We made it! All 14 Einsteins (well 13 Einsteins and a Skousen) have descended upon Vienna. After a red-eye flight through Munich, on the largest plane that Theo had ever seen (there was a second floor), we landed, tired, hungry and hot. We took the airport bus to the city center and got off on a busy street in the transportation hub. After unloading our suitcases, we stepped out onto the sidewalk and stood directly in front of a small park with a statue consisting of a few simple slabs of concrete shaped as house with a man in the doorway. Above the statue were the words "Niemals Vergessen (Never Forget)" with a red triangle and yellow Star of David. What a way to be welcomed to Vienna!

This memorial marks the site of the infamous Hotel Metropole, the headquarters of the Gestapo in Vienna from 1938 onwards. This was the largest Gestapo building outside of Berlin staffed by over 900 people mostly recruited from the Austrian police force. The building was bombed and burned down in 1951. In 1985 this memorial was made consisting of granite slabs from the concentration camp Mauthausen and the bronze figure as a memorial to the survivors of the concentration camps.

Many people during the war were interrogated and tortured here particularly the Jewish population of Vienna. The inscription translates as " Here stood the house of the Gestapo .To those who believed in Austria it was hell.To many it was the gates of death.It sank into ruins just like the " Thousand year Reich " but Austria was resurrected and with her our dead,the immortal victims ".

There was an Orthodox family walking by while we were there, but besides that just locals and tourists waiting for a bus. We sat upon its steps and took the moment to remind the kids why their great grandparents had to flee Vienna. Theo had lots of questions, Sophie took it all in and Zoey fell asleep.

From there, we walked through the city to our hotel, met up with Owen, settled in and headed back out to meet the rest of the crew for the "best schnitzel in town." After a lot of walking and a few failed attempts (one restaurant closed on Saturdays, one restaurant closed for the holiday, one restaurant couldn't accommodate 14 people, one restaurant didn't want to accommodate 14 people and so on), I took charge and led the gang to unassuming restaurant down an alley that could seat us all. (We didn't even check the reviews or star ratings! Gasp)

Evan and I had a perfectly delicious schnitzel, while the kids were delighted with their plain pasta while playing Uno and monkeying around, the uncles drank, the grandparents ate Italian and Zoey....slept. We took in more sites on our long walk back to the hotel and rested up for the day ahead!

After the best sleep of my night and an early wake-up at 9:30 am - we plowed through some crepes at the hotel breakfast and made our way to Stephanplatz to see the St. Stephen's Cathedral, one of the tallest churches in the world. We were joined by our own private tour guide who then took us on a city tour of Vienna, with a Jewish twist.

We headed towards the historic Jewish section of town to learn more. We arrived at Judenplatz, a square that Jews had begun settling in since 1190. Vienna's Jewish history spans centuries, encompassing periods of prosperity, persecution, and resurgence. From medieval times to the Holocaust's devastation and post-war revival, the Jewish community has faced challenges yet somehow continues. The square included a few notable memorials, including one of two Jewish museums in Vienna.

The statue of Lessing serves as a commemoration of his significant contributions to literature and philosophy, particularly his play "Nathan the Wise" which promoted religious tolerance and understanding among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, reflecting themes of coexistence and harmony. The first statue went up in 1935, only to be destroyed a few years later by the Nazis. A “second “replacement” statue from the same sculptor (Siegfried Charoux) eventually appeared in Vienna in 1968 and moved to the Judenplatz in 1981.

This is also the home of one of the Holocaust memorials of Vienna, built in 2000. The Holocaust Memorial is a powerful and minimalist tribute, consisting of a sunken rectangular space with angular walls that descend below street level. Inscribed on the walls are the names of the concentration camps where 65,000 Austrian Jews were murdered during the Holocaust (1/3 of Jews were killed, while 2/3 escaped - Evan's family included.) At the center stands a stark, abstracted sculpture resembling a broken library with books facing inwards, symbolizing the cultural and intellectual devastation caused by the Nazi regime. It can be interpreted in many ways, our tour guide told us it was the stories of the Jews who were lost and yet to be written. Ironically, in the late 1990s, excavations were started to create this now memorial, and during these excavations, a medievel synagogue was discovered below the square. The memorial sits opposite one part of the Jewish Museum and on top of the excavated remains of a Jewish synagogue destroyed in a pogrom around 1420.

While looking around the square, the tour guide pointed out a narrow house at Judenplatz 2 which dates back to the 15th century with a sculptor of Jesus’s baptism. The Latin inscription beneath the scene still remains, using astonishingly anti-semitic language comparing Jews to dogs and applauding their expulsion from the city by fire. We also stumbled upon "Stones of Remembrance" - a modern project with the aim of keeping alive the memory of the murdered Jewish inhabitants that lived in Vienna before the Holocaust by placing brass plaques on the sidewalk at their old address. 

