The goal is to live in a small Austrian village with my Austrian wife and our 4 yr old while learning everything about this beautiful corner of the world. We will live on the second floor of my in-law's house in a two bedroom apartment while skipping around in flowery fields like the one on "The Sound of Music". Well, maybe not the skipping part:)



The village is called Windischgarsten. Located in the lower half of Upper Austria, it is an amazingly beautiful area of the Alps known for skiing, hiking and biking. I don't have any local friends, I haven't learned the language, and I have no idea where I'll work. This could get really interesting. No problem right?







Sunday, May 1, 2011

41 Photos and a Broken Hand

Coming back from a 4 week vacation in California was, as they say, a double edged sword. Family and friends will be missed for another year, but at the same time I was happy to get back to my Austrian life. It seems I have two lives now. Which one leads my thoughts? Only time will tell.

So I made it back to the door factory! Work is work. What can I say. Interestingly enough though, as some of you know, I broke my hand in my kitchen. Ouch. So no work for 5 weeks! Can't lift doors with a broken hand right?

So what is one supposed to do for five weeks?

You got me. I have no clue. For this simpleton, I set my daily goals after a morning cup of cappuccino. Most days I throw on a backpack and head for the front door. I've been on local trains, busses, and mountain trails. Sometimes I'll even walk into the village for more cappuccino at a favorite cafe. Life is good.

Anyway, I took along my camera on one or two of my post-cafe outings. A picture of a church entrance, my favorite local Pizzaria (Austria is next to Italy. The pizza here is amazing), a park, an ugly house, clay tennis courts, a lonely wooden bus stop etc. Basically, a photo of pretty much anything I thought was cool enough to empty my camera battery. So if you're one of those people who enjoy looking at slide shows of someone else's family vacation, then, well, you scored today.

I hope all is well back in California. Take care everyone......Gabe









































Friday, April 22, 2011

Goodbye Cold Winter!

Invariably, winter dies. It ceases to exist. Its stuffed in a pocket for later use. Winter is kicked in the gut and thrown from a plane. Well, maybe I'm exagerating a bit, but if it were I'd be the one doing the throwing.

The season is nice and all, but for those of you who've lived through continuous negative degree days, you'd totally understand.

The people of the village have welcomed Spring with wide opened arms. As I sip my cappaccino on our balcony I can see cyclists, runners, kayak adorned cars, children playing, and the occasional bee buzzing my face. Speaking of bugs, the misquitos are out again. Not the "real" misquitos. I mean the little motorcycles and mopeds with tiny motors that sound like great big...well...whining misquitos. But its nice to see them again too. I'll take two wheeled misquitos over ice roads anyday!

So welcome to Spring in Windischgarsten. The area is absolutely beautiful...if you didn't already know. We've been getting outside a lot more - enjoying what God has provided. We've also spent some time indoors too, inside a hospital. Yup, I broke my hand. Stupid really. Just an awkward fall in the kitchen. But I'll be ok. Maybe I can even go back to work in 5 weeks:)

As you already know from previous posts my outdoor travels have become quite special to me. Its the time my son and I can hang out together. It also means he is my "muse". Here are some photos from this week. See you soon!






Saturday, February 12, 2011

Learning How to Ski...Again.

It's safe to say I haven't touched a downhill ski in maybe 15 years. As well, my cross country skiing tailbone injury is still a little sensitive. What if I fall? This is an ominous predicament when you live in the Alps. How can I return to the States without enjoying the local slopes? The fear should be conquered. It must.

Or maybe I'm just thinking about it too much. Stop being such a sissy. Skiing could be like riding a bike - just get on and it'll all come back...right?

Well, kind of.

Last Sunday Opa, Oma, Noah and I jammed ourselves, and our skis, into a Passat for the six or seven minute hump up the adjacent mountain from our house to one of the local ski resorts. This one is more of a "children's" ski resort. Well ok, not really a ski "resort" per se. It's more of a little hill with a T-bar lift and a shack where you pay your 4 Euro lift ticket. Perfect for Noah and...um...me.

Noah, our three year old, had just finished his preschool ski class the week before and it was time to check out his moves. He's still a little too young to carve the powder but did just fine in the packed stuff. Just point him where you want him to go, and he'll probably get there. Fun stuff!

Oh, and daddy did ok too. The day started off being dragged through the snow by the T-bar lift, but I recovered. The rest of the day was slow and easy. Not quite like getting back on a bike, but close enough.

Friday, January 7, 2011

'When in Rome'


Ok, so it's not Rome, but the same applies in Windischgarsten. The people here ski.... a lot. Me - not so much. I do other things. Although, since I'm here...and snow is everywhere...and there are mountains and ski resorts...I may as well join them. Oh and....

I got downhill and cross country skis for Christmas!

The xcountry skis have gotten the most use - twice. The first time on them, well the first 2 minutes, I slipped and jammed my tailbone into some icy snow.

Owwwwwww!

My gosh that hurt. The local doctor laughed and said to expect tailbone pain for another six weeks. Wow. So anyway, I still plan to ski this winter but maybe not as much as I'd like. Perhaps I can strap one of those doughnut things to my hind end and slide down?

