6/27/2011 22:00 Krumpendorf

Today was a rest day. We slept in and lounged around the apartment until after lunch when we went over to dad's office (he was working all day). After some time there, we went to a lecture he gave. (don't worry, it was at the request of younger than me one and me that we went.) It was very interesting and not difficult for me to understand. After that, dinner, which was trying to empty the fridge, so it was quit a random bunch of food. Next, we went to a family friend's house and took with us ice cream and toppings. We had a nice evening visiting with them and eating delicious food. They are very good people and i'm going to miss them. Only one more full day in Krumpendorf.

6/26/2011 21:30 Krumpendorf

Church today was very good. I played the piano again for relief society, but because i't sheen so long since i've practiced, I kept messing up. I was a little embarrassed. Also, between sunday school and sacrament meeting, a guy from my sunday school class came up to me and asked, "now, who are you exactly?" I guess after being here a few weeks with no formal introduction, he was curious. I told him who my dad was and then he understood. (my dad was there a lot longer than the rest of us.) After church we went to the university to meet the man responsible for my dad teaching here and his family. We went straight there without stopping at home first, which we didn't know needed to be the case until after we got to church, so we were a little unprepared. We then drove up to a city called Bad Eisenkappel to catch the last shuttle up to the Obir Tropfstienhohlen (Obir Dripstone caves). It was the first cave i've been in (excluding when i was a baby) and it was amazing! stalactites and stalagmites and columns everywhere. there was one formation that looked like organ pipes, and they had Bach's fugue in d minor playing. There were lots of lighting effects used throughout the caves. Then we had ice cream while waiting for the shuttle to leave. (keep in mind that we hadn't eaten since breakfast and now it's about 4 pm.) After that we stayed in Bad Eisenkappel for drinks and strudel. Then we drove probably fifteen or twenty minutes more to the rester aunt for dinner. We started with soup. The soup i had contained pieces of dough that had little pieces of liver in it. It was actually really good. then we had salad, and may I just say that austrian salad is possibly the best salad i've ever had. After that, our main dishes came. They were all huge! younger than me three ordered pizza. She got a whole pizza. I ordered beef and got probably 8 square inches of meat a half inch thick. It was so much food! it was so good too. We were all bursting at the seams by the end. After all that food, we came home. And are going to sleep.

6/25/2011 22:30 Krumpendorf

We spent today in Friesach. This is a smaller town with a moat and half intact city wall. we went to several museums and saw lots of cool things. The whole place still has cobblestone streets and just looks like it's straight from the middle ages. I have a picture of me in the stocks that should be awesome. After friesach (which is a pretty long drive, just PS) we came home to make preparations for sunday. and that's pretty much all.

PS my favorite flavor is black current. I love it. A LOT. I want to keep it with me forever. The End.

6/24/2011 22:20 Krumpendorf

Today was a work day for dad, so the rest of us decided to go on an adventure to puppenwelt. Now, that's not what it sounds like (but yes, all my siblings and I were laughing at what it did sound like), puppen means dolls-we went to a doll museum. It was pretty cool. Next we went to a mushroom museum and learned about how mushrooms grow and reproduce. Also we learned that boy scouts shouldn't eat wild mushrooms because the poisonous ones look just like the edible ones. Then we went to a park that had tree carvings. They were very cool, but i was disappointed that there weren't more. My favorite was a penguin. They carve them out of existing trees or stumps and just leave them attached. After that park (and lunch) We went to another doll museum-the difference bing that the first museum was all fabric dolls made by the same person whereas the second was a collection of mostly porcelain dolls from all over the world. The oldest doll there was from 1860 I think. It was awesome. We spent the rest of the day just chillin'. We ate dinner, played rook, and are now going to bed.

6/23/2011 22:00 Krumpendorf

French toast for breakfast always makes getting up early so much
easier. It was supposed to be a clear morning and rainy afternoon, so
we went out to Nockhomstrasse, which is a beautiful drive, go gorge
our eyes on nature. Unfortunately, it decided to rain hard for 20-30
minutes which we waited out before continuing the drive. There wer
some cool stops along the way, including a farmer's museum, a prarie
dog museum (which included poop samples from seeral different kinds of
animals), and a panoramic view at the highest point on the road. next
we went to a porsche museum which was amazing! there were so many cool
cars and old cars, and even a car cut in half. It was super awesome.
After we finished drooling over the cars, we loaded back up and headed
out to the Folter museum (torture museum). It was really cool, but
very scary and creepy. After that, we were all feeling tired, so we
headed back home for food. (I always end on food for two reasons. Its
delicious and it's really the last important thing that happens
durning the day.)

--

Rosie Liddle
"Laughing gives you abs, rock hard abs."

