Budapest Rocks!

Budapest was formed from two cities:  Buda (shown here) and Pest (below).

Pest:  Parliament Building

Budapest Basilica

The end of April gave us another holiday weekend because May 1 (May Day) is a National Holiday.  And May 1 fell on a Tuesday, which meant that school children were out Monday and Tuesday (they call the Monday a "Sandwich Holiday").  Anyway, with a 4-day weekend, and a still long list of places we wanted to visit, we needed to make a choice.  The contenders were Northern Italy, Prague (Czech Republic) and Budapest (Hungary).  So, why did Budapest win out?  It all came down to getting there ... it is very hard to get to Italy (the favorite in this contest) by train and really easy to get to Budapest (and those that have been to both Prague and Budapest said that Budapest was just as pretty as Prague).  Also, we felt like we'd want more time in Italy (if we drove we would only have two full days there).

The other benefit of Budapest over Italy was the idea of taking the kids to a country with a different currency and especially one with an outrageous exchange rate.  Hungary, although in the EU is not in the Euro Zone (good thing for them, by the way), and their currency (the Forint, or FT) is trading at about 211 FT to $1.  So, for every price we had to basically divide by 200 to get it to dollars and then think about how much that was in euros.  I really like seeing Grace have fun with that.  And I also gave them their money for souvenirs in FT and waited for them to complain that a 1,000 FT bill was cool to look at, but it was only $5!  Here are some other receipt amounts for your conversion pleasure:  3,850 FT (3-day transportation pass), 5,000 Ft (Duck Ride -- see below), 2,906 Ft (grocery store), and 278,173 Ft (our hotel bill!! -- we splurged).

So, Friday saw us collecting the kids from school, heading home for lunch and then we were off to the train station.  We took the 1:30p train from Graz to Vienna and had a 10-minute connection there, having us arrive in Budapest at 7p.  Here was another advantage to Hungary over Italy -- we were visiting a former communist country and I was curious as to how different it would seem versus its rich neighbor, Austria.  And the train station upon arrival communicated that right off the start.  It seemed really old, in need of some repairs (which they were making) and had some really old trains on the tracks (the train we took was very modern).  It was like that feeling of, "we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto."

We did our best to get some food for dinner at the train station (we've found that once you get the kids to a new hotel room, it's hard to get them back out for dinner!), we splurged on a taxi to our hotel.  I'm glad we did.  We had this great conversation with the taxi driver who spoke German well, some English, and, of course, Hungarian.  He kept mixing them together and we were never quite sure what he was trying to point out as he drove us to the hotel, but we appreciated him trying.  The rest of the weekend we kept seeing things that he had pointed out, and by then we had a little more context.

Ok, so we're now in Budapest and have three full days before we head back on a Tuesday-morning train.  What did we do?  By the way, our Budapest trip marked our return to great travel weather.  Not a cloud was seen during our visit, but it did get quite hot (upper 20's, think mid to upper 80's).

Saturday:  We decided to hit what we felt would be the most fun first ... Margaret Island.  And what would make the island so much fun?  Well, that would be that you can rent Bringóhintós there, these pedal cars that look kind of like Model-T cars.  We spent the morning and afternoon tooling around the island visiting a small zoo, the ruins of a church, etc.  In between hour rentals we checked out a fabulous playground (tell me again why we can't have interesting playgrounds in the US?).

Bad parent alert:  letting your child play on this toy (see how long you can stay on this and how high you can ride up the rail) when she has a cast on her leg!

We first rented a "car" that Mom and Dad pedaled and the kids sat passively.  But then the kids spotted the child-size ones and spent their time driving them while Mom and Dad walked.  They had a great, great time with this!  When Mom and Dad tired of walking (and were running out of FT!), we spend an hour or so down by the Danube, relaxing and watching the boat traffic.

Grace and Henry go on their Bringóhintó!

On the Danube, looking through a bridge to the Parliament Building. 

Sunday:  Was a "kids' choice day."  Henry picked a ride on a "duck boat" and Grace picked going back to Margaret Island for another ride in a Bringóhintó!