From here, we walked to an overlook looking over Vienna's 2nd district, Leopoldstadt. In the late 19th century, Jews were accorded the unrestricted right to reside and to practice their religion throughout Austria and Jewish life flourished. Leopoldstadt, developed into the centre of Vienna's Jewish life at this time and the Jewish population in this area of the city soon represented half of the entire population in the district. This is where Ingrid's family lived. We crossed the river and visited Grandpa Max's childhood home which still stands today. We also visited the street where Grandma Lilly lived. After trampling through their old stomping grounds, the group split up. Ingrid requested to ride the famous Ferris wheel, oldest in the world, in her parent's neighborhood, while the others went in seek of Gelato and air conditioning.

We ended the evening outside of the city at a beautiful Heuriger, a traditional Vienna wine tavern that served a variety of meats, cheeses, pretzels, local dishes, and accompaniments. To add to the enjoyment of the beautiful garden were waiters and waitresses in traditional Austrian dress, a small band made of an accordian and guitar and a playground for the kids. Wine, soft pretzels, wine, swings, wine, cheese and dancing made for an enjoyable evening for all.

After another breakfast of nutella crepes, pastries and multiple rounds of coffee, we headed out to our first stop, the Stadttempel, the main synagogue of Vienna.  The synagogue was constructed in 1824 and was fitted into a block of houses, down a narrow road, hidden from plain view of the street. Without the Hebrew writing on the front, one could not tell it was a synagogue. This was due to an edict issued by Emperor Joseph II that only Roman Catholic places of worship were allowed to be built with facades fronting directly on to public streets.

Ironically, this edict ended up saving the synagogue from total destruction during Kristallnacht (night of broken glass) in November 1938, since the synagogue could not be destroyed without setting on fire the buildings to which it was attached. The Stadttempel was the only synagogue in the city to survive World War II, as Nazis with the help of local authorities destroyed all of the other 93 synagogues in Vienna.

After registering, presenting our passports and going through metal detectors, we entered the synagogue. There are several armed military guards protecting the street at all times in addition to the building security. This is the case at the Jewish museums as well. Ironically, Zoey sat down across from the synagogue in front of a window of broken glass. Why was it broken? I don't know. But I do know there have been several terrorist attacks at this synagogue throughout the years, most recently in 2020.

The Orthodox synagogue itself is in the form of an oval with a two-tiered women's gallery. It is very beautiful and ornate inside. It is currently the main synagogue of the Viennese Jewish community of about 7,000 members. (Before the war, Vienna had almost 200,000 Jews, making it one of the largest Jewish populations in the world.)

We departed our tour of the synagogue quickly to catch a subway to a street car to a bus up a mountain to a tiny mountain village an hour outside of Vienna to meet Ingrid's cousin Roberto and his family. Ingrid's grandparents and Roberto's grandparents were brother and sister. In 1938, Jews of Austria were subjected to public humiliation, having them clean the streets for the amusement of the Nazis. The government of the Third Reich wanted all Jews to leave, yet took away their belongings. Nearly all countries had closed their borders, including the United States (needed special papers), but for a short time, Bolivia accepted a few thousand refugees to enter the country to escape the war. Roberto's mother's family escaped to Bolivia after being tipped off by a friend that his grandfather played poker with that they should leave, and then eventually settled in Uruguay, where Roberto and his brother Carlos were born. 

In 1973, when the boys were young, Roberto and his family moved "back" to Vienna because it was thought that their schooling would be better for the boys there. Roberto eventually married a lovely Viennese women, Andrea, who was Catholic and stayed in Austria to raise his two daughters and grandchildren. When asked if he ever thought about marrying a Jew, he stated, "If I were to look to marry a Jew in Austria, I would look my whole life." His wife, daughters, grandchildren and family all treated us to a delicious meal of Goulash and apple strudel on the mountain top. (The girls used to travel one hour to Vienna to go to school because there was no school in their village.)

On our way back to the street car to the train to the bus, we happened to pass by the newest Holocaust memorial in Vienna, the "Wall of Names" recently erected and opened on November 9, 2021. Exactly 85 years to the day of Kristellnacht. From our understanding and the many tours we have taken, Austria long played the victim of the Holocaust - having been strong armed by Nazi Germany. Until only very recently, 1990's, has Austria taken full responsibility in their role of the Holocaust. Since then, they have been working hard to make amends for the mistakes of their past. We found several of Ingrid's relatives on the Wall of Names who were killed in 1941, including several who were shot in a river while trying to escape to Yugoslavia. They had all been murdered and buried on a single day and put into a mass grave which was very recently dug up and repatriated to Vienna. (For more on this story and Ingrid's visit to the cemetery - visit Uncle Eric's travel blog.)

