AUSTRIA !!! (I'm told that I was "chintzy" with the pictures🙄, so I've added some. Enjoy !!!

Hey Kids !!!
 We're😸 baaaack. We were supposed to be gone until the 7th, but Tess caught a cold (I bet it was that innocent-looking baby👶🏻 she was talking to at the hotel). She fell asleep on the plane, which she never does because she watched too many AIRPORT movies😨 in her impressionable childhood. When she woke up, she said her head felt big 😕. So she's tucked up in bed and when I finish here I'll be taking her more ginger lemon tea and crackers. I offered to make (nuke)chicken broth, but she isn't hungry.
My Tess suffers from Autoimmunity. At last count she has four autoimmune disorders.
She didn't have them before we met so sometimes I wonder if the life she's had with me has been a contributing factor. There are times when she can travel with me for business and pleasure, and other times when she can't. A lot of plans get cancelled. It makes me sad 😔when she can't go places with me because she makes everything better. She feels guilty, even though it isn't her fault, and twice she's arranged for someone else to go with me, but it just wasn't the same. We'd planned to go to Austria last year, but something happened and we wound up separated for the holidays.😔 Last summer she joined me halfway through a lonnnnnng and miserable business trip, but she was miserable too (which is why neither of us posted about it) and I felt guilty for making her come all the way there.
NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION : BE MORE SELECTIVE FROM NOW ON. NO AMOUNT OF 💵💶💷 IS WORTH BEING STUCK IN A VERITABLE PERGATORY FOR MONTHS. I travel for work, but my home is my sanctuary and that's because of My Tess. Oh, I've given her plenty of misery in ten years too. That's why the good times are so precious.

SALZBURG
I forgot the tree pictures too.
Tess brought her tiniest tree (it folds up😄), one string of lights and a few unbreakable ornaments and of course, her deer family. That gift bag with the doggie was mine😁!!!

The Christmas Market was first on the to do list.

The Sound of Music Tour (self-guided).

Schloss Leopoldskron.

The horse fountain (I Have Confidence)

Mirabelle Palace Garden (Do Re Mi)

Mondsee Church (The wedding)

Tess had done a lot of research beforehand and acted as our tour guide. There was a private tour with breakfast on the terrace overlooking the lake for $1,100 for 6hrs for up to 8 people, but Tess had already found a hotel with a full breakfast (Miss frugal). Besides, Tess said we'd have to be on the bus by 8am and it isn't a vacation if someone is telling you what time to get up😄. She also thinks 11am checkout is ridiculous, but we won't go into that now.

Mirabelle Palace Garden(Do Re Mi)

Nonnberg Abbey

The Mozart Concert at HohenSalzburg Fort

The ladies loved it and I didn't fall asleep. We had dinner afterwards.

On our last day in Salzburg, we went to the Marionette Theater to see.........

The pictures here are from the website.

The theater was packed and I snapped one picture after the show started and several people......well, let's just say, if looks could kill.  Nobody wants to be the "Ugly American" so I put the phone away. Tess put her hand on mine and whispered "Live in the moment, Honey". As usual, she was right. I did take a couple of pictures of the theater, but I'll put them in the video.

It wasn't as good as a Thunderbirds episode or the 1964 film, but the recorded music, voice actors and singers were very good. On the other hand, dinner was excellent 😋!!!

Schnitzel with noodles !!!

and apple strudel. Delicious coffee too.

ST.GILGEN

We moved to this quaint village whose claim to fame is being the birthplace of Mozart's mother. It's off the beaten path, but very beautiful and quiet with just inns, shops and restaurants and even though tour groups come here, they don't stay for more than a few hours. After a week of sightseeing, Tess wanted us all to "rest and enjoy the beauty of nature" (sometimes I know I make her sound like an idiot, but she really isn't.)

We took a couple of walks, slept well, ate a lot of wonderful food and if she hadn't gotten sick, it would

've been our best trip in years, and our best Christmas since England.

I think it's a law in Austria that you have to eat your weight in strudel. O.K. , when in Salzburg...........😋

2020

We rang in the New Year quietly. I tried to find pizza in the village, but our host's son/nephew ??? said that the only place had mediocre pizza. So, we ordered fondue and some desserts and drinks and had a little party. At midnight, it was just the two of us, so we danced to Auld Lang Syne (Tess had downloaded it into the phone, along with some other music and videos in case the power went out🤨) because "New Year's Eve wouldn't be the same without Mr. (Guy) Lombardo". Tess' parents were always away on New Year's Eve, so she and Miss Belle would bake a cake and drink Shirley Temples and Tess would dance with her cat😸. Such a wild girl😯😄.

Well, that's it, I guess. I'll try to put up the video tomorrow right here👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

Nite😉.
Tess wants popcorn,which is odd, because she never eats it. I checked the pantry and the kitchen and the garage (well she keeps some extra supplies out there) and we don't have any☹️.

TO WALMART !!!👉🍿