Vienna!

Vienna, the capitol of Austria and the former Austrian empire, is a grand city with palaces seemingly everywhere you look. Everything seems to be about Kaiser Franz Joseph I, his wife Elizabeth (Sissi), and Empress Maria Theresa. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay in a palace, and instead were relegated to a simple Bed and breakfast. The shared bathroom was a pain, and the location wasn't the best, but we made due. The first night we just walked around town. We walked through the Hofburg palace, the main residence of many of the monarchs, and saw the opera house. No opera's in August though, or performances by the boy's choir, what a bummer.

The next day it was off to Schönbrunn Palace, the summer residence of the royal family and favorite of Franz Joesph I. It is a little outside the city, but an easy metro ride away from our place. It was truly and incredible place, with massive gardens surrounding the enormous palace. We got the ticket that got us into everything, including the apple strudel show. Some of the highlights were the rooms where Franz Joseph worked, slept, and ate, the room where Napoleon stayed when he was in town, and the room where Mozart played for the royal family at age 6. The gardens surrounding the palace may have been even more impressive. Some of the most detailed areas have been replanted recently to match the original design, and there was a hedge maze and great overlook.

That afternoon is was on to the Hundertwasser Haus, an apartment building build by the eccentric architect Hundertwasser. It is definitely one of the strangest buildings I have seen, especially because it is sitting right in the middle of a huge, mostly old city. From there we took an old streetcar to the other side of the old town, where we saw the Votiv church and the Rathaus (city hall). The church was really run down in the front, but very impressive inside. There was a film festival in front of the Rathaus, but more on that in a bit.

The next day we explored the center of the city, starting with the ancient St. Stephen's cathedral. It is made from sandstone, which means they have to constantly work on the outside. We also saw another smaller church called St. Peter's and walked around the main streets in the center. Then we went to the natural history museum, which had one of the largest collections of rocks, minerals, and meteorites in the world. There was also an impressive taxidermy collection, but the dinosaur room was being renovated, so we were bummed about missing that. It was in a really cool old building though. That night we returned to the Rathaus for dinner and the film festival. They had stands with food from all over the world. The film was an Italian opera, so we could understand very little, but at least we can say we saw some opera in Vienna.

The next morning we went to the sketchy bus station to catch our bus to Prague!

The beautiful... rainy Salzkammergut

After our stay in Moosburg, it was on to The beautiful country of Austria. Our first stop was a region called the Salzkammergut, an area near Salzburg with lots of lakes and mountains. We stayed in Bad Ischl, a centrally located town which is famous for being a vacation spot of Austrian emperors. Our place, called Landhaus Fay, was a little far out of town, so we had to get a taxi to get there and walk 45 minutes back the next day. Luckily the owners (Mark and Renee) were able to pick us up on the last day and they also drove us back to the train station. Renee was Swedish and Mark English, and they were very very nice. Plus is was great to have some more people to talk to in English. Like my umbrella?

Unfortunately is rained on us nearly nonstop. The first day we went to a city called Obertraun, which is a small lakeside village. Soaking wet, we found the cable car that took us up part of the mountain to a spectacular ice cave. We entered the cave at a temperature of about 3 degrees Celsius, and it only got colder from there. We entered the next room and suddenly it was covered with ice. It was really neat and something I have never seen before. It was also quite cold, as we were already wet and we did not pack for freezing temperatures. Outside the cave it looked like there were some amazing views, but with all the clouds and fog you could only catch glimpses.

We were planning on going to the city of Hallstatt after that, but it was just too wet, rainy, and cold, so we headed back to Bad Ischl instead. We found a nice little cafe, which happened to have really good hot chocolate, and then had to walk back to our place because the bus doesn't run in the afternoon in the summer. It was actually nice to spend a night in. We had internet, and we watched a DVD that we borrowed from the owners Mark and Renee.

The next day the weather forecast was better, so we set out on a hike. We were headed for a peak called the Predictstuhl, which was about a 3 hour hike from our place close to the nearby town of Bad Goisern. It was very wet on the train, but the rain held off for the most part. We wanted to walk along the ewige Wand (eternal wall) first, which is a huge vertical cliff face where they cut a path into the rock, but unfortunately that threw us off course. The signs were difficult to follow, so we didn't quite make it up to the top like we had hoped, but was still a fun hike and we saw some great views. We got down to Bad Goisern after hiking around 20 km, and it started to rain just before we got to the train station to catch the train back.

