These are a Few of My Favorite Things

Just some favorite highlights from when the parents and Troy visited my lovely country of Austria!

1. A trip to Salzburg with the parents.

2. The Sound of Music Tour - let me set the scene just a little bit for you. My parents and I all REALLY like The Sound of Music. Our tour guide was a little British woman who insisted on playing EVERY song from the soundtrack...and singing along. About 3 songs in, the McKinnon trio in the back of the 12-passenger van were the only ones to join in (naturally). The bus ride included stops so we could walk out and see the back of the von Trapp house from the movie...

and the cathedral in Mondsee where Maria walked down the aisle to "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria" for her wedding:

We were only partially convinced that that tour was pretty much designed for us. Seriously. Perfect.

3. Showing my parents the ropes in ordering strictly Austrian specialties such as Wiener Schnitzel, Ottakringer beer (actually pretty much ALL of the beers are dee-lish), and Apfelstrudel mit Vanillesauce:

4. The Augustinerbrau. Found at the bottom of the St. Augustine Church in Salzburg, this brewery offers fresh beer. It has an ideal setup: after picking a big stein of your choosing from the wall of steins (1 Liter, that is), you rinse your stein in a provided fountain then head over to the cashier. There you ask for "zwei grosses Bier, bitte" (2 big beers, please - Dad, now you can say it in German in addition to Spanish!) and then head just to the right where a little old man fills your large ceramic stein from a keg with ice cold, frothy, light, fresh beer. Please note: "light" beer in Austria does not mean the same as in the States, seeing as regular beer here is usually 5-6% apv. My dad and I were pretty much like kids in a candy shop in that place. It was wonderful. After grabbing your newly filled yummy beer, you head into one of the various rooms stemming off from the filling station. Each room is pretty much a quintessential German/Austrian beer hall with their long wooden tables filled with people of all sorts - from the big group of drunken middle-aged Austrians speaking loud German, to groups of tourist families with their little kids and babies.

5. Seeing my brother perform with his college choir for the first time...in a church in Vienna about a block from the Hofburg Palace.

6. Going out with Troy and some of his choir friends and showing them a bit of the nightlife in Vienna. All in all, wonderful week with the McKinnon clan.