Frohe Ostern!

We know some of you are waiting to see the pictures of Munich, so Trip Report Part 4 is coming soon . . . we promise! But we wanted to share our Easter photos in the meantime.

Easter was sunny, if a bit chilly. After attending Easter mass, we had a our friends, Sherry, Jens and their darling 11-month old daughter, Mia, over for a relaxed Easter dinner.

We've been exhausted with work lately, and our friends are so busy with their work as well, plus their sweet young daughter. So Sherry decided that we would have a stress-free Easter dinner that would consist of nothing that took long to make. It worked out perfectly. We had rack of lamb with a rosemary, dijon and balsamic crust (practically work-free and only 20 minutes to cook); gratin dauphinois (a snap to prepare and only 40 minutes in the oven); field greens with strawberries, goat cheese, and pignolia; steamed asparagus, and dinner rolls. Sherry and Jens brought a delicious blueberry pie (which we warmed during dinner) and ice cream. It was such a nice day.

Little Mia came bearing bunny ears for all, so that made for some funny photos! To view all of the pictures from our Easter Sunday, click here. As Jens says, and in the spirit of our recent trip, Frohe Ostern (Happy Easter)! We hope you all enjoyed your holiday as much as we did.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter

from the Hauses

March Madness

Please excuse us while we temporarily interrupt the trip report series to blog about March Madness. T.S. Eliot said that April is the cruelest month, but it always seems on the east coast that the title should belong to March. It's still bitterly cold in March, and we've all long tired of the charming snow and cozy fires. That new fall coat now has worn holes in the pockets, and one more day of donning a scarf it going to drive us crazy. It's dark and damp and chilly. While April is never as warm as we want or expect it to be, at least it is often sunnier, the days are a bit longer, and the promise of spring keeps us going. March is still pretty gloomy.

That is, . . . until . . .MARCH MADNESS!!!

The Haus house is rooting for two teams this year. You can guess which ones. (Sorry, Bears fans, Cal's not in it this time.)

Go Bruins! Go Cardinal!

Also breaking up the long month of March is, of course, St. Patrick's Day. In California, St. Patrick's Day is about wearing something green and maybe grabbing a beer at a pub. But it's a huge celebration in the Irish stronghold of Boston. Suffolk County and Boston workers enjoy the day off, as it is a holiday (free parking!). (It's technically Evacuation Day-- click for an explanation.) The Southie Parade apparently is unbeatable, and Irish pubs fill up with rowdy crowds by noon. Many families gather together and have a full holiday-style St. Patrick's Day dinner with corned beef and cabbage garnering a starring role. We, however, were not a part of the festivities. Sherry had jury trials in non-celebratory Middlesex County (but did note that the defense bar was awash in a sea of green ties), and Brian worked as well.

On the west coast, though, a leprechaun Lucas was making his way through the City by the Bay. Brian's twin brother, Eric, is a firefighter in Sacramento. Sweet Lucas marched in the San Francisco St. Patrick's Day Parade with his daddy. So cute! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Stay tuned for Part 4 of the trip report.

Trip Report Part 3: An Alpine Dream

We picked up our rental car in Salzburg on Monday afternoon and headed for the Alps. After a couple of hours of marveling at the rolling hills, little hamlets and dramatically steep mountains, we arrived in the lovely Gastein ski resort area, consisting of the village towns of Bad Gastein, Bad Hofgastein and Dorfgastein. In case you're wondering, "Bad" is the German word for "bath" or "spa," and the area is known for its local thermal spring water and baths, as well as its ski and spa resorts. There, we checked into our lovely hotel, and were in for yet another treat. The Austrians are known for their hospitality and given our accommodations in both Salzburg and Bad Hofgastein, we can testify that the reputation is well deserved!

We were a little concerned when we arrived, as there did not appear to be much snow in the area (or in the Alps in general), and we worried that perhaps spring had come! However, when we checked into our hotel, we were reassured that conditions on the mountain were actually very good, and the hotel went so far as to call a local ski instructor to speak with us about what the trails were like and where the best places to ski were. Of course, our concerns were for naught -- several skiiers also told us conditions were great, and the very night we arrived, Mother Nature dumped a ton of snow in the mountains. We skiied in fresh powder the entire time!

Our first night, after what would become our nightly (included!) wonderful dinner, we went to a local bar (not at the hotel) and had a couple drinks and shot some darts. We happened to see several young workers from our hotel there (the woman who checked us in, a guy we'd asked for recommendations in the area, and our waitress from dinner); they not only warmly greeted us, but also recommended certain ski trails, and later, when they noticed that we were struggling with the testy dart machine, came to help us with it. As Brian put it, at nice hotels, the people are always nice to you. But there is sometimes a vague sense that, of course they are nice-- you are paying a lot for them to be nice to you. In Austria, and at the Grand Park, it just seems that the people are just genuinely nice, thoughtful and generous people.

