Paul's Trip and Lonnie's Birthday (Day 4) Salzburg, Bad Ischl, Gmunden,

May 25! Lonnie's Birthday! And what a great day! We started the morning with a yummy breakfast at the hotel before leaving for a very special birthday adventure in Salzburg, Austria--and what a wonderful, fun city that is! Loved, loved, loved Salzburg!

Everyone who knows Lonnie, knows how much she loves her birthday. Here she is! Happy 66!

With her birthday buddies!

It's always fun to be with Paul because he tells us cool tidbits of information, such as, "The Wizard of Oz is the ultimate chick flick because it's about two women fighting to the death over a pair of red shoes." Love that boy!

The sun was shining, and we were off to explore the fabulous city of Salzburg!

Salzburg Cathedral

Amazingly ornate ceilings

This man really rocked on the guitar!

Wouldn't you know? Lonnie found a heart wall on her birthday!

A race car on the street.

Lonnie was pretty excited to find the Lanz Store, because Mr. Lanz had moved from Salzburg to Hermosa Beach, California where she had lived during High School. In the 1930's, Josef Lanz closed up shop in Austria and emigrated to the U.S., where he firsr set up his business in New York. In 1948 he closed the company in New York and in 1959 opened The Cotton Shop and a small Lanz Store in Hermosa Beach. 

We enjoyed a few peaceful moments at Mirabell Gardens.

We left Salzburg and drove through the beautiful Austrian countryside and stopped in a little town called Wolfgansee. . .

With an authentic Austrian thrift store!

Bob took a few minutes down by the river to do a little birding while Paul and I scoured the town for a fabric shop to buy buttons for the quilt that I had been working on in the back seat. I have been collecting doilies from Europe and sewing them onto quilt squares.I had a brainstorm as we were driving along that day about how to embroider between the doilies using buttons. We found just what I needed.

What a birthday! Bob planned the whole day out to be special for me, even taking me to some peaceful little lake towns to enjoy nature. We sat by a lake and drank in the sunshine to the sound of lapping waves at Wolfgansee.

Then we drove to one of the most beautiful little towns we have ever seen--Bad Ischl.

As evening approached, Bob pulled the car into a fabulous restaurant/hotel called Laschenskyhof in Gmunden, where he treated me to a delicious pork steak in a pepper cream sauce served with veggies and potatoes. We shared a sumptuous, moist chocolate cake with ice cream and whipped cream. Yum!

Could a day get more perfect than this? I loved my birthday! Thanks Bob and Paul.