Hallstatt, Austria

Sept 11

Accommodations:  We scored big with a pension right on the Hallstatt, Austria lake last night.  The big double windows that opened to the lake were pretty amazing.  Since we arrived pretty late, we got 50 euros off the price of the room.  (Love saving money!)

Food Highlights: Trout caught from Hallstatt Lake that fell off the little bones.  Wayne couldn't look the fish in the eye as he ate him though.  Homemade apple strudel for dessert last night and again for breakfast this morning!

Adventure:  We rented a "speed boat" today!  Woohoo!  

Humor:  We found out that our boat had 2 speeds - slow and slower.  

Rest: Wayne rested in the room later this afternoon.  He still has a cough.  Say a prayer that the nagging cough goes away, please.  : )

After taking the train to Hallstatt from Salzburg, we had to take a ferry to get across a beautiful serene (and very large) lake which is apparently full of fish.  Hallstatt is FAMOUS for its salt.   There is a time in European history known as the Hallstatt period.  They still mine for salt here today but we decided to pass on the salt mine tour.

We approached the Hallstatt Pension and met Goulah, our hostess, dressed in an authentic Austrian dirndl dress.  Her austrian personality was just as lively as her dress and we checked right in.    We went to dinner and the menu proudly boasted of fish names we'd never heard of before that were caught earlier in the day.  It is Austrian etiquette that you eat everything on your plate.  We've been very polite.

Today we strolled up and down the ONE street in the entire town and took a boat ride.  Almost all of the shop owners and hotel and restaurant staff wear Austrian dirndl dresses and lederhosen.  Almost like Disneyland at Epcot Center.   

Hallstatt is serene, quiet, quaint, and beautiful with little shops everywhere.  Leaving tomorrow but almost wishing we could put on a dirndl and lederhosen and stay.

Zurich to Salzburg

Sept 10

We haven't had internet for a few days so we are going to catch up here....

Accommodations:  You really won't believe this, but for two nights we stayed in the smallest room yet!  It was a BEAUTIFUL 6x8 tiny room with a bed that was 4x6 and it had 2 full walls of windows looking at the Swiss Alps.  COZY and wonderful!!!  Then we went to Salzburg, Austria and stayed in a baroque style room with fancy schmancy curtains and Wayne didn't like it at all.

Food Highlights:  Austrian pancakes with plum sauce & butternut squash soup - delicious!

Adventure:  Two days ago we were super sore after our 6 hour hike and we decided to take a short stroll...which ended in a 2 hour hike to a beautiful river...now even more sore.  Yesterday we traveled through 4 countries on a train.

Humor:  Wayne ordered some hot chocolate in the Swiss Alps and we had the nerve to ask if it was "Swiss Miss".  Kelley was gently reprimanded by a very old woman who told her that in Austria we don't put our feet on the train seats.  She wasn't wearing a habit, but we're pretty sure she was a nun from the Sound of Music.  

Rest: Wayne finally got his wish!!  We rested for 2 full days in Switzerland.  Rest, rest, rest.  We had a great long walk sightseeing through Salzburg yesterday.

After staying 2 extra nights in Gimmelwald, we left the tiny and very untouristy town full of hay balers and swiss cheese makers, and went to Zurich.  Sad the leave the quaint town, but excited to meet up with Andi Pupato, we backtracked north to meet for lunch.  

Andi is the phenomenal percussionist for Grammy Award winning artist, Andreas Vollenweider, other artists, and his own band, Ronnin.  After hearing Andi play in Virginia 4 years ago and meeting him after the concert, Wayne has kept up with him via Facebook.  When we invited him to meet us for lunch, he agreed, and we had a great meal and a tour of Zurich.  Thanks Andi!!

After Zurich, we headed to Salzburg, Austria where we walked the streets of Mozart's birthplace.  We took a tour of his home and listened to Sonata #50 in D.

We enjoyed Mirabel Gardens, the Dome (huge cathedral built in 1689), and the beautiful baroque (whatever that means) city.

We made it to Hallstatt, Austria last night and we'll update you soon.  

Gimmelwald, Day 2

Short blog today....   read alot, rested, enjoyed the mountains.

This is the view from our room...

And our dinner tonight....    So beautiful here, the pics don't

do it justice.

Switzerland DAY 1

Sept 5

Accommodations:  Last night we stayed in...drum roll please...a room even smaller than the two nights before!  Tonight we are staying in a beautiful swiss chalet B&B with amazing views. 

Food:  German pretzel sandwich with mozerella, tomatoes, & pesto - yum!  

Adventure:  Woohoo!   Hiked the Swiss Alps today - AMAZING!

Humor:  We were politely escorted off of a swiss train today and marched to a ticket office where they made us pay for a train ride that our Eurail Pass apparently didn't cover.  Who knew?

Rest: No rest today!  Our feet are sooooo tired!

We traveled through Germany yesterday to arrive at 10pm in Interlaken, Switzerland.  We didn't know that we booked a hostel to sleep in!  Luckily, they gave us a TINY private hostel room for the two of us, but we were sharing a shower and toilet with others and apparently you have to have your own towel at hostels???  Obviously, we didn't have any towels.  Awkward.  It was a great adventure though and we were still both were laughing about it this morning.

Interlaken is only an hour away from one of the most beautiful places on earth - the Jungfrau mountains of Switzerland.   Imagine the movie Heidi as the little girl and her grandfather climb the Swiss mountains.  Imagine a village of 30 log cabins whose foundations were built back in the 1500's and each cabin with 5-10 flower boxes bulging with bright geraniums, daisies, and zinnias.   Imagine the Swiss Alps covered in snow all summer and LOOMING right in front of you almost like you could touch them.  That's where we are today - in Gimmelwald.  It's  breathtaking.

