Bonjour tout le monde - pour la dernière fois!
The whole family is safely returned home to the States since mid-afternoon on July 4th, and by now we've almost completely re-adjusted to the jet lag. I think I might even finally have all my pictures organized and posted on facebook! Now I just need to figure out which ones I want to print out and work on a photo album for "show and tell" with everyone who hasn't been able to go through my millions of photos online.
Anyways, I just wanted to take this last opportunity to thank everyone who helped to make my semester incredible. Thanks yous go out first to all of the family and friends here in the U.S. who supported me, encouraged me, prayed for me, and sent me mail. It was such a wonderful feeling to know I was missed and that people here were thinking of me. A huge THANK YOU to all of my friends in Paris - especially my Hillsong family! I would never have been able to do it without you - thank you for the amazing community and fellowship, and all of the encouragement you offered me as well. I will miss you all very dearly. While there are no current plans for a return trip, know that you will be the first people I tell. :)
I feel so blessed and so lucky to have been able to have the incredible experience that I did. I couldn't have asked for a better host family, better professors, or better friends. I learned so much - both in school and out of it. My French has improved exponentially in both speaking and writing, and I know I've learned so much about myself through these four months away from everything familiar to me. I've grown so much, and I know it's through your help as well as God's protection and provision.
Finally, a note on French goodbyes. One of my favorite things about the French is that they almost never actually say goodbye. There are a million different ways to say "see you soon" (à bientôt, à tout à l'heure), "see you later" (à plus tard), "see you ____" - tonight, Sunday, next week (à ce soir, à dimanche, à la semaine prochaine), and so many others. Even when you're not sure when exactly you're going to see the other person, you can say "until next time" (à la prochaine). If you're not sure you're ever going to see the person again, you still don't say goodbye. The French say "au revoir" - which literally means "until I see you again." Even if you're not sure when that next time will be, or even if there will be one, you always leave the possibility open. In the French language, there's really only one way to say goodbye, and it's used only when people are certain they will never see one another again; and that's "adieu." Literally translated, adieu comes from the words à Dieu - which means "to God." So when you're sure you'll never see each other again, you leave them while committing them to God's keeping...what an amazing and beautiful sentiment.
So finally I have to say goodbye to France. But rather than say adieu, or even au revoir, I'll say à bientot. I don't know when, but I know I want to keep the option open to return. Thank you for the incredible, life-changing experience. I'm so blessed, and so grateful.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
The Rooneys take Europe by storm: Paris edition Part II
Bonjour tout le monde!
As of Thursday, we arrived in Paris and began the last portion of our European family vacation. After arriving at the airport, we struggled with luggage through the metro to find our new apartment we were renting in the 2nd arrondissement. We settled in a bit, then walked down to the Seine to see the Sainte Chapelle and Notre Dame de Paris. Sadly, we were more or less shut down in regards to both. The Sainte Chapelle already had too many visitors and was about to close, so they didn't let us in. Notre Dame was open to visitors but was also in the middle of celebrating mass, so we walked around and looked at all of the windows except the famous rose window behind the organ. Feeling very tired and a little disappointed, we cheered ourselves up by watching French children playing in the sand in the park next to the cathedral. Then we headed back to the apartment for dinner before getting to bed early in preparation for our very full Friday.
Friday was a continuation of our castle tour (I think we were up to 10 or 11 by now?) - the Château de Versailles. We got a later start than I had hoped (it was really hard for some of us to get up and moving in the morning) but found our way there and arrived around 10. After our audio-guided tour through the castle, we picked up the backpack Dad was in charge of at the coat check and found a seat in the gardens to eat the sandwiches we had purchased that morning and brought with us. After lunch we spent some time exploring the gardens and just enjoying the beautiful sunshine and flowers. Eventually we made our way over to the Grand and Petit Trianon - smaller castle estates built near Versailles for people who wanted to "escape" from hectic life at the main castle. The Petit Trianon in particular was a haven for Marie Antoinette. Speaking of, our next stop was the hamlet/farming village created for her amusement. It was a self-contained, functioning little town complete with a farm where she could dress up and play peasant...I guess when you're queen you get what you want! We did enjoy the exploring, but by the time we finished and made our way back to the train station it was around 4:30 - a day of pretty much non-stop walking, but also very enjoyable. Then the trip back, dinner, and early to bed.
