Like Kings and Queens of Salzburg...

Oct 3-6, 2009

This was a really fun trip for all of us. First of all, we had fabulous weather. And second... we stayed in the CASTLE above Salzburg!

It was amazing! Okay, there were some downsides- it cost to get to our apartment and the hours of the funicular (the nearly vertical train that carries people to the top of the castle mountain) weren't always when we needed it... but even so the experience was incredible.


We arrived from an early morning flight, stopped by a grocery store and met up with the apartment owner. She gave us directions to a parking garage INSIDE the Salzburg mountain. After meeting her next to the festival hall (where in the Sound of Music movie the family sang just before their escape).








We were then guided through a monastery courtyard (see the castle in the background?... that's our castle!)









and then (believe it or not) the most beautiful cemetery that we've ever seen,





bypassing the market square with man sized chess pieces and up to the funicular. We purchased week tickets up and down and rode up up up with a glorious view of the city of Salzburg. We were still in unbelief that we were staying up in a CASTLE!





Down stairs and up stairs and up a few more, through the castle wall into the courtyard and immediately to the left was our apartment. The apartment was old but totally new on the inside. Lots of space with a very functional kitchen. It was fantastic! And all for a price cheaper than a hotel for the 5 of us! Hoorah!





Sound of Music Tour

We hurried on to our 2 pm sound of music tour. We were able to ride down the funicular and walk across town to catch the tour bus. Okay, the tour was a bit cheesy. But the guide actually was pretty funny at the same time he was sappy, nostolgic, entertaining and informative. It was a delicate balance that he carried off quite well without offending the seriously SoM lovers or boring to tears those who despise the movie (like some tall teenage member of our family... ).

We were able to see lots of places filmed in the movie and hear funny stories to go with them. One of the funniest was why the gazebo is now closed to visitors... Apparently, they finally had enough of the crazy sound of music enthusiasts and locked it up for good when an 80 year old visitor fell and broke her hip while leaping from bench to bench inside the gazebo. WOW!

Other sights we visited included the church where they were married, the do-re-mi garden, and the backside of the "house" that included the picturesque lake where the canoe tipped over full of the children.

And then we went home to our CASTLE (Can you tell we were excited about staying there?) for a spaghetti dinner.

Salt Mine Tour

Today was the day for Germany! We tried to wake up early enough to get to the Salt Mines by 9 am. But the funicular wasn't working until 9, so we had to walk down which took 30 minutes. We then drove over to Berchtesgaden a bit behind schedule. That is where both of our tours of the day began.


The first was the salt mines (we made it just in time!). And what a tour it was! It actually ended up being our kids favorite for "fun". The tour begins with an official jumpsuit and then a motorcycle seated tiny (high speed) train into the heart of the mountain.

A large two leveled cavern greeted us after we got off. And then came the fun part... a huge salt-mine slide! It consisted of two wooden rounded rails that we straddled. We were to slide in a family unit with small in the front going up in height. Christina at first didn't want to do it because it was quite steep... but the flow of the crowd came fast and all of a sudden we were on the slide and going down! What fun!

We then had various stops along the tunnel describing aspects of salt mining. Jeanne decided NOT to lick the red salt wall that everyone else licked. Yuck!


A fun interactive room (star trek style) with touch screens full of salt information




And a second slide! And then there was a spectacular underground salt lake! The surface of the water reflected the ceiling. It was beautiful with sparkling light effects. To the right you can see the boat that we used to glide across to the other side.


And one more train ride back out. What fun!


Eagles Nest tour

We then rushed out to grab a bite to eat before our 1 pm tour of the Eagle's Nest. For those of you not familiar, this area of Germany was favored by Hitler and the Nazi party. On the tour we learned some fascinating facts... like that Hitler wanted to be an artist! He tried for years to get into the Vienna art school but was turned down several times because his work was "uninspired". He was actually a starving artist for several years... to the point that when the army tried to draft him into military service the doctors labeled him physically unfit to serve! He then came back to the Berchtesgaden area and rented a small cabin which he later bought. He found the political party that matched his ideologies, joined the army in a very dangerous position, was convicted of treason but still rose to power through connections and the use of propoganda machines. The grounds for his party expanded and transformed that beautiful area near his cabin into a Nazi party headquarters.