Back in Bad Ischl we ate at a great pizza place that Renee had recommended. It was very good and the pizzas were huge. They also had excellent Tiramisu. That night we got back early enough to watch another movie in English. It was a good time in the rainy Salzkammergut, but it would have better if we had had a car. There seem to be a lit of little towns to explore like in Tuscany, but without a car it is difficult to do that. The rain also obviously hurt a lot. Luckily for us we had Vienna to look forward to as our next stop.

Germany: so much to cover, so little time to write

So it has been a while since I have written anything, mostly because there hasn't been much time. Upon leaving Madrid, we took an overnight train to Bern, Switzerland. The train was really cool, and it included dinner and breakfast. In Bern we only had a few hours because everything there is insanely expensive. We paid the equivalent of $7 to store our bags, and a big mac meal was $20. Luckily we were prepared and brought our own food. It was a really neat city, and the coolest part was the bear pit, Just across the river from the old town there is an large enclosed area with 4 bears. It was very weird but also awesome.

From there it was off to lake Constance, or the Bodensee in German. It is one of the biggest lakes in Europe, and it lies on the border of Austria, Switzerland, and Germany. There were lots of German tourists, and it was difficult because nothing was in English, but we got by. We stayed in a town called Uhldingen, but visited Konstanz and Meersburg on our only full day. It was kind of cloudy and cold, but we managed. The best part was the last night when we played a game called pit-pat. It is putt-putt played like pool on tables. It was really different and fun. In the middle of our round there was a beautiful sunset over the lake.

Then it was off to Oberstdorf, a small village in the Allgau alps, a region on the northern edge of the alps. The scenery there is amazing, and town is really nice too. They had three scoops of ice cream for 2 euros, and I think we got it about 4 times in tow days. We were lucky and got some really good weather for our only full day. We took the cable car to the top of the nebelhorn mountain, the tallest in the area with an elevation of 2224 m. There were spectacular views, and the cable car was cool too. When we came down we hiked up the valley to a little town called Gerstuben, or at least I think that's what is was called. It was a nice stroll through the countryside until we took the turn for the village. Suddenly the path had a steep incline, which seemed to go on forever. The elevation change for the hike was over 1000 ft, and on the downhill part we went through the woods and saw some waterfalls coming right out of the mountainside.

Then it was on to Moosburg, Germany to stay with the Waldherrs, the German family that I had stayed with when I was there 6 years ago. We were there five nights and it was an amazing stay. They are such good cooks, and we played lots of fun games and saw some cool stuff too. On the first day Sebastian, the oldest brother, drove us to the Neuschwanstein castle, the castle that the Cinderella castle was modeled after. It was actually build by Ludwig II, a former king of Bavaria who was crazy and obsessed with building castles. Unfortunately it rained and we didn't get to go inside because the next tour was 4 hours later. We did get to go 250 km/hr on the autobahn though.

We went into Munich the next two days during the day, and then we played games at night. We played a lot of Settlers of Catan, or die Siedler von Catan, but sadly Trillion was the big winner. Dinner every night was amazing. The best was probably when we grilled out. We had pork steaks in a pepper sauce, turkey breast in some kind of homemade herb marinade, hot dogs filled with good cheese wrapped in Bacon, and little bratwursts. Not quite the meats we would do in America, but I kind of think we should. Another great meal was Weisswurst Früstuck. It was a brunch with many different types of sausages, soft pretzels, and mustard. We also sampled some good schnapps once night which was really cool. Oh and how could I forget the homemade tiramisu. Trillion kind of likes Tiramisu.

Munich is a great city, but we encountered quite a lot of rain. We saw the famous glockenspiel on the neues Rathaus in Marienplatz, the main town square, and ate at the Hofbrau haus. Then we toured the Residenz, the old royal palace where the rulers of Bavaria lived. Now it is more like a museum with a lot of rooms and furnatire since it was mostly destroyed in WW2. The next day we spent the day at the Deutsches Museum, a science museum in the center of Munich. It is one of the coolest museums I have been to and there was so much to see.