6/22/2011 22:30 Krumpendorf

We had lots of plans for today, so we got up and going fairly early.
We first ded a 2 1/2 hour hike to a beautiful waterfall. There were so
many stairs! i think already in europe i've climbed up probably 2500
stairs. And that is only counting the upward direction--i climbed back
down all those stairs too. Anyway, the hike was lots of fun, except
that we were all super sweaty cuz it was hot and humid-well more humid
than home. after that we ate a picnic lunch. We followed up lunch with
a vogelpark (bird zoo) which Younger than me two has been talking
about pretty much since day one. (He wants to have his house be a zoo
when he grow up-just ask him, he'll tell you all about it.) It was
pretty cool cuz we, and when i say we i really mean everyone but me,
were feeding parrots and several of my family members had parrots get
on their arms. Crazy! also, there was an emu. Emus make sounds like a
drum. Its really weird. There was also a random llama. Not sure why,
but it was there. But, the best part about the zoo was the playground.
They had a mini zip line! it was so much fun-even the parents went on
it. Also ther was this swing shaped like a giant basket and a set of
plankes raised a foot above the ground on springs that you try to stay
balanced on while trying to knock everyone else off by bouncing or
boving the planks. (It's a simple center of mass problem really. :D)
After the vogelpark we were going to go to a cave, but it closed early
for the day due to technical difficulties, so instead we went home for
the day and ate delicious food.

--

Rosie Liddle
"Laughing gives you abs, rock hard abs."

6/21/2011 22:30 Krumpendorf

It was an easy morning. We drove out to a mountain and rode up a tram
and ski lift. It was such a beautiful view! we picnicked there for
lunch and then headed back down. Dad had to go back to the university
for some meetings after that, and the rest of us got lost for a good
20 minutes before finding what we were looking for. We had just missed
the boat by about 20 minutes and had to wait for an hour for it to get
back. It was a cruise ship that went around a beautiful lake that we
would ride on for an hour or so. We decided it would be easier to wait
with ice cream. Yum. The boat ride was beautiful, but fairly short. We
could have stayed on longer, but we were all hungry, so instead we
went home and made dinner. also yum. It was a good day.

--

Rosie Liddle
"Laughing gives you abs, rock hard abs."

6/20/2011 22:30 Krumpendorf

This morning Younger than me three, KB, and I went to Hochosterwitz
with my mom. It was KB's last day with us, so we wanted to show her
the best castle around, which has, and i accidentally lied about this
before, 14 gates. It was lots of fun. Then we went to a spar (grocery
store) to get lunch and other supplies for the drive aged of us. We
drove three hours to vienna, and dropped off KB at her hotel, then
drove three hours back. We met the rest of the family for dinner.
Then I wasted the dishes with Younger than me three. The end.

--

Rosie Liddle
"Laughing gives you abs, rock hard abs."

6/19/2011 22:00 Krumpendorf

We checked out of the hotel this morning after breakfast. Then we went
o piazza del michaelangelo and saw the bronze copy of the David. I'm
pretty sure i've seen enough naked statues for an entire lifetime.
Then we just drove for five hours back home. We ate lunch on the road
and dinner at home, and pretty much that was all. Sorry today is so
short, but that's really all there is to say.

--

Rosie Liddle
"Laughing gives you abs, rock hard abs."

6/18/2011ish Florence, Italy

Not so early morning, but not so late either. the breakfast at the hotel-only served in the other building-was rolls and hot chocolate (which wasn't even very good hot chocolate) and crackers. Yeah, not super impressive or anything. After breakfast we went to the museum with the David, as in michaelangelo's david. It was long, so by the time we were done there, it was time for lunch. we stopped at a place that sold us pizza, gelatin, and drinks for a good price. it also had wifi, so i had the chance to check my email real fast, but not really send anything. it was good times and delicious food-did i mention i love italian food? Next, we went back to the hotel to freshen up and then left for the duomo. Story time, Mom was holding a spot in line because she and dad had left a little early to see what the situation was like. Well, my two younger brothers left the hotel slightly before us girls and dad but really at the same time, but they just disappeared, and we thought that we had somehow lost them in the hotel. we were all pretty concerned and mildly freaking out. turns out they just decided to leave and go to the dome ahead of us. Yeah, it was upsetting. We went up to the top of the largest brick dome ever constructed in the largest cathedral in the world. So many stairs!!! (463 i think.) But it had such a beautiful view. But it was also so high and scary. And then we went back town to the bottom of the cathedral. It was very cool. It's all so massive it makes you feel itty bitty. our next stop was the baptistry, which had the coolest mosaics on the ceiling. Next we got some fresh, homed gillatto, possibly the best gillatto in the world. But it was also more expensive than the less delicious stuff. Then we went on some bridges and took pictures. Dinner came next. pizza again, but it was a different kind, and also delicious. then back to the hotel for resting. But we went up to the terrace of the other building (which, by the way is well lit) and took pictures in front of a really pretty view of the duomo. afterwards we got italian hot chocolate. It was so thick we had to use a spoon to eat it. SO good. Then we went back to the hotel for bed, but...KB, younger than me three, and I talked until like 2 in the morning. When we were about to go to bed, there was this buzzer that went off, and we were all confused what it was. We realized pretty quick that it was the doorbell and someone really drunk kept on ringing it for a good 20 minutes. We got up and dead bolted our door at that point and just waited. Then downstairs we heard some really loud people and were concerned it was a fight, but then they started coming upstairs. turns out all these really noisy really drunk people were our next door neighbors. It was pretty loud for quite a while. But now i'm falling asleep.