Saturday morning began by returning to the Sainte Chapelle (after a quick stop for pains au chocolat and coffee!) where we were finally able to make it in. We were also able to tag along with a French tour given by the staff, with Shannon listening and me trying to listen and translate discreetly to my parents. They didn't get quite the same experience, but I did my best. They were, however, just as impressed and impacted by the beauty of the stained glass windows as I was when I first went there. What an amazing place to worship! Next we met up with my friend Randa for lunch at an Italian restaurant close to her apartment. After a lot of good food and conversation, we got on the metro and headed to the Arc de Triomphe. They seemed to like it well enough, but weren't as impressed with it as I was the first time I saw it. After gawking and taking a few pictures, we crossed back under the street through the tunnel and walked the famous shopping street of the Champs-Élysées.
After the shopping portion comes the garden portion, and we walked that as well - or tried to! They had already started setting up for the 14th of July and the parade - so there were stands and blocked-off areas on both sides of the street. We eventually made it to Place de la Concorde with it's Egyptian obelisk, and then into the Jardin des Tuileries - the Tuileries gardens. After resting our feet in the shade of the garden for a bit, we continued on to the Louvre where, although we didn't go in, we stopped for some obligatory pictures with the pyramids. Finally, we walked back to the apartment - since we were practically there anyways! Next, we changed clothes and shoes and headed off to my old address where we met up with my host mom and her daughter Marjorie for a send-off/goodbye dinner. They were running a bit late, so we didn't leave for dinner together until 8:45, but we more than made up for it! After a lot of delicious food and great conversation, we started realizing there were fewer and fewer other patrons. Then, Dad looked at his watch, and we saw that it was almost midnight! Yikes! Since it had gotten rather cold and we still had to pick up a suitcase and bag of mine they were holding for me while we traveled, they offered to drop us and the stuff off in the car rather than us having to walk. So after a very full day, we finally made it back for good and fell exhausted into bed.
Sunday (today!) began with sleeping a little late, and then church at Hillsong. It was great for me to be able to bring my family with me again and share in the experience together, but a bit surreal to realize it was my last time to worship there - at least for quite a while. After church we went to a nearby crêperie for more delicious crêpes - since we can't really find them when we go back home tomorrow. Next we hurried back to the apartment to change into walking shoes and took the metro to the Château de Vincennes - our last castle of the trip. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time left there and the tours were only in French, so we zipped around reading the signs on everything and with me trying to recount what I remembered from the French tour I had taken there about a month ago. Even so, we had a good time - Dad especially enjoyed learning about the history and different building projects and additions. Then we took the metro back into the city, and then walked along the Seine enjoying the scenery for the last time. After dinner near the Pont d'Alma, we walked down to the Tour Eiffel and then underneath to the Champs de Mars field where we sat and talked and then watched the sparkly light show that comes on the first 10 minutes of every hour after dark. Finally, we took the metro back to the apartment where I'm now writing this as we struggle to organize and pack for our flight back to Chicago tomorrow.
All in all, it's been an amazing trip! We've had so much fun, so much food, and taken so many pictures. I feel so very blessed that I've been able to share with my family some of the experiences that I've had here in Paris and show them around what has become my city. Now I'm off to bed to get in a few hours of sleep before we need to get up, finish packing, grab some pastries for breakfast and take the train out to the airport. Since I'm not ready to say goodbye yet, I'll write one more post when we have safely arrived home in Downers Grove. Goodbye for now!
As of Thursday, we arrived in Paris and began the last portion of our European family vacation. After arriving at the airport, we struggled with luggage through the metro to find our new apartment we were renting in the 2nd arrondissement. We settled in a bit, then walked down to the Seine to see the Sainte Chapelle and Notre Dame de Paris. Sadly, we were more or less shut down in regards to both. The Sainte Chapelle already had too many visitors and was about to close, so they didn't let us in. Notre Dame was open to visitors but was also in the middle of celebrating mass, so we walked around and looked at all of the windows except the famous rose window behind the organ. Feeling very tired and a little disappointed, we cheered ourselves up by watching French children playing in the sand in the park next to the cathedral. Then we headed back to the apartment for dinner before getting to bed early in preparation for our very full Friday.
