Hi everyone, well we were trying to decide what to do for one day in Frankfurt, and found a tour company that took you out to the Rhine River. We have found out that Frankfurt is probably not a city that we will return too. On our walk this morning by the Main (pronounced mine) River we found their Dom which is there main church. While it was really pretty, all around it was modern buildings. Yet just in front of the church we found what was a Roman bath ruins that had been uncovered dating back to before Christ. As we were walking around what looked like a very small version of "old town" by this church, I found postcards. I wanted one of the Dom church but also found a black and white showing the Dom church in 1945 and the whole city around it was rubble to the ground. We found out on our Rhine tour this morning that Frankfurt was pretty much leveled in WWII and they built a new modern version. So in this postcard from 1945, the Dom church is still standing while everything around it was gone. You could say that it was unbelievable luck that random bombs didnt hit the church, or divine intervention. Who knows. Even their old town is only about 60 years old. They had pictures and tried to reconstruct some of the buildings to look like they did before the war. But Frankfurt is a city of commerce. No tourism. Even the locals during the winter leave. It gets to a minus 20 celsius and all the locals leave and go to warm countries (Mexico, South Amercia, Australia) for 6 months. Its cheaper for them to leave for 6 months than stay in Frankfurt during the winter. So its swamp with tourists here because of the Rhine River in the summer and there is no one here in the Winter. So we took about an hour ride in a bus out to the Rhine River area. We went to what was called the Rhine Middle Section. The river is very long and we only did a small part. We stopped at this one citý and saw a hugh monument they have by the shore of a lady they call Lady Germania. Then we rode a ski lift from up above by her down to a small town called Assmannshausen and had lunch at a local restaurant. Then we got on the huge tour boat and took off in the north direction. We passed several castles along the shore. Some were restored. A couple were ruins. Some were youth hostels or hotels. All were very old dating back to 1000, 1100s and 1200s. We then went down past the Loreley point (the singing siren that lured sailors on the Rhine to their deaths). and caught our boat and returned to Frankfurt. It was a lovely day even though it threatened to rain.
We have been so lucky with the weather. So far (knock on wood) we keep dodging the rain. Tomorrow its suppose to rain, but we are on the train to Berlin so rain away!
One of the things about their trains here. You have to be sssooooo careful around the platforms. When we have been standing at a platform waiting for our train, you have to brace yourself. If one comes through before your train and its not suppose to stop at your train station, it doesnt slow down by the platform. Whatever speed it was doing when it arrives at the train station, it maintains the speed and whizzes through. Its downright scary at times. And we have been on our trains when they whizz through a station without stopping. Its scary to watch the platform fly by. Also, when your are waiting for a train, when it arrives, you have to be ready to get on as its not there very long before it leaves. But their trains are so efficent and definitely on time, so they know something we dont.
The temp. is getting colder and all the trees are turning to yellow and dropping around here. I would love to see Europe in the spring.
Last night Craig was reading and went to turn on the bed light by his side of the bed when it blew with sparks. the whole room went dark. Well not actually dark, as through the curtains the lights from the buildings across the street lit the room up as well as our lamps. But we lost all power. He tried to call the desk but no one answered. He was nervous to go out in the hallway for fear that he had blown the whole floor. But it was just our room and they came and tripped the circuit breaker.
We will definitely looked at American things at home in a completely different light. (Pardoned the pun!)
Love to all, miss you loads! Love from all of us to all of you.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Hi from Frankfurt!
Hi everyone, we are in Frankfurt, Germany. After i sent my email this morning, we walked downtown one last time and found a tower of a church with an overlook, so up we went! 295 stairs later, sweating and huffing, we came out on the top. What a view in 360 degrees. It was great.
It took all afternoon to get to Frankfurt. Our train came in the south terminal of the city and we found out we needed to get to the main terminal of Frankfurt, so we had to negociate the ticket system to catch a local train (very much like BART) to get to the main train station. Our hotel was just across the street. We are getting very good at hauling our suitcases behind us.
If I have learned anything, its think small on a European trip. I had already downsized my suitcase once before leaving, and after 5 weeks of hauling my medium suitcase around, I wish that I had brought a carry on size case. There have been many times where there was no elevator in the hotels and we hauled suitcases up flights of stairs. Or jumping on and off trains. You have to be fast, they dont wait for you when opening and closing their doors. So next trip, small and small.
