Austria (Part 2) and Travel Home

We woke up the next morning to this view from our balcony:

After a quick breakfast, we boarded the bus for the train station where we caught a train to our final city - Vienna! Unfortunately, the bus ride to the train station was much like the bus ride a few days earlier. It was a fast ride on a windy road on the side of the mountains. Poor Caroline got sick a few times on the bus, resulting in a wardrobe change for her on the platform and one for me once we got on the train.

Once we boarded the train, Caroline and Carson fell asleep, which made for a relaxing ride for us mommies!

 

After a little more rest at the hotel and another outfit change, we ate lunch at Centimeter, where you can order sausage by the meter and you get the rest of your food served in a wheelbarrow. It was definitely an experience!

After lunch we were so excited to meet up with our friends Greg and Kim. We got to know Greg and Kim in Boston, and their son Nathanael was born just 2 months after Quinn. A few things have changed since then, including the addition of sweet baby sisters for our boys! 

Quinn fell asleep in the stroller as we walked from the playground to St. Stephen's Cathedral, but Caroline and Nathanael had a great time chasing pidgeons in the square. 

Are they up there?

Found them!

We said goodbye to the Kings and met the rest of the family at Hotel Sacher to try the famous Sachertorte dessert. The actual dessert got mixed reviews (the pieces of plastic in our drink and a half-hearted apology from the waitress didn't help), but Caroline enjoyed a nap after all of her running around with Nathanael.

Afterward we enjoyed some sightseeing in the city with Bill, AK, and Carson. I especially love that the kids cooperated for this picture!

I love this goofy boy! He snacked on a bell pepper while we waited for our pizza dinner.

 The next morning, after some sweet snuggles, we got ready for our last full day in Austria.

There weren't any bears in Vienna, but Quinn found this cute little guy and continued his photo tradition the next day.

Filling up our water bottles with fresh water!

ha :)

We visited the beautiful Schonbrunn Palace in the afternoon.

Visiting the zoo on the palace grounds with grandpa

We loved Vienna!

The next morning, we savored our last amazing European breakfast and packed up to head back home. The kids did great on the flights! By that point, they were really good at sleeping on airplanes and entertaining themselves in a small space. We napped, ate snacks, watched movies, and read books.

The flight attendant walked by and then came back with her phone to take a picture of John with both kids in his lap - she thought it was so cute! I agreed :)

 Quinn fell asleep again as the plane was landing in DFW (which was 2am Austria time) and Caroline fell asleep right after we got off the plane. They both slept as we went through customs, got our bags, got in the car, drove home, and put them in bed. Caroline even slept through a diaper change when we got home.

My little world-travelers did an awesome job adjusting to the crazy schedule, new foods, hotel rooms for naps and bedtime, and lots of planes, trains, and buses over the course of 2 weeks. It was exhausting, but it was so so fun. Thanks, Grammy and Grandpa, for a fabulous vacation!!