6/17/2011 Florence, Italy 22:00

I woke up this morning by the phone ringing in a beautiful hotel room with a slightly confusing bathroom. Mostly cuz it had a bidet in it. (pictures to come.) We had a dessert buffet called breakfast and went on our way because we had a 3 hour drive to pisa, and i think you know where this is going-the leaning tower of pisa. but, before we got there, we wanted lunch, so we ate at a gas station cafe that sold us delicious sandwiches, soda, and dessert. after this refreshment, we drove the last 20 minutes into pisa and parked. we walked over to the leaning tower. We took a few pictures outside of ti before it was our time to go in. it was the weirdest feelings walking up those steps. sometimes it felt like i was going uphill, sometimes it felt like i was going down the steps i was actually going up, and the rest of the time it just felt like i was leaning to one side or the other. i did experience vertigo when i was on the outside, but it wasn't excessive, so it was alright. (they let you out on the 4th floor and the top. you can also go up to the very top above the belfries.) Going back down was harder for me-i felt less stable. It was really an amazing experience though. I realized that i know basically nothing about the leaning tower except that its leaning-homework assignment for me; find out why it was built. We also went through the cathedral next to the tower. something i've found interesting in Italy in Italy is that in holy places they enforce modesty. they have pieces of fabric to tie around your shoulders if you're wearing a tank top or your waist if your shorts are really short. Well, after the cathedral, we piled back into the car, ate our gas station dessert, and headed out to Vinci, as in Leonardo de Vinci. We looked at a museum of models of machines he designed. It was so cool! we also hiked the stairs to the top of a bell tower. Lots of stairs. The view up there is so amazing, it looked like a painting. That was all we saw in Vinci, and we started the drive to florence. let me tell you, when we got over the Arno river into florence, we got lost a lot before finding our hotel. this was partially because tomtom got confused and told us to go the wrong way down one way streets. Eventually we got there, but they told us they put us in another building, so we walked over there and went up this kinda scary looking street and went into a dimly lit building up to the third floor dimly lit rooms where we were going to stay. let me just say, i was disappointed. this place isn't very nice, but at least it has AC. (And also a bidet, in case you were wondering about that.) It took us a while to get into the rooms because we had struggles opening/unlocking the doors, and we thought one was dead bolted, but it wasn't. After resting for a little, we went to a restraunt recommended by the hotel people. we started looking at the menu and i'm pretty sure my dad just about had a heart attack, the prices were so high. well, after a few minures, he walked up to the counter and started asking about meal options and came back with a different menu with 4 options each first course and second course. it was all super delicious! I had noodles with a tomatoe sauce and then a curry dish with peas. It was all insanely good and authentic italian food. After dinner we went back to our hotel and went to bed.

6/16/2011 22:00 Verona, Italy

Early, Early morning today. We left at six for venice. We won't have any internet in Italy, so that is why all these posts are coming at the same time. It was a long morning, especially for KB with her jet lag. It was a very long car ride. It was interesting thug. We went through a toll road, but you take the ticket at the beginning and pay at the end. I think it's a little backwards, but I guess it makes sense because they have you pay depending on how long you were on the highway. We took a train the rest of the way into venice. it was hot and humid inside the train, and it smelled weird. It wasn't too exciting. We finally arrived in the city around 10. We walked around the shopping area and over several large bridges-very beautiful marble ones, and made our way to saint mark's basilica and all the other things in that area. We got some gilatto and went into the castle of the dodge. It had beautiful carvings and paintings everywhere. its also home to the largest paining on canvas in the world (7X24 meters). It was interesting to learn that the carvings at the tops of columns were not just decorations, but also political statements. We were all very hungry after that, so we went and ate lunch next-we had calzones of various kinds. Then we went to saint Marks's Bascillica. The mosaics all over the ceiling were so cool! lots of interesting stories about st. mark's body buried there. Then we went to the top of a nearby bell tower, which was really cool. it had a beautiful view of the city, but because of all the buildings, you can't see a single canal from the top. We were all pretty tired by this point, so we went and got some more gilatto and water before shopping for souvenirs (which was super easy, just by the way). We took a bus boat back to the other side of the city and went to a cart where i found my souvenir (a black and silver half mask with a feather on the side-i'm all ready for a masquerade ball). Then we went to a glass shop and that's where everyone else got their souvenirs. we took the train back to where we parked, and drove for another half hour or so to get to verona. we checked in at the hotel and then set out in search of dinner. We got a little lost and eded up finding a Kebab place where we stopped. These kebabs were delicious, but they had some different toppings than we'd seen before, like french fries. We also had sodas, and there's this really good soda we discovered called lemon soda which may possibly be my new favorite. It's italian and delicious. After dinner, we all felt tons better, so we walked up the steps of an old structure on the mountainside for a good view of the city. it was nice and beautiful . Then we went home to bed. PS this hotel was really nice. Really nice. Good sleep.