In the meantime, our three year old is getting some ski instruction from his Austrian grandpa. His first ski classes start later this month via his preschool. Maybe the next Bodie Miller?? Time will tell.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

"Shock and Awe" New Years 2010

Happy New Year!!


From our balcony on New Years eve. It felt like a warzone. Just amazing. Our love to poor sick Yvonne for managing to stay up with us.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Krampus

This month has been amazing. It's my first December in Austria, not to mention my first Christmas here too. Life here has been slightly different than Southern California. For instance, I've never dealt with a frozen car door, or driving to work using the snowplow guide poles to find my way. It was -22c (-8f) when I got off work the other day.

Interesting to say the least.

The interior of my car windows were frozen. So frozen, the ice wouldn't chip off. Could it be that the ice and glass fused together like some freaky science experiment? I doubt it, but it was weird. I sat there in my car for 20 minutes blasting the defroster. One of my rear brakes was apparently frozen because I dragged a tire for a while in the hardened snow. The manual trasmission got stiff on me. The tranny oil was too cold etc. How cool is that?

Have you heard of a Krampus? I hadn't until this month. They're ugly creatures with horns who whip or beat bad kids. They only come out in December. There was a little Krampus festival in our village earlier this month. I went alone. My 3 yr old, Noah, doesn't like them. Go figure? As well, my wife, Yvonne, doesn't like them either. She's scared. Ha-ha. This is what Wikipedia says about the Krampus:

"Krampus is a mythical creature. According to legend, Krampus accompanies St. Nicholas during the Christmas season, warning and punishing bad children, in contrast to St. Nicholas, who gives gifts to good children.

In the Alpine regions, Krampus is represented by a demon-like creature. Traditionally, young men dress up as the Krampus in Austria during the first two weeks of December, particularly on the evening of 5 December, and roam the streets frightening children with rusty chains and bells."

May I add they pull kids' hair and whip them with sticks! Yup, I've seen it.

The Christmas spirit is alive in Windischarsten. The area is amazingly beautiful right now; not that it isn't during the other months. It reminds me of old Christmas movies showing falling snow, people singing, and warm plates of cookies. We even nibble on roasted chestnuts in front of the t.v. People sometimes ask me, "when is the best time to visit Windischgarsten?" Well, now I say, come for Christmas:)

Gabe

Krampus video

Thursday, December 2, 2010

A Day With Gabe

Ah, seasons. Oh how I've forgotten you. For those of you back in Socal, a season is when the weather changes. God gave us seasons way back in the beginning of time so we don't become complacent with warm weather, palm trees and flip flops. I think God wanted the people of the Alps to be less complacent than the rest of the world.

So I've been home sick from work for a few days - It's a time for "dragging" your feet. You know, like nose blowing, internet surfing, watching tv, and opening the fridge three times an hour hoping something else will appear. Although I'm under the weather, I still have some fatherly and husbandly (that's not a real word) stuff to do.

"Stuff" - it's always better than "dragging".


We only have one car, so being that I wasn't working, I was on taxi driver duty. First off was getting Yvonne to work on time.
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Then I went home, got Noah dressed and fed, and dropped him off at preschool, which they call kindergarten over here. Kinder translates to children, garten translates to garden. They should've called it "kindergerms" because that's where kids meet to exchange germs and take them home to their fathers.
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Next up was a drive over to the doctor's office to drop off my chest x-rays.
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This is a photo from the doctor's parking lot. You can see one of our favorite grocery stores in the distance.
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Afterward, I drove back through the village to get home...
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...and check out the creek running through town.
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But instead of going home, I thought I'd swing by the local lake real quick. In winter it freezes over to become, what the locals tell me, an ice skating lake. No ice yet.
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So back in the car to get my sick self back home.
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As I was driving I looked down at the outside temp readout which some refer to as a thermostat. It was cold and I should be wearing my gloves!
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This is me wishing I had my gloves.
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Back to the house I go. It's good to have a garage in this weather. You can't tell in the photos but its snowing.
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The garage is detached from the house. After parking I must walk up the street a little bit to the front door. No big deal, but I have to be careful not to slip on the ice.
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Gotta suck down my meds right?
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This is what I looked at until it was time to play taxi driver again.
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Time flew by too quickly. I peaked outside to see it was snowing harder than before...
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...and peaked out the front door at the ice road.
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The roads were in much better condition now than before. The trucks must've been by spraying salt. Yes, I forgot my gloves again.
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First stop was kindergarten to pick up my boy. He's a smart kid. He wears gloves.
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Next stop is the hotel to pick up Yvonne from her reception job. She wears cute little traditional dresses to work that shows a lot of her boobs. I like Austrian traditions. Sorry, no boob shots here.
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We had to drive by the local golf course to get to the hotel. No golfers out there today. Don't know why.
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She was running a little late so Noah and I decided to grub on some sweets. The hotel owner feeds us whenever we visit. I love that place.
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There's a little playroom at the hotel for the kids. The hotel owner has a daughter the same age as Noah, so the toys are age appropriate for him. The girl's name is Lena. She's a blonde. Noah digs on the blonde ladies.
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Yvonne finally clocked out and we went home where I could take my medicine and lay down again. Overall it was a good day - a cold and non-complacent day.

Gabe
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