It is so refreshing to be here. People are much friendlier. The city is smaller and sweeter. And the food is tastier. I wish that we could live here and commute to Munich :)

The train was very crowded and we had to separate, Andrew with Gabriel and Felicity with me. Felicity and I made a bunch of friends. One man said we looked exactly the same :) I felt very proud.

We got to the station an hour before we could check in to our apartment. So we walked along a nice old street to a burger shop.

When we got to our apartment we tried to have naps, but Felicity was not interested. So we went out and walked around old town. We saw Mozart’s birthhouse. In the courtyard of his birth house there was a little shop that Felicity walked into and a lady ran out to give little stuffed bears to her and Gabriel. SO kind!!!

We ate dinner at a nice little restaurant. The schnitzel was yummy. We are home now and going to bed early (after reading Heidi). We are excited to hear the nuns sing at 6:45 tomorrow :)

Gabriel loves the teepee in our apartment!

What a wonderful day!!! Gabriel came in for a very cozy snuggle at 5:30. He ate his little candy elephant in bed :)

At 6 we woke up Andrew and Felicity and ran across town to Nonnberg Abbey to hear the nuns sing at 6:45. It was beautiful. We found out that there are 18 nuns left. We couldn’t see them because they’re cloistered.

Then we went to breakfast at Cafe Tomaseli. It was very fancy and delicious!

Then we took the funicular up to the castle. It was a really nice castle! I loved the exhibits. There was a puppet museum in the castle but poor Felicity got scared :( So we waited for the boys outside.

Then we went on a horse drawn carriage ride through town. Felicity loves the clip clip horses. Gabriel loved the Austrian hat that I got him. He tried tipping his hat to people we passed.

We had lunch at Ludwigs burgers. It seemed very Portland.

I gave Felicity and Gabriel baths at home. Felicity in particular was very sticky because I got her an apple strudel pretzel :)

After I put them to sleep I started wandering around Salzburg and found myself on the hill behind the town. Now I am eating fried apples and vanilla cream on top of the hill outside. It’s AMAZING! I love it here. Wish we could stay.

A rough start. Andrew gets so grumpy and mean to Gabriel some days. It’s so sad to see.

By after a lot of Andrew yelling and me having to ask him to take a time out we made our way again to fancy breakfast. Gabriel was so proud to dress up in his hat that I dressed Felicity in her dirndl so that they could both be fancy. They were ADORABLE.

After breakfast they ran around the horse fountain. Then we went to the Salzburg museum but Andrew was extra grumpy again. Ugggggg.

We walked to Mirabelle gardens then Gabriel and I went to English Mass at Sacellum. It was beautiful with nice songs and singing even though there were only about 15 of us. We got some snacks and brought them home for lunch.

I read Felicity “Elmer’s Colors” then pit her down for a nap. Then I read Gabriel “Heidi” and put him down for nap. Then Andrew stayed home and I headed out. The first place that I went was the church in the mountain that we saw yesterday. It was in the cemetery at Saint Peter’s monastery. Then I went to the oldest restaurant, Saint Peter’s Stiftskulinarium. It was so delicious. The beef consume and the lamb pockets (like ravioli) were amazing. It’s fun to go out to a fancy meal!

I got some snacks and water for the train ride on the way home. Lots of apple strudel for Felicity (she’s crazy about it!). And Mozart Kugel candy and little animal shaped marzipan candies for Gabriel. And a cheese danish for Andrew. And a Linzer cookie for me (and Felicity).

The train was packed again so Gabriel and I worked our way to the dining car and asked a couple to share their table. Andrew and Felicity had found seats. And after the train ride out with just me and Felicity, Gabriel wanted the ride back to be just him and me reading Heidi :)

It was sad to come back to Munich.

Such a fun day!

I nursed sweet Felicity. Then when Andrew took Felicity to school, Gabriel and I headed to the Hauptbahnhof to catch the train to Salzburg. We finished reading Heidi along the way. That is the sweetest story I have ever read.

When we got to Salzburg we shopped a little (got two ADORABLE outfits for f

We had a pleasant start to our journey. We stopped at the Edeka Express in the Hauptbahnhaf and got three bouquets of flowers for Gerda, Birgit, and Astrid. Then we hopped on the train.

