Greetings from Lustenau, Austria!!!

Well, after about a 20 hr trip, we successfully landed at our hotel, Gastof Kronele (www.kronele.com) in Lustenau, Austria!!! We started out in Columbus, stopped in Atlanta and eventually landed in Zurich at 7:51AM this morning Zurich time. The flight was fine - pretty typical. Crammed in the seat, exhausted and spending time trying to get comfy - a perpetually losing battle.

I am in Lustenau to watch the the US team at the World Agility Championships - the compeition is actually in Dornbirn, a neighboring town. My friend Jenn (who I train with) and her sheltie Blaster made the US team that is competing over here. I am here with her parents, BF, aunt and cousin - in addition to me tagging along, there are also 2 other tag alongs on the trip, giving us a group of 9.

Blaster the dog was an excellent traveler. Jenn had him in this bag that she put under her seat, and he never even made a peep. The flight crew on the way to Atlanta were a little pillish about him, but I don't think the crew going to Zurich even knew he was down there. He was quite happy to get out of his bag, use his "facilities" and get some breakfast. I rode next to him in the car on the way to the hotel, he was a very good boy.

Our hotel here is very, very nice - definitely in the top three I have been in while traveling in Europe. The rooms are pretty much "as advertised" on the website - I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical when I considered the rate (68 Euro per night) and what they looked like on the internet. I guess I should have more faith. I will be testing out the shower shortly. I have provided a link to the hotel, as well as a photo above, below or wherever blogger sees fit. I have also posted several photos to my facebook page.

After getting here, we ventured out to find something to eat. I was pretty famished at this point, having skipped both airplane meals. We did eat in Atlanta, and I had a few PB sandwiches my mom made me - and I was a much happier person for eating those instead of airplane food. As you can see, I do have snacks - bagels, PB, furit snacks and granola bars. Hopefully we can find a grocery tomorrow and get some water. As many of you know, things are very expensive here and the exchange rate is certainly not favorable at this point, so we are maximizing saving oppotnities at every corner. We found a little Italian joint and got some pizza, which was actually pretty good!

We then ventured off to Bregenz, Austria, which is very near a big, beautiful lake called Lake Constance. We found a little place on the lake to sit and have a drink/dessert. I chose a dessert - some sort of Austrian Chocolate cake, which was not nearly as pretty as Tiffy's banana split! We walked around, took photos, enjoyed some scenery and came back to the hotel and CRASHED. I woke up about 9 - I will probably regret it, but I had reached the point of exhaustion. It is a 6 hr time difference, so it is 10:30 here. I am going to test out the shower and probably pop a DVD in my computer to help me sleep.

So tomorrow starts the craziness!! We are venturing off to Fussen, Germany, to see Neuschweinstein castle. Myth has is this is the castle used by Disney to create the castle you see at Disney parks. On Tuesday, we will venture to Innsbruck and Salzberg, both in Austria, and spend the night in Salzburg. We will ventrue up to Munich on Wednesday, but it will be a short venture, as we have a US team supporter dinner in our hotel on Wednesday night at 6PM. Not sure what else is planned, but that is a good start. I do know some people are going to Vienna, and if possible, I would love to tag along. We will see if that happens.

At any rate, we made it here, it promises to be a fun, exciting week. I will do my best to keep up to date with posting and getting pictures up - be sure to check FB as well.

Wiedersen!!!! (PS - blogger not letting me upload photos, check out FB)