Though most buildings were obliterated from bombing there were a few buildings left. In one of the foundations they built the documentation center where we entered the bunker system that ran under the entire area. The guide factually told us lots of information but in a monotone voice that somehow matched the german style on a serious subject matter (though it wasn't too exciting for the kids...)

Next we walked over the backside of the documentation center and the guide purchased public bus tickets up the mountain on a special bus that has a double braking system. This made Jeanne realize that this entire tour could have been done on our own for a lot less money...




but the information given from the guide was very helpful.





Then up
up up a very winding single lane road to the top of the mountain to the eagles nest! We had a perfect day for it. Crystal clear blue skies, nice temperatures, low wind... beautiful!



A tunnel into the side of the mountain led to a brass elevator which we rode to the top and we were there!








It was surprisingly small. No bedrooms, just meeting rooms that now house a restaurant... but what views!





















A view from the top looking down on the official Eagles nest building.






We could see our CASTLE from there! (can you tell we liked living in a castle?)








Here is a much damaged fireplace that is thought to have been given to Hitler by Mussolini.




On our way home we were in a bit of a predicament. We only had 24 euros to our name in cash and we needed dinner. But it was Sunday and no grocery stores were open (bad planning on our part). But we happened to drive by a "Prima Pizza 6 Euro" sign. Hooray! 4 pizzas later everyone was full and happy. So up to our CASTLE we went- riding a nearly empty funicular car with happy full tummies. Hoorah!


We explored the virtually empty castle courtyard where we discovered a beautiful night time view.







Had a rousing game of unicorn...








And the girls built a castle community.





We ended the day with a fun movie thanks to Bryce's Ipod. It was a fun day.

Werfen Ice Caves -(Austria)

For our last full day in Salzburg we decided to visit the Werfen ice caves. We have visited lots of caves but never one of ICE.



We had read it was a lot of walking though. Jeanne's knee was a bit agitated, but with some ibuprofen she hoped it would be okay. But her knee wasn't the problem... it was the hike! 20 minutes up to a cable car (pant! pant! pant!), an incredible ride up the mountain in a cable car, followed by another 20 minute walk (pant! pant! pant!). But then when Jeanne made it to the entrance of the cave the tour started immediately (pant! pant! pant!).



The tour guide then proceeded to inform the crowd that we had another 1400 stairs to go... Yikes! The good news was that it was 700 up and 700 down, the bad news was that it was that the up came first (pant! pant! pant!).



The ice cave is formed from the wind that blows in through cracks in the rock mountain and blows in water and snow. The water freezes in the cavern during the winter and remains through the summer. The ice actually is growing in the cave! Another interesting thing about the cave is that the wind blows down and out to the lowest point of the cave... the entrance!






















We were given some old fashioned lanterns to provide individual light (no flashlights here!). But as we entered through the door to the cave we were BLASTED with a gust of icy air which immediately puffed our lantern flame out. The tour guide immediately re-lit the lanterns and in we went. The cavern opened up into a wide expanse that looked like a massive frozen waterfall. Initially it was a gentle slope and then it seemed near vertical!







Finally we reached the top! Everyone really enjoyed the amazing ice formations. They were MASSIVE!












We then were able to walk DOWN an ice tunnel staircase. It was amazing.




This was such a wonder to see. Bryce turned around and said "this is now my favorite of the trip..."



But by the time we were heading down the girls had reached their cold tolerance level...they were frozen. Madison slipped, hit her head and nearly tumbled down the stairs and Christina had reached her breaking point (would have said melting point but freezing point would be more accurate). Fortunately, the going down and out was faster than up.








We were blown out of the cave and Christina was sunbathing in the cave entrance in no time ( full of smiles now).













It was an experience of a lifetime. Bryce pegged it "this is so COOL!"

HellBrunn Palace

We then found a grocery store for lunch supplies and drove to Hellbrunn Palace for a picnic lunch (with Nacho Cheese Bugles our new favorite). We had heard that the trick water fountains were a fun tour. So off we went again. Christina didn't want to go... actually everyone was quite exhausted from the mountain climbing. But it was our last afternoon...