A duck boat is a boat that is a bus when on land (or a bus that is a boat in the water).  We first experienced a duck boat in Branson, MO a few years ago and the splash down into the water made quite an impression.  Apparently, Budapest is the only place in Europe where you can ride in a duck boat.  Also, because the bus ride went by all the significant landmarks in the city, this also satisfied Mom and Dad's desire to see the cool sights.  And there are many.  Budapest is a beautiful city filled with cool architecture and lots of trees in the city and neighborhoods.

Henry looks out of the duck boat onto Margaret Island, where we would spend most of the afternoon.

Grace and Henry finally get their cotton candy on Margaret Island, Day 2.

And the comical highlight of the day was certainly back at the hotel that afternoon.  The hotel we were staying at had a fitness center with a treadmill, an elliptical trainer, an exercise bike, and a set of dumbbells.  Grace and Henry came with me and proceeded to try out all of the equipment.  Grace limited herself to walking (vs. running) on the treadmill due to her cast, but Henry pushed it up to 7.0 kph.  He liked experimenting with the "kill switch" to see if he would or wouldn't fly off the back of the treadmill at various speeds!  But by far the best was when they got onto the elliptical trainer at the same time.  You'll have to watch the video for yourself to see what I mean!

A church in the Castle District.

Monday:  On the surface, this was "parents' choice day," but I don't think either parent wants to take credit for this day!  It wasn't that bad upon reflection, we went to the Castle District and saw some interesting sights.  It was also our first official trip over to the Buda (hilly) side of the city (we spent most of our time on the Pest side of the city).

Grace finds a feathered friend in the Castle District.

The view:  The Castle District is up in the Buda Hills.

But it was hot and the locations were busy with tourists.  There was also a food battle involved.  And then to make matters worse, we spent a good chunk of the afternoon (and a long walk) getting to the Budapest Museum of Transport, only to find it closed.  This was double distressing to Henry as he was not only looking forward to visiting the museum, but was saving his souvenir money to spend there.  And if you know Henry, who usually begs for a souvenir when we arrive to any city/attraction, and cannot wait until you've completed your tour to buy a souvenir, this was a major sacrifice.  It's always a pity when you can't reward good behavior with a positive outcome!  And another good outcome of Monday (I'm in silver lining mode now; not so much then!) is that we found a Thai restaurant for dinner and the kids, Grace in particular, were good sports about trying new food.

Tuesday morning we headed to the train station and Henry (with Grace's help) finally found a souvenir to take back -- a replica cannon that we had seen at one of the castles.  It was plastic and cheap.  But hey, what can you expect to find for under 1,000 FT?

Russ

p.s.  Being in Budapest also made me realize how much my comfort, if not my ability, with German has increased.  I spent the trip never quite being able to grasp street names, directions, or subway stops when i heard them.  I mean, I would hear the words, but there would be nothing in my brain for them to attach themselves to -- they were just too different.  That almost never happens anymore in Austria.

Vienna Trip

I was invited to give a seminar the the Forschungsinstituts für Supply Chain Management (Supply Chain Management Research Institute) in the Vienna University of Economics and Business.  I had them schedule it on a Monday so that we could travel up and make a weekend of it.

It was a short trip.  We took the train up Friday afternoon, had all day Saturday, and then some time on Sunday before Sue and the kids took the train home Sunday afternoon.  And if you read the prior post, you know that all of this was a couple of days after (we know now) Grace broke her toe.  So, we were a little delayed getting out on Friday (for Graz to Vienna, the train runs hourly and you just buy a ticket for any time that day), with me running to four places to look for crutches.  

As you can see, Grace's crutches are more like braces.  I couldn't find *any* "swing style" crutches, and especially not any for kids.  And, I don't know if you can see this on Grace's face, but walking pretty much tired her out.  Also notice that she only has on one shoe.  When outside, Grace wore a house slipper on her left foot.  Anyway, Friday was all about getting there and getting some dinner before turning in.

Henry with his favorite:  a Moose!

Saturday we had a lot of choices and decided that animals and dinosaurs were a good choice on a rainy day.  So, we headed to the Natural History Museum.  I was glad the kids were into this as natural history museums are amongst my favorite kind.  And the museum in Vienna is not only very complete, it is housed in this building with beautiful architecture, vaulted ceilings, frescos and the like.  A work of art in and of itself.

