Monthly Archives: June 2013

These birdies were not shy at all!

There are images of Mozart all over the city. There is even a Mozart street performer “hovering” above a piano in one of the public squares.
The kids liked the Mozart chocolate balls that are sold everywhere. Stefan made a special dessert on our last night with the mozart balls in the middle. It was cheese and chocolate surrounded by an amazing crust concoction. When you cut the ball in half- it made a miniature warm chocolate fountain. Yummy!

Allie’s sense of comedic timing is impeccable. Her one-liners and witty comments catch people off guard. I love it! My favorite thing to do is laugh and I am laughing a majority of the time when I am with my buddy!

Check out Jesse and Stefan- I don’t think they moved a muscle!

Hohenwerfen Castle is also known as Erlebnisburg (literally: “Castle of Experience.”) It is an amazing castle near the ice caves. It is located high above the Austrian town of Werfen in the Salzach valley. We had to drive about 30 minutes from Salzburg to get there. The castle is surrounded by the Berchtesgaden Alps and the Tennengebirge mountain range. The fortification is a “sister” of Hohensalzburg Castle both dating from the 11th century.
(On a positive note regarding all the rain- it sure has made everything green!)

Maddux, Stefan and Jesse took a walk to the river to see how high it had risen. Maddux said he saw some trees, logs and a tire going super fast under the bridge.

After braving the elements like that- they stopped at a cafe to enjoy a well-deserved cup of hot chocolate.

What a good “homeschooling” day. Lots of science! We even spent a couple hours in the afternoon exploring the Science and Nature Museum of Salzburg. We took some fun pictures I will post soon.

Lennon wanted to go on the bench with Dad, but we had him take a photo on a tiny ledge that made him appear to be doing some dangerous climbing.

“I live in the clouds. Reality is not for me. People say I should come down. That the clouds are not a place for me to be. I smile at them. Maybe one day, I say maybe one day I will come down. But I never will. Reality is not for me. I shall stay up here. The view is quite breathtaking.” -unknown
I love that quote!
We were so high up the mountain we were in the clouds! The kids thought it was cool to walk through them to get to the ice cave. What a beautiful day- even though we didn’t see any sun. We actually haven’t seen the sun in weeks! We’ll start making our way south soon to increase our odds. hee

High above the village of Werfen in Austria, we got the chance to explore a huge, breathtaking ice cave! We had to take a brisk hike (kind of tough the higher you climbed. Air got cold and it was challenging to breathe, but we kept going!) We then took a tram that was high up and super fast.
Our guide explained that “The World of Ice Giants” was discovered in 1879 and is actually a labyrinth of ice caves that is almost 30 miles long. It is considered a dynamic cave, meaning that the corridors and the crevices connect lower lying entrances to higher openings- this makes it possible for gusts of air to circulate. During the spring months, the ice that has melted and turned into water seeps through the cracks in the rock. It reaches the chilly, frozen lower areas of the caves, freezes some more and slowly transforms into magical ice formations. We were given ‘old school’ gas powered torch lanterns, but our guide had this funky wire he would light on fire and it would get super bright. Sometimes he would go behind an ice wall with the bright light and it looked magnificent! So pretty. Although we enjoyed exploring the cave- it was bone chilling cold! Our fingers and toes were frozen. Well worth it, though.