From here, the 90 degree heat finally hit us all hard and we all split in different directions to find food and cool down. My family took another scorching hot street car down the road towards the hotel and finally got a chance to visit the Palachinka restaurant we've been staring at outside our window for days. As a side note, Palachinta (in Hungarian) is also a very popular dish in Hungary where my grandparents were from and my grandma used to make it for my brother and I as a special treat when she came to visit. While the kids and I loved the Palachinka, my Savta's is still better!

We stopped at the hotel for a quick siesta (only place with AC!) and then headed back out to the main square for an evening walk and some Wiener Wurstl. We took a peak inside St. Stephan's Cathedral, enjoyed the night life and of course got some Gelato on the way home.

We started the day catching a train to the Schonbrunn Palace. Schönbrunn Palace is a magnificent Baroque imperial residence renowned for its opulent architecture, extensive gardens, and historical significance. After a slight snafu with Zoey needing a bathroom and having to find Euros to pay for said bathroom, we ended up 4 minutes late to catch our private Palace tour. Apparently, this was unacceptable and we were told we were no longer allowed to enter with those tickets. Eric did some asking around and bought us all new tickets for the tour 15 minutes later. We were not going to miss this one. We got to the entrance to the Palace (yet again just a few mins late) and again had apparently missed our tour. Regardless, it worked out for the best as they gave us each an audio device to do a self guided tour. The kids enjoyed doing things at their own pace, as well as pushing all of the buttons on the audio device (instead of our buttons for once.) Zoey decided that this was the right time to sing “Skiddamarinky dinky dink” at the top of her lungs throughout the entire Palace tour.

From there, we met Cousin Roberto to see the Palace grounds and gardens. The 90 degree heat quickly got to us all and the MA and CT crew with kids decided to branch off in search of food and cooler air. We made a quick stop at the giant fountain, eagerly awaiting the wind to blow the mist of water in our direction. We exited the Palace grounds and stopped at a small restaurant (with shade, cold water and a free bathroom) on the way to the street car. That pretty much met all of our criteria.

We took the street car back towards the First district of Vienna and took a quick AC break at the hotel. Not long after, we got a text from Eric and Owen that they had found a swimming hole. After walking for miles in 90 degree heat and riding street cars that were hotter than anything you can imagine, we gleefully took them up on this adventure. Half an hour later, we were in swimsuits boarding another subway, ready to cool down. We ended up at the Danube River. They had a boardwalk along the river lined with various plots of sand, bars and floating docks. People were day drinking, having a good time and jumping into the river (it was a holiday) so we figured why not. Theo was the first to jump off the ledge and into the water. The rest of us tentatively followed and soon we were all in the water, swimming with swans.

Now not to take this to a dark place, as I was certainly delighted to be cooling down in the river and making memories with he family, but my last experience at the Danube was in Hungary, while tracing my own family’s roots. In Budapest, the Holocaust memorial is actually a line of iron shoes facing the Danube River. A group of 3,500 individuals were transported to the riverbank, where they were instructed to remove their shoes, as these shoes held value and could be traded. Tragically, they were then shot at the water's edge, causing their bodies to fall into the river's current and be swept away. The memorial serves as a poignant reminder of the shoes they left behind on the shore. I looked around at my family joyfully chasing swans and playing in the water and was happy to be rewriting this story of the Danube in my mind. We later learned from Ingrid that her Aunt and Uncle used to love going nude swimming in the Danube as youth as well. Full circle…(don’t worry we had clothes on)

We took the street car back towards Stephanplotz and Zoey decided to do an encore of Skiddarinky Dinky Dink. She eventually branched into a few other songs and by the time we got off, had the entire street car singing along with her. We headed back to the main square and hired a fiacre (horse and carriage ride) to take us around town. The kids enjoyed the clippity cloppety of feet taking us around instead of their own and Zoey was rocked to sleep by the motion. 

After a much sought after dinner for the kids at McDonalds, to which they were thrilled to find Pokemon cards in German in their happy meals, we headed back to the hotel and got ready to eat at one of the finest restaurants in town. Six bottles of wine and five courses of some delicious Michelin rated food later, off to bed for an early wake-up!

From here on out...the Einsteins are breaking out of Vienna and ready to see the rest of Austria. Since the blog started here on this site, I will keep updating it here, but will no longer provide Holocaust/family history information - just pure ol mishaganah from here on out. Reflections at the end...

