Once Within A Lifetime (41 page)

When
they were back at their hotel in the evening, they remarked about all the splendid things they’d seen. They tried to decide which of these should be the first on their list. It was a lot to take in so rapidly, and even with the super narration, they were still quite overwhelmed. There was so much to digest. It may be good to start with the wonderful Baroque buildings and churches, then go from there to the castles, then to the stallions. The dancing theaters would be good for evening, and they wouldn’t miss anything that required daylight to best be seen and appreciated.

As
they turned in, they held each other in the customary fashion and felt like making love before they went to sleep. All the closeness and enjoyable events engendered romantic feelings. Soon after, they fell asleep in each other’s arms and relaxed totally and purely. They awoke refreshed and energized to go see these wonderful sights. They were armed with cameras and film to take lots of pictures and build their memory banks.

“
Where do you want to go first, my love?” he asked her.

“
There are truly many wonderful things to see here. Let’s first go to the Belvedere Palace. I like to see the baroque style of architecture and there is a lot of it here in this area. There is also a castle where it is said that Richard the Lion Hearted was to have been held prisoner for thirteen months. We could check on that. I feel it would be good to see these two castles today and then we could get back in time to do some dancing to the very old and wonderful music of this area. It is the music capital of the world. Then tomorrow maybe we could go see some of the things on our original list, like St. Stephen’s Cathedral; it is the city’s heartbeat. It has a tower 450 feet high, I understand. It is the ecclesiastical focal point of all Austria. They take carriage rides from there through the ancient streets by all the baroque style buildings. That sounds like a lot for tomorrow. How do these things sound to you, my sweet?”

“
It is fine with me. What about the Lipizzaner Stallions? Shall we save them until last and have it in our minds when we leave?”

“
It sounds like a good idea to me,” she told him, glad for his thought on this. “I was also thinking along those lines myself; that is why I did not mention them yet.”

They
caught a cab in front of the hotel to go to the castle. Just as they got there, a tour was starting and they got in line to learn all the facts about the castle. If they looked by themselves, they would not know all the flavor of the castle. It was a large area, and at each stop, some people had questions and it took a while to answer them. So by the time they had finished, it was close to noon. The tour guide said he would take them to a little outside restaurant nearby where they would get some nice, light food, if they wished or some heavier fare as well. They found tables, ordered lunch and looked around at the sights nearby; it was a grand old city and it truly had been very interesting learning all they had about it thus far. They finished lunch and found a bus that would take them to the other castle. They were off on their second adventure of the day. And what a grand day it was, with warm with gentle breezes blowing off the river, carrying the cool from the water along with them to enfold and caress the body.

The
tour ended about three-thirty. They felt they would have enough time to get back to their hotel and get ready for dinner and an evening at the Grand Theater. They wanted to dance the famous old waltzes, like the
“Blue Danube” and “Tale from Vienna Woods”. It did not take a long time to get back to their hotel and they decided to have a shower and dress. They went down to the hotel dining room for dinner, and there were some very special and fancy meals and desserts. It was very difficult to choose, and they decided to try something new.

The
food came and it looked very appetizing; they tasted it and were very pleased with the choice. The wine was a perfect match and they enjoyed a long, leisurely meal. As soon as they were done, they could go on to the theater. She was wearing her famous blue gown which he liked very well, the one she wore the night of their engagement. He was very pleased with that and wore his medium blue suit with one of the ties she had made previously for him. He liked them very much. She liked them even better once she saw them with a suit on him.

They
got to the theater. There were many beautifully gowned ladies on the floor dancing to the wonderful music. They decided to sit a while and look over the action to see what was going on, so they would be doing the right thing when they got out onto the floor. After about fifteen minutes, they got up and went out into the crowd of dancers who were already enjoying the wonderful music and atmosphere of the dance. They danced for several hours and decided it was time to go back to the hotel and turn in. Dancing was a great and enjoyable way to exercise, but it was also tiring.

They
went back to their room and got ready for bed. It had been a long and tiring day and they turned in right away. They laid in each other’s arms and fell asleep. When they awoke in the morning, they thought about their day. They would go see the Hapsburg castle and learn of its dynasties. They were a royal family that ruled central Europe from 1273 to1918. It was quite a story that went with all these affairs. They got there and walked around in the beautiful garden outside. It was gorgeous and made her think of home, although she had many more in space and volume.

“
When we finish here, let’s see what we must do to go to the Imperial Print Shop to see the making of one of the most famous musical instruments anywhere, the Bösendorfer Grand Piano. Their tones are unequaled. Strauss used one to do his famous waltzes.”

They
finished the tour of the shop where these grand pianos were made and were awed by the beauty and precision in these instruments. There were artists there who played some of the beautiful music; how very grand it sounded on these exquisite instruments. This was truly one of the highlights of the visit. Tomorrow would be the stallions and then they wanted to take a day to go out into the countryside to see some of the beautiful alpine style homes of the people in the villages. Many of them were on the sides of large hills.

When
they got back to their hotel, they went up to change for dinner and decided to stay in tonight and just recount all their wonderful experiences and rest up for the remainder of the trip. They ordered dinner and had some of the wonderful local beers to sample while they were waiting. Each of the countries had their own little shops in the villages where they made special beers for their area. When the waiter brought the beer, he set a pitcher on the table with two frosted, cool glasses. Todd poured for her and then for himself and they made a toast to the rest of the trip and sampled it.

“
This is delightful,” cried thrilled Triessa. “I am not a beer drinker as a rule, but this has a very different and pleasant flavor.”

