Amsterdam + 2

Our biggest goal today was to just enjoy the city and find some souvenirs from our travels. We headed to a large market in the morning and spent a few hours exploring the endless line of tents. Which is typical of Amsterdam, where there are quite a few large market areas that cater to everyone from the tourist to the long time local. From there we moved on to a section of town we had been to just 5 or so weeks before. The street is lined with apartments, cafes, pubs, and lots of unique stores. Many that house anything from original artworks and designs to vintage clothing or even the perfect waffle maker or motorcycle. Most of our afternoon passed as we entered countless shops with friendly store owners that gave us a look in to there lifestyles and passions. Leaving the area with some great gifts and ways to remember our European vacation we headed back to the bed and breakfast to nibble on some leftovers. We had a pretty low key evening getting everything in order, snacking on some Dutch favorites like Stroopwafels and Gouda cheese. Looking out on the canal as our last night came to an end was quite surreal. It seems like we just left Illinois, yet it feels like our travels have taken us so many places. We said good night to Amsterdam and headed of to bed to some rest before our long day of travel back home.

Amsterdam Again + 1

We decided that our hotel was too far out to experience all that we knew Amsterdam had to offer, so we booked a new hotel in the center of town. We had some time to kill, as we were not supposed to check in until 2. We decided to use this time to get some blog posting's finished. After a few hours of work we hopped on a tram and headed inward. We followed our directions to our new hotel, noticing a few familiar sites along the way. We both remembered how much we liked Amsterdam as we lugged our stuff around the cobble stone streets and sidewalks. We finally arrived at our destination which was a small bed and breakfast. We shortly discovered their was no management at the property, as we rang the door bell and wrapped on the door numerous times. They had nice little benches by the canals, so I let Kristen site down as I went out to get us a quick bite to eat. I weaved in and out of the busy shopping streets trying to find a good lunch deal for take away. I finally found something decent and quickly headed back to the hotel, as this was the longest Kristen and I had been apart this whole trip. I got back to see our bags and Kristen were both gone. Before my heart could skip a beat, the door open and Kristen peeked her head out the door. The cleaning guy had let her in, so we sat on the couch and waited for the owner to come back from lunch. There was a night time clerk there who led us up stairs and had the cleaning guy get a room ready for us. We got our things into the room and were about to head out but then ran into the owner. He got us all set up and we were on our way back into the streets of Amsterdam. Since this was a bed and breakfast there was a fully operational kitchen at our disposal and I had been craving one of Kristen's delicious home made meals, we headed to a grocery store down the road. We picked the ingredients for a great meal and headed back in. We cooked up a feast and had plenty of left overs. We headed back upstairs and just hung out all night talking about our wonderful trip and how much fun we had. We fell asleep early watching some English Law and Order and got ready for a long day of shopping for tomorrow.

Brussels Conclusion

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Brussels +3 and Amsterdam Again

Sunday morning we met back up with Debbie, Andrew, Ashley and Michelle for breakfast. We loaded up on Belgium waffles of course! From there we walked the streets a bit to find a grocery store where we could find some treats to bring back home with us. After getting maybe just a bit too much chocolate we headed to the metro to go out to the east side of town. There we saw the arch of Brussels, it looked similar to the one in Berlin, but much larger. We took some family photos and then we headed across town to the Atomium. Built in the late 1950's for the world exhibition in Brussels, you can't miss it, as these massive silver spheres stick out on the flat land. While we made our way closer for some photos we noticed a few people on top of the highest ball. It turns out that they were zip lining off the Atomium in to the tourist area. Looked a bit to crazy for us, especially a dark clouds approached. We were all hearing our stomachs growl so we stopped in for some colas and paninis. The afternoon was coming to an end so we all headed back to the train station, Evan and I had to go our own way and head on to Amsterdam. We really enjoyed meeting up with everyone. It couldn't have worked out better as a perfect end to our trip. Just getting to chat and talk about all of our travels with some fellow Americans, let alone family was nice. Thanks again guys for meeting up with us!!!!
After our last train ride:( we arrived back in Amsterdam. As we took a tram out to our hotel we were both getting excited to be back. Just seeing the city again revitalized our energy. It seems like it had been so long since we were there, but we instantly remembered so much about the compact little city with its tiny streets, calm canals, and the unique building fronts. The fact that our trip was coming to an end started to set in but we were glad to be back in Amsterdam.