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After a late night of partying and much schlepping and schvitzing to get 14 Einsteins packed up, fed and ready to catch a 9 am train, we got ourselves out the door with our 26 bags and headed down the cobblestone streets to the U-Bahn (the Underground subway.) Keeping track of all 14 of us has been no easy feat (now I know what the Duggars deal with daily - or maybe even Owen’s Mormon family of 12 which now totals 50+ with kids.) Regardless, we did it, and arrived on the train platform with 30 minutes to spare. We boarded our train, got our 26 bags up on the overhead compartments, sat down and took a breath. High five Einsteins!

Or maybe not. What we failed to realize was that we had actual assigned seats on the train. After being kicked out of our seats multiple times, we eventually found a helpful train ticket lady to tell us what the heck was going on. We proceeded to then play musical chairs for the next hour as we moved 14 Einsteins and 26 bags to train car #31. There was a train ahead of us that had to make an “emergency rescue” which held us up an hour on the tracks. From there, we were told there was trackwork going on so would need to now transfer to a train. With a frantic search for one missing bag that we left in the original car, we waited our turn to fit 14 of us (and all our bags) onto the transfer bus. From here, we journeyed through beautiful mountain towns to our next train which eventually took us to Halstatt station.

At this point, we were all just so happy to be done traveling as it had been a whirlwind of a day keeping us all together and sane. Before I had time to even take a photo of the magnificent scenery in front of me as we got off the train, we were quickly ushered to a boat. Apparently, we now needed to take a ferry to get to the town. The ferry was cash only so between the 14 of us, we managed to scrape enough Euros to make the journey. As we learned from another woman who had no cash on her, the closest ATM was in the next town over, which you had to take a train to. Don’t worry, we lent the woman some cash and our journey continued.

We got to the hotel absolutely exhausted and ready to find our rooms and settle in. Due to a mix up at the hotel, we would not have enough rooms to fit each of our families and would need to split up some of the kids to sleep with grandparents and uncles. Heather and I decided to take a quick peak at the rooms to determine who would go where. Unfortunately, what we uncovered was a few very small, very hot, rooms that would sleep 3 and then one magnificent palatial suite with deck overlooking the lake/mountains and an outdoor swing and shay lounges, complete with golden sinks and a golden bathtub that would sleep 5. Hmmm…. After some negotiations, we decided a flip of a coin was the only way to decide this matter. Let’s just say Zoey thoroughly enjoyed her bath.

We got our bearings around the adorable picturesque town that looks like a page out of a Storybook and immediately sought out the first swimming hole we could find. Yes, it was still 90 degrees. We walked through the entire town, to the end of the main street and found a gold mine - a swimming “island” complete with water slide, diving board, bridges, a playground, zipline, trampoline and more. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time here before it started to thunder and we headed off to dinner.

Dinner with 14 was of course a debacle so we split up. Owen, Eric and Heather headed to the local schnapps bar after dinner and we all called it a night soon after.

We had another early start to the day, ready to explore, Salzwelten, the world's oldest salt mines with a history dating back over 7,000 years. The salt mine adventure was for ages 4+ so Guncle Owen volunteered to stay back and hang with Zoey and spend a day in town.

The rest of us layered up, ready to go from 90 degrees to a cool 50 degrees as we ascended the Austrian alps and deep into the mountains. We walked through town to the Funicular, where we started our journey up into the Alps. Once at the top, we proceeded to walk up stairs, hills, and more stairs until we got to a magnificient overlook.

Hallstatt was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997 and this view was truly breathtaking. From here, we continued to hike further up into the mountain until we got to the prep area to be taken into the mines. We were instructed to layer up and given white mining uniforms to wear over our clothes. Now that we were sufficiently warm, they led us back into the 90 degree heat and up a few more flights of stairs and into an exhibit with no AC or air ...to wait.

Eventually, we made it to the entrance of the mine and were instructed to walk directly between the rails of the railway carts into the mine. We were brought to the first of the open salt areas of the working mine to look around. From there, we were told that we would need to use the miner's slide to get down below us. Safety standards are certainly not like they are here as in America as we leaned back, put our feet up and down we went. After some more information about the mining operations and history of the place, we had to descend another miners' slide. This one would send us hurtling 64 meters down a few more floors. We toured prehistoric tunnels where they discovered tools from thousands and thousands of years ago and had them on display. After our 90 minutes deep in the mountain, we all boarded a miners' train, Evan ducked his head, and out we went. At the end of the tour, we were each given our very own salt shaker full of salt to take home as a souvenir.

