Heut' ist so ein schöner Tag - Flachau, Austria

We're back from a wonderful week of fresh mountain air, breathtaking landscapes, snowboarding and much, much fun. Except for one day of heavy snow and cloudy skies, the weather was brilliant and the snow conditions were very good.






We stayed at Crystls Aparthotel: Appartments with the services of a hotel. We loved it there and the team of three lovely young ladies made sure we had everything we needed. The breakfast buffet offered a wide variety of local products such as homemade marmelades, local cheeses and cold cuts, 5-6 different breads, eggs - from a nearby farm, I presume -, bacon (ooohhhh, the bacon was delicious!!), yoghurts, cereals, fresh fruit, etc. The location is fantastic: it's about 200 meters from the next ski-lift, most restaurants and bars are within 5 to max. 10 minutes walk and it overlooks the centre of the adorable village of Flachau.


After fuelling up with a few portions of pretty much everything of the above, we made our way to the practise slopes. After a very bad case of the flu in February, another two hours of lessons and a few bruises, I finally picked-up where I left off, and learned to cut short curves and come down the slope in an acceptable manner, which I'm really proud of. Here's a view from the Griessen Kareck peak.



Orange-X, however, has had more practise than I have and has gotten pretty good at snowboarding. After a few runs, I would go warm myself up with a hot chocolate (with rhum) at the Dampfkessel and O-X would take a run down the real slopes. He took a couple of pretty amazing falls, but always came back in one piece.


The Dampfkessel was our absolute favourite après-ski place. The service is friendly and fun, the meals are simple, but very good, the portions large and you can be sure to find the right thing to hit the spot. After 3.30 pm, the Dampfkessel starts really filling up, the drinks flow and the fun really starts. We found it entertaining just to watch the people around us.


Then it was off to the appartment for a nice hot shower and deciding which of the many restaurants we would have dinner at. Our favourite was definitely the Hoagascht, but the Schusterhäuserl and the Per Du were both close seconds. The Schusterhäuserl (Shoemaker's little house) has served an established local Flachau family of cobblers for generations as a residence and workshop. The workshop was on the ground floor and the living quarters on the first floor. This almost 400 year old house and workshop has now been transformed into an adorable steak house. The dining rooms are tastefully decorated, the light yellow table cloths mix well with the old dark wood and give it a really warm and cozy atmosphere and many of the old original cobbler's tools are displayed. The service is friendly and warm and the steaks are delicious.



I would also definitely suggest the Per Du. Very cosy, friendly service and excellent food. Am I repeating myself, or what? To be perfectly honest, if there is one European country (that I've visited regularly) where hospitality can be written in capital letters, it's Austria. Seldom have I felt as warm a welcome in any restaurant/bar/mountain hut as in Austria, no matter whether it's in Salzburg, Vienna or any small village. Sorry, Switzerland, but you can't match that. And where you do, it's often because of the service personel you hire from the neighbouring countries, or because you're a restaurant/hotel/bar that hardly anybody can afford. (Did I just say that??). I keep getting the feeling that Austrians are just happy to be and are willing to share their good mood and love of life. I hear that the Balkan and Eastern European countries are also like that. Must go there, too.



We didn't take as many pictures as we had planned to, but we did bring back something - besides a few delicious schnaps, that is. I usually don't like this kind of music unless I hear it in the appropriate environment, but to be honest, it truly sums up the feeling we had every - single - day of our stay in Flachau. The lyrics are in Austrian dialect, but basically shows (my view of) the Austrian day to day attitude towards life:





I like to lie in the grass

And look up to the sky

(you lazy pig - not sung)

Don't the clouds have funny shapes?

(Looks more like rain clouds to me - not sung)

And an aiplane flies by

and I wave at it

Hello airplane

And if you're also with me

Then I feel great

(I'm so happy for you - not sung)



And I fly, fly fly like an airplane and

I 'm as strong, strong strong as a tiger,

and as tall, tall, tall as a giraffe, so high.

