Venice, Italy June 21, 2013

3 trains and 7.5 hours brought us to Venice.  Venice definitely has the WOW factor.  It was everything we imagined although much larger than we thought.  We got off the train and walked about 15 minutes alongs the canals until we arrived at our hotel - Ca Fontanea - in a small square down a quiet lane.  We unloaded our packs and went looking to eat.  We had spaghetti, pizza, tiramisu, gelato and espressos. Check. Check. Check. Check. Check.  A walk around the canals and shopping and back to our hotel.  We are leaving on our cruise tomorrow morning, but we will be back after the cruise and will be staying for 3 nights.  Pictures when we come back.

Salzburg, Austria June 18-20, 2013

On June 18 (I think it is Tuesday), we hopped on a train to Salzburg - yup one train, no connections, it was a treat and only 1.5 hours.  We arrived in the early afternoon and took a taxi to our hotel.  We actually didn't realize how far we were out of the centre of Salzburg as we kept driving and driving.  Oh well - there are always buses and taxis.  We arrived at the very modern, new and clean Motel One (with air conditioning) on a day that was 34C.  After getting some directions, we decided to walk to find a laundromat (which we are desperate for) and have some lunch.  Then walked to town along the river.  It took us about 1 hour to walk to the centre of Salzburg (remember it was 34C) and we decided we needed a cold drink - yup - BEER, but not regular beer, Austrian beer!  We walked around the old town shopping district for awhile and then hopped on a bus back to the hotel.  We stopped at the grocery store for some bread, meat, cheese etc and sat outside our hotel and ate this for dinner along with 2 mini bottles of wine.  We then lounged in the outside lobby of the hotel for the rest of the evening with a couple of beer.

June 19 - got up bright and early and went downstairs for breakfast.  We had to be waiting in the lobby at 9 am for our Sound of Music tour.  This was a very fun tour where we got see may of the sights where the movie was filmed.  We saw Mirabell Palace Gardens (where they sang Do Re Mi), the back yard of the house and lake (Leopoldskron Palace - interesting that they used a different house for the front), the Nonnberg Abbey (where Maria was a nun), the gazebo (now rebuilt on the grounds of Hellbrun Palace), the meadows where they sang), the Mondsee Cathedral where they got married which is in lake district.  It was also a great tour from a city historical perspective.  AND it was an air conditioned bus - IT WAS 37C!  After the tour, we walked through the Mirabell Palace Gardens and into the old town where we had a cold drink and I bought some sunglasses - real ones (Raybans), not the $10 gas station variety - I am quite surprised to actually be able to see clearly through sunglasses - I just assumed all these years that foggy unclear vision normal.  We walked around the old town and saw the Salzburg Cathedral, St. Peter's Cemetery and Catacombs and St. Peters Church.  We stopped for a late lunch/dinner of bratwurst and beer (can't get enough and we will be out of bratwurst/beer country soon).  We hopped on a bus back to the hotel, had a little rest and went down to the outdoor lounge for a nightcap.

June 20 - we slept in to about 9 am.  This was going to be our lazy, laundry, packing day as we are going on our cruise on Saturday and Friday is a 7.5 hour train day to get to Venice.  We had breakfast, went for a long walk and then went to do laundry.  Had to where my swim suit and a tank top I bought to the laundromat as everything else need to be washed - great or not-so-great planning - not sure.  We went for a long walk along the river for about 2 hours (it was about 32C) away from town into what seemed like the country - we didn't really see any houses.  Then off to laundry.  The thermometer was climbing and I think it ended up around 34C today.  After laundry we stopped for a beer and a little shopping.  We then stopped at the grocery store for a few light snacks like vegetables, olives and sausage and had those with a beer in the hotel lobby.  Now we are packing as we have a loooooong day tomorrow of about 7.5 hours on 3 trains to get to Venice, Italy - can anyone say expensive?

Gazebo from Sound of Music - Notice the Lady dressed up - she was a tourist on our bus

Old Town

Fortress

Germany - Some Random Thoughts ...

Germany surprised us!  For whatever reason, Germany was probably at the bottom of our list of countries to visit.  During our week or so in Germany, it became our favourite country that we have visited so far.  The people were so friendly, the food was delicious (the best on our trip so far), the sites were very interesting and it was beautiful!  It reminded me alot of my parents who were of German descent especially the food where on several occasions I could actually taste my mom's cooking as we ate.  We could definitely see ourselves coming back here to explore further.