We had lunch on top of the Alps overlooking the most amazing view, another round of schnitzel for Theo (that's probably schnitzel #11 of the week) and I tried Austrian spinach dumplings. We got french fries for the table, that were lacking a little something, so Heather innocently asked if anyone had any salt. We got a good laugh as we each took out our own travel size salt shaker to spice up the fries for her. Back down the funicular and into town to find Zoey and Owen. From there, we went back to the hotel to take off our 4 layers and jump in the lake for a swim. The girls did some shopping along the way, in search of matching dirndls and we eventually made our way back to "bathing island."  A few of the others broke off to go for a hike in the Alps, while others napped. It was so hot that even Heather and I were willing to jump into the freezing cold water, but mostly we took in the amazing scenery all around us.

Back to the hotel restaurant for dinner and a celebration of Evan's birthday. The kids quickly ate some schnitzel and plain pasta and then headed to the docks to play with the swans. Yes, swans are about as common here as pigeons or ducks and very used to people. A second round of Gelato for the day, this time made with sheep's milk, and off to bed to get ready for our next adventure.

Another day, another early morning wake up and go. We needed to catch an 11 am train, but first, we needed to get all of us and our bags through the village of Hallstatt, to the ferry, which took us to a local train, which took us to a bus transfer, which took us to our 11 am train. 

At times, it feels like we are all on a season of the show, the Amazing Race. We have Uncle Eric yelling out our directions to the next "pit stop" as Owen and Max cheer us on to "go, go, go" as they help pick up the rear. Theo, Liam and Zoey often present a "road block" where we need to turn around and do a different challenge of finding a missing bag, phone or pink bunny before we can move on to the next challenge. When we all finally make it to our next destination, Eric does a quick headcount and Heather and I take a deep breathe, absolutely shocked that we actually made it all in one piece. Then its time to figure out our next challenge.

This leg of the journey we were actually early, so had time to explore the cute little village of "I have no idea where we are" for a bit before boarding the next train.

We find through a steady influx of Gelato for the kids and wine for the adults, we are operating quite smoothly and have perfected our craft of schlepping. We finally made it to Saltzberg and split up into two groups. One for the walking tour of Saltzberg and the other for the Sound of Music tour - we chose the latter and boy was I glad we did. Apparently, the walking tour had a very inpatient, mean tour guide who didn't permit any speaking while she spoke. Not gonna work for our crew!

We boarded our air conditioned coach bus and went off to see if the hills really were alive with the Sound of Music. The tour took us to a few notable spots around Saltzberg where the movie was filmed. We learned that most of the outdoor scenes of the movie, were filmed in the locale while anything indoors was simply a sound stage in Hollywood. We visited the original Gazebo where Leisel and sang "I am 16 going 17" which is now on the grounds of Schloss Hellbrunn. Apparently, too many people tried to trespass to get a look at it, so they officially moved the entire Gazebo for the adoring public to view.

From there, we headed to the Schloss Leopoldskron for a view of the Von Trapp family’s backyard and lake where they went boating and fell in. We weren’t able to get up close but saw it from a distance. It's now a hotel so one could book a stay there and go galavanting around the grounds. An entirely different place was used to shoot the front scenes of the house, Schloss Frohnburg, which we got a quick peak at as well. From there, we drove to see Nonnberg Alley high on a hill where the nuns portrayed in the film actually live and pray. This was the real location where Maria was a novitiate and they filmed the outdoor shots of Maria leaving with her guitar. 

We took a ride up the mountainside to see the Lakes region, where the wealthy live/play and made a stop in Mondsee to visit Saint Michael’s Cathedral. In real life, Maria and Captain Von Trapp were married at the Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg. However, the movie wedding was filmed in this cathedral. We walked around the cute town for a bit, grabbed a Gelato and continued on our way.

Along the way, we were treated to a Sound of Music sing a long with a very willing group of participants, a puppet show featuring the goat from “The Lonely Goat Herd” and a documentary filmed by Leisel. I was also informed that the Alps where Maria did her infamous turn were actually located in Germany. I took it upon myself to do a few spins in a field and called it a day. Fun Fact - the Von Trapps actually did not escape the Nazis by hiking over the Alps, they instead hopped on a train.

At the end of the tour, we were dropped off at Morabell Gardens. There were many scenes from “Do Re Mi” filmed in these gardens, such as the fountains the children danced around and the steps they hop on at the end. It was a beautiful place to walk around.

We said “So long, Farewell” and went back to the hotel to meet up with the rest of the crew and rallied for dinner at a local Bier Garden. We were fortunate to find a place that had a huge round table to fit all 14 of us, right next to a playground located within the garden. We sat around, visibly all exhausted, sharing our favorite moments from the trip while the kids took turns spinning each other into dizziness for hours on end.

Uncle Eric gave us all a gift, Mozart (chocolate) balls for the adults and Austrian lotto tickets for the kids. We walked back to the hotel, of course stopped for more gelato along the way, and bought the kids some Mozart balls to taste as well. There was a small group playing instruments on the street, giving the beautiful “mostly” pedestrian street an enchanting vibe in the night. We said our goodbyes to the CT crew who would be leaving in the morning and settled in for the night.

