Salzburg and the Sound of Music

We spent the day in Salzburg, Austria, a smallish city of about 150,000 which is home to most of the set of the Sound of Music, Mozart, and some very old parts of town. When I say "very old," an example is that the Nonnberg Abbey featured in the Sound of Music was founded in the 700s! Ryan, Nancy, and I decided to take the official original (sometimes obnoxious) Sound of Music tour while Tim and Kathy walked with Sydney around the old town. Our tour was 4 hours long, narrated by cheesy jokes, interesting facts, and a lot of coverage of the country. It was definitely worth it. We traveled up the mountain to the wedding chapel which was used for the film for their wedding. It was gorgeous, but our favorite thing was eating warm apple strudel with ice cream in the little cafe just across the street from the Basilica. 

Sydney made a friend from Afghanistan. At the Mirabell Gardens (one place where they sang "Do-Re-Mi")

A pedestrian bridge they ran across singing "Do-Re-Mi"

Leopoldskron Palace (where they filmed the backyard, lake, and gazebo scenes)

Ahh, the gazebo. Please refer to some of the fun facts about the gazebo. :)

The red roof is the Abbey

Riding up into the mountain/lake region just above Salzburg

Selfie on the tour bus

Peter, our cheesy, but very good, tour guide

The Mondsee "Wedding"- Basilica

A view of the inside- or you could just watch the movie again

Crisp (warm) apple strudel 

The delicious strudel came from this cute cafe

Interesting Tidbits

• Did you know that Gretel, the little girl, almost drown on the second take of the scene where they fall into the lake? She was supposed to keep a hold of Maria's hand but they fell out on opposite sides of the boat that time. 
• They would have shot all the scenes of the inside of the house except they could not get permission to bring their camera equipment into the old palaces for fear that they would damage something. So they had artists come from Hollywood who then were able to recreate the rooms on the Hollywood set. 
• The gazebo was given as a gift from Fox to the conference center (former palace) where the lake and outside balcony scenes were shot. Despite their initial excitement for the gazebo, it was a huge downside to have tourists climbing over the wall and disrupting their meetings with dancing across the benches in the gazebo. They moved it to a local park for easier access, and then eventually had to close the gazebo because an 80 year old woman broke her hip trying to jump from bench to bench. 
• The front of that same palace by the lake was not used for the house because there were too many trees to see how big it was. So they filmed the outside of a different palace for those shots and this palace is not even close to the lake. 
• The mountain which they filmed Maria climbing and the family escaping was about 10 km away from the town of Salzburg. Our guide said she was a true athlete to be able to get back to the Abbey in 3 minutes. 
• The mountain leads, not to Switzerland and safety, but rather to Germany and danger. In reality, the family put on hiking clothes and went on a walk down a familiar path but only 5 minutes to the train station.
• The family really did win the music contest shown in the film. They were given many business cards at the contest from people from all around Europe. These Europeans let the Trapps know that they would be interested in hosting performances if the family was ever in their area. The Trapp's Uncle Max was a stanch Nazi, but he loved their family and helped them to escape. Captain Von Trapp then used those business cards after they escaped to earn enough money to get passage to the United States. In the US, they continued to tour to get enough money to live. They eventually settled in Vermont. 

If you find any differences in what I've just described and Wikipedia, I'd go with Wiki. :) I am just recollecting what our guide told us. He had a way of saying things tongue in cheek. We always joked that we watched the Sound of Music every Christmas at Grandpa and Grandma's house. In reality, we probably just talked about it every year. It really was a masterpiece of a movie with some pretty enduring and endearing songs. 

Castles of Bavaria

The Castles of Bavaria*

Green pastures of Bavaria with church in foreground
 and the "Cinderella" castle on the mountain

Vacation has begun. After a couple of months of intense language study, we needed a respite. We dropped my parents off at Geneva after a wonderful visit. Then we traveled through 4 countries and into a different season (summer became fall, then winter!) France to Switzerland to Austria and finally to southern Germany in a large area called Bavaria. They call it "The Texas of Germany" because it is so vast. Ryan certainly liked the comparison. As we were driving, Ryan commented that he felt like we were going past a lot of golf courses. The grass was so green against the blue sky, and it was short from the grazing of sheep and cattle.

We reached our first AirBnB location and were greeted warmly by a lovely German couple into the upstairs apartment of their home. (AirBnB is an internet-based reference of places to stay locally and in homes and empty rooms of people instead of in hotels.) We walked to the local grocery store (very tiny) to stock up on our food for our time here. 

