Griswolds take over Bavaria

Something my Mom and Dad had been wanting to do for years was get the whole family together for a European extravaganza. It took a lot of coordinating on their part as well as a lot of scheduling, but we did manage to get all my siblings and their significant others here in Germany and Austria.  And it was AMAZING.

Clark Griswold, aka Terry Cassidy, rented a 10 seater van, which was hilarious to witness on the road.  We rented a chalet in the town of Strobl, Austria, and did several day trips together - going to Wolfgangsee, Salzburg, Hallstatt and Berchtesgaden.  We had beautiful weather for the most part - more sun than I'd seen in days - and there was no end of entertainment with having the whole family around.  The Austrian Alps were a beautiful backdrop to an amazing vacation!  Thank you, M&D!!!

On our first day, we took the cog train above St. Wolfgang to see the spectacular views.

Many a photo opportunity...

The next day, we all toured Salzburg (yes, in matching German fedoras) and took the Sound of Music Tour.

Our guide Beatrice was very kind.  Erin and Zach got A+'s for their attentiveness.  But everyone enjoyed it.... the tour may have been enhanced by some beer sipping on the tour bus by some members of the Griswolds, as well as very enthusiastic singing by most of us.

In the words of Liesl von Trapp in front of the "I am 16 going on 17" gazebo: "eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Mom and North about to enjoy some warm apple strudel.  North was dressed in his traditional checked shirt for the occasion.

This guy never says no to apple strudel.

View of St. Gilgen

The "SOM" tour ended with this awesome luge!  Everyone went on it except for us preggos...

Clark Griswold was not afraid to go fast.... Ellen Griswold was a different story.  Colin almost ran into her on the way down!

On our next day trip, we visited the gorgeous town of Hallstatt, Austria.  We toured the ancient salt mines and rented little electric boats to glide around the lake.  It was a spectacular setting.

Oh gosh they are still such lovebirds!

The best part of the salt mine tours was the slides... and the outfits they made us wear.... they were something like thick scrubs that no one looked good in, but made for lots of fun photos.

Poor North wasn't feeling well on a couple of days, but he was still a trooper and went on nice walks and bike rides with Kevin and Tisa. 

We also toured Eagle's Nest and spent time just in and around Strobl.

Eagle's Nest

Eagle's Nest again...

Colin and I met up with M&D at Furberg to enjoy a day in the sun.

One surprise that happened during the week was my mom and Erin put together a family baby shower for Tisa and me.  Colin and I found out the day we left for Salzburg that we are having a LITTLE GIRL!  So it was fun to share the news with the family (nearly everyone guessed we were having a girl anyway, not sure why!) and get excited that Tisa and Kevin's little girl will be just a few weeks age difference from ours.  Very fun.  The baby shower was adorable- we were gifted with mini dirndls, and everyone made us onesies.  I treasure the onesies my family members made and can't wait to put the baby in them!

Kevin and Tisa have named their baby Adeline, but Colin and I are still pretty undecided!

Another fun highlight was our "rent a dirndl" night, where my siblings put on Colin and my lederhosen and dirndl and posed for some photos in traditional German/Austrian gear.  It was hilarious, particularly in front of the donkeys that lived across the street from our chalet.

 

We were definitely sad when this trip came to an end!!  It was so amazing to be with family in Europe and we made many a great memory.  

On our way home, Colin and I spent one final glorious Bavarian day in Munich together.  We ate lunch at the Viktualienmarkt and rented bikes and had a great time riding throughout the English gardens.  Colin finished the day with a couple steins of beer at Paulaner and the Hofbrauhaus. The weather was perfect and it was one of those flawlessly fun days in Europe that made us so grateful for our experience here.  We ended the trip with a very sobering yet good visit to Dachau.  All and all, we felt it was one of our best vacations yet.

Bump Alert!  The 22 wk bump was in full force.. although wimpy compared to what is now in place. :)  I loved the "sea of humanity" in the English Gardens... people sunbathing as far as the eye could see.  It was such a fun scene.

We had a fun time watching these guys surf in the river that runs through the park.

And a visit to Munich wouldn't be complete without one of these...

Sevilla y La Feria!

One of the best parts of the trip was our time in Sevilla.  I never made it to Sevilla in college, but I had good friends who studied there and loved it, so I was very excited to check it out!  And, next to Florence, I do think it is one of my favorite smaller European cities.  The beautiful tile work and colors everywhere, with Moorish influences and neat little squares and orange trees - it was charming.  And also, I had to admire the beautiful stores - I've never wanted to shop for shoes so much in my life! 

We had limited time, so I spared Colin the shoe shopping.. but there were stores and stores with displays like this!

