My mom and Paul out and about in Tübingen

Strolling through the streets

On the Neckarbrücke

The town square

The bike tunnel

Refueling

Rowing along the Neckar

It's not as easy as it looks!

The love birds.

Visiting Damián at the Max Planck

This is his "lab"

Some brainstorming

The greenhouse

Outside the cafeteria

Walking to the bus

Sending them off on their European adventure

Austria

We met up with my mom and Paul on their travels in Austria.

There is no way I could go to Salzburg without doing the ultimate tourist activity - The Sound of Music Tour! If you have seen the movie as many times as I have, you'll have no problem recognizing these places.

Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart and Mozart was everywhere in the city.  Our second night in Salzburg, we attended a marionette performance of The Magic Flute. On our third night, we went to a Mozart concert.

The building where Mozart was born.

Outside the oldest restaurant in Europe (since 803)
where we had dinner and attended a Mozart concert

The cellist at the Mozart Concert 

The dining hall.

The musicians for the concert.
In addition to these, there were two operatic singers.

With the backdrop of the Alps, Salzburg's landscape was beautiful. 

Here is a view from our room at the bed and breakfast

We left the city and went to hike and explore the different mountain areas.

Our first exploration was to Königsee.

We took a boat ride to Hirschau Peninsula where
you can find a hunting lodge and St. Bartholomew Church,
along with gorgeous scenery and hiking.

  

 Our last day in Austria, we traveled to Hallstatt to hike and visit some salt mines.

Entering the town of Hallstatt

Eating lunch before our hike

Resting at a church on the climb

We made it to the top!

We are ready for the salt mines

Inside the mine

Visitors! (Dachau and Neuschwanstein)

My mom and her husband Paul planned an elaborate trip, touring Central and Eastern Europe and visiting us in between. We had a unforgettable visit with them, showing them our new town, and exploring other parts of Germany, France, and Austria with them (details to come in later posts).

The weekend after they arrived in Tübingen, Damián's brother had an impromptu work conference in Vienna, so he came to visit us too.  We had a full house and it was so much fun to have parts of our family with us, together!

We took a road trip over the weekend.

After picking up Germán (Damián's brother) in Munich, we headed towards the Dachau concentration camp.  Here are some photos from our trip.

The gates to enter the concentration camp have the inscription,
"Arbeit Macht Frei" (Work makes you free).

A memorial inside the camp

Some of the many barriers between the prisioners and the outside world.

A map of the numerous concentration camps across Europe/

I excluded many photos from the blog including the sleeping quarters and the crematoriums.

It is a sad part of our human race that we continue to repeat history by enslaving and killing millions of people to this day.

After experiencing the concentration camp, our mood was somber. 

We continued on our journey, exploring Germany's history, and headed toward Neuschwanstein Castle. We made it to the town, Schwangau, and enjoyed a typical German meal together.

This is how Damian's food arrived. The Germans have quite the sense of humor.

We spent the night in a hotel just below the castle.

From the town center there is a view of the castle in the mountains.

In front of the castle.

The castle from Marie's Bridge

On Marie's Bridge

After hiking past the bridge, there were some other gorgeous views of the castle.

The boys went even further up the mountain.

After exploring the castle and the surroundings, we came back to Tübingen (details to come in future posts).