Vienna trip

We took a short trip to Vienna after Christmas and before New Year's. We were hoping to see some of the Christmas Markets still open, like they are in Krakow, but no luck. We did have nice weather for sightseeing. The Schönbrunner Palace and the Rathaus were especially impressive. I think we'll come back in the summer!

Christmas 2011

We had a fun Christmas morning with JR. He took his time with the presents. He was very excited about his new play tent with tunnel. And he probably would've been perfectly happy to play all day with the new toys he found in his stocking. But we eventually moved on to the presents under the tree. JR really enjoyed unwrapping them -- his, Mama's and mine. Fun times and I'm sure it only gets better next year!

JR, Jill and I wish you a Merry Christmas!

JR sends Xmas wishes (sort of)

Still working on his lines. Special thanks to Aunt Sue for the wardrobe our star wore in this film. Jill especially loves the hat. She couldn't wait until Christmas to give it to JR.

Zakopane

We took a two night trip to Zakopane this weekend. Jill won a weeklong stay in a vacation apartment in a lottery at her women's association, but since I couldn't take a week off school, we just went for the weekend. And it's probably fine just the same. Zakopane is kind of a tourist trap. For Polish tourists, but still..

For example, see how JR is looking at this bear suspiciously? Well he knew something we didn't, apparently. After getting a picture or two with this bear, we go, "Dziekuje!", and he goes (in Polish) "that'll be 10 zloty". I tried to tell him I just had 7, and he goes, "I can make change." Awesome. Nothing like being shaken down by a giant smiling bear. I felt like Clark Griswald for some reason.

Anyway, overall the weekend was fine. It wasn't crowded since they're between seasons. Maybe we'll go back and do some hiking next year when it's warmer, but I'll definitely be on the lookout for those shifty bears!

Dinner (and drinks) with Polish friends

Bimber -- strong stuff!

One of my classmates invited me and Jill to his apartment for dinner tonight, which was super cool of him. He and his girlfriend were great hosts. She cooked żurek and pierogi and we enjoyed many Polish beverages -- from kompot (light fruit drink), to bimber (moonshine!), to grzaniec (mulled wine), and of course vodka. Lesson learned: when a Pole invites you over and tells you to take a cab to get there, watch out!

Talking to Leaves

Playing in the leaves

It was a beautiful fall day today -- 60 something degrees and sunny. I stopped by after class and met Jill and JR at the park. Won't be too many more days like this before winter sets in. JR didn't seem to want to do anything besides play in the leaves. He especially likes to hear them crunch. Here he's practicing making a "leaf angel".

I'm ready to go trick or treating!

Dresden

The charred appearance is typical of many Dresden buildings

The Hofkirche, part of Dresden's baroque architecture

Jill feeding JR in front of the beautifully rebuilt Frauenkirche

We stopped for one day in Dresden on our way back from Munich. We mainly chose it because it was about half way back. I wasn't too sure about it, since the extent of my knowledge of Dresden was that the Allies basically firebombed it to rubble towards the end of the Second World War. But, we lucked out; it's actually a beautiful city now. We stayed right in the Altstadt where it looks like they've done the most rebuilding.

Dresden was known as the "Florence on the Elbe" before WWII, due to all the baroque architecture. And it really is striking. That style is not what I would have expected for the capital of Saxony. The other thing that gets your attention is the charred buildings. I don't know if that's a deliberate choice to leave the exteriors with the charred appearance, but it certainly reminds you of the terrible fate Dresden suffered. The communists used the fire-bombing as anti-Western propaganda for years, claiming up to 250,000 deaths of residents and refugees fleeing from the Red Army's eastern approach. The official investigation completed by the city of Dresden in 2008 cited approximately 25,000 deaths. It's still a lot of course.

The Frauenkirche is one of the most beautiful of the rebuilt structures. Its reconstruction was completed in 2005, with help from many donors, including supporters of Coventry Cathedral, which was destroyed in German air raids. The church is an impressive site, and the way the architecture includes stones from the destroyed building is both handsome and meaningful. If you're interested you can read the wikipedia article here. I highly recommend Dresden. We will stop to see more if we travel that way again.

