Parents in Europe: Part 3 of 3

Since I still have so many pictures left to share of my parents, I'll try to do them in chronological order, but just post witty captions or explanations for each. Here ya go!

Before Matt went on a work trip, we all decided to hit a castle. And take some pictures by the Rhine. We opted for Burg Sooneck.

 We also got a private tour on the inside, where we had to put on giant slippers. There was a huge bronze chandelier in the dining room and our guide said we could totally take it for free - as long as we carried it out ourselves. Considering it was several hundred pounds, we politely declined.

Oh yeah - this was the first night my parents got here, and their first introduction to true German wine and delicious sausages. It did turn cold as the night wore on, but they were troopers. I kept them awake as long as I could when they got here to get them used to the time change. After taking an afternoon nap they were doing really well!

On the way to the castle - first trip on the autobahn! They tolerated it very well and didn't seem scared. If they were, I didn't know.

Dad tried a nice Belgian beer for the first time. He tried many during the trip, and we landed on his favorite: he likes a pilsner. In fact, he drank a ton of Bitburger that we had at home.

 After Matt had left, my dad really, really really wanted to go back to the "river fest." He wanted a cheese filled sausage, wine, and some spatzle. He thought he wouldn't like spatzle at all, but then he saw it when Matt and I shared one, tried a little, and was hooked. He tried throughout the trip to correctly pronounce it, but to no avail. I obliged and took them back to the fest. Here he is, completely content with a glass of wine and a huge portion of spatzle.

Then I went and got them their sausages. My mom later went up to the coffee stand (all by herself!) and ordered her first of many cappuccinos. That was her drink of choice throughout the trip. Some days she had as many as five cappuccinos.

 After filling up on fest food, I took them on a walk along the Rhine for the afternoon. We stopped to snap a picture at the Mainz Strand, the beach area they setup in the summer.

I walked them all the way down the river to the train bridge and coaxed them on really quickly for another picture.

On the way back to the apartment, we came upon a little setup of old cars, of which my dad was fascinated with. He wasn't used to seeing so many varieties of cars during the time he was here, and looked genuinely pleased with them all.

One of the places we went to eat was Eisgrub. Mainly because you can get towers of beer at the table, but also because the food is outstanding.

 My mom even tried a little beer!

 Like me, my dad got the sauerbraten. My mom got this huge and tasty salad.

Not all days were spent being a tourist. On more than one occasion, my parents were perfectly content to just chill out in the apartment all day. They don't have Netflix, so it was all new and exciting to them to binge-watch old TV shows they hadn't seen, like The Twilight Zone.

Oh yeah - my mom got a fancy new jacket! We went to a German department store and found this gem.

We also ate at home a little. This is a shot of our nibbles night - Matt, me and my dad sampled all six of these Belgian beers, and enjoyed amazing cheese, crackers, rolls, and sausages.

 Yummy stuff!

 Near the end of the trip, my dad kept asking for pretzels. We went around town and got some, and then he went back to this stand - Pretzel World.

Here he is enjoying one!

For the last meal, my mom went for the mushroom cream sauce schnitzel. And very much enjoyed it.

My dad ordered his usual - sausages and sauerkraut.

On the last day, I pulled out Matt and my Oktoberfest clothes to play dress up. My dirndl fits my mom just fine!

 She's so cute!

 And check out my dad....

 ...hamming it up for the camera.

So there you have it, folks. My parents trip to Europe. From the pictures anyway, it looks like they had fun.

Parents in Europe: Part 2 of 3

Road trip to Vienna!

My dad was very adamant about going to Vienna while they were here. Since Matt and I hadn't been there before, we decided to all go. It's about a 7+ hour drive so we elected to break up the trip by first heading to Schneider Weisse for lunch, a brewery in Bavaria, where Matt swears it's his favorite German beer.

Our trip was also the day of my parents 34th wedding anniversary, so I made them pose for pictures. The dark beer here was my cola weizen, which is part beer, part coke. (Don't knock it 'till you try it! I was just looking for something a bit less alcoholic, since it was my turn to drive after lunch).

This was the end of my meal - a turkey steak with potatoes and some of the best veggies I've ever had. My parents were thouroughly happy with their meals as well - dad had the sausages and saurkraut (which he maintains was the best he'd ever had) and my mom had a ham and cheese salad. Yum yum yum.

 We also caved and got an apfel strudel. Flakey and pretty much perfect.

