Author: Astrid

Oh my.  What's that white stuff on the ground???? Ummmmm….any guesses????   We've had a lovely breakfast and now it's time to head over to Opa's house.  Shall we go???  Opa spoke to his sister's family that in live in the Ennstal region (it's the valley that the river called the Enns runs through) and…

Over the hills and through the woods…to Opa's house we go!  Time to saddle up, dump the luggage in the van, and drive to Veitsch.  "Where?", you say???  Well, it's a *tiny* little town in Steiermark…somewhere between Vienna, Graz, and Mariazell.   I think today is a FANTASTIC day for a drive!  Just check out…

18-20 December 2014 Gooooooood bye Salzburg!   Hellllllllllooooooo Sankt Johann (im Pongau)!!!! A couple of views from the road (I think this is Burg Hohenwerfen):    Entering Sankt Johann…..it's so….so….so… GREEN!!!    

After a few hours of driving in southern Germany we crossed into Austria.  (not before stopping to pick up the necessary vignette, a sticker that shows we've paid tolls in order to drive in Austria, and a few bars of European chocolate.  ;-) wink, wink We're making a beeline for our hotel: Hotel Bristol.  It's…

15-16 December 2014- We flew from Paris to Munich on December 15 in the early afternoon – we arrived just in time to stash our luggage at the airport and head into the city.  We're staying one night in Munich near one of the big Christmas markets (we've stayed at the Drei Loewen hotel several…

12-15 December 2014 – After a year of planning for our Christmas holiday we're on our way to our first European destination….PARIS!!!!!  DAY 1: We arrived in Paris at 5AM.  Wow.  That's EARLY!  We had arranged for a car from the hotel to come pick us up as we didn't want to wrestle the public…

2 January 2015 – (clipart was from the following website) Whooooooooooosh….. BANG! POP!  KABOOOOOOM!!!! What's that sound???? That's the sound of 2014 coming and going…going…gone!  Came in with a big rush and went out with a bang. 2014 was an amazing year for us- so many ups and reasons to celebrate.  We started the year…

27 November 2014- HEY! Today is Thanksgiving in the USA and I'M ACTUALLY POSTING THIS ON THE CORRECT DAY…the Gods must be indeed crazy. Anyway, I just wanted to wish all my friends and family- living all over the world- a fun and fulfilling Thanksgiving!   What is Thanksgiving?   (fyi- I'm referring to the…

6 August 2014 – Michigan's Adventure + My Family = near mania. Okay, I kid. Sort of…. But seriously…my family (as does Aunt Beth's family) LOOOOOOOOOOVES going to Michigan's Adventure.  It's just this summer, with only barely three weeks in the USA, we only get one chance to go.   So…here we are!  Mark is…

July-ish 2014 Welcome to Michigan! ……We're ready to play!  And visit family!  And play some more! Okay girls…ready……set……GO!!!! (and boy howdy, do these kids KNOW how to play!) The kiddos finished swimming: BONNIE!!!!! A favorite family activity: grilling meats over a campfire. Have I mentioned to you how much I love campfires??? How creatively crazy…