We spent another day relaxing and seeing a bit of Moosburg and the nearby city of Landshut. That night we went out to Hirschen, a local bar that was super crowded and fun. It was such a great time in Moosburg, and I once again want to thank the Waldherr family for being such generous hosts. Here I am in Landshut with Philipp and Sebastian. The church is the world's tallest brick tower.

Last days in Spain

After a relaxing four nights in Sevilla, we had three days of traveling before our stop in Madrid. We took a super high speed train out of Sevilla that traveled at 300 km/hr, and after a change in Madrid we were in Toledo, the capitol of the Spanish empire before it was moved to Madrid hundreds of years ago. It is a beautiful old walled city surrounded by a river on three sides. It is also up on a hill, so the walking was difficult, and we stay a little bit out of the old town. The highlight was the army museum, which was in the old royal palace that had been destroyed during the Spanish civil war and then rebuilt. There were exhibits with all kinds of different weapons and armor, and two floors tracing the military history of Spain from 1500 to the present day.

The next day it was onto Àvila, which was about an hour and a half bus ride on the other side of Madrid. It was really cool and we liked it more than Toledo. It wasn't hilly, there was more food, and it has a awesome city wall that they claim is the best preserved medieval wall in Europe. There were free tapas just like in Granada, and they have really good mashed potatoes that have bacon in them.

The following day we traveled to Madrid after a little confusion with the siesta they took at the bus station in Àvila. We stayed in a nice hostel that was kind of like a hotel. We had our own room with a TV and internet, but had to share a bathroom, but only with one other room. The first night we walked on Gran Via, which is kind of like their Broadway, and then went to plaza Puetra del Sol, which is the square in the center of town. There were lots of street performers, so it was a really fun place to walk around at night.

We only had two days to explore Spain's largest city, so we had to pack a lot in. Luckily it wasn't quite as hot, so we were able to use most of the day. We went to the royal palace on the first day, which was built and designed by spanish monarchs over the years. It was very luxurious, and much different from the other palaces we visited in spain because it was entirely european. Some of the highlights were the porcelain room, which had walls lined completely with porcelain, and the Stradivarius violin collection. We also went to the cathedral, which is right next door. It was weird because it was very modern. It was built in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Then we went to the museum of the Americas, which was a collection of artifacts brought back from America during the Spanish conquest. They also added more recent objects from the native tribes, but the coolest things were the gold statues from the Incas and Aztecs. The picture below is us outside the royal palace.

The next day we went to the el Retiro park, which was a big park in the middle of the city that was really beautiful and really well kept. In the evening we went to the Prado Museum, which is kind of like the Spanish version of the Louvre. I thought it was a great museum because there were descriptions of most all the paintings in Spanish and English, and they were organized by artist, which I like because then I can at least get a feel for the style of the painter. It was also free from 6 to 8. We took one more walk around the main streets and plazas before calling it a night.

It was a fantastic time in Madrid, and in Spain in general. Madrid was definitely one of our favorite stops because there was so much going on, and it was very clean. It was challenging because almost no one speaks any English, but we were able to manage. Some of our other favorite stops were Valencia, and Àvila. There were lots of really interesting cities, and they were not nearly as packed with tourists as places in Italy. It was really hot, but it was manageable and better than it being too cold. All in all, we really liked Spain, and I think we both would like to come back. Goodbye for now, and onto Germany.

If you want to see more pictures

Trillion has many more pictures on facebook. This link should take you there.

http://www.facebook.com/media/albums/?id=12329446

Just click on the album to see the pictures from that city. You will probably have to be facebook friends with her to see the pictures, so if you are not, add her as a friend.

Sevilla: Tapas, Bullfights, and Flamenco

Sevilla was our next stop, and if you could get past the heat, it was a very fun and exciting place. High temperatures were in the high 90's, with the heat index over 100 for most of the day, but we had an air conditioned apartment which treated us very well from the hours of 3:00 to 8:00, when most everyone goes inside. Here is a picture down one of the main streets.

Our first day we went to eat at a place called 100 Montiditos, which is a sandwich place that had everything for 1 euro on Wednesdays. Three little sandwiches, fries, chips, and two drink for only 7 euro, and the quality was pretty good too. Then we went to the bullring, where there is a bullfighting museum. It is a really cool arena, and there was lots of art and memorabilia relating to bullfighting. We found out there was a bullfight featuring three rookie fighters the next day, so we decided to go. The bullfight was awesome. The area around the arena was packed, and it was really exciting even though it wasn't the best fighters. Six bulls were fought by three bullfighters, and when the third guy did really well, the crowd went absolutely crazy.

