Originally I thought I was going to be a bit bummed by my sweet-sixteenth birthday since it would be in a foreign land, with a different family and everything but actually my birthday in Austria was fantastic!! Definitely at the top of my list of best birthdays.
So despite it being a Saturday morning I woke up really early, around 7-ish, which I think kind of threw my family off, cause they asked me why I was up so early and if I wanted to go back to bed. But that gave me time to take a shower and get dressed and stuff.
I was kinda afraid to go upstairs and stuff since I didnt want to ruin any surprise they were planning. When I was finally called to the table, I arrived to a ginormous layout of breads, jams, cheeses, yogurt and my favorite granola, and in the center of it all a gorgeous, home-baked cake.The kind with the creme and fruit on the top then coated with the shiny glaze. They seemed to think it was pretty funny that I found cake with breakfast to be crazy, but it was delicious. And on top of all that, They had presents for me too! I got a scarf and a pair of gloves from my mom and a certificate saying they would take me next weekend to Zotters, this chocolate factory! Two CD mixes from my dad of Austrian pop music and a collection of every Strauss composition. And from my host sister a really cute thermos mug I can't wait to bring tea to school in. Everything was so sweet and had so much thought in it!
After breakfast, they had the whole day planned out for me. They took me across the boarder to Slovenia, where we met up with my host-grandparents. I forget often how easy it is here to cross from country to country! I received yet another cake, a Linzer Torte, yuummm.
We went to a really fancy restaurant for lunch where my grandparents knew the chef and apparently he is the best cooks in Slovenia or something, which I can believe. I had this wonderful fish and got to taste some really good Slovenian wine. We sat and talked for a long time, I didn't really understand that was going on, but it was really lovely. After lunch the waiter brought us all shots of schnapps, even for my younger host sister! Wow, it burned my throat so bad, My host dad ended up drinking the rest.
By this point I was pretty much in a food coma but they had yet more for us to do! We continued on our way into the wine country of Slovenia. It was so beautiful. The weather was perfect warm and sunny with a slight breeze, and from the road we drove on you could look down into the rolling valleys of green, and see endless rows of grapes and little farm houses with their red roofs. We arrived at this point at the top of a hill where we sat at rickety wooden picnic tables, in the distance you could hear the jolly sounds of an accordion and at the table next to us was a group of loud men in Lederhosen drinking beer, it was such a perfect moment. One of those "wow, I'm in Austria," moments. But technically I guess I was in Slovenia. We sat there again for a long time eating marroni, (roasted chestnuts,) drinking storm, a sweet wine that's only available for a short time in the fall, and just enjoying the sun and lovely view.
In the late afternoon, we finally drove back along this highway where you could look to the left and see Slovenia and when you turned to the right there was Austria, which was pretty cool. I was so tired from all the food, I slept most of the way back, but that was pretty much the end to my my Austrian birthday. I am so thankful to my family for such a beautiful day and all the wonderful gifts.
Alles gute zu mich!
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