Brussels + 2

We had previously planned to meet a few other Calhounians on our trip to Belgium. Kristen's cousin Andrew and his girlfriend Ashley have been in Germany for six weeks, where Andrew had an internship. Kristen's aunt Debbie who was traveling with her sister Michelle had just arrived in Germany to visit with Andrew and Ashley. We thought what better place to meet up than Brussels. They were to arrive in Brussels by train at 10:30 so we thought we would welcome them at the station. Upon arriving at the station, we discovered there were no arrival display's, so we didn't know which track to wait at. We have only been able to contact them by way of Facebook, so calling them was out of the question. We waited at the main staircase of the station for about a half hour after their train was supposed to arrive. We circled the building numerous times looking for them, but no such luck. We didn't know if we had missed their arrival or if it was running late. We headed out towards the general direction of their hotel looking in shops along our way. We weaved in between the small streets looking for their hotel, but didn't have specific directions. We decided to try and find an internet cafe and get on Facebook to sort things out. We left them a message and came back to our hostel to regroup and whatnot. We checked Facebook once more and found that Andrew got our message and wanted us to meet him at 7. We finally had decent directions so we headed over to their hotel. We found their hotel not more than a few feet from where we were previously looking for it. It was a relief to see some familiar faces. It was such a relief, that we all sat down and talked for a good two and a half hours without noticing our stomachs were growling. Andrew, Ashley, Kristen and I all headed out for some dinner around the center of town. While looking for a place to eat we came upon a light show on the Grand Palace which was pretty nifty. I suddenly had an urge for Greek food since we had brought it up in conversation from our night in Strasbourg, so Andrew led us to the Greek food street. We found a few empty chairs, ordered some food and beer and had a good time talking about our different experiences we all had while in Europe. Later we made our way down the street and ended up stopping in at a small pub where we had some homemade Belgian beer which was quite good. As we walked home from a great day, we made plans to meet up again in the morning to catch some sight seeing.

France Conclusion

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Brussels + 1

We decided to try different sleeping arrangements for our second night in Brussels, hoping to get wi-fi access. We headed to the northern part of town to store our luggage before check-in, but our private room in the hostel was actually ready so we headed to our room. Although everything started out great we soon found out that the wireless in the hostel was not compatible with Macs so we were out of luck again. It has been harder for us in France and Belgium to get on the internet on our personal computer and in turn harder to stay in contact on Skype and upload to our blog. So, we apologize for the delays and the massive postings at once, we are just playing a little catch up. We spent most of the afternoon Friday walking the streets window shopping and staring at the walls of beer, waffles and chocolate that were around each corner. We had a local tip that it was better to get larger amounts of chocolate at supermarkets. They said that that is were people from Brussels shop to buy their own sweets and the specialty shops are mainly for tourists with much higher prices. They assured us that Belgium takes such pride in its chocolate that to have the phrase, "Made in Belgium," means that it has to pass strict codes that assure it is top notch. So we headed to the supermarket and got to try our first Belgium chocolates. We are addicted. They were all amazing, with the Dark chocolate and praline mix as my favorite. Having tried the sweets we felt we needed to try some of the beer that makes Belgium famous. We got a few bottles and sampled away. We found some winners but surprisingly we had one that neither of us could finish. It didn't really taste like beer, but it was interesting to try to say the least. We soon called it a night and headed to bed, we had a big day awaiting us.

Brussels

Today we were set to head to our final new country, Belgium. We luckily got reservations on the last open train from Paris to Brussels, though we did have a short layover in Lille, France. In Lille, we had a quick lunch in the courtyard in front of the train station. After a short ride we arrived in Bruxelles, Brussel or Brussels (as we call it) and headed into town to check into our hotel. The country of Belgium is split in half with the north full of Flemish folk and the south, Wallonia, true to its French background. Brussels is basically in the middle and represents both sides. All of the street signs are in both French and Dutch. It was surprising to us how French everything seemed. I think in our heads we just imagined Brussels to look and sound a lot like the Netherlands and Germany. Since it was later in the evening when we got settled in and we weren't to familiar with the area we decided to finally see the version original (spoken English with both French and Dutch subtitles) of Harry Potter at a near by cinema. Glad that we went not only for the film, but the building itself was a fantastic piece of Art Deco architecture.

Paris + 2

After a couple great days in Paris, we decided that we should enjoy one more there. Not being able to see the catacombs was kind of disappointing, so we made it a must for the day. We had to switch to a hotel that could accommodate our internet needs and we couldn't check in until 2, so we left our luggage at our previous hotel and made our way to the catacombs. When we finally arrived we were met by a line that wrapped around the block. We ended up waiting in line for close to two hours, but in the end it was worth it. The catacombs consisted of a tunnel system a mile and a half long, filled with piles of symmetrically stacked femurs and skull bones up to my chin. It seemed surreal, so much though that Kristen touched some of the bones, I however stood a good distance away content with just taking pictures. We meandered through the tunnels until we finally reached the end. After washing our hands vigorously, we stopped by a grocery store picking up a massive amount of cheese and bread and had a feast of a lifetime. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting caught up on blog entries and contacting our families since we finally had access to the internet. We really still wanted to see Harry Potter, so we researched some cinemas in the area and headed out. They were all still sold out, so we just wondered around and ended up heading back to the hotel on the metro. We did realize when we bought our tickets for the metro that we were using youth (under 10) tickets the entire time which are 50% cheaper than the adult fare. Whoopsie.

