I can't . . .

find enough adjectives to possibly explain how beautiful and wonderful the last week has been! After nearly 60 hours awake, we arrived in rainy Katowice and settled in for a long sleep at Mel and Tyler's. The next morning we were off on our whirlwind tour of Germany and Austria and so many times during our adventures, I had to remind myself that it was real and I was actually here!!!

Bob was an amazing driver and handled the German autobahn at 130 km/hr with the same ease as a centuries old cobblestoned village at 30 km/hr. Our Renault van was not the most beautiful vehicle on the road but it was spacious and on the last stretch of highway got more than 40 miles per gallon (we are still checking the calculations on that!). The roads are filled with large transport trucks, much construction and yesterday at 5 p.m., many workers going home on their bicycles.

The scenery was reminiscent of the Rocky Mountains where there is a new vista around every corner. We drove through much agricultural land, including corn still in the field and vineyards. The grain harvest is finished and some winter wheat and winter canola have been planted. We saw alpine meadows and cows grazing in southern Germany - pictures right out of the Sound of Music and Heidi! I experienced my first European cathedral (Wieskirche) and my first castles (Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein - the one Walt Disney copied for Cinderella's castle at Disneyland). We toured the medieval city of Rothenburg, the mountain city of Innsbruck (just like Banff but larger), Salzburg on a rainy day, and Vienna in a whirlwind (gotta go back there). I've taken more than 800 pictures and I'm anxious to review them and share some with you!

Today Tyler's gone to his first day of classes(he missed a couple of days and has some catching up to do!) and we are off to the fresh market to stock up the fridge. Tomorrow it's off to Krakow for more sightseeing and maybe even some shoppping. I'm hoping I can show you some pictures later today but with one computer and 6 people in the house, we are doing some sharing :)) We miss you all!!