First Few Days of Au

The last few days couldn't have been more perfect. I got off the train Saturday and waiting right in front of the door was Werner Bischof and his wife Ulrike. Werner was an exchange student of my father and his family back in 1978. So over thirty years ago! Weird to think of my dad being my age. But our families have kept in touch over the years. They live in a little town Au in the middle of the Alps by the German-Austrian-Switzerland border. We're staying in Au in their guesthouse through Christmas. Anyways, Werner offered to pick me up from the train station and take me back to Au. My family flew into Zurich and were renting a car to drive to Au. Well, out of all the doors on the train, they chose the right one and greeted me as soon as I stepped out the door.

Au

The drive to Au was so beautiful! There had been a snow storm the day before all throughout Austria. It was responsible for cancelling many of my friend's flights back home. But it sure made for some terrific scenery. At Werner's house, I was greeted by a warm pair of slippers and a hot cup of tea. It was so nice! I was introduced to their daughters Barbara and Julia. I met Barbara over a year ago once when she was in the states so it was nice to see her again, but until now I had only heard about Julia. Both girls are extremely nice. We are all very close in age and got to talking easily. For dinner I got to try some excellent Swiss cheese. Martin, the only son and youngest, is on the Austrian ski team. He won the cheese in a race and I sure enjoyed sharing the victory.

My family's flight ended up being two hours delayed due to weather so they didn't get to Au until close to nine. It was so good to see my family again! I'm sure the Bischof family must have thought me a little crazy for all the jumping up and down and squealing I did. Ulirke was too kind and had prepared some spagetti for everyone. After a quick catch up we were taken to the apartment where we will be staying. It is a wonderful place and we are totally being spoiled! We have a full size kitchen (which was stocked with food - the Bischofs are saints!) and a living room with two bedrooms and a real bathroom with a shower! This is my first real shower in five months! (In Vienna I had a shower head that I had to attach to the bathtub spout and hold above me.) I know that this trip is going to be amazing! I look forward to a good night sleep!

Sunday

Snow Angel!

Sunday started with a lazy morning. After a long day of travel, we all slept in. The snow was piled high outside and layed untouched. Well, we decided to change that. Alex and I wanted to build a snowman, but unfortunately the snow was too dry and it wouldn't pack. So instead we just ended up pushing each other in and throwing snowballs. The whole family went on a walk up the mountain to explore our little town. We found deer tracks and fox tracks in the snow. There was a pretty little stream that we wanted to walk along, but then realized with no trail that probably wasn't a good idea.



Feldkirch



Later that afternoon we joined the Bischof family and went to Feldkirch. This is a small town on the border of Switzerland, Lictenstein, Germany, and Austria. We went to the Schattenburg Museum which is this mid-evil castle on a hill overlooking the town. From the top tower, we had a 360 view and could see all the other countries. This castle was important in 1809 when it stopped Napoleon's army from advancing even though they were outnumbered. Afterwards we explored a small Christmas market. I got to introduce my family to Glühwein and Bergkäse. It was fun to look around. We ended the evening at the Bischofs where they fed us dinner again. Dinner included local beer (really good), pancake strip soup, chicken skrews, and Kartoffelpuffs. All was delicious. Overall, a relaxing day!

Monday

Today the Wilson family hit the road and explored on our own. We headed to Bodensee, also known as Lake Konstance. We started at the town of Lindau which has an island. We parked and walked around the island. We popped into this really pretty church with a huge nativity scene set up. There was one dock that had many different flags from other countries. It turns out that there is an international yacht club on Lindauinsel. Next we headed up the shore of the lake and went to the town of Freidrichschaften. Here we tried a local bakery and I got to show off a little bit of my German skills ordering for my family. We just explored the shore of the lake and enjoyed the scenery.

International Yacht Club

Once again Ulrike insisted on feeding us dinner. (I told you the Bischofs are all saints!) We had delicious traditional Wiener Schnitzel. Homemade at that! I am being spoiled rotten! I have never had homemade traditional Austrian food before and it tastes so much better than from a restaurant! Another excellent day.