The next morning, we woke bright and early, enjoyed a delicious (also included) breakfast and hit the slopes. We loved every minute of it! The Alps are so steep that the runs are much longer than we typically experience stateside, which means more skiing, and less waiting in line. We also loved the wide open trails, the views of the villages down below, skiing by rippling waterfalls, and the unique Alpine ability to ski from one village town to the next. Really -- you can start in one village, and based on the trails you choose, end in another (and then, if you choose, either ski back or take a tram or bus back).

Sherry particularly enjoyed demonstrating the latest in Alpine chic skiing techniques. Here's how you do it: When finishing a run, get into your iPod. In fact, don't bother paying attention to the trail markings or following the groomed trails, and who cares about the general direction of the ski lift? (That's all so square.) Then, just go ahead and randomly land your ski right in a big pile of fresh snow so that you completely eat it, face first, spread eagle, into the pile. Preferably right in front of the kiddie pony tow. Once you finish this sequence, look up, with a patch of snow still stuck on your eye, and mug for the cameras like it was all a part of your synchronized skiing routine. Ta-da! Perfect 10!!!

We enjoyed two full days of skiing in excellent conditions, with light snow falling, freshening the trails along the way. And we also loved coming back to the awesome spa at our hotel (it is, after all, a town that is all about spas) and relaxing in the sauna. We even received massages that were part of the lodging cost and were very appreciated after a couple of days of skiing.

It was also in these few days that we discovered Austrian wine. Another blog explains here how Austrian wine evolved from a terrible debacle into an industry triumph. (It seems accurate, based on what we were told when we inquired in Austria.) We even ended up purchasing a couple of bottles to take with us as souveniers.

On our final night we went to the Casino in Bad Gastein. (Photo of us before we went is on the left, and photo of Brian, the following day, with the Casino in the background, is on the right.) We had fun chatting it up with skiiers from various countries, and in the end, we basically broke even. (Okay, "we" means "Brian," and "broke even" means he lost a little, but not much.)

The next morning, we walked around Bad Gastein for a while and had lunch at an adorable little Backerei (bakery) before hitting the road. (The Kirschstrudel (cherry strudel) was divine. That's for Ann Mah (click for link) who surely will want to know about the food!) On the way to Munich, we made our way through beautiful, well-known ski villages like Zell am See, Kaprun, and Kitzbuhl. One could truly never tire of skiing, or just basking in the glorious views of, the Austrian Alps!

Stay tuned for Part IV (Munich!) and an album of all of our photos from our trip.

Trip Report Part 2: Stunning Salzburg

After our adventuresome trip by plane, train, bus, and taxi (see Part 1), we checked into an absolutely lovely hotel in Salzburg that, within minutes, made up for all of our troubles. We were welcomed warmly at the Hotel Goldener Hirsch (click for link), and if you ever go to Salzburg, you must stay there. The Goldener Hirsch has been an inn since 1407, and while it is now technically an associated Starwood property (points-users take note), it retains all its old-world charm and extraordinarily personal and attentive service. Its rustic walls, beautiful Austrian decor and carved wood furniture were exquisite, and its location in the Baroque center of Salzburg on the famous Gedreidegasse – the city's main shopping street-- was perfect for exploring the city. It was late when we arrived, but we managed to go to a nearby brewhouse for a bit to eat before coming back to our room for some much-needed sleep.

We often sleep with the window open, and we woke up our first morning in Salzburg to the sounds of the city stirring outside our sweet, historic windows and, then, to Salzburg's many, many churches clanging their bells at once, like a fairy tale.

After all, fairy tales are the very essence that Salzburg conjures. It is an enchanting place, with the majestic Fortress Hohensalzburg castle sitting atop the Monchsberg peak overlooking the city, full of vibrantly colorful architecture, churches, cathedrals, palaces and interconnecting courtyards, plazas and squares. The spectaular setting is made even more stunning by Salzburg's surrounding geography. Salzburg straddles the Salzach River between two mountains (the Kapuzingerg and the Monchsberg), all surrounded by rolling hills and the breathtakingly steep Alps.