Russ was thrilled to find a Cretan Agrimi in the museum's collection!

The highlight of the museum is this very life-like dinosaur that thrills young and old ... well, me anyway!  I'll insert this video clip, which will give a feel for it.

After the museum we went and checked out the finish line for the next day's Marathon festival.  The highlight of the festival was the half-marathon "chase rase" that featured current female marathon world-record holder, Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain, who would start before former male marathon world-record holder, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, who was supposed to chase her down.  The athletes themselves determined that Paula's head start would be based on the difference between their two personal bests in the half-marathon; so, 7 minutes and 58 seconds.  It wasn't Paula's day (her worst half marathon ever), as Haile passed her at about the 10-mile mark, eventually finishing a few minutes before her.  We watched this all on TV the next day, but found out later that the course ran about 4 blocks from our hotel!

After Sue and the kids left, I had half a day to myself and decided to go back to the Schönbrunn Palace, a summer retreat for the Austrian rulers of the 1800's.  One often forgets that the Habsburgs (Austrian rulers from 1278-1918) ruled so much of Europe and that their family had a role in many historical events (Marie Antoinette, of French revolution beheading fame, was one of eight Hapsburg daughters married off for political alliances; Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo starting WWI).  Anyway, my thought as I was there ... what do these rich people think when they build these grand palaces?  Didn't it strike anyone that this was such an extravagant way to live?  Anyway ...

We assume we will be back to Vienna before we depart.  There is much, much more to see in this city. And the 2.5-hour train ride is quite nice through the mountains most of the way.

What's that on Grace's foot?!?

Grace is very proud of the German homework books that she's prepared for Sue, Russ and Henry.  See?  But what's that on Grace's foot you ask?  A cast!

The Wednesday evening before our trip to Vienna (next post), Grace fell off a footstool backwards and really hurt her toe.  It was so swollen the next day that we couldn't figure out how to get her down our stairs, to school on the tram, etc.  By Friday, she could hop on it pretty well and we had friends that said they'd bring us some crutches to her school.  We got her to school.

We didn't take her to the doctor because we thought, "it's a toe; they'll probably just buddy tape it."  Anyway, we got on the train to Vienna Friday afternoon with brand new crutches (our friends forgot to bring them into school) and we had a weekend in Vienna where Grace was pretty limited in getting around (next post).

By the time we returned, it was one of those things ... even if they didn't do anything, we just wanted to know ... broke or not broke.  Verdict:  hairline fracture of her big toe.  Cast for three weeks.  And as you can see, the cast doesn't cover her toe and extends just short of her knee.   Me thinks this is to just slow her down so that she doesn't do any more damage!

Grace is getting along fine now that the swelling is down.  She uses the crutches when she goes out to help her go up and down stairs or on/off the trams.  And this event has made us realize how many stairs are at Grace's school (German lessons in the basement, girls' restroom on the first floor, and her classroom on the second floor -- all without an elevator!).  But if Grace is on flat terrain she doesn't need the crutches.  As her mobility has increased, we are glad for the cast.

A parting picture of her German teacher's cast note:
Slow Down! :-)

Russ

 

München Trip (Legoland for Henry!)

When we told the kids we were going to spend a year in Europe, we told them that they could each pick a trip.  Grace immediately knew, and expressed, that her trip would be to Paris to see the Eifel Tower.  Henry, however, was a little more difficult.  He never quite came out and said exactly what his trip would be, so we had to help him along a bit.  It wasn't a big jump to think that he'd like Legoland (the boy LOVES to build things!).  And because Legoland is closed during the winter, that put his trip off until this spring.

And by now, we know that the kids love to travel by train.  So, Legoland Germany ended up winning out over Legoland Denmark.  We left on the Tuesday of Easter Week (the week before Easter) for a 6-hour train ride to Munich (by the way, all German speakers know Munich as München), where we would make our base camp at a very nice and comfortable hotel (Hotel Andra if you go!  Also, if you go, there is a very nice Italian restaurant with the best grilled veggie pizza a block away!).

