Declan is absolutely loving preschool and loves riding the bus every morning! He is always asking when he gets to go back and even sings us some of the songs he learns at school.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Thursday, September 18, 2014
European Vacation - September 2014
OUR TRIP TO SWITZERLAND, AUSTRIA AND GERMANY
Our 7th anniversary trip to Switzerland, Austria, and Germany was full of lots of fun and adventure! We ate lots of local food, tried some brews, and explored many beautiful places. Here's a photo tour of what we did while we were away.
First stop: Zurich
Kevin doesn't even look tired at the after the long plane ride!
Along the famous shopping street in Zurich is this famous chocolate shop. We definitely sampled a few things for lunch and dessert. Yummy!
The fondue restaurant where we had our anniversary dinner!
The weather was great for our boat ride around Lake Zurich, and then it poured as soon as we docked!
We celebrated our anniversary at a fondue place just across the square from our hotel. While we were eating, a Japanese film crew asked us if they could film us and ask us questions. I'm not kidding! We said okay and then this crew with lights and cameras descended upon us and started filming. I think they must have been making a travel movie or something, but everyone around us kept staring at us, probably trying to figure out if we were anybody important! Anyway, the fondue was delicious and so was the Swiss wine.
On the train to Salzburg. Kevin is already tired of me taking pictures of him!
Hohensalzburg Fortress.
The iconic image of Salzburg.
An authentic Austrian lunch at the Goldene Kugel.
The main shopping street in Salzburg is a narrow, winding, old road lined with tons of shops.
Mozart was born in Salzburg and is a BIG deal here!
The original 'Mozart Ball' (a chocolate truffle with pistachio and chocolate center) was invented by this confectionary shop long ago.
I found several variations of my maiden name in Austria and Germany.
The house where Mozart was born; right in the middle of the main shopping street.
It's hard to tell from this photo, but Kevin wasn't at all bored with the shopping street.
We even found Mozart along the Old Town shopping area of Salzburg!
Some of the Austrian beverages we found. Beer with grapefruit juice, natural alpine soda, and plain Austrian beer.
Mirabell Palace and Gardens with Hohensalzburg Fortress on the hill.
Salzburg was such a beautiful city!
Salzburg was such a beautiful city!
Next stop: A day trip to Hallstatt, Austria.
The oldest salt mine in the world is in Hallstatt and there are tons of salt products to choose from at the salt house.
It rained quite a bit while we were in Hallstatt, so we grabbed some bratwurst from a cart and found this little nook with a barrel and two chairs where we enjoyed our lunch out of the rain.
Traveling to Hallstatt included taking a bus, train and ferry. On the way back, we had a little time to wait for the train, so we explored the village of Bad Ischl.
The next day, we spent the morning in Salzburg and checked out the Hohensalzburg Fortress. It is a medieval castle that dates back over 900 years. It was really fascinating!
The view from the fortress, looking back down on Salzburg.
For lunch, we found some lemon cheesecake at this adorable confectionary shop.
Before our afternoon tour, we took some time to explore the Mirabell Gardens.
In the afternoon, we took a short trip to Konigssee Lake and the Bavarian village of Berchtesgaden. Both are just across the border, in Germany.
After we checked out the lake area, we had some time to explore the little German village, Berchtesgaden.
Another version of 'Fortner'.
Back in Salzburg.
Next stop: Munich
The famous glockenspiel.
We arrived in Munich around noon and set out exploring the old town area all afternoon. We found this really fun outdoor market and tried some pretzels and apple chips. Yummy!
For dinner, we checked out the famous Hofbrauhaus.
Cheese spaetzle with fried onions on top. Yummy!!
A German Kevin!!
Our next day in Germany was our favorite day of the entire trip. First, we visited Harburg Castle (a 900 year-old medieval castle) and then we spend the whole afternoon in Rothenburg, the most well preserved medieval village in Europe, with more charm than you can imagine!
An afternoon in Rothenburg.
Supposedly, Rothenburg is the only place in the world where you can buy these confections. They were invented there and are called, 'snowballs'. They come in chocolate, powered sugar, cinnamon and sugar, coconut, and other flavors....and are very tasty!
The best Christmas store ever.
Such a fun day!!
On the final day of our trip, we visited two castles nestled in the Bavarian Alps and the small village of Oberammergau, which is best known for their woodcarving and for inventing the first Passion Play.
Our first stop was Linderhof Palace.
The prince and his palace!
Our next stop was Oberammergau.
The facades of many of the buildings were painted with ornate scenes to indicate wealth.
The facades of many of the buildings were painted with ornate scenes to indicate wealth.
And finally, we visited the famous Neuschwanstein Castle.
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