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Showing posts from August, 2009

Train Travel

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From Dorfgastein, we packed up our luggage and allowed thirty minutes to get all of us across town and to the train station in time. The kids are such seasoned pros that it took ten minutes! We weren't just being paranoid about the time: the train stops at Dorfgastein for exactly sixty seconds. I noted that the minute the train pulled in, a conductor jumped out of the door to help us up and get our kids and suitcases on (not that we needed him!). Once on the train, it was a nice ride home, since we had a compartment to ourselves. Soon we put the kids' seats down and they passed the time dancing and playing cars and watching Emperor's New School on the computer. It is a very civilized way to travel. Once back in Vienna we had almost 18 hours to get ready for the flight home. It seemed like enough time when we were making the travel plans! This is for those who want to see what traveling with us is really like.

Oh, What Do You Do In the Summertime?

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This goes back to the last week in July, but the pictures just came in, courtesy of Danny and Shelly. It was probably the hottest day of our summer, and everyone went down to the Neue Donau to swim. There were feats of skill, the likes of which we do not see in the United States. Rob and Maddie are the two in the swim shirts here. Kylen and Rob give Will a great send off. Even Sebi got in on the action, leaping into the Schone Blaue Donau. The students orchestrated this cannonball chorus for Curtis. That is Will caught in the crossfire, but my favorite parts are the grins on Katie and Tomas's faces in the background. The schone gelbe sunset. The girls' synchronized jump. About an hour after everyone came home, a storm broke out like nothing we have ever seen before. Looking out our window was like watching a dishwasher. The trees were flapping about, rain came down in sheets, then hail that ruined cars and our friends' garden house roof, and the lightning and thunde

Psssst!

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Now that we're safely away from those parts, I can announce that there was a reprise of the 2002 Hallstadttersee Polar Bear Swim. The first one still provokes shaking heads among certain Austrians. The swim was well-attended, very cold, and there was one injury from a diver who slipped on the board and landed on his back. He was not at full "YA!" strength for a few days after that, as you might imagine. I personally cannot believe Maddie did this, despite photographic evidence. Jumping into complete blackness terrifies me. Especially seeing the mounted fish on the wall of one house there -- they were like eels with a pirahna face on the front. I would not like to meet one of those on his home turf at high noon, let alone in the middle of the night!

Final Dinner: Steindlwirt

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I know I don't talk about them much, but we did really have students. Here is the group who came with us to the Alps section of the program. These people were great sports about hiking down mountains, climbing icy cave stairs in the dark, climbing to the alm, descending into the salt mines, riding multiple trams and funiculars, and even Dragan's bus. We would also like to take this opportunity to apologize to all of Dorfgastein for stopping your traffic while posing for and taking this picture. It's our fault that that biker was late to dinner. The students were also extremely good to our children. Here Leah is teaching Maddie a hand play. Kari french braided her hair another time, and she actually got to have a sleepover with three of these girls in Hallstadt when the "family room" only came with four beds ("What? You can't make it work?! We don't have any other family rooms!"). I think every one of the men on the trip spent time with our boys

Amoser Alm

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On our last day in Dorfgastein, we decided that we had to go to the Amoser alm. The kids have gone in the past to bake bread here, but that happens on Thursday and we were here on a Monday. Rob went down to the tourist information office in town and had them call to make certain that the alm had krapfen that day. I kid you not! This is a matter of great concern if you're going to trek out there. Krapfen are basically a jelly donut, but the Amoser alm krapfen are divine donuts. Rob calls them 'a little bit of heaven' and he's not exaggerating. They did have krapfen , and so we went despite the weather forecast. [click to enlarge] As soon as we arrived it began to downpour. So we slipped inside to eat our krapfen and hot chocolate. Soon though, the kids found the fly swatters and were hard at work exterminating them, both inside and out. They absolutely loved the work; why have I never bought them fly swatters? Here you might be able to see the rain coming down. Th

Dorfgastein Solarbad

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I haven't blogged in a week, and it is because we're home now. As I foretold, you can't talk about Dorfgastein when you're back in the desert. Really it isn't possible, but I'll try. The kids were able to sneak in a trip to the pool even though as I mentioned, it was going to rain the whole time we were there. At least to the McFarlands, the pictures from Dorfgastein are in technicolor while everything else fades to black and white; and it has done this every time we've visited (this was our fourth trip back). Does it look that way to you too? Our whole family loves swimming, and this is such a stunning setting that it is one of our favorite places to be in the whole world. Enough said. I'm going to go console myself with my extra-grande kitchen appliances and my garbage disposal which was the thing I missed most this summer.

For the Grandparents: Joss in the Alps

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On our hike down Joss ended up with his shirt off and out contemplating the cows. Then it started to rain, and instead of putting a shirt back on as I would have with earlier kids, we took a picture of him. The cows were also curious about Joss. 

Strohlehen Alm

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Our last stop on the trip through the alps was Dorfgastein. We  first came here in 2005 and have loved it so much that we have visited again in 2006 and 2008. It is a tiny, tiny town and there is nothing to do here (perhaps that is why we love it so much!). The kids walk down to the drugstore in  town and buy candy by themselves and then walk over to the giant chess set and play in the town square. We go hiking around the green green hills or swim in the pool. This time we were only coming for three days and rain was forecast for all of them. So at a break in the weather, we were thrilled to catch a ride with the Bukovics up to the Strohlehen alm. An alm is a mountain farm, and at least nowadays they also function as rest stops or destinations for hikers or agritourism. I had wanted to come to this alm because here they make their own cheese and hold demonstrations every Friday. Unfortunately we weren't there for a demonstration, but that will be a good reason to return. They have

Eis Riesen Welt

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[click to enlarge] From Salzburg, we left for Werfen to see the largest ice cave in the world. To get to this hole in the mountain, first we had to take a death-defying bus ride. There is a secured entrance where a woman came up to Dragan and asked him how long his bus was (10 m) and whether it could make the 10% grade. At which point Dragan lifted his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders and Rob and I wondered if he'd even understood the question, because that bus is easily Paleozoic or late-Cretaceous period. After escaping from the bus, we still had to climb two blocks or so to the ticket office, another 15 minutes to the bottom of the tram, up the tram praying all the way (see Maddie above and the teeny tiny tram shadow against the limestone mountain), and then another half hour hike to the entrance of the cave. At this point the kids suited up in their rain pants and Rob found the strangest bathroom of his life -- carved out of the rock and with water coming out of the sink so