One of the many good reasons why we set off on this trip was that it enables us to catch up with family and friends and the last couple of weeks have been all about that. In Graz, the kids got to spend some quality time with their cousins and it was great to see them genuinely getting on with Liam forming big Paul’s shadow and Sofia and Sannah lost in endless princess conversations.
Iris’s parents then treated us all to a stay in the beautiful Ausseerland region where Gerda is from and where we got to catch up with uncle Armin.
From there we set off on a little road trip via the the Salzkammergut and up into Germany to visit friends. We’ve been very fortunate to have stayed with wonderful hosts on this part of the trip, and the kids have absolutely loved having other kids around to play with.
Liam loved his angry birds cake on his fifth birthday in Graz
…and his water blaster
The cousins came over from Western Austria a few days later to help Liam celebrate for a second time
When Opa organises a treasure hunt, it is a real treasure hunt
…and no party will be complete from now on without a pinata
During our week in Graz, the kids got up to all kinds of fun activities with Mima and Opa
…like pottery
…searching for minerals
…and fossil hunting
Next up was a great weekend away in beautiful Ausseerland with Mima, Opa and Iris’s brother, Armin
At Grundelsee
At Toplitzsee where millions of pounds of counterfeit money was dumped by the Nazi’s towards the end of the Second World War. The intent was to use the money to destabilise the British economy.
The family
And then it was on to Bad Ischl to meet up with Maik, Andrea, Christoph and Christina. The first day we went on a beautiful walk up above Wolfgangsee
…where there were blueberries
…and blue tongues!
Liam enjoyed the view of Wolfgangsee
The next day the town went into party mode, with most of the town dressing in traditional clothing to celebrate the birthday of the long serving Austrian Emperor Kaiser Franz Joseph who spent his summer vacations in Bad Ischl
Dressed as the Kaiser’s wife who dressed in black ever since the suicide of her son in 1889
The kids with Christoph on the way to Hallstatt
Space in the local cemetary was at a premium so it became a tradition to exhume the bones about 15 years after they were buried to keep them in the ‘bone house’ (locals who feel like being stared at be hundreds of tourists after their demise can still request in their will to have their bones moved to the ‘Karner’ but they seem a bit shy of late with the last scull added in the mid 1990s…)
A novel idea for storing firewood
On the Sinneswanderweg in Bad Ischl
A shoulder massage in Munich
The kids getting their ‘reading fix’ outside a bookstore in Munich
Table tennis at the excellent ‘The-Tent’ in Munich, which was quite a novel and very cool concept. The place had the feel of a hostel, but all of the bedding was mattresses in a couple of massive tents which were constructed for the summer.
Some old grannies catching up with Astrid in Munich
Visiting Erik, Antina, Kilian and Laurin in beautiful Wuerzburg
…at a local playground
Our big five year old
Sofia demonstrating how Rapunzel would have let her hair down from this prison tower in Wurzburg
Taking a break in front of the Alte Mainbrucke
Liam’s hot chocolate ‘Joker’ face
Playing tag at the beautiful gardens of Schloss Veitshoechheim
Finding a quiet place to listen for fairies
Our poor suffering patient hours after a wasp sting on her palm.
