Salzburg, Austria

We went to Salzburg for the day after leaving Zell Am See. It was a really beautiful town and I didn't really know much about it other than Mozart and The Sound of Music are associated with it. Well, that just goes to show you why traveling to historic European towns is a good history lesson for me.


An overall view of Salzburg from the Salzburg fortress. Man, if only the sun could have been out on our trip!


Our first stop was through the Mirabell Gardens at the Mirabell Palace. In the winter nothing is in bloom, but we could still check out the statues and fountains. Here is the Pegasus Fountain made by Kaspar Glas in 1661.


Here are some neat twig branches in the garden. Really, everything else was covered in snow.


The Holy Trinity Church by architect Fischer von Erlach built from 1694-1703. Of course more modern times make it hard to get a good picture with all of the cables running in front of it.


The Hohensalzburg Fortress. The largest and best preserved fortress in Europe (started building in 1077). Sorry, I keep adding historical names and dates so I can remember and not just say "oh yeah, another really old church or castle".

Zell Am See Part III

A few more pics to close up our skiing vacation in Austria.


The view of Zell Am See from our bed and breakfast. Ah, if only the sun were out and we could actually see all the mountains surrounding us. Goodbye Alps!


Brian testing out the frozen lake to make sure it is ok. Sign said to walk at your own risk.


Guess I can walk across the lake, I mean if I were going to go drowning in a lake would be on my top five (cause I just love being cold and drowning).



What is a nice traditional drink here in Zell Am See? Apparently Jaga Tea. I have to say Jagermeister is a reoccuring theme in many drinks here. Guess everyone really likes the taste of it.

Zell Am See part II

I wanted to show what I got to do while Brian was skiing, besides sleep. The bed and breakfast we stayed at was so close to the gondolas, that the walk down to the town turned out to be a fun exercise (well coming back was probably more exercise). I took some pics to illustrate my adventure down the driveway and to the town.


This is from the top of the hill. Doesn't look so bad, yet.


Now, just turn the curve here and keep going.


And around this curve.....


One more, we are almost to the street.


Last turn......There were two guys that had to come every day to plow the driveway. Each time they got to the end, the beginning was already covered in snow again.


Yeah, we made it, now just go down the street another 2 blocks and enjoy the town. I got to do this twice a day, once by myself to explore, and then again with Brian for dinner each night.

Brian's ski day at Zell Am See

We went to the Austrian Alps for our European ski trip to a lakeside town called Zell Am See. I decided to chicken out and not go skiing. I am a pretty scared beginner skier and being pregnant has only increased my awkwardness on skis. So, I enjoyed the awesome views and slept A LOT. I will do another post of my daily activities later. Brian got in 2 days of skiing, unfortunately, alone. But he did take some pics of the slopes. It snowed every day we were there and there was probably a total of over 1-2 feet of snow each day which made for a ton of powder on the slopes but not the greatest views of all the surrounding mountains.


Our slopeside resort we stayed at. This is why it was so easy for Brian to ski onto the slopes directly from our room. Doesn't it look cozy? Kinda like a deer stand.


Ok, this is actually a view from our bed and breakfast we stayed at. The roof is on the left and the gondolas were right out our window.


More gondolas.....


Brian's super sweet ski pose for the camera.


His adventure through the trees where he almost lost a ski in all of the powder.



The sun did shine a little one day. It was still really nice weather, but some more sun would have made it perfect.


How deep was the powder? Here is Brian's pole almost covered completely in powder.


Another deep powder shot. This was a ski hut that was completely covered in powder, except for the roof.


Brian tried to ask if he could hang with this guy, but he said no.


A shot of skiing in knee deep powder and Brian's second chance to see if he changed his mind and wanted to ski together. Still no.

20 weeks in and 20 weeks left

Here is my latest belly bump since Dee Dee is going to explode if I don't post it. I know secretly she just enjoys laughing at this growing monstrosity. The baby bump looks more like a baby lump. We have been getting some 3D videos of the kid, maybe the next one will be better and I can post it.

Valentine Dinner

Brian and I went out on Valentine's Day to Bellevue, a restaurant in the Old Town district. We really enjoy what I call 'Frou Frou' food thanks to Matt going to Culinary school and introducing us to gourmet food. We like to use V-day as an excuse to go out and splurge at a fancy pants restaurant once a year. It was a great meal while overlooking the Charles Bridge.

I chose the V-day special menu (Brian got a different menu, but his didn't come with a take-home printout and since I took so long to post we can't remember what he got other than foie gras, fish, and veal):

1st course: Amuse Bouche - Wonton pastry pocket filled with coriander shrimps, avocado espuma (shrimp wonton)
2nd course: Pan seared beef carpaccio with tasmanian pepper reduction, sundried tomato and frisse salad (rare thin sliced beef with a sundried tomato salad)
3rd course: Grilled denver sole with saint jacques scallops jus, wheat pearl pasta softened with mascarpone cheese (fish and scallop pasta)
4th course: vension fillet with black elder and foie gras sauce, topinambur puree (deer with mashed potatoes)


Dessert: Milk chocolate and tonka beans mousse with strawberry heart candy and raspberry sorbet. It was so pretty I had to take a picture.

Krokonoše Ski Trip

I got a little behind on blogging, so I am having to back track for the month of February. At the beginning of February we took our first European ski trip to the Krokonoše Mountain Range. The range is the northern part of the national boundary that the Czech Republic shares with Poland. We went with Dáša's family and some of the same crew that we went wine tasting with last year. Turns out even though we don't speak Czech they don't mind us tagging along. It makes for an interesting time since all the kids could say was "Hello, my name is....". Little Lucká (we had two girls with the same name) was really cute and kept saying "Please" and "Thank you" the entire time to us because that was the only English she knew.



Here is a view of the mountains from the ski slopes. No sun makes for not-so-exciting pictures, sorry guys.


We stayed at this pension (kinda like a bed and breakfast) which was up a mountain and Franta proved that even though they require chains on the tires, he didn't need them. He just needed everyone out of the car and drove in reverse up the hills. Why did driving in reverse worked? Who knows.


The view from the pension was nice with even a little sun to help me out.


A nice action shot of big Lucká (Dáša's oldest girl) coming down the slopes. Imagine it is me minus my awkwardness coming down the hill.



Brian and big Lucká heading up on the lift having a snack.


A nice group shot before everyone left me on the baby hill to go do some real skiing. I think next year I will have to pony up for some more lessons and learn how to be a better skier than the average 5 year-old. L-R: Franta, me, Brian, big Lucká, Eliška hugging little Lucká


A welcome home from Prague - a sunset. Who knew the sun does come out in the winter here!