Saturday, February 21, 2009

Red Light District?

Just kidding . . . kind of. Mom and Dad did take me through the red light district, but I was sleeping the whole time. We were all in The Netherlands to visit Uncle Rob and Aunt Erika in late January. Then, we went to Austria to go skiing and visit some long lost relatives. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves. . .



The pictures start with Austria. This was the view from our balcony in Kirchberg, about 6km from Kitzbuhel. Not bad, huh? Dad joined me out here for a session of "Connor only wearing a diaper while playing". Fun times.
This was the lobby of the hotel. I remember coming down here one night at 2AM when I was having trouble sleeping from the time change. Ah, the memories :)



In our hotel room, there was a little music player in the headboard. I liked going through the stations. Good music over there.
We had all our dinners and breakfasts in the dining area of the hotel.




And the hotel had a pool. Mommy and I went and played down here one day with Erika. What we didn't get a picture of was when Dad took me down here, let me run around on the tiled floor, and then came to my rescue when I bailed out and almost cracked my head on the floor. Thanks Dad.


Hold you Mommy!

Hold you Daddy. I like to get my pinkies hooked into Dad's ears so I can steer him. Works rather well.
Out on the balcony again.
One night at dinner, they had a mariachi band (makes total sense in Austria, right?). They came and serenaded me for three songs. But, I started feeling bad cause the lead guy was pushing off performing for the German ski team to play me songs. I appreciate the effort from fans, but the German guys needed the entertainment so they could ski well at the ski race that weekend!

And then on Sunday, Ruth, Waldemar, Christian, and Jurgen came to visit us. Dad said he hadn't seen them for over 10 years. That's the same as forever, right? Waldemar wheeled me around the lobby on a luggage cart. Fun :)


Great Aunt Ruth brought me toys. I thought she was pretty without the bribe, but the train she and the family got me is AWESOME!!!! OPEN IT!!!

On the ride to Kitzbuhel, I fell asleep with Ruth. She is comfortable.



When we got to Kitzbuhel, we could see the ski race while walking around the streets. Pretty cool!
Ruth let me play with her glasses. She is so COOL!!!

Do they fit? Is it a good look?


We really liked Kitbuhel. It was pretty.
Christian is on the left and Jurgen is on the right. Mom and Dad seemed really happy to hang out with them for the day. I thought they were great, but Dad really seemed to think they were even better than he had remembered.


Back at the hotel, after the trip, we had dinner just like every night.
Sometimes Rob would lift me up so I could stand in the windowsill and play with the cork from the nightly bottle of wine.
And, there was the skiing. Had to include one or two pictures. I look forward to trying it next year.

They usually had lunch in the middle of the ski day. This picture is creepy.

This one is cute. Rob got the loving look right in this one.
There they are. Erika and Rob are getting married in August.


This was Dad's favorite area to ski. Lot's of good snow.



Just another nice picture of the Alps.

One day we all took a break from Kirchberg and went to Salzburg. At the top of the hill you can see the fortress.
While we were walking through the streets, we were comforted to see a familiar culinary carryover from the USA. I do like the signage.
We went to the birth house of Amadeus Mozart too. Without signage it just looks like another place in the tourist area.
But, if you look up, Mozart gets major billing on the side of the building.

We stopped for lunch and I played with my new train from Ruth. CHEESE!!!
I love this train!!
And, as we walked through the streets after lunch, we felt drawn to the fortress. Anyone want to walk off lunch?
It's not that far, right?
We managed another family picture in the square below the fortress. Mommy wasn't able to avoid the camera forever.
In the plaza below the fortress, there was a big gold ball with a statue on top of it. Make note of the size from the ground level.
Going up!! Did I say something about working off lunch on a walk? No exercise for me. . . faster sherpa!
And up! This is the first gate to the fortress. Glad they aren't pouring boiling pitch anymore.
And up! Faster!
Once we got within the fortress, there was a tavern named after us!! They got the "U" wrong in "Berg" though.
We took a guided tour too. So embarrassing when Dad decided I was wet and dropped my pants in public. Nice to be warm, but totally embarrassing.
Finally, at the top. You can see a lot from up here.

There's that plaza we were in with the gold ball. Looks smaller from up here.
And after a long day visiting Salzburg, we were ready to take the train home. Erika, gimmy your nose!
Back in Amsterdam, we did a lot of walking through the streets. There are a lot of views like this one.
And, Rob took us to a special bar where they sell Jenever (Dutch Gin). Dad loves the stuff and brought 2 bottles home. I'm not sure why, but everyone thought the name of the bar was humorous.
One last toast to the trip. Jenever, meet Daddy's stomach!

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