 On the search to find the shop to buy beer, we walked all around the complex, and I snapped this picture of a content (and a bit buzzed) Matt as he posed with the grand tower of beer crates.

 ...But wait, it's not open?!

 No... sadly they were closed for the rest of the day. Sad Matt... Another time, I promise!

Back in the car, we headed on our way, and a few hours later we stopped at the border with Austria. To drive on the Austrian highways, you need a vignette so Matt went inside while I stayed with my parents.

First picture of dad in Austria!

After more driving, we finally made it to the Hilton Danube. We decided to have a late dinner in their restaurant (after first checking out the executive lounge) and then we called it a night.

The next day after breakfast, we took the subway into the city center and stopped first at St. Stephen's Cathedral. At which point it started to rain and rain and rain....But we checked it out.

Happy mother's day, by the way!

Also, I was really smitten with all the horses in Vienna. It's hard to see, but they all have TINY LITTLE HATS FOR THEIR EARS! Oh gosh. So cute.

Next we walked over to the Hofburg Palace for a tour, followed by lunch, and then over to the Schonbrunn Palace for another tour. Matt enjoyed the various statues around the city.

Matt insisted we walk around the gardens afterwards. It was still raining like crazy so my parents decided to pass, but I went along. I felt it was part of my wifely duties. My pants and shoes and socks were soaked.

It was very difficult to get pictures whilst carrying an umbrella (that had a hole in it and was leaking a bit onto my face), but Matt insisted I capture the fountains and assorted neatness. This duck was having a great time.

After we called it a day, made it back to the hotel and dried off, we were just in time for snacks and drinks at the executive lounge happy hour. The forecast for the next day looked much more promising, so we went to sleep thinking dry and sunny thoughts.

We got up early because we decided to take a train through the alps to the small town of Semmering, a ski town during the winter. We took the mountain train because during the week, our foursome could take regional trains anywhere for 35 Euro round trip. A really great deal!

Here we are on the train!

Finally, we get to Semmering. The goal was to walk into town, check out the scenery, and grab some lunch. We somehow ended up taking the long and hike-centered way on the excursion into town. My parents aren't hikers, but they were good troopers getting up hills! And now they can say they hiked through the alps!

Also- we saw this sign a lot in Austria. Matt lovingly referred to it as a child abductor zone. Just something about those hats....

On the way, we stopped briefly in a little church to listen to an organist practice.

But then we found a great lunch spot. Matt and I got the menu of the day which consisted of cream of spargle soup (white asparagus - German-speaking countries LOVE the stuff), followed by pork medallions in a pepper cream sauce with veggies and potatoes, and then a rhubarb cake for dessert. My parents both got these huge salad plates.

Our soups....

And cake....

My mom had spotted an apple strudel-type dish so we inquired about it. We were told it was an apple cake and so we asked for one for my dad.

He was really glad.... look at this apple-tastic creation?!

Since it was shaping up to be a much nicer day, we decided to catch the train back right after lunch and see if we could check out Vienna in the sunshine. On the way back to the train we took a shorter yet equally beautiful route:

Back in Vienna, we walked around the Belvedere gardens.

Quite nice fountains indeed. It was nearly time to eat again, so we walked over to this massive market area where they had vendors for everything setup, including some restaurants. I was particularly in the mood for Italian, so we found a cute little place and sat down.

I started out with an Aperol Spritz. Have you heard of these? Aperol is huge over here and it's one of my new favorite drinks. Aperol is a bitter orange liquor (so it's not especially sweet, but it gives off a nice orange-y flavor), and the "spritz" part is prosecco and sparkling water. Very, very tasty.

And then I had a big bowl of pasta. Darn good.

With that meal complete, it was back to the hotel and to bed shortly thereafter.

The following day we headed home. We attempted to go back to the brewery for Matt but alas, it just wasn't in the cards. A short distance from the brewery they closed the highway and were directed around the chaos. Matt was sad once again. (It had also rained quite a good deal on the drive, so it was especially sad he couldn't reward himself for all the driving. Sigh.)

Since nobody had gotten pizza at dinner the night before, we ordered one when we got home. We also decided to play monopoly. I got Matt the German language one for Christmas, so we whipped that one out.

Matt is a capitalist dog when playing monopoly. Check out the serious expression. It didn't matter at all that he was playing with his in-laws: he crushed them. (And me - it really doesn't matter - he's in it to win). You've been warned.

On Friday, I'll re-cap the rest of their travels in Germany. Have a good week!