O-o-oh

And I'l jump, jump, jump,

Again and again

And I swim, swim, swim,

Over to you

and I take, take, take you by the hand

'Cause I like you

And I say:

It's such a beautiful day

La-la-la-la-la

(repeat)



It truly was one of our best winter vacations and we're planning to go back again next year.

So for you all, here it is, our happy song: Heut' ist so ein schöner Tag [in Austrian: Heid is so a schener Tag] (Engl.: Today's such a beautiful day) by "Die Jungen Zillertaler"

Turn up the volume and enjoy as this song really made me think of the snoopy happy dance :-)

The plus and minus

This past week was simply crazy, but also fun.

The plus

-The weather was great this weekend (I have a light sunburn to prove it), we worked in our small back yard (which is why my back is aching),
- We had a wonderful evening at TBF's Cinco de Mayo party last night and
- today, we both read, relaxed and enjoyed a sunny Sunday.
- And on Wednesday, we're leaving for Vienna to visit Pinki and Andrea, so that won't leave us much time to blog between now and Sunday. Yippeeeee!

To the minus points this week:
- our washing machine just died on us! How did we find out? We tried to wash, of course. Grrrr! No chance for a new one before Wednesday.
- Orange-X worked very late most evenings last week.

But what the hell.... The plus outweighs the minus. I guess it's not all that bad after all.

See you soon again, after Austria!

And now, for something completely different... Austria

With all the visitors we've been having since we came back from Austria (Ma & Pa for 3 weeks and Jaap for 3 days), Markus and Paolo's post wedding party, a weekend in Holland, working on a translating a website, and normal work and house chores, I have been neglecting my blog a bit. I sometimes wonder what the real jet-setters do (or don't do... like eat and sleep)!

Anyway, I've been preparing this for a while, and I know that Pinki, Andrea and Chris are keeping a close eye on my blog to see when “their” post is up.

Well, (drum roll, please) here it is!

We arrived in Bad Fischau on Wednesday and after a warm welcome and a drink, we drove to Wiener Neustadt to meet up with Harry and Michaela for some dinner. We went to this really great Greek restaurant. The weather was lovely, the food was fabulous and the portions were huge! We had much too much fun to even think of taking pictures (except for Pinki playing around with our little camera and snapping this shot of OX, Michaela and Harry). After dinner, we went to an ice cream parlour for some desert: a big iced coffee! I thought I would burst after that, so we decided a walk would help the overly eager stomachs to digest the many calories we had just indulged in. Later on, we found a lovely wine bar where we enjoyed a nice glass of wine on a hot summer evening. After a drink or two, we retreated home and sat on the terrace.

The important thing to mention here is that we were there for a very special event. No, no. It wasn’t for Wiener Neustadt’s open air cinema; we wanted to see Chris play live at Pinki's backstage bar on Thursday! We even brought our video camera. We had a quick dinner, got there early to sit in the front row and set up our little video cam up in one of the alcoves in the wall opposite of where we sat. It was a very hot evening, and even hotter in the bar. The rain was pouring outside. Good thing, because the people who had been looking forward to an open air cinema, suddenly needed shelter. The doors opened and the people came rushing in. We also had our lettle camera with us, but darn... If that kid could only stop moving!! ;) Low lights, movement = blurr...rrrrrr!

The concert was absolutely fantastic. Both OX and I were totally absorbed in the music and Chris’ guitar playing skills. And let me mention another thing. I’ve heard this guy sing before, and he does have a good voice, but this time…. I was amazed! No, flabbergasted at the power he had that evening. Everybody was cheering him on and his humour kept entertaining us all evening.

Alas, the film did not turn out too well. We were too wrapped up in what was happening on stage to focus in/out, the little screen was just too small to see what we were filming from that distance, and the battery gave up after 30 minutes. Maybe I can try and put a short cut up for you. Would you like that? - Of course, only if Chris agrees. At least we took a few decent picts!

After the concert, we sat together with Michaela and Harry who were also present, Chris and his girlfriend, and a few other new faces for a nice chat, some finger food, good laughs and … well… quite a few drinks until the wee hours.

This stay was definitely too short. But aren't they always like that when you have such great friends around you? I always hate leaving them.