6/15/2011 20:00 Krumpendorf

Early morning today, but for a good cause. I got to sign up for my classes in the fall. I can't even explain how excited I am. Dad needed to get some work done, so the rest of us went out to Villach. We went to, wait for it, Monkey Mountain (mountain...mountain...mountain...). It was so cool!!! Monkeys everywhere. They were smelly and cute and crazy and mean to each other. I don't even know. It was insane. After that beautiful climax of the day, we went to the relief von Karnten, which is a giant topographical map of carinthia. It was very cool to look at. Then we took the scenic route, meaning we got lost a couple times yet again, surprise, surprise, to the villach start museum. It had old paintings and sculptures and rocks and furniture. It was interesting. After that, we came home for a quiet afternoon. My parents then went to pick up my former across the street neighbor, now to be known as KB (i'm not very creative with the names right now), and I made dinner. Dinner was quite a hodge podge event. (I can't think of the real word to describe dinner that i want to use, so hodge podge will just have to do.) Well, that turned into a quiet evening-not much to tell about.

PS sorry my writing is getting kinda boring, I am usually really tired when i write these things.

6/14/2011 21:30 Krumpendorf

I slept in Late this morning-my dad had to work, so KD was going to take Younger than me two and me shopping. She picked us up a little after noon, and we went to the largest shopping center in carinthia. I bought a shirt fro roughly $10.50, which isn't bad for a shirt in europe (everything is much more expensive here). Then we had Kebaps for lunch. They are SO good! I wish we had more turks in the US so we could have kepaps too. The last store we went to was a cosmetics store and had pink shopping carts. :D We left the mall and went to get italian ice cream, real italian ice cream. Delicious. After that, we went to KD's house to pick up her computer and a paper she needed to scan. We also met her adorable bunny, pancake. He is a beautiful bunny. Because they only have a scanner at their flat, we went there to take are of that. We also had root beer floats, which is a very special thing because they can only buy root beer in an american store in vienna. We headed out again to pick up her mother from work and dropped her off at the gym. then we went to another shopping center and went to Claire's. I was surprised that they had claire's there too. After that, we went home. During dinner, we (meaning mostly I) instigated the telling of our parents' story, which is a very cute story that i have decided i need to record sometime. Das Ende.

6/13/2011 22:00 Krumpendorf

This morning was an early morning because we wanted to leave by 9:15ish. We picked up that girl who took me to the bar on saturday night who will now be known as KD, and brought her with us to a little, and i don't use the word little lightly, town called weitensfeld. It was a holiday, which i think translates to pentecost, and this town has a strange tradition. The plague wiped ot the whole town except four people, three boys and one girl. All the boys wanted to marry the girl, so she said that they must race, and she would marry the fastest. In the center of the town there is a statue of her, and they call it the stone virgin. Every year they have a three day festival, and three boys from this village race to see who gets to kiss the stone virgin. Its a great honor for them. Well, we had read that there would be music and dancing in the town square starting at 10, so we wanted to get there early. We ended up getting there bout 10:30 and yes, there was music, but there wasn't much to do. we ate some sweets, then talked, that ate lunch, then talked, and then stood around for a long time waiting for the race to start at 14:00. When 14:00 finally came around, there were a bunch of politicians on horseback who rode around and also some more prestigious politicians who were there to watch. there were speeches, singing, and then the horses rode three time up and down the main street so the plague couldn't come back. Finally the three boys were introduced, ages 16, 17, and 18. The one who I thought would win the race was the only one who was smiling at the beginning. But then he stumbled when he started, so he lost a bit of time. He still ended up winning though. Which I was pretty happy about. The race was 250 meters, and the winner was brought back to the statue on horseback. He then climbed a ladder and kissed the stone virgin several times (i'm not sure why so many, it's just a rock). We were all tired from standing, and so we left after that. We just went home for a quiet evening, and I called the missionary couple in the ward here to let them know i would be coming to the YSA family home evening. It was small, just me and two other girls, but it was super fun. we ate pizza (pretty sure i had half a pizza), talked about the 10 virgins, played rummy cube, and played phrase pictionary. I just said this, but it was tons of fun!