Talk to you soon. lots of love from Germany!
By the way, Karen found a cool Hummel. It was a little boy at a gate ringing a doorbell for Doctor Muller. He had a bandage on his right forehead and holding his left hand on his other side of the forehead. It was great, as Stan and Karen have both hit their heads on this journey. Perfect way to remember Europe!
It took all afternoon to get to Frankfurt. Our train came in the south terminal of the city and we found out we needed to get to the main terminal of Frankfurt, so we had to negociate the ticket system to catch a local train (very much like BART) to get to the main train station. Our hotel was just across the street. We are getting very good at hauling our suitcases behind us.
If I have learned anything, its think small on a European trip. I had already downsized my suitcase once before leaving, and after 5 weeks of hauling my medium suitcase around, I wish that I had brought a carry on size case. There have been many times where there was no elevator in the hotels and we hauled suitcases up flights of stairs. Or jumping on and off trains. You have to be fast, they dont wait for you when opening and closing their doors. So next trip, small and small.
Talk to you soon. lots of love from Germany!
By the way, Karen found a cool Hummel. It was a little boy at a gate ringing a doorbell for Doctor Muller. He had a bandage on his right forehead and holding his left hand on his other side of the forehead. It was great, as Stan and Karen have both hit their heads on this journey. Perfect way to remember Europe!
Hi from Munich!
Hi everyone, miss you all a lot.
On Sunday, our train ride took most of the afternoon. Karen and I sat up toward the front of a car where the seating was minimal (probably for people with bikes and heavy luggage). But the view was great. sometimes this preferable to riding backwards with a backward view out the window. Well, this would be a good time to talk about the intricacies of how to work European bathrooms. Craig took a good five minutes trying to figure out how to lock the door on this particular bathroom on the train. When he finally figured out the buttons, he then explained it to us. As Karen and I were sitting up in this front part, we were also sitting by the bathroom door. No surprise there, I realized that I became the bathroom monitor. It wasnt just us that couldnt figure it out. Even the locals were stumped. So as each person walked in (it was a big one for handicapped). Ýou could see puzzlement on their faces. The doors usually have the open and close buttons on them, but this one had open and close and lock buttons on the side wall. So I couldnt stand watching them struggle and there was no translation needed to show the open, close and most importantly the lock button. But each time we use a public bathroom, these buttons along with how does the water turn on, what do you push to flush the toilet, how do you dry your hands, and more always has us chuckling as we exit. Every single one is different and we do a lot watching others first to figure it out. Craig loved the one in Como where the doors opened and closed with a whoosh like a Star Wars space ship, and then when you were done, locked the door and sprayed the whole bathroom with water to wash it down. Other places where there is attendants, they take pride to keep them clean and when you are done, they are right in there behind you, making sure they are clean for the next person. Its really quite amazing to observe their workings.
Okay, we arrived in Munich. We got here in the afternoon, and immediately started checking the tour brochures as we only had one full day here. We finally found one that takes you out to the castles. But they were closed. So yesterday we were up and going by 8 a.m. at the train station to find the tourist office opened at 8. We found a tour bus that took you out to two famous castles and made the bus by 10 minutes. It was packed and we sat in the very back but we were excited to make it.
First we left Munich and got on the Autoban. Now I have heard a lot about this, but when we got on it, it wasnt that bad. The buses have to go no more than 65 mph in the slow lane but we found that most cars didnt fly by. An occasional zipper flew by but it didnt seem that scary.
First we went to Castle Linderhof. It was smaller, but when you got inside, it was opulent galore. It was built by King Ludwig II, the last Baviarian king. He loved French architecture and design and had barroque design everywhere. It was beautiful with gold carvings, statures and gold framed paintings on walls and ceilings.
We then made a quick stop in a town for shopping, there were tons of tourist stores here and our tour guide recommeneded three. It was obvious he knew the people but it was still fun to walk around and check out the stores.