The weather, which usually cooperates so well for us on trips (see past trips to Barcelona, France, Slovenia, etc.), kept us guessing on this trip.  We ended up having one nice day of weather Wednesday, the day after we arrived) and it wasn't one of the days that we reserved a rental car (Thursday and Saturday).  But at least we spent that at the huge park in Munich, the Englisher Garten, where the kids happily explored the park, playing "Pooh Sticks" and finding every playground (there are many!).  We even rented a paddle boat and toodled around the lake ("See" in German).  It was a great day to be outside, especially after a day of train travel.

Our children are the two tiny folks by the bridge ... playing "Pooh Sticks"

Playing at one of the many playgrounds ... why don't they have cool playground equipment like this in the US, anyway?

So, Thursday dawns with light rain.  We have the rental car reserved and have two destinations to choose from:  Legoland and the famous Neuschwanstein Castle (think Disney World's castle).  The weather report said rain all day and the next, but clearing on Saturday, so we put off Legoland.  We had to promise Henry we'd find a toy store on the way to the castle so that he could buy some Legos, just to keep him from being totally dejected (and the fact that we found a toy store in a little town off the highway goes to show you how well we've acclimated :-)

Visiting the Neuschwanstein Castle was one thing that Sue really wanted to do while in Germany.  It is south of Munich (in Bavaria) and one of King Ludwig's castles, with construction started in the mid 1800's.  It is just so quintessential Bavaria that even though we were warned of long lines, we wanted to go.  And you always imagine you'll have a view like this ...

not like this ...

But I'd say that the kids still liked it and were good sports hiking around to the bridge that overlooks the castle.

Friday, as forecasted, was a day of almost continuous rain.  But we had a good list of indoor rainy day items from the BMW museum (vroom, vroom) to an aquarium to a hands on science museum (the first two located at the Olympic Village -- we realized Munich is our third Olympic City this year!).  Of course, we forgot to factor in that this Friday happened to be Good Friday, which meant that the science museum was closed (as was our favorite restaurant!).  But we headed out to the BMW museum.  We instead went to this humongous BMW showroom that's next door first and ended up staying there (it was free, except for the food, which was amusement park prices!).  Henry especially liked the cars, and as you can see, the motorcycles as well.

After lunch we walked over to the aquarium, but it was packed!  So, we had a pretty relaxing afternoon and ventured out in the evening to the city center for food.  My one regret on this trip is that we didn't spend more time in the city center to get a better feel for the city, even if my one impression was that it looked touristy.

Ok, so if you've been following along, you know that the next day is Saturday.  This is D-Day for Legoland as we were booked on a Sunday morning training back to Graz.  So, did we get the sunny weather that was forecasted?  In one word, "not a chance!"  And not only was it raining, it was cold.  We are talking rainy, damp and lower 40's.  Brrrr, especially when you are NOT dressed for it.  But, as you can see for yourself, Henry was not phased by this!  Legoland was just everything Henry dreamed about!  He could just not stop hopping around from one place to the next, pointing out all the neat creations with Legos.

Henry upon arriving -- and before getting too wet!

And one of the things that we told the kids about was "Driving School."  It turns out that Henry wasn't old enough for the 1-hour driving school, so he settled for the shorter version (which means he didn't get an official-looking driver's license with his picture and name on it -- but he still carried it around all day with a smile on his face).

As I mentioned, Grace's class was 15 minutes of picture taking, 15 minutes of instruction (in German and she said she understood all of it!), and 15 minutes of driving on a really elaborate course (I should have taken a picture of it -- it even had a car wash you could drive through in addition to traffic lights and a roundabout!).  Both kids did very well and said it was one of their highlights (Dad's highlight was sneaking away for a few rides on the more physically challenging rides).

We rode some rides, saw Legos being made, visiting many Lego creations, and constantly negotiated how many Legos they could buy.  When you combine that with finding a nice tapas restaurant on the way back to Munich, it was a great day (and a long one, both kids didn't go to sleep until after 10p!).

Sunday was Easter morning and I think I may have blew our cover when I was more shocked in the morning that it had snowed overnight than upon hearing the news that the Easter Bunny managed to find us in our hotel room in Munich.  That's right, snow in April.  Sue said that she was reminded of being in MN!

Doesn't look like much here, but on the grass it was 1-2 cm of pretty snow!