Paris + 1

We woke from our grocery store feast with some leftovers still in tact. We had a quick breakfast, planned out our day and headed out to see what Paris had to offer. We to took the tram into the center of Paris in hopes to see numerous sites. While trying to find the French Catacombs, large military vehicles zipped past us. Large groups of these officials made their way down the confusing streets of Paris waving as they went. We really didn't think anything of it, other than maybe France was being invaded. We arrived at the catacombs and read yet another disappointing sign hanging on the door. The catacombs were closed for the day in recognition of a holiday. We put two and two together and figured out it was Bastille day, which is celebrated similarly to our 4th of July. Many of the sites and restaurants were closed for the day, so we had a limited selection. We made our way to the Eiffel Tower and found a large group of people waiting in the park for an event of some sort. When we got closer to the Tower, we determined it was a concert, featuring the some famous French rocker, probably the equivalent to Bruce Springsteen judging from the fans and t-shirts. We took a few quick shots and continued down the road to the Arch de Triumpe. The roadway to the Arch de Triumpe is famous for shops and people watching. The road was blocked off for the most part due to a parade for later in the day. We walked for a while down this street weaving in between hundreds of people to our destination. We made it to Arch where we had to take a tunnel underneath the famed circle street around, you know the one Clark Griswold gets suck on in European Vacation. Upon exiting we were met by numerous tourists trying to take cleaver pictures in front of the giant monument. After getting a few photos ourselves we made our way back to the hotel on the metro. By this time we were starving and hadn't had any time to research good restaurants, so we asked the front desk. The front desk worker informed us of a little jewel down the street that he frequents. We headed down the street and found the restaurant deserted except for one server/bartender/cook. We made sure they were open and took a seat in the back. We quickly found out that her didn't speak a bit of English, as we asked him for some menus. He moved us up front to were the chalkboard menus were. We tried our best to decipher what we could, but the server knew we were having some difficulties. He quickly stepped in to aid us by using hand gestures and running to the back to show us what some of the dishes were. He was super helpful as he helped us pick out our food. We talked for a bit and before we knew it our food was on its way out. We unknowingly ordered steaks which came with three sides. It was all really good and after the meal the kind man gave us a complimentary glass of wine. We had a really good time and wished we could come back the next night but we had a new hotel booked on the other side of the city. We headed back to the hotel looking for something to do and read that the Paris movie scene was pretty good, with lots of interesting theaters, so we decided to check it out. We really wanted to see the new Harry Potter movie but didn't know if anything would be available due to it being opening night. We looked up a few cinemas who were showing English versions of it and headed out on the metro. We climbed the stairs out of the metro only to find a line wrapping around the building of the first cinema. Heading down the street, all of the other cinemas were the same deal. Even though Harry Potter was sold out everywhere, we still were looking for something to do, so we decided to see Public Enemies. It was a pretty nifty flick, and a pretty nifty day.

Paris

After a not so exciting night in Mulhouse, we checked out and headed to the train station. We fueled up on coffee and croissants (a European delicacy) and mulled around the station for a bit. We figured there would maybe be a grocery store of some sort in the station, but there was none to be found. We bought some bakery type snack food for our five hour train ride to Paris, boarded the train and dug in for a long ride. When we went to make reservations for the train in Mulhouse, the trains we wanted were all booked, so we had to settle for an older train that took a little longer. When we talked to the ticket salesman he said that we didn't have to buy reservations, so we assumed that no one did. We discovered that was a false presumption when we were softly awoken on the train by an Asian man with a kind smile that kept repeating "skuzie". We had to move to another seat because he had booked a reservation for our seat. We moved back a car for the rest of our ride, eating our scheduled snacks Kristen had planned for us by the hour. We arrived in Paris, quickly mixing in with the hoards of people. We made our way further into the station, seeing a few French military guards walking around with machine guns (they meant business). We bought some tram tickets and quickly found our way to our hotel for the evening. Our five hour train ride really drained us, so we decided tonight would be a grocery store meal night. We bought a feast along with some box wine, (which is significantly better and cheaper than American box wine) and ate until our hearts were content.

Switzerland conclusion

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Italy conclusion

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Update!

Hello Everyone,
Hope all is well. We just wanted to let you know that we have been away from the internet for a while, so we are playing catch-up with our posts. Here are four new ones and there will be more to come. We love to hear all of your comments. Hope you enjoy.

France - Alsace Region

On our way through Alsace we planned a day trip to a small town named Colmar. We took a short train ride there from Strasbourg and quickly set out to view the town. Here we walked the around and witnessed the old untouched cobble stone streets and German/French style buildings. We kept our eyes peeled for anywhere we would see the name Eberlin (as it originates from this area), but were not lucky enough. We did however see quite a few Simons! After an afternoon of walking the streets of Colmar, we boarded a train to Mulhouse where we had booked a hotel for just a stayover on our way to Paris. We arrived in Mulhouse after a short train ride and made our way down the street to our hotel. Since it was Sunday, the streets of Mulhouse were dead. There were very few stores and restaurants still open. We checked in and made our way up to our room. It resembled a hospital room, and had a bathtub instead of a shower. There was a removable shower head however, but was only 8 inches above the bathtub. We set out through the town to try and find something to eat. While walking though the town we saw a street market in the distance. We thought there way be food, so we headed in that direction. This market ended up being a peddlers market, which consisted of cheesy clothes and rip off designer shoes. We made our way through the endless street tents and masses of people, finally making it to the end. We turned the corner and headed back towards the hotel. When turning off of the market street we were unaware that someone had thrown a large firecracker on the sidewalk. Unknowingly, we walked about 3 feet away from it when went off. It scared the living daylights out of us. We finally got a bite to eat, got back to our hotel and chatted with our family online.