They
had finished one glass by the time dinner arrived and poured another to go with dinner. All Europe had its own local beers and they were truly delightful. After dinner they had some of the fine coffee of the region with some dessert and lingered over it to enjoy and savor every delectable bite.

They
soon finished and went up to their room to sit around and look at the sights from the window of their hotel. There were boats on the river and it was nearly dusk, so there were lights on the inside. They looked like little floating houses out there. They watched them a while and talked of the things they had done and went over the rest of their plans to see if there was anything they wanted to add. They did not want to leave out a thing. Everything was pretty much intact and they were pleased with it all.

They
got ready for bed and held each other. He kissed her eyes, cheeks, lips, and told her what a wonderful joy it was to have her to do things with. He held her close and talked to her of their love. They were set on fire by their passion rising to meet their love and caresses. He loved her very gently, and yet deeply, to give all the joy he could to her in this exquisite act of love that was full of ecstasy and thrills which couldn’t be easily explained in words. It had to be experienced. They laid there and fell asleep in each other’s arms.

They
awoke to the joy of birds singing outside the window. They could hear the boats already going up and down the beautiful blue Danube and could just imagine the thoughts and passion of Strauss as he composed the extraordinary
Blue Danube Waltz
. His love and thrill of the beautiful water filled his breast and mind and came out in beautiful melody to match his feelings as purely as he could. Triessa could just imagine his inspiration, awe and deep need to express these feelings in music, his medium of expression. How wonderfully he used it.

As
they went down to breakfast he held her and said, “Thank you for your wonderful love and passion and the exquisite moments we share in our love. It exceeds any expectation I could have had in my thoughts beforehand. That is one of the wonderful pleasures of a honeymoon and why I want it to last as long as possible. For making love is not just a one-time physical act, it is something that builds up as we experience joys and happiness and is always there under the surface, waiting to be expressed fully at the time of coming together. Everything from each whole day leads up to the mood and ties everything up with ribbons and bows. As we do things, look at each other, talk and plan, I am mentally holding you and caressing you and then, at last, we can hold each other and finish off the wonderful feelings of love and joy that have built up. It is like taking the pressure off. Even though it is love and pleasant, it does build up a wonderful tension which needs release, a wonderful, magic, exquisite release.”

They
went down to eat and then got a taxi to the arena where the Lipizzaners were to do their showing. It was amazing how the days flew by. They were just planning and talking about this a short time ago and it was here, already. The next day would be the countryside. They would plan to spend a night there and return to the hotel the following day and then plan where to go next.

The
stallions were truly magnificent animals and were trained to ultimate perfection. They did not miss a trick; the canter was metered precision and the jumps were sheer delight to watch. It was a most amazing stunt. Horse and rider, as one, went through the paces in a motion that was true sharing and precision to the utmost. The rider led with the slightest command; the animal gave his all to an ultimate performance with the pride and greatness which were part of his character, nature and breeding.

When
the show was over they were left wanting more and knew that the rider and animal were ready for a rest but it looked so smooth and flawless it seemed to have no need to tire or cause weariness in any way. It was so well done and marvelous it seemed almost without any tension or exertion. Yet, there was a great deal of both in the desire of horse and rider to excel in their performance. Their actions blended as if one. The expert and flawless program was a sight to behold and worth all it took to get the opportunity.

They
left filled with more than their expectations and were deeply overwhelmed by the sense of precision and exactness. It had been another highlight. It seemed that nothing could top each day’s activities, yet there seemed to be an increasing joy and fullness to the day.

Back
at the hotel they dined and discussed the joys and pleasures of the day. Words seemed so futile to capture the feelings and experiences they had just undergone. They were so grateful for their video which could capture so much more than their regular snapshots. It would add life and help them relive these magic moments many times over. A pure delight and joy. Yet, unfortunately, they could not capture the feelings. This was sad, so sad.

They
finished and went up to bed to get ready for a good night’s rest. They needed to plan for tomorrow and the day and evening in the country. They went to bed and fell asleep; they were so full and enriched with all the happenings, they had a comfortable exhaustion from the pleasant tension which was part of the experience of living.

The
next day was a little drippy early on and they were concerned about being able to take their trip in the countryside, although they could still do it no matter what, but a good day added so much to it. They ate breakfast and got ready to leave. They had rented a car so they could take their time and stop when and where they wished. It was about a half hour’s drive to go to the place they had in mind, and by the time they got there, it was beginning to clear up. The sun was behind some thin clouds which would not be able to hold it back; it would shine through almost as if scolding the clouds for trying to shut it out.

They
reached the small alpine village and looked at their book to see where they were to stay. Once it was found they went to settle in so they could plan the rest of the day as they went to see things they wished to see. They were already dressed for the day and stopped to have coffee and a croissant at the place before they left. It was a lovely little alpine home and reminded them of Swiss chalets.

Off
they went to see the sights. The homes were lovely. There were many flowers in front and around the little cottages with butterflies and birds busily gathering the honey and nectar from the flowers. They drove around the town and stopped when they saw something they wanted to see a little closer or gifts they wanted to buy. Much of the architecture was the same and they found a little restaurant at noon that was very much in the alpine style. They went inside and ordered. Being in the hills and having streams full of fish, one of the specialties was trout so they ordered it and set their minds for a veritable gourmet delight and were not disappointed in the least. They saved room to sample some of the local desserts,
Appelbeignets
, Apple Fritters. Desserts were specialized in each area and must not be missed. They talked to the waiter and got firsthand information about the area and what was best to see while they were here. As soon as they finished lunch they went out to look at some of these wonders.