"Take Me Out to the Ball Game"

Since moving to Texas we have become Texas Ranger fans and have been to a few games.  Stephen's work gets tickets for its employees every summer. This time they had a few extra tickets and spouses/families were invited to join. Yea!!!  We were debating on whether or not to get a babysitter or bring Andrew along. But we only found out a few hours before the game started and decided to just bring him along...not knowing how long we'd last. We figured we might only last a few innings, but it was still worth it.

To our surprise Andrew loved it!!! He loved wearing his new Ranger hat, seeing all the people and lights and cheering on the team. He was so good for us. He had his best pals there a few of Stephen's co-workers. Who each helped entertain the little guy.  Plus...there was just so much going on that he didn't want to miss a thing by falling asleep. He made it through all nine innings. Then we met up with Stephen's Aunt and Uncle who were also there for the awesome firework show after. I love fireworks and it got me really excited for the upcoming fourth of July! We sure had a fun evening as a family at the baseball game.

Wide awake during the ninth inning

Walking with Aunt PJ and Chuck

Visiting Graz & Saying goodbye

I apologize in advance...another long post. I promise this is my last one on my adventures in Austria.

Just outside of Salzburg we went to the beautiful little city of Obendorf ...this city is right on the border of Austria and Germany and is home to the Stille Nacht Kapelle (Silent Night Chapel) where the beloved Christmas carol Silent Night was first performed on Christmas Eve in 1818. There was definitely a neat spirit in the tiny chapel. It had about 4 small pews in whole place. But it sat upon a little hill and was right in the center of the city.

Sitting in one of the two pews on one side of the chapel

 My dad and I just outside the Chapel

Just a short distance from the chapel is this river that overlooks to Germany. My sister and I were so tired of taking all of our pictures in our coats. We decided to freeze for a minute and take a picture or two without them.

We finally made it to Graz and wrapped up the rest of our trip there. This was so great, because although my parents have traveled to Vienna and Salzburg many many times and know the best places...they truly knew the in's and out's of Graz, where they have lived the last year. One of the best experiences was to go grocery shopping with them. My mom is a master in the Grocery store! She has had to cook for the young adults a few times a week the last year, so she had to learn quick. And although she can't truly converse in German a whole lot, she can tell you pretty much what everything is and what's in it.

 The meat sections were huge....here's my mom explaining all the different meats

 The bakeries were incredible and you could by a semmel roll for less than a quarter. YUM!

\

Standing out front of a Hofer here in Graz...here in the states they are one of my favorite places to shop Aldi. I thought it was so funny that you'd see Hofer's all over the place.  Loved that there were a lot of the same products and randomness. Gotta love these European stores here in the states.

After church on Sunday, we went on a drive to the surrounding countryside of Graz. My parents took us to a castle close by their home. This castle is still privately owned by a church and is a working monastery. We were lucky enough that because it was Easter sunday, the church was unlocked and beautifully decorated with flowers.

 Walking around the grounds of the castle/monastery. 

 The beautiful gardens and vineyard taken care of by the monks. 

 The gorgeous view of the countryside and the red roofed homes.

Inside the chapel, decorated with flowers and ribbons

Little did we know that the Monday after Easter was ALSO a holiday, appropriately named "Easter Monday" This was our one full day to tour Graz and pretty much everything was closed. But that didn't stop us. We still walked and toured the city.

The straussenbaun station downtown Graz

Downtown Graz city center platz 

All the shops in the city center platz were closed and 

the streets were empty. We sure didn't have to worry about the crowds that day! 

One of the most famous tourist attractions in Graz is the Grazer Scholossberg or the Castle Mountain. This mountain is right in the center of the city and gives the most spectacular view of the entire town. On top of this mountain is a clock tower, which is a recognizable icon of the city.

The clocktower on top of the mountain. Don't worry...we chose to take the one-way elevator ride up to the top and didn't have to climb all those steps. 

My lovely mom and I...it was a cloudy morning. 

Originally the clock tower had one hand to tell the just the hour. Then years later a minute hand was added. Hence the short minute hand and long hour hand.

One unique thing that Graz is known for is the red roofs throughout the city. We had the most spectacular view of the city from on top of the hill. And although it was a cloudy day, we caught a glimpse of the red roofs that adorn buildings all over town.

I just couldn't get enough of the red roofs in Graz. 

They also have a love bridge in the center of town. The tradition is to put a lock on the bridge and 'lock' your love together. My parents have added one of their own on their anniversary with a ctr ring attached. Then while we were there, my sister and her husband added another.

Love this!

Allison & Jeff locking their love...sealed with a kiss

 The hundreds and hundreds of locks

As we walked downtown we came upon a beautiful Glockenspeil that performs three times a day!

We were lucky to be able to see it in action. The windows open up and the dancers come out and spin. This was truly Austrian to me!