Sophie and I had our own room and took advantage of it to catch up on some sleep. We slept till about 10 am and woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed. We headed downstairs for our breakfast of nutella croissants, sheep’s milk yogurt, lox on a baguette, the juice of the day and a latte for mom. I have to say, I am getting a little too used to these exquisite morning breakfasts from the hotel.

The kids decided they wanted to check out the hotel pool so we decided to take a “rest day” and start the morning there. The “pool” was actually a very elegant spa that took up an entire floor of the hotel. There was a steam room, sauna, infrared room, “silent” room, massage room and more. Luckily, we were the only ones down there at 11 am on a Saturday so had the entire place to ourselves. We jumped, we splashed, we played Marco Polo, and we made lots and lots and lots of noise. Theo gave Zoey a massage and Sophie decided to see if she could stuff her entire self into a locker - a fun morning had by all.

We packed up our things and headed out to check out the Old Town. Here, we saw the house where Mozart lived (the bright yellow one) and also took a walk down Judengasse, “the Jewish street” where we saw what was once a Synagogue, now a Radisson hotel. Apparently, though Austria used to be a bustling Jewish epicentre, there are now only 100 Jews left in Saltzburg and they never rebuilt.

As we walked around town, the kids continued to point out all of the StolpersteineIt “Stumbling Stones” they could find. It almost became a bit of a game, apparently there are currently about 500 in total in memory of loved ones in Saltzberg. I touched on this a bit in Vienna, but  what started as an art project by artist Gunter Demnig has become a decentralized memorial project encompassing around 60,000 stones in some 1300 cities. Gunter Demnig cites the Talmud saying that "a person is only forgotten when his or her name is forgotten". The Stolpersteine in front of the buildings bring back to memory the people who once lived here. Almost every “stone” begins with HERE LIVED… One “stone”. One name. One person.The idea is that people will literally stumble over the fates of those who were affected by the Holocaust by placing a bronze marker where they used to live before being deported/killed. Besides these plaques on the ground, we didn’t really see much else in Saltzburg of the former vibrant Jewish population that used to exist. 

We grabbed some pizza, stopped at a Cuckoo clock store, said some more goodbyes to the rest of the crew and the five of us hopped on a train to Zel am See for a little R&R in the Alps of Austria. Zell am See is a popular winter and summer resort due to its ski resorts and beautiful Lake Zell at the bottom of the mountains.  What started as a favored spot for European aristrocrazy is now a apparently a popular summer vacation spot for Arabs. The story goes that ten years ago, the tourist board of Zell am See decided to equate their town to how the Qur’an says paradise looks like... a lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains – so they started promoting their village to travel agencies in the Middle East. Now, the small area receives 70,000 visitors from the Gulf States every year. What's interesting, however, is that as of 2017 Austria has had an anti-face veiling ban in force to all people in the country. This makes things a bit tricky for the more devout Muslims vacationing here. 

After taking a walk around town and sitting down at an outdoor cafe for dinner, I did some people watching. It was absolutely fascinating. You had the young Europeans vacationing in their see thru corsets, the locals - some even in their leather lederhosen, Israeli tourists in their crop tops, the devout Muslims in full length black with burqas and a black "Covid type" mask as a work around for the veil ban, the earthy crunchy Americans who came to hike the Alps, annnnnnd Us! After dinner, we stopped at the waffle cart down the road and had more nutella to complete the day.

We woke up for our first morning in Zell am See and had a slow start to the day. We grabbed a late breakfast and then caught the bus to the Thumersbach Standband (essentially the lake beach/pool/park.) Weather wise, it was once again sunny and in the 90's and we were ready for some well deserved R&R.

While you can essentially swim anywhere off the shores of Lake Zell, this also provided a gorgeous infinity pool that ran over into the lake, water trampoline, docks, playground, boat rentals, beach bar and ice cream. We all had a fun filled day in the sun while I marveled at the snow capped Alps in view over and over and over again. The views here are incredible. It goes from sky to mountains to lake all around you. Every hour or so, I made the kids stop and take a look at the view. Not sure they had the same appreciation that I did but maybe someday.

The "beach" scene is quite comical. The Europeans have butt naked toddlers everywhere, women of all sizes in string bikinis, girls with no tops on, and men in speedos. The Arabs are covered from head to toe in what looks like a wet suit. We were somewhere in the middle with our spf swim shirts and swim trunks. But in the end, we're all enjoying the beautiful lake and mountains abound.

