BRUCK, AUSTRIA

September 10, 2012

We followed Trexie’s directions right through Bruck  to the correct house and as we pulled up and parked Gerhard was there to welcome us, and soon Karin and the two kids arrived by bicycle.

Our house is on a quiet street along the river, with a view of the snow-capped Grossglockner mountains.  As with every house here in Austria, and most homes in European villages, the window boxes are bursting with petunias.  Some homes have window boxes bursting with ivy geranium.  Every time we come to Europe I vow to get some hanging planters with ivy geranium trailing out and flowing over the boxes, but I am never successful.  I guess I have to pinch the plants to make them full and have lots of blossoms.  My ivy geraniums just look straggly and unkempt. 

We had a nice chat with Karin and Gerhard and they showed us around the house. Gerhard runs a business called Mountain Concepts.  He works in one part of the house and we have the rest.  Apparently there is lots and lots of vacation home business in this area.  Gerhard helps the vacation homeowners furnish their homes.  He shows them various decorating options and orders, receives and arranges the furnishings in the homes.  He does everything from arranging kitchen installations to putting the furniture in the rooms to supplying the placemats and flatware.  He seems to be very busy and customers come every day to meet with him and select items for their vacation home.  Sometimes he brings them into our space to show some furniture options, so we try to keep the house very tidy.

Our back yard has apple trees and the apples are getting ripe and falling, so I think I will try to make an apple pie.  Over my wall of petunias flowing out of their planter boxes I can see the snow-capped mountain peaks of the Grossglockner.  The scenery is beautiful.