The next day we toured the royal Alcazar, the royal palace in Sevilla. It was similar to the Alhambra from Granada in many ways, but with more of a spanish influence, and also only 2 euros for students. There was a gigantic garden behind the palace with the tallest palm trees I have ever seen.

Later that day we walked to an area along the river called Triana, which is a bustling place with lots of bars and shops. There were a bunch of guys on a boat trying to run up a greased poll and get a flag. Only about 1 in 20 were successful, and when someone got it, they just set it up again.

The last night we happened upon a flamenco show on a square in Triana. It is a traditional Spanish type of music and dance, and the show was quite impressive for a free show. There were two guitarists, three male singers, two female singers, a male tap dancer/percussionist, and a female dancer. They were all really good, and we really enjoyed the show.

We stayed in Sevilla for four nights, and it was really nice to have some time to relax. I would have to say there were a number of cities I liked better, and it was middle of the road in terms of cleanliness, but the activities (namely the bullfight and flamenco) were awesome. At night there was always lots going on, which was great because that's when we wanted to be out. All in all, it was a fantastic stop in Sevilla, and it was sad to be leaving southern Spain.

Ali-hambra

We arrived in Granada at around 8:30, which was quite early, but it ended up working out for us ok. We stopped at a bar for some breakfast and got some great churros con chocolate. With Trillion's cappuccino and my freshly squeezed orange juice it came to a grand total of 4 euros, and we stayed a while and used their Wifi. We still had to wait for some time to get into our apartment, but we still got in before lunch. Here is the view from our balcony.

ranada is known for a couple things. One is the Alhambra, an islamic royal palace built over 500 years ago, and free tapas. We experienced both, and thoroughly enjoyed them. For the tapas, you just go to a bar (it's not this way in all bars, but it is in most), order drinks, and they bring you a plate of food. Another drink gets you another tapa, and the drinks are usually around 2 euros. Sometimes they have a set order that they bring things out in, and at other places you get to choose what you want. One of our favorite places was called Poe. It was actually run by an English couple, which was nice because we were finally understood, and they had a great spicy pork stew. A delicious meal for 10 euros.

Our second morning we woke up and headed up the hillside to la Alhambra. It was an amazing place with the most intricate stonework and mosaics. It was the last stronghold of the Muslims on the Iberian peninsula, and was finally overtaken in 1492. The palace was built over a period of about 300 years by rulers after they retreated to the region of Granada. There is also a huge royal garden, and a spanish palace that was built by Spanish kings soon after their conquest. Here we are in one of the many courtyards of the main palace.

And here you can see some of the intricate carving that are found throughout the palace.

The Gardens, called the Generalife gardens, may have been the coolest part. They were huge, and I can't imagine how much water is takes to keep them going considering Granada is basically in the desert.

We only spent two days in Granada, which was probably enough, but it was still sad to leave. The free tapas were amazing, and just walking around on all the narrow streets was really cool. The only issue is the heat, but there is enough shade that it isn't too bad. Plus we were headed to even hotter places... more on that soon.

Valencia: Our Last Stop on the Mediterranean

Our first stop on our own was the city of Valencia, or Valenthia, as they pronounce it in their language of Valencian. Our apartment was SO nice. It had all marble floors, countertops, and even walls in the bathroom! it was also right next to the empty river bed which is now a park, and on the edge of the old city. The first day we walked to Plaza de la Virgen, one of the main squares in the city, which was about 3 minutes away. Then we got our first Paella, a Valencian specialty that has rice, chicken, beans, rabbit, and spices. Here is the plaza.

Valencia is an amazing city. It is one of the cleanest cities I've ever been to and is Spain's 3rd largest city. The weather was perfect with just one short rain while we were inside at dinner. Although almost none of the locals speak any amount of english, they try to help you without you even asking. When we got on the bus from the train station some lady randomly started trying to help us get to our apartment and telling us where to visit, all in Valencian. We had no idea what she was saying, and she elicited help from another younger person on the bus that spoke minimal english, but translated some of what she was saying. It was really fnny and nice, even though we already knew what stop to get off of and that there was a free art museum.