We then went onto the next castle. Castle Neuschwanstein. This is the castle that everyone sees in postcards perched up on a mountainside looking like a fairy princess castle, and its the one that Walt Disney used to design the castle in Disneyland. We got to a lower parking spot for the bus and then hiked up (and up and up). But the view of the valley below was incredible. We then went on the tour inside. Again this belong to King Ludwig II and he loved Robert Wagner music so all the design inside reflected his operas and stories. But what was interesting was only about 1/3 of the castle was finished. For some unknown reason they had this king declared insane and shipped off to another castle where he was found drowned in a lake with his doctor the next day, all at the age of 40. Many speculate there was nothing wrong with him but policital intrigue looked for an excuse to get rid of him, so it could have been murder or suicide. No one knows. As the money for the castle building came from family money, I am suspicious they had had enough of his extravagant spending and called a halt. So we only toured the finished parts but wow, unbelievable extravagant furnishings and tapastries, and carved oak wood. We went way up in the castle and the views all around took your breath away.
We finally came down, got back on the bus and 2 hours later at 6:30 p.m. we tiredly returned to our hotel. Exhausted but thrilled at what we had seen.
We then returned to the Haufbrauhos restaurant again. Good German food. I loved their version of meatballs and mash potatoes. Craig ate pigs knuckle, he loved it. We sat in the non smoking section, but out in the main dining hall, the beer was flowing freely, with cigarette and cigar smoke. They were having a great time, as a band played.
Walking around Munich, you dont see much "old town" with 4 or 500 year old buildings. WWII destroyed much of their old town and they tried to reconstruct a lot of it, but it is more of a modern city to explore. But we found a pedestrian walkwaz with every possible expensive store you could imagine.
So today we are off to Frankfurt. Wont get there till later this afternoon.
We miss you all so much. Love from all of us to all of you.
On Sunday, our train ride took most of the afternoon. Karen and I sat up toward the front of a car where the seating was minimal (probably for people with bikes and heavy luggage). But the view was great. sometimes this preferable to riding backwards with a backward view out the window. Well, this would be a good time to talk about the intricacies of how to work European bathrooms. Craig took a good five minutes trying to figure out how to lock the door on this particular bathroom on the train. When he finally figured out the buttons, he then explained it to us. As Karen and I were sitting up in this front part, we were also sitting by the bathroom door. No surprise there, I realized that I became the bathroom monitor. It wasnt just us that couldnt figure it out. Even the locals were stumped. So as each person walked in (it was a big one for handicapped). Ýou could see puzzlement on their faces. The doors usually have the open and close buttons on them, but this one had open and close and lock buttons on the side wall. So I couldnt stand watching them struggle and there was no translation needed to show the open, close and most importantly the lock button. But each time we use a public bathroom, these buttons along with how does the water turn on, what do you push to flush the toilet, how do you dry your hands, and more always has us chuckling as we exit. Every single one is different and we do a lot watching others first to figure it out. Craig loved the one in Como where the doors opened and closed with a whoosh like a Star Wars space ship, and then when you were done, locked the door and sprayed the whole bathroom with water to wash it down. Other places where there is attendants, they take pride to keep them clean and when you are done, they are right in there behind you, making sure they are clean for the next person. Its really quite amazing to observe their workings.
Okay, we arrived in Munich. We got here in the afternoon, and immediately started checking the tour brochures as we only had one full day here. We finally found one that takes you out to the castles. But they were closed. So yesterday we were up and going by 8 a.m. at the train station to find the tourist office opened at 8. We found a tour bus that took you out to two famous castles and made the bus by 10 minutes. It was packed and we sat in the very back but we were excited to make it.
First we left Munich and got on the Autoban. Now I have heard a lot about this, but when we got on it, it wasnt that bad. The buses have to go no more than 65 mph in the slow lane but we found that most cars didnt fly by. An occasional zipper flew by but it didnt seem that scary.
First we went to Castle Linderhof. It was smaller, but when you got inside, it was opulent galore. It was built by King Ludwig II, the last Baviarian king. He loved French architecture and design and had barroque design everywhere. It was beautiful with gold carvings, statures and gold framed paintings on walls and ceilings.
We then made a quick stop in a town for shopping, there were tons of tourist stores here and our tour guide recommeneded three. It was obvious he knew the people but it was still fun to walk around and check out the stores.
