Celebrate Springtime!

Today is the first day of Spring!

Are you traveling anywhere lovely for spring break??

I'd like to say these tulips were real,
but they're plastic souvenirs for sale
in Holland.

These Edelweiss plants are real!
For sale in Hallstatt, Austria.

My son likes flowers too.  Posing in the garden
of the Residenz Palace in Würzburg, Germany.

Garden in Marigny Square in Paris.

Garden in Grainau, Germany.

Photo Friday: Town Square in Hallstatt

My daughter, just 11 years old, sitting pretty in the colorful town square in Hallstatt, Austria.

This is my Photo Friday link-up post to DeliciousBaby.com.

Photo Friday: Vintage Alpine Picnic

Austrian Alps

Circa:  1966

My mom in the cute pegged pants, my uncle, and my brother, age 4, are in the foreground of this picture of an impromptu picnic somewhere in the Austrian Alps.  I'm the blond 3 year old in her underpants.  We've all aged since then, but I bet the Alpine view there hasn't changed a bit.

This is my Photo Friday link-up post to DeliciousBaby.com.

Sylvester in Switzerland

Fireworks over Adelboden valley in Switzerland last year.

New Year's Eve is called Sylvester in the German speaking countries of Europe (as well as in the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to Wikipedia) in honor of the saint and Pope Sylvester I whose feast day is December 31st.  

Europeans generally purchase fireworks to celebrate at midnight, and last year on New Year's Eve we were in Adelboden in the Bernese Oberland.

Fireworks for sale in Adelboden.

We went out to dinner at a Pizzeria Trattoria Alfredo that evening and then returned to Our Chalet for some festivities.

There was dancing:

And games:

 And food:

And Glühwein by a snow campfire.

Good times.

Scary Europe On Halloween

The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland?  No!  It's the Quinta da Regaleira estate in Sintra, Portugal, also known as the "Palace of Monteiro the Millionaire".  A very freaky, Gothic, gargoyled, twisty-towered, dungeons-and-caves sort of place.

Can you see the hand reaching out of the stone coffin above?  That's my son being funny at the roofless Carmo Convent and Church in Lisbon.

Above, mummies at the Carmo museum.

This scary guy glares down at tourists at the Pena Palace, also in Sintra, Portugal.

A carnival costume in Venice.

Skulls at the Bone House in Hallstatt, Austria, where the residents of this small town have hand-painted and then stacked and displayed the bones of their dead since the 12th century.

My kids thought the idea of eating this fish, which was for sale at the public market in Madrid, was pretty scary.        H A P P Y   H A L L O W E E N ! ! !

Check out the Halloween tricks and treats today and tomorrow at Traci Suppa's fun blog Go Big or Go Home!  She's got one of my photos featured on Thursday - click here!

Happy Mother's Day

I'm participating in a Mother's Day photo carnival today hosted by Mara Gorman on her blog, The Mother of all Trips.  The idea is to link up with a favorite photo of you and your kids on the road.  Easy enough - I have lots of those:

Happy travels and happy Mother's Day!

Photo Friday: Do These Things Have a Name?

What are these things called and why do kids love them so much?  

At the marionette museum in Salzburg.

Inside the Tower Bridge in London.

On the Champs Élysées during the Tour de France.

A variation on the idea at the Louvre.

Frohe Ostern - Happy Easter!

Frohe Ostern, Happy Easter!

Have you seen this character before, this giant white mouse named Diddl?  He is an extremely popular cartoon character in Germany and Austria.  Diddlmania hit those countries in around 2003, and there is Diddl candy, Diddl stationary, Diddl plush toys, games, accessories, and collectibles.

Photo Friday: Strauss in the Snow

There has been so much snowfall in Europe these past few weeks.

Johann Strauss II looks lonely and cold in the Stadtpark in Vienna.

This gilded bronze monument is one of the most known and most frequently photographed monuments in Vienna.