Friday was a continuation of our castle tour (I think we were up to 10 or 11 by now?) - the Château de Versailles. We got a later start than I had hoped (it was really hard for some of us to get up and moving in the morning) but found our way there and arrived around 10. After our audio-guided tour through the castle, we picked up the backpack Dad was in charge of at the coat check and found a seat in the gardens to eat the sandwiches we had purchased that morning and brought with us. After lunch we spent some time exploring the gardens and just enjoying the beautiful sunshine and flowers. Eventually we made our way over to the Grand and Petit Trianon - smaller castle estates built near Versailles for people who wanted to "escape" from hectic life at the main castle. The Petit Trianon in particular was a haven for Marie Antoinette. Speaking of, our next stop was the hamlet/farming village created for her amusement. It was a self-contained, functioning little town complete with a farm where she could dress up and play peasant...I guess when you're queen you get what you want! We did enjoy the exploring, but by the time we finished and made our way back to the train station it was around 4:30 - a day of pretty much non-stop walking, but also very enjoyable. Then the trip back, dinner, and early to bed.
Saturday morning began by returning to the Sainte Chapelle (after a quick stop for pains au chocolat and coffee!) where we were finally able to make it in. We were also able to tag along with a French tour given by the staff, with Shannon listening and me trying to listen and translate discreetly to my parents. They didn't get quite the same experience, but I did my best. They were, however, just as impressed and impacted by the beauty of the stained glass windows as I was when I first went there. What an amazing place to worship! Next we met up with my friend Randa for lunch at an Italian restaurant close to her apartment. After a lot of good food and conversation, we got on the metro and headed to the Arc de Triomphe. They seemed to like it well enough, but weren't as impressed with it as I was the first time I saw it. After gawking and taking a few pictures, we crossed back under the street through the tunnel and walked the famous shopping street of the Champs-Élysées.
After the shopping portion comes the garden portion, and we walked that as well - or tried to! They had already started setting up for the 14th of July and the parade - so there were stands and blocked-off areas on both sides of the street. We eventually made it to Place de la Concorde with it's Egyptian obelisk, and then into the Jardin des Tuileries - the Tuileries gardens. After resting our feet in the shade of the garden for a bit, we continued on to the Louvre where, although we didn't go in, we stopped for some obligatory pictures with the pyramids. Finally, we walked back to the apartment - since we were practically there anyways! Next, we changed clothes and shoes and headed off to my old address where we met up with my host mom and her daughter Marjorie for a send-off/goodbye dinner. They were running a bit late, so we didn't leave for dinner together until 8:45, but we more than made up for it! After a lot of delicious food and great conversation, we started realizing there were fewer and fewer other patrons. Then, Dad looked at his watch, and we saw that it was almost midnight! Yikes! Since it had gotten rather cold and we still had to pick up a suitcase and bag of mine they were holding for me while we traveled, they offered to drop us and the stuff off in the car rather than us having to walk. So after a very full day, we finally made it back for good and fell exhausted into bed.
Sunday (today!) began with sleeping a little late, and then church at Hillsong. It was great for me to be able to bring my family with me again and share in the experience together, but a bit surreal to realize it was my last time to worship there - at least for quite a while. After church we went to a nearby crêperie for more delicious crêpes - since we can't really find them when we go back home tomorrow. Next we hurried back to the apartment to change into walking shoes and took the metro to the Château de Vincennes - our last castle of the trip. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time left there and the tours were only in French, so we zipped around reading the signs on everything and with me trying to recount what I remembered from the French tour I had taken there about a month ago. Even so, we had a good time - Dad especially enjoyed learning about the history and different building projects and additions. Then we took the metro back into the city, and then walked along the Seine enjoying the scenery for the last time. After dinner near the Pont d'Alma, we walked down to the Tour Eiffel and then underneath to the Champs de Mars field where we sat and talked and then watched the sparkly light show that comes on the first 10 minutes of every hour after dark. Finally, we took the metro back to the apartment where I'm now writing this as we struggle to organize and pack for our flight back to Chicago tomorrow.
