We made it to Austria!

We arrived in Graz on Saturday, July 3rd. Such a long time to travel. We left our house in Portland at 5 AM Friday morning, flew to Washington, DC, then to Frankfurt. Frankfurt airport was so hot and didn’t have very good signs. We couldn’t find a place to exchange our money, but we did finally find the right gate, only to find out that our baggage was only checked through Frankfurt and was sitting up on a baggage carousel. Johnny went all the way back, found the bags and had to take Porter’s suitcase back from a guy who decided he wanted it. He got our bags checked, headed back through security and made it back to us. We were so exhausted after the overnight flight–we slept very little because we were on west coast time still. Took a very small aircraft one hour and ten minutes to the small Graz airport. It was Sunday, July 4th. Hot and muggy. Found a taxi right away to take us to our guest house, part or Hauserl im Wald, the Hirshenhof Guesthouse.

Surprised by the complete lack of air conditioning here. None in our place and not even in the hospital. It’s been hot and humid and sunny out and we had thunder and lightning storms the first few days in the afternoons.

Guesthouse feels like Dr. Doolittle’s place. There are peacocks, chickens, ducks, llamas, deer, frogs, a cat, and ponies. It’s very beautiful and a bit loud at night. The male deer (mule deer?) charge and snort all night.

Everything is closed her on Sundays–even the grocery store. Been eating at the main hotel’s restaurant, which is a 15-minute uphill walk through the forest. My calves are feeling it! It’s a tough walk with a stroller–lots of tree roots and rocks to manage.