We then went onto the next castle. Castle Neuschwanstein. This is the castle that everyone sees in postcards perched up on a mountainside looking like a fairy princess castle, and its the one that Walt Disney used to design the castle in Disneyland. We got to a lower parking spot for the bus and then hiked up (and up and up). But the view of the valley below was incredible. We then went on the tour inside. Again this belong to King Ludwig II and he loved Robert Wagner music so all the design inside reflected his operas and stories. But what was interesting was only about 1/3 of the castle was finished. For some unknown reason they had this king declared insane and shipped off to another castle where he was found drowned in a lake with his doctor the next day, all at the age of 40. Many speculate there was nothing wrong with him but policital intrigue looked for an excuse to get rid of him, so it could have been murder or suicide. No one knows. As the money for the castle building came from family money, I am suspicious they had had enough of his extravagant spending and called a halt. So we only toured the finished parts but wow, unbelievable extravagant furnishings and tapastries, and carved oak wood. We went way up in the castle and the views all around took your breath away.
We finally came down, got back on the bus and 2 hours later at 6:30 p.m. we tiredly returned to our hotel. Exhausted but thrilled at what we had seen.
We then returned to the Haufbrauhos restaurant again. Good German food. I loved their version of meatballs and mash potatoes. Craig ate pigs knuckle, he loved it. We sat in the non smoking section, but out in the main dining hall, the beer was flowing freely, with cigarette and cigar smoke. They were having a great time, as a band played.
Walking around Munich, you dont see much "old town" with 4 or 500 year old buildings. WWII destroyed much of their old town and they tried to reconstruct a lot of it, but it is more of a modern city to explore. But we found a pedestrian walkwaz with every possible expensive store you could imagine.
So today we are off to Frankfurt. Wont get there till later this afternoon.
We miss you all so much. Love from all of us to all of you.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Hi from Salzburg, Austria!
Hi everyone, wow, is Salzburg a beautiful city. I forgot to mention yesterday when we were at the church in the center plaza area, they had a section chain linked off and it looked like there was archaeological digging going on. What we found out was that they had discovered human bones in an old cemetry that the original church had been over and later the direction of the church had been changed. So they had uncovered what looked like square stone pillar bases and we saw two sets of workers laboring very diligently with small paint brushes over exposed human bone skeletons. It was cool to watch.
Well today we got up and caught the Panoramic tour bus that in the morning took us out to a salt mine about 45 minutes from town. Being a little nervous about going under ground in anything that resembled a cave, my mind was at war about not wanting to miss anything and getting the heck out of there. Well this tour was coooolllll! We rode a train car in (after we dressed in overalls over our clothes). We then traveled deep into the mountain where they had drilled for underground salt deposits. We walked around looking at the drilling equipment and you could see the salt right in the rock. It looked red because of iron ore deposits. Apparently they would look for large deposits, flood it with water, and then the pockets would sit for 30 years as the brine would settle out. We took a boat ride across one of these large ponds of settlement. It was kinda creepy but cool at the same time. We also got to go down two actual wood slides. You would sit on your butt just like Splash Mtn. at Disneyland and then slide down quite a long slide to a lower level. We got to do this twice. They showed us a pump that had runned for 110 years (1817-1927) without any breakdowns. Amazing technology for several hundred years. We've got pictures of us going down the slides. Pretty funny.
Then we came back and went on the Original Sound of Music Tour. This was actually cool. We had a tour guide who knew her stuff. We drove around Salzburg and saw the bridge and grass bank where they played in the drapes clothes. We saw the Mirabell gardens where they go around singing the Do Re Me song, saw the Abby up on the hill (hope to go find this abby tomorrow) for all the Nun scenes that is still an actual abby for Nuns today), then we went out for a drive to see all the lake district. We saw about 5 of about 50 lakes with all their local villages. Gorgous! We stopped at Mondsee lake and village where Julie Andrews married Christopher Plummer in the beautiful wedding scene. Saw the church, wow, and several more scenes. Plus we saw so much of the countryside. It was a full day but we loved it.
Our days are full and we get tired. But we are trying to cram in as much as we can in our short stays. But boy do I have dreams of where i would love to come back to.
