This morning I saw this guy trying to make a getaway. Don't be fooled: his large size did not make him go any quicker. His trail, though, was four times his size. So, gross.

We left very early this morning to get to the church where Daniel's confirmation was held. The drive was many m away, almost a 1.5 hr drive. Johannes, Daniel's friend and also his sponsor, drove Randy Danny and I. We zoomed through the countryside and small towns at speeds of over 120 km in his BMW. He was only trying to keep up with Uncle Franz.

What I didn't know was just how many people were being confirmed this morning. So when we got into the town, there were many many Austrians in groups outside the church.

In addition to the large amount of confirmees that attributed to a long ceremony, the mass seemed extra long because I could not understand any of it. Uncle Franz's brother, Bernhardt, translated a song for me and Randy so that we would understand what we were singing.

The most unique part of the physical church was that the pews were on platforms. So when the bishop (?) entered with his altar boys, they seemed all the smaller. The pews themselves were extremely small: my mutant legs are thankfully not so long that I had to worry about scraping my knees each time I rose and sat.

This was taken after the church cleared out. That's Mom Aunt Gerry Johannes Daniel Marilyn Grandpa Bernie and me.
A band played outside the church and before the ceremony. The church, as someone pointed out, is a relatively progressive one. Despite these traditional outfits the musicians have on here, some played in more casual attire during the service, and performed both acoustic songs and popular American oldies.

After church, there were photo opprtunities with the bishop and also a snack area in an ultra contemporary building. There was no need for snacking because we next had an enormous lunch ahead of us. Today I had a soup with crepes cut in strips that substituted for soup noodles. Following that was a full vegeterian noodle dish: tortellinis stuffed with either spinach or broccolli, I am not sure. Lunch was an opportunity to meet all of Daniel's other cousins, and then I also got to talk to Uncle Franz's brother's wife Rita (?) for some time outside. She felt sorry for not knowing English very well, but I think it's strange that someone can say that to a person who knows not any words in her country's language.

The restaurant had an outdoor area in the back that I explored with Rita. The cousins played soccer with Johannes and Randy. When I was outside I could hear the cows in the distance with their bells on their necks. It's such a more pleasant sound than traffic, which, by the way, we never seemed to run into. All of our driving today pretty was for the most part fluid, only slowing down to acknowledge the speed limit when pedestrians popped up.

After lunch our carload and the rest of the Hubmer gang went to a town I think is spelled Freistadt. It was built, and still remains, inside a large stone wall. The moat is covered in grass now and there are plenty of houses surrounding the inner city. This sign I particularly liked because of the hand and sword.

Here is Randy waiting for the water to pump out. This was beside a church that was made in the 1200s. Inside was very gorgeous but I had to smirk when I saw the angels on the second floor balcony's ledge: there were some playing clairinets, trumpets, and a drum set.
This also made me smirk. It was behind glass so I can ony imagine how delicious it smells.
Here down a street way are some beautiful streamers. Some had balls attached to the bottoms.
Instead of newsstands or else those metal bins, readers deposit money into the coin box and take a newspaper out from under the plastic flap. Daniel told me that OON stands for Upper Austrian News. I now found out where we are in Austria. For the church ceremony this morning we were near the Czech border, way North. This town is a little south of that and Steyr still further south.

Here is one of the entrance ways to the city. It is now accessible by car as well since there are stone drives that bridge the city with its surroundings.
















Another street placed us in the middle of a teen barbecue. There were couches set up with kids playing cards, a smore's station, and rock climbing. Carl, to the left, was ready to join in on the fun.

Speaking of which, I'm going with Johannes Randy and some soccer players to an Irish pub! I'll update some more later, probably tomorrow! Have a good night (it's almost 10 here now)