6/12/2011 15:00 Krumpendorf

A little after 9 last night, My friend did call, and we went our for a
couple hours. We went to a bar (gasp! don't worry-I had almdudler, and
My friend had fanta, and her friend had sparkling water-no alcohol for
us). The bar had a beautiful view of lake Worthersee, and and we just
talked about everything. Then her friend had to be home, so we dropped
her off and then we went down to the lake and walked around. She
showed me her favorite spot in the whole wide world-she even wants to
get married there. Its beautiful. They have a much different schooling
system here, and she is already training to be a kindergarten teacher.
She wants to open up her own Kindergarten in Klagenfurt where the
children learn music and English and sports, not just play around. She
is a really fun girl, and I had tons of fun. I'm pretty sure her
favorite english word is crazy because it can apply to everything.
Crazy good, crazy bad, it's just universal.

Church. My first time in relief society-i'm in a foreign country,
can't understand the lesson, and i'm asked to play the piano. Now it's
really not bad, I had someone translating for me, and i only messed up
on the piano during the intro, but played well while they were
singing. Sunday school was in english. This is when i found out that
today is father's day in austria. In the US it's not until next week,
and that's when we'll celebrate it. My dad also spoke during sacrament
meeting, but had to cut out lots of his talk-it takes much longer to
speak with a translator. There were also two special musical numbers
beforehand, one by primary children and one by their ward choir. Don't
worry though, the family got to hear the full version of the talk
later in the afternoon. That's pretty much the extent of our
adventures for today. It's been a good sabbath.

--

Rosie Liddle
"Laughing gives you abs, rock hard abs."

6/11/2011 20:40 Krumpendorf

Once upon a time, in a land far away (literally), As i was awaiting my turn in the shower this morning, I got another call from that friend from ten years ago. She found out she has to work today, so she said she'd call if she didn't get off too late, but it sounds like my saturday night plans are cancelled, and with it approaching 9:00, I'm pretty sure they are. This morning, we climbed a mountain. We climbed to the summit-there's even a sign telling us we reached the highest point. it was a hot day, so that, coupled with humidity and long, onlypartially dry hair made for a fairly sweaty hike, but it was really quite nice. we found lots of wild strawberries. After coming back down the mountain and stopping at the Penny Markt, we picnicked in europa park. we didn't spend much time there because my dad's giving a talk in church tomorrow, and he wanted to work on it (and some other things i presume) at the university. Had I known this, I would have brought my journal, and the last 2 posts would already be published, but i didn't know. We went heavy duty grocery shopping next, meaning we bought food for today and tomorrow, and then pretty much headed home for a quiet evening. And we live happily ever after, The end.

6/10/2011 20:00 Krumpendorf

Another sleep in morning, but we've been staying up late enough. Vacations should include lots of sleep time. We started the day's adventures with a picnic in view of Burg Hochosterwitz (Burg means castle). This castle is on the top of a hill and has ten gates that you must pass through before reaching the actual castle. This castle is so strategically placed that it was never taken. However, once it came close. It was laid under siege for a long time and eventually food started running low. They came down to their last cow, and after removing the meat, they stuffed it back up, sewed it closed, and threw it over the wall. Because the enemy army thought they were wasting this food, after this long of a siege, they got discouraged and went home. After our picnic, we hiked through all the gates up to the top. They have a cool museum up at the top with lots of armor, weaponry, paintings, and such. There's one stuffed man in a suit of armor who is 7 or 8 feet tall. Ten years ago, when we came here before, our dad told us about how the song "silent night" was written at this castle. Well, little three year old younger than me two was in the museum, and was slightly ahead of the rest of us. After seeing this man he came running back shouting, "Dad, DAD! I found the silent knight!" We all got a good laugh out of that. Unfortunately, we aren't allowed to take pictures in the museum. This castle adventure brought back lots of memories. Next, we went to magdalenesberg, which is the ruins of an old Roman city. It was really cool--who knew rocks could be so interesting? Hey, maybe someday our 21st century life will be ancient history and become tourist attractions wherever it is preserved. After the city we went and saw a throne made from old rocks (marble mostly, i believe) that people used to bring offerings to for the duke of Corinthia so that they might gain favor in his sight. apparently he would bestow great favors on those who brought the best gifts. The car ride back home was fairly uneventful, except that we brought up, and played, and old game we used to play, invented by our father last time we were here. It's called Statue. We see who can stay frozen like a statue the longest. (Now, with six children under the age of 12, this was a brilliant game for our dad to make up.) The funny part is, it still works. :D dinner was fried potatoes and wurst. (I'm still not a fan of austrian hot dogs at all, but the parents don't necessarily need to know that.) The potatoes were delicious, and I'm loving the fresh salads. This is simply a delicious place.

