“London, thou art the flower of cities all!” -William Dunbar

England! The land of english speaking, beer pubs, gardens, medieval towers, castles, fish & chips, rain, bridges, & the Queen. A good place. A MARVELOUS place to end our trip with. My only regret is that we didn’t have an extra day to stay & explore more, but hey, there’s always next time. 😉 And, it is always good to “have a next time”.

We flew into Heathrow from our exit in Vienna, Austria & arrived in the afternoon. We hopped on the tube & headed towards the main part of London to find our hostel. It was a great location & with Noah’s stellar leading we found it without any issues. We were blessed to have a large family room with a bathroom all to ourselves! (We have a bit of hostel experience & this doesn’t usually happen. So it was a treat!) We spread our stuff out all over the bunk beds, grabbed city maps & headed out. We booked it to the Tower of London thinking we could tour it that evening, but ended up not having enough time to do it justice, so we decided that we would get City Passes & tour the Tower the next day. We walked around, drank coffee, enjoyed the foggy town & its intermittent rain spells, walked across the London Bridge & back again, took lots of pictures, walked through the parks, visited Buckingham Palace & did our due diligence waving at the guards & ended our first day of touring at a nice little pub where we had gigantic hamburgers & beer. It was perfect! From there we took the tube back to our hostel & crashed out.

The next day was our one extremely full day of being the ULTIMATE tourists. We woke up & enjoyed  (not really) our instant coffee & wheat flakes before heading out to brave the big city. We had purchased our special city passes the night before, so after finding some better coffee we went to a designated bus stop for our bus tour. We rode it until we came to Paddington station where we boarded a tiny train bound for Windsor Castle, where the Queen still stays on the weekends. It was overcast & OH so perfect. We were surrounded by school groups & listened to our handy dandy walking tour guide through headphones & tried not to bump into people. We were able to see the changing of the guards, eat lunch & tour the castle before the girls had their no-nap meltdowns. After that, we went & had sandwiches at a little cafe & got on the little train back to Paddington station.

Once there we walked through the rain back to another bus stop that took us on a tour around the city where it felt like we saw so many things, but in reality scratched the surface. London is an immense city with SO much to see & do! It was perfect timing, because both girls took naps the entire time. It was a good break for all of us. We hopped off once we got back to the Tower of London & barely made it onto the last guided tour of the day with the Beefeaters while the skies OPENED UP! It was insane how hard it was raining. We learned a lot, saw the crown jewels & got absolutely drenched while we laughed & ran from covered spot to covered spot before leaving. That was quite a memory, I’m so grateful for it.

“Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life.” -Rabindranath Tagore

From there we decided to try the traditional fish & chips, which in hindsight was probably not a good idea because none of us typically eat fried food… but hey, when in England. We jumped on a boat tour after that which took us up the river Thames. It was great & the tour guide was both hilarious & informative. He made quite a few tips that day, for sure. We disembarked at Big Ben & toured around, saw Westminster Abbey & got bombarded with street petitioners because it happened to be VOTING DAY. Each time we got stopped, we just had to say we were american & then we’d move on. It was fascinating being in that nation on THAT monumental day. It seems like things like that happen each time Noah & I travel internationally. A while back we were in Spain when they won the World Cup & that was absolutely ridiculous. SO COOL. I’ve never enjoyed soccer/football so much. 🙂

After that we headed back into the tube to get back over to our hostel, but with how much rain there was, some of the lines were flooded…Let’s just say that that creates chaos & the crowds trying to cram into each train car are in each others armpits & basically holding you so as to not get smashed by the closing doors. This ALSO happens when Noah & I travel. It’s always humorous. Unless you are claustrophobic. Not to mention that everyone was soaking wet from the rain & sweating from the mass of people, so the smell was also, well yuck. Everyone was gracious towards our family unit though, which I was impressed with because of it being time for everyone’s commute home for the evening. It had to have been our cute kids. They open doors nothing else will. A huge perk of traveling with little ones! We got separated at one point during the chaos, but thank goodness my mom has a LOUD voice. 🙂 It all worked out & we ended our last evening in London at a pub standing outside in the rain with our beer. It was PERFECT. That night we showered & packed our stuff so as to be in the right weight category (free) for our flight back home the next day. After almost 3 weeks of traveling, I was impressed with all of us. Our bags, including a few souvenirs picked up along the way, were all less than 9 lbs. Pretty rad. My mom was superwoman & jam packed her bag because she was flying separate from us & had a bit more room allowed for her carry on. The next morning we got up, grabbed some egg croissants & espresso from a train station kiosk & headed in two different directions. My mom flew out of Heathrow, so she went her way & we took a different line to Gatwick. On the train we met a group of traveling dancers who played with Cora & taught Eliana how to point her toes like a ballerina. It was sweet.

