Day 10: Klagenfurt, Austria (Sunday, August 17th)

Klagenfurt, Austria...wow! I don't think I've ever seen a more beautiful city in my life! I finally understand why this was Logan's favorite area and why he was so sad to be transferred a week before Christmas. The members we had a chance to visit were so wonderful to us! I wish we had had more time to visit everyone rather than just a couple families. 

Ksenia, the 21 year old who showed us around, made us a yummy European breakfast and then took all 5 of us to a tower that overlooks the city. She not only drove us there but she also paid €83 to get all of us in! We tried to stop her but she wanted to treat us so badly. 

Check out these incredible views we had from the tower:

Rather than taking the stairs or elevator down the tower, Ksenia bought us tickets to take this awesome slide down. 

I was so excited for the slide but a little nervous because I get motion sick really easily. The slide was awesome and we flew down way fast, but as expected, I got a little sick. What I didn't expect was to tweak my neck as I whipped around one of the corners. It wasn't too bad, just a little stiff, so I didn't think much of it until an hour or so later when I was trying to stretch it out and I did something it didn't like so a sharp pain shot down my neck and back and now my shoulders and neck are crooked and stuck in a really awkward position. I'm hoping if I keep ice and heat on it and take it easy then it will be better in a few days. Fingers crossed! **You'll notice in pictures for the rest of the day that my head is tilted weird.**

The tower took a bit longer than we thought so we only made it to half of sacrament meeting but Logan had such a good time seeing the people he loved so much. They couldn't believe it has been nearly 5 years since he served there! On the way home from church Logan showed us where he lived for 6 months so that was fun to see!

Following church we all went to lunch at Bishop Kaiser's house. Logan was really close to the Kaisers on his mission and has been so excited to see them again! Sister Kaiser made a delicious lunch and dessert for us and we had such a good time talking to them. They have the cutest family--3 boys and 1 adorable girl. Here we are with them before we left!

It was finally time for the the thing Logan has been talking about and looking forward to for ages...swimming in Lake Wörthersee! The lake you can see from the tower pictures is Lake Wörthersee and Logan has been dying to swim in it ever since he served in Austria and we were able to find a neat spot with a rope swing that dropped right into the water. My neck was in no condition to swim let alone try the rope swing--I was so bummed!

Once we finished at the lake it was time to hit the road again to head up to Vienna, where Tom has been since this morning. Normally I don't mind driving but I was not looking forward to this 3 hour 20 min drive because of my neck. It ended up being pretty crappy so hopefully it sorts itself out soon! 

Our hostel for the next two nights here in Vienna is actually really nice! We have a private room for just the 6 of us and the beds are probably the nicest ones we've had yet.

Weather Today:

It sounds like we lucked out with the weather in Klagenfurt today! Apparently it has been rainy and cloudy all summer so everyone was talking about how fortunate we were to see the sun out. It wasn't hot by any means but it was nice and actually felt warmer than 66 to me. 

Tomorrow: 1st full day in Vienna

Vienna is just about 30 minutes East of Logan's second area, Sankt Polten, where he spent the next 6 months of his mission.  We drove in late tonight and will be out exploring tomorrow!  

Day 9: Venice, Italy (Saturday, August 16th)

So long, Nice! We had a good night and made it on the road by 7:30 this morning to head to Venice to meet up with Russ and Ellen! We found a bakery before we got on the freeway so we stopped there for a quick breakfast. There's nothing quite as yummy as a bag full of pastries for breakfast!

Our drive to Venice was just a hair over five hours so really not too bad, especially considering we were driving along the coast and had water views. I don't mind all the driving we're doing because we split it up with these amazing cities and the luxury of having a car has been so nice!

We had a tough time finding gas once we reached Venice so rather than meeting Russ and Ellen at 1:30 like we were supposed to we didn't make it until closer to 2:30. It was so fun finally seeing them after having talked about it for so long!

First item of business was lunch so we walked through the tiny streets of Venice until we found a small pizza place. 

After lunch we only had a few hours before we needed to hit the road again so we just walked around talking about our trips and loving the views we had. 

Naturally we had to get gelato! 

That just about did it for our stay in Venice! It was short but definitely sweet! We obviously didn't see a ton but we feel like we got a good taste of what the city is like. 

Tom split up with us here and is taking a sleeper train up to Vienna and we'll meet him there tomorrow. Logan served in Klagenfurt and Tom in Vienna so they're both excited to go to their wards tomorrow. Chelsie, Russ and Ellen made the drive with us to Klagenfurt and are staying in a B&B while we stay with a family from Logan's mission. 

