Day 63 – Hydrofoil/ Budapest

We were up a lot earlier today as we had to be at the docks at 8am for our 9am Hydrofoil trip to Budapest. We quickly ate breakfast – the staff I think just thought – “more Americans in a rush.” We took a cab to the dock and then finally found it. Of course, we were on the wrong side of the check in so we had to take all of the bags to the front of the building. A guy with a cart for the luggage was thankfully downstairs so we checked the luggage with him. But after check-in we got nervous that maybe he didn’t work for the company so Scott checked on the bags, thankfully they were still there.

Upon a suggestion from our friend in Hungary, we took the Hydrofoil (a large boat) down the Danube. We boarded the hydrofoil with a tour group who pretty much took up all of the spaces so we had to split up. It was air-conditioned but because we sat so close to the door, it did not feel very cool. The trip lasted 6 hours. It was very neat. We went through two locks. The first lowered us 6-8 meters. The second lowered us 18 meters. My ears actually popped on the second lock. We had some lunch on board. Luckily the tour group got off at the stop before Budapest and we were able to stretch out (and feel the A/C). Scott got some pictures of the towns we were passing. It was very pretty.

Finally at 3:30 (although it said 2:30 on the website), we arrived in Budapest. We were met by our friend, Norbert. He took us to the Buda castle (#19) where we got some pictures high above the city. We ended up going to a Sorfest (Beer festival) in the back of the castle. While we waited for Timchi (Norbert’s wife and also an old friend) and their 2 kids to arrive, Scott & Norbert had some beer and we had some lemonade and pretzels. Then Timchi arrived with Greta (6 YO in a week) and Lolo (2.5 YO). Both kids were adorable in matching dresses. We quickly thought that Lolo was loco. She was all over the place and so cute. Greta was practicing her English (most learned from kids videos or Barney). She would ask her parents in Hungarian how to say something in English and then ask Emily & Ainsley. We were very fortunate to arrive in Budapest on the second hottest day. The hottest day would be tomorrow. We hung out and visited a few more sights before heading back to their house. Timchi had prepared a dinner for us. We ate and didn’t get to bed until almost midnight. Since there is an one hour time difference, our girls didn’t seem as tired.

But it was a rough night. Their house does not have any A/C although Norbert gave the girls the portable A/C machine to cool their room. Norbert & Timchi are building a new house and that will have A/C but for the amount of days in the year they need it, it never made sense to get it in their current home. Thankfully, since both girls were tired, they fell asleep quickly even if they were hot.

Day 62 – Schonbrunn Palace – Maria Theresa, Magic Tree house

We awoke late and headed down for some breakfast at the hotel. It was a buffet, similar to how I remember it from HS but not as nice as Pension Herbert. After breakfast, we headed to Schonbrunn Palace, #18 in the castles & palaces. Since we missed our return time for the car, we decided to drive it since we were going to get charged anyway.

We took a guided tour of the palace. We got to see 40 of the palace rooms. What I did not realize (or remember) is that Maria Theresa, who built the palace, was the mother of Marie Antoinette. Instead of fighting wars, the Austrians found that marrying into the families who had a lot of power was a better way to stay on a countries good side. Maria Theresa had 16 kids, and all of the daughters were married to key people in other countries except the favorite daughter who was allowed to marry for love. As we were touring around, I was reminded of a book that the girls and I read about Mozart. It is one of the books in the Magic Tree House series. I was able to point out that the similarities of the book, which we will have to read again when we get back.

After the palace, we went to a children’s museum, attached to the palace. In the courtyard of the museum, there were costumes similar to what the kids would have worn. The girls tried on some costumes. I even dressed up. We got quite a few pictures in there before we headed into the museum. We were doing dress up for about 30 minutes, and the museum for about 20. We learned about the last empress to live at the Palace and what her kids did during the day.

Next, we visited the maze. There were 3 on the grounds. We went through the big one and then the girls went to the playground. We decided to leave at 3:30 so we could get the car returned to Hertz. We passed the Hertz but the gas station that the Hertz representative said was nearby, we did not find. So we drove and drove and finally found one. However, at that point, we were lost. So we asked at the gas station. I brought the map in while Scott filled up the car. When Scott came into pay, there were 5 guys and me going through the map. The employees spoke German but grabbed another customer who spoke English. Scott said it was a sight.

The directions were quite simple (I don’t know how since there were lots of words being spoken in German). But we missed the turn so we were lost again. Luckily, we were close to another Hertz location and I found a street on the map and we made it to the Hertz before we were charged another day. We navigated the rail cars and subway back to the hotel, and quickly took showers.