Anyone is welcomed to come watch the Sound of Music at our house, just be prepared for "we saw that! we saw that too!" (just kidding!)
Miss all of you a lot. Hope you are all well. Love from all of us to all of you.
Well today we got up and caught the Panoramic tour bus that in the morning took us out to a salt mine about 45 minutes from town. Being a little nervous about going under ground in anything that resembled a cave, my mind was at war about not wanting to miss anything and getting the heck out of there. Well this tour was coooolllll! We rode a train car in (after we dressed in overalls over our clothes). We then traveled deep into the mountain where they had drilled for underground salt deposits. We walked around looking at the drilling equipment and you could see the salt right in the rock. It looked red because of iron ore deposits. Apparently they would look for large deposits, flood it with water, and then the pockets would sit for 30 years as the brine would settle out. We took a boat ride across one of these large ponds of settlement. It was kinda creepy but cool at the same time. We also got to go down two actual wood slides. You would sit on your butt just like Splash Mtn. at Disneyland and then slide down quite a long slide to a lower level. We got to do this twice. They showed us a pump that had runned for 110 years (1817-1927) without any breakdowns. Amazing technology for several hundred years. We've got pictures of us going down the slides. Pretty funny.
Then we came back and went on the Original Sound of Music Tour. This was actually cool. We had a tour guide who knew her stuff. We drove around Salzburg and saw the bridge and grass bank where they played in the drapes clothes. We saw the Mirabell gardens where they go around singing the Do Re Me song, saw the Abby up on the hill (hope to go find this abby tomorrow) for all the Nun scenes that is still an actual abby for Nuns today), then we went out for a drive to see all the lake district. We saw about 5 of about 50 lakes with all their local villages. Gorgous! We stopped at Mondsee lake and village where Julie Andrews married Christopher Plummer in the beautiful wedding scene. Saw the church, wow, and several more scenes. Plus we saw so much of the countryside. It was a full day but we loved it.
Our days are full and we get tired. But we are trying to cram in as much as we can in our short stays. But boy do I have dreams of where i would love to come back to.
Anyone is welcomed to come watch the Sound of Music at our house, just be prepared for "we saw that! we saw that too!" (just kidding!)
Miss all of you a lot. Hope you are all well. Love from all of us to all of you.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Hi from Salzburg!
Hi everyone, we are now in Salzburg, Austria. Wow, the home of Mozart and chocolate. Speaking of chocolate, I am going to go through serious withdrawals when I get home. There have been some days when I have chocolate 3 times a day. Some hotels had croissants with chocolate in them. Then we would find chocolate stores that were just calling us by name to stop and buy some, and then of course you need a chocolate chaser after dinner. We are walking so much that my clothes seem to still be fitting fine. But as soon as we get home, things will not be the same so I am going to enjoy it now while I can!
Yesterday we spent most of the day just getting here from Innsbruck. Today we did a walking tour around the old town. Their main cathedral was gorgous inside. We love to go in and check out all the different architecture and craftmanship in how they design their churches. No two are alike. Also, we saw the baptismal fountain that Mozart was baptised in. There were horse drawn carriages everywhere. We didnt do one today, I hope another time. There are a lot of upper class stores in the old town but its fun to window shop. But I draw the limit at €129 euros for a Porche wallet. This afternoon we rode a funicular (like the cog wheel trams) up to the Hohensalzburg fortress. It was huge and the original foundation was started in the 700s and as each ArchBishop in the church came along they built and expanded the buildings to form a huge fortress up on the mountain top overlooking the city. The views were spectacular. It is like the landmark for the city of Salzburg.
Craig is going to type now:
Time is short here at the Internet Cafe, so I will save my comments on transportation for another time. About Salzburg--it is a fairytale kind of place. Looking across the rooftops this afternoon as we rode up to the fortress was way better than Disneyland. The church towers and other old architecture is fascinating. We stood in a square today called Residenz Plaz, and listened to the Glockenspiel plaz--35 bells that are operated by a mechanism built by a watchmaker 400 years ago. It has been a blessing and a treat to see so much history. And there is so much that we don't have time for!
Back to Carol---
We feel like there is so much to see and not enough time. We know that we are only scratching the surface. But heck, there are always more trips in the future!