On Sunday, we meandered around the city, had brunch at an outdoor cafe, took in several of the historical sights, walked through the lovely Mirabell gardens, and generally enjoyed ourselves. The weather was still vaguely stormy from the day before -- with very little rain (just some sprinkles in the morning), but with some very high winds. The hotel had provided a pretty nice, seemingly sturdy umbrella (fancy wooden handle and all) for us to use, but as you can see, one very large gust rendered it -- scrap metal. At the moment this photo was shot, one gust had just completely obliterated the umbrella. Sherry was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes, and everyone walking by was laughing with us and making comments, in whatever language they happened to speak. Really, click on the photo and tell us: Have you ever seen a more broken umbrella in your life? The wind eventually calmed down and the weather was pretty warm.

----

It should be noted that, before embarking on this trip, Sherry committed to speaking English only when absolutely necessary, to improve her German. (She took several years in high school and college.) In doing so, she learned a ton, connected more easily with people, and had a great time. Brian also learned quite a bit, from listening, asking questions and from rummaging through the conversational German phrasebook we kept with us. Lest we leave you wondering what tidbits Brian found the most fascinating to use, here is a true conversation from a lovely, crowded Salzburg cafe on a Sunday afternoon, for your enjoyment:

Brian, browsing through phrasebook, laughing: "Ich habe
Durchfall."

Sherry, vaguely mortified, yet pressing her lips
together to keep from laughing: "Brian, how would you feel if you were trying to eat your lunch, and some foreign guy was sitting next to you saying loudly, in broken English, 'I have diarrhea'?"

Brian, grinning: "I would think it was funny."

Now, how does one argue with that logic?

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As you may know, Salzburg was Mozart's birthplace, and from the Mozartplatz, to Mozartsgeburtshaus (Mozart's birthplace home) (photo left), to the Mozart tunes played by the Glockenspiel, lovely Salzburg itself is set to his musical masterpieces.

And, on Sunday night, we were in for a classical treat. We went to the St. Peter Stiftskeller Restaurant (click for link), Europe's oldest restaurant, established in 803. Yes, 803. The restaurant is stunningly beautiful, with every room decorated differently, and it is renowned for its food. So, simply going to dinner there would have been quite special. But we attended one of the restaurant's Mozart dinner concerts. Picture an historic and ornately decorated, yet very intimate ballroom, with crystal chandeliers, dazzling with gorgeous silver and china on white tablecloths and lit only by elaborate silver candleabras. Then picture period-dressed musicians, a mini-symphony of sorts, playing Mozart between every course. Then picture, out of nowhere, fantastic opera singers, also in period costume, treating the guests (maybe 40 in all) to stunning duets from The Marriage of Figaro and other pieces. If it sounds at all cheesy, trust us, it wasn't. It simply cannot be adequately described. Sherry had tears in her eyes. And Brian just grinned at her and whispered in her ear, "I found it." He had found it, and he was determined to get his husband points for it. He did, too. The photo left was taken afterwards, back at our hotel.

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On Monday, we had lunch, did a little shopping, checked out the

castle, and bought some wurst

on the street for lunch before

picking up our rental car to head into the Alps. It was a wonderful afternoon, with nice weather. The photo right is taken from the castle looking out toward the Alps.

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Before we say "tschus," we'll add a word about The Sound of Music. Despite Rodgers and Hammerstein's catchy tunes, the movie's worldwide popularity, and how well the movie showcases Salzburg's natural and architectural beauty, the Fodor's guide notes that, "Austria was the only place on the planet where the film failed, closing after a singel week's showing in Vienna and Salzburg. It is said that the Austrian populace at large didn't cotton to a prominent family up and running in the face of the Nazis, and even now, locals are amazed by the Sound of Music's popularity around the world." Now, the movie is a tremendous musical and beloved by our family (not to mention the Best Picture of 1965). However, until we read the travel guide, it (oddly) had never had occurred to us that, if an insane dictator on a mass killing and power mongering spree was invading the U.S., we wouldn't think it was so heroic, either, if one of our country's more prominent families turned tail and left the rest of us to defend our country against his forces. Just never thought of it that way. We're not judging the family's choice in the situation. But it's funny how travel makes you rethink your perspective on all sort of random things, isn't it? Anyway, we didn't take the Sound of Music tour bus. But, don't worry Stacy and Tina, Sherry still managed to indulge her urge to hum "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" while checking out the city.

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, good night . . .

P.S. We don't have all the pics from our trip up in an online album, but we will soon, and will provide a link. Stay tuned for part 3 of 4!

