We were enjoying our car ride back to our resort in Pongau, near Salzburg, after a lovely day touring the castles of King Ludwig II in Bavaria. By the time we got in our car, we noticed the weather had cooled and the wind had picked up. Off in the distance we could see cloud cover begin to cloak the tops of the Alps. I figured it might be snowing up there.
The scenery was unbelievable. My mouth pretty much hung open the entire trip. We were happy. Bob, my husband, was enjoying driving along the mountain roads. (Side note – If you ever go on a trip to Europe and plan on renting a car, consider asking Bob to come along and chauffeur. He is amazing.)
I was getting cold. I touched the glass on the window and knew the temperature had dropped. The indicator on the dashboard read an external temperature of 11 degrees. (Double the Celsius temperate and add 30 to give you the fahrenheit. That meant it was 52 outside.) Not bad, but cooler than earlier. I watched as the temperature dropped to 9. Then 8. Quickly it was 2 degrees.
Soon we encountered a few snow flurries. How exciting! My first Austrian snow. It looked a lot like the snow we have in the U.S. except the flakes were enormous. They looked like they could have been cut out of paper. Now the temperature was zero (double that and add 30 – you get 30).
We were winding through the Alps. It was getting dark. The flurries had turned into a snow storm. This Florida girl was not liking it.
We were about 45 minutes from our resort when the snow started accumulating on the windshield and the road. The temperature held at zero. The speed limit was around 80 kph, not that we were going that fast. At one point a car in front of us stopped and Bob had to swerve around him to avoid a collision. I think the other driver must have skidded and panicked. We pressed on.
We were heading down the mountain so we figured we would be driving out of the snow, but no. It was picking up and now it was totally dark. We were so thankful to pull into the parking garage at our resort and sleep safe and sound in a warm bed.
The view from our balcony April 22 in St. Johann at Pongau, Austria.
The next morning was beautiful and the weather had warmed up. We could see the beautiful new dusting of snow on the roofs and trees. The server at the cafe told us winter had decided to come back but it was gone again. What a difference a day makes.
He was not the only attraction in his area, though surely he was the main attraction. Michelangelo also had a hall lined with his Statuas Incompiuta (Unfinished Statues). According to Michelangelo, the figures were already in the stone just waiting to emerge as he sculpted. They were fascinating.
And, of course, there is a duomo in Florence. As we left the city an orchestra had assembled on the front steps of the cathedral and gave a small concert. They appeared one by one as musicians playing solo and then they came together with a sound so magnificent that it brought tears to my eyes.
This is an example of Italian Gothic architecture. Of interest is how the look of the facade changed as the afternoon light on the colorful mosaics made them shine like the sun itself.
Strolling through this medieval city was like walking through a fairy tale. I kept having to pinch Bob to make sure I wasn’t sleeping.
Our guide told us that it is said that Michelangelo worked alone. Other artists had students who often worked on projects with them, but Michelangelo did these two works of art alone. My take on what she said is that his genius did not lend itself to working and playing well with others. That made me think of how God has gifted people so individually for the work that he has for them. Perhaps If Michelangelo was more of a teacher or less of a perfectionist he would not have created these masters. I am not an art scholar by any means, but that was food for thought for me.
