More Automobiles (Saturday, October 1, 2011)

Brian is really wishing that a) it didn't cost so much to add a second driver to a rental car agreement and b) he had pushed me harder to learn how to drive a stick shift. As it stands, he is the sole driver on a trip that I have planned, which can mean only one thing--he is exhausted from driving.

We planned Friday night to get up at 7:30 am to have time to go tour Neuschwanstein Castle (we were supposed to see it Friday afternoon but all the flight delays got us to Germany too late for that). At 7:30 the alarm went off. We looked at each other and knew that we were not getting out of bed. At 9:00 we rolled out and tried to shake the kids awake. We finally left town at about 10:30.

Stopped at a bakery and sampled some tasty pastry. Drove through gorgeous Bavaria, over roads with  no speed limits. A sticker inside our rental car said that we should not exceed 210 km/hr (130 miles/hr)--unfortunately with traffic we only got up to 190ish, or somewhere around 110 miles/hr. Stopped at a grocery store, then stopped at a turnout along the way to eat lunch at a picnic table. People kept biking by us, sort of in the middle of nowhere. One lady ran by--we couldn't help but wonder where she was running from.

Eventually, we made our way to Vienna, where we were warmly welcomed by Jeffrey and Lisa Schra, and their sons Willem and Xander, who were formerly students at Evergreen with our kids. Allison had been looking forward to seeing Xander, but with him standing there in front of her there was embarassed silence all around. Lisa sent them all to play Wii and within minutes they were all laughing and yelling and becoming friends again. Jeffrey and Lisa prepared us a big pot of spaghetti, a bowl of salad and lots of bread, and we ate it with gusto. They are in Vienna working at the International Christian School of Vienna, and they have a small but homey apartment with a glorious outdoor balcony. The adults sat by candlelight enjoying a leisurely meal while the kids hurried through piles of food and then headed back to the Wii.

The Schras had arranged a beautiful apartment for us, and we are the first to rent it. Brian suggested Saran Wrap-ing the kids so that we wouldn't be destroying the freshly painted white walls. They even had groceries for us. We gratefully accepted all of it and fell into bed for another hard sleep (except for me, as I am reading "Room" and am having a terrible time putting it down). Another day where we got where we needed to go and got there safely. We are thankful.

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