A few times a week, they have a water/light show on the lake. Luckily, Zoey fell asleep in the stroller on the way home from the beach so we stayed up for the big show. It was about 20 minutes of lasers, lights, and water - pretty cool but totally random. We gave each kid a Mozart ball and called it a night.

Another day, another adventure. We decided to beat this crazy heat wave today by going up to the glacier on the snow capped Austrian Alps to cool off. There were several peaks at the mountain, Kitzsteinhorn, to choose from, but we decided on this one due to the adventure playgrounds on each level and toboggan sledding at the top.

We packed some warm gear in our backpacks as we were't sure what to expect and grabbed a bus to the next town over Kaprun. Kitzsteinhorn is known for its stunning glacial landscapes, reaching an elevation of 3,203 meters (10,509 feet). It offers year-round skiing due to its glacier, although I think August was the only month they did not have the ski lifts operating. 

To get all the way to the top of the summit, we needed to take 4 Gondolas (also known as Gleicherjets) and one Funicular. At each stop on the mountain, there was a lodge, a restaurant, hiking trails, magnificient views and fun things for the kids to do.  Austria has been such a family friendly destination. Almost anywhere we go, we end up running into a playground attached to the restaurant or hotel or something fun for the kids.

Kitzsteinhorn did not dissapoint. Our first cable car lookout brought us to an adventure playground made of wood, complete with a zipline that sent you flying towards the mountain. There were also mountain sheep roaming around the area. From here we boarded the next 3 Glecicherjets to take us closer to the top to the glacier. Once we got off here, it was definitely colder but nothing us New Englanders weren't used to. It went from a scorching 95 degrees below to a cool 57 degrees at this stop. 

The kids ran towards the snow as if they had never seen snow in their lives. There were many Israeli and Arab tourists also running to the snow, but they actually had probably never seen snow in their life. As us New Englanders went trampsing around in our shorts and tshirts, we laughed as the rest of the tourists layered up into winter coats, hats and gloves. They even had winter coats to rent! Sophie cried "cold" and put on a sweater eventually as her hands got cold building a snowman with Zoey. We grabbed a toboggan and went sledding down the hill - I think that may have been Zoey's first sledding experience now that I think about it. Nothing like sledding down the Alps in August. Unfortunately, this leg took a turn for the worse when we realized Zoey's bff "paci" was gone. We spent some time searching through the snow for the little pink sucker to no avail. Nothing some hot waffles with nutella can't fix! We took the funicular up one last level until we made it to the top of the summit. After a few photos almost 10,000 feet up and a view of the glacier, we headed back down. (There was actually an even higher peak that you could hike from here but we declined.) 

On our way down, we decided to stop at one of the levels that we skipped on the way up. To our delight, this level had donkeys roaming around a pasture, as well as another, more intense zip line. We stopped for lunch with a view and then headed out to check out the water adventure area. There was a waterfall coming all the way down the Alps that flowed into a river on the level that we were on. They had swings over the river and also built some wooden play structures at this point to funnel the water through for the kids to play. We took off our socks and shoes and went wading through the river. Some of us (ahem Theo) took more off and went fully in.

I spotted a magnificent field of white flowers at the bottom of one of the peaks and decided I needed to get closer. Zoey was thrilled to be picking flowers for "daddy and mommy and Maya and Rosie and Sophie and Theo." I'm not actually sure what she was picking but if I had to take a guess, I think it may have been cotton. I gaped at the view in disbelief a few more times, took 200 more photos, and off we went for our descent.

We took the bus back to Zell am See, stopped in the local drugstore to get tweezers to get 4 splinters out of Sophie's hands, and then at the Supermarket to grab breakfast for the morning. We were all exhausted so stayed close for dinner, eating at the Italian restaurant on the first floor of our hotel. It's been very strange as we headed west, we went from heavy Schnitzel and Shmarren to non-stop Italian pizza and pasta. We took a look at the map and realized how close we were to Italy, which made sense. No complaints from our crew! I think we had enough schnitzel to last a lifetime.

The journey home was long and "fairly" uneventful. We started our day in Zell am See at 9 am boarding a train, which took us to a bus, which took us to a plane, which took us to a bus, which took us to another plane, which took us to another bus, which took us to our car which took us home. Zoey and Sophie shared an extra seat on the plane and slept for much of the flight. It is now 5 am as I am writing this and Zoey and Theo are wide awake over here on Austrian time.

We only had one hiccup as we got off the plane to transfer in Frankfort, Germany. Theo and Sophie had boarded a bus to take them to the airport, while Evan, Zoey, and I were waiting for the stroller to come off the plane. I noticed that the bus was getting full and would leave soon so I ran to get the kids off the bus to wait for us. I managed to get Theo off, but couldn't get to Sophie in time. Sophie finally made her way to the door of the bus through all of the people, but the driver of the bus behind us would not let her off and would not let me on and told the other driver to just go. After a few minutes of him screaming at me in German and yelling at the top of his lungs with violent hand gestures (guess he was having a bad day?) that the bus needed to just go, they slammed the doors shut, and I waved goodbye to Sophie. 