Switzerland - Zurich & France - Strasbourg

After we checked out of our hotel we headed to the train station. Today we would be heading into France, but with one more stop in Switzerland. We rode to Zurich where we planned on scoping out the city for the afternoon. We walked the main street, were all of the high-end shops line the spotless walkways. It was a popular time to be strolling as it was Saturday and it seemed as if most of Zurich wanted to be by the lake. For lunch we picked up some picnicking supplies, lots of Switzerland cheese, and headed to the lake front. There we casually snacked as we fed the ducks and swans along with the other residents of Zurich. When we get back from the trip we are going to have to look up some of the interesting species we were giving lunch.
As the evening set in we took a train up the eastern boarder of France. We had a quick layover in Basel and the headed in to the Alsace region. Our destination was Strasbourg, the largest of the cities in Alsace. We wanted to spend some time in this area because that is from were the Eberlin family originated. The region is a little like a time warp because both Germany and France laid claim to it and it has been a part of both countries throughout the years, this was its protector during many of the battles of WWII as neither side wanted to destroy the land. On the train Evan and I had a bit of deja vu as we looked out on the countryside. Looking at the land it had an eerie resemblance to Calhoun, the rolling hills, farms and trees made us feel back at home. When we arrived at Strasbourg, a fairly large city, we got checked into our hostel. This one had a shower in the room, quite literally as it was only separated from the room with a small curtain. It was getting pretty late and we wanted to eat before everywhere closed, so we headed out into the town. While walking down a small side ally we found this little, bright and freshly decorated restaurant that was hiding in a corner. This turned out to be one of our more interesting dining experiences. Shortly after sitting down we discovered only the owner could speak a little English and he came over to help us order. Usually we do fine on our own, even with a foreign menu, since neither of us is very picky. Only this menu was hand written on a chalkboard and we had no idea where to begin. The owner, who was very patient and kind, explained that it was veggie or fish only and guided us through the few choices. I went for the Vegetarian special and Evan for a salad of orange and fish. When our meals arrived we were very happy with our food. I had food staples prepared in ways I have never tried before and Evan got to eat Swordfish for the first time. All of the details of the meal were great and we were very pleased with our Alsace experience.

Genève + 1

After walking around the city the previous night, we really wanted to enjoy the atmosphere Genève (Geneva) had to offer. The hostel we stayed at gave us free public travel tickets for the two days we were there, so we took advantage of that. We walked around the lake early in the morning eating some breakfast and headed to the water taxis that cross the lake. We took the public transport boat to old town and had a look around. While wondering though the streets of old town we came upon a chocolateteria. This was your standard Swiss chocolate shop that housed hundreds of different chocolate goodies. We browsed at bit and made our selection. When we paid for our items, the cashier offered us a sample of their specials for the day. I ate mine fairly quickly and looked towards Kristen who bounced her chocolate off of her lips and it hit the floor. She quickly picked it up and the cashier offered her another and holding his hand out to throw the slobbery one away. She made the next one in her mouth and we headed out to a court yard to enjoy our snacks. We toured old town some more looking though some shops and just checking out the culture. It was close to two so we headed back to our hostel to re-check into a private room. After getting changed, we headed back out towards the lake, grabbing some wine and beer as we went. The lake had a "public bath" which was just a dock area jutting out into the lake where people would layout, have lunch, take a nap, swim, splash and whatnot. We relaxed in the sun dangling our feet into the 58 degree water. Various people were taking laps out in the lake like it was nothing. We finally built up enough courage to take the plunge, and it was COLD! The lake water was so cold that it was numbing and as soon as you got out and into the sun you instantly dried. It was a strange feeling. After jumping into the freezing water a few more times we made our way back to the hostel to change. We got ready and made our way out across the street from our hostel to grab couple quick pizza, the cheapest sit down option in Genève. The server gave us our all french menus which we tried our best to decipher. We ordered a couple pizzas that had toppings that we could read for the most part. They both had a mystery ingredient that we couldn't read, but we thought we would take the chance. When our pizzas arrived my pizza consisted of ham, mushroom, olive and an over easy egg in the middle. Kristen's pizza consisted of mushroom, artichoke, olives and tuna fish. It turned out those mystery ingredients, the egg and tuna, were quite the surprise. They didn't look that appetizing, but they were really good believe it or not and we quickly cleaned our plates.