All in all, it's been an amazing trip! We've had so much fun, so much food, and taken so many pictures. I feel so very blessed that I've been able to share with my family some of the experiences that I've had here in Paris and show them around what has become my city. Now I'm off to bed to get in a few hours of sleep before we need to get up, finish packing, grab some pastries for breakfast and take the train out to the airport. Since I'm not ready to say goodbye yet, I'll write one more post when we have safely arrived home in Downers Grove. Goodbye for now!
Friday, July 1, 2011
The Rooneys take Europe by storm: Austrian edition
Guten tag alle!
I've been a little remiss in posting...and now I'm a few more days behind! I think I'll attribute it to the confusion of being in a German (and not French) speaking locale! We flew from Paris to Vienna (or Wien in German) on Wednesday of last week - June 22nd. We arrived late at night after a long day of travel (train from Amboise to Paris with three "layovers"/train switches and then the plane ride) and took a taxi to the apartment we were renting for our stay in Vienna. Our "renter" Kateryna met us with keys to help us get in and settled. After a good night's sleep and a delicious breakfast of cereal, joghurt (yogurt German-style!) and fresh fruit, we set out on our first day of exploring the city. What our tour was lacking in structure (we got rather lost a few times...) it made up for in beauty! We saw some incredible buildings, including the Rathaus (town hall), several amazing churches (including the Votivskirche and Steffensdom), the Parliament building, and the Hofburg Palace museums. We even had laberkase sandwiches from a street vendor for lunch! Our second day in Vienna we went to see the Schonbrunn Palace, and then climbed up the hill behind it to eat at the Gloriette pavilion and take pictures of the gardens down below.
Then we took the trolley/bus/tram (it's quite a system!) back to the main center to try to see the interior of Steffensdom that had been closed the day before. Sadly, we arrived in time for the English tour they had told us about the day before, but it was cancelled for some kind of extreme high mass complete with a whole parade of priests, altar boys, and even a bishop! So we missed out on the interior, but Shannon, Dad, and I climbed up the tower (353 very narrow spiral stairway steps!) for the view of the city. It was beautiful, but not sure if it was worth the climb. We had dinner at a typical beer garden where Mom and I both had delicious peach wine spritzers and Shannon and Dad ordered the house beer vom fass (on tap). Shannon's meal was ENORMOUS - we all had to pitch in and still didn't finish it. After a good (but short) night's sleep, we were picked up by Claudia (Mom's father's cousin's daughter - yeah, yikes) and her husband Martin and their son Florian.
We drove and chatted (well Mom did...we only got in a few words since we couldn't understand most of the rapid-fire German being spoken) until we arrived in St. Florian on our way to Steyr. We stopped in St. Florian for lunch at a restaurant with Martin, Claudia, and Florian, and then Martin showed us the church. We learned that he had lived in the attached (former) monastery for a year when he was in the St. Florian's boys' choir. After exploring the church, we got back in the car and drove farther along the route towards Steyr.
We stopped at the former Malthausen Concentration camp - a sobering but very interesting experience. The audioguide was full of so much information we weren't able to listen to it all, but what we were able to hear was both disturbing and fascinating. Learning about the Holocaust in school and then actually walking the ground where the victims walked and seeing the bunkers they lived in are totally different - it was very eerie and almost unreal. My favorite part was the variety of memorials on the grounds - especially the personal ones for family members who were victims that were in the two preserved crematorium chambers. There was also a garden between the camp and the quarry where prisoners worked with art and monuments from every country that had lost people in the camp.
Next, we shifted moods completely, and headed back to St. Florian to meet up with Claudia's parents Lisi and Pepi and her aunt and uncle (Lisi's brother and his wife) Daniel and Monika. Luckily we had a table reserved since there were 11 of us for dinner! Everything was delicious, and even when we didn't understand everything that was being said we still got the gist of most of it. Plus, since the relatives were all so sweet and very funny, we had a great time - even when we were laughing but didn't know why! Mom had the most fun, and the more time we spent with them, the more her German speaking improved. By the end of our time in Austria, she could genau with the best! After dinner (and a lot of hugging and cheek kissing), we headed back to our gasthaus (part bar, part hotel) to unpack and fall exhausted into bed.