There were many kind German passengers around me yelling at the driver on my behalf and consoling me that she would be OK. I was less worried about Sophie being OK (I knew we would meet up and she's got good instincts) than just in utter shock at what had just happened. Maybe it's the generational PTSD, maybe it's the movies I've watched, maybe it's the stories I've heard, but standing on German ground, being screamed at by a mean German man as I waved goodbye to my scared and confused daughter just hit me really hard. This is when I burst out in inconsolable tears.

Evan eventually got the stroller and headed my way as I was standing on the tarmac balling, utterly confused as to what on earth was going on. We boarded the next bus as the other passengers filled Evan in and off we went. Luckily, the man had caused such a scene that everyone knew what had happened and a number of kind strangers stayed with Sophie until we met up. Some others again yelled at the man in German on my behalf and we walked away.

I held on tight to Sophie and Theo's hands as Evan pushed Zoey and started to calm down focusing on all the wonderful people who had gathered around us to defend me and help. It was a small, inconsequential incident in the grand scheme of things, but reminded me to be grateful and always look for the upstanders.

(On a lighter note: Theo spent the past year studying all of the states and their capitals. He became quite the geography expert. When he mentioned how excited he was to go to Kentucky to get some real "fried chicken" we were all very confused. For days, he talked about visiting Kentucky. It wasn't until we got to Frankfort GERMANY that we realized HE thought we were going to Frankfort, the capital of KENTUCKY. Ohhhh Theo.)

When Evan told me he wanted to make our kids Austrian citizens, my gut reaction was, why?! In my mind, nothing could make reparations for the atrocities that occurred during the Second World War and why would we want to associate ourselves with a country that turned its back on its people? He explained the benefits of EU citizenship for our children, giving them the world in their hands so we went forward with the plan. Afterall, according to both Evan and I's DNA we are both over 99.6% Eastern European.

Fast forward, a year later. Uncle Eric decided that now that all the kids were Austrian citizens, he needed to take everyone there to visit and show them around. Again, my first thought was, you want to go to Austria?! Why!? 

Growing up, my father had a job that required him (and ultimately us) to travel the world. At a young age, I was given the gift of travel, having been all across Europe, South America, Israel, and Asia by the time I was 18.  I loved being able to see the world, meet people of different cultures, and experience different ways of life. After the pandemic, we made travel a priority in our family so I was excited to finally be able to take the kids to Europe. Why not start with Austria?! They were citizens, after all, I guess they should at least step foot on Austrian soil. Never in a million years could I have imagined that 14 of us would head to Europe together on a once-in-a-lifetime trip. 

Austria was never a country on my radar, or anywhere near my bucket list of places to visit. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little bit afraid of hearing the German language 24/7 and how I would feel. Something about the language alone simply stirs up things inside me. I remember when visiting Hungary, feeling unsure and scared. I remember the thoughts I had of, "Wow, this could have been my life." I definitely had some preconceived notions about what it would be like.

But here we were, 14 Einsteins meeting up in Vienna, where Evan's grandparents left as they feared for their lives. It was surreal for sure! And in the end? 

We had an incredible 12 days in Austria. It was amazing to see our kids and their cousins running around a city their great-grandparents once called home. Ingrid commented several times how "delighted her father would have been to see us all here together." We explored their old stomping groups, remembered the past, and subsequently forged new memories in a stunning land surrounded by wonderful people. 

As we traveled throughout Austria, going further West with each stop, I was struck by the incredible beauty of the country – a hidden gem that often goes unmentioned. Each city had its own distinct personality and a rich blend of people from various backgrounds.  There were Orthodox Jews all around Vienna, Israelis abound, Muslims, and Europeans from all over. The Austrians we met were incredibly kind and welcoming (for the most part) and my walls were slowly broken down.

My kids evolved into seasoned travelers with their backpacks on and suitcases rolling behind, seamlessly boarding trains, buses, subways, street cars, funiculars, and gondolas and doing lots and lots and lots of walking. All 14 of us worked together like clockwork, helping each other, and banning together to make it to our next step.  It was a heartwarming experience to see the cousins playing together, making each experience fun in their own way and creating memories that will last a lifetime. The adults had a great time drinking wine together, laughing at the various antics and incidents that abound, and enjoying the magnificent landscape that surrounded us.

And in the end, I left healed and grateful. It was a new Austria and the Sachertorte wasn't half bad either.