Tomorrow we are heading for a salt mine, Salzburg means salt city. Then in the afternoon we are doing The Sound of Music tour. We thought it would be cheezy, but Rick Steves actually recommended in his 2007 book so we're going to try it.
Love to all from all of us.
Yesterday we spent most of the day just getting here from Innsbruck. Today we did a walking tour around the old town. Their main cathedral was gorgous inside. We love to go in and check out all the different architecture and craftmanship in how they design their churches. No two are alike. Also, we saw the baptismal fountain that Mozart was baptised in. There were horse drawn carriages everywhere. We didnt do one today, I hope another time. There are a lot of upper class stores in the old town but its fun to window shop. But I draw the limit at €129 euros for a Porche wallet. This afternoon we rode a funicular (like the cog wheel trams) up to the Hohensalzburg fortress. It was huge and the original foundation was started in the 700s and as each ArchBishop in the church came along they built and expanded the buildings to form a huge fortress up on the mountain top overlooking the city. The views were spectacular. It is like the landmark for the city of Salzburg.
Craig is going to type now:
Time is short here at the Internet Cafe, so I will save my comments on transportation for another time. About Salzburg--it is a fairytale kind of place. Looking across the rooftops this afternoon as we rode up to the fortress was way better than Disneyland. The church towers and other old architecture is fascinating. We stood in a square today called Residenz Plaz, and listened to the Glockenspiel plaz--35 bells that are operated by a mechanism built by a watchmaker 400 years ago. It has been a blessing and a treat to see so much history. And there is so much that we don't have time for!
Back to Carol---
We feel like there is so much to see and not enough time. We know that we are only scratching the surface. But heck, there are always more trips in the future!
Tomorrow we are heading for a salt mine, Salzburg means salt city. Then in the afternoon we are doing The Sound of Music tour. We thought it would be cheezy, but Rick Steves actually recommended in his 2007 book so we're going to try it.
Love to all from all of us.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Hi from Craig, still in Innsbruck, Austria
Austria is a beautiful place. I just finished walking around through part of old town, and the old architecture is just beautiful. Many of the buildings hear are 500 years old and very well maintained. I really like it here. But, I really need to elaborate on the way things work. The public transportation is wonderful--efficient and on time, the water is fresh, cold, and plentiful, and the plumbing is, well, top notch. When we were in London, the toilet in our hotel had a problem, but since I didn't have a chance to do a decent survey, I will reserve judgement. But ever since, there has been no such thing as a second flush, and I say that after sampling flush efficiency in five countries. Maybe they have a lot of water here, but let me give you a good example. In our current hotel, the toilet has two buttons on the wall. They aren't labeled, but I have concluded from experimentation that the big one is for #2, and the small one is for #1. As you might guess, the #1 button uses less water, which makes the whole system quite efficient and effective. And when the situation calls for a #2 flush, one time is all you need. Why can't we have this technology in the United States? When it comes to bathroom plumbing, we are behind the times. Another remarkable unit was the public restrooms in Bellagio, Italy. They cost .5 Euros to use, but the entire interior of the restroom was cleaned and sanitized automatically between each user. Awesome!
Tomorrow we leave for Salzburg, Austria, and more beautiful scenery, nice people, and good food. Last night I had Wienerschitzel with salad and roasted potatoes. Delicious. You may hear from Carol next--she is napping right now. But I will take the opportunity to elaborate on transportation in my next post. Auf Weidersehen!
Tomorrow we leave for Salzburg, Austria, and more beautiful scenery, nice people, and good food. Last night I had Wienerschitzel with salad and roasted potatoes. Delicious. You may hear from Carol next--she is napping right now. But I will take the opportunity to elaborate on transportation in my next post. Auf Weidersehen!
Monday, October 8, 2007
Hi from Innsbruck, Austria!
Hi everyone,
Well we are in Innsbruck, Austria and we are still doing great. During our second day in Como we went out for the taxi ride on the lake and saw wonderful villas on the waters edge. We rode up to a big villa called Bollagio with gardens and walked around. But we messed up on the time to come back and so we just rode the taxi boat back. didnt have time to get off anywhere else. But the taxi ride was great. Clear weather and warm breezes. Lake Como is like a huge upside down letter Y and it took several hours just to do one section of it.