On Friday, we drove back to our idyllic Mondsee for an overnight stay before moving on to a small town in Bavaria to visit Andreas and Suse.

More to come... uhm... as soon as I'm ready :)

PS: Pinki - To answer the questions to your comment in the preious post:

a) Yes, we will definitely be back, but not before Jan/Feb '08 (Pa and Ma are coming over for X'mas/New Year).....

b)Too long ago??? We were just there 8 weeks back! ;) ....

c) *Sigh* You always have good concerts!

and....

d) Just for the record: We miss you guys, too!

Climbing Salzburg - Part 1

What? You thought Salzburg was flat?? Well, part of it is, but to see some of the sights, you can go the easy way, or not. And with all the calories we had eaten up since we got there, we though it wise to, well, you know, burn a few of those extra calories.





Here's a picture of a beautifully manicured alley leading to a restaurant (I think it's the Kongresshaus, but I'm not sure) in Bad Ischl, a small town where we made a stop before continuing our route towards Salzburg on the Monday morning. I just love this picture. Well done, OX!

On our firstvisit to Salzburg, we decided to just walk through the old town. The fun thing was that we were there during the Salzburger Festspiele (Salzburger Festival). No, we are NOT the kind to run after prominent people, but prefer to leave them their peace and quiet. Let me tell you, though, there were plenty of camera teams and paparazzi everywhere, so they had their share of attention.

Anyhow, once there, we bought a city map and made our way to the most famous and probably oldest streets in Salzburg, namely the Getreidegasse. It’s great for all you (and us) shoppers out there. Every shop has its own emblem made of cast iron and, as you walk along, you’ll find that the side streets, or what often looks like an arcade, will lead you to lovely courtyards with cafés and restaurants.

We picked a side street that led us straight to a cute restaurant where we enjoyed a nice, light lunch while sitting outdoors. At some point, I was telling Orange-X that this was the street where we could find Mozart’s birth house. He looked at me, smiled and said: “Uhm. Yes, I know, sweetheart. We’re sitting right opposite it.” Huh?? Since I had my back to the house, I had missed it completely! Duh! There it is! How could I have mised that?

As we were almost done with lunch and contemplating on visiting this small museum, about 3-4 tourist busses arrived hauling not only your day to day tourist, such as French, British, American, etc., but also a bus full of apprentice Chinese monks. At least, I think they were Chinese. Tibetan, maybe?? Anyway, they all had shaven heads and were wearing orange robes, and everyone – including the other nationalities - was headed straight for Mozart’s birth house. The line was stacking back far into the courtyard where we were sitting, so we decided to skip the museum. We fought our way to get through the “Mozart” fans and finally made it to a bit less crowded areas of the city.

At some point, we got to the Linzergasse and saw a sign directing to a Franciscan monastery up on the Kapuzinerberg, which apparently offered a magnificent view of Salzburg AND, most importantly, had a restaurant where we could enjoy a nice, cold beer! The weather was gorgeous (and very HOT! - about 32°C, or low 90°F), so we started our steep climb up the road and many stairs, then into the woods. There were two routes to choose from. One was 2.2km (road) and the other 1.6km (walking path). We opted for the shorter version, because we were getting thirsty and... Did I mention it was HOT?? We soon discovered that the so called walking path was mostly stairs… Very old stairs that are not fit for legs of a 6’2” O-X! I was fine, but poor Orange really suffered during the first 500 meters climb. How steep was it, you ask? Just have a look... And this was the easy part!

After 45 minutes of zigzagging the steep hills and stairs through the woods (I swear that had to be much more than 1.6km!!), we finally made it to our goal and were totally dehydrated! My first thought was: “It looks so… uhm...empty up here”. I turned around to find an O-X looking at a sign in total disbelief. It read: “Wirtschaft Montag und Dienstag geschlossen” (Restaurant closed Mondays and Tuesdays). You have two guesses… Right! That day was a Monday - those who though Tuesday, were wrong. LOL! So, we were the only idiots (Austrians hardly ever do a climb like that without a liquid rewrd awaiting them!) up there? Almost. The only other humans in sight were a) an art student sitting on a foldable seat - and obviously laughing at us stupid tourists -, drawing the small monastery and b) what we think was the caretaker of the monastery coming back from a walk with his dogs, opening the door to the monastery and closing it right behind him. Frustrated (and still very thirsty), we walked back down again, taking the longer, but much easier road back to the Linzengasse. By that time, our throats felt like sawdust and we went straight for a street café where we first gulped down half a litre of water, then an ice cold “radler” beer (also known as a shandy).