 We just so happened to be in Sevilla during their week long Feria celebrations.  Feria  takes place two weeks after Holy Week, and people come from all over Spain to celebrate.  Parades of horse-drawn carriages head to the bull ring every day and also take people to the fairgrounds, where hundreds of tents are set up for various private parties.  Spaniards come from all over to celebrate in their traditional flamenco attire.  It was awesome to observe!  We made our way to the public tent, shared some tapas (and sangria for Colin) and watched the attendees dancing flamenco. 

We walked with the masses toward the giant doors of the fairgrounds ahead

The little kids were so cute in their outfits!

Standing outside the massive doors

Families and groups make their way to their tents in horse drawn carriages

The little girls reminded me of Tots in Tiaras!

We watched Spaniards dance flamenco in the public tent

I loved these girls petting the horses outside the tents

Finally we had our fill of flamenco and Feria, so we made our way back to the Barrio Santa Cruz and did some sight-seeing.

We went to Mass in Sevilla's beautiful Cathedral, where Christopher Columbus is buried.  We also toured the Alcazar, Sevilla's royal palace that was a former Moorish fort and has gorgeous gardens and architecture.

I love these tiled steps!

We could have wandered around for hours...

We loved Sevilla!  This trip definitely inspired me to see more of the Andalucia region of Spain - we'll see if next year we can travel there again!

Portugal - the Algarve Region

Atlantic Coast of Portugal at a popular surfing spot - Amado Beach

 Turns out when you don't go through photos right away after a trip, it makes it a bit harder to go back through them and create a blog over a month later....  hence the procrastination on blogging about our trip to Southern Portugal and Sevilla at the end of April.  It was a great trip, and got us out of cold and rainy Germany... although it still wasn't the hot weather we wanted/needed to defrost after the German winter.  I think that might require a trip to Palm Springs!  But overall, it was a great trip and wonderful to be on the coast for a bit.

We stayed in a tiny (TINY) coastal town near Tavira and Cabanas in the Algarve.  We were able to spend one sunny afternoon at a beach called Praia Verde which was absolutely gorgeous... we even had sun peak through on the coast and that was amazing!  One advantage of the weather generally not being conducive to laying out, however, was that we saw WAY more of the Algarve than we thought we would.  We visited a bunch of neighboring towns and beaches, and made it to an awesome surfing spot on the Atlantic side of Portugal.

Tiny Portugese town of Tavira

Tavira Church

A square named after both of us?

Day at Praia Verde

Praia Verde cabanas - if it wasn't so windy we could have stayed longer!

Pool at our B&B - we didn't get to take advantage of it but it was in a beautiful setting of orange tree groves

I loved all the wysteria and flowers at the B&B - it smelled amazing!

Lavendar at the B&B with orange trees in the background

Day trip to Salema

Day trip to Moorish Castelo de Silves

A new sort of journey...

Dear Baby Cav,

We are so lucky to say that we celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary yesterday with a different sort of gift - you!  Our little baby - we saw you just last week at 13 weeks old in a very cool ultrasound.  You were kicking your "k-nees" (the German doctor pronounces the silent "K") and were a whopping 6.64 cm.  We could hardly believe our eyes and feel very blessed.

We just got back from a trip to Portugal and Sevilla, so we spent our anniversary in Heinsberg.  Lucky for us it was (finally!!!) a warm and sunny day.  Colin surprised me by having a beautiful picnic ready to go when I got home from the gym.  He had grilled chicken, roasted peppers, toasted rolls and made the most delicious sandwiches and caprese for us to share by the lake.  He even thought to put chocolate milk in a thermos - I was so impressed!  We enjoyed the picnic while Lola enjoyed basking in the sun (she misses it too!) and took a walk around the lake.  Really, it was the best sort of way to celebrate our anniversary!

Lola was very interested in the caprese...

Kleine Maus decided to lay down in the shade after a while... letting her shaggy hair blow in the wind...

Lakefront picnic - wonderful!

PLUS - roses!  I am so lucky! :)

Your first trimester was pretty exciting. 

We took you home to California, where you met both sets of your grandparents.  You met plenty of aunts and uncles too, and TONS of cousins!  By the time you are born, you'll have no less than 18 cousins.  That is a lot of built in friends! You even met your great grandfather AND great grandmother! And a bunch of our best friends too. Although most of them didn't quite realize they were meeting you yet...

Don't worry, we'll introduce you again when you are a bit more mobile.

Over the past three months, we've had some good times in Germany and the Netherlands too.  We dressed like this for Carnivale...

And this for a fun Charity night at a nearby base for the theme "Once upon a Time"...

Oh no - have we embarrassed you already?  ;-)  Its no wonder that you are due to arrive on Halloween!

We can't wait to meet you, Baby Cav.   You have a fun summer ahead in Norway, Austria,  Switzerland and France.  Don't worry, we're saving Greece and Provence for after your arrival.

We are excited for this next journey, and love you so much already.

Love, Mom & Dad