Trip Report Part 1: A Tale of Lufthansa Misery

We're back from vacation. We went to Salzburg, Austria, then the Austrian Alps, and then ended in Munich, Germany and had a fantastic time. We thought we would break up our trip report this time into 4 parts. That way it's easier to read, and easier to post. This is the first installment and, unfortunately, it's all about just getting to Salzburg, which, thanks to Lufthansa, became a story with a life all it's own. We didn't take any photos of the adventure (because we really just wanted to forget about it), so we'll amuse you with some of the photos from our time in Salzburg, since we probably have too many to put in one Salzburg post anyway!

We were scheduled to leave Boston on Lufthansa at 4:50 p.m. on Friday night, arrive in Frankfurt about 6 hours later, and then after a short layover, a short (1 hour) flight to Salzburg. The trip should have put us in Salzburg at 9 a.m. on Saturday. Our plan was to check into our hotel early, sleep a few hours and be ready to sightsee by late afternoon, or at the very least be ready and well-rested in time for dinner. We planned it all perfectly, and chose (and paid for) very efficient flights that allowed us to get there quickly and maximize the one-week time we were assigned for vacation. (Brian's work assigns vacations in one-week installments.)

When we arrived at Boston's Logan Airport we were informed by Lufthansa that we would not be sitting together. Flummoxed, we inquired why, hours before the flight, they could not simply switch some single persons so that we could sit together. They refused. We were each in window seats on the far sides of the plane, so Lufthansa would merely have had to call up a single individual assigned to sit next to one or the other of us, or a single individual sitting in a different window seat, and see if they would switch. They refused. We were incensed, but when we boarded the plane, one of our seat mates was kind enough to switch. (A gentleman seated behind us stated that he flies that same flight all the time, and every time, Lufthansa puts people in the same position as we were, and he does not understand why they cannot get it together.)

We arrived in Frankfurt 5.5 hours later, glad to be arriving early and eagerly anticipating our short flight to Salzburg so that we could begin our holiday. We waited for our Salzburg flight, and waited, and waited. It was delayed because the plane was still in Cologne. It was delayed because of the weather. The story changed by the minute and then . . . it was cancelled. All around us, Lufthansa was cancelling flights due to "weather" (to be fair, it was stormy), but other airlines still seemed to have flights leaving on time. Lufthansa told us Salzburg passengers that it did not know if the next Salzburg flight would go out, and did not know if we could get on it anyway, and did not know if we would get to Salzburg that day. There was no mention of putting us on other airlines. Then, in a quick announcement, Lufthansa stated that, if we really wanted to get to Salzburg today, there was a flight in another terminal currently boarding for Munich (and leaving in less than 30 minutes). We could try to get on that flight (first come, first served), and take a bus to Salzburg. Faced with the possibility of forfeiting the money we'd already paid for our Salzburg hotel, we SPRINTED to the other terminal, down long, long hallways, down five flights of stairs and up five flights of stairs, on no sleep and with all of our hand luggage, to make that flight before the other Salzburg passengers. (Thankfully, Sherry speaks enough German that we did not have to wait for the English translation to figure out what we needed to do.) And we made it (as did several others).

Then we boarded the flight to Munich and sat on the runway for 1.5 hours before we were told that Lufthansa had decided to cancel that flight, too. Passengers were told we had two choices: find our own transportation to our location of choice (with no refund for the missed flight since it was cancelled due to "weather"), or wait in the now-4-hour (no, that's not a joke) ticket line so that Lufthansa could determine when and how they could get us to our respective destinations. (Despite the "weather," no other airline had long streaming lines taking multiple hours.) The passengers began to bond over our stories. We met people from Johannesburg and Burma and England, all in the same situation. We all wanted to know about our luggage, since most of us intended to ski on vacation and needed our gear. Lufthansa told us to go to our destinations and they would figure out how to get us our luggage. Most passengers took that advice. A good core of us, however (skiiers in particular), trudged on down to the luggage department to find out how to get our luggage.

There, we were treated to another long line. A Lufthansa employeee took it upon herself to shout over and over that we should all just move on to our destinations and call later about our luggage. Several people left the line, leaving a good 30 or so of us determined to get more information. We asked how long it would take to get our luggage, given that we would only be in Salzburg for two nights (or maybe only one if we did not get there soon) and then would be moving into the Alps, where we NEEDED our ski gear and had already paid for accommodations. We received the same canned answer. We asked whether Lufthansa could at least tell us which flight our luggage was being taken off of (Salzburg or Munich) so that, when we did call, we would know which flight our luggage had been associated with. At that point, the Lufthansa employee raised her voice even further and stated that we should all just move on, and that if we wanted our luggage it would be several hours, and she would not answer the same questions AGAIN, as though we were all a bother to her. Sherry said to Brian, "She needs to understand that this is not our fault." Apparently another Lufthansa employee standing nearby, a flight attendant in uniform filling out a lost luggage form of her own, heard and nastily commented, "We are all in the same boat. You don't need to get upset about this." Really? You're getting a free day off of work and your only problem is that you need someone to find a small bag containing, perhaps, your other flight attendant uniform and spare heels. We've all paid a boatload for vacations that we are missing, and are exhausted, having spent the last day traveling to be stranded in a foreign city by your airline with no understanding of when we will be receiving the luggage that we all need for our trips. Really? We're in the same boat? No. We're not. We didn't say it, but we should have. (As an aside, Air France lost our luggage over the summer, and with their scanning system, was able to tell us immediately where that luggage was, and when it would be coming in. Lufthansa would not even bother to make a simple inquiry about our luggage.)