Switzerland - Bern and Genève

Early in the morning, the train arrived in Bern, Switzerland. To really wake up and rid ourselves from our uncomfortable night on the train we headed to the river and took a long stroll along the banks. The fresh air and cool breeze from the clear light blue-green water shook the sleep from us and got our day started. We got to see the town's public bath, the swimming pool, that was a part of the alpine river and we walked the old town streets where waterways cut through the sidewalks and roads. After a while we headed to a bakery and stocked up on some snacking food. By that time the city's Munster (cathedral) was open and we checked out the Gothic building. Here it was possible to climb the church's tower. From the top we could see the Swiss Alps in the distance in 3 directions. The view was also a great way to look out on the colorful roofs and streets of Bern. On our decent we peeked in a door and found the church's bell towers, just in time for them to start to ring, making our bodies shake as we navigated down the stairs. For being afraid of heights, Ev did pretty good with the climb. It was strange, though, I think he was more nervous at the top of the tower than when we on top of the mountain near Berchtsgaden. As the afternoon moved on we saw famous Bern sites like the 'ogre eating children' statue and a bear pit with no bears. We also took quite a few photos of some great Swiss designed posters.
We boarded our train in the late afternoon and headed to Genève (Genèva), Switzerland. The train ride was a scenic one as we passed along the Alps and most of the route looked out on Lake Genève, the largest Alpine lake in Europe. When we arrived we quickly noticed the differences of the town compared to Bern, which reminded us of small German towns. Genève was a larger city known for its international feel, with a much larger French influence than Bern. For a larger city, though, the streets were spotless and the people friendly. Our sleeping arrangements for the night were a bit different than normal. In our hostel we were to sleep in a 3-bed dorm. A little nervous for who our other roommate was going to be, we were prepared to lock up all of our things and sleep with one I open. It all turned out just fine though, the girl staying with us was a small Korean in her early twenties that was completely harmless. Contrary to the way most of us back home think of hostels, they have treated us both really well. Our rooms in hostels have all be clean, the staff helpful, the prices low and we have even received little perks like those city transport cards or advice on sights and events. That night we spent some time exploring the city and got to try a few new beers from countries not on our list of travels, our favorite of the night was from Poland.

Roma + 1

After awaking from a great red wine induced night of sleep, we had to check out of our hotel. We made our way down the street to the metro, bought a ticket and were off to the main train station. Our goal was to drop off our luggage in a locker and head to the Colosseum and Palatine Hill. When we arrived at the train station there were only luggage drop off points which I didn't trust. After waiting in line and talking it out we decided against luggage drop off and we headed out with our stuff. We boarded the metro and headed to the Colosseum stop. Upon arriving we walked out to a massive Colosseum only a few hundred feet across the street. We made our way around the giant structure and decided we would come to that last. Our real goal was to see Palatine Hill. We made our way in that direction being hassled by street peddlers trying to sell multi-colored sunglasses and umbrellas. When we arrived at the gate there was a sign hanging that said it was closed due to security issues. We later found out that the security issues were due to the G8 summit happening a few streets down. Kristen and I were pretty disappointed. After being denied access we walked around the gate housing Palatine Hill, taking pictures through the metal bars. We then made our way back to the Colosseum and decided against going in. After getting a few pictures, we made our way into town on foot to grab a bite to eat. After eating we wandered around on foot looking at a few different places of interest and then made our way back to the main train station. We got to the train station and got some work done. While writing in our travel journal, an old woman, who Kristen warned me about previously, came up to our table. She was a small Italian woman who was wearing a very open lacy shirt with no bra and started ranting in Italian. We tried to cut in numerous times saying that we only spoke English, but she didn't stop once. We sat there and let her finish not knowing anything she just said and she was on her way. It was interesting. It was finally time to board our night train so we headed to our platform and joined about 200 young Korean travelers. We found our car and met our roommates for the night, a young Australian couple and two young Korean boys. We previously reserved the top two bunks so we could talk to each other, this wasn't the best idea. The train was hot from sitting in the sun, so the top bunks were unbearable. We couldn't deal with the profuse sweating and stuffy air, so we had to find another car. We spent about and hour in there and then an hour in the hallway, trying to get a little sleep. After a bit we went in and toughed it out, which was pretty difficult, but it got cooler around 2 a.m. or so. That's when we finally got some sleep. We awoke to the train attendant letting us know we were close to our next destination Bern, Switzerland.