Our first full day in Steyr started with buffet-style breakfast at the hotel with the manager serving as wait staff - a very interesting man who spoke 7-9 languages! So we ordered and conversed in French (for me and Shannon), in German (for Mom) and in English (for Dad). Then Pepi came to pick us up, and we joined up with Daniel, Monika, and Lisi for an insider tour of the old portion of Steyr. What a beautiful and historic city! It was such an incredible experience to have a tour from actual residents - especially such knowledgeable ones! We also got to see a 5k footrace that was being held that morning - they had all the streets blocked off and people were everywhere! We met up with Martin, Claudia, Florian, and their daughter Julia and her boyfriend Manuel for lunch - an even bigger table this time! After lunch, we carpooled to the highest point in the city - well to the base of the hill. Then we climbed it - even Claudia in her high heels! At the top was a cute little yellow chapel and an amazing view over the city. After climbing/falling down the hill, we went to dinner! (We thought we were going to explode with all the food we'd been eating - but we all survived!). For dinner, we went zum Heurigen - to a farmhouse/restaurant where we were able to sample their wines, beer, and moast (an alcholic cider) as well as different cold cuts of meat and cheese. For dessert? A "farmer's donut" bauern krapfen - a donut topped with apricot jelly and powedered sugar still hot from the oven - yum! After dinner (and some emotional goodbyes to the family), we went back to the hotel to pack and get some sleep before Martin picked us up in the morning.
He drove us to Salzburg via the scenic route - we were able to stop in a tiny (very touristy but still adorable) Austrian town called St. Wolfgang on Wolfgangsee (the Wolfgang Lake). Between the adorable alpine houses and the amazing view of the crystal-clear water, we never wanted to leave!
Then we arrived in Salzburg, where we said goodbye and thank you to Martin and found some lunch before officially checking into our hotel room. We did some exploring and then came back for a quick nap before Edgar came to pick us up! (Edgar is the son of my Opa's - Mom's dad's - best friend). He showed us around the old town of Salzburg with it's narrow medieval streets, intricate hanging signs, and beautiful old buildings. For dinner, we met up with his wife Evelyn (who also, bless her, spoke English wonderfully), and their two sons - Alex (14) and Benny (6). We had delicious food, great wine and beer, and amazing conversation!
Our second day in Salzburg, we met up with Edgar and Stefen (Edgar's sister Birgit's husband) and carpooled over to Schloss Helbrunn - a castle built by archibishop Markus Sitticus. The castle was very interesting, but what we really came to see was the vasser spiele - or "trick fountains." We found out on our tour of the gardens that the prince arcbishop had a sense of humor, and had hidden fountains installed throughout his gardens running on a complicated system powered (originally) just by water! For our first demonstration, our tour guide called volunteers to come sit at the stools around the table that the archbishop had used for entertaining his guests. All of a sudden, water started squirting out over the table from either side, from the middle of the table, and even from the seats of the stools! Everyone except the woman sitting in the archbishop's chair and the spectators who were far enough away got sopping wet! We missed out this time, but throughout the course of our tour we all got squirted a little here or there. I, however, was the only one who got really soaked! We had just finished touring one of the decorated cave grottos when our tricky guide started playing with the fountains by the entrance so that in order to get out you had to run through the water. At that point, the two streams from either side of the path crossed high enough that I could run under so I decided to chance it. Unfortunately, I forgot that he could adjust the height and as soon as I and another girl made a run for it he lowered the streams so I got blasted in the face. Thankfully, I survived and it was warm enough that I dried off rather quickly.