 As I was paying for my groceries, Kathy, Nancy, and Sydney were outside. An older woman with a flag, looking like a crossing guard, marched up the street with her herd of cows! An older man strode behind the herd with a stick. They were saying something to Kathy and Nancy with urgency, and it was then that they realized that the cows needed to come through a narrow alley right where they were standing on the side of the grocery store. I guess when it is milking time, they come right to the store!

During the two days we spent in Bavaria, we went to 2 castles and a palace, all made by King Ludwig 2. Since pictures are worth a thousand words, I'll let you take a tour with brief snippets.

 In the winter, the area is very popular for Nordic cross-country skiing. Who wouldn't want to ski in a valley with those views of the castles? We parked our cars in the free parking lot and walked the skiing trails to get to the castles. 

Getting closer! Long walk.

The front courtyard

Main entrance (on the side) with impressive gate

Inside the main entrance looking at the castle

In the courtyard looking back at the main entrance

A view of the "photo op" bridge from the castle. Look above the waterfall for the bridge.

On the trail up to the bridge

Family photo from the bridge

Looking down from the "photo op" bridge at part of the waterfall below

And the sun peeked out for a bit!

The Neuschwanstein Castle (the "Cinderella" castle) seemed to be built just for the sheer beauty of the location and the building exactly for enjoying its magnificence

From the bridge, a view of the next castle (nestled in the trees on the left- orange)

We walked 8 miles this day to see the two castles. Best free day ever! Only inside tours cost money. If this were in the US, I think someone would block off the road and make us pay to go up further. At least they would make us pay to to across the gorgeous bridge where photo ops are without question, the best!



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Looking back at "Cinderella" castle when God put in His glorious display

On the second day, we went to Ludwig's palace. It was a jewel box. Tiny in comparison with the grand castles of the day before, but packed with gold, silver, porcelain, mirrors, vases. My favorite room was the room of mirrors which made it seem as if we were in an endless room. His bedroom was the biggest of the palace, with a canopy bed about 20 feet high and a view of a cascading waterfall and gazebo straight out of the window of this bedroom. My other favorite feature was the dining area where a table was raised and lowered from below so that he could simply sit and enjoy company until the table, all set with food and cutlery, raised up in front of him. Too bad we could not take any pictures inside. 

Outside, it was snowing, which made for a chilly sightseeing day but also very pretty as the green gardens had a fresh layer of snow on top.

In the evenings, we have played games, watched a movie, blogged, emailed, planned our solar power initiatives in Congo, planned some home improvements for our new home in Congo, and drank a lot of hot chocolate. It has been refreshing.

*A note to our generous supporters. 
It is hard for us to know what to think about how we should handle vacation time. What should we post? Shouldn't we be transparent? To be clear, we don't use any donated funds, but there is still some guilt associated with posting photos of vacation. I vacillate between thinking:

Many of our supporters have and are sacrificing a lot to help keep us here and to help us go to Congo to serve the people. What will they think if they find out or if I post about adventures and things they would love to do or dream of doing but cannot afford to do so. How would that make me feel?

and

Jesus spent time away from the people following him to refuel with His Father. We are trying to be wise with our time and money. We have only eaten out once in over 2 months, and it was while my parents were here. We are in a very cheap rental car, staying in other people's homes. And these castles are not too far from France where we are studying. Shouldn't we spend time relaxing sometimes so that we don't burn out and have to stop our mission work because of fatigue?

We believe that money is a gift from God, a tool to be used. So whether we are living based on donations or whether God has given us the ability to work and a job in which to work, we should strive to be generous in giving to those in need, take time to invest in our family during periods of respite, and pay off debts and invest wisely. So, I hope that you as the reader/supporter/family member will understand that even as we write about some amazing things we are getting to see and do, we don't take the blessing for granted, we are so grateful for these opportunities, and we recognize the sacrifices that have been made. We want to thank you.

Sydney's 1st Birthday and visit from the Toews

What a wonderful week we had with my parents coming for a visit and Sydney having her first birthday! She started walking last week, and there is a video on Facebook of the first day that she walked! She was practicing a lot before her grandparents came. She really enjoyed reading with them.

They arrived in Geneva after a stopover in London to get rid of their jetlag. Our first day together, we went on a long bike-ride up and down the river, across 4 bridges!  It was a beautiful day.

