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.