Check out other bloggers' travel photos every Photo Friday at DeliciousBaby.com.

The Lake Region of Carinthia, Austria

Several years ago when we were planning a trip to Austria I did a lot of research on the beautiful mountain and lake region of Carinthia where we intended to visit but ultimately did not.  I see no reason not to share my information with others, even without being able to give firsthand recommendations.  Of course I'll have to borrow a few Google images, since I don't have any photos of my own.

What I found very appealing about this area, is the many, many bathing lakes (as opposed to the usually frigid lakes in the Alpine regions) ideal for families and children.  Seems the most popular are the Wörthersee (See means lake in German), Millstätter See, Ossiacher See and Faaker See.

Klagenfurt, the capital of Carinthia, and Villach are the largest towns in the region and can be used as a home base for exploring other lakeside villages.  Most train connections will come through Klagenfurt or Villach.  There are also medieval towns like Friesach and Gmünd nearby if you prefer to station yourself in a smaller, more charming place.  Besides sunny beaches on crystal-clear bathing lakes, in Carinthia you can explore cathedrals (Gurk or Maria Saal), abbeys (St. Paul's, Millstatt or Viktring), castles and palaces (Hochosterwitz, Griffin or Porcia).

Burg Hochosterwitz near Klagenfurt.

Photo credit:  www.magellanworld.net

In my research I noted interesting towns as well as hotels, which I probably singled out at the time because they are family-friendly.  Here's a general regurgitation that might help you with your planning to visit Carinthia, Austria:

On the Wörther See:

Velden
    Hotels:  Seehotel Europa, Hotel Goritschnigg, Hotel Post-Wrann, Hotel Kärntnerhof, Hotel Schönblick (has a nice beach), Hotel Samonig, Flairhotel am Wörthersee, Seehotel Engstler, Seehotel Hubertushof, Seeschlossl Velden, Golf Parkhotel, Familienhotel Villa Flora

Velden on the Wörther See
Photo credit:  www.casino-urlaub.at

Pörtschach
    Hotels:  Striedinger’s Lust & Laune Hotel, Werzer’s Hotel Resort Pörtschach, Hotel Schloss Seefels, Ferienhotel Wörthersee, Strandvilla Seefried

Krumpendorf

Techelsberg

Moosburg
    Hotels:  Gasthof Liebetegger

Maria Wörth
    Hotels:  Strandhotel Harrich, Pension Seevilla Annelies, Hotel Perdacher

Keutschach
    Hotels:  Familienparadies Reichenhauser

Schiefling


On the Millstätter See:

Seeboden am Millstätter See
    Hotels:  Haus Oberwinkler

Millstatt am See
    Hotels:  Hotel am See Die Forelle, Familienhotel Post, Hotel Postillion am See


On the Ossiacher See:

Alt-Ossiach

Bad Bleiberg

Villach


On the Brennsee:

Heiligengeist

Warmbad Villach

Feld am See
    Hotels:  Alte Hof Brennseehof

Okay, I lied.  I DO have a personal photograph from Carinthia.  Let's just call it vintage:

Me, in the back of the boat, with relatives on the Wörthersee in 1971.

Tips for Spring Break

Need some ideas for spring break destinations?  My fellow travel blogger Monique Rubin has some fine suggestions on her blog, Mo Travels, today, featuring several exciting contributors, including moi!  

What is a UNESCO World Heritage Site?

If you read travel articles even occasionally, you've surely come across the term "UNESCO World Heritage Site."  I've read it so often over the years I finally decided to investigate what the criteria are to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The palace and gardens of Schönbrunn
in Vienna, Austria, are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The acronym stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, a group founded in 1945 originally to reconstruct Europe's systems of education after the war.  Nine years later, in response to Egypt's Aswan Dam project and its potential flooding of ancient Egyptian treasures, UNESCO launched a worldwide safeguarding campaign.  The program now includes the protection and conservation of places of outstanding cultural as well as natural significance.  As of 2011, 936 sites are listed, with the most (47) in Italy.

