Austria day 2

We drove to nearby Saalfelden and Joel, Carlie and Jim had a ride on a rodelbahn which is a toboggan/luge down a mountain on a metal track not in snow.It was over 1klm long and very fast .Joel loved it .Then we drove back to Zell am See and hired a paddleboat for an hour on the lake.It was near midday and quite hot and you would think aussies would know better than to go out in the sun at that time.I think we got a bit sunburnt.The views were fabulous and we took a picnic with us and ate it out in the middle of the lake.We drove back to the hotel for a late lunch and it rained a bit in the afternoon.We managed to talk to Ben on Skype and ithen went for a bike ride through the nearby fields. We stopped at a bridge and played poo sticks.It was BBQ night this evening at the hotel .

Austria snow day

We had a great breakfast and headed off to find snow.We went to nearby Kaprun and up the cable car to the glacier on Kitzsteinhorn .Their were many skiing and Carlie was wanting to ski but there were also many just playing in the snow.We had a fun time having snow ball fights,making a snow man and the kids discovered our plastic picnic plate made a good toboggan. We used our airline socks as gloves as we had forgotten to pack any. A guy lent our kids a plastic toboggan but it wasnt as good as our plastic plate. On the way back we skyped Sam and Tina and showed them the snow. On the way home we stopped at a grocery store to get lunch.We found some bread called ' aborigine weckerl'.We bought schnitzel on bread rolls,cherries,figs,watermelon and some snacks.After changing out of our snow soaked clothes we had a very late lunch back at the hotel and headed out for some shopping. Again tea at the hotel was lovely.Speirtzle and a creamy sauce with veal .

Switzerland to Austria

Today we traveled by train all morning to Austria via Zurick. The Zuricker See was beautiful as was all the scenery as it became more and more mountainous.We arrived in Innsbruck at around midday and went by taxi to the hire car place after trying to walk and then catch a bus without success. We drove our fiat punto then to Zell am See via Kitzbuhel.We found our hotel ,the Landhous Hotel which was an Austrian chalet with flower boxes and our room was on the top floor(loft) , very nice with a view to the snow capped mountains,.We rested after our day of travel and then went down for a 3 course dinner at 7pm which is included entree of prosciutto and honey dew melon.Main course of steak and vegies but nicer than it sounds and vanilla bean ice cream and strawberries for dessert.Jim and I went for a walk after tea and the kids watched You've got Mail in German with Jim or I translating every second sentence to them.

Switzerland day 2

This morning we went to church at vineyard Olten in hotel Arte with the Kaesers and met a few people who recognised us from 10 years ago when we attended here. They suggested Carlie come to live in Switzerland next year for a gap year. While it would be a great learning experience for her we would miss her . After church we had raclette for lunch and then the kids went to the local pool with the other families children. It was a hot day 30 degrees and many were at the pool.They jumped off a 5m diving board and also went on slides. After zvieri- znacht(tea) of bircher muslei Andi drove us up to a castle ruins and a walk to the top of the mountian for a wonderful view over Olten and beyond. There was a big flying fox there and we all had a turn. Ben and Sam enjoyed this flying fox 10 years ago so I knew Joel would like it. We stayed up talking with the family.

Switzerland Egerkingen

Today we had breakfast with the family Kaeser and then Andi drove us to Egerkingen where we use to live 10 years ago.We walked past the little river and our home .Some apartments have been built on the field next to where we lived .We walked to the school and then up the mountain to the lookout.It brought back so many memories and was great to be back in this little part of the world we once knew so well. We visited friends from the village and we had a BBQ together swiss style.

Paris day 4

We didn't have anything special to do today so we went for a walk in the area of our hotel which is in the latin quarter st germain.We found the the Pantheon nearby and the luxembourg gardens.We also found an art shop and a bery cute stationary shop .Cartlie had run out of glue for her scrapbooking and I bought a paintbrush just so I could say I got it in Paris. In the gardens Joel fed the birds. We then checked out of our hotel and made our way to catch the train to Switzerland.We travelled by TGV to Lausanne and then met Eva Egloff at the station.the egloffs did the exchange with us 10 years ago .They are heading to Australia also for a 10 year anniversary holiday. We travelled with her to Olten and met Andi and Priska at Olten to stay with them and their family. They were good friends of ours when we lived in Switzerland. We watched the soccer Switz vs Honduras in the evening before we went to bed.Jim and I slept in the Caravan and the kids were in the house.They have a huge dog, Melissa that made me miss Zebedee.

Paris day 3

Today we went separate ways, Jim took the kids to the Science place and I went to Sacre Coeur. I discovered that cheese is really interesting even in the grocery stores and very reasonably priced as well. I found a store with wonderful french lace and bought a couple of french scarves. One of the great things about coming here is summer is it is cherry season. Lunch was cherries, Saint paulin cheese(this was Bens favorite when we lived in Switzerland) ,croissants, and a piece of apple tart. This afternoon we all wandered over to the centre de Pompidou. I took the kids in for some more art. I really enjoyed seeing the Jackson Pollacks, Matisses's, Picassos and Kandinskys . We found a shop selling vintage shoes and Joel got himself a pair of Converse All Stars. We had tea at an Italian restaurant because we all felt like pasta and we bought ourselves a french gateau to share for dessert.