Really Playing for Pizza: Easter in Austria

Blitzy, Matt, Gonzalo, Alex, Christie, and me outside the Easter church service.

Easter is a BIG deal over here in Austria, complete with a huge holiday market in the Old Town and colored eggs in the supermarkets. It is a big deal back home as well, and to make it feel like home we attended church on Saturday night, cooked a big meal together, and had a great Sunday afternoon drive.

SATURDAY CHURCH SERVICE

Yes, George, the Protestant churches here aren't quite as grand or ornate as your Catholic ones, but are still quite comfortable.

Here in Austria, church is held on Saturday evenings as opposed to Sunday mornings. We attended a great Easter service on Saturday night, at the church where Gonzalo has gone for the past few years. The pastor was very engaging, and they even gave the Americans a portable radio so that the the sermon could be translated into English! It was a great experience, and really made me feel like I was back at home (and crazy how a non-denominational church halfway around the world gives off the same vibe, complete with laid-back worshipers and power-point lyrics!)

Christie poses with the pastor's wife, Nellie.

Our handheld radios gave us awesome translation!

Gonzalo tunes his radio up before the service!

It wouldn't be church without some snacks afterwards! Matt enjoyed these "suckers" immensely.

Götzens Family Meal

To celebrate the birthdays of Matt and Alex (both this past week), we held our first Götzens family meal with all our fellow Götzenites. Gonzalo acted as lead chef, whipping out an amazing spaghetti carbanara, while everyone chipped in pot-luck style. To finish off the meal, Christie made her specialty - Nutella crepes! It was awesome!

Servus from Götzens!

The birthday boys with their birthday crepes!

EASTER DAY

Colored Eggs are the bomb. I hid these for Christie but she found them in 4 minutes.

Easter morning was a lazy affair, until we realized that the colored eggs we bought were HARD BOILED... making our efforts for scrambled eggs a little more difficult! Afterwards, we took a little drive, and ended up in GERMANY!!! Just another typical holiday living over here in Europe!

Bunny shaped pretzels at the Easter Market.

Holding up our purple eggs in the Aldstadt.

As I mentioned above, we went for a drive in the afternoon, heading north from Innsbruck past the city of Zirl. The road climbed up and up for twenty minutes, until I noticed our Garmin GPS pointing us towards a little black line on the map. Suddenly we came around a bend and saw this sign:

Welcome to GERMANY!!!

Yes, if you head north as close to how the crow flies, it is less than a half-hour to Germany! Soon the Alps turned to foothills, and before long we were in the heartland of Bavaria! It was so unexpected, yet so cool!

Matt's good friend from Finland, Andy, is visiting this week. Andy plays football up in Finland, and originally comes from Canada. What's with all the Canucks?! He forgot his passport on this trip, so he thought for a moment he would have to hitchhike back to Innsbruck.

What's up with the SHACK? They are everywhere here.

The first of many intricately painted houses, this one in the town of Mittenwald.

Another bend, another Bavarian style home.

I can't get enough of the painted houses.

Walchensee lake.

After an hour of driving we reached Walchensee, an alpine lake in the foothills of the Alps. Along the western shore lies the cute city of (you guessed it) Walchensee. We drove slowly through the city, and stopped at the Strandcafe Bucherer on the lake. Here we had excellent cappuccinos and were served with true Bavarian hospitality!

A perfect Easter afternoon.

Andy found a friend!

Gritty barn next to the lake.

Andy auditioning to be a GAP model.

Christie Chorley!

Airborne!

Eventually the road turned towards home, and we cruised through the cities of Kochel am See, Schlehdorf, Grosweil, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen on our way back. Each city was cooler than the one before, and we vowed to return when we have more time this summer. I seriously recommend that anyone visiting the region comes down here for a relaxing day or two of biking, sitting on patios, and walking around the lakes.