At the museum, we bought tickets to a music show in the Orangerie at Schonbrunn. It was where Mozart would perform for the empress. There were about 25-30 musicians. Also, there were dancers and opera singers. The girls liked it, especially the dancers. The music was all pieces by Mozart or Strauss. We sat behind a bunch of Americans, and two reminded me of people from home. And although they were too young to be the actual people, I noticed them. One guy lost his ticket and I told him where to find it – one of his friends had picked it up and was going to make him sweat it out but I spoke up and ruined the fun.

The concert ended at 10pm and we were back on the subway and in the hotel by 10:30. It was so nice to be back in A/C since the Orangerie, although we had been led to think otherwise, was not cool. One of the guest musicians (an oboeist) made two mistakes we think because her hands were just too sweaty and her fingers slipped a note.

We had another enjoyable night in A/C.

Day 61 – So Long, Farewell Salzburg, Hallstatt Salt Mines and drive to Vienna

Today, we said goodbye to Herbert & Rikki and Alexander. They made us eggs for our farewell breakfast. Alexander did not want to say goodbye as he was too sad. He did bring the girls some juice for the road. We drove out about an hour south of Salzburg to Hallett, to tour a salt mine (Salzwelten) recommended by someone at our bank who grew up in Austria. I have a hunch that “welten” means “cave” in German – yeah a new word in German. The drive was lovely – through small towns, past Austrian homes with steeply slanted roofs and window boxes full of flowers. Then we arrived at the salt mine. I HIGHLY recommend this place. It was so much fun. Since I am scared of heights, I was at first pretty apprehensive going up another mountain. But unlike the ice caves, there were no cliffs beside us, so I was able to enjoy the scenery instead. For the tour, we all needed to put on protective miner gear – no hard hat though. We walked into the mine through one of the shafts they had used to take the salt out. After a long walk, we ended up at a shoot. We had to slide down the shoot to the next level. We heard a story about the body some miners found in the early 1900s. What the miners who discovered the body did not know was that the body they found was over 3000 years old! We then took another shoot (Ainsley and I clocked at 25.4 km/hour.) We saw a laser show reflected off the salt lake. It was such a fabulous tour. Both girls said hands down a 10.

After we descended down to the base of the mountain, we began our 3 hour tour, I mean drive to Vienna where we would stay for the next 2 nights. For the first hour, we drove on scenic local routes through little and bigger towns. It was quite picturesque! We passed a lake with many people sunbathing. The last 2 hours were on the autobahn, not as scenic but we did see some parachuters and a large chair – I mean really large red chair – very odd. I will have to look up what it is.

We arrived in Vienna and got lost a little before we found the hotel. Many of the streets were one way and with construction projects, we got turned around. But we finally found it. We were a little nervous as some of the areas we were driving through were not too great. But the hotel seemed to be on the outskirts of these areas, closer to the museum. And the hotel, K&K Maria Theresa, was very nice. And even better, it had A/C. After checking in, we went to a restaurant 2 blocks away recommended by the front desk. It was very good but all outside and still very hot. Scott & Emily left Ainsley and I to get the bill because it was just too hot. Since they left us, I thought it only fair that we got to indulge in some warm apple strudel with ice cream. It was supposed to be our little secret but Ainsley spilled the beans when we got back.

We had a very enjoyable night in the air-conditioned room.

Day 60 - Salzburg – Part 3: the Ice Caves

Today is Monday, and the stores were all open. We had another traditional, delicious Austrian breakfast – complete with ham & cheese that they slice so thin in their kitchen. We battled the wasps again but it was so nice outside to not sit on the patio. The girls finished up breakfast and played with Alexander while we got some suggestions from Herbert about where we should go. The original plan had been to drive into Germany to visit Prien, another HS & honeymoon trip destination. Instead, we decided to go to Eiswelten – the ice caves as something new. But first, a stop to Media Markt (that is not a misspelling), to buy yet another adaptor as we forgot all 10 that are in the house in London. At the Media Markt, which is similar to a Best Buy, Scott went looking for the adapters on his own while I decided to ask. But given that the store is not in a tourist location, the employee did not speak any English. It was not a problem. I pulled out the plug and showed the woman and said adapter, and she pointed me to the correct location. Problem solved. Then we were off to the ice caves.

I will preface this with I am scared of heights. To get to the entrance of the ice caves, you have to get to almost the top of the mountain. We drove a while, doing switch backs. We finally arrived at the parking and had to walk another 30 minutes and take a 3 minute funicular. And to me, it was not a very safe walk up. The path was slippery with tiny rocks. And the fences protecting you from falling off the cliff were not very secure – just 2 wooden slats with a big enough gap that someone could slip underneath. So it was very slow going up. It also did not help that it was 37C ~ 94 degrees Fahrenheit on the way up. Once we got to the entrance, we just missed the tour so we had to wait 15 minutes. So we were first in line but then a guy pushed his way up to the front to see why the gate wasn’t opened. We explained that the next tour would be in a few minutes (he spoke English) then he stayed at the front and brought the rest of his group to the front as well. I guess the queue did not apply to his family. It really wasn’t a tour where being in the back meant you didn’t see anything. When the tour guy arrived, he opened the door to the caves and a rush of very cold air poured out. As we walked into the cave, the wind was so strong we could hardly breathe or move forward. One of the women who had cut the queue stopped in the door and I finally had to shout to her to move as I was getting blown away. Inside the cave it is 0C. If anyone decides to go, I would highly recommend gloves.

The caves are amazing. They formed from the ice melting on top of the mountain. Over the years, the water trickled through cracks in the mountain into the cave and froze. There were no pictures in the cave, but here is a link to see one of the sculptures: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sportcamp.at/uploads/pics/Eiswelten_klein_05.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sportcamp.at/campsite/region_activities/en/&h=500&w=800&sz=123&tbnid=RUWdmZuPpennuM:&tbnh=69&tbnw=111&prev=/search%3Fq%3Deiswelten%2Bpictures%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=eiswelten+pictures&docid=vkFXsTtL298IZM&sa=X&ei=Je5lTu2qCub30gH22cW7Cg&ved=0CDUQ9QEwCA&dur=4499 The reason I suggested gloves is that it is 700 steps up the sides of the ice sculptures (which are all natural sculptures, not man made). It was quite steep on the stairs and we had to hold onto the metal railings, which were also 0C. So our hands were the coldest part of our bodies. The way down did not seem so steep but just long so again, we were holding onto the railings.

After the Eiswelten, we decided to head back to town to do some shopping. Unfortunately, we did not buy anything. Things were too pricey since it was a tourist area. Then we headed back to the Pension Herbert because on the first day, Herbert had recommended a restaurant not too far from the B&B. So we went there for dinner. The girls loved it because it had some play equipment – including a trampoline attached that they could play on while we waited for our food. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and saw Herbert & his wife, Rikki, sitting outside. It was a nice night so we joined them. Then I headed inside to do some work and Scott & Herbert had some Austrian beer. I finally went out at midnight to rescue Herbert who had to wake up a lot sooner than we did.

Day 59 – Salzburg Day 2

We awoke late and had breakfast at 10 a.m., the last people to eat. While we were having tea, the girls played with Alexander, Herbert’s son and some other kids who had been saying at the pension who are American kind-of. I think their mother was born in the US, but their father my have been born in Germany and they live in the UK. The breakfast was as I remembered from my previous visit. Bread, jams, Nutella, juice, ham & cheese slices. So good! After breakfast, we headed out for our day of visiting the sites in the city. First, we went to Schloss Hellbrunn. I had gone here 24 years ago in high school during the summer and again in November on our honeymoon. What I remembered from the HS visit was the tricky fountains. We went on a tour of the fountains and all got wet – Emily the most as she volunteered to sit at the Prince’s table. Given that it was 35C already, being wet did not feel so bad. We found a playground right next to the Sound of Music Gazebo – do you have 16 going on 17 in your head now? We also toured the Palace but the girls weren’t easily impressed. At this point, we are all castle snobs. I sent a message to 3 of my facebook friends that I went to Europe with in HS. They all couldn’t believe I was going back or remembered that much.

After Hellbrunn Schloss, we drove into the town and went to HohenSalzburg Festung, the Salzburg Fortress high above the city. We took the Funicular up as opposed to walking it as Scott and I had done on our honeymoon. Way, way better, especially at 90 degrees Fahrenheit! The castle had a marionette theater which the kids liked. The state rooms were not very decorated – remember castle snobs. After we descended, we were in the plaza right next to the Dom where Maria & the Captain got married. There is a large chess set in the plaza and Emily & Ainsley started to play. A gentleman sat down and was shocked that they were actually playing and started giving them tips. He even taught us a new thing – apparently if your pawn makes it across the board, the piece that replaces the pawn acts like a queen. Armed with that move, Ainsley ended up winning as she had 2 queens. I think the man is somewhat a regular there as another player came to play him and the first man sent him away because he was enjoying watching the girls play. At one point, one of the girls made a move without any guidance and both men complimented the move. After the game was finished, we walked over to Mirabell Gardens, where the kids run around singing Do-Re-Me. We got a few pictures that you may see in the Christmas card this year. Next, we found an outside restaurant – no A/C inside anywhere that we walked to. After dinner, Emily requested that we go back to Augustiner so we drove over a second night. Afterwards, Scott said it would be best if I drove and given that it was on the right side, I drove. It felt good – no shouting that I was going to hit anything either so that was a plus!

At bed that night, Emily started off sleeping on the windowsill next to the open windows to get a breeze. Even though we were on the first floor, we had to keep the windows open all night. The first floor windows all have Iron decorative grating so no one could come in. Probably a fire code violation but luckily, no issues.