First soccer game

We recently attended our first professional football game (that's soccer for our friends back home). We even got to sit in a sky box! It was the perfect place to let a one-year-old run around while we watched the game. The home team (Cracovia) didn't win, but here's a picture of Mommy and JR. You can tell that JR is serious about sports already!

Oktoberfest

The Hofbrau wagon, bringing in that day's beer ;)

Dad with "ein Maß", JR sporting festive T-shirt

In the beer tent, working on a pretzel

Kids' day at Oktoberfest really takes it out of you

The holy grail...

So we spent three nights in Munich with an Olmsted couple, the Murphy's, who very graciously offered their hospitality to any friends who wanted to visit during Oktoberfest. Jill and I were happy to take them up on it. They've been in Munich for a little over a year and were great hosts and excellent guides. Thanks Patrick and Susan!

We attended the Oktoberfest on children's day. What an idea! The fest is held each year in this one part of the city, Wiesn -- it's like a fair, only with beer! No really, during the day it's pretty much a fair atmosphere: rides, games, food, small beer gardens, and of course enormous beer tents. It's hard to imagine that it only lasts for two weeks or so each year, and then they take it all down. While we were there it was all pretty chill -- everyone was well behaved. I'm sure there's some debauchery at night, but with JR we were headed home by about six.

After enjoying a relaxing day touring Munich (sans beer) the next day, we headed out of Munich on the third day and on to Dresden. (To be continued...)

Loket

Loket

I want to go up there, Mom!

Looking out of the castle's tower

No castle is complete without its own dragon

16th Century Swedish catapult balls (like Swedish meatballs, but harder)

So, after two nights in Prague, we continued on our (epic) journey to Oktoberfest. Via Loket, Czech Republic, of course! Loket (elbow, in Czech) is a little town in western Bohemia, in an area know for spas and castles and beautiful countryside in general. Sudetenland. Very sought after..

We stayed at an inn that also brews it own beer. I highly recommend this game plan.

The castle looks out over the town and over the elbow (get it?) in the river below -- it's all very storybook. There are even goats living under the bridge. (Are you kidding, Loket?)

Prague

We stopped for a little wine tasting and food after touring the Castle district.

View across the Vltava river to Charles Bridge and the castle

By St. Vitus Church (JR took this one)

Loreta Square, in Hradcany

Out for a stroll in the terraced gardens

We took a last minute trip to Prague and Munich last week.

There's another Olmsted family in Munich, and they sent out an invite to Oktoberfest on facebook, so we took them up on it. Why not? How many times can you take a trip to Oktoberfest at the last minute? Looking at a map, it made sense to stop in Prague on the way.

We stayed in Prague for two nights. Beautiful. We definitely see why it's such a popular tourist destination. The Hradcany (Castle) district, with its palaces, castle, and St. Vitus Church, was probably the most beautiful area we've seen in any city. Krakow still takes the cake for best main square, though! :)

(More updates on the trip in the next few days..)

Go pokes!

In honor of another college football season.

And, yes, the hyperactivity is part of the normal nightly routine. He's kinda froggy when he gets out of the bath.

In the park

Taken a couple weeks ago. Just a day at the park. Life is good.

Krosno

We took a trip to Krosno, where they're know for glass-making. This one particular company exports glassware to stores like Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel. So naturally, after a three-hour car ride, taking a toddler through a glass showroom would be really fun!

Jestem dzieckiem świata

JR, child of the world, checking out the Rynek in Wroclaw.

Pretty Rynek. And the city has a good vibe. Cosmopolitan. With sort of a non-Polish (Prussian?) orderliness. We were there a few weeks ago, just for a day. I'll think we'll go back.

March of the Dachshunds

So check this out.. Every year in Krakow there is a dachshund parade. We went this year and JR had a front row seat. He had a lot to say, and was pointing at the dogs as they went by. I think he wants to be one of the judges next year (there are awards, including best dressed owner and dog). There was a marching band and banner and everything -- pretty official. More pictures can be found by googling Marsz Jamnikow.

Fire truck!

Seeing a fire truck working right in front of your house. Cool! (Especially if it's not because your house is on fire -- we had a little bit of a scare since we weren't home and a friend of ours called to say a fire truck was sitting in front of the house. There was in fact something we'd left simmering on the stove. Hello adrenaline..).