The rest of the trip was uneventful.  The train ride home was enjoyable, with lots of room to ourselves (we used two cabins ... one for rest/reading and one for games/movies -- probably not good train etiquette!).  We came home, scrounged for dinner as the stores were all closed for the holiday, got the kids the baths that we didn't quite manage to make happen while away, and relaxed for the evening.  We're only home for four days and then it's off to Vienna on Friday!

Friends from Auburn Visit

We were really lucky to have two of our dearest friends from Auburn visit us during their spring break.  Claire and Darrell go way back to our early years at Auburn (which is unbelievably almost 20 years ago!) and were our most loyal Cookie Night folks while in Auburn.  And we even ended up naming a cookie after their daughter Elaine, but that's another story.

As it turns out, Claire and Darrell are not worldly travelers.  But Claire was asked to sit on the dissertation committee of a student in Vasu, Finland.  And Claire and Darrell must have thought, we'll just stop on by to see Sue and Russ while we are over there.  Of course Finland to Austria is no small distance (Europe isn't that small!), but it's true that once you've flown over the Atlantic, nothing seems too far.

They spent the wekend in Vienna before taking the train down to Graz to spend the week with us.  A lot of it was spent just checking out the city.  Sue and kids had them over most afternoons and all but one night, we had dinners together.  They were able to spend a fair amount of time hanging out.  As you can see below, Henry and Grace were able to coax them into playing games with them, which it seems everyone enjoyed.  

Claire, especially, really wanted to go on this outing to hike up to the ruins of Gösting.  The construction started in the 11th Century.  It is on top of this REALLY steep hill.  I'm not much for remembering altitude and pitch and all that of my hikes, but there was this really steep hike in Blacksburg that I one time measured to be 500' gained in 0.5 miles.  Well, the hike to Gösting is 600' in 0.5 miles and there is a flat section in between.  The first quarter mile must be 400' of the 600'.  It is not to be taken quickly, but Claire, Darrell and I made it up (the kids were in school and Sue had something to do).

We had just rotten weather for our climb :-)

An overlook before the ruins ... apparently where you go to get out of arranged marriages.

I'm not sure what impression of Austrians they came away with (hanging out with us doesn't tell you much about Austrians), but we sure enjoyed having them here to share in our adventure!

Russ

Thermal Park at Loipersdorf

Therme Loipersdorf:  A pretty big and fun place!

We did something today we've been talking about for a long time ... we went to the "thermal park" at Loipersdorf (Therme Loipersdorf).  I'm calling it a thermal park because it is a water park that is fed by hot springs below the ground.  The one we visited in Loipersdorf was east of Graz, almost all the way to Hungary (we had an idea to take a quick trip over, but we were having so much fun at the park, we ran out of time!).

Not having a waterproof camera, we don't have any pics.  The park has a variety of fun things to do, including:  water slides, water slides where you use rafts, indoor pools, outdoor pools (the air was cold, but the spring-fed water was warm!), not-so-lazy streams in the pools, a kiddie area with sand at the bottom of the entire pool (Henry's favorite!), another kiddie play area, a really hot pool, etc.  And this was during the winter, during the summer they also have a wave pool and some other outside features.

The kids loved it and we had a good time.  Our day was enhanced in that a friend brought her son and the kids played well together.  It was a long day that started with a trip out to the airport to pick up a rental car, but I'm really glad we went.

Russ

The Netherlands

Just returned from a work trip to The Netherlands.  I'm always happy to visit The Netherlands, but it always reenforces just how hopelessly incompetent we Americans are at languages.  In addition to Dutch, English is compulsory and in school they are required to take another language.  Most folks take German, as it is close to Dutch, but, of course, the Scandinavian languages are popular, as our Spanish, French and Italian.  Most folks I met were fluent in four or more languages!

A view from EuroMast in Rotterdam, with gardens below

This was my first extended trip to Rotterdam.  I had only visited there prior on a trip to their port in 1996 as part of a conference.  Rotterdam is pretty different than the rest of Holland (the two large states on the coast of The Netherlands).  According to the story I heard, the Dutch told the Germans in WWII that they were giving in to their demands to occupation, but the message was misinterpreted.  So, instead of calling off a bombing run, Rotterdam got it full blast.  As a result, Rotterdam is a "modern city."  No narrow, windy cobblestone streets here ... normal streets and both a subway and tram system.  And, of course, the bikes!  The Dutch are famous for their passion for biking.  With a nice flat country and bike lanes EVERYWHERE, it does seem odd to see parking garages for cars (but you should see the parking sheds they have for bikes!). 