We were getting hungry, so we walked back through small streets and alleys to the old town and started to look out for a nice restaurant. We sat down at the Café Mozart, at the Residenzenplatz, with a direct vew of the fountain. Now this reminds me of one of Ginnie’s posts (sorry, I couldn't find it). Why? Well, she mentioned something about having desert before dinner, and during our stay in Austria, Orange-X totally fell for the classic Eis Kaffee (Ice coffee). No, it’s not a coffee flavoured ice cream, but a strong, hot coffee with 2-3 good scoops of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream to top it off. Well, she mentioned something about having desert before dinner and O-X had not one, but two of these delicious ice coffees before dinner. So what’s wrong with that?! Want a spoonfull??

We had a very nice dinner there, and made our way back through the beautiful old town to our car, then to the hotel.

Do you think that’s it? No way! We had much more climbing to do. Wait until you hear about the climb up the Salzburger fortress, Hohensalzburg!

BTW, if you look at OX's photo as "captain of the ship" closely (click to enlarge) you'll see part of me in his sunglasses. Next weekend, we're in Holland! :D

PS: I'll be adding a link with all the picts of this trip (except the X-rated ones, of course;)) in my last entry.

The moment you've been waiting for... Mondsee, Austria

A promise is a promise – And I thought it would be a simple task to keep up with the blogging after our return from Austria… Well, at least keeping up with my blogroll, and not even that went as I had expected. Anyway, I’ll catch up, but you know how it is. Not even 24 hours after coming home from Austria, Orange –X picked up his parents from the Basel airport and spent a great deal of time talking the evenings away, enjoyed watching DVDs together, and a whole lot of delicious cooking… More about that in a later post.

So now, I have the pleasure of going back 4 weeks in time to tell you about our holiday in Austria. Let me rewind the clock and let's go back to August 8th, shall we?

We drove off around 9:30 on the Saturday morning when the skies were covered with grey clouds and a soft rain was coming down, and made our way towards Mondsee (Moon Lake), a small idyllic town about 25 km outside Salzburg.

We finally arrived at our lovely Gasthof short before 5pm and found out that there was the “Seefest” (festival of the Lake) that weekend. The weather was so beautiful that we decided to have a drink on the “main strip” of the village (200 feet long), relax from the drive and do some people watching before going down to the lake where the festivities would take place that evening and the next day. The village buildings are so colourful and well kept that you’d think you’re in a movie. By the way, the church from Mondsee was the setting for the wedding scene in "The Sound of Music". Who'd have thunk?!

Anyway, on our way through the parking arranged for the festivities at the lake, we walked by this car. Was that the band that was to play that evening? I have no clue. So we went our way, watching the small stands with all sorts of goodies being prepared, people testing the lights and making sound-checks for the live bands that would appear on stage that evening, etc. They had also put up a 120 meter (almost 400 feet) crane for bungee jumping and were testing the ropes with different weights. We were both quite impressed by the all organisation efforts of such a small community (approx. 3’000 inhabitants), but we were told later on that in July and August, there was some kind of event almost every weekend and most were very well frequented both by tourists and locals. After our first quick sightseeing tour, we met with Peter and Sonja (business partners of OX) for a quick drink before dinner and they gave us a fantastic restaurant tip for the next evening where we could watch the fireworks from a beautiful terrace overlooking the lake.



We walked back to the village to have dinner and decided to go back to the party afterwards. We got to the lake just in time for the band to start playing. I must say they were quite good and played a good range of styles. There were stands with food and drinks everywhere, the weather was getting a bit cool, but totally acceptable and the atmosphere was fantastic. The age group ranged from small kids, to teens to 85 plus, which we found was an excellent sign. You know what? So many of them were wearing the traditional clothing and not only the older generations, but also the younger were proud to show off their “Lederhosen” and “Dirndls”. At some point, the humidity of the cold grass was getting to my back and we walked back to our little Gasthof for a good night of rest.

