The Johnslingtons

Our mid-July stay in the tiny medieval town of Caunes-Minervois, France, was one of the very first things we booked on this trip, way back in February. Our friends Grant and Ellen, whom you may remember from our stop in London, have been going to the same vacation spot there every summer for more than… Continue reading (Au Pont) Romain Holiday

This trip has had its share of contrasts. We’ve gone from beachside bungalow to high-rise hotel room. From urban tourist destination to remote family farm. Spacious suburban home to teeny tiny campervan. But perhaps the most striking of these was the one-two punch of Schweiben, Switzerland and Nice, France. Because beyond beautiful views (and let’s… Continue reading Ooh-La-La-Living It Up in Nice

After Austria, Fiona got to spend some time with kids her age(ish) in Germany and Switzerland. First was Kaufbeuren, Germany, where some friends of Fi’s parents, Courtney and Greg, live with their three kids, Zachary (11), Ryan (9) and Lexie (7). During the weekend we were there, Fi did lots of playing, plus some biking,… Continue reading Where in the World is Fiona? Germany and Switzerland!

We grouped together the Stubai, Kaufbeuren, and Switzerland for this post, because they’re all pretty Alp-y. Spaetzle in general, but the one Julie had at Maria Waldrast monastery was particularly good. Tiroler Grostle at Elferhutte. Grostl is basically fried potatoes with eggs and some bacon, with some other stuff. It’s real good. Dry-aged ribeye cooked… Continue reading Austria to Switzerland – The Best Stuff We Ate

Back in May when we were figuring out the dates and structure of this part of our trip, I bugged my friend Carolyn for a recommendation on where to go between the Austrian Alps and southern France. “Well,” she wrote, “obviously you guys should come visit us in Switzerland.” You may be confused – didn’t… Continue reading Switzerland is a Wonderland

I met my friend Courtney on my very first frisbee team when I moved to San Francisco. It was a fantastic team – we nearly won the league, we *always* won the bar after the game, and I’m still in touch with some of the folks from Layoutnall (team name theme: pharmaceuticals) eighteen years later!… Continue reading Interlude: Small-town Germany

Fiona spent the last week and a half of June in Austria, first in the Stubai Valley, then in the city of Salzburg. Salzburg is a city founded (literally!) on salt—it sits atop an ancient sea, which evaporated and left huge amounts of salt, a substance that was very valuable when they started mining it… Continue reading Where in the World is Fiona? Austria!

Like London, Salzburg is a city I campaigned to visit on this trip, and one that’s rich in memories for me. But unlike London, my Salzburg memories are older, hazier and a bit bittersweet. I’d visited twice before, once with my family during the summer I turned seven, and again on a school trip the… Continue reading Nostalgia and New Memories in Salzburg

As you know, I love me some mountains, and we’ve certainly seen our fair share as we made our way around the world. We’ve been to Faerie. We’ve hiked in tremendous, previously unknown-to-us jagged peaks. We spied the highest point on a continent. But… man, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen mountains as rugged… Continue reading Stunned by Stubai

You know that thing that happens when you feel better after feeling terrible? You have the flu or Covid or food poisoning and your body just completely turns on you and it’s miserable and then, one day, you go back to feeling pretty normal and it’s AWESOME? Like, sun shining, birds singing, ready to take… Continue reading The Hills (and the Johnslingtons) Come Alive in Austria