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View off my balcony 

Finally home from a month cutoff in Guam. Liftoff from Honolulu yesterday. Diamondhead below:

My wife and I were just discussing a trip to Austria next April.

My wife and I were in Austria in May for a conference my wife was presenting at.

Vienna is easy to get around in. 15 minute train ride into the city center from the airport. Very heavy on museums and castles. In fact, we felt like that and the opera was the biggest reason why Vienna is still there.

We weren't nearly as much into The Sound of Music as some visitors to Salzburg were. We also took this cooking class while there. We made pretzels and Austrian strudel. The strudel was even better after we brought it back to the hotel then it was when we first ate it there.

The train ride across southern Austria was a really neat look at a part of Europe that was really off the beaten path.

Before mid-March, when we got the conference info, I'd never heard of Graz. It's a university city that is on the frontier of what has traditionally been considered Western Europe. Frontier, because it's only 30 miles from the former Iron Curtain (Croatia/the former Yugoslavia). It was our favorite place in Austria.

Not a long trip, but I've lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for about 80% of my life, but I've spent very little time at UC Berkeley (went to one football game there about 15 years ago). I was there today and was reminded that it is a beautiful campus, with redwood trees, good, if varied, architecture, and good views of the Bay.

Hadn't realized until reading your post that the Gophers will be at Cal. That sounds like a decent time. Will check my calendar and see if I can go.

I'll be dropping SFGopher off in a couple of weeks, and back for parents weekend. With my cousins living in Edina/Saint Louis Park, I'm going to have a pretty full dance card.

I saw this today!

The World's Largest Czech Egg is a tribute to the area's Czech heritage. This is a huge example of the Czech tradition called Kraslice. These beautiful, intricate patterns are instantly recognizable, and seeing such a large example really helps you admire the beauty of the smaller versions you can find around town. This 20-foot-tall egg is a must-see!


The World's Largest Czech Egg is found along the Post Rock Scenic Byway. Over the Smoky Hills of weathered bedrock, the Post Rock Scenic Byway winds through fields, pastures, and prairie. The landscape's unique beauty and challenges required pioneers to earn their space here. And the legacy of their creativity and resourcefulness lives on. Just look at the stone fence posts for which this route was named - as functional as the day they were erected. Today, that same innovative spirit has given rise to many independently minded artists, farmers, and ranchers in the region. Plan your other stops along the Post Rock Scenic Byway here.