The next day at breakfast, we discussed whether we should go for a boat tour on the lake, or then maybe just lazily lie on the beach and suck up some sun, or have a look at the range of events offered at the lake fair. Decisions, decisions! Once at the lake, we saw that the beach was already pretty crowded, but they also had a choice of boat tours – along with gazillions of other passengers - and small electric boats to rent. We opted for the latter. A perfect combination of romantic, peace and being on the water! Helga - that was the name of our boat – took us for a one and a half hour tour of the lake. Captains were Orange-X and yours truly. The surroundings are really beautiful and are worth seeing from another perspective (the lake), even more so considering the gorgeous, hot weather we had. But, hot sun makes one thirsty, so as soon as we docked back on shore, we headed straight to the festivities for a nice, cold beer. Aaah! Burp.... Ooops…. S’cuse us! :-)

Of course, nothing would be really Austrian without an Austrian band, right? Well, we had us some of that, too.

Later that evening, we had a taxi pick us up from the hotel to take us here. The food was excellent, the service very friendly and the view over the lake was breathtaking. Believe it or not, after entrees and main course, OX decided to have the cheese plate as desert. Does he look happy, or what? After the fireworks, we had a digestif and went to our hotel to get some rest.





Have you had enough? Just asking, because we still have 2 days of Salzburg, 2 days at Pinky's (incl. Chris alias "Kevin" live at Backstage) and another day in Bavaria with Andreas and Suze.

We'll be back... Maybe I can get OX to do the next post. We'll see.

Feels like time travel... without the real time

I’m about to rename my blog to CS and O-X’s travels! It seems that we’re not sitting still much lately.

Two weeks ago, we left early on a rainy and cool Saturday morning and drove a-a-a-a-a-a-all the way up past Hanover to a little town called Varrelbusch where our good friends, Nicole, Heiko - and napping little Jennifer – (and gorgeous weather!), were expecting us. The drive went pretty well, except for a few Staus (traffic jams) and I thought the last 20km Autobahn would never end! But we finally made it in six and a half hours.

After a lot of basic chatting, Heiko realized that he’d better hurry to the Metzgerei (butcher shop) before it closed. After all, we had two BIG meat eaters there and we were all expecting a barbecue. About 20 minutes later, Nicole’s mobile phone rang and Heiko was in consternation. His favourite butcher shop was already closed! In a slight panicky voice, he asked where else he could go “hunting”. Nicole remained calm and reassured him that there must be some meat left somewhere and named two other shops. Ask Mausi. This part of Germany will never go out of meat, take what it takes!

After she hung up, she decided to go wake up the little sleeping beauty and bring her down to greet the guests. At the first sight of us, she hid behind mommy Nicole. When she did take a peek, she frowned as if asking: “Who are these intruders?” Jennifer was distant for the first hour or so, but as soon as Daddy came home (with about 5 kg of raw meat to grill!!), I think she didn’t feel as outnumbered by new faces anymore. Balance had been re-established.

While Nicole and I were getting into some serious girls’ talk, our men started building the newly acquired grill. You’ll notice that little Jennifer is going to be one heck of a handywoman when she grows up! Men (and 16 month old) at work! Ok, she did bring screws to Daddy Heiko, but more often wanted to get the whatever he was holding right then out of his hands.

Then, little Jennifer then was fed and put to bed, and it was time for the big people (we’re not grown up, yet) to have a feast! The grill master made his way to the glowing charcoal, the let’s just say: “The heat (& meat) is on!” Yeah!! Is that a cook, or what? You can tell he loves meat! I somehow get the feeling that Heiko would jet along just great with some of the grill-masters we know! (You know who you are!

After an excellent broccoli salad accompanying an immense portion of grilled chicken, sausages and pork (I was told that there was still almost as much still in the fridge!) and many laughs, we just enjoyed a relaxing time sitting around, chatting and taking in the warm summer evening.