At the airport, we boarded our flight home & were delayed an hour & half getting off the ground…with no explanation. But we did eventually get in the air & made it to Iceland, where we were told once we landed that our next flight was delayed an additional 3 hours. It seemed like the tiny airport was swarming with other travelers also stuck in the same predicament. At that point there is nothing else to do but let the little ones run WILD to get their wiggles out, order a pizza & charge your phone. The airport had a row of baby carriages (old school strollers without any harness systems) to use while stuck in the airport like we were, so we took turns pushing Cora around in it, making sure she stayed seated so as to not fall out. Well, of course, that DID happen because she is so quick & luckily Noah grabbed her before she did a full tumble onto the concrete. She did however, score her very first fat bloody lip & covered her onesie with blood. She was a trooper though, & by the next day her lip was back to normal. Plus, we get to say that it happened in Iceland, so that’s pretty cool, especially if she ends up becoming a stunt woman or something.

Eventually we got back in the air & made it home to the big old US of A after a VERY long day of travel. The girls took short naps during the course of the flight home & we adults, did not. By the time we arrived at LAX, we were delirious. My amazing brother & sister in love picked us up & we crashed at their house for the night before driving 5 1/2 hours home the next day.

That, my friends, brings us to the end of our summer of 2016 european adventure!

Needless to say, it was INCREDIBLE. It was the best part of my summer, personally. I was so full of joy, I had such great peace, & my heart was singing to be getting the amazing opportunity to travel again. If I made enormous amounts of money, I would make it a HABIT to travel, both domestically as well as internationally. It is so rewarding, so fulfilling, so enlightening, so exciting. And so exhausting, but so so worth it. I am grateful beyond words that we had the opportunity to GO & that we chose to do just that. The memories gained from an experience like that are so valuable to me. Getting to travel the globe with my husband, my girls & my parents (!!!) was such a treat. I really hope that we will get to do a multi-generational trip again someday. I am blessed. BLESSED.

“You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.” -Rabindranath Tagore

It has been wonderful for my heart to reminisce over the past few months of my life by getting to look back on the highlights from a great trip. Sometimes in life, regardless of what is going on in TODAY, looking back & reflecting with thanksgiving in our hearts & on our lips is significant. It can shift things into perspective for today. It can sometimes be a simple reminder of the sweetness of life. It can push us to reach higher, go deeper. Reflection & meditating on the gift that life has been up until this very breath in our lungs is something we hurry too often, or skip over completely because we are too busy & have too much on our plates to deal with. But taking the time to reflect & BE GRATEFUL is well worth it. It has been a healing balm for my soul to walk down memory lane. Not because my life is insanely hard or because I am in the depths of despair or anything like that, but just because it reminds my heart of the goodness in my life. The gift that it is to be alive & to get to eat gelato in Italy with my 3 year old. Things like that. I encourage you to reflect on the last few months of your own life & see what it has offered you. Find the sweet things. The little moments, or the big ones for that matter! It is ALL valuable because it is part of your story. It has helped shape who you are in this exact moment in time. Reflect. It’s good.

“Meditation is the soul’s perspective glass.” -Owen Feltham

I’m glad I did.

My heart is full.

Cheers,

Katie.

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” -Marcel Proust

Austria! Oh my lanta. It was such a joy getting to travel back to Austria. Riding a train through its landscape is worth every penny. We traveled to Austria after leaving Venice by train. It was a beautiful day getting to experience the northern part of Italy we traveled through & into Austria as we made our way to Salzburg. We met some very interesting people on our different trains & made it to Salzburg exhausted from the day of travel but more RICH because of it. My eyeballs were so grateful for the entire day.

Once we arrived in Salzburg, we heave-hoed our backpacks & walked the 2 miles to our AirBnB, that was LITERALLY, sitting right below the fortress walls overlooking the old town. It was the BEST location thus far for what we were wanting with exploring by foot. Cobblestone streets & all. Once we settled into our room, we went & explored a bit. We found a tavern that didn’t look like much from the outside but you could hear voices traveling up from within its walls & it had  wiener schnitzel on the menu so we dove in. It went on & on! Practically every table was full & all of the servers wore traditional leather lederhosen. We ate one of the best meals of our trip there complete with schnitzel & beer. It was ALL delicious. From there, we crashed out for the night after planning our next few days of exploring the old city.