We loved just wandering around the old city and looking at all the buildings. The city has lots of blue tiled domes and polished copper domes as well. We climbed the bell tower for only 2 euros and saw it all! On our second day we went to the free fine arts museum that was very pleasant. We then walked to a modern art museum that was only 1 euro because the lady just assumed we were students. We both enjoyed the modern art museum more than the fine arts museum because it had so much weird but cool stuff. At night we went to a restaurant called the Ginger Loft and had possibly our most favorite food of the trip. It was a very swanky place, had excellent spanish and asian food, and wasn't all that expensive! I got the Chinese beef and Trillion got the chicken quesidillas, which were served with a really good aioli. Here is another look at the cathedral with its many blue domes.

The next day we went to the beach which had sugar fine sand and stretched for miles. We ate paella for lunch for the second day in a row and it was once again amazing. Evidently lunch is their main meal and the time when good restaurants serve paella. No one eats lunch till after 2pm or dinner until 9 or 10. It takes some getting used to. The water at the beach was clean and probably the warmest I've been in. It was sad leaving the beach because it was our last visit to the Mediterranean.

Right now in valencia, they're having their July festival which includes weekly fire works, music concerts, fairs, and other cultural activities. Basically the city is alive! That night we walked over to the fair and rode the ferris wheel which was actually pretty scary because it went so fast. The city is also in the middle of a concert festival which is four days long and has music every afternoon and night. We can hear it from outside our apartment and it echos through most of the city. The 40,000 tickets for it is sold out. Seal played there two, so unfortunately we just missed him!

The last day we stored our luggage at a hostel and went to the city of arts and sciences. It is a museum complex that is very modern and very cool. The aquarium was mostly outside and had all of the tanks underground. There was an amazing dolphin and diving show, walruses, sea lions, sharks, and much much more. We spent the rest of our day at the science museum which was also very different from our science museums. It had a whole section devoted to the science and history of soccer, which was fun because it had fittness tests for us to do. We are both fit in case you were wondering.

After 8 hours at the 2 museums, we walked back through the park that is in the river bed where they were having three different music concerts and cultural celebrations, as well as a fair. We walked to get our bags and then went to the train station, and eventually we got our 12:45 overnight to Granada. This last picture is for Chris, I hope you're reading. Also, Trillion wrote a lot of this so I want to make sure she gets her credit.

Barcelona!

Having been now to many parts of Europe we thought we had experienced everything. We were wrong. Barcelona is a completely different type of city. It comes alive at night and is filled with young people, night clubs, tapas, and bars, with some trannies and drug dealers thrown in on the side...ok, maybe more than just a few. It really was a fun and unique place, just a little more shady than most of the other places we have been.

Our first night there, we walked to the marina, down Las Ramblas (the main street filled with people eating, street performers, tourists, and people trying to get tourists to buy drugs or come to parties). We ate at a tapas bar a little bit off Las Ramblas, and had a really good first meal. In case you were wondering tapas are just small plates of food, and they are very common in Spain. You will be hearing much more about them if you continue to read about more cities later. The best thing from our first night was the spicy churizo flambe. They came and lit it at our table, and we put it out when we decided it was done.

The second day we walked up to the area called the Eixample. It is a big area of the city that was thoroughly planned out during a major expansion of the city in the late 19^th century. There are many wide boulevards and smaller streets laid out in a grid pattern, and buildings designed by the architect Gaudi and his contemporaries. Gaudi is huge in Barcelona, and with good reason, since he designed so many really cool buildings throughout the city. The highlight of the area is definitely Gaudi's biggest work, the Sagrada Familia. It is a huge cathedral that rises up in the middle of the city. It is still under construction, and though it looks very impressive, it is clear there is still a lot of work left to do even after over 100 years of construction.

Our next stop was a place called Parc Guell. It was supposed to be a futuristic housing development, planned by a guy named Guell, and designed by Gaudi. As a business venture it was a failure, but it was turned into a park around 1920, and has some really odd and interesting architecture. There were also some stunning views of the city, as it is up on a big hill. That evening we all went out to a really great Tapas bar, and then 7, Lauren, Trillion, and I went out for a few drinks. We passed a club with a line to get in taking up the whole city block.

The next day, we went to the market off of las Ramblas for breakfast, and then we walked around the gothic quarter, which is the old town area. There is a big gothic cathedral, but is wasn't open when we got there, and a lot of the outside was undergoing restoration. Then we walked down to the beach and walked along it for a while. It was actually a very nice beach for a big city, and it stretched for miles. Then Trillion and I walked more around the port area, and shopped in the mall on the water. We all had dinner at a place called Sinatra, which was fancy and had old Frank Sinatra movies playing. The free champagne was nice too.

The next morning we had to say goodbye to the rest of the gang, which was very sad, but it is also nice to have some time with just us. Jim, Lynda, 7, and Lauren left early in the morning, and Trillion and I went to the market for some more fresh fruit juice, and we got to walk around the city one last time. Barcelona was great, but I was excited to see what else Spain had to offer...

Goodbye for now, more will be coming soon

The top 10 things I miss about the US

After being gone for more than a month and being in 5 different countries (7 if you count Vatican City and Monaco as countries), Barrett and I have come up with a list of the things we most miss about the United States and look forward to enjoying when we return home in August! This list is in no particular order:

1. Family

2. Friends

3. Free refills on drinks/ free water

4. Our bed

5. Our closet (packing and unpacking clothes every couple of nights gets really old)

6. Chipotle (though any good mexican would do)

7. television in English

8. Being able to understand everyone

9. DVR/ DVRed shows

10. Having a full pantry/ being able to cook

Levanto, Florence, and a bunch of beautiful beach towns

After Tuscany, it was on to the relaxing part of our vacation, or at least the partially relaxing part. We stayed a week in the small beach town of Levanto, Italy near the cinque terre. Levanto has a great beach, which made it a perfect home base for exploring the area. The cinque terre is a series of five towns that are right on the Mediterranean close together, and the next town up the beach is Levanto, so everything was accessible by train. Here is one of the towns (Manorola) so you have an idea of what they look like.

The first day we did a long hike up in the hills outside Levanto. We were headed for a point by the sea, but it ended up being too far. We probably hiked about 5 miles of hilly terrain, and that was around 2/3 of the way to the first cinque terre town of Montorosso. The next day we trained to Manorola, walked "lovers lane" to Riomaggiore, and then swan and cliff jumped in the water. It was really fun, and 7 and I even got Trillion and Lauren to jump in. We also got a snorkel, and there were tons of fish to see in the clear blue water.

We weren't quite done with our sightseeing in major italian cities, since you can't go to italy without seeing Florence. We actually conquered it in two separate days, one on our way to Levanto and one in the middle of our stay. We were probably crazy to train into Florence from Levanto (supposedly 3 hours) and spend the day, but it worked out in the end. The late and delayed Italian trains made it take four hours each way and added a considerable amount of stress. It was worth it though because we got to go to the Uffizi gallery, one of the great art collections in the world. Florence is also famous for Michelangelo's David, one of the greatest marble sculptures in the world, and the Duomo, the first domed cathedral built in renaissance times.

I almost forgot, Florence is also soon to be famous for putting up with the people from Jersey shore for 6 weeks. At least we know they didn't completely trash the place. We accidentally ate at the pizzeria where they worked during their stay. They signed the wall, and various articles of clothing were hanging from the ceiling. I guess Snookie liked the bathroom...

Most of the rest of our time was spent hanging out at the beach, walking around Levanto, and of course eating. The best restaurant was da Rino in Levanto. It was really fancy, but not too expensive. I got Trofie pasta (a local favorite, it is homemade thin spirals about an inch long) with pesto and everyone else got herb filled ravioli with a walnut cream sauce. They brought it in small clear plates that looked more like they were for salads, but they packed them full and there was tons of food. The local specialties are foccacia and pesto, and I tried to get them as much as possible. We got gelato from a man named Pippo about 10 times. I think Lauren developed a small crush.

The week went way too fast, but it's not so bad when you are leaving for Barcelona... We drove through Monaco and Nice, France on our two day drive. There was really awesome scenery along the way. Monaco is rich beyond belief. It's too bad we missed the wedding last week. I did gamble at one of the casinos. I started with 5 euro, got down to about 0.50, and then got it back up to 4.50, not bad overall. The beach in Nice was beautiful and really long, but we only had an hour. Chalk that up as a place I would like to come back to see. More about Barcelona soon.