We then retired into our own little guest house. What? I never mentioned that? Yes! It’s like a small apartment with coffee machine, bedroom, bathroom with shower, and a cosy little living with TV. The bed was freshly made and a few chocolates were strewn over the pillow as a welcome gift. Oh. And one should NOT forget the guestbook. All guests have to write at least a little something in it before one leaves. You’ll be reminded ;) Isn't it the cutest house ever? After an excellent night of sleep, we went to the house where a huge breakfast was already waiting for us. Jennifer was running after the cats, Amanda and Antonia, but then joined us for (more) breakfast.

After cleaning up a bit (ok, I'll admit, the pict was taken the evening before, but it does fit in, doens't it?), we sat outside knowing that we would have to leave soon again. I hate those moments, don’t you? Time goes by much to fast! Can you believe that two years had already passed since we had been there last?? Anyway, we promised to be back as soon as possible. We had a really fun time with them and are looking forward to our next meet in Switzerland for Jennifer’s Christening.

Here's one of the last pists we took (kindly taken by Heiko).

Tomorrow, we’re heading for Austria again. The first 4 days will be spent in a small, romantic (I hope) Inn in Mondsee (about 20km from Salzburg) just the two of us, then 2 days at Pinki and Andreas’ and to see Christoph (alias our adoptive son, Kevin) play live at the Backstage bar, then the last two days with Andreas and Suse a bit south of Munich.

Holidays? Really?? Well the first few days for sure, but the last?? I’ll let you know ;) Just don't expect any posts until the weekend after that. We return on Sunday late afternoon and on Monday, Ma & Pa will be spending 3 weeks with us! But don't worry. You'll hear from us.

Have a great week!

Austria 2007 - Part 2

Okay, guys. If you want to understand this trip, you'll have to read this one first (if you haven't, yet). Plus, Pinky has sent me new pictures that he too, that I have added to the link at the bottom of the previous post.

Where was I?? Oh, yeah. So, the next day (Friday), we slept in and had a late breakfast. O-X and I decided to go for a bit of shopping in Wiener-Neustadt while the others preferred to stay home and watch a DVD before going out for dinner and another evening at the Backstage Bar. The weather was much better and except for some wind, it was quite sunny, but cool. We found a few very nice stores and came back with two full bags of new acquisitions that we tried to squeeze into our already overfilled suitcases (we were prepared for both hot and cool & rainy weather).

Shortly after we returned, the five of us drove to a really nice restaurant in close to the bar (I forget the name, but I’m sure Pinki can help me). As we were reading the card, the running gag started again and we checked if there were any kid’s menus available, usually known as Mickey Mouse/Pumukl and/or Donald Duck plates in Europe. We also kept calling Chris “Kevin” and as the waitress came to take our order, Chris said he wanted one of the aforementioned “kids’ dinners”. She laughed and then he gave her his “real” order. When they were pouring the wine, Chris asked if they needed to see his ID. Anyway, we laughed through the whole meal. The best scene, however, was when the waitress came to us carrying five small oval plates and said “a small (appetite) teaser with greetings from the kitchen” with a bit of cucumber salad decorated with a shrimp that looked like this.

Teaser, indeed! We were laughing tears! We soon found out that the cook was a woman, which kind of explained everything. Obviously, something was missing in her life. The rest of the dinner was excellent, but we just couldn’t get over the free phallus-like appetizer.

Around 10pm, we headed back to the Backstage Bar. Since it was a long weekend and many had gone out of town, Pinki and Andrea weren’t expecting too much activity. I was still surprised at the number of people appearing and all in all, it was pretty well frequented, despite the long weekend. The music wasn’t too loud and the atmosphere was great. I can say with certainty that 90% of my readers would love it there. I ordered myself a sekt (bubbly) that was okay, but a too acid for my taste. When Jackie, one of the wonderful barmaids that we lovingly call Esmeralda (from the Hunchback of Notre-Dame: see self-explanatory pict) came back to take our next order, I was not sure whether I should have another one of these sekts, so she proposed I try the prosecco in a can (yes, the one that Paris Hilton advertises).