After Helbrunn, we drove back to Salzburg for "light" lunch. Dad ordered knodel and roast - but when it arrived he saw that the knodel (a ball tasting similar to a bready pasta) was the size of a large softball! He ate a little more than half, and was feeling a little green around the gills all afternoon. Shannon's food was the only reasonable sized one, and the rest of us really struggled trying to eat enough to be polite. It was delicious - just way too big! After lunch, we took the funicular train up to Hohen Salzburg - the castle overlooking the city - and explored before climbing/falling back down. By the time we got down, we were ready for some "snicky snacks" and stopped for sorbet and some juice and water. Then we walked back to our hotel for a quick nap before heading out to find something to eat. We finally settled on an Italian restaurant, since we were craving something other than traditional Austrian meat and potatoes, where we had a lovely dinner just as a family before heading back to get some sleep.
Our second full day in Salzburg (Wednesday) was our designated Sound of Music Tour day! We were able to finagle a private minibus tour with Edgar's friend Didi (Dieter) who, as Shannon said, "was so Austrian I could die." We saw it all - from Nonnberg Abbey where Maria was a nun-in-training to the festival hall where the Von Trapp family sang before escaping over the mountains to freedom. It was so much fun retracing the steps from scenes from one of our favorite movies (well the girls at least, if not Dad), especially with Didi blasting the soundtrack in the car! My favorite part was probably hopping up and down the steps in the Mirabell gardens where they sang "Doe, a Deer."
After the SOM tour, we left Didi and Stefen drove us to Obersalzburg (actually across the border in Bavaria) to see the Eagle's Nest. It was built for Hitler by one of his generals for his 50th birthday in 1938, but he never actually went there because he was afraid of heights. After the end of the war, the mayor from the neighboring town fought to keep it as a historical monument. We took the bus shuttle up from the parking lot along winding, very narrow, mountain roads, and then an elevator up to the actual house. While we didn't go into the house (it cost extra) we did climb all over the rocks like mountain goats while admiring the breathtaking views into the different valleys - we could see all the way back to Salzburg! Absolutely gorgeous.
After our mountain goat climbing, we headed back down and Stefen drove us to dinner where we met up with Edgar and his family and with Stefen's wife Birgit. While Birgit was nervous about her English, between Mom's German, Edgar and Evelyn's English, and his son Alex's translation help, we did just fine. We had a lot of fun, and a VERY long dinner (over 3 hours) before saying goodbye to everyone and driving back to the hotel to pack before taking a taxi to the airport the next morning, and flying back to Paris.
Phew! I think that's as updated as we can be for now - I'll upload a new post about our Paris adventures hopefully sometime soon...I can't believe our trip is almost at an end - yikes! In the meantime, we'll make the most of it and keep taking a ton of pictures. A bientôt!
I've been a little remiss in posting...and now I'm a few more days behind! I think I'll attribute it to the confusion of being in a German (and not French) speaking locale! We flew from Paris to Vienna (or Wien in German) on Wednesday of last week - June 22nd. We arrived late at night after a long day of travel (train from Amboise to Paris with three "layovers"/train switches and then the plane ride) and took a taxi to the apartment we were renting for our stay in Vienna. Our "renter" Kateryna met us with keys to help us get in and settled. After a good night's sleep and a delicious breakfast of cereal, joghurt (yogurt German-style!) and fresh fruit, we set out on our first day of exploring the city. What our tour was lacking in structure (we got rather lost a few times...) it made up for in beauty! We saw some incredible buildings, including the Rathaus (town hall), several amazing churches (including the Votivskirche and Steffensdom), the Parliament building, and the Hofburg Palace museums. We even had laberkase sandwiches from a street vendor for lunch! Our second day in Vienna we went to see the Schonbrunn Palace, and then climbed up the hill behind it to eat at the Gloriette pavilion and take pictures of the gardens down below.
Then we took the trolley/bus/tram (it's quite a system!) back to the main center to try to see the interior of Steffensdom that had been closed the day before. Sadly, we arrived in time for the English tour they had told us about the day before, but it was cancelled for some kind of extreme high mass complete with a whole parade of priests, altar boys, and even a bishop! So we missed out on the interior, but Shannon, Dad, and I climbed up the tower (353 very narrow spiral stairway steps!) for the view of the city. It was beautiful, but not sure if it was worth the climb. We had dinner at a typical beer garden where Mom and I both had delicious peach wine spritzers and Shannon and Dad ordered the house beer vom fass (on tap). Shannon's meal was ENORMOUS - we all had to pitch in and still didn't finish it. After a good (but short) night's sleep, we were picked up by Claudia (Mom's father's cousin's daughter - yeah, yikes) and her husband Martin and their son Florian.
