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Traveling Through Austria

Karee RussellLeave a comment

Vignette

We’ve been to Austria a few times and on one of our first trips we ended up getting a €250 euro fine. When traveling outside of Germany several other countries require vignettes. A vignette is a sticker you pay for before crossing the border to place on your windshield. They have several different types: 7 days, 30 days, and yearly vignettes.

We never saw signs to purchase this vignette back in 2013. This time, in 2021, we purchased the vignette beforehand with ADAC (kind of like AAA in the US).

Where to visit

Kehlsteinhaus (Hitler’s Eagles Nest)

In 2013, we went to the Eagles Nest (Kehlsteinhaus), one of Hitler’s hideouts. It’s a historic landmark now and was absolutely interesting to see. It was built in 1937 and you are able to view the underground tunnels and rooms. We were able to see all around when on top of the mountain. We did not spend much time at the location but to be able to view the history was amazing and we highly suggest going there.

Innsbruck

We went to Innsbruck in September 2021. We visited the downtown area and walked the streets. Because of COVID, we did not do much else. However, we still had a good time and enjoyed ourselves.

Places to stay

Edelweiss

Edelweiss is where we stayed the time we went to Eagles Nest. Edelwiess is nesstled in the Garmisch area. The scenery is gorgeous. I’ll cover this hotel more in another post.

Hotel Mondschein

The hotel was easy to find… parking was not. We ended up in their parking garage but barely made it before it was full. The hotel room was HUGE. We ended up in a two-bedroom two-bath suite and it was very spacious. Breakfast was a usual European breakfast with teas, coffee, meats, and cheeses. We only stayed one night. The customer service was great.

Overall Austria is a great country to visit and we do highly suggest scoping out your route before driving. Enjoy!

How to Cope With Stress During COVID-19

Karee RussellLeave a comment

If you’re like me, COVID-19 has caused some stress in your life. I’m MAD at COVID and how it ruined our 2020!

Once the pandemic got worse in Germany it was the beginning/middle of March. I had just gotten back from a week long training for work when things got worse. By 16 March schools and childcare facilities had closed. I became a teacher, full time mom while still working full time, it was CRAZY!! BTW, I’m NOT a teacher and I am blessed my kids have amazing teachers. Because the rest of the school year was killer.

Spring break was the first week of April. We were supposed to go to Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris & the Black Forrest. It was supposed to be our baby moon. We had pre-booked our hotels and I nearly purchased the tickets for the attractions then BAM , COVID-19 sucker punched my plans in the throat. We were lucky enough to get refunds from all the places we booked through and did not have any hassle.

We were then stuck on post unable to go off unless it was for essentials. So my last part of my pregnancy I was home ridden after spending the first part of my pregnancy bedridden. I was sick and tired of being stuck at home. I wanted to leave but the COVID cases were still pretty high and the German government had banned all types of travel except for essential travel.

Therefore, we ended up not being able to do much. I ended up working from home since March 2020 & our gym opened up in the fall timeframe but masks were mandatory if you wanted to work out in the gym. With my asthma that was hard. Therefore, here are a few things I was able to do to cope with stress during COVID!

Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

This is the best time to cook healthy meals from home and to find a home workout program to use. I personally prefer to cook at home and we had many new crockpot meals and I use the SWEAT App to get my workouts in.

Do Daily Activities

Read a book, write a blog, learn to see or join a club. Whatever you do make sure you enjoy it.

Now that the lockdowns are lifting it is time to start planning travel but just remember to not stress about travel and keep an eye on the RKI (Europe/international travel) to see what places are requiring Covid tests, vaccinations or quarantine.

The Best of Prague, Czech Republic

Karee RussellLeave a comment

Had the best time on a three-day adventure to Prague, Czech Republic. Most of the time we spent at the Aquapalace. It’s a hotel within an inside/outside pool park.

The pool area had many slides, a lazy river that went around the whole park & tons of awesome areas for the kids. The hotel was nice and the staff very welcoming!

We spent only a few hours in Prague (Praha) and it was nice! the Prague castle was amazing. It was too crowded so we weren’t able to go inside but just the surrounding areas were very pleasant.

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