I hesitated, but she assured me that it was better than the one I just had. Y'know what? She was right. I was really surprised. It was no match to the real thing, but pretty good. Around 1am, Orange got a little hungry and ordered a “Backstage Teller” (Backstage plate) that consists of Serrano Ham, sour pickles, olives, peppers filled with cream cheese, parmesan chunks and bread sticks. Mmmm.

At some point, we saw this guy at the bar drinking just a wee bit too much over his initial thirst and was taking a "bar snooze". All of a sudden, he got up and walked straight towards us. Since we had been watching him for some time, we were a bit afraid that he might have felt offended. Or did he just want to have some conversation? So, he staggered towards us, took a seat right between Chris and Pinki, and fell back in a deep sleep within seconds.

Orange-X tried to see whether he was still ok, but decided to try and blow some fresh air on his neck, but the sleep persisted. At some point, he was slowly but surely slipping to the side, and "Kevin" caught him just in time and put him back in a (more or less) vertaical posistion. Poor guy (the drunk, I mean). I have nothing agains going a bit over the limit once in a while when you're really having fun with friends, but I'm not sure the guy even had fun, and if he did (at some point), he's forgotten all about it. So sad.

At 3.30 am, while "Kevin" and I were still chatting away as had we known each other for years (maybe we should share the adoption costs with Pinki and Andrea), OX started helping Pinki and Andrea clean up while a buddy of our sleeping beauty was trying to wake him up. Both of them finally stumbled out of the bar as they waved goodbyes to the staff - I think. Or were they just trying to catch their balance?? I guess we'll never know.

By the time we got out of the Backstage, it was somwhere around 4.30 am and when we got home, we had all passed our "tired phase", so we opted for a last nightcap that Pinki had brought from the bar. The weather was cool, but very nice and we all watched the sun rise cuddled up in a huge blanket. When we went to bed, it must have been something like 6.15 am. What a night!(...and we all remember it all very clearly)!

We were woken up by a call on OX's mobile phone the next (same!) day at 11.30. OX had set the alarm, but kept putting it on "snooze". It was Ernst, our next stop in Austria. We got up and showered, and OX went out to get coffee and fresh bread while I was getting ready. The weather was beautiful, but we knew that we had a bit of a drive before we reached our friends Ernst and Helga in Mattighofen, a small village about 40 km north of Salzburg.

Saying goodbye to Pinki, Andrea and Chris was harder than the last time we were there, but we're going back in August 9th to see Chris play live at the Backstage Bar. You can be sure that he will get our full attention, just as if he were playing only for us.

It took us londer than we had anticipated to get to Ernst's place, but the beauty of the scenery was well worth it. The weather was fabulous and contrast of the snow topped mountains while driving through thick green forests was breathtaking. We were warmly greeted by Helga and Ernst, and their dog, Jessie.We then spent a wonderful evening with Ernst and Helga with excellent home made regional dish and wines. After dinner, we went for a walk at a nearby creek where Jessie found a new friend. When we got back, Ernst decided to make a nice fire, so we all cuddled up in warm fleeces holding a delicious glass of red wine and talked until short ater midnight. It was really an idyllic and relaxing evening. We crashed into bed, tired but very happy, and woke up to a beatutiful, sun shiny day where breakfast and coffee were already waiting for us in the warm sun. Unfortunately, Ernst had to leave early to join in a town band where he was playing himself, and we said our goodbyes to him, but enjoyed a few more hours talking to Helga.

After a hearty breakfast, while I was relaxing getting myself a dose of light and scent therapy from Helga, Orange decided to take a refreshing dip in the pool and just enjoy the warmth of the sun rays penetrate his pores.

We had to get back home to our furry little friend, so we said our goodbyes to Helga and promised to come by again (August, maybe??). We definitely want to go back. They are such sweethearts.

You'll all "Part II" pictures here.

Was that a perfect little vacation, or what? Tomorrow, I'll be putting up Orange-X's post about last weekend.

PS: Our little camera is getting a bit too old, we think. Sorry for the few pitcs we took at Ernst and Helga's, but it just wouldn't work - most of the time, anyway. Even new batteries seem to get empty in the shortest of time. :(