Home!

We made it back to Columbia safe and sound and are getting back into the normal routine.

Thanks for reading and hopefully there will be many more blobs in the future!

Last Day in Austria

Renate prepared breakfast for us on our last day in Vienna.

Afterwards we headed towards the city.

Our final subway ride

We stopped for a light lunch at a pizza place.

 ... and of course, our last gelato.

We met Steve's family and Ruth's mother at Zimmerman's, a vineyard with its own restaurant.

Our final meal was delicious!

Ruth's mom prepared 3 delicious cakes for us that we enjoyed after supper!

We are now in the process of packing and saying our goodbyes.  A cab picks Elizabeth and me up at 4:00 am and takes us to the airport.  The rest of the family gets a little more time to sleep in and Steve will drop them off around 7am.

What an adventure we have had and we are hoping to get home safe and sound!

Salzburg - Day 4

We enjoyed breakfast on our last day in the Salzburg area.  This is the Russ McFall family apartment.  We liked the cozy table area.

We thought this poster was appropriate!

 Before leaving and heading back to Vienna, we went on one final hike around the lake.

Elizabeth ran into a patch of brenesel, a plant that Ruth and Steve warned us about.  If it contacts your skin it severely itches for a good 10 minutes and makes you break out in these little bumps.  At one point or another during the past 4 days, we all ran into it.

Watch out Andrew, Elizabeth found some special friends!

We also ate lunch on the hike.

 After the walk we packed up the cars and visited a nearby town.  We met a lovely Austrian girl who yodeled for us!

Finally we made it home a few hours ago and ate at the Chinese restaurant in town.  It's never a good idea to take starving McFalls to a buffet.  Needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed it!

Salzburg - Day 3

We took the 1 hour drive into Salzburg today and went straight to the famous salt mine.  Salzburg was named for the salt mines and, since it was pouring down rain, we decided heading underground was a good move.

Each person had to wear a special white suit.  We weren't sure if they were for the cold (it was pretty chilly down there), to protect our clothes (it was also dirty), or to give us less friction for the slides (we went on 2).  Regardless, we wore our suits with pride!

train ride

boat ride

We took a train ride deep into the mine, a boat ride over the salty sea, and we slid down 2 long slides.

A true salt-lover, the whole experience was Elizabeth's dream come true.

Afterwards we went into the city of Salzburg, grabbed supper at an Italian place, and walked around.  Mozart was born and raised here and The Sound of Music was also filmed here.  We loved it and found out that, yes, the hills are definitely alive!

The yellow building in the back is where Mozart lived.

After some jumping back at our apartments, we all headed to bed!

Salzburg - Day 2

Today we drove the car a little ways up into the mountains and took a hike.

 The Alps are beautiful!

There were horses and cows roaming around everywhere!

 Emilie made a friend.

After about 2.5 hours we reached the top.  You know you are at the top of the mountain when you see a cross!  It was extra-impressive to see lots of senior citizens, maybe 70's or 80's, at the top of this mountain.  They were in terrific shape! 

There was also a book for us to sign saying we reached the summit!

After lunch at a local restaurant we went back to the lake for swimming and hammocking.

Salzburg - Day 1

 We are now staying about an hour outside of Salzburg in the Alps and I finally found some internet!  Yesterday, on the way here, we stopped for lunch at a local restaurant and dined with the flies.  The food was tasty but we did not like our dinner company one bit.

After getting settled in our two apartments, one for the Steve McFall family and one for the Russ McFall family, we headed into the woods for some epic hammocking.

Then both families took a little walk to a lake.

The water was awfully chilly but we handled it with ease!  The view was well worth it.

Pizza was a solid meal for some tired hikers and we hit the sack shortly after.

Off to Salzburg

After returning from Italy the night before, we just relaxed yesterday and took it easy.  We ate kebaps for lunch in town and enjoyed desserts after Ruth's delicious supper.

We fought to the death over these desserts!

Now both families are off to Salzburg for the next 4 days.  Our plans include visiting the salt mines, taking hikes, relaxing, eating good, and seeing where The Sound of Music was filmed.

I'm not sure if we will have internet or not.  If we do, let the blobbing continue..if we do not, then see you in 4 days!