Austria: Day 4, 5, & 6

​The United States might be 7+ hours behind Austria, but we are a few days behind on the blog and posting. We have had a very busy weekend full of stories and memories that we are excited to share with you. On Friday, we toured more of Vienna (yes, more), Saturday we traveled to Salzburg, Vienna, and Sunday we went to church and spent some time with the wonderful people of the Church of Acts (COA).
Can there really be that much to see in Vienna? We are convinced there really is. It seems every day we see and experience something new. Friday was just another one of those days. Sister Whitney took us on another tour of the city to see Heldenplatz, Hofburg Palace, Herrengasse café & chocolate shop, Volksgarten, Parlament, Rathaus and Beethoven’s House. One of the most notable parts of this day was when we were able to visit the very location where 250,000 people listened to Adolf Hitler give the ceremonial announcement of the Austrian Anschluss to Nazi Germany on March 15, 1938. It is surreal to stand where such a huge part of history took place. Later that day, we joined the COA again for another series of Apostolic Ministry Training Center (AMTC) classes here in Vienna. 

Saturday was a long day that began very early. We all met in the hotel lobby at 6 am to catch our train to Salzburg, Austria. We arrived in Salzburg around 10 am where we started exploring the city, grabbed lunch in the market, took a tour of Mozart's house, then met up with our Salzburg tour guide around 2 pm. This tour included a few stops within the city, but our favorite part of this tour included the stops outside of the city - the Alps. Before heading back to Salzburg, we were able to sit down for a quick dinner in a little city in the middle of the beautiful Alps. That evening, we arrived back to Vienna around 10 pm. Although it was an extremely long day, it was also an exciting day that none of us will forget.

Sunday morning, we joined COA here in Vienna for their church service. Our Program Chair of Christian Education, Cynthia Ticas, taught adult Sunday school, and one of our Christian Education students, Carina Fellman, taught the children in Sunday school, along with the help from a couple of other students. In addition, we were given the opportunity to sing as a group during the worship service. We are thankful for each opportunity to serve in various capacities. For lunch on Sunday, Brother and Sister Pace took us to Vapiano's for where they serve fresh pasta and make your food in front of you. It was delicious. After lunch, the COA youth took our students downtown for some gelato and exploring. Spending time with the youth of COA has been fun. Our trip never would have been this incredible without the great people of COA.