The family we're staying with is so neat! The 21 year old daughter is basically our hostess and has been so good to us! In her words: "I want this to feel like a 10 star hotel!" We didn't get in until 9:15 but she still had an amazing dinner of an authentic pasta all ready for us and it was delicious! She showed us up to the room we're sleeping in and had the cutest sign on the wall and body wash for each of us on the beds. How sweet is she?! 

After dinner she drove us all around Klagenfurt and showed us some really cool things that we won't have time to see tomorrow. She has such an enthusiasm about everything and is so excited we're here and has asked us to please come again soon. We can't wait to!

I couldn't have asked for anything more from Venice and our first few hours in Klagenfurt and can't wait to see more of the city tomorrow! 

Weather Today:

The weather was really nice in Venice and we only had a couple minutes as we were walking back to the car that it rained. It wasn't too hot or too cold as we walked around. I'll take that any day. 

Tomorrow:  Klagenfurt and Vienna, Austria

Logan spent 6 months of his mission in Klagenfurt (his second area) and loved the ward!  I'm so excited to go to church tomorrow and meet so many of the people that had such a positive impact on his life.  Late tomorrow night we will make the drive North to Vienna!

Day 8: Marseille and Nice, France (Friday, August 15th)

And just like that we've checked out of another hostel and we're off on a new adventure in France! It's too bad we spent such little time at our Marseille hostel because we really enjoyed it! I'm sure we mostly liked it because we didn't have to share it with anyone else but it also had a big bathroom and was clean. Aside from all the rats we saw out on the street, it was definitely my favorite hostel so far so I'll take it!

Because we didn't get to bed until 2 o'clock, we slept in a bit and checked out of our hostel around 10:00. For breakfast we found a bakery that had, by far, my favorite pastries on this trip. They were delicious! 

After breakfast we found a mini train that took us on a tour around the city and up to the Basilique Notre-Dame De La Garde, aka a neat cathedral with amazing views. It was a great way to see a lot of Marseille! Here we go!

See that cathedral in the distance? That's where we're headed! It's difficult to see from this picture but at first glance it looks like an Angel Moroni at the top. 

Before getting up into the mountains we were able to see many historical buildings and tiny streets unique to Marseille. 

And now come the priceless views from the top: 

See that island in the distance in the picture below? That's the Château d'If from my all time favorite movie, the Count of Monte Cristo. 

Inside the cathedral you had the option of paying to light a candle and saying a prayer. We didn't do that but I did get a neat picture of the candles. 

After our visit to the cathedral it was time to get on the train back down. By the time we finished the tour it was around 2:30 so we needed to start making the 2 hour drive to Nice but we first had to stop and get some Gelato--something we hadn't done yet!

We made it on the road around 3 o'clock and pulled in to the beautiful Nice a couple hours later. We're actually in a hotel tonight called The Hotel Du Centre and it's definitely right in the center. Here's the view from our balcony:

After dropping our bags we grabbed Subway and walked down to the beach but we didn't want to worry about anything being taken so we didn't have a way to take any pictures. The water was beautiful but the beaches here have large rocks instead of sand so that was pretty weird. I don't think I could go back to this beach without water type shoes and a chair to sit in otherwise it's quite uncomfortable. As I mentioned yesterday, Logan loves swimming in the ocean but the waves were huge today and he almost got stuck out there. He came back after only a few minutes and said that was the first time he was actually nervous he might not be able to get back on his own. I was glad he just stayed out of the water the rest of the time. 

After getting back from the beach we called it an early night and hung out for a bit in our room. We have another early morning tomorrow in order to make the drive to Venice so the extra sleep will definitely be good for us. We didn't get to spend a ton of time here in Nice but I love what we have seen! Nice city probably the cleanest/nicest city we've seen and seems to have a lot going on. I would love to one day make it back here!

Well, that's it for today! We're moving fast but I love it because we haven't wasted any time and have seen so much. It's weird to think our trip is halfway over now. I can't wait to see what the next half has to offer!

Weather Today:

The weather was great to us today! In Marseille it was in the mid to upper 70s and in Nice it was about the same. We've definitely been blessed with such great weather!

Tomorrow: Venice, Italy and Klagenfurt, Austria

I'm excited to see Venice but even more excited to meet up with Russ and Ellen tomorrow!  Russ and Ellen have been in Europe (Germany and Italy) for two weeks now and we'll be spending the rest of our vacation with them!  Rather than staying in Venice, we are making a late night drive to Klagenfurt where we'll be spending the night with a family from Logan's mission.  It's going to be great!