We drove and chatted (well Mom did...we only got in a few words since we couldn't understand most of the rapid-fire German being spoken) until we arrived in St. Florian on our way to Steyr. We stopped in St. Florian for lunch at a restaurant with Martin, Claudia, and Florian, and then Martin showed us the church. We learned that he had lived in the attached (former) monastery for a year when he was in the St. Florian's boys' choir. After exploring the church, we got back in the car and drove farther along the route towards Steyr.
We stopped at the former Malthausen Concentration camp - a sobering but very interesting experience. The audioguide was full of so much information we weren't able to listen to it all, but what we were able to hear was both disturbing and fascinating. Learning about the Holocaust in school and then actually walking the ground where the victims walked and seeing the bunkers they lived in are totally different - it was very eerie and almost unreal. My favorite part was the variety of memorials on the grounds - especially the personal ones for family members who were victims that were in the two preserved crematorium chambers. There was also a garden between the camp and the quarry where prisoners worked with art and monuments from every country that had lost people in the camp.
Next, we shifted moods completely, and headed back to St. Florian to meet up with Claudia's parents Lisi and Pepi and her aunt and uncle (Lisi's brother and his wife) Daniel and Monika. Luckily we had a table reserved since there were 11 of us for dinner! Everything was delicious, and even when we didn't understand everything that was being said we still got the gist of most of it. Plus, since the relatives were all so sweet and very funny, we had a great time - even when we were laughing but didn't know why! Mom had the most fun, and the more time we spent with them, the more her German speaking improved. By the end of our time in Austria, she could genau with the best! After dinner (and a lot of hugging and cheek kissing), we headed back to our gasthaus (part bar, part hotel) to unpack and fall exhausted into bed.
Our first full day in Steyr started with buffet-style breakfast at the hotel with the manager serving as wait staff - a very interesting man who spoke 7-9 languages! So we ordered and conversed in French (for me and Shannon), in German (for Mom) and in English (for Dad). Then Pepi came to pick us up, and we joined up with Daniel, Monika, and Lisi for an insider tour of the old portion of Steyr. What a beautiful and historic city! It was such an incredible experience to have a tour from actual residents - especially such knowledgeable ones! We also got to see a 5k footrace that was being held that morning - they had all the streets blocked off and people were everywhere! We met up with Martin, Claudia, Florian, and their daughter Julia and her boyfriend Manuel for lunch - an even bigger table this time! After lunch, we carpooled to the highest point in the city - well to the base of the hill. Then we climbed it - even Claudia in her high heels! At the top was a cute little yellow chapel and an amazing view over the city. After climbing/falling down the hill, we went to dinner! (We thought we were going to explode with all the food we'd been eating - but we all survived!). For dinner, we went zum Heurigen - to a farmhouse/restaurant where we were able to sample their wines, beer, and moast (an alcholic cider) as well as different cold cuts of meat and cheese. For dessert? A "farmer's donut" bauern krapfen - a donut topped with apricot jelly and powedered sugar still hot from the oven - yum! After dinner (and some emotional goodbyes to the family), we went back to the hotel to pack and get some sleep before Martin picked us up in the morning.
He drove us to Salzburg via the scenic route - we were able to stop in a tiny (very touristy but still adorable) Austrian town called St. Wolfgang on Wolfgangsee (the Wolfgang Lake). Between the adorable alpine houses and the amazing view of the crystal-clear water, we never wanted to leave!
Then we arrived in Salzburg, where we said goodbye and thank you to Martin and found some lunch before officially checking into our hotel room. We did some exploring and then came back for a quick nap before Edgar came to pick us up! (Edgar is the son of my Opa's - Mom's dad's - best friend). He showed us around the old town of Salzburg with it's narrow medieval streets, intricate hanging signs, and beautiful old buildings. For dinner, we met up with his wife Evelyn (who also, bless her, spoke English wonderfully), and their two sons - Alex (14) and Benny (6). We had delicious food, great wine and beer, and amazing conversation!
