, was shot from our hotel/castle that we stayed in that night. The door (right) leads to the place we ate dinner...an amazing combination of atmosphere, 
great food, and great wine. We sat outside, overlooking a vineyard, with fires going to keep us warm and candles on the table. It was great. The picture of the street (right) is just the main strip at night in Durnstein.
Plus: Coffee and pastries. Our coffee hear pales in comparison to the Viennese coffee. Starbucks? Not a chance. The coffee in Austria was full, rich, strong and made even the best coffee I've had here taste bitter.
#3 Minus: The whole country smokes...literally. In the airport, in the shopping malls, in the restaraunts, everywhere, all the time...you can't go anywhere without breathing other peoples cigarettes.
#4 Plus: Along with the food thing...you'd be hard-pressed to find many obese people in Austria. I was surprised at this considering how much beer and wine people drink.
#5 Plus: Public Transportation System. Anyone who has grown up in the 
Seattle area (like myself) realizes how poor our public transportation system is. But until you travel a little bit, you may not realize just how poor it is. It sucks! Granted, Vienna was voted #2 in the world for public transportation second only to Singapore...but still. We stink in this area. They have buses, trains, subways, etc. to get you anywhere you might need to go for a very cheap price. It was great.
#7 Water: Minus: Yes, they have water and yes, it tastes fine. But don't count on getting any at a restaraunt with out paying for it. Yes, I took for granted that at any restaraunt in the States, you get a nice, big glass of water served before you even order.
When I get around to it, I'll put up some great pics I have from past adventures with my wife. Here's a couple of teasers for now! 
Loop. The full loop (9.0 miles) starts and ends at the Artist point parking lot. You take off towards chain lakes and once there, you continue up the saddle around Table Mountain. Once you hit the top of the saddle you have amazing views of both Mt. Baker and Mt Shuksan. It's awesome. Then you continue down the mountain towards Heather Meadows. To do the the full loop, you then hike up the Wild Good Trail from the
Heather Meadows parking area. That's a tough hike...only 2.5 miles, but lots of elevation gain. We cut this last part out by leaving a car at Heather Meadows thus, our loop was about 7.5 miles (Artist Point to Heather Meadows by way of the Chain Lakes trail). I know if you're doing the math at home the figures I gave you don't exactly add up. That's because depending on your source, the exact mileages on this loop and the hikes that make up the loop, differ. So, I'm estimating in part.
prepared for lots of bugs. 
my face it made picture taking difficult. Still, my Dad, who is a history teacher (including Washington State History) remarked that "[he] can't think of a more beautiful place you can drive to anywhere in the state." 