PS I'm not sure why i tend to end on food or at least linger on it. Probably because it's such a fundamental part of life.

6/9/2011 20:00 Krumpendorf

My father informed me that I can't make austrian bread because i don't have the right kind of oven. LAME. Anyway, this morning I was awakened to the delicious smell of french toast sometime around 8:00 ish. It was delicious. Our adventures for the day began fairly quickly at the reptile zoo. I honestly dislike zoos very much, but i looked at every kind of snake, spider, frog, fish, and turtle that they had along with the crocodiles. It was absolutely thrilling for younger than me two, especially cuz he got to hold a snake and pet a giant turtle (emphasis on the giant part). After the zoo, the professor had an appointment via Skype, so we headed to his office and ate our picnic lunch. after his call was over, we went to our most anticipated destination: Minimundus. This place is amazing! It has around 150 models of buildings, railroads, boats, and other architecture from around the world including the leaning tower of pisa, the Taj mahal, the eiffel tower, mesa verde ruins, and so much more! It's so cool!!!! (Minimundus translates to miniature world.) On the car ride home, my dad received a phone call for me and i got invited by an old friend who i played with last time i was here when we were both little, to go "Do something, like drive around the city" with her and her friend on saturday evening. I'm really excited, so I hope its super fun and not awkward. We also stopped at a store on the way home, surprise, for some groceries associated with dinner. After dinner, we spent some time together as a family and my dad told us a little bit about his campaign for vice president of academics when he was in high school. He has the humor to win that kind of election. Anyway, I think that's about all for today. Goodnight.

6/8/2011 19:00 Krumpendorf, Austria

Excepting the professor, we all slept in today and got quite a late
start. we stayed at the pension until after lunch. after our bellies
were satisfied, we piled into the car and headed up to pyramidenkogel
which is an overlook at the top of a foothill to the mountains. the
view encompasses lake wertersee and stretches for miles in every
direction. the tower is 54 meters tall besides the mountain. i have to
admit, i experienced some vertigo while looking over the edge. after
we had our fill of unnaturally high places, we loaded back up and
headed out to Keltikwerlt. (for all you english speakers out there,
that translates to celtic world.) It was quite interesting. There were
some burial sites, as well as information about spiritual rituals and
their everyday lif. Kinda cool, but a little strange. our next stop
was a visit to rosegg to see their wild animal park and wax museum.
i'm not a fan of zoos, so the animal park was fairly uninteresting to
me, but younger than me two found it necessary to take pictures of
every rock, tree, and leaf along with all the animals. he completely
filled up my mother's memory card. although the wax museum was small,
i quite enjoyed it. the museum was inside a schloss, or an old times
mansion. It was pretty cool. We stopped by a store on the way home to
get food for the next couple days. its interesting to me that here,
they buy things in less quantity and just buy more often. their
refrigerators are much smaller, so they have less space to store the
food. the milk here tastes slightly different from home, but it
doesn't need to be refrigerated until it has been opened. also, they
sell eggs in sets of ten, not by the dozen. to buy pre sliced bread,
it's called toast here, is not as common as buying loaves of bread and
rolls. i'm inspired to get a cookbook and try some quatrain bread
recipes when i get back. we'll see if that actually happens. one last
thing, the water here. if you buy bottled water, or bottled juice of
any kind for that matter, its almost all carbonated. probably 95% of
it is carbonated. the carbonation is different than back home, it
hitnk it's that the bubbles are smaller. Anyway, i hope you all eat
delicious food today. I know I have.

--

Rosie Liddle
"Laughing gives you abs, rock hard abs."

6/7/2011 18:30 Krumpendorf, Austria

Another tired morning for the family-we had to get up early in order
to be ready in time to go to the university with dad. 7:30 was the
published time to depart, but it ended up being more like 7:42, which
varely got dad to class on time. the family spent some time in his
office, on the internet and the took off to down town. we walked the
3.6 kilometers to downtown klagenfurt, leaving the car with dad. we
made a stop at minimundus on the way and bought karnten cards-these
cards get you into lots of attractions for free or at a discounted
rate. our google phone gps led us astray, so not according to plan, we
stopped at the landesmuseum which was, unfortunately for us english
speakers, completely in german except for the rat exhibit. It was an
amazing museum with cool artifacts from across space and time (yes, i
mean that quite literally). we spent quit a bit of time in there
before going in search of lunch. as we were looking for a cafe to eat
at, i remembered delicious turkish sandwiches and asked mom about
those. we soon saw a place that made them, so we had kebaps for lunch.
this sandwich is on a toasted bun or pocket bread with spit roasted
mat and various toppings including spicy sauce and chilli powder
generally. SO delcious. Something interesting about street side dining
is that they don' have you pay until you're ready to leave. they don't
keep an eye on you or anything, they just trust. they know you've used
their services and goods, so you will pay. that would never work in
america. next, we went to see the lind werm, which is a cool statue of
a dragon. (pictures to come...i think i won't be posting pictures
until i'm back home probably.) we then went to an amazing hall painted
with 665 coats of arms called wappensaal. the walls were completely
flat, and al the frames were painted on, but they were done so well
that they looked real. after that, we looked for a fountain we had
taken pictures by last time we were here, and after several tries and
getting directions a couple times, we found it! it was exciting. we
then walked out to the canal and walked back to the university. lots
of kilometers on our shoes today. we came home and ate delicious
food-leftovers from last night's spaghetti, and treats that we picked
up at a backeri I neglected to mention that we visited in Klagenfurt.
I also forgot to say that last night, we installed a new shower head
in our pension, and it's very nice. Another thing i neglected to
mention was the so-named-by-mom yogurt fiasco. when coming home from
the store the first time we went, yesterday, there was a yogurt in
mike's bag that got broken. It leaked. the end. that was
anticlimactic. :)

--

Rosie Liddle
"Laughing gives you abs, rock hard abs."

6/7/2011 9:00 Klagenfurt, Austria

This morning my family went with my dad to the University so we could do some emailing and stuff with the internet here since its free for us here rather than paying for it at other places. Most of the posts I have done so far have been through email, but what i didn't realize is that i had the settings changed so they were only saved as drafts. they should automatically publish now, so things should be coming more often. If you want to talk to me, email is going to be the best way. I am having the time of my life. I love it here! I'll post again soon. farewell to all.

PS haha, it's the middle of the night there, and it's morning here already. :)

6/6/2011 18:00 Krumpendorf, Austria

This morning was a more tired morning for most of the family, but we got up around eight. Dad had already left for the university, so we were planning on exploring the area. after a cereal breakfast, we all got ready, which took a long time with one shower to five people, and then set out on an adventure to see if the Billa, the grocery store we shopped at last time, was still around. It was still there, to our great excitement, and there was also a Spar, another grocery store, right next to it. after looking around at both stores, we bought food and soap and walked back home. the bread here is just so good! it tastes delicious unlike anything i've found in the states. also, something else interesting to note is that the mustard here comes in metal tubes like toothpaste. it tastes very different from our american mustard. we ate lunch and then just lounged around for a while. soon after we started to get tired, mom decided it was time to go on a walk again, so we went to see if the Baeckeri Nadrag was still around. It was, but we decided to wait until dad came home to go there, and besides, it was closed. We walked a little further on to an information place and got a map and some sightseeing pamphlets. then, while we were heading back home, our dad stopped and picked us up on his way home. we spent some time at home before going back out to the Bakery. Its funny, most places close from about 12:00 to 15:00 for lunch i guess. we ate delicious pastries, and then headed back home for planning and playing games. Mom and dad went to the store, so I expect we'll be eating dinner soon. I can't even explain how delicious the food is. Even the air here just seems, well, wholesome. Healthy. Wonderful.

6/5/2011 8:17 PM Austria

Some things I neglected to mention:
The flight to paris was a ten hour flight. Between flights, in paris,
there was some sort of superman convention because we saw several
people dressed up in tights and underwear as superman, and besides
that there were other people all dressed up in neon spandex all over
the place. we landed in vienna, found our luggage, and met our dad.
Yay! then we got in the car and drove. the driving and roads here are
very different, but also the same. I slept some on the drive as well,
but not tons. The scenery is beautiful. it is very green here with
lots of trees. its also fairly humid, but i love it. we stopped at
mcdonalds for dinner and then went to our family friends' house. We
talked with them for maybe half an hour before the parents went to
dad's apartment and we stayed at theri house for the night. We pretty
much all slept through the night, but younger than me one was awake
for a little bit around 2:30. Then we woke up and got ready and went
to church. we were almost an hour late, so the first block of meetings
was over. i went to Young single adult sunday school. Partway through,
a man started translating for me, but next week I hope I'll be able to
manage better. Besides, most of the YSA seemed to speak english. Then
we went to Sacrament meeting--it was mostly lost on me because i
understand very little german, if any. After church, we went back to
our friends' house for a barbecue. the food was delicious. the food
here is different, but amazing! Interesting fact about the pretzels we
had, they're called lye pretzels cuz they're dipped in lye before they
cook. I was also showed a really cool plant called stevia which is the
new big sugar substitute. it's quite sweet. Our friends ended up
lending me a chemistry book which i'm excited to read. After some more
visiting time, we loaded up all our things and headed for our
apartment in krumpendorf. It s the same place we stayed ten years ago,
so i recognized our landlady and the apartment. it has been remodeled
some, but it's similar. We all got settled in and just spent a
relaxing evening together. For an evening snack we had palazzo cookies
which are covered in delicious chocolate and some delicious bread with
wild cranberry jam. we also tried some toast with duo, which is a
chocolate hazelnut spread with vanilla cream. ti was all super
delicious. there are also cherries growing in the yard here that we
are welcome to. some other funny things that happened, i think i
mentioned before that after the plane ride, my feet were really stiff.
well, that first evening i finally looked at them and they were super
fat. i'm pretty sure i lost my ankles. i took pictures, but its hard
to see. the swelling has gone down some, but at some point when my
feet are back to normal, i'll take more pictures and post them
together for before and after comparison. they swelled up some during
church again, but should be back to normal soon. also, random fact,
the toilet paper here isn't square, its rectangular. also they have a
different system of flushing is different. they have two buttons, a
big one for a big mess and a little one for a little mess. its pretty
brilliant if you ask me. As far as air conditioning goes, its pretty
much non-existent here, so there's lots of leaving the windows open.
their windows ar eamazing! they open horizontally and vertically
depending on which way you turn the handle. oh, this place is just so
beautiful! Its amazing!

--

Rosie Liddle
"Laughing gives you abs, rock hard abs."

6/4/2011 12:35 PM Paris, France

I guess my judgement really was impaired by not sleeping because for
some reason I decided it would be a good idea to not sleep on the
airplane. I slept for the first hour and the last twenty minutes of
the first flight, giving me a grand total of approximately five hours
of sleep in the last 48 hours. I thought, for some strange and
unfathomable reason, that this would help with jet lag. we shall see.
so, i've pretty much pulled two all nighters, even though one was a
significantly shorter night. (It's just after noon here, but at home
it's just after 4 in the morning.) Now, we're taking off for a two
hour flight from Paris to vienna. its probably best for me to stay
awake in the middle of the day. I'm not feeling 100% anymore. Its just
a minor headache and slight dizziness, but both of those could also be
from flying. I guess my stomach is also slightly upset, but with
airplane food and a strange eating schedule, that should surprise
nobody. all things considered, I feel fantastic! (now say fantastic in
french.) The only thing i really dislike about flying is the way the
change in pressure hurts my ears, especially on the way back down. I'm
sleepy. I'll write more later. *sleep...almost an hour passes* Yep, i
couldn't stay awake, but the good news is, it still feels like mid
day. I believe this sleep deprivation will make it easy to sleep
tonight. The other good news is my head and stomach feel better than
earlier. The bad news is, i woke up, and 30 seconds later the flight
attendant asks me a question. i didn't understand, so i asked, "what?"
then he started to repeat the question, but interrupted himself and
asked if i spoke french. Duh! I didn't understand the first time
because it was in a different language, which didn't even occur to me
30 seconds after i woke up. I felst slightly foolish. That's just how
dumb i am right after i wake up though. changing the subject, I've
discovered something: flying is fairly boring and makes me
unproductive. Granted, i did finish crocheting a washcloth and watched
two movies, but really sat and did nothing but ake my feet stiff. I'm
excited to get to tomorrow. Well, I can't think of anything else to
say so I won't. The adventure continues...

--

Rosie Liddle
"Laughing gives you abs, rock hard abs."

6/3/2011 2:30 pm, USA

Maybe I'll start this story with yesterday. Yesterday I graduated from
high school. My question is simply, why does the school board make
people who are ready to move on to the next stage in their lives sit
through an obnoxiously boring and rather long ceremony and pretend
that they're happy to be there and it's the greatest day of their
lives? The truth is that we all just want to get on with it and party.
Something you may or may not know about me is that I am usually asleep
by 9:30 and I usually wake up around 4:30. I'm not much of a night
person, not much at all. But, at the senior all night party I was not
even tired. And then we went to asymptote's house for an hour before
sending the boys home at about 4:30 (when I usually wake up). Still,
not even tired, so we decided to watch a movie. Five o clock in the
morning, and I fall asleep for the first time. Well, that was at the
beginning of the movie. We woke up at the end of the movie and decided
to try to watch it again since we were all asleep the first time, but
to no avail. At about 7:20 I woke up, conscious that I needed to go
home and pack, so the bestest friend cousin ever and I went home. Then
I packed, cleaned, and didn't sleep at all. Well, it gets to be about
one ithe afternoon, and it's time to go. I still feel fine even though
I've been awake for twenty seven of the last thirty hours. After being
in the car for about twenty minutes, I start to doze, and I doze the
rest of the way to the airport, but still feel fine and awake as soon
as we get out of the car. I am surprised that I'm not either acting
completely insane or completely dead. Usually I am one of those when I
miss a couple hours of sleep, let alone the whole night. Now I'm just
sitting in an airport. Thus, the adventure begins.