Parental visit part III: Upper Austria - Take 1

Short intro.  Part three of the Turpin visit blog series begins… now - the annoying work setup from my last installment soon paid off nicely as we again set off from home, this time for Upper Austria.  For family.  There was no way to fit everyone in on this first visit, so we planned around some time for Hermi, Sigi and family (who had stayed at my dad and Judy’s place in KC several years back), a visit to Marianne’s (the sister, not the friend from the previous blog) and of course a trip to Nussbach to “meet the parents”.  Dad and I loaded up the car while the boys rode with Anita and Judy. 

On the subject of loading up the car, I am a bona-fide expert.  Borderline genius, I think, if that sort of thing passed for genius.  Packing in general is one of my strong points.  I can pack for light weight.  I can pack for heavy.  I can fit twice as much into a vehicle as most people think is possible, or I can spread out a smaller load to give the illusion of full.  What I, or better yet, we, cannot do is avoid the over-packing.  We each have our thing (I tend towards pillows, which I almost never trust to be available in the acceptable styles and quantities, and electronic gear).  Anita’s over-packing is more random.  There’s the traditional mom stuff, the extra outfits and swim gear, and the instinct to pre-pack food for every possible eventuality.  But then it’s more of a space thing.  She seems to instinctively assess the space that we have and compare it mentally to the items we are taking, and then inevitably come up with the additional items necessary to make it a full load.  It could be bicycles, or bottles, suitcases of clothing for storage or for a relative to look through, cameras, books, an old chair, cabinets, the fender from a ’57 Chevy.  I really have no idea where some of the things come from, but there they are.

Dad was skeptical (on this trip and every subsequent one) of getting it all into the car.  Silly.  A little rearranging here and there, some squeezing and adjusting – heck, most of it fit in the trunk (luckily, Anita had left already, so she was unaware of this extra space and had no way of assigning additional cargo to fill it).  We hopped in, turned on the TomTom and set off, listening to an audiobook of George MacDonald Fraser’s excellent novel Flashman’s Lady on the way.  We managed to find Hermi and Sigi’s place without incident and enjoyed a quiet evening in with the family (good food, reminiscing about their KC visit, another Yahtzee game perhaps).  Lukas and I shared a couch bed upstairs and spent most of the night pushing each other back and forth.  I think at one point he head-butted me in the nose, but nothing was broken.

The next day started with a trip to the local zoo (nice enough place, nothing spectacular.  Used to be a bird-specific zoo, but now has a pretty decent cross-section of animals – still bird heavy).  Afterwards, we headed over to MEET THE PARENTS.  Dum dum dum!  This too went very well.  We set up camp in the downstairs dining room (Franz and Christa’s), and had some farmer’s doughnuts (krapfen) to eat.  Someone in the group ate 4 or 5 of them, but I’m not at liberty to divulge specific names.  Soon afterwards, out came the homemade schnapps, Nussbach style.  Great stuff, and it was enjoyed by all (some who will remain nameless enjoyed it time and again – hint: rhymes with “sad and moody” or “bad and doodie”).  All in all it was a nice visit, and it was gratifying to see the parents bond (especially Karl, who seemed to really like Dad and Judy, and opened up to them in a friendly fashion as he would Austrian neighbors or friends).

The next day, we had another outing, and this one was really cool.  We went to a place called Baum Kronen Weg.  Don’t really know how to describe it, except to compare it to the Ewok Village in Return of the Jedi.  Large paths of wooden towers and wooden walkways high above the ground, up in the treetops. A variety of swinging bridges, long ramps, jumbo slides (check out the one that Judy and Lukas went down – crazy) and lookout stations.  A reasonably priced restaurant (though an embarrassingly slow one, even by Austria’s lax standards) next to an amazing playground full of crafted wooden vehicles and playthings (F1 cars, trains, planes, you name it).  And, though we didn’t try this bit out yet, a show-stopping “hotel” up in the trees, with 5 large cabins surrounding a sauna in a pentagonal shape.  Tres chic.  We had a blast there, trying out all of the various equipment pieces, climbing and hiking about.  Even got in a little game of soccer in their mini wooden “field”.  Really, you’ve just got to check out the photos to get a sense of the place.  My description doesn’t do it justice…

Our last stop on the visit was to Marianne and Erwin’s place.  The atmosphere there is still tinged with melancholy, as to be expected.  But they were gracious hosts, of course.  I was really pleased to see Patrick so involved with the visit, sitting with us during dinner, then heading out with the group for a park visit and a walk to his brother’s gravesite.  Jan and Danielle were there for the day as well, and it was great to see everyone again (not to mention, I’m always up for some of Marianne’s cooking!).  

