Getting ready to close

I've been in Houston for 10 days now. I've met with 3 pool guys and 2 landscapers. I've watched LaD run the half marathon and taken an impulsive and rewarding trip to Austin to see an old friend and a solo dance performance by her daughter. Liz went with me on that adventure. The weather has been to warm followed by cold fronts, which equals windy overcast 50's. Put a coat on and your fine! Lots of decisions need to be made for after the closing on February 10th. I'll keep you posted.

The end of the vacation

Tricia's favorite hotel was in Frutigen, the Hotel Restaurant Mohren in Rankweil, Austria was mine. The trip from Switzerland to Austria was 5 trains and a car ride. The skies were foggy, and the moisture combined with freezing temps created ice crystals on everything. Rankweil is located in the valley of the Rhine River just north of Liechtenstein and has over 10,000 residences. Being thirsty on our arrival, we headed for the bar, and off to the side was a room where people were playing cards. We decided to make ourselves at home there. We were on the 1/2 board plan and fondue was dinner. The next morning we dressed warmly. Have I mentioned Tricia spent the entire trip being cold! First, I had her pack too light for Rome, so we switched coats, then in Malta we were in a stone castle, which hadn't been heated for a while. We finally got the chill off the bedrooms and living rooms, but the kitchen on the ground level had no heat. The hotels were too warm, and the apartment we rented in Venice was unheated for the first night, even though the caretaker was asked specifically to turn on the heat!!!!! But, I digress. We dressed warmly to go explore the "castle" which was really a church which had been destoyed during some war, so they fortified it. Sure looked like a castle to us from a distance. It was a nice easy ramble for our rather weary group. We went to Rankweil to the Hotel Mohren to celebrate New Years Eve. They provided a lovely meal, and to anyone who was up, a champagne midnight toast. The real treat was the snow fall. We started the new year with a clean fresh blanket of snow!!
We left that morning for Milan, only 2 trains, and spent the night at our apartment. Friday was the Last Supper for T,S and Nancy and an afternoon train to Venice. When we were leaving the apartment I started feeling lousy. I saw the inside of the apartment in Venice and the view out the window, except for some train and vaporetta (water bus) rides. he sun was shining brightly for the weekend in Venice, but it was cold! and plently crowded. But, Jeff finally got to Venice. Monday was pack do laundry and a city tour for S and Nancy. The snow started falling in the middle of the night, and Jeff heard T,S and N's flight was one of the last to leave before they closed the airport!
That's it!

Today

I'll get back to the last of our trip, but wanted to write a current post. Tricia and Steven left very early on the 6th of January, which happens to be a national holiday, Epiphany Day. The snow started in the middle of the night and did not stop for 48 hours. I would guess a foot of snow fell, which the locals tell us is rare. Milan doesn't appear to have plows for the local streets, or much in the way of shovels for the side walks. In other words, you take the trodden path or blaze a new one. I got 'something' on the way to Venice and haven't felt 'right' since, but I did venture to the grocery store yesterday for whatever they had on the shelf. I found no milk, and very little fresh meat or produce. But it was fun tromping through the snow. Yeah, I did just say that. I guess after all the cold and the snow in the alps, new fallen snow seemed nice.

To Rankweil

On December 30th we said goodbye to LaD and the 5 of us headed for Austria. For months I'd been looking at train sites on the internet, formulating a plan of how we would get to this small Austrian town that borders Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Then I thought of a non solution, the Glacier Express and made it work. Swiss rail has several different scenic train routes that are designed for a unique journey, not speedy travel. The Glacier Express has been running since 1930 in the summer, and since 1982 year round. The highest point was the Oberalppass at 2,033 meters. Switzerland had received snows in December, but around Christmas there had been some melting. But, it was snow enough for Texans. Unfortunately the pictures through a train window do not do the scenery justice. It was breathtaking! In conclusion, exceptional mountains, sunny skies, very good food but very expensive food. We had sticker shock for a day or two. Another observation is that we went to an area that was not 'popular' with english speakers, and none of us was good at deciphering a menu in german, with the exception of the Italian restaurant's menu. But, the servers were kind and helpful, and assumed we were from the UK!

Adelboden

I will be taking a day or two to catch everyone up on the events of the past week. We left off with our return from Malta and departure of some to Switzerland, the rest to follow. Our hotel proved to be conveniently located to the train station, had delightfully comfy rooms and a wonderful chef. The 'youngers' had taken a train into the town of Spiez on our travel morning, and found it to be a charming town on one of the lakes that gives Interlachen it's name. They then trained to Interlachen which is where we met up with them for dinner, and to celebrate T and S's 2nd anniversary. The next day we took the public bus, no train access, to Adelboden. We started with the gondola to the mountaintop where we would find a sled run. S,J,L and D all braved the course, which was reportedly long and kinda scary with how close you come to the edge of a cliff. I wandered in the snow off a beaten path and Tricia rested. Thanks to Nancy Linger, we knew this was the town of "Our Chalet" fame. We couldn't be this close and not see it, so as advised we got a cab and Nancy, Steven, Liz and I went off to find it. Think Texlake in the snowy mountains, or any Girl Scout camp for that matter that's been around for decades. We went, we saw, and no, we didn't get the patch, we bought the pin! We decided we could walk it back to where we could catch the bus, and enjoyed the evening glow receding from the valley. The next morning we said goodbye to Liz and Danny as their adventure would take them to Paris and then London to visit with friends working there. We, T,S.J,J and N were off to Austria, but that's for later!