Holy really long tunnel, Batman!

The next day my family was here, we took a little excursion to my neck of the woods. 


Bregenz, Austria


In order to get there we had to drive through the Pfänder tunnel. Now, I had heard of this tunnel having lived here a while. In fact, I had been through it's sister tunnel the City tunnel just a week prior. What I didn't know, was just how loooooooooooooong of a tunnel it is! I mean, you guys, it was super long. I am not exaggerating for effect. I don't really get claustrophobic or freaked out easily, but after about 5 or 6 minutes  in that thing the phrase "light at the end of the tunnel" has a new and very literal meaning.


So after that, we rushed to my good school first to see some teachers so they could ooh and aah over my adorable niece and nephew. I got to show my family the school I love working in so much, which was really nice.


Since, originally I thought I was going to have to work, we all thought it best to stay in Bregenz for a night. Regardless of the work thing though, it was nice and a bit more relaxing...maybe because I got to sleep in my own bed. 


Essentially, we spent the early part of the afternoon getting everyone settled in and situated where they were staying for the night. Wendy and Justin stayed with me in my apartment while Dad and Leslie stayed in a hotel. 


Then up the Pfänderbahn we went! There is this gondola type deal that takes you to the top of Bregenz's "mountain" which is, truthfully, not that big. However, once at the top you have beautiful views of the whole Bregenzer Wald (the part of the Alps in my area), some German Alps, and some Swiss Alps too! There are lots of hiking trails up there too, but we did not partake in any of that.


We played on the playground, took pictures, and visited the animals in the Wildpark.

After playing on the mountain, we came down and walked back through town and down by the water. We had a beer and a snack at this cute little place by the water where we saw two really big dogs and made jokes about strangers kissing. Afterwards, we walked by the Seebühne, or floating stage, which is an important sight in Bregenz. 

 We found yet another awesome playground that I had been dying to take Kaiden to. Mainly because of this train.

You see, Kaiden has this rockin' train set at home that was given to him by friends of Wendy and Justin after their son had outgrown it. Everyone in the family has a train in this train set. I think Wendy's is a blue train. I know my dad's is a brown train (UPS, duh!). The thing is Kaiden has it all straight. He knows which train belongs to which person and there is NO FOOLING him. Well, my train has always been the black train. I saw this train a long time ago in Bregenz and smiled because it reminded me of my wonderful nephew. So getting a picture with him next to "Addie's train" was a highlight for me.

I really enjoyed showing them around my town. 

We had dinner that night on top of a mountain. I don't want to talk about it, but the view at sunset was nice.