Roma

Rising with our semi-healed skin, we decided we now could handle the train ride to Roma (Rome.) After checking out we boarded another water bus and chugged around Venice before boarding the train. The line we were on had brand new passenger cars, but unfortunately our adapter wouldn't work with the plug-ins on the train. Usually we use the long train rides to catch up on our blog and work for back home. As always it all worked out though, because our route took us through the heart of Tuscany. Giving us hours of scenery while passing through Bologna, Firenze (Florence) and all of the hills, valleys and vineyards in between. When we arrived in Roma we had to go through quite a bit to find the best way to our hotel. A few hours later and a couple metro stops left us within walking distance of our place. Those few hours were very exhausting. The main train station was crowded, hot and not at all easy to navigate. We did manage to pick up some groceries on the way and made a convenient supper in our room and the whole process left us better prepared for our travels throughout the city the next day.
After a good night's rest we head to West Roma and entered the Vatican City. There we spent a good few hours touring the museums that held everything from ancient Roman busts to Egyptian statues and even works of Raphael, Leonardo de Vinci , and Michelangelo. Our walk through the maze of rooms ended with the famed Sistine Chapel. We were both overwhelmed by the amount of history around us, trying to take photos of everything that interested us such as old illuminated manuscripts and Roman statues with unique characteristics.
From the museums we headed around the bend to St. Peter's Basilica. Which in itself was like touring another museum. We looked out from the front gates at the obelisk that stands in the middle of the courtyard, made our way in front of Michelangelo's "Pieta" and wandered around the columns and statues that adorned the walls even catching a glimpse of the colorfully uniformed Papal Swiss Guards.
As the afternoon came to an end we headed back across town stopping at the Pantheon, with it's 2,000 year old columns that sit in the middle of a busy town square, and the Trevi Fountain, where we through coins over our backs to ensure another visit to Roma. This day was the most historically exciting visit we have had on our trip and well worth the crowds and heat of the city. To end the exhausting day we found a small pizzeria near our hotel, which turned out to be one of the best restaurant we have been to. Our pizzas cooked with fresh veggies as the waiter sang along to 90's American pop songs in the back. We had house wine that was practically free and ate our fill as we reminisced about the trip so far.

The Bavarian Alps Conclusion

Here is a photo montage of the Bavarian Alps. Enjoy!

Venezia +1

There wasn't much to this day, as it was strictly reserved for sunburn recovery. We hadn't planned to stay an extra day in Venice, but we both agreed that a 5 hour train ride with a severe sunburn wasn't going to be fun. Since both of our pale Illinois bodies had yet to see any sun, we inevitably burned to a crisp. We spent the day popping Aspirin, and lathering ourselves in expensive aloe creams. We did however manage to make it outside a couple times. Once in the afternoon to stop by a grocery store, where we bought a cheap meal and box wine (which wasn't too bad since we're in Italy I guess). The other was for dinner which was at a nice little place where we ate inside, because we weren't taking anymore chances with the sun even if it was dusk. We had some more authentic pizza's and some great red house wine. Our vacation to our vacation was over and next on the list was Rome.

Venezia

Escaping from our Innsbruck experience we arrived in Venezia (Venice) in the early evening. The actual city is composed of over a hundred fairly small islands clustered so close that the space in between the land makes up the canal system. This means that most of the canals run in wavering directions, nothing like the grid waterways that are in Amsterdam, making it very hard to navigate. The hotel we had booked was actually on one of the islands, Lido, that had a few hundred meters of water (a lagoon) between it and the rest of the city. So one side of this skinny island faced the city and one side faced the Adriatic Sea. The beaches that are on the sea side is why we wanted to stay here, we were in need of some relaxation days. Anyways, back to our arrival, when we exited the train station we found a ticket stand and got one way passes for ourselves and luggage aboard the main form of transportation here, a vaporetto, or water bus. There were a lot of buses boarding and leaving from the same dock, so we looked for our route and joined the crowd. On our way around the canals, very few cars were to be seen, all of the "taxis" were small boats. Since the ride had go throughout the city, then out across the lagoon, we were on the water bus for about 45 minutes and it turned out to be a good overall tour of Venezia. Once we landed in Lido, we looked up and our hotel was right in front of us. After checking in we were both quite exhausted so we grabbed a quick bit at a close pizzeria and headed off to bed. The next morning is what we had been waiting for and when we had gotten our hotel Italian breakfast (which is very similar to the rest of Europe-only more sweets) we headed across the island towards the beaches. Lido is a long island with 10 miles or so of beach front, but from one side of the island to the other in width it was a quick walk, only about a 1/2 mile. With 10 miles of beach front we had quite a few decisions on where we wanted to go, most of the beaches are private, though, a few are public. We had picked up a couple straw mats to layout on and we headed to the nearest public beach. The main difference we found with the private beaches is that no one was actual on the sand. Lounge chairs, couches and even beds, with a hefty cost to use, lined the private beaches. The public ones were free to enter and surprisingly not that crowded. We found a spot on the sand, which was the hottest sand I had ever felt, and spent the day relaxing in the sun. We spent quite a bit of time in the refreshing water also. Which was beautiful to look out upon, the water was calm compared to what we see in the ocean or gulfs back home. Only a few tiny waves lapped onto the beach. It was also strange to look away from the water and only see trees and parks instead of hotels and condos, which weren't allowed along the sea front. The beach was great although we left with something extra, two terrible sunburns!! As the afternoon wrapped up we headed back to the hotel to clean up and then headed out to a modern little Italian bar and cafe. Where we had homemade lasagna and pizza, and of course we had to end the night with some creamy gelato. It was a fantastic way to spend the 4th of July!!

