Friday, June 20, 2014

When We Went to Innsbruck

So getting back to journaling our amazing vacation...

After Salzburg we drove to Innsbruck and then just above there to Igls where our hotel was. We had a few issues with our room... well, let me clarify, Thomas had problems with his room and with parking his car. It all worked out but made for some interesting parking maneuvers once we had a spot. After that we figured we should at least get a snack before heading down into Innsbruck.

So we went to one spot that looked kind of cute and waited... and waited... and took come pictures...


Then we got tired of waiting around...

So we decided to take a bus down to Innsbruck because we didn't want to have to try parking Thomas' car again.

While we were waiting for the bus,  Thomas spotted a small bakery.



Of course he had to go get something. We had waited and waited at the other spot and never got something to eat so he was still hungry. We went into the bakery and there was a sweet, small, old lady who was doing the serving and she was having a very hard time hearing Thomas. We kind of gave each other the "O-Kaaaayyy" look and then just went about our business. He bought us some fun looking pastries and then we ran to catch the bus. Thomas and I were so excited to eat our treats... mine didn't taste that great though... but I didn't want to say anything and I didn't know what it was supposed to taste like anyway. Then Thomas took a bite of his... he almost spit it out and continued to inform me that they were old and tasted nasty, so I felt better about not liking it so much, it sure looked tasty. I think the pastries may have been as old as the lady working there... just sayin'.

Disappointed in wasting money on stale food we rode down to Innsbruck looking forward to dinner in a few hours.

We knew we only had a short time in Innsbruck that night and would be coming back tomorrow, so we just went through it all quick.

What are these tourists all looking at?



Oh just a roof made out of solid gold... no biggy...

OK, OK, it was pretty awesome!


We walked the streets and took in the sights of the building and the people as we roamed and took pictures.



This is one thing that was crazy to us was to see the rail lines run through the streets along with the cars driving.
People really know how to maneuver in Europe... or we just didn't hear about any accidents.





We decided since we didn't have much time that we should look for some souvenirs to bring back for our parents. I had been seeing this little replicas of old coo coo clocks that looked like one we had in our house as a kid. I saw some cute magnets and was able to get some for a good deal in on of the shops. The lady was quite happy to have us there and talked Thomas' ear off as Marc and I looked around. She didn't speak English so Thomas was kind enough to keep her happy while we were there.

Then were very ready for dinner.

We decided to go to a chain restaurant called VaPiano. It was an Italian restaurant that seemed like it had quite a bit of flair and some hip diners there. The atmosphere was good and so was the food. I really wouldn't have minded eating there again.

This is Marc waiting for the food to be cooked that he had ordered. They cook the food while you watch and wait. Pretty cool.

We sat outside after dinner to enjoy our desserts and we stayed and talked till it was dark.

After we left I had realized that we forgot to take a picture so we had to sneak one after we had already crossed the street to leave.
Hee hee! Marc's cheeser grin!

We got back to the hotel:

Got into our comfies and the three of us sat out on the patio and talked and made plans for the morrow, then we went back into the room because it was getting a bit cold, and we shared funny YouTube videos. We laughed until we were too tired to laugh and we all retired to bed.

In the morning we woke up bright and early, met downstairs for breakfast and headed out to take our bus back into Innsbruck with the intent to take a tram up the mountain there in Innsbruck. We rode there on the bus then got off to walk around the area again so I could capture some of what we saw the night before on my camera.










These things were everywhere. I thought they we just for decoration and until I read "Trinken Wasser" which means "Drinking Water in German. Now those are some cool drinking fountains, just a tad tricky to drink out of.

After our quick walk about we were off to find the tram station to take us up this mountain.

Thomas was trying to figure out what was going on at the station because there was not around and it looked like there was some sort of renovation or cleaning, we were informed that this station was closed, but the next station up was open.



...

So we took another bus to the next station.

...

Guess what...

It was closed too.

We were a bit frustrated with our multiple bus rides and fares spent so I tried to cheer us up, and what better way to cheer up but with a friends' vacation selfie.



This was the view from where we were standing. Pretty amazing. Oh, and Innsbruck has hosted the Olympics twice. If you look toward the back middle of the photo (above all the buildings and more in the trees) you can see the slide for the ski jumps.


Well, with our plans being foiled and not many other options, Thomas came up with something else we could shoot for.

Next time is about Stubai Glacier.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

My YouTube Channel Debut

Just because I thought it might be fun to watch Our Life and not just read about it...

Utah's Back Yard Hike


You know, where we live, I feel like most of the things we do are just in our own backyard.

Maybe not literally.

But when you live 20 minutes away from an easy family hike like this it really makes you feel like it. We're pretty lucky really. The Provo Canyon starts just a 2 minute drive from our house. There are so many things to do in that canyon, any canyon, but it's sure nice to have it so close.

So, when our friends asked us to take them out on a little hike we were happy to take them to South Fork.


It was great for our kids because they do better with friends around than if it's just Marc and I. Besides, with more people, we have more hands to grab our run-aways!


I brought my camera up, but forgot the extra battery and, well, it didn't last as long as I'd like, but I did still get some fun pics. I love this one above. Baby was walking so slow and Marc was so patient to be willing to fall behind just to keep her pace.



Lexi saw that she had a photo op so she was happy to oblige...



Still behind...

He figured he should start catching up so we weren't too far separated.

I love this moment with Pepe and his grandma

As always, I was very proud of Brother and Sister for hiking so well.
It was even funner, though, to see them hiking with friends.

This was the last shot I got in on my camera before the battery died...

So it was time for the iPhone camera.



After seeing that the hike was a bit harder than expected we had to split up for those who wanted to go back down to the park, and those who wanted to finish the hike.

Marc took Baby with him and Amanda and her mom, Rita followed.

He got some sweet shots of Baby while they were on their little adventure...



 



 Aw...



Meanwhile I had to take a selfie ...


Then Brother jumped in...



Then Sister...

And it was an instant groupie!



When we crossed one of the creeks there were hundreds of little purple-y blue butterflies/moths fluttering on the ground so I told brother and India to stop... this was them stopping dead in their tracks. At least I know they can stand still.

Here's the best I could get of the fluttering flies with my phone.


The hike had many beautiful spots to stop at along the way.



Sister was laughing hysterically for the last 15 minutes of the walk down.


This hike was simple enough for our kids and challenging enough to make it interesting for the older "kids."

I'm just glad that Sister was full of uncontrollable laughter...

and that Brother was smiling all day...

Baby is just happy to be anywhere...

More still to come about Austria: