After months of breathless anticipation, we finally took our long-awaited trip to Austria in April (the morning after Jeff did a fabulous job leading the Bath Community Seder) -- both to take The Sound of Music Tour and experience the whole Kinderhotel concept touted by many of our ex-pat friends. Neither disappointed!
Although I must say we were quite surprised to wake up on the first morning of our "spring break" to find this mularkey:
Happy.... Easter?
Our hotel was actually right over the border in Germany, and the accommodations were perfect for a family with 2 small children. The restaurant was family-style and Josie quickly gained back the weight she had lost during her illness the week prior. She loved German food; I have never seen the kid eat so much in her short life. Boiled beef, schnitzel with noodles, crisp apple strudel, she loved it all.
The kids' club was a mixed bag -- such a great deal, 10-5pm daily as much as you needed, and lots of great activities like pottery, necklace-making, etc. BUT we didn't really anticipate how few Anglophones there would be. Actually there were exactly three - a Northern Irish dad married to a Luxembourgian mom and their two children, who weren't always at the kids' club at the same time. So that limited Josie's playing and friend-making capabilities significantly. At the beginning she didn't want to go and Hugo was great, but that dynamic gradually flipped until Josie had befriended enough of the teachers to have fun and Hugo, feeling acute separation anxiety, would start to wail as soon as we hit the hallway where the club was!
Pay no attention to the boy behind the curtain.....
Honestly, we were so busy sightseeing we didn't use the club as much as we otherwise might have anyway. Salzburg is a lovely city, super clean, easy to get around, lots to do -- so we went in pretty much every morning to sightsee, starting with the way cool Fortress Hohensalzburg, built in the 800s by the "Prince-Archbishops" who ruled Salzburg when it was still an independent municipality. You'll recognize it from any iconic Salzburg shot (like... from the intro shots in The Sound of Music. If you're already sick of hearing about The Sound of Music, FYI, you might just want to stop reading now!)
The Fortress boasts both the city's most amazing views...
And the slightly cool, slightly creepy Marionette museum, which supplied the marionettes in the Sound of Music "Lonely Goatherd" scene!
We also explored the city's Modern Art Museums looking for a Klimt or 2... sadly, they had all been shipped to Vienna for the birthday boy's 200th celebration, but instead there was a monster exhibit for kids!
Why be content with this....
When you could see this?
But let's get right to the heart of the matter -- THE TOUR. OMG, it was everything we could have hoped for and more. The tour guide was dressed in traditional Bavarian garb. She played all the music and everyone (except a few mortified husbands) sang along with gusto. We hit all the filming locations in the area, including...
The Hills are Alive! (Intro scenery)
Church where Maria gets married
Back of the house, where lake scenes were filmed
So, a needle pulling thread (Mirabell Gardens)
Front of the Von Trapp House
I am Sixteen, going on Seventeen....
It was a blast... I think even Jeff would grudgingly admit he enjoyed it. And we even got to re-enact walking up the Mirabell Garden steps to sing the finale of "Do a Deer."
Of course, there IS more to Salzburg than the Sound of Music (though devotees of the film represent 300,000 of the city's 1 million visitors annually). Mozart was born and raised here, and we visited his childhood home, to see his first piano and lots of family heirlooms.
The kinderhotel, as I said was fab, and while we didn't use the kids' club as much as we thought, there were 2 nice perks, one of them being Giant Beers Without Children At 4pm, which we attended religiously:
And the other being Josie's really cute, daily semi-private swimming lesson. Here in Europe they appear to begin lessons with the breaststroke, which doesn't seem overly intuitive, but hearing "Frog Josie, Frog! Ja! Ja voll!" was pretty motivating, though half the time she would just break down and giggle because her teacher was really cute.
Meaty, on the other hand, had tons of fun crawling around, but he didn't sleep very well. Literally, he slept like a total weirdo:
Alas, after about 316 Giant Beers, 127 glasses of Riesling and 563 renditions of "Edelweiss," (not to mention 23 episodes of Rescue Me watched on the iPad because German TV SUCKS) it was time to go home, and celebrate Meaty's first birthday! Josie and I had originally decided upon a Curious George theme, because every time we read a Curious George Story we think he looks like Hugo, with a banana cake (get it) and George-themed decorations. But Mommy failed to read the fine print on the Amazon website, and the decorations were coming from California and destined to arrive sometime in June.
SO it was on to Plan B: Dinosaurs! But I had already bought everything for the monkey-banana cake, so that stayed in place, along with an attempted "jungle" icing that from the pix I posted on Facebook everyone thought was guacamole.