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” -Confucius

The next day we started off our very full day with breakfast at an outdoor cafe & headed off on a hike to the fortress, which really looks like a castle, but hey. Fortress it is. It is called Hohensalzburg Fortress & it’s STUNNING. We paid to get in & got our headsets with a walking tour & explored. It was great! We spent several hours walking around learning all about the fortress & the history of Salzburg. If you are ever headed to Austria, Salzburg is a must in my opinion as well as touring the fortress. Do it. After getting our fill of the castle (& desperately needing food), we headed back down into the old town where there was a race going on. We sat in the cheering section as each (very) long distance runner (either a 50 mile distance for some or 80 mile distance for others) made their way across the finish line & cheered along with everyone there. We had bratwursts & beer & massive chocolate covered pretzels. DELISH. It was a delightful experience. From there we opted out of naps so as to continue our exploration. We downloaded a Rick Steves podcast (another must if you are traveling Europe, they are wonderful!), & went on our walking tour of the old town. We got to see some of the places that the “Sound of Music” had been filmed as well as some of the true locations where the Von Trapp family had been during their time in Salzburg. We learned about Mozart (He was born there & lived in Salzburg until he was 17 & moved to Vienna) & his experience in the city, saw incredible churches & listened to live music. It rained & we just covered up & kept on walking!  We had dinner at the same restaurant from the night before & had ice cream after. It was a LONG day, but so full! We even heard a choir practice in an old stone building & it echoed gently down the streets right after hearing the church bells toll. Eliana thought it was angels singing. For the rest of the trip every time she heard church bells, she asked if the angels were going to sing!  It was a beautiful day in SO many ways.

The next day we headed back out to the train station where we boarded a train headed for a teeny tiny little village tucked on a hillside next to a lake called Hallstatt. (A dream come true for me!) It was so PERFECT, it seemed fake. You know what I mean? It was raining & foggy & oh so glorious. We got off at a train stop & headed down to a rickety ferry with two crusty old sailors who ferried us to the other side of the lake. (Hallstatt is accessed by train & then boat. Come on.) It was raining lightly when we arrived but within 30 minutes it was pouring! We ate some gyros from a great little food truck next to the ferry landing & then did a loop around the town. We popped into woodcarving shops, the church & watched the swans on the lake. AND took lots of pictures. LOTS. I could live there. If you have ever been to Disneyland & ridden on “It’s a Small World”, you can get a taste of this place. It was like a fairytale come to life. Even with the torrential rain, it was MAGICAL. We spent a few hours getting soaked & enjoyed some hot coffee before boarding our ferry to head back to Salzburg for the evening. Another must for Austria (in my opinion) is to take the 2 1/2 hour trip for the day to visit this quaint town. It was iconic Austria for me. That evening, once we returned to Salzburg & changed into dry clothes, we ate at an italian restaurant right outside of our AirBnB & then did another few loops throughout the old town. It was amazing at dusk, when all the tourists (minus us) had disappeared & the streets were empty.

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

That concluded our time in that region of Austria. The next morning we took a taxi (it was raining again & walking two miles in the rain with two littles & all our stuff didn’t sound too appealing), which was quick & a great decision back to the train station. We sat & had espresso & croissants & jumped on our high speed train to Vienna. Once there, we headed out to the main part of the city with another Rick Steves podcast. We spent several hours being “Viennese”, including sitting at a famous side street cafe having coffee. We saw loads of ornate fountains, toured the Hapsburg palace, prayed in St. Stephen’s cathedral, & visited a WWII memorial. It was a WHOLE lot of history in a short period of time. I was impressed by Vienna, for sure! After traipsing around & getting a shotgun tour we hopped back on a train headed for the forests outside of the city & were picked up by our 79 year old AirBnB host who took us to her house encased with flowers & vines & all things green & good. It was the best experience as far as staying in someone’s home has gone with our AirBnB-ing, especially in the sense of cultural immersion. Gerda was INCREDIBLE. We broke bread together, celebrated her 9th grandchild’s birth with some of her friends while singing along to Noah playing folk songs on the guitar, had homemade strudel, visited a heurige (a wine tavern open only when the new wine is harvested & closed for the rest of the year) & tasted the new wine, walked through meadows & spent time outdoors in the sunshine of the garden after all the rain we had gotten. It was a much needed time of rest before the last portion of our journey. It was EXACTLY what I was hoping for! Thank you Gerda for an unforgettable experience sharing your home & sitting under your wisdom.

The next morning Gerda & one of her lovely friends drove us back to train station so we wouldn’t have to take a bus. It was so gracious of them! We hopped back onto the train & headed back towards Vienna, for the airport. From there we were headed out on a flight back to Great Britain to round out the final days of our trip. I will blog about that portion of our summer trip soon!

“Certainly, travel is more than seeing the sites; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” -Mary Ritter Beard

Overall, Austria was a highlight for me. We had so many different experiences, met INCREDIBLE people, consumed yummy food & drink, sang folk songs with some delightful austrian grandmas, rode the train across the country, stood on top of a castle, learned a great deal about the immense & impressive austrian history & really experienced the culture. It was an ENRICHING week in a beautiful land. What more could we have asked for?

Like I keep saying, if you want to GO, just DO IT! Explore! Adventure! Journey! It will enrich your life & infuse you with more cultural understanding & depth. Plus you’ll get to eat really interesting food. Win. Win.

I hope you are enjoying walking down memory lane with me! AND I hope it inspires you to grab ahold of some of your own dreams & go after them.

“Exploration is really the essence of the human spirit.” -Frank Borman

Cheers,

Katie.