The purpose of my trip was to visit a colleague at Erasmus University.  It is the 4th-highest-ranked business school in Europe and my colleague is known as "the warehouse expert of Europe."  I gave a research seminar on my warehouse work and then later a seminar to the graduate students about publishing their research in top journals.  I also helped another colleague prepare for a big research proposal presentation that was coming up.  I think it is safe to say that they got their money's worth for my visit!  

I met many new colleagues and genuinely enjoyed learning about their system, seeing a few sites, and of course, eating some good food (although don't go to The Netherlands for a big lunch ... the traditional lunch is four pieces of brown bread!).  I had a thought-provoking conversation with my colleague's department head about the possibility of taking a position with them.  I told them I was years away from such a decision, but it is something that's crossed my mind a few times during the year.  As those of you that know me know, I do have a hard time holding onto a job :-)

On the way back, a business leader in my field from the US was hosting some meetings in the Frankfurt airport.  We coordinated our schedules for a long lunch meeting that hopefully will lead to a mutually beneficial partnership down the road.  

All in all, this was just about what I expected from my sabbatical ... meeting European colleagues and learning about different cultures.

Russ

For fun ...

Most of my posts are almost reporter style, detailing the latest trip here or there.  Well, this post is just for fun :-)

Saw this posted to a telephone pole out away from Graz and it just cracked me up!

Click on the picture for a larger view so that you can read the pull-off tabs!

Sue kind of burst my bubble on this saying that she's seen this before (in the US, mind you) and thought it was probably all over the Internet and Facebook.  But seeing this on a small road up to a castle from the 1600's in a German-speaking country cracked me up.  Yes, America, we can export our culture anywhere!

And for the next one, all I'll say is that I wonder what kind of grief this guy (or gal) gets about his/her car.

I mean, I get grief for having a license plate that reads "LOGISTX," which is way less geeky than this!  Right?

Russ

Austrian Workshop

Russ tries an artistic photo of Ben, but ....

I hosted a workshop for two colleagues last week.  One colleague (Ben) arrived from Quebec City on Thursday and we spent a day and a half discussing a project that we are working on to design logistics facilities for the Physical Internet (PI).  We made some nice progress and I was able to re-introduce him to Graz (he attended the same conference that we attended in 2006).  He joined our family for dinner one night and the kids were thrilled to have a new audience member.

My other colleague (Eric) arrived from Paris late Friday night.  So, on Saturday, the three of us drove less than 2 hours to Schladming, Austria, which is just about the geographical center of Austria, right in the Alps (and for skiing enthusiasts, Schladming was the site of this week's World Cup Skiing Event).  The way we run our workshops is to spend part of the day (usually the morning when we are fresh) discussing the book we are writing on the PI and other matters (proposals, strategic planning, coordination of research, etc.).  We then take a break in the afternoon and do something active.  In the past, that was going for a hike (look back for the trip to France in September).  For this workshop, it was going skiing.  After our activity, we eat dinner together and get in an hour or two of writing before bed.  It is really productive and enjoyable, and I appreciate Ben and Eric making the effort to travel here.

From our hotel in Schladming, right on the slopes

As an aside, we skied all three days in varying snow/weather conditions, from sunny days with good snow to rainy days with slush at the bottom and snow and fog at the top.  But for the first time this winter, I seemed to really make some progress on my skiing (Eric and Ben boosted my ego saying that I was now ready for a "black," but I'm not so sure!).  It's too bad that the snow is leaving us now -- I'd like to get out a few more times (and see if they are right!).

I drove them back to the airport on Tuesday for their departing flights and was sad to see them go.  But, as it turns out, we had some good friends from Auburn visiting Monday-Friday, so it was from one set of hosting activities to the next!

Russ

Grace turned 9!

We can hardly believe it, but our "little" Grace is 9 years old!

March 2, 2003 in Blacksburg, VA

2 March 2012 in Graz, Austria

Grace received some of her favorite things!

