Four Countries in One Day

We woke up in Austria, had lunch in Germany, stopped for a snack in Liechtenstein, and finally arrived in Switzerland this evening. (According to our travel map on the right, our arrival here puts us in the double-digits for percentages of countries visited, which is very exciting for us!) I know many who get tired just thinking about that much movement, but, for us, it is thrilling and truly enjoyable. We passed the time in the car enthralled in the story of The Swiss Family Robinson and in the beautiful scenery encompassing us on every side. When we passed through Bavaria, we had the opportunity to see three different castles, including Neuschwanstein, which is the inspiration for Disney's iconic castle. We also took in lakes and mountains and flowers in abundance. It was a treat for the eyes and for the soul. We will be in Switzerland for the next ten days, and we are looking forward to soaking it all up.

Castle #1--Neuschwanstein

Castle #2

Outer wall of Castle #3

Lunch stop in Oy-Mittelberg, Germany
(This fountain was the closest thing we saw to a statue.)

Breathtaking views out the car windows

Gorgeous!

Snack stop in Liechtenstein--just to say we went there

Fun in Salzburg

After driving around in Salzburg for a little while today, trying to find some of the filming locations of The Sound of Music, with mixed results, we decided to visit the Hellbrunn Palace, which is the former summer palace of Archbishop Markus Sittikus. No one ever lived in the palace or even spent one night there. It was built, some four hundred years ago, simply for entertaining. We had a tour of the trick fountains, which must have been a marvel for their time and presumably annoying to some guests, who ended up all wet. Then we explored the grounds, which contain the original pavilion from The Sound of Music scene with the song "You are Sixteen, Going on Seventeen," as well as some beautiful gardens and an incredible playground. Finally, we toured the palace itself. 

After that, we headed back to our apartment for some down time before our evening out at the Salzburg Marionette Theatre, where we saw the most unique version of The Sound of Music we had ever seen. We were all astounded and excited by the fantastic puppet show and had fun silently singing along with our favorite songs from the movie. If you are ever in Salzburg, I would say this is a must!

Hellbrunn Palace

This was one of the trick fountains: an animated musical theater run entirely by water.
The trick was once the audience was engrossed in this marvel,
water would shoot up from the ground behind them.

Thinking about intentionally getting in the fountain

This one loved the trick fountains and didn't mind getting wet!

The grounds were lovely!

One of the gorgeous flowers in the garden

The Sound of Music pavilion

We love playgrounds and pretty days!

Round and round and round they go

One happy boy!

A night out at the theatre

The Salzburg Marionette Theatre

"Maria"

The Van Trapp family singers
(This photo is not my own, but came from the theatre's website)

Werfen

In an effort to send cold vibes to our beloved friends and family in Texas, who are melting in the ridiculous summer heat, we donned all of our winter gear this morning to go explore what claims to be the largest ice cave in the world (Eisriesenwelt), in the charming little town of Werfen, outside of Salzburg. First, we drove. Up and up and up. Next, we hiked, still further up. Then, we took a cable car up the steepest part of the mountain. And, from there, we continued to hike in an upward direction, until we arrived at the entrance to the cave, just above the clouds. At every stage of this adventure, we were treated to amazing vistas and glorious views. And, the cave itself was really phenomenal! We traveled to a height of 1775 meters (or 5,823.5 feet, for pretty much everyone who regularly reads this blog) and traversed 1,400 stairs, over the course of about a kilometer (that's a little less than a mile, for those of you, like me, who are less familiar with the metric system). The temperature in the cave stays below freezing all year long, but the exertion of the hike and the many layers of clothes we were wearing kept us from getting too chilly. (Yes, even me!) The entire cave comprises about 42 kilometers (26 miles), but only this first kilometer has the stunning ice structures, because of the way the wind blows and the ice melts and trickles into the cave at this particular point. When our tour was over, we made our way back down the mountain and past a castle, to a lovely park for a picnic. It was a wonderful day! (In the interest of giving credit where credit is due, I must tell you that we were not allowed to take pictures inside the cave, so the photos of that part of our trip are pictures I took of the postcards I bought in the gift store.)

The hike starts here!

Werfen looks exactly like a storybook!

Up we go!