Suppose that wraps up another entry.  Still a couple to go, and I’d like to get to them all while it’s still halfway fresh.  Up next, some more time in Vienna, including a trip along the Wachau…

Parental visit part II: Home in Vienna

Okay, maybe this one’s not going to get us through to Upper Austria, but it should cover a good bit of Dad and Judy’s visit.  Maybe five or six days.  A bit of Vienna, possibly followed by some “meet the relatives”.  Maybe a bit more Vienna after that.  Have to see how the word count is looking…

When we last left our party of intrepid wanderers, they had just returned to Vienna after a lost weekend of schnapps, schnitzel and Sound of Music tours in Salzburg.  We pick up the action in a little apartment in the city’s 13^th district (cue lights, theme music and fade in…)

We open on a (relatively) young man (okay, maybe not young, per se, but go with me), sitting alone at his back room work area, typing away in hurried fashion.  He wants to finish up with his work early, so that he too might be allowed out into the fresh air, and see the precious sunlight.  But no, this is not for him.  For him there is only toil.  Saddened, heartbroken, this young (yeah, I’m sticking with it) man turns away from the open window (technically a door with glass, but who’s technical) and the false hope that it brings.  More work.

Maybe it wasn’t quite so bad, but that’s a lot of what I have to provide for perspective on our Vienna days.  I was working.  Trying to not only catch up from our days in Salzburg, but get ahead for the next trip.  The rest of the crew did some sightseeing both close by (the park, the café), far (the Prater) and in-between (Schonbrunn palace).  Not much I can tell you about those trips, except it looks like they had fun.  And I’m pretty sure that no one is interested in a recap of which sports teasers I wrote on those days, so I should maybe stick to the outings that I was a part of (and yes, there were a couple mixed in there amongst my toil and drudgery).

We went out to a Heuriger (local Viennese wine producer/restaurant), where we ate well (and paid top dollar for the privilege), drank some (the house wines weren’t bad, but nothing to write home about either) and were serenaded by the nicest couple of guys (violin and accordion players) whom I have ever had the misfortune of witnessing flirt with my dad.  All in all, a win.  I also met up with the gang for a little stroll through the first district, highlighted by an ascent up St. Stephen’s Cathedral tower, from which one can get a very nice view out over part of Vienna (if you want to see it all, you’ll have to go up the other tower as well, as the church itself blocks out quite a bit of the view from either position).  We enjoyed the various street performers even as my dad bemoaned his lack of foresight (“You should have told me to bring my mandolin.  We could have paid for the trip!”)  Lukas and Liam were treated to some balloon animals, which lasted the usual duration of about eight seconds, and we naturally paused at one of Vienna’s many beautiful and varied cafes (though to get the specifics, one would have to question my wife – they all kind of blend together for me)…

In addition to these family-driven outings, I got my dad out for a few trips to the pub.  First off was one of my Wednesday evening sojourns to Pointers for their weekly pub quiz, wherein he and our since-departed teammate Nayeli put on a show of amazing coincidence that bordered on the psychic (second question: Who wrote “A Short History of Nearly Everything” – answer: Bill Bryson.  My dad’s answer, which then led him to talk about all of the Bryson books that he likes, particularly Travels in Small Town America.  During this exchange Nayeli, who was often our best contemporary literature team member, was conspicuously silent.  Later in the evening, my eyes chanced upon part of a paperback novel sticking out of her bag.  I couldn’t make out the title, but saw an upside-down “ll Bryson”.  As soon as the quiz was finished, I pulled the book out of her bag.  It was the aforementioned “Travels in Small Town America”, which she sheepishly explained she had never read, but had brought along that evening to give to me as she was clearing out her collection prior to moving to the UK.  The next time I see her, I will spend less time thinking about books and more time thinking about a cashier’s check for $100,000.)  The rest of the quiz was fun, but not quite so eventful.  Ian and my dad got along (opinionated Northern Irishman and laid back Midwesterner.  Would find it strange, but I get along with Ian myself, so…) and we won the nightly prize, which basically paid for our evening out!

Our other outing had a tag-along named Lukas.  In my never-ending quest to hook the boy on sports in general, and American sports specifically, I wanted to have him join us for the NFL kickoff event at Shebeens (another Irish pub.  Vienna’s littered with ‘em, as is most of Europe).  It was a fun night.  Shebeens is one of the very few places in Austria that knows what to do with red meat, and just about the only one who performs this task for a reasonable price (7 Euro for a fat, juicy burger – 13 for a nice sized ribeye steak and sides.  Just can’t be beat in this neck of the woods!).  So, we all ordered off the menu, then settled in for happy hour (which they run from 7-9 on Sundays – perfect for those of us interested in the American football offerings.)  The game itself was nothing special.  New York Giants over the Carolina Panthers.  Lukas was a hoot, though.  He decided early on to support NY, something I can rarely bring myself to do in any sporting endeavor (the boy absolutely must have a rooting interest from the outset of any viewed competition, and then he’ll stick with them).  I think it was the blue uniforms that sold him.  Anyway, with dad and Chris (Wells – my buddy whom I hit the concert circuit with and whom we all vacationed in Italy with) egging him on, Lukas was all over the place, whooping it up for the Giants, testing out new catchphrases such as “in your face” and generally being an amusing nuisance.  Lots of fun!