The tradition here is that the birthday child brings a snack for the class. Grace requested that I make her chocolate chip cookies. Grace tells me that her fellow students LOVED them, which pleases me greatly. Grace said that she had a GREAT day at school and we went to our favorite pizza place for dinner. Grace's pizza came out in the shape of a heart, which Grace loved.  I told the kids they could have some leftover chocolate chip cookie dough for dessert and we all headed home for that and to open presents.

A cool thing about Grace is that she can be very generous.  She made sure Henry wasn't left out by giving him a gift ... a wooden car that she made in art class at school ... very cool, Grace!

Henry, admiring his new toy car from Grace

Saturday was supposed to be a family day outside on the slopes, but not skiing -- sledding, so that everyone could join into the fun. But alas, like in Fayetteville, spring came before Grace's birthday and the likelihood of finding good sledding nearby was going to be tough. So, instead Grace played with her new toys in the morning (and Russ did all the weekend shopping) and we arranged a "date" in the afternoon with her buddy Francesco (Mom from Argentina, Dad from Canada, and they've lived in Germany and Austria in addition to Canada). We went for ice cream and then to a big park with lots of cool toys. Sometime during the afternoon, Grace, Henry and Francesco hatched a plan to have him sleep over. And although our first inclination was to say no (hey, we're parents, right?), we realized we had no good reason not to agree. So, our first sleepover in Graz and with a boy-friend no less! :-)

Grace and German Class Buddy, Francesco

Sunday we were invited to a friend's house for a "simple lunch" (which turned out to be spaghetti Milanese, spaghetti with a chicken cutlet).  So, Grace and Henry played with Carlo while Russ and Sue took turns talking with Carlo's mom, Loulou. Loulou is an American married to an Italian living in Austria. It's hard not to feel inferior around these families we've become friends with!

Anyway, it was a busy weekend, but one that Grace enjoyed quite a bit.  Many happy returns, Grace!  We love you!

Russ

Innsbruck Ski Trip

First, sorry about the lack of posts, but as you'll see below, our recent spate of health issues continued into February.  Not that we let that defeat us!

With school starting in Mid-Sept and going through July, February is when the first semester ends and the second one begins.  So, the public school kids are off for a week in mid-February as a "semester break."  But because of the relative madness of our lives heading up to the break (Sue in the hospital twice, my trip back to the US, etc.), we really had nothing planned.  We had talked about Italy and had a friend coming for a ski trip, but we'd only overlap for a day, so we didn't pursue that.  We had another friend coming to Innsbruck for a conference, but it was a 6-hour train ride and Sue had a follow-up doctor's appointment and I still needed to finish a big proposal.  So, we settled on a compromise.  Stay home for most of the break, rent a car to go skiing or sledding once, and take a short train trip into Slovenia or Hungary or something.  That way, we'd get in skiing, a train trip, and could take care of our things at home.  Sounds like a plan, huh?

Well, then Grace comes home school on the last day before break and declares that she told her whole class she was going skiing in Innsbruck for break.  The things kids hear/pick up on when you don't think they are really paying attention!  So, Friday night, I booked us a hotel and train tickets ... to Innsbruck!

Pretty much as soon as I did, Sue said, "I'm not feeling that great ... I think I'm getting a cold."  Well, that always gives us pause around our house, and with Henry having missed almost all of the week with a nasty high fever, bad cough virus, we were both thinking, "uh oh."  And sure enough, by noon on Saturday, both Grace and Sue had succumbed to the virus.  But we thought, if they are over this in 2-3 days, we'll still be in good shape to get onto the train on Wed at noon.

As you might have already guessed, with 3 of the 4 folks in a small apartment having succumbed to a virus, it was just a matter of time for me.  And that came by noon on Monday for me.  I did as much work as I could on my proposal Monday morning and then came home Monday afternoon to sleep.  We were hoping this went through me as quickly as it did for Sue and Grace (2 bad days and then getting better).  Being the eternal optimist, I didn't cancel our hotel or change our train tickets.

But with Sue having to pick up the slack on Monday while I was down, that stressed her compromised health state and she had to go to the lung doctor on Tuesday to get some antibiotics for a lung infection!  I'm still in bed and the kids are bouncing off the walls.  I kept thinking, at least the train will keep them interested, right?