One of our last stops was to visit the beautiful Schloss Eggenberg Castle. We were able to tour this huge castle. It was build around macrocosmic symbolism: 4 towers for the seasons; 12 gates fore the months; 365 windows for the days of the year; 52 rooms one for each week of the year. 

Each of the rooms had beautiful paintings that revolved around the planets, the old testament and Greek and Roman mythology. It was pretty incredible to walk through and I couldn't believe all the chandlers in each room. 

 They had peacocks walking around all over the gardens. 

Of course the castle was not heated and after the tour we were FREEZING! After living in Texas, I'll admit, I'm a wimp with the cold. 

It was such a wonderful experience to visit my parents and see the beautiful area they are serving in. They are wonderful missionaries and I'm so grateful for their example. It was hard to say goodbye again and can't wait to see them when they come home in November. 

The Hills are Alive

I don't even know where to start when describing the beautiful quaint city of Salzburg. It was definitely a highlight of my trip. It was such a beautiful city nestled right in the mountains. My parent had found on previous trips to Salzburg the most darling little B&B run by a little austrian lady who lives on a little farm. It was so darling and she greeted us each morning with a "Guten Tag" and a wonderful spread for breakfast. She was truly part of the whole experience.

The breakfast room!

Her teapot collection...so darling.

The first night we got there we headed straight to the Als Stadt of course... They had an awesome parking garage right inside the mountain and we were able to walk through tunnels out to the Als Stadt. It was beautiful cobblestones and narrow winding roads with bright colored buildings. Shops as far as the eye could see and street performers everywhere. We were there the weekend before Easter and they had the most amazing Easter markets in Salzburg. LOVED them!

Heading to the Als Stadt in the mountain from the parking garage

Some of the unique brightly colored buildings we saw everywhere. 

Some of the street performers. These guys always make me smile. 

The Hohensalzburg Fortress overlooks the city and can be seen almost everywhere. It was built in 1077 and really puts into perspective what old means. We hiked to the top at night and had the most gorgeous view.

One morning, we went on a Sound of Music Tour. Now it's funny to realize that not many Austrians have even heard of the Sound of Music. It's really just an American thing. But nonetheless, they do the tour of all the famous sights in the movie for the American tourists. It was an awesome way to see the entire city and some of the beautiful countryside and quaint little Austrian villages outside of the city.

I have always loved the Sound of Music growing up and LOVED LOVED LOVED seeing the sights. Some of the highlights of the tour...

 Outside the amphitheater the Van Trapps performed at. These were the stairs they made their famous escape down to the car.

 Upclose view of the Leopoldskron Palace. This is the house that portrayed the back of the Van Trapps' home in the movie. 

 This is the famous lake outside the palace that the children fell into when they first met the Baroness. 

"I am sixteen going on seventeen" 

And yes...they now keep the gazebo locked because some 80 year old women tried to dance across the benches and reenact the scene and broke her ankle.  

 Mirabell Gardens and Palace...So beautiful even when it's 30 degrees outside. 

They had everything immaculately taken care of and flowers planted. The "Do Re Me" song was filmed throughout this garden. 

Here are the famous steps in the song where the children and Maria jump up and down them as they conclude the song. 

This is outside the wedding chapel that Maria got married at. 

And this is inside....certainly not as big as the movie made it look. 

This is the cemetery the Van Trapps came to hide in. Random fact. They didn't actually film in the cemetery because of the sacred nature and built a replica set exactly like it....but the Real Van Trapps came to this exact cemetery. 

Most of the graves had been decorated and flowers planted for the Easter holiday. 

Cheesy picture by the cheesy tour bus. 

One historic facts about Salzburg is that the famous composer Mozart was born in this small town. We saw the actual place of his birth and then one night we went to a Mozart Dinner Concert. This was incredible! They had a quartet of string players and a few vocalist performing Mozart's masterpieces. With recipes and costumes from the time period and it was held in a beautiful candlelit baroque hall...it truly felt like you stepped back in time to the late 1700's. I felt very cultured listening to Mozart in Salzburg! Thanks Mom & Dad!

Mozart "Geburtshust" (place of birth)

We also spent a few hours one afternoon in an incredible salt mine which was discovered in the early 600's by some priest. It was incredible and so fascinating.

Part of the mine crosses into Germany. Here's my dad and I on the border line. 

 After riding a train into the mine and hiking a bit, we went down a few slides to get down into the heart of the mine. They were awesome! I'll be honest I was a little scared at first. It was very dark and you basically straddle two logs. They are long and steep. But after the first thrill and rush, it became much less scary.

 Tasting the salt drips! 

They had their own "Salt Lake" we rode across in a boat. The colored lights made it beautiful. Our tour guide thought it was hilarious when we told him that my family was from "Salt Lake City".

 The view from outside the mine

The name Salzburg in German mean "Salt City". Salzburg sits right outside of two major salt mines which are a huge industry for the city and country of Austria....just a random fact I learned while visiting this beautiful place!