The view from the cable car

All bundled up on an August day

Just above the clouds

Ready for the ice cave experience 

Looking out the entrance of the cave

Inside the ice cave
(Originals are not my photos)

The path down

At the park at the bottom of the mountain

Picnic under the castle

Zipline Fun

The importance of bathroom mirrors

We recently stayed in a house that didn't have a mirror in one of the bathrooms. And, every time I went in there, something just seemed not quite right. I do not often think of myself as vain, but the absence of the mirror was noticeable. There were other mirrors in the house, but, still, I missed the bathroom mirror. So, I got to thinking: "What's so important about a bathroom mirror?" This is what I came up with:

We need a place where we can examine ourselves freely, without the scrutinizing eyes of our sweetie or our children or a friend or a stranger or the world. We need places where we we can be alone with ourselves and just look. This extends far beyond a peek at our physical appearance. Unfortunately, many people I know seem to be uncomfortable with this kind of personal scrutiny, and so it is like they intentionally leave out the mirror in the bathroom, and then things just don't quite seem right. We need to take the time to examine ourselves, to know our flaws and features, to work on the things that need work and accentuate the assets. And, sometimes, we need to do this without the influences of even those who are closest to us, because it is important to know ourselves. Other mirrors have their place, for sure, but the one you will miss the most is the one in that most private of places.

Venice

I must honestly admit I felt pretty "meh" about visiting Venice, especially since I had read that it could be pretty hot and smelly and overcrowded in the summer. I'm so glad we didn't let those negative reviews stop us from going! It was none of those things and turned out to be, by far, our very favorite place we visited in all of Italy! I wish we could have stayed much longer in the charming, labyrinthine city.

We arrived in the afternoon on Thursday, and took the vaporetto (water bus) to our stop near the Rialto Bridge. A quick walk through the market and down a very narrow street brought us to our apartment, which seemed to be at the heart of everything. We settled in and then set out to explore. We loved the little streets, many of which seemed like secrets, and the many shops and cafes scattered throughout the city. We found an interesting book store, with books stacked everywhere, including in wheelbarrows and bathtubs, and even a gondola that sat in the middle of the store. Out back there was a small garden, with a staircase made out of books that led to a viewpoint overlooking a canal. We eventually stopped to eat at a wonderful place, right by one of the canals in a large square near a basilica and a beautiful hospital. And, since our days in Italy were numbered, we stopped for gelato on the way back to our apartment.

Yesterday, we slept in and then lazily made our way to a little sidewalk cafe for coffee and a light breakfast. From there, we tracked down a free music museum that Ruth had read about online. Inside, we found many interesting, beautiful and unique instruments and a room devoted to the process of violin making, while lovely classical music filled our ears. By the time we were finished, it was just about lunch time, so we stopped at a street vendor for several slices of pizza for those in our group who felt the need to eat again. (And those who just wanted to take the opportunity to eat more pizza in Italy). After that, we wandered around some more and eventually found The Doge's Palace and a nice little playground, where we stayed until it was time to head back to our apartment and get ready for dinner. Another ride on the vaporetto got us there fairly quickly, and getting off one stop before we needed to allowed us to take in the bustling shops near the Rialto Bridge. Ruth had been hoping to celebrate her birthday in Venice, but we just couldn't get it to work out. However, we did promise her a belated birthday dinner while in the city, so she chose the place. Osteria alla Staffa was a tiny place, only seating about 20 people, so we had to have a reservation to get in, but it was simply fantastic. The portions were small, though, so a couple of people in our group, who shall remain nameless, felt the need to stop at the pizza stand when we left. And, of course, we ended the evening with our last Italian gelato.

This morning, we got up at the crack of dawn, so we could see the fishmongers and fruit and veggie sellers set up at the market right outside our apartment. The seafood was coming in right off the boats, and some of it, like the crabs, was so fresh that it was trying to run away. The fishmonger kept kept putting this one crab back on the pile, and it kept wandering off. Finally, the man stuck it on the bottom of the pile so that the weight of the other crabs kept it mostly in place. Clay was particularly thrilled by this and laughed and laughed. After taking in all the sights, sounds and smells of the fish market and the adjacent fresh produce market, we popped into a cafe for breakfast. Too soon, we had to pack up our bags and say good-bye to this incredible city and to Italy. This is a place we will definitely try to visit again in the future!

Quintessential Venice

Our apartment was on this tiny street.

A boatload of books

Climbing up for a peek at the canal

A lovely location for dinner

The winged lion is the symbol of Venice,
and our statue lover couldn't pass up the opportunity to pose with it.

The Music Museum

Venice apparently has a long history of violin making.

So much pizza, so little time!

The Doge's Palace

Belated birthday dinner

Some interesting finds at the fish market

The one that nearly got away!

The market was absolutely beautiful,
and this chili tree was stunning!

We were among the first visitors to the fresh market this morning.

We are already looking forward to visiting this city again in the future!