Anyway, apparently in Poland the fire brigade also doubles as the tree cutting brigade. JR got to watch from our balcony as the firemen used their truck ladder and cut down the tree in our neighbors yard. Apparently it was rotting and a branch had recently fallen on his roof.

Needless to say, the whole thing captured JR's attention for almost an hour. And that's saying something.

How the world looks to kids

We were out for a bike ride around the park, when we saw a big tent set up. It was an interactive infant development exhibit sponsored by Pampers (I should be getting paid for this plug).

Anyway it was pretty cool. Among other things they had were huge stairs and a ginormous recliner to show what everyday things look like to infants. And big clothes, as our model here is showing. Pretty funny.

Tarnów Rynek

That's Tom and JR in the shadow..

A little lunch time reading on the Rynek

We took a day trip to the small town of Tarnów today and stopped for lunch on the town square. Here is JR looking oh so cool in his shades and doing a little light reading before our meal arrived.

Pierogi Festival

Yum. Fresh pierogi.

Krakow held their ninth annual Pierogi Festival this weekend in the Mały Rynek. Beautiful weather, live music, a couple dozen stalls selling pierogi, and beer. What more do you need?

We sampled probably eight or nine different kinds of pierogi, from different restaurants. The winner in our book was the 4-herb pierogi. Fried, not boiled. (Hey, we're Americans after all.)

Then, a stroll around the Planty -- the park that rings the Old City -- to burn some of those calories. And a bike ride later. (That's probably worth about two fried perogi!)

JR's new ride

Check out the new inter-galactic space ship JR has. Complete with cargo bay, afterburner, and bitching Betty! Thanks Mike and Andrea!

Step into my office..

Three more Austria pics

Inspecting EVERYTHING!

Yes, the backdrop is for real

Happy hikers

Scenic Innsbruck

The main plaza (Fussganger zone)

On the south bank of the Inn River

In the Imperial Gardens (aka, city park)

Cheesy? Maybe.

Old men playing chess in the park

Although we only spent one day in Innsbruck, we have some very pretty pictures to show for it!

Innsbruck

First, I have to say I'm liking this feature where you can just email a photo to update the blog. Much easier.

After our hiking, we thought we'd spend a night in Innsbruck before flying out. Good call, Tom. It was worth it. Pretty city of about 1/4 million, nestled up next to huge mountains, with the incredibly aqua-green and surprisingly fast-flowing Inn river running through it. Site of two winter Olympics too. That's gotta be a trivia answer or something.

So, the picture is Jill in front of the Golden Roof (Goldenes Dachl, auf Deutsch), a relatively well known sight judging by the number of Korean tourists taking pictures in front of it. Well, kahm-sa-mi-da, we got a picture too! Anyway, you can look it up on Wikipedia, but basically in the 15th century an Austrian king had it built to show how wealthy he was -- fancy schmancy. It's located on the central plaza in the middle of the Old City. (Which Jill says is pretty, but doesn't compare to Krakow's Main Square.)

We also strolled through the Old City, along the Inn, through the Imperial Gardens (where old men were playing chess on these huge life-sized boards), and even took in a bit of classical music at a public performance in the courtyard of the imperial palace. JR was restless after about 10 min, of Strauss. And of course we found a playground for JR. All in all, a nice way to finish our trip to Austria. Auf wiedersehen!

More sliding..

..and then onto the next adventure.

Sliding

With a little encouragement he'll go.. This time it took a helping hand.

Hiking in Austria

Happy hikers. Day one. (Before we made a wrong turn and had to hike all the way back down to where we started and take a bus to the next village. I blame the map!)

The most quaint house you've ever seen.. On the side of a mountain in the Alps, naturally.

Jill in a ridiculously cute village (Rattenberg). The street was filled with shops selling cut crystal and blown glass things. Luckily they were closed at this time of day.

Hiking is hard work.

Which way?

Just like the Von Trapps (so Jill tells me..). Here are some pictures from each day's hike. (Except for the first day, which was a near total rainout -- we went to an indoor pool and then on a short hike around the village of Alpbach where we were staying.)