Wow, we are starting to sound like people who never want to spend time with our children. This is NOT the case. They are delightful little humans. But we will never pass on a real chance to spend time with each OTHER, if offered. We also call that more of a "vacation" instead of merely a "trip."
Ahhh... childless beers. And look at the blanket they bring out in case
you get chilly. How cute is this place?
you get chilly. How cute is this place?
And the other being Josie's really cute, daily semi-private swimming lesson. Here in Europe they appear to begin lessons with the breaststroke, which doesn't seem overly intuitive, but hearing "Frog Josie, Frog! Ja! Ja voll!" was pretty motivating, though half the time she would just break down and giggle because her teacher was really cute.
You want me to do what, swim? (batbatbat eyelashes)
Meaty, on the other hand, had tons of fun crawling around, but he didn't sleep very well. Literally, he slept like a total weirdo:
And after a week, Josie was starting to sound like Herman Cain:
"Nein, nein, nein!"
"Nein, nein, nein!"
Alas, after about 316 Giant Beers, 127 glasses of Riesling and 563 renditions of "Edelweiss," (not to mention 23 episodes of Rescue Me watched on the iPad because German TV SUCKS) it was time to go home, and celebrate Meaty's first birthday! Josie and I had originally decided upon a Curious George theme, because every time we read a Curious George Story we think he looks like Hugo, with a banana cake (get it) and George-themed decorations. But Mommy failed to read the fine print on the Amazon website, and the decorations were coming from California and destined to arrive sometime in June.
SO it was on to Plan B: Dinosaurs! But I had already bought everything for the monkey-banana cake, so that stayed in place, along with an attempted "jungle" icing that from the pix I posted on Facebook everyone thought was guacamole.
Prehistoric Monsters on the Avocado Gateau of Death
Whatever, I didn't hear any complaints....
until it was over!
Hard to believe Hugo is one already! That went fast. He doesn't walk yet, but cruises with confidence. He doesn't really talk yet, but sings, raps, and tickles the ivories. He still probably best loves to eat.
Then the always-adventurous Hanna and Papa came to visit, and we all piled in a Ford minivan (which doesn't exist in America, sadly, because it is way cool and I would totally buy one) for our first trip to Cornwall! Cornwall is on the western coast of England and Fowey, where we were, is home to Daphne Du Maurier, and chock-full of cute shops, fishing boats, cobblestoned streets and sweet little houses.
Sticking with the "kinder" theme, we stayed at a great hotel catering to families. Josie got to go look for eggs from the hotel chicken coop every morning, there was a play room and a trampoline and all you had to do for a cream tea or puree for Hugo or glass of chardonnay, any time day or night, was snap your fingers. Best of all - they came TO OUR ROOM and collected the kids at 8am that Sunday morning so we could relax, read the paper and have a quiet breakfast.
Wow, we are starting to sound like people who never want to spend time with our children. This is NOT the case. They are delightful little humans. But we will never pass on a real chance to spend time with each OTHER, if offered. We also call that more of a "vacation" instead of merely a "trip."
Josie's favorite activity by far was crabbing. I'm not trying to draw any distinctions here, but when she crabbed with Daddy she caught one and when she crabbed with Mommy she caught three.
Beautiful view of the harbor from our hotel
Rainbow Brite!
We also visited the Eden Project, which is a truly amazing research and education center exploring different ecosystems and obviously hoping to inspire conservationist tendencies among its visitors. It's HUGE - we only had time to visit the Rainforest and Mediterranean biodomes, so we're eager to go back!
The incredible Eden Project
No rest for Daddy -- he was off to Miami for a well-deserved 40th birthday junket with his college friends, and after a brief return to Bath yesterday flew the other direction to Beijing for a business conference. We're looking forward to those photos!
Today we got to see the Olympic Torch pass through Bath - that was pretty cool. Quick shot of that:
And after a brief break from travel for the kids and Mommy, we're looking forward to a busy summer, with trips to Paris, SC, Martha's Vineyard, Stockhom and yes, back to Cornwall! See you soon, probably from the road! A bientot!
Today we got to see the Olympic Torch pass through Bath - that was pretty cool. Quick shot of that:
No, that is not Orlando Bloom running with it
And after a brief break from travel for the kids and Mommy, we're looking forward to a busy summer, with trips to Paris, SC, Martha's Vineyard, Stockhom and yes, back to Cornwall! See you soon, probably from the road! A bientot!
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