Houston, we have a problem....

Dave hurt himself at a waterpark today. Broke the tooth off.

We will learn more from the dentist in the coming days.

Ouch.

Enjoy!

The sign behind Daphne was painted on a wall in the mountain town we stayed in during vacation. Paraphrasing, it says:

who loves God is blessed
who is drinking wine is merry 
god loves us to be merry so drink wine and let us be merry and blessed

Bozen - part II

During our visit to the Dolomites, we descended by cable car to the center of Bolzano, Italy. You can see the ride provided great views on a sunny day.

The center of Bolzano provided opportunities for various forms of entertainment. The boys and I chose to skip the big shopping bazaar and instead visit the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology which hosts Otzi. Otzi was found in 1991 on the top of the mountains and was determined to be 5300 years old or the oldest European natural mummy discovered.

The boys were occupied for about 20 minutes. We then walked through the old city streets which were full of Italians, Germans, and Austrians enjoying a lovely October day.

We were guided by our hosts to stop outside this small restaurant for lunch.

You enter a crowded, bustling restaurant, pick up a plate, and walk down the counter. They cut up baguettes and then top the bread with slices of meats, cheeses, and seafood. At the end of the line, they charge you per slice of bread. Finally, they ask if you want a small pitcher of red or white wine. You take your food outside and enjoy on the street with friends.

 

It was so delightful. The food was tasty, the wine was lovely, and the atmosphere was friendly.

We ended the day by going to the main square in town and sitting in the sun enjoying a wine spritz.

You will notice I am in a tee-shirt as we looked at snow capped mountains.

Does Daph look relaxed? Italy is a nice place to vacation.

October vacation - Bolzano, Italy

We spent our October vacation driving south to the dolomite mountain range. We visited Bolzano, Italy which is also known by its German name Bozen. Beautiful mountain views, hiking trails, clean fresh air, and wonderful food.

 

Our first days were spent enjoying great weather for hiking. You can see the cable car behind Daphne and Katharina. We stayed high up on the mountain above the city.

The town maintains an old train system that still uses wooden rail cars.

The hikes were fantastic with sweeping views around each turn. It goes without saying that we still heard the children say, "are we almost there?" You don't need to be in a station wagen on the interstate to hear this line. We were able to occupy them by carving big walking sticks.

Look at the mountain behind David.

We stopped for lunch after a two hour hike and had some of the best food I have ever eaten. It was a huge mountain farm where they also operate a guest restaurant. Fresh homemade juice, tasty sandwiches, cold beer, and great dessert cakes. The boys were not in the picture because they were "sword fighting" with their walking sticks.

What goes up...

We had a spectacular day while visiting Salzburg. While driving into the mountains, we saw some tiny cable cars heading up the mountain. Why not?

 

 Brian was excited. Let's go up the mountain, have a cola and head back. No problem.

The lift goes up.... and up... and up...

Once we arrived at the top of the mountain, the question was how to get down. Some decided to walk while others chose to cable down. (Walking was a mistake. Given a chance in the future - Cable down.)

Waving, we knew the danger, but that's how we chose to live. (It doesn't seem so far away....)

Others chose to look with exasperation. "How can they head off with such abandon?"

 Brian just asked for another Coke. Julia asked, "why aren't they coming down in the lift?"

Amazing photos from space showed the challenges faced by the few that headed down the mountain.

We look small but that is only because it is hard to photograph people as they tumble thousands of meters to the bottom. Luckily - they build hospitals at the bottom of the hill.

Post breach

As most of you know, once you breach a medieval  castle, you are thirsty. Even our 9 and 11 year old boys felt the thirst.

We found one of the oldest beer houses in Salzburg to quench our thirst. After pulling a small keg into the beer garden, you relax and enjoy the spoils of war. 

Then - grab your first half liter stone mug to hold some cold beer. Now you are ready...

The beer and food was great and everyone got to enjoy the "beer garden culture".
B-G-C was one of the elements of the curriculum that was missing from our standardized testing in the USA. The boys are learning, but you can see their hold of the beer mugs is forced.

I'm not sure I've had a bette local experience on a beautiful warm, sunny day.

Breaching the castle

If you visit Salzburg, you see Hohensalzburg castle. It sits high above the city with incredibly imposing walls having been commissioned by the prince in 1077.

Sure - it's beautiful but do we really need to take the castle today?
Maybe we should just pose in front of it on the river's edge.

Our boys don't understand that logic (or some other logic...)

Our boys decided they would be some of the first to breach the castle. This is no photo shopping. The walls were unbelievable.

Julia was willing to climb up enough to pose.

 Once you overpowered the Austrian forces protecting the Prince - you had great views of the city. Good weather helps. Some of us couldn't get to close to the edge since the drop off was steep.

Casual Salzburg

If you visit Salzburg, you have to realize that you are visiting the land of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. So we headed downtown to look around.

We walked around to visit beautiful churches, small vendors, craft stores, and a small festival.

 Some people decided they wanted to blend in by purchasing some Austrian hats. The hills were alive with the sound of music.

One big hit was the christmas shop which was next to a tee-shirt stand for the boys. Two of the boys favorites shirts are below.

 I like the play on Puma's panther with the Austrian cow.

Road Trip - Salzburg

Since we had visitors, we hopped in the car and traveled to Salzburg to see the local sites.The picture tells the story - have electronics, and you don't need to listen to your mother or anyone else.

The hotel was grand. 

As usual, the boys found a way to suffer through their young lives - similar to Oliver Twist.

The room also provided great opportunities for photos of the city since we were directly downtown.

That's one of the oldest standing castles in Europe behind them.

I will admit that it was beautiful.

First days of Oktoberfest

We went to the opening of the Oktoberfest and the weather was grand - as usual.

David was able to show a new family how the bumper cars work. Brian was busy "hunting" his brother.

By the looks of it - the roller coasters can still inspire.

Here's a shot of the entire crew. An not a single beer in the picture.