Gabriel and I got a whole compartment to ourselves. We read Peter Pan almost the whole way. Lately we’ve been splitting up on the train (it’s just too stressful with all four of us together!). So I’ll get to sit with Felicity on the way back to Munich.

Gerda and Birgit were waiting for us at the platform. They are SO thoughtful. Then we got a taxi to our Airbnb to drop off our luggage. Then we continued on to Astrid’s apartment. She made such a delicious lunch for us! The wiener schnitzel was so good. And she very thoughtfully brought out old duplos and softies for Gabriel and Felicity to play with. Then we headed to Gerda and Werner’s apartment for more dessert and elderberry syrup. Yumm!!!

Gerda and Werner will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. The city of Innsbruck is giving them 1,000 euros as a present :)

We walked back to our Airbnb but the way was long because I was carrying Felicity the whole way and she is getting so big and strong!!!

We went out quickly to the Christmas market for dinner. Gabriel was very happy that we found crepes :)

Then back to our little apartment. Gabriel and I watched The Sound of Music for Mama Gabriel special time. I LOVE that movie.

A little bit of a slow day. We woke before dawn to a beautiful snowy morning. It looked as though the streets had been dusted with powdered sugar :)

We went to the bakery that Andrew and I saw yesterday. It was nice to be in out of the freezing cold, but the food wasn’t impressive. Gabriel got a cup to snow in. We walked around until the volkskunst museum opened at 9. It was cold!!!

The museum was nice but the best part was a little play area with coloring sheets. Felicity and I sat there and enjoyed taking out the colored pencils and putting them back while Andrew and Gabriel explored the museum. We all went to the adjoining church where Emperor Maximilian was burried.

Then we went to a little cafe. Then to the carousel at the Christmas kindermarket. Then I bought Felicity a beautiful lamb skin for Christmas (she LOVED the one at our apartment in Salzburg!).

Then back for naps. I’m out at the strudel cafe after visiting the Swarovski shop (VERY sparkly!!!). Then the train back to Munich.

DEC 02 2018

We headed straight to the train station as soon as we woke up. I enjoyed Felicity's company for the ride while Andrew enjoyed Gabriel's. Felicity and I played with clay and read "The Princess and the Pea" over and over again.

We decided to take a bus from the train station straight to Tomisellis. Yummmmmmm. Then Gabriel and I headed out to English Mass. It was the same priest and small community as the last time that we went. It was a very nice way to start Advent :) 

We walked through the Christmas Markets on our way to our apartment. Gabriel and Felicity got yummy gingerbread. Our apartment was over the Nonberg Abbey hill. It's in a really nice quiet neighborhood. Unfortunately, it's quite rainy. My feel are very soggy (my canvas loafers are not made for European autumns!). 

Gabriel has been ready to skip his nap (5.5 years of naps was a pretty good run :) ). So he and I walked around while Felicity napped. The first thing that we did was go to the Marionette theater to pick up tickets for the afternoon Nutcracker show that I got for Gabriel and Andrew (I accidentally left the tickets that they mailed to us at home). Then we headed back to the apartment to do a switcheroo. Andrew and Gabriel headed out to the puppet show while Felicity and I headed to the Christmas Markets and Toy Museum. At the Christmas Market some girls dressed as angels gave Felicity a chocolate angel and we got a sandwich with lots of sauerkraut. She LOVED the little fairy tale houses in the Toy Museum. It was so much fun walking around with her and seeing her delighted face. We squeezed into each house together. It was a very cozy happy time.

We met with Gabriel and Andrew for pizza dinner. Yumm. Then

DEC 03 2018

We went to delicious Tomisellis early. It was delightful because we were among the first patrons, we weren't worried about making too much noise :)

Then we went roaming around the hill near the castle. It was drippy but oh so beautiful! The view of the Alps was AMAZING!!!

We went back to the apartment and packed up. Andrew and Felicity took the 11 o'clock train so that she could get home for nap. Gabriel and I stayed and wandered around the markets and went to the homemade candy shop to get more fancy candy canes. We went to very fancy lunch at St. Peter Stiftskulinarium. It's really fun to go on dates with Gabriel! We went to Lanz and got Mommy her Christmas present - a pretty white shawl.

We had a cozy train ride home.