So we talked Christina into going. It didn't take long for Christina to start getting excited on the tour. Markus Sitticus, a Prince AND an Archbishop came up with the idea of the playful water gardens. It was powered by gravity (manual labor carrying buckets of water up to the higher lakes...wow!). From a table where no one was allowed to stand in the presence of the prince (even while their seats were squirting water- what a prankster!),





to RAIN-deer,













water driven bird calls, lifting crowns and tunnels of water...














everyone got wet on this tour (though Bryce almost stayed dry).









Christina then decided that she wanted to go again... this was her favorite of all the tours.

Exiting Hellbrunn Palace there was a tree lined walkway lined with conker trees. The girls climbed the trees like the kids in the movie and sang and skipped along the lane. After a LONG walk we finally arrived... at the SoM VonTrapp family house!



The girls tried to remember the "I have confidence" song that Maria sang as she pushed open the gates but we couldn't quite remember the words. Still the girls had a LOT of fun.




It was quite nostalgic. But that was soon lost in a conker and acorn battle between Bryce and Madison. Sigh.



Spaghetti dinner up in our CASTLE ended our last day as Kings and Queens... okay maybe spaghetti isn't the normal table fare for royalty... but it's fast, cheap and easy... and it's the girls favorite food as you can tell from their new song they invented.

Back to the UK...

We caught the morning flight back to Stansted, dropped Scott off at work for the second half of the day, picked up groceries and unpacked. And then the girls of the family snuggled down to watch scenery of the CASTLE in which we lived... in the Sound of Music! We kept saying "we've been there" or "there's our castle".

Such good memories!

September 27, 2009























We broke from local tradition and had a HOME birthday party. No play center, no petting zoo, no swimming pool party (though Christina would have loved that!)








Dressed in black secret agent clothes and sporting their secret agent passports, the kids set out in two teams in a race to find a trail of clues.



They were armed with an invisible ink revealing marker and a mission commander (adult) to help put word cards together in a sentence that told where to find the next clue. They walked to the town telephone booth, our house mailbox, the attic, behind the wheelie bins, inside a cannon lawn ornament, and in a locked treasure chest to make it to their goal...





an aluminum briefcase full of candy! The kids all had a great time... and they all left with more candy than they could carry.

Happy 6th Birthday Christina!

We can feel the love tonight....

Sept 25-26, 2009

Bourne Baptist Church's
Got TALENT!!!!

Madison was all for joining the competition that our local church held to support Alternatives, a crisis pregnancy center in Bourne. She is so brave at 11 years old to get up in front of a large audience and sing a solo!




On Friday night she sang fourth in a field of 15. And she did quite well! It is one thing to go up as a group and perform, but quite another to get up and do a solo! The judges were all very supportive and she got no buzzing X's. (whew!)






Then came Saturday night. With a change of costume and a packed church the intensity of the competition ratcheted up a few notches. By the time it was Madison's turn (she was next to last) she wasn't feeling well for nerves or whatever reason... so she actually was pushed back to last place while she tried to compose herself.

But with courage she came out on stage, and sang her heart out.


A standing ovation! WOW!



After the audience placed their votes on paper the judges gave their opinion on who they thought would win.





Unfortunately though, the rest of the audience didn't have the same mindset and Madison didn't place in the top 3. But with her bravery and talent... we think she WON!

On the way home she thoughtfully analyzed the differences between her performance and the winner's. The winner had a good voice AND lively actions and expressions while she sang. Madison's conclusion: "I'm good at singing and I'm good at acting... now I just need to do them together". That's the attitude of a star!

We are SOOO very proud of you Madison! You are one-in-a-million!

Christina on TWO wheels

August 8, 2009










Another milestone...












Christina has now actually graduated out of training wheels.

The videos show she still has some work to do though she is quite excited about her accomplishment.

The funny thing is that it's fun to watch Christina's face...but it's even funnier watching Scott walking fast trying to protect and help his little girl.

Good memories...







AND she has just officially become a fish. She can swim underwater! Congratulations Christina!