Munich, Germany June 16-17, 2013

Again, after 4 trains (it isn't as bad as it sounds), we arrived in Munich on Sunday afternoon.  A short walk from the train station brought us to our hotel - Hotel Royal - quite nice for 70 Euros per night.  After unloading our packs (which seem to be getting heavier even though we are buying very little), we walked to the Marienplatz - the centre square in Munich.  What a bustling place!  We found out that it was Munich's birthday so the entire square was set up as a beer garden and had live music.  BUT we were on a mission - to find the world famous Hofbrauhaus!  Only a few blocks away, we came across the holy grail of beer - the Hofbrauhaus.  We sat down and ordered 1 litre jugs of beer each, some bratwurst, some weisswurst (really seemed like bratwurst but boiled), sauerkraut and kartoffelsalat (potato salad).  What a feast and Jan finished her entire beer.  So proud.  It was quite hot as we walked back through Marienplatz so we stopped for a beer and bratwurst (not kidding - even though it was only a few blocks from the Hofbrauhaus) and saw the famous Glockenspiel do its thing.  Back to our hotel and an early night.

Great breakfast at the hotel (included in our room rate) and off to a do a walking tour.  We met at Marienplatz and then walked through the Viktualienmarkt which is a market of fresh goods from meat, to fruit, to bread, to cheese ...  We then stopped at St. Peter's Church - it was here that our guide let us know that only 2.5% of Munich survived the bombing in WWII, but unlike other cities, it rebuilt in the original styles so it still looks like an old city (to be honest, it is a bit disappointing to know that most of what looks old was really rebuilt last century).  Then off to Frauenkirche (the Lady's Church) which was where the last pope spent time preaching before becoming Pope.  We then went to Odeonplatz another square made (somewhat) famous by Hitler as this was where he was arrested for basically disturbing the peace (although 4 police officers were killed) before he came to power.  Just off Odeonplatz is the Theaterinkirche - another old church.  Then off to the Palace and Palace Garden which are now really occupied by various arts groups.  Then off to the English Garden which is 30 km long (bigger than Central Park in NYC).  We walked through a very small portion of the park observing some nude sunbathers (apparently quite common) - mostly 80 year old men.  We stopped at some state building but the tour guides comments were lost on most of us as we were standing on a huge ant hill - the ants decided quickly to start crawling up our legs.  We ended the tour at ... the Hofbrauhaus - oh well, when in Rome (or Munich) - Jan and I had a beer.  We walked through Marienplatz and Viktualienmarkt and found a small restaurant with a salad bar - believe me it tasted great after all the bratwurst.  After lunch, we shopped a little and stopped about half way back to the hotel for a beer.  It was about 30 degrees today.  A little more shopping and back to our hotel.  We went back out around 8 pm for a walk and to find a cold beer.  Surprise we found some!  Off to Salzburg, Austria tomorrow.

Glockenspiel in Marienplatz

Bob in Hofbrauhaus

Jan in Hofbrauhaus

Beer Garden in Marienplatz

Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany June 14-15, 2013

We left Bacharach in the morning and after 4 trains arrived in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany in the early afternoon.  Rothenburg is a very well preserved walled Medieval town in central Germany.  We walked around town and had a late lunch/early dinner.  We stopped in at one of several Christmas shops in town - they are massive (probably 15 times the size of our Edmonton store) - almost anything you can imagine for Christmas.  We then went on a walking tour at 8 pm with the Night Watchman.  It was quite entertaining, humorous and historical with about 200 other people.

We got up the next morning and went to see St. Jakob's Church with an amazing wood carved altar and   the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum which had many historical artifacts relating to torture and laws in those times.  It was quite interesting.  We then went back to the Christmas store and picked up a few things and back for a nap.  We walked the Wall - there is still the Medieval wall surrounding the town which you can walk for 4 km.  After the walk, we stopped for Bienenstich (an almond vanilla cream pastry) and then dinner - I know a bit backwards - but oh well.  Off to Munich tomorrow ...

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Night Watchman Tour

Wood Carved Altar in St. Jakob's Church

Bacharach, Germany June 13, 2013

After hearing kids running around at 5 am, we finally got going about 8 am with free breakfast at the hostel.  We then packed up and walked down to the town with our packs on.  Jan had suggested that we get a cab but that would be 10 Euros!  I thought we should walk and walk we did.  By the time we got to town, I was completely drenched with sweat.  We got to our hotel in town and both showered.  We hopped on a Rhine river cruise boat (not an actual cruise but rather a large taxi service for 300 people - quite nice).  We cruised the Rhine for about 40 minutes until we got to St. Goar (pronounced Go - Are).  We then hopped on a small tourist train up to Rheinfels Castle and toured around - no more walking up or down huge inclines today.  The castle was very interesting and we met a couple from Hastings, England and chatted for awhile.  Then we came down and had a beer (both of us) and headed back to the dock.  We had lunch on the pier - we brought some sandwiches and had our Schwarzwalder Kirsch Torte (Black Forest Cake), Apfel Streusel (Apple Strudel) and Butter cake as dessert.  It was interesting that many of the businesses in town were closed from the flooding last week which saw the Rhine rise 7 metres - there was evidence of water as high up as 3-4 feet on the buildings in town which is quite elevated from the river itself.  When we got back to Bacharach, I stopped in for a 12 Euro haircut (where better to get a brushcut than in Germany) - Jan was thinking about a haircut as well but the award hanging on the wall was from 2001.  Went for dinner at the Jagerstube and had soup, salad and wiener schnitzel (and wine - I know, surprise no beer).  Guten Abend.  We are off to Rothenburg ob der Tauber tomorrow.