Innsbruck

We had sketched out our directions to the hotel, but had soon realized that we didn't need them when we discovered the street signs leading to it. Going into this hotel, we knew that it didn't have a high rating on the internet, but it was the only place we could fine with rooms open, that should have told us something was up. When we arrived, we were greeted by a tall toothless man who spoke spotty english. He explained to us when breakfast was and where the bathroom and toilet were in the building. When we asked about connecting to the internet, he looked down and started pinching the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache. Mumbling in a mixture of German and English, his final response was "it's good sometimes, and not good sometimes". Kristen and I looked at each other and then back to him and he repeated his previous spiel. We went ahead and just accepted the fact he wasn't going to give us the password and made our way upstairs. After fiddling with the difficult lock to our room door, we finally got inside. We swung the door open to find a very drab room that contained three dingy sleeping areas and some hand me down towels by a dirty sink. We weren't ready to give up on it yet, all we needed was a place to sleep and shower, so we headed to check out the bathrooms. When we opened the door to the toilet, we saw what I continually refereed to as the "serial killer toilet". The room was about three feet wide by twenty feet long, with the toilet at the very end. The toilet was a famed german "shelf toilet", use your imagination, and about half way in the room was the dirty sink with yet another hand me down towel. Disappointed, we headed to the shower room. On the outside of the door was a sign that ironically said the word "bad", which is the german word for bath. We opened the door to find the most disgusting, hair crusted shower we have ever seen. The shower was the deciding factor that we could not stay here the scheduled 2 nights so we headed downstairs and let the innkeeper know we would be leaving in the morning and headed out to get some food to get our minds off of the hotel. We ate supermarket sandwiches and listened to a concert that was going on down the street. The next morning we awoke without much sleep. We packed up and checked out. Before our train left that afternoon, we decided to walk around and give Innsbruck a chance. We walked the pedestrian only streets admiring the architecture. All in all, I think we had seen all that Snakes Bend had to offer. We then headed to our next destination which was Venice, Italy.

Salzburg

We arrived at the quiet little Austrian town late in the evening. Quickly found our hotel and checked in. Though this hotel was more of just renovated rooms in a large house. It was the only thing we could find open when we booked the day before and it worked out quite nice. We got a little spoiled with a fancy bathroom which played music and a balcony. So after a good nights sleep, we picked up some food essentials and decided to eat in one of the numerous parks in Salzburg. From there we walked to the Altstadt, or old town, which I am sure you have heard us talk about before because all of the German and Austrian towns have them. In the Altstadt we found an impressive church, cobble stone streets and the coolest cemetery we have ever seen. The whole town of Salzburg kind of seemed like we were in a daze. The town is quite small a little over one hundred thousand people and as we roamed the streets, it seemed like all the residents had jobs that catered to the tourists that came to town whether the were street performers, vendors, or shop owners. The town itself is built into a high bluff and we decided to climb up the old city walls to get a better view. There was a lift, but we decided to man it up and decided to take the stair which turned out to be a trail with thousands of steps. It was worth it though because the view was amazing. After our slow decent, we headed to the train station, where we boarded an afternoon train to Innsbruck, which turned out to be quite an experience.

The Bavarian Alps

After our time in Munchen, we made our way to Austria. Before we actually crossed the boarder into Austria though, we had to stop by the famed Eagles Nest. The Eagles Nest was a 50th birthday present to Adolf Hitler which was rarely used. After exiting the train, we made our way to the bus station where we had to board a bus to Dokumentation (we weren't sure if this was an actual place or a area to take photos). Regardless, we made our way to Dokumentation and we were to board a second bus that would take us to the top of a mountain where the Eagles Nest resides. Among the several stop on the way to Dokumentation, the bus came upon a very slow driving old couple. The bus driver blared the horns and thought the car was going to speed up. The car did not speed up however, and the bus driver was forced to hit the brakes at the last second rear ending the slow vehicle. The angry bus driver started screaming what could only be curse words in german at the vehicle. He flagged the car down and had a few choice words with them and we were on our way again. We then arrived at Dokumentation which was just that a documentation of the near by town of Obersalzberg, where many Nazi officials had homes. The ride up the mountain was magnificent. The bus rounded corners that came inches away from falling into the deep depths of a valley. The bus driver had to have nerves of steel. We meandered through tunnels and on sharp corners; around every corner was a photo opportunity. When we finally arrived at the top the parked the buses and we got off. We stared in amazement at the view and headed into a dark tunnel where there was an elevator to the Eagles Nest. We waited in line for our turn and a large, german, man signaled us in and he didn't stop with us. He packed as many people into that elevator as humanly possible so much though that my fear of tight spaces was trumped by the severe b.o. of 30 sweaty tourists who just arrived from a hot bus. When we finally exited the sardine can, we made our way outside and we were awe struck. The views from on top of this mountain were unbelievable. No photo could even come close to this experience. We made our way further and further up, following paths to climb on top of large boulders, paths that snake around cliff edges and paths that go through tunnels. There was a photo op around every corner. We really thought that the Eagles Nest was going to be a tourist trap. It had its touristy things, but for the most part it was fabulous and if you ever have the chance, go for it. After a bit of exploring up there, we had to make our way back down to meet our departing bus. We could either take the elevator which was already lined out the door, or we could take the 20 min. walk down. We decided to make the walk but we only had 15 min. until our bus left, so we had to run it. It was a pretty easy jog down, but it was in pants and a dark shirt so profuse sweating ensued. We made our way back to the train station and on to our next destination Salzburg, Austria.