First day of school picture

September 8, 2009


This year Jeanne had to work extra hard to get the first day of school picture.

Madison's uniform has changed since she has now moved up to the upper school year 7. Another big change for this year is that she is being homeschooled for the core subjects and attending Kirkstone House for the special classes (music, P.E. and drama).

Last spring Bryce was tired of getting to school late and figured out that he could ride with Scott on his way to work. Dad is dependable! And for the first day of school Bryce wanted to be there extra early! Therefore both girls had to be ready when he left!

Even so...Bryce was still trying to hurry his mom up! He was SO eager to get to school! I guess some things DO change!

And we got the photo!... The Tradition continues!

Cannes-do attitude!

September 3-5, 2006

Okay that title is a bit cheesy... but it's hard to resist (smile).

Cambridge

We arrived in Stansted in the mid morning and were due to depart at 5 pm. It didn't make sense to drive 4 hours home and back so... we decided to catch a train to Cambridge. It was a place that Bryce has visited but not the rest of us.

The goal was to catch a punt ride along for a scenic tour of the univeristy. It was a very beautiful but blustery day. We were thankful that we weren't the ones having to push the boat!


But Jeanne chose a bad seat in front of the boat operator. The little bit of splashing wasn't bad... but halfway through the tour she got beaned in the head with the pole as it slipped out of his hands. It was quite painful! The lump was still tender to touch about two weeks after. So word of warning to others... avoid that seat!







Christina really enjoyed looking at the duck and the water pass by.



Another bridge of sighs


We caught the train back to Stansted and waited to meet Scott. The girls ran and leaped on him giving him hugs and kisses. And then we were off to Southern France.

We didn't arrive until evening, rented a car and checked into a super- cheap but not- so- nice hotel. Well, we only had to sleep there two nights. With our size group we technically need 3 rooms as most European hotels only sleep 2, and then Bryce would need to sleep alone. This one had a bunk bed for the third.

A surprise greeted us also when we checked into the hotel when we finally ran into a french-person who was nice when they didn't have to be! Actually, there were quite a few more nice people this trip than we've experienced in the past...so maybe rudeness is a Paris thing?


Monaco




The first day in France we had a goal to see Monaco and Cannes beach. Since we had landed in the Marsailles area it was about a 3 hour drive. But we were able to drive through the TINY country of Monaco.






The road system is incredible! Cliff top roads dive down into numerous tunnels through the cliffs. When we finally emerged from the tall buildings we were in one of the ports full of sailboats and enormous yachts.




We thought this luxurious Mi6 yacht was funny...












We decided to have some of Monaco's Pizza (play on Monical's Pizza back home)...but it wasn't nearly as good as back home.









Then we got out for a walk among the rich and famous. We didn't see any famous people that we knew, but we definitely saw some of the rich persons play toys. WOW! Christina decided that she wanted to buy one of those. And Madison promised when she got rich she would sponsor our whole family on a yacht vacation in the Mediterranean. This all sparked a very interesting conversation on wealth and trappings of money. It really was a great place to visit that we could have easily spent more time there... but it was off to the BEACH!

Cannes (pronounced CAN)

We drove up and down trying to find a parking place. When we finally located a great place overlooking the beach we discovered just how windy it was. Umbrellas were flying and sand was blasting us. But worst yet, there weren't ANY public toilets. So we decided to continue looking. We finally found an underground parking place next to a park that we were certain would contain a toilet somewhere. And we found one. In fact it was so interesting, that a description is due. Although we unfortunately didn't get a photograph of it. It was a huge round cylinder. The sliding door opened and the exiting people barred us from entering giving all sorts of gestures. Come to find out that the door closes and the entire room is washed with disinfectant. So sneaking in after someone is NOT a good idea. After a two minute cleaning cycle money is allowed to be inserted and the door slides open to a nice clean toilet.


But it was time to get to the beach! Bryce has been looking forward to this for the entire summer! The wind was still quite strong, but we found a bit of a sheltered spot at the end of the beach.




The girls just loved playing in the waves and sand!



Bryce swam out to the pontoon which against the windy waves was harder than it looks!