All right.  I’ve just made an executive decision not to overreach on this blog.  Instead of running through our upper Austria visit, I’ll end it here and pick up there in the next installment.  Happy Trails…

Parental visit part I: Salzburg

So, it’s been a little over three years that we’ve been living in Vienna.  Don’t even bother with how long Jessica’s been in Fribourg.  And, to date, we had not been able to convince the parents (Dad and Judy) to make the long trip over.  Oh sure, they had been interested, but never enough to actually get their passports in order.  Recently, something turned.  We had a second baby, Liam, and Jessica’s long-awaited adoption finally came through (Chloe – completely adorable in the photos, something of a handful according to legend – can’t wait to finally meet her!) – and suddenly there were more reasons than ever to make the trip.  They got their passports.  Then, on our latest visit to the US, this spring, their objections withered, one by one.  The timing was finally right.  They would come visit!

We prepared as best we could, helping to coordinate dates with Jessica and Alex and to figure out what all we would do with them while they were with us.  It became clear, early on, that a nice long stay was in order.  In addition to whatever time they spent in Switzerland, we would need three, maybe four weeks to get them around to all the places we wanted to show them in Austria (and possibly Germany and/or Italy as well!).  They wanted to see Salzburg and Berchtesgaden.  I was interested in getting them to either Nuremberg or Venice.  Much time would be needed to meet all of the relatives in Upper Austria.  Anita had a list of local attractions and possible day-trips that grew larger with each passing week… Finally, they settled on a course of action which put them in Switzerland for three weeks (the first in a Swiss mountain chalet, the rest in Fribourg), followed by four weeks or so with us – ended up being about 25 days).

August arrived, and they landed in Geneva.  Still, we were quite unsure as to our plans.  There were hurried phone calls to various sisters and friends, trying to determine who could put us all up for a few nights, and when.  Travel options were discussed and discarded with frightening speed.  We wanted to do a lot, but not kill ourselves (or them, preferably) in the process.  Finally, we had a rough plan.  We would meet them in Salzburg, stay for a few days, then return together to Vienna.  A few days here, then our first trip to Upper Austria.  Another week or so in Vienna, followed by a second trip to Upper Austria and a swing by Nuremberg, then finally a couple of days here in the apartment to finish it off.  Sounds exhausting just writing it…

First up – Salzburg.  We would again be enjoying the hospitality of our friends Rudi and Marianne, who had opened up their home to us twice before (yet, oddly enough, invited us back?  Strange.).  This time we would really be pushing our luck, with two kids and a set of grandparents in tow!  But we were again welcomed with all of the good natured hospitality that I’ve come to appreciate from Anita’s friends and relatives.  The parents were due to arrive Thursday afternoon, so we arrived on Wednesday night to settle in.  We had decided against spending a boatload of money renting a big car, as we had originally planned.  Instead, we would do the one car and train thing, counting on others to help chauffer us around whenever possible (relax, we did run this plan by people before putting it into action.)  The house, in a little town on the outskirts of Salzburg, was even more perfect than the last time we had visited, as they had remodeled many facets of the downstairs.  The boys fit right in, taking over their dining area with knights and baby toys and we enjoyed an evening with our friends.

The next day we whiled away a few hours (during which time, Lukas somehow managed to get stung by a bee – on the eye!!! – but he was okay). He did, however, ask constantly, “When are Oma and Opa getting here?” until it was time to meet them at the train station, where Anita and Marianne waited in the loading zone while the boys and I went to retrieve our American guests.  I navigated a genuine maze of construction to reach the tracks, then had a moment of worry when most of the crowd dispersed and the boys and I still saw no signs of them, but then relaxed as my “hold Liam up over my head until Judy recognizes him” plan paid off, and soon it was all hugs and kisses and pass the baby!

We met back up with the ladies, then did a little touring through the city (and by little touring, I mean a long-ass hike to view a couple of buildings and have a coffee.)  But it was nice to see everyone and start showing off this great land that I now call home.  We took it easy in the evening.  Well, at least until dinner time, when we stuffed ourselves on homemade Wiener schnitzel and then let Rudi bully us into a schnapps and beer drinking contest (I kept thinking of Grandma Betty drinking the Nuss schnapps.  “Smooth…”).  It was great. 