The next day we took a local train down to Milan. What an incredible city. It was waz bigger than we expected. We walked from the train station down toward the Duomo which is their big plaza with their huge cathedral. what we didnt know what that this church is the 3rd largest in the world. The outside is ornate in Gothic style and unbelievable detail. The church inside was dark and dark stone but very tall and I love the gorgous stain glass windows. the colors are so vibrant when the sun shines through them, I could stare at them forever. We then walked through a huge fortress that is in the center of town that a Viscount built in the 1300s.
We have been on the move and staying busy.
But yesterday we took the train from Como to Innsbruck and we went through ´Zurich. It took 4 hours to get there and then 4 hours to get from Zurich to Innsbruck. We were exhausted last night but we got a train this time with an actual compartment. Like what the kids ride in going to Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies.But the train system is great over here and its too bad that Americans cant figure this out, because the pollution over here is so much less.
Today we found another sightseeing tour bus around Innsbruck and we took trams up to the mountain peak called Hafelekarspitze at about 7000 feet. It was something to stand that high and see the Austrian alps to the north and south and could determine where Switzerland and Italy was from up there. Is is so easy to find a perch on a wall and just sit and soak in the grandeur of the mountain jagged peaks and the spectacular views. I know that the pictures when we get home wont do them justice.
We are eating good. We arnt begging for food yet. We discovered that the grocery stores are pretty cheap. So we eat our free breakfast at the hotel, we make peanut butter and jam sandwiches (Nutella chocolate sandwiches), fruit and cookies and then eat out for dinner at restaurants. Its really making a difference in the high cost over here.
Miss you all very much. We are going back to our hotel and going to the basement to swim at their cool looking hotel swimming pool.
Take care and talk to you soon. Love from all of us to all of yzou.
Please forgive the typing errors, its still an european computer keyboard!
Well we are in Innsbruck, Austria and we are still doing great. During our second day in Como we went out for the taxi ride on the lake and saw wonderful villas on the waters edge. We rode up to a big villa called Bollagio with gardens and walked around. But we messed up on the time to come back and so we just rode the taxi boat back. didnt have time to get off anywhere else. But the taxi ride was great. Clear weather and warm breezes. Lake Como is like a huge upside down letter Y and it took several hours just to do one section of it.
The next day we took a local train down to Milan. What an incredible city. It was waz bigger than we expected. We walked from the train station down toward the Duomo which is their big plaza with their huge cathedral. what we didnt know what that this church is the 3rd largest in the world. The outside is ornate in Gothic style and unbelievable detail. The church inside was dark and dark stone but very tall and I love the gorgous stain glass windows. the colors are so vibrant when the sun shines through them, I could stare at them forever. We then walked through a huge fortress that is in the center of town that a Viscount built in the 1300s.
We have been on the move and staying busy.
But yesterday we took the train from Como to Innsbruck and we went through ´Zurich. It took 4 hours to get there and then 4 hours to get from Zurich to Innsbruck. We were exhausted last night but we got a train this time with an actual compartment. Like what the kids ride in going to Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies.But the train system is great over here and its too bad that Americans cant figure this out, because the pollution over here is so much less.
Today we found another sightseeing tour bus around Innsbruck and we took trams up to the mountain peak called Hafelekarspitze at about 7000 feet. It was something to stand that high and see the Austrian alps to the north and south and could determine where Switzerland and Italy was from up there. Is is so easy to find a perch on a wall and just sit and soak in the grandeur of the mountain jagged peaks and the spectacular views. I know that the pictures when we get home wont do them justice.
We are eating good. We arnt begging for food yet. We discovered that the grocery stores are pretty cheap. So we eat our free breakfast at the hotel, we make peanut butter and jam sandwiches (Nutella chocolate sandwiches), fruit and cookies and then eat out for dinner at restaurants. Its really making a difference in the high cost over here.
Miss you all very much. We are going back to our hotel and going to the basement to swim at their cool looking hotel swimming pool.
Take care and talk to you soon. Love from all of us to all of yzou.
Please forgive the typing errors, its still an european computer keyboard!
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