Pont Du Gard

The following day was the highlight of our trip... Pont Du Gard near Nimes, France. Our first knowledge of the place came from (sad to say) the movie "Mr. Bean's Holiday". It is where upon a wrong number call that a man jumped from the three story aquaduct.


The goal was to climb around and hopefully float under the enormous bridge. First came the climbing part. As many of you know our kids just love to play in water and climb things. So we began with the water and catching frogs.



We then went on to climb under and around the rocks at the base of the bridge. We found out that the lower portion where we walk across is new-build and helps make a broader base for the aquaduct. The backside is the original structure.






Through the end of August they allow tours through the aquaduct on the third story... but we were there the beginning of September and it was chained up. Sigh.



Here is a video of the tunnel that the aquaduct took on the other side of the hill.


We located a company that rents canoes for the day and drove upriver to Collais . Usually they are booked solid and don't allow walk-ins, but since we were there in the last two weeks of their season, they had availability. We rented the canoes and floated downstream. Yea!

Finally we found a perfect place for our picnic lunch along the river. It was difficult to dock the boats, but the jumping off the rocks was great! Cold water for certain, but lots of fun!

Bryce and Scott Braving the cold water for a dip...


And Madison couldn't be counted out on the fun either...







After about 1 1/2 hours of paddleing and playing we came to the aquaduct. It was exhilirating to float under!









Jeanne took a chance that we weren't going to tip and took pictures. A bit scary with a digital camera... and definitely made her wish for a new waterproof camera! But no accidents thankfully and some great pictures...








From the underside of the bridge...too cool!









These pictures were all thanks to the steady rowing of Bryce!



It was a fantastic day!

After a rocky part (that Bryce and Jeanne slid through without being grounded...the only ones of many who attempted...brag.brag.brag.) we noticed that there was a large plane that was circling the area. It seemed odd. But then we saw that it was actually a firefighting plane that was dumping red liquid on a fire that was burning just around the bend. And we had to canoe past the fire!

It definitely added to some of the excitement of the day! But we made it past the falling ashes and smoke to our pick up point.

Sore and suntanned, we all had a GREAT time!

Hooray for cheap flights!

Sept 1-3, 2009

Jeanne and the kids along with Gloria planned a quick two day trip to Germany to see Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It is a sight that we saw in the winter-time when Bryce was not yet three years old. In our previous travels through Germany, we hadn't been able to work it into the schedule. So when Ryanair had a super-super special on flights going we decided to snatch them up. The tickets only cost 1 gbp / $1.50 each way from London Stansted to Frankfurt Hahn. That was including taxes!

Gloria is such a daring person to be willing to travel with 3 kids who aren't hers. But What an incredible job she did with the girls. As soon as any little argument might begin she skillfully would ask a totally distracting question to the girls and they were off picking out colors for their castles. She is amazing! Needless to say, the girls decided that Gloria was their "BFF" (best friends forever).

Once we landed we quickly rented our car and off we went. Thank goodness for Satellite navagation. We arrived and were able to drive right to the hotel room and PARK! We checked into our bed and breakfast and walked around the town








At 8pm the Nightwatchman came out.














Dressed a bit scarry before we started the famous nightwatchman tour. What a fun storyteller. We really enjoyed his humor and the history.













The next day we got to climb the walls around the city.




























The city was saved from total destruction during the war because an American general had grown up with stories and a painting of the town. So when it was slated to be bombed flat at the end of the war they sent a messenger to the town to negotiate with the german commander. Thankfully they both were willing to work together to save the town and the germans willingly left and the Americans took control.





But we couldn't leave town before exploring the famous Kathe Wolfahrt- an absolutely amazing Christmas store. About as close to a Santa Claus dream store that we have ever seen.









Jeanne was tempted (and encouraged by the kids) to buy a special advent calendar. Of course we have to buy somethings for family traditions...right?









On our way back to the Frankfurt area we stopped by Worms and found the place where Luther spoke and defended himself at the Diet of Worms.



















Here is the cathedral located right next to the plaque.









Then we had a dinner and continued driving to our hotel. We had a morning flight back to Stansted... and although we had to say goodbye to Gloria, our trip continued...