A Week in Austria

During the first week of July, we went on vacation in Austria.  We returned to the Salzburgerland, which we had visited and loved the first year we were in Europe.  We stayed at the Familiehotel Post, a kinderhotel outside of Salzburg in Unken.  Karen Fuhriman, our friend from California, arrived the week prior and was with us on this vacation.  What a great time we had!

On the way to Austria we stopped in Liechtenstein - to give Karen a chance to see one more country, then in Innsbruck, Austria.  We haven't ever spent much time in Innsbruck, just stopping there on the way to other places.  But we did remember a shop with green apple ice cream (Nathan had gotten it when we were there a couple of years ago), so we sought it out!

The castle in the principality of Liechtenstein

In the old town of Innsbruck - with the golden roof in the background

We arrived in Unken on Saturday night, then went to church in Salzburg on Sunday morning where the bishop and the ward were incredibly friendly.  They have a lot of people in the ward there, and it was fun to visit.  We then toured around Salzburg that afternoon, seeing the house where Mozart was born and spent his early years, took a horse carriage ride around the city, and visited Mirabell Gardens.

Re-enacting the Sound of Music

Dave really got into the heel clicking!

The rest of the week we stayed at the hotel and took advantage of all the activities there - including a swimming lake with a very fun water slide, paddle boats for the little kids, an inflatable climbing mountain in the middle of the lake, nice sandy beaches, and lots of space for relaxing.  In addition, we played tennis and swam in the inside pool as well as outside, tried our hand at archery, hit some golf balls at the driving range, played volleyball, played at the giant playground, rode the bikes around the town, went on a hike (walk), and the kids rode horses.  Nathan took tennis lessons the entire week and got the gold medal at the end of the class, for getting the most points throughout the week!  Nate and Will both took swimming lessons and made some good progress.  As with all kinderhotels, there was a kids club where the kids could go anytime and participate in activities.  Dave and I were able to take a few private tennis lessons while the kids were busy with other activities.  The kids club put on a Beach Party show at the end of the week in which William gladly participated (he now knows the Macarena and has several beach-themed pop songs memorized)!  Elise and Karen went on a white water rafting trip on Thursday which they said was great.  And, of course, the food was incredible and plentiful!  I must say that these kinderhotels are the most amazing way to vacation...

 On the way home, we went to the Salzbergwerk Berchtesgaden, a salt mine near Salzburg.  It was absolutely incredible, and so much fun!  We were all outfitted with our salt mine overalls, then went on a train into the mine.  The most fun part were the wooden slides we took when moving to the lower levels of the mine.  So much fun - we all went in a big row and slid right down!  There was also a boat ride deep in the mine, where the water was so still and clear it was unbelievable (with no sunlight, there was no plant growth - it was just a big body of water that was completely clear).  They flush the water in as part of the mining process, to dissolve the salt, with the salt solution, or brine, then being evaporated to leave the salt.  It was a very hot day, but very cold deep down in the mine.  What a fun and education experience!

We love Austria and always have a great time there - this vacation was no exception!