I N N S B R O O K austria

All together, there were six families that spent the Thanksgiving weekend together. All with high school kids, some in middle school and Coleman and Caden the youngest in elementary school.

All together we had 19 kids, 6 moms, 4 dads, 1 grandma and 1 grandpa.

Three of the families were skiing families. The other three {including us} weren’t.

The non-skiing families made a day trip to Innsbruck, Austria for the opening day of the Christmas market.

Where the Army hotel that we stayed at sits, it’s on the south-eastern corner of Germany with the Austrian, Italian and Switzerland borders within a few minutes.

As I've mentioned before- the country is beautiful- the churches, rolling hills and charm of this Bavarian region is really amazing.

It's all so old and full of architecture. 

It's hard not to look up in awe at every single building. Really makes me want to read more about these areas we are visiting- it's just fascinating to me. 

The fact that there was no snow didn’t bother us one bit- made the driving and walking much easier.

On the way to Innsbrook, there is a passage that is literally straight down- steeper than any mountain side that we’ve been on- EVER.  A friend warned us- we can’t even imagine with a little ice how treacherous it is.

Jim had our van in first gear- the engine was revving up. A crazy drive.

Our friends in front of us had overheated brakes- the white smoke filling the entire space under their vehicle. Coleman had the hardest time with the smell- it was awful.

Once we made it to the city, parked and walked to the market- we weren’t disappointed, it was charming. I can't think of another word to describe it any better.

Walking down the cobblestone streets looking at the stands and decorations made for a perfect afternoon.

One of the coolest things was live human statues situated at the end of the street at the entrance to the market. 

Moving almost like robots, you had to watch carefully to see the slightest movement. They were amazing. Painted and dressed all in silver from head to toe, this lady had her dog at her feet sleeping in his little bag. I can’t figure out how they could stand there all day- absolutely mesmerizing.

I know my picture is blurred- but it's hard to describe how cool they were- I had to post it. Look at that little pup- we still can't believe he stayed there all afternoon.

Another highlight was the decorations. They had huge chandeliers down the old alley ways and decorations hanging out the windows.

We saw Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a Hans Christian Anderson window, the Big Bad Wolf and several others. As you can see from our pictures- we had a lot of much-needed fun. It was the perfect destination to start the Christmas season.