The historic center of Rome
is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

There are ten criteria for cultural and natural heritage.  Nominated sites must be of "outstanding universal value" and meet at least one of the ten criteria, such as "represents a masterpiece of human creative genius," "bears a unique or exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared," or "contains superlative natural phenomena."  (Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Site.)

The Acropolis in Athens, Greece,
is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

What I find particularly cool is that UNESCO World Heritage Sites are legally protected under the Law of War per the Geneva Convention.  Attacks and other acts of hostility are prohibited.  With the political and economic rioting we see so often nowadays in some historic locations (Athens comes to mind) I worry sometimes about the world's precious monuments.  I remember watching on TV the destruction by dynamite of the Buddhas of Bamiyan by the Taliban in Afghanistan.  How tragic that that was permitted to occur!  Although UNESCO vigilantly opposed the proposed destruction of the statues, they were not a listed site and therefore not under protection of the law.

I like to consider designated sites as worthy of a visit when I travel, as they are always unique and interesting.  When we are in Spain and Portugal this summer we will explore the Alhambra in Granada, the city of Córdoba, the Monastery and Site of the Escurial in Madrid, the town of Cáceres in Spain, the Cathedral and Alcázar in Seville, the Tower of Belém in Lisbon, and the town of Sintra in Portugal - all listed by UNESCO.  I'm grateful that this organization exists to preserve the world's cultural and natural treasures for my children and all future generations.

Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay, in France, are preserved by UNESCO.

Family Vacation

Zippity Zurich

Sometimes rated by surveys as the city with the best quality of life in the world, and the wealthiest city in Europe, Zurich does not rank quite as high as a European tourist destination.  Zurich is beautiful and clean, with an impressive number of museums and art galleries, but it lacks the uniqueness of, say, Amsterdam's canal-lined streets and weathered guild houses, or the richness of Vienna's ornate architectural ensembles, or the character of historically decrepit Florence.  Zurich is a global city, with modern buildings and a highly refined shopping street, but if you're in Europe to dwell in old-world charm, medieval masonry, or breathtaking Alpine scenery, Zurich is not the place.

On the other hand, if you're a group of suburban teenage girls, most of whom had never been to Europe, stepping out of the bustling Zurich train station after an 11 hour plane flight and your first train ride, this cosmopolitan city makes a grand impression.  The gasps were audible.  It was dusk on December 26th, the day after we'd left our families on Christmas.  Crossing the Limmat River, the reflection of the city lights was enchanting.

We headed with our luggage straight for Niederdorf, a cobblestone pedestrian street in old town with lively shops and restaurants, and also, fortunately, the terrific location of our youth hostel.  Decorated with Christmas trees and twinkling lights, the little side alleys, squares, and plazas delighted the girls.

Imagine their excitement when I told them after we unloaded our luggage at the hostel they were free to roam the streets without us three adult chaperones (since I figured we three couldn't manage much more than collapsing on our beds).  I think they were shocked at my lenience their very first night in Europe, but I recognized there was absolutely no danger in this part of town and no way they could get lost if they stuck together.  Before I knew it I could hear them giggling outside below my hostel window, screeching when they found a patch of snow down by the river, and eagerly shooting pictures up on our building's roof (how they figured out there was roof access, I don't know).

No one seemed too troubled by jetlag that first night.  All slept well from sheer exhaustion.

Photo Friday: Salzburg at Night

The enchanting city of Salzburg, Austria, at night.

This post is part of Photo Friday at DeliciousBaby.com.

Photo Friday: Skin and Bones

Looking forward to Halloween with a little bit of creepiness:  my kids at the Bone House (Beinhaus) in Hallstatt, Austria, where the residents of this small town have hand-painted and then stacked and displayed the bones of their dead since the 12th century.

Take a look at DeliciousBaby.com for more Photo Friday photos.