Stahleck Castle - Our home for the first night

On the Rhine

Stahleck Castle and Bacharach

Rheinfels Castle

Gettting a Haircut in Germany

Bacharach, Germany June 12, 2013 (Rhine Country)

Ever had a sausage roll?  Ever had a bratwurst?  Ever had a bratwurst sausage roll?  Delicious.  That was how I started my day today.  3 trains and 4 hours brought us to Bacharach, Germany.  We are staying in a Castle – it is actually a Castle which has been converted to a youth hostel – 60 Euros gets us a room (to ourselves) and breakfast – IN A CASTLE.  So cool.  Did I mention that the castle also has about 60 kids on a field trip staying here relatively unsupervised?  Oh well, still staying in a castle.  Probably a good thing that they had availability for only one night.  We will find something in town for tomorrow night.  We walked down to town.  We walked around town, had a beer (big surprise) and Jan had a milkshake.  Walked to the Rhine and looked around and then popped in to the Posthof for dinner – not too hungry so Jan and I shared a salad and bratwurst (another big surprise) and crème brulee (another big surprise).  Hiked back up to the Castle and a quiet evening (ha ha) overlooking the Rhine.  Pictures later - WIFI not great here.  Guten Abend!

Baden-Baden June 11, 2013

Baden-Baden - What a pleasant surprise!  We picked Baden-Baden because the weather in Switzerland was not great and our reservation at the Castle in Bacharach was not until June 12 and Baden-Baden was about half way.  The weather was great today.  We had a lazy morning in our massive 2 bedroom apartment and eventually got to town about 10 am.  I had a great German breakfast of eggs, ham, fried potatoes, 3 buns and a coffee.  We then spent the day wandering around the old town (mostly shopping) - well Jan shopped while I had an Apfel (apple) Strudel and a beer at an outdoor cafe.  We then wandered around a little more and we stopped for some bratwurst, sauerkraut and beer.  AND JAN ACTUALLY DRANK THE FIRST BEER OF HER LIFE at the Lowenbrau Beer Garden (a half litre).  We then walked along the river and stumbled upon the European Senior Open in Tennis and watched for awhile.  We stopped to smell the roses - literally - a rose garden along the river.  Walked back to town and had a great dinner of bratwurst and spaetzle at Rathausglockel Restaurant - another one of our best meals in Europe.  Back to the apartment to pack up.  Tomorrow - Bacharach and our stay in a Castle!

River through Baden-Baden

Lowenbrau Beer Garden

Rose Garden

Baden-Baden, Germany June 10, 2013

We left Gimmelwald about 9:30 am on the cable and after a series of trains, ended up in Baden-Baden in the Black Forest about 2:30 pm.  After arriving at our 2 bedroom apartment with 2 bathrooms, a living room and kitchen (for 64 Euros per night), we ventured out in the rain to look around.  The apartment is about 1 km from the centre of town all downhill (except for when we came home - ouch).  We wandered around and found a great restaurant called Weinstube im Baldreit - one of our best meals in Europe.  I had Wiener Schnitzel (Check) and Jan had a kartoffel (potato), cheese, bacon, cream concoction which was excellent.  We had Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cake - Check) and coffee for dessert.  Walked/hiked/climbed back to our apartment.

Gimmelwald June 9, 2013

A little cloudy and a little rainy - perfect day in paradise for us to do a little forward planning.  We were thinking of spending a few extra days here, but the weather seems to be socked in for the next few days so we decided to move on.  After looking at some options in Switzerland, we ended up deciding to to move on to Germany - Baden Baden.  We looked at train schedules and booked accommodation in Baden Baden - then booked a night at a castle in Bacharach on the Rhine.  We are hoping to spend another night there - we will look at it when we get there.  Then probably off to Rothenberg, Munich and Salzburg before we hop on our cruise out of Venice on June 22.  We had some lunch on the deck of our B&B - bread, cheese (from the self-service cheese place), sausage, wine, beer ...  I had a nap, Jan chatted with Diane (California) - a great day of relaxation!  We ended the evening with a couple of hours of conversation with Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado and California (as Josh from Colorado noted - it is just easier if we remember people by where they are from).  It is very interesting that this is obviously Rick Steves (the travel writer) country as everybody except Diane was there because he had recommended it.

Gimmelwald, Switzerland June 8, 2013

Woke up and had breakfast at our B&B.  Sat with Tom and Denise from Austