7/2/2011 Raitis by Mutters (ie i found out where "near Innsbruck" is), Austria 22:00

Things seem to be getting earlier and earlier. we left at seven this morning for salzburg. our first stop was Hellbruin. this schloss is famous for its water gardens which often squirt unsuspecting guests. it also has beautiful regular gardens where the sound of music gazebo happens to be. pictures were taken and memories made. after finishing up at Hellbruin we went deeper into the city and picked up some sandwiches for lunch on the way. we went to mozart's home and his birthplace. it was fascinating to learn about his life. we then went up the hill to hohensalzburg, the castle/fortress of the city. it was very cool to learn about its history and see the view from the top. there were also a couple museums with old artifacts. the most out of the ordinary exhibition is the marionette museum. it was interesting to see how much went into the business. we took our leave of the castle and went down to a square where we did a little window shopping and a little real shopping. delicious pretzels were definitely involved. We then went to mirabel gardens and enjoyed the beauty there. (the gardens are also a filming site for the sound of music.) We walked back downtown to get there before six to hear the glockenspiel in the tower play. it was rather amazing actually. it repeated a few times before ending. next we went to a high terrace to see a panorama of the city. it was breathtaking. everything had basically shut down by this point of the evening, so we drove back home, stopping for dinner at a gas station. interestingly, to get from innsbruck to salzburg, you drive across a corner of germany, and supposedly their highways don't really have speed limits all the time. at one point in the passing lane we got up to 189 kph (that's roughly 117 mph), and we were not gaining on the car in front of us. it was cool, but a little scary. it was a long drive, and everyone came home tired.

7/1/2011 near Innsbruck, Austria 22:00

Early morning again today. we headed out before 8 to germany to see Neuschwantstien and Hohenshwangau. Hohenschwangau was a summer/hunting residence for the royal family and is really very grand inside. there are lots of paintings on the walls and lots of intricate woodwork. The kind nag queen lived on separate floors, as was the custom of the time, with the children in a different building entirely. Ludwig, son of maximillian, was the one who built neuschwanstien. He was good friends with Wagner (the composer) and dedicated each of the rooms to a different one of his operas. He only lived in the palace for less than 300 days before a secret embassy from munich arrived to tell him that he was suspected of being mentally unstable and unfit to rule. they took him up to see a doctor to verify his condition. He travelled up, but before seeing the doctor, was found dead in the shallow waters of a lake. 125 years later we still don't know what happened-murder, suicide, or freak accident. Construction on the castle was immediately halted and it was never finished. This is the castle that walt disney based cinderella's castle off of. it started pouring rain really hard after that, so we just headed home, made dinner, and planned for tomorrow.

6/30/2011 near Innsbruck, Austria 22:00

We had big plans for today, but because of the rain, we changed them. we went to Schloss Ambras. It was originally a hunting residence, but then it got remodeled to be a showcase house. It's the oldest modern museum still around. It displayed tons of armor, paintings, animal horns, and other various curiosities. This is simply a beautiful palace. After a quick lunch we went to Kristallwelten (right next to the swarovski factory). It's a strange and beautiful place, but quite the tourist trap. Next we went to the glocken museum (bell museum). It showed how bells are made and had bells from different countries and different times. It was super cool. and then, we came home. PS Sorry it's not too detailed today, i'm tired.

6/29/2011 near Innsbruck, Austria 22:00

Early morning-we packed and left. we were able to get in the car by about 8:30. We headed up to innsbruck, but took the scenic rout so we could go on the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse (Grossglockner High alpine road). It was such a beautiful drive. The highs mountain in Austria, Grossglockner, was there. It was very beautiful. I did feel a little weird though, cuz we all wore our matching university shirts. The whole road was just amazing! there were waterfalls everywhere and beautiful wildflowers-we didn't see any edelweiss though, unfortunately. We picnicked there, and after we left this road we just kept driving for basically forever. we arrived in a place near innsbruck around 4:30 and checked in to the farm we're staying at. Let me tell you, despite the many flies and slight oder of cows (it's a dairy farm) this is my favorite place we've stayed. Three bedrooms all close to each other, each equipped with a sink, mirror, and good lighting along with comfy beds and a couch and table in two of the rooms. Nice big kitchen with a microwave. the table's a little squishy to get into though. Also, separate bath room and water closet. this is perfect. only drawback is that there is no living room. so i'm all excited and unpacking when the parents leave for the store. they don't take long, and we' make a fairly early dinner of wurst, salad, grapes, carrots, and bread. after dinner, quite a while after, i being looking for my watch. Oh no! I can't find it. I must have left it in one of the cars (I literally looked through all my things and didn't find it.) I borrow the keys from the parents and go downstairs to look in the cars. I am unsuccessful at finding it, so i turn to go inside. i reach the from door, try to pull the handle, but its locked. I still am not sure how that happened, cuz i was able to go out the door just fine. Whatever. Someone is bound to come for me eventually. I should keep track of how long it takes--oh wait, i don't have my watch. I sit on a bench on the porch for an unknown number of minutes. Eventually the bugs are eating my flesh just a little too much, so i go sit in a car for another unknown number of minutes. Eventually a man can be seen through a window. I debate about going up and knocking on the window to ask him to let me in, and just when i'm about to, i see a figure come up to the front door to open it, but it's locked. They go to get a key. I can tell the person is wearing a black shirt through the cloudy glass, so i assume (correctly) that it is a member of my family. I get out of the car, lock it, and go up to the door. The man is watching me (I wonder if he locked me out?) with a concerned look on his face. But the door opens fairly soon and my mother is standing there confused. I explain that somehow i got locked out. she had seen me sit tin in the car through her window. a few minutes later she looked again. she saw me rub my eye and though i was crying, so she talked with dad about who should come console me. And that's my stupid story of the day. (PS i still have not found my watch. it saddens me.)

6/28/2011 23:00 Krumpendorf

Today we got up and finished (almost) cleaning out the fridge of food. Then we headed downtown Klagenfurt, we needed to get there at about 9, for a bus tour of the city. The bus driver is a man we knew from church, and he told us about tit. It was no ordinary bus tour. the bus we rode in was actually an original police car from way back when. It still can drive at speeds up to 80 kph. Besides driving around the city, we stopped at a schools and saw some deer, we went to a transportation museum and got to ride an old electric train, and we went on an old boat to travel the perimeter of the worthersee. It was pretty amazing. The water in the worthersee is a really pretty aqua color. I like it a lot. The tour ended at about 1, so we stopped at a kebap place for lunch. I was very proud of myself because when it was my turn to order i said, "ales," which means everything. i spoke german to order food! (that exclamation point has a heart instead of a dot, you just can't see it.) yum. we then dropped mom off to do laundry, which turned into a funny story cuz she had the apartment keys. We realized that when we got there, so dad went back to get them from here while we waited. when he finally got home, we went inside. we didn't spend too long there before going to the university. dad had some work to and an office to clean out. for a while, he sent us out to get ice cream-homade ice cream. it was really good. we took as long as we could there and then went back to the university. we played cards until dad was ready to go. after realizing the time (just after six) we headed for a quick dinner at the golden arches (remember how the fridge is empty?)and then went to the store to get a couple thins for tomorrow. we came back home then and cleaned the kitchen. after that, the kids played cards. and then we found 65 euro cents! (and i'm not just saying that to make the story better. it really happened. they were in the couches.) after much discussion, we decided that next time we were in the store we would see what we could get with that. community money is exciting. Then we packed because it's our last night here. For that very reason, my dad's colleague dropped by. he gave us all university shirts (pictures to come) and had a book for dad about old klagenfurt. the other thing he brought was a gift for dad's "son's son." we didn't mention that the child he was speaking about is actually a girl. And i'm really tired, so i'm going to sleep now. goodnight!

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