Day 58 – Salzburg

Our flight to Salzburg was at 1:30 so Scott went out for a quick bike ride in Richmond park while I finished packing. We had prearranged for a taxi to pick us up to take us to Gatwick and when the dispatcher called to see if we had a bicycle, we knew it was the same driver who had taken us from the airport 8 weeks ago. We got to the airport in less than 2 hours from the flight. Since it is all in the European union, Scott figured we did not have to be there 2 hours before an international flight. And luckily, we were fine although some traffic on the M25 got us pretty nervous. Our flight to Salzburg was uneventful.

The map we got from Hertz once we got to Salzburg was not too detailed, but eventually I figured out where we were and was able to navigate to our B&B. I booked the B&B because it could fit all of us in one room at a good price. It is located slightly out of town but within walking distance. When we arrived, our first impression was not the best. It was a small room, and once you added a 4^th bed, it was hard to walk around. However, it was on the first floor which was very good since it did not have any airconditioning. On TripAdvisor, the B&B was ranked number 1 in Salzburg and I got really worried. However, what it lacked in amenities, it made up for in personality. The host , Herbert, was a plethora of suggestions and information.

So we left our bags and headed to town for dinner. The place we ate dinner was also not airconditioned, so I was beginning to feel better that maybe it was not a standard that the pension was missing. After dinner, we headed to the Augustiner Abbey for some beer in the beer garden. Herbert, said that it was kid friendly and there were actually a bunch of kids there. There was a slide and a big barrel that the kids could climb on. Emily & Ainsley met some kids who spoke a little English and they all played “it.” When Scott and I had been here 15 years ago, we sat inside. But given that it was 85 degrees outside, everyone was sitting in a huge beer garden. They had some lemon-flavored seltzer water that was delicious. It was late when we left, so we decided to take a taxi back. It was a rough night trying to get accustomed to the heat but eventually tiredness won out and we all fell asleep.

Day 57 – Victoria & Albert Museum Take 2 & packing

Today, we decided to head back to the Victoria & Albert museum. The museum had another kid activity that I thought we could participate in. We were sent into the museum to get our inspiration for our “sealife” picture. One of the exhibits they recommended was a place where you could try on dresses that were used in plays and operas. So we dressed up and took some pictures. Emily sat down to work on her sealife picture. Ainsley decided to get her inspiration from the dresses themselves and made a dress instead.

Then we went to the courtyard to play in the fountain. This time, we came better prepared with bathing suits since last time, their clothes were soaked. They splash around for almost 1 hour while I did some blog updates. After they were cold, we were able to get changed back into their dry clothes and then we took the tube back to Richmond and the 65 bus back to the house. When Scott got home, he wanted to head to the New Inn for dinner so we had some sheperds pie & chili at the New Inn. Then it was off to home for some packing before heading to bed.

Day 56 - Thumbs up, Its Thursday Part 2

We decided to participate in Thumbs-up, It’s Thursday again. It was raining, but very lightly so we took the ferry to Hampton Court Palace. We did some school work to start getting into the school mode which is quickly coming up. A mother came up and asked if I homeschooled the girls because she was quite surprised that the kids were learning while of the ferry. After the ferry ride, we went to an outside Café across the bridge from the ferry. We were all set outside and then it began to rain harder. So we went inside, not as picturesque.

Once we were finished with lunch, we headed to a different ferry return for return to Kingston. First on our agenda was face painting , which we had arrived for too late two weeks ago. This week was even worse. I got in the queue around 2:30. Maybe 15 minutes later, the woman doing the face painting closed the line (Face painting ended at 4! At least this time, she gave the sign to the last person in line.) While I waited in the queue, the girls drew on the mural in the store. I was quite surprised at all of the pregnant women in the store. As a mother, I was definitely in the minority. I waited for almost 45 minutes, but finally it was our turn. After they got their butterflies painted on their faces, we went to the mall to see the live snakes. And head to the Apple store so we could get a Vat refund. This is something we learned abut that in previous trips had never known. VAT tax is 20% here. On some things,

Next, we headed to get our nails done in anticipation of our next holiday – Austria & Hungary on Saturday. While I got a pedicure, the girls waited very patiently. The women who worked at this salon could not believe how good they were. The hairstylist had no customers, so she french braided Emily’s hair. The hairstylist tried to do the same thing to Ainsley’s hair but it was too short so Ainsley got two braids instead. After our 2 hour nail excursion, we went to the Sainsbury for some cereal. Then we went to the Kingston Library to return one book that we had failed to return 2 weeks ago. I was waiting for the librarian to tell me some huge fine but he said I didn’t owe anything. If books are checked out by kids, there is no fine even if they are returned a week late. Man do I wish the Oakton library did that!

Finally we headed home. It was a long day – almost 8 hours out of the house.