We went to church on Sunday and my parents were able to see our typical Sunday service, which includes a lot of spontaneous prayertime, singing, and a message from the Bible. 

Sunday afternoon there was a citywide garage sale. Those of you who know my mom- can you imagine how excited she was?? It was blocks and blocks long! They went to Switzerland from Sunday until Tuesday while we had school. 

Sydney got to celebrate her birthday twice! We had two big carrot cakes with cream cheese frosting.



We had a party with Grandpa and Grandma Toews and the Rices. And we also celebrated her birthday over the lunch break with Granddad and Nana Potter (via Skype) and about 15 people in our building, singing happy birthday in English and French.

Wednesday we went on a long hike. Thursday was an all school field trip. We took windy roads up through the mountains in some of the most beautiful scenery we have seen! There were points where the mountain went straight up around us on both sides of the river. The road had been partially carved from the side of the mountain, and thus had a roof on one side to shed the snow off and into the river instead of piling up on the road. We visited a cheese factory and then went a 30 min drive more to see a watch factory. Ryan was in heaven seeing all the mechanics of how the watches and time pieces were engineered. It made for a long exhausting day but very informative.

Taking the cheese out of the mold, pun intended

Where they mix the milk and bacteria to make curds

Sydney eager to eat the cheese

At the watch factory

Friday we had class and Grandpa and Grandma got to spend the day with Sydney. :) That night, Nancy graciously spent her evening babysitting while we got to go on a double date with my parents to an amazing French restaurant. It is the first time we have eaten out in the 2 months we have been in France and it was so delicious!

Over the weekend, we went to the Abbey de Tamie, the medieval city of Conflans (singing in the old church to hear the beautiful acoustics), and hiked quite a bit in the beautiful mountains. We got up as far as the mountain cabin that we had hiked about a month prior.

Our camelback baby loves hiking

Sunday we held our own service at home. Since my mom enjoyed the cowbells so much in Switzerland, we wanted to see what they might cost. In Conflans, we went to an antique store and found a large 400 Euro cowbell and several smaller 150 Euro bells! I'm sure you can find them cheaper, but they were quite old cowbells! We also explored a European port-a-potty. Not your African squatty-potty! Good times!

Doctor for Delivery!

It was a normal Sunday evening in Albertville. Sydney had gone to sleep at her regular time, and Ryan was studying after cleaning up the dishes. I had just changed into my pajamas in preparation to study and finish a take-home test we get each weekend when there was an urgent knock at our door.

"We need your help. C is in labor. We are going to the hospital, but they think it might be going too fast." I quickly changed back into jeans and a t-shirt, and I ran down the stairs. When I got outside, I peered through the dark, rainy night into the car lights only to realize that the car was empty. Oh, the labor is going too fast in the apartment! I thought.

I raced back up to the second floor to the apartment which is just below ours to find C and her husband trying to walk towards the door. But the contractions were coming too rapidly and C felt she needed to push. Her water had broken only 30 minutes before. "Do you want to go to the hospital?" I quickly asked. "Yes," C said. "Ok, then we need to go now if we want to try to make it." C replied, "But I can't walk."  Well that is a problem. The next contraction came quickly, and I could see what she meant. "Well, then you can just have the baby right here. His head is right here!" She held onto her husband, gave a push, and the head was out. I helped guide his body out and into the waiting arms of his strong mama. He cried immediately.

"Great job! He's beautiful. Do you want a pediatrician?" I asked. C said, "Yes. That would be nice." Almost immediately, several people from our apartment were at her side, helping get water and blankets. We had 3 nurses including an OB nurse, and a pediatrician, surgeon, and myself as the OB present immediately after delivery.

When I spoke to the French ER physician by telephone, she assured me that the ambulance would be there in 10 minutes maximum. She chuckled when she heard there was an OB and a pediatrician already there. "That is impressive. Sounds like you have it covered." The ambulance came in about 5 minutes, and an ER doc was present with the paramedics. Curious, I asked if there is always a doctor riding in the ambulance. He replied, "Only 5% of the time, with these kinds of emergencies." I went to the hospital in the ambulance with the family where they were provided excellent care.

It was an honor to be present for the birth, and I was happy to be able to practice medicine. We were all thankful that God had orchestrated the right people at the right time to work out so well for the precious family. (The new parents were relieved that their 2 year old slept right through the exciting events happening just outside her bedroom.) Needless to say, I didn't get my take-home test finished for class the next day. But I think I had a pretty good excuse.