First impressions of Vienna: like going back in time. There is so much history here. Across from our hotel, there is an old church, surrounded by scaffolding. Half of the building is pitch black.  The other half is pure white.  The white half had just been cleaned.  The black half has collected years of air pollution.  The rest of our journey will not be so black and white; it will be filled with gray areas.

We board a train at the Südbanhof (the South train station) for a four-hour ride across Austria’s picture-postcard landscape. In Fehring, we are met by Mr. Franz Josef Schober, driven to St. Anna am Aigen and waste no time retracing the steps of history.

A short while later, we meet Mayor Josef Weinhandl, his wife Elisabeth and their 12 year old daughter Stefanie. The mayor tells us that we are honored guests of the town.