So, Wednesday morning dawns with a Sue that is feeling a lot better than the day before and I'm not feeling too bad.  We decide to make the trip.  The first leg is to take all our stuff (read into this, all of our ski clothes, helmets, etc. on top of other stuff, like toys and clothes, for a 4-day trip) on two buses to get to the train station.  We had so much stuff one of our only-German speaking neighbors wondered if we were returning to the US!

By the time we arrived at the train station, I was a puddle of fever-induced sweat.  I could barely function properly and couldn't stand having the sun beat down on me in our train car.  It was not fun.

But amazingly, the kids did great on the train ride.  I say "amazingly" because 6 hours is a long time to be confined.  But they were constantly entertained by things going on outside.  And after an hour or so, there was snow everywhere, sometimes REALLY deep.  They also liked our 6-passenger compartment.  And they liked going out in the "hall" and goofing around.  Sue and I were so thankful!

As we headed into the station I started dreading another session of dragging our stuff around.  And even though the hotel was only 500m from the train station, I called them to ask if they had a shuttle!  But guess what?  Our friend Bill who was in town for the conference ... he met us at the train and carried the heaviest bag to the hotel ... our hero!

Ok, enough with the play by play :-)  We spent Thursday exploring the city, including the Tyrolean native folk museum (Innsbruck is in the state of Tyrol).  I spent the afternoon back at the hotel recovering.

Henry and Grace on the bunny hill.

On Friday and Saturday we all went skiing.  It was rough going at the start for Henry, but after the first trip down the bunny hill, he did great.  It was low key enough for me that skiing with a fever was feasible.  And I even tried the "olympic course" on Saturday, which was scary, but absolutely gorgeous scenery from the top.  You can see why Innsbruck dubs itself "capital of the Alps."  And a little trivia:  Innsbruck has hosted the winter olympics two times (1964 and 1976) and both times they won the pride-and-joy event, the men's downhill (Egon Zimmermann and Franz Klammer).

Grace, Russ and Henry skiing outside of Innsbruck, Capital of the Alps!

Bill and Susan (CELDi Retreat in Wyoming in 2008).

Friday night we had dinner with our friend, Bill, and helped him celebrate his birthday, complete with the kids singing him "Happy Birthday."  He said it was the best birthday he'd had for a while.  Of course, every other year he spends it at this conference :-) It was great to have time with Bill.  He and his wife Susan have been two of our most supportive friends this year.  They spent a year in Munich on sabbatical when their son, Garland, was 9.  They understand what we're going through like few others and have always been there for us with advice, lending us travel bags, etc.  And they forever endeared themselves to Grace and Henry with Bill bringing mac and cheese (Grace) and yogurt raisins (Henry) -- he also brought some Tylenol for the "old folks."

The train ride back on Sunday was another good experience.  The kids discovered that you could make the seats into half beds and they took full advantage.  We arrived back in time for a normal dinner time and bed time.  I wish I could say that I was all better, but I survived and Grace could tell all her friends about her traditional winter break spent skiing :-)

Russ

Baker's Zehn?

Fluff post today to avoid posting about Sue's health combined with Russ's trip back to the US ... that would wipe me out!

Today is our 15th wedding anniversary.  Believe me, when you are as different as Sue and I are in terms of how we approach things (direct opposites on the Myer-Brigg's test), it's no small miracle.  Thanks for sticking it out with me, Sue!

zehn und ein = elf :-)

As is our tradition, I bought flowers today.  I always get tulips.  I can still remember the floral arrangements at our wedding reception -- is there anything prettier than spring flowers, even from a florist when it is winter outside?

But the idea for this post really came when I went to buy the flowers.  They were priced by the flower or you could buy 11 for a price cheaper than 11 times the per flower price.  Odd, I thought, not by the dozen (or 13 for a "baker's dozen").  Then I thought about the eggs that I buy ... 10 to a pack.  Then I wondered, is the reason we sell things by the dozen in the US because we are on the "english" units system (base 12) and the reason they sell things by the "ten" here because they are on the metric system (base 10, or zehn in German)?  I don't know, but I liked my baker's zehn of tulips :-)

Russ