When we got to the front of the line, the Lufthansa employee who was assigned to help us whispered to us, "My colleagues will not want me to say this, but if I were in your shoes, I'd wait for my luggage. You have been on two flights, plus there is no guarantee of how long they will take to get your luggage to you. So, I would wait for it today." We did so. Despite Lufthansa's dramatic statements that receiving our luggage would take "at least three hours" if we waited for it (undoubtedly to get passengers out of their hair and out of the airport, and to lighten their immediate workload of hunting down luggage), it took only an hour. We were so glad we waited. (And even more glad when, later on our trip, we ran into fellow passengers who had not yet received their luggage.)

From there, we went to the 4-hour ticket line. A kind British man in line was letting other passengers use his cell phone to determine whether flights to their destinations were even going out, so that if they were not, those passengers would not have to wait in line. We used the phone and determined that waiting in line would be futile as the other Salzburg flights were cancelled. We then headed to the train station, where we bought two tickets to Salzburg (switching trains in Munich) and readied ourselves for a six hour train ride (longer than our flight from Boston to Frankfurt).

We rode the train for several hours, when it suddently came to a stop about 50 km outside Munich, in the middle of a forest. Several announcements were made in German, and Brian looked to Sherry for translation. She explained that the train had broken down, and the conductor had no idea how or when help would come. Brian thought she was pulling his leg, but alas, she was not. Our friends from Johannesburg and Burma and Britain, as well as some traveling Germans, were all on the same train, and the ordeal had now become so absurd that, when we were told the train had broken down, we all started laughing. The Germans began translating every announcement for us, and we would all laugh. Eventually, a team was dispatched and fixed the train while we sat on the rails. The entire breakdown ordeal took a couple of hours. When the train finally moved, everyone cheered. (A young German mother in our car with two children about 4 and 6 truly deserved a medal of honor for keeping her children relativley occupied and well-behaved on the entire train ride, including the long breakdown.)

When we arrived in Munich late at night, we ran to the Salzburg train line. But no one was there. The departure sign showed several trains departing for Salzburg, so Brian suggested we wait by the next one. But Sherry was suspicious, and insisted on finding someone to tell us what to do. Eventually, we learned that all trains to Salzburg were cancelled for the night, but a bus for Salzburg (the only bus) was leaving now. We sprinted for the bus.

When we reached the bus, we boarded and Sherry then noted that there was no bathroom on the bus, she needed to use one and she could not wait two hours. The nice driver overheard her dilemma, and told her to run to the bathroom. She did so, leaving her purse and everything else with Brian, only to find that the train station bathroom required 1.5 euros and she had nothing but an American $5 in her pocket. She stood there, clearly desperate, not knowing what to do, and knowing that an entire bus of wearly world travelers was waiting for her. A kind man came up to her, took her $5 and pressed 3.5 Euros into her hand. If you know the exchange rate right now (horrible for Americans), you know that this was not a bad exchange. Sherry expressed her sincere gratitude and ran to the bathroom.

Two and half hours, a bus ride of trading of travel war stories from the day with people traveling from as varied destiations and Kazakhstan, Germany and Africa, and a taxi ride later, we were in our hotel in Salzburg. It was 11 p.m.-- 14 hours after we were scheduled to arrive. We have been traveling to Europe from the East Coast because it generally is as quick as flying to the west coast, and there are so many place there we want to see. But we could have traveled to Australia or deep Africa or the Pacific Islands in the time it took us to get to Salzburg. We were exhausted, cranky, and starving. Thank you, Lufthansa. We'll never forget it.

We'll give the lowdown on our the rest of our otherwise wonderful trip in three additional posts: one on our visit to Salzburg, one on our ski trip to the Alps, and one on our time in Munich. For now, we'll just say Auf Wiedersehen!