Back Home!

We arrived home safe and sound after completing the last leg of our travel trilogy. We left Munich after spending four sleepless nights in a very rowdy youth hostel (we can laugh about it now, but at the time, it wasn't too pleasant). Our U.S. Airways flight to Philadelphia was, of course, delayed which meant we would miss our connecting flight to SFO and not be able to get in until later the next day. Luckily, the reservationist took pity on us and put us on a nonstop Lufthansa flight to SFO. We ended up arriving several hours earlier than when we were originally scheduled to get in. 

Mission accomplished: Japan, Mexico, Germany, Austria, and Hungary. Each trip had a specific purpose or intention, and each trip was wonderful, memorable, and successful. Now that Z is back home, he is thoroughly pleased that he went along and put up with me for such a long time and under sometimes stressful conditions. Of course, he didn't have any choice in the matter since these trips were mainly for his sake, not mine. He was a real trooper, though, and I hope he'll want to travel with me again in future years. (No more youth hostels for me, though). His world has been greatly expanded, and he has many new memories that will last him a lifetime.

 Thumbs up upon arrival at SFO...

Austria

Salzburg is one of my favorite small cities in Europe. It's very pedestrian friendly and has a ton of sights to see and things to do. We spent two days here before we headed over to Munich by train. The European Soccer Championship was about to begin, and all the games were to be held in Austrian and Swiss cities. Salzburg was selected to host a few of the games, so the town was full of happy soccer fans as well as many city workers who were busily finishing up the last preparations before the first big match. We lucked out, though, and found a real bargain on a hotel room right in the center of town (actually we got upgraded to a suite for the price of a double bed in one room, a price that was already significantly reduced). We had a great time there and it brought back fond memories of the many visits I had made there in the past. Here's a sampling of what we saw...

The old part of town as seen from Kapuziner Kloster

Big screen TV's being set up for the games...

One of the rooms in our suite...

The other room...

Horse paintings in Herbert v. Karajan Plaza

Trying the local beer, which by the way was delicious...

Images from a cemetery next to our hotel...

Fancy signage in the Getreidegasse...

View overlooking the Altstadt...

View of the Festung from Mirabellgarten...

On top of the Festung tower...

Part of the Festung...

Inside the Festung wall...

View looking down on the city...

Painted eggs in one of the shops...

Cheese anyone?

Mozart's birth house ... now an interesting museum...

While we still had our rental car, we took a few trips into Tirol, which is very close to where we were staying with my aunt in Reit im Winkle. One day we went to Kitzbuhl, a famous ski resort...

Colorful buildings in the pedestrian zone...

There are lots of designer stores in Kitzbuhl...this was just one of them...

Typical scene in Tirol...

On another day we took my aunt to a mountain alm for lunch. It was near Kufstein, which is a pleasant small town in the valley seen below...

View of the Wilder Kaiser as seen from the restaurant...

Here's the restaurant...they had a nice terrace where you could sit and enjoy the spectacular mountain views...

Z waiting for food to arrive...

Yep, it's real...

While we were staying with my aunt and uncle in Strem, Austria, they took us to Graz for the day. I had never been to that city before and found it delightful. Its historical district is quite large and full of interesting architecture, museums, churches, restaurants, shops...We hiked up the hill and got a great view of the city below with all the red tile roofs...

One of the main plazas...

The mausoleum...

Inside the Museum of Modern Art...

Part of the museum building...

Swarovski anyone?

A typical street...

Z and his soccer friend...

This is the small festung in the town of Goessing, which is about 8 km from the village of Strem, where my relatives live...

We hiked to the top of it, but we couldn't go into the museum because it happened to be closed that day...

We got great views of the countryside though...

Strem...where we stayed with my aunt and uncle...

That's Strem...a very small village...

A light evening fog settling in...

Group family shot in front of the garden shed...

That's the end of Strem...

Hungary

My cousin lives on a farm in western Hungary, not too far from the Austrian border. Z and I visited him and his family, and he took us on some drives around the area...

Wheat fields near his farm...

Trying to find our way to a beer garden...

Which way to go?

At last we made it and could enjoy some cold beer...

Z's cousins at home...

Around Bavaria

While we had our rental car, we took advantage of the nice weather and long hours of daylight and made several road trips around the Alps. We had to fill up the car once, at a cost of around 100 euros. Germany's gas prices are higher than ours (at least for now), but much more of the cost is due to taxes which are then used to keep their roads and freeways so nice and well maintained. Here are a few images of the areas that we visited...

Berchtesgaden...

Main square in Berchtesgaden...

Z and his buddy Mozart...

More of that rich Bavarian food...

The entry to the Salt Mines...

Ramsau...

Overlooking the Berchtesgadnerland...

Z running down a mountain...

Me on top of the world...

The May Pole in Marquartstein...

My old house in Marquartstein...

My old school in Grassau...

Fruit stand in Traunstein...

Main plaza in Traunstein...