München conclusion

Here is an array of our München experience.

Berlin (conclusion)

Here is an array of Berlin photos, you can click to enlarge them. More München photos to come.

München + 1

With all the fun going on, we had to book another night. To start day we headed to the compact city center. The day before we saw a free tour gathering there so we decided to check it out. While waiting in front of the famous Glockenspiel, watching the wooden figures dance and twirl to the music we found out the details of the free tour. It promised history, offbeat facts and a beer at the end, all for free. Seemed too good to be true but we figured what the heck. This was our first guided tour in our trip. The host was a German woman that spent most of her life in Canada so her English was impeccable. She took us through the streets, stopping at obscure place where she fed us the knowledge of the city. It was a great walk. We got to see a small private church that was the most over decorated place I have ever seen. Our tour took us to small WWII resistance memorials that seem unseen unless you know what you are looking for and we covered buildings and beer halls that date back to King Ludwig. Also, just as promised are tour ended with a seat in a patio and a fresh beer. The guide only worked on tips, but I am sure she did well, for everyone was happy and impressed. I really feel like we know a lot of odd stories and facts about the city now, you will have to ask us all about them, for there are too many to write down. We spent the rest of the afternoon admiring the old buildings reconstructed after bombings of WWII. They were put back together just like the originals. This was possible because the towns people took thousands of photos of the city before the bombs hit. Our day ended with us back in a beer hall enjoying the fresh brews and lively atmosphere, wishing all of our friends could have been there to join in.

München

When we arrived in München (Munich) from Berlin we made sure that we reserved a hotel the night before. The only catch was that check in wasn't until 2 in the afternoon and we arrived at 7 in the morning. We had some time to kill. Like most of our destinations we let our curiosity take over us and we set out to explore the town. First thing was first though, we needed something to eat after the long overnight train ride. We stumbled upon an outdoor market full of fruits, freshly baked breads and traditional Bavarian foods. We picked up a quick bite from the German market workers, who knew little English. We walked and ate making our way to the biggest park in München which was famous for nude sunbathers. We walked down the park path next to a small rushing stream. When we came to the main road, their was some movement in the water. When we came closer we realized that people were surfing on a concrete wave right by the overpass over the stream. Some were novice and could only make it on the wave a mere second, but there were a couple seasoned vets that lasted as long as they wanted. It was quite a show. After the excitement in the stream we made our way back into the park through a different entry. We walked by some Beer Gardens and restaurants that still hadn't been cleaned from the previous night. We walked a little further to a bench by the rushing water, and we both fell asleep. We were out for about two hours, afterwards just sitting around and people watching for another hour trying to kill some time. Our backs couldn't take the bench anymore, so we made our way into town for a quick lunch. We walked around being indecisive, and finally sat down at a authentic German restaurant. The server, who we think was also the owner, gave us some English menu's, that were significantly smaller than their German counterpart which he saw us struggling with. We ordered some pasta, because we couldn't pronounce anything else. We realized that this restaurant had a special of white bratwurst served in a small porcelain container. We wish we could have tried that, but the specials were written on a chalkboard in German in really sloppy handwriting, so that was out of the question. After lunch we made our way to the hotel we had booked the night before. We came to the train station looking for a map and saw a sign that said that the hotel was a 10 min walk. We started down the road and soon realized the sign was not telling the truth. After about 20 min. we arrived at our hotel, showered, got ready and headed back out. We walked by a Beer Garden on the way to our hotel named the Augustiner Keller Beir Garten. It is a very famous brewer/beer garten that used their profits to pay for rebuilding some of the buildings destroyed in WWII. We walked in and were met by a mob of people all sitting in a cafeteria type setting, getting drunk and eating great looking food. From the looks of things the only beer everyone was drinking were out of huge mugs called mass glasses. We hopped into the food and beer line and decided on a Curry Wurst with fries, a salad, and a couple huge beers. I was a little worried about the Curry Wurst, but it turned out delicious. The beer was great tasting and in great abundance. The beer tender was holding four beer bottle in between his fingers pouring them into four glasses at the same time, they knew what they were doing here. There were so many people drinking so much beer here, they actually have a worker on a small truck driving through the rows of tables, loading up the back with mass glasses every 5 min. We really enjoyed everything München had to offer, so we decided to stay another night. I really recommend visiting München.