Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:

The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…

A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

Continuing from last week…

The next morning our program began in earnest after breakfast. While in Innsbruck our breakfasts would all be taken in the student cafeteria in our building. Most of our lunches would be in the downtown student cafeteria called a “Mensa,” (Latin for table). The food was hearty and quite good.

Once breakfast was over, we found our classroom at the University for our first lecture on the history of Austria. The professor spoke perfect, but accented English, and gave a thoroughly enjoyable talk that really helped set the program in perspective.

There was quite a bit of give and take between him and other participants, especially those who were old enough to have lived through World War II. No one hesitated to speak their mind about the thorny issues of that war, but he retained his good humor through it all.

In the afternoon we traveled to Schlos Ambros, a magnificent castle just outside Innsbruck, home to one of the largest European ruling families, the Hapsburgs. What an incredible place–beautiful grounds, great collections and medieval armor everywhere. Again, the sheer age of the castle, in comparison to buildings in the U.S., took my breath away.

That evening we walked over to a local Beer Garden for dinner where we were wined and dined in typical Austrian style. Free time after dinner gave us the opportunity to walk back to the Old City, find an outdoor café and settle in for a musical evening of Tirolean entertainment, complete with costumed singers and dancers.

Our days settled into a familiar routine. Lectures on Austrian music, history, art, culture, industry, and politics, with field trips to reinforce what we learned. Our evenings were spent at wonderful restaurants and cafes soaking up the local scene, talking to the people, most of whom spoke excellent English, and music, always lots of music.

Next Week…Real-life learning

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…
Marcel Proust said, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” Our lectures prior to our field trips helped give us the new eyes to see the new landscapes in a way that ordinary tourists do not. For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit http://www.learninglater.com/ You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at http://www.amazon.com/

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (http://www.cs4seniors.com/)