It’s hard not to have The Sound of Music songs playing in our minds as we venture around here. We have been staying near the Untersberg Mountain, just south of Salzburg, and have absolutely loved every minute of it. With the small-town feel, charming homes, large mountains, freshwater stream, and an abundance of luscious green trees, what’s not to love? We arrived in the middle of Spring with many trees still in bloom.

We happen to arrive on a holiday (can’t recall which one), but it meant every grocery store, restaurant, or food chain was closed. Luckily our next-door neighbor, who excitedly greeted us with the only other kids on the street, gave us enough food to get us through dinner and breakfast the next day.

As part of the kid’s education, we decided it would be fun and beneficial at the beginning of our stay, to “switch places” with Gavin and Claire. Giving them an opportunity to experience what it’s like to take on the responsibilities of being the parents, while we presumed the role of being the kids, with Hallie.

At first it was a lot of fun, and the kids had a lot of laughs trying to order us around while Phil and I mimicked some of the familiar complaints, augments, or ignoring behaviors we sometimes experience. However, once they realized parenting is more than telling the kids what to do, that they would need to create a schedule, grocery list (with shopping), figure out transportation, and get legal documents signed for us to stay here, the fun turned into dread. We may have stepped out of character a few times to help guide them through some of these things, but ultimately, they were in charge.

I think Phil and I both learned just as much from them- of how they see us as the parents. And they got a glimpse of some frustrations or stresses we go through as the parents. I would say the perspective was certainly altering and we appreciate each other a little more because of it.

Another opportunity we have to being here is everyone gets a bike they can ride! Our host has several adult size bikes that work great for everyone, except for Hallie. We got away with having her ride on the back of my bike where a platform rests to support a wire basket when needed. However, we were called out by the local police about a week into our stay and learned that this was illegal. When our same neighbors who gave us groceries our first night here heard this, they happily handed us a couple of bikes their kids weren’t using anymore. One with training wheels and a two-wheeler. It only took Hallie two days to figure out the two-wheeler and now we all cruise around together. We’ve taken them to church when roads were closed due to a marathon and public transportation was delayed as well as to the grocery store, and church activities. It’s been the best activity our whole family enjoys.

Anxious to explore the nearby hiking trails, we rode our bikes to a trailhead in hopes we’d be climbing to the top. We actually didn’t see the entry for the correct trail that would lead us to the top and went another way instead. We figured it out once we came to a spot where the trail sort of ended and the ground was covered in leaves and tress closing in around us. We decided since we’ve already gone this far, we might as well see if there was a worthwhile view on the other side. As we headed back down the path, we discovered a hidden sign for the trail we meant to take and learned how steep this climb was going to be and that it was currently closed until the weather turned warmer. After arriving home, we also learned that our little detour led us to take on a few ticks that were trying to make themselves at home on our bodies. 🙁

At the start of May, each town in Austria celebrates “May Day”, which involves raising a decorated pole (the maypole) and celebrating with beer, bratwurst or roasted chicken, pretzels, live music, and games. This is an event that involves the entire community- the youth took care of serving food, a number of men were selected to assist with the raising of the pole (said to be a bark-less tree trunk, 65′ long), and all the girls dress up in a dirndle while the men wear a lederhosen. The event started in the late morning and continued into the evening. It was a bit too hot and sunny for our liking, so we left once that pole was officially standing.

Other than the language being a barrier for us, we are truly enjoying this place of paradise!