Our second day in Salzburg, we met up with Edgar and Stefen (Edgar's sister Birgit's husband) and carpooled over to Schloss Helbrunn - a castle built by archibishop Markus Sitticus. The castle was very interesting, but what we really came to see was the vasser spiele - or "trick fountains." We found out on our tour of the gardens that the prince arcbishop had a sense of humor, and had hidden fountains installed throughout his gardens running on a complicated system powered (originally) just by water! For our first demonstration, our tour guide called volunteers to come sit at the stools around the table that the archbishop had used for entertaining his guests. All of a sudden, water started squirting out over the table from either side, from the middle of the table, and even from the seats of the stools! Everyone except the woman sitting in the archbishop's chair and the spectators who were far enough away got sopping wet! We missed out this time, but throughout the course of our tour we all got squirted a little here or there. I, however, was the only one who got really soaked! We had just finished touring one of the decorated cave grottos when our tricky guide started playing with the fountains by the entrance so that in order to get out you had to run through the water. At that point, the two streams from either side of the path crossed high enough that I could run under so I decided to chance it. Unfortunately, I forgot that he could adjust the height and as soon as I and another girl made a run for it he lowered the streams so I got blasted in the face. Thankfully, I survived and it was warm enough that I dried off rather quickly.
After Helbrunn, we drove back to Salzburg for "light" lunch. Dad ordered knodel and roast - but when it arrived he saw that the knodel (a ball tasting similar to a bready pasta) was the size of a large softball! He ate a little more than half, and was feeling a little green around the gills all afternoon. Shannon's food was the only reasonable sized one, and the rest of us really struggled trying to eat enough to be polite. It was delicious - just way too big! After lunch, we took the funicular train up to Hohen Salzburg - the castle overlooking the city - and explored before climbing/falling back down. By the time we got down, we were ready for some "snicky snacks" and stopped for sorbet and some juice and water. Then we walked back to our hotel for a quick nap before heading out to find something to eat. We finally settled on an Italian restaurant, since we were craving something other than traditional Austrian meat and potatoes, where we had a lovely dinner just as a family before heading back to get some sleep.
Our second full day in Salzburg (Wednesday) was our designated Sound of Music Tour day! We were able to finagle a private minibus tour with Edgar's friend Didi (Dieter) who, as Shannon said, "was so Austrian I could die." We saw it all - from Nonnberg Abbey where Maria was a nun-in-training to the festival hall where the Von Trapp family sang before escaping over the mountains to freedom. It was so much fun retracing the steps from scenes from one of our favorite movies (well the girls at least, if not Dad), especially with Didi blasting the soundtrack in the car! My favorite part was probably hopping up and down the steps in the Mirabell gardens where they sang "Doe, a Deer."
After the SOM tour, we left Didi and Stefen drove us to Obersalzburg (actually across the border in Bavaria) to see the Eagle's Nest. It was built for Hitler by one of his generals for his 50th birthday in 1938, but he never actually went there because he was afraid of heights. After the end of the war, the mayor from the neighboring town fought to keep it as a historical monument. We took the bus shuttle up from the parking lot along winding, very narrow, mountain roads, and then an elevator up to the actual house. While we didn't go into the house (it cost extra) we did climb all over the rocks like mountain goats while admiring the breathtaking views into the different valleys - we could see all the way back to Salzburg! Absolutely gorgeous.
After our mountain goat climbing, we headed back down and Stefen drove us to dinner where we met up with Edgar and his family and with Stefen's wife Birgit. While Birgit was nervous about her English, between Mom's German, Edgar and Evelyn's English, and his son Alex's translation help, we did just fine. We had a lot of fun, and a VERY long dinner (over 3 hours) before saying goodbye to everyone and driving back to the hotel to pack before taking a taxi to the airport the next morning, and flying back to Paris.
Phew! I think that's as updated as we can be for now - I'll upload a new post about our Paris adventures hopefully sometime soon...I can't believe our trip is almost at an end - yikes! In the meantime, we'll make the most of it and keep taking a ton of pictures. A bientôt!
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