in Prague…feeling fine
but a few symptoms still lingering…keep us in your prayers. More went on today,
I will blog about on the next posting for lengths sake (that should have made
up for not blogging in a while).
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