Well...we were recommended a beautiful nature hike by a few locals.  We took a gondola up from 4,500 feet to 9,600 feet where we were supposed to take an easy hike down that would take 4 hours max.   We got to the top and started second guessing this adventure.  We asked an elderly lady what she thought about the hike and again we were told that it was easy.  Ok, if this elderly lady thinks it's easy, then it must be easy.....UHHH  WRONG!!  We did not take into account that these locals were raised with these mountains as their playground!!   I think this elderly woman might have actually been HEIDI, now that I think about it!!!!      

Needless to say.... 6 hours later with blistered feet & sunburned faces we were crawling down the mountain.   We would do it again in a heart beat....it was the most magnificent 6 hours.   Kelley loved every minute of it.  Wayne is going to love it in a few days once the trauma wears off.

Staying here for another day or two.

See pics below and stay tuned for a short video from Wayne regarding this hiking business.....

Love ya'll, Wayne & Kelley

Germany and Trains

Sept 4

Accommodations:  Stayed in German B&B last night in St. Goar, room was smaller than the room last night.  Great view of Rhine River

Food:  Dried fruits, nuts, and swiss cheese in a private train car,  pretty awesome

Adventure:  Kelley says "none."  Wayne says "Uhm we took the wrong train to the wrong city, and missed another one entirely, AND had to pay .70 euros to use the bathroom, I'd say kinda a lot of adventure."

Humor:  Kelley was in the WC (bathroom) on a train and accidentally hit a button marked SOS, and an attendant came screaming asking if she was ok in there.

Rest: Wayne wants more rest, less adventure.  

Yesterday we spent the day in St. Goar, Germany.  It's a small village along the Rhine River. It's a beautiful area with an old castle just on the other side of the river directly across from our B&B.  We spent about an hour just sitting by the river until the sun went down.   Kelley fell asleep and Wayne watched boats float by.  

We checked the weather report and there's only a few sunny days  in the Swiss Alps so we are heading there now.  32 degrees with sun is much better than 32 degrees with snow and clouds!  Wayne did bring a warm coat but Kelley only brought "cute" jackets.  We got off the train an hour ago and found out that we were in the wrong city!!  How did that happen?  Who knows?  The Frankfort train station beautiful and HUGE so it wasn't a complete waste of time to see the cool old place.

We've already had a blow out on some luggage.  The wheel on Kelley's bag was starting to buckle, so we stopped in a tiny bicycle shop to see if we could get it mended.  The old repairman took one look at it and remarked that the bag definitely was not crafted with European engineering.   Yes, the "backpack" straps are still in working order but Kelley loves the convenience of wheels!  Guess who is carrying Kelley's backpack?  

To Interlaken, Switzerland we go......

London

Sept 2

We landed in London today at noon and did our very best to get the most out of the day since we are only here for one day this leg. In a 7 hour time we managed to figure out the train system, see Buckingham Palace, wave at the guards, walk around Westminster Abbey, have a picnic @ Green Park,  chat with several locals about our lack of navigation, walk some more, take another train, see Big Ben, walk some more, grab dinner at a local place, and finally check in for a night of rest here at The Crestfield Hotel.  We are learning how tiny affordable hotel rooms are over here!   

Tomorrow am we take the Chunnel train over into Europe and head for Switzerland!!! 

Everyday we will post a daily rating to give you the review for the day.  

I'll comment on the accommodations, humor, and rest of the day.

Kelley will comment on the food and the amount of adventure for the day.

Here's the short scoop on today...

Daily Review ~

Accommodations:  Room smaller than college dorm, great people, windows open for fresh 65 degree air!

Food:  Goat Cheese and kalimata olive sandwich on nutty bread, need I say more? Phenominal!

Humor:  Took a 193 step staircase and was out performed by a 65 year old lady.  

Adventure:  Fun and touristy, but no adventure.

Rest:  Spontaneous peaceful picnic in the park, but too much walking to be restful.

Cheers!!

Wayne

PS...

Who took us to the airport?? RAZ that's who...  thanks bro, you're awesome. 

Thanks for stayin at our house with our dog, Charlie, too!!!

Sabbatical! In a Back Pack?

For us, sabbatical means a time to rest, travel, read, and study other cultures.   Wayne's view of "resting" means sitting on a beach for weeks and not moving.  Kelley's view of "resting" involves adventure, backpacking, hiking, taking trains, ferries, and gondolas.  Guess which version of resting won?  Well, we are planning a little of both!  Lots of adventure and lots of resting on beautiful beaches and mountains. :)  Thanks Grace Fellowship for believing in sabbaticals and rest!  We love Grace Fellowship!


For 4 weeks everything has to fit into a backpack.  We've never been to Europe and we've not booked any hotel rooms. We've been saving up in a money jar but Kelley keeps borrowing from it.  This is going to be a great adventure!


We hope you'll consider following us on here as we go from London to Germany, Switzerland to Austria, Italy to Greece, and Ireland to Houston!!!  Be aware though...  if you choose to follow us on this journey,  you may get swept up in some crazy adventures... or at least laugh a lot.  The trip will be from Sept 1- Sept 30.  Please pray for us on this journey, not only for safety as we travel, but for God's hand to guide us and refresh us for more seasons of ministry when we return.


We love you!!!!


Now we've gotta finish packing!!  We leave tomorrow!


Wayne & Kelley
PS....Yes, this is Kelley in the photo!  New haircut!