Friday we decided on Berchtesgaden, as the forecast was cold but clear, whereas it was threatening rain over the weekend.  We borrowed Marianne’s car and split the group in two (Oma Judy was generally given “Liam duty” during these excursions, sitting in the backseat and trying to keep the little guy happy whenever he was awake).  It was a short drive over the German border and on into town, then a little further to the “Eagles Nest,” a mountaintop retreat famous for having been built for Hitler as a birthday present (though there’s much dispute about how many times he actually visited it, preferring instead to take his “vacations” at a nearby hotel).  Nevertheless, I suited up in my Captain America T-shirt and was suitably running through all of the best scenes from Clint Eastwood’s Where Eagles Dare as we ascended the peak.  The “clear skies” thing didn’t work out so hot, though we did get some great photos in the atmospheric fog that descended.  We all took turns carrying Liam as we hiked up the trail to the various scenic views, which all looked about the same in the mist, then returned to the building, which is basically just a restaurant at this point.  A bit underwhelming, but I did enjoy the goulash…  And it was on our way out, at the gift center, that Anita and I finally purchased ourselves a pair of Austrian “National Costumes”, which had been on our “to do” list for quite some time (for myself, a Salzburg style gray jacket and a striped shirt; Anita got a dirndl.

Afterwards, we spent some time in Berchtesgaden, where I passed a great little hat store and immediately wanted to complete my outfit.  After some hemming and hawing, it was agreed that I could look.  I finally settled on a classic style, dark green with a feather (one can see the overall results in my various photo albums).  The shopkeeper, an older German woman, the type who often seems to disapprove of me from the get-go, seemed quite impressed by my recently improved Deutsch (classes finally paying off), and even more impressed when she learned that I now resided in Austria with my mixed family (of course, it didn’t hurt when Anita showed up with Liam, who instantly went into his uber-cute mode.  None of this led to any significant discount or anything.  She was just a nice lady who deserves mention (I like to give credit to nice shopkeepers, waiters, etc, that I run into here in middle Europe, as it’s such a rare sighting)…

We had another fun evening at Rudi and Marianne’s home, played some Yahtzee (a game in which I was throroughly robbed – my first ever “second Yahtzee”, ruined by my go-for-broke son, who eschewed all logic and an easy chance at second place when he passed up the opportunity to fill in his final missing line item, a straight, in order to go for his own second Yahtzee.  Naturally, the little booger actually rolled it and beat me by a lousy half dozen points.  Revenge will be mine.  Oh yes, revenge will be mine.  Dish served cold.  Kahn.  KAHN!!!) – whoops, got a little sidetracked there.  Okay, so, Yahtzee, then more wine and beer and schnapps, then off to bed again…

Saturday we did the town.  I personally loved this day as much as any during our trip, which is going to sound bad when I admit that I spent most of it on my own, by my lonesome, in Salzburg.  After parking, we decided that most of the group would go visit the castle, which is a nice castle, admittedly, but one which I have toured myself a couple of times.  Thus, I was allowed the rare opportunity to strike out on my own in a new(ish) city.  This I love.  The freedom to just wander and stare, not trying to juggle an entire group’s wants and needs.  I shopped.  Mostly window shopping, but also looking for a new watch, and at some clothes.  It was great.

And when our meet-up time rolled around and I was given the option of continuing my solo sojourn, I leapt at the chance.  As the afternoon progressed I ate a pizza, drank some sturm and some coffee (though not at the same time) and made my way back to the hand-crafted wooden “souvenir” store where Judy had purchased her gift music box a few days prior.  You see, I had cast my eyes over some very nice, hand carved wooden chess sets, the sort of thing that has been on my want list for about a decade at least.  Of course, once there I felt it wise to call and okay the purchase.  Anita agreed to overlook the expense provided that it a: counted as my birthday present and b: that I was able to work them down on price.  Nothing that woman loves more than a deal.  Despite the sales woman’s complete indifference to my purchasing power, I did eventually work her down from two hundred Euros to one hundred and sixty, though by that point I had spent over ninety minutes in the shop and might well have paid a flat fifty just to be able to leave…  (point of interest – the parental units did the “Sound of Music” tour while I was doing my afternoon shopping, and they loved it.  To each his or her own, I say!)

We said our goodbyes to our wonderful hosts several times over that evening and the next morning.  Everyone was too exhausted to cram much more into our visit.  Lukas, Dad and I then drove back, with either a stop for lunch at Burger King or a “stop to help our fellow man in the form of a stranded roadside traveler, who then bestowed upon us Burger King paraphernalia by way of reward”, depending on which of us was asked.  So ended the Salzburg portion of their visit, and thus ends the first of my blogs on the same.  Up next – Meeting of the in-laws!  Dum dum dum!