Austria was just as Sound of Music as possible. Our trip, however, involved more than beautiful scenery and that is where the hands-down-worst-road-trip-ever bit comes in.
You know how it is with us- travel isn't always romantic candelight dinners and sipping umbrella drinks on the beach. When we're going somewhere sometimes people ask me "Are you bringing the kids?" and I'm like "Yes, they belong to us...they are ours, so yes, we're bringing them. Duh."
First the flight- when I found it was three hours...well, that's like a whole vacation in itself right there. Is there anything easier than three hours, with no plane changes, no need to de-board and re-board? There is not. It's like going to a movie, easier than church because you don't have to talk in hushed voices or keep reminding everyone that they will have to live without snacks for 50 whole minutes. We made the whole trip with no electronic devices at all. Lovely.
Skiing, I found out, is not so easy.
Here's what you absolutely must be sure that your rental car has when driving from Munich to Austria: snow tires. Here's what you REALLY don't want to hear from the rental car place "We have only one car with snow tires- a two door VW Golf".
And if you do happen to find yourself driving from Munich to the small town of St. Veit, Austria with one toddler in carseat and 3 other people squished in next to that (and that's just in the backseat) well, it's essential to have a GPS system, which we did. It's also essential to have a barf bag, change of clothes and clothespins to hold your nose plugged for the remainer of the puke-smelling trip but we did NOT have those.
Here's what's fun; having tons of snow/Here's what's not fun; having tons of snow gear to put on so that you're not miserable when you go out in tons of snow. It's nice to be warm and bundled up in hats, fleeces, snowpants with suspenders, mittens cinched, thick wool socks but it is heartbreaking to hear that someone has to use the bathroom once they are finally zippered in to their bundling accessories.
It was really fun to hang out with George and Mari, to learn to ski and to watch the kids going down the mountain like pros and we had a good time overall....but here is what you must know about going skiing for 5 days straight with four little kids- Do not go skiing for 5 days straight with four little kids.
7 comments:
your posts are too amusing! these are the experiences your kids will remember though and I'm sure they found it all far more amusing than you and bill did.
Welcome to my world of snow gear. Basically from Halloween to Easter I have to battle the kids every day with twelve layers of clothes. Needless to say they are soooo excited to be heading to Arizona and get to live in flip-flops.
This is such a hilarious/adorable/we-all-suffer-through-the-same-thing-as-parents post! Austria looks so idyllic. Here I was complaining about weather in the 50/60's here in Florida!
The VW sounds like our 1 bedroom condo. -Keith
sheesh, ang...you never cease to crack me up!
What self control--I would have also mentioned the extra charges for water and butter. Great piece of writing, kiddo!
Your trip sounded absolutely wonderful----after you all arrived! Ben and Prue went to St. Veit when Ben was less than a year old, so I can definitely empathize with the whole getting dressed and undressed scenario!We ran out of gas in an Italian tunnel on that trip...maybe the driving part is to be avoided!!!
It is the most beautiful village though...is the Dog Bar still there? Did you do any curling?
We read your blog faithfully and have finally decided to leave a comment. We miss you and really enjoy reading about you exploits!
Love, K and B
I loved reading this....thank you for a nice morning laugh...the vomit, the bathroom trips in ski clothes, the joys of family travel! Were you sore after skiing? That's my most vivid memory of the two times I have tried to ski...muscles I didn't even know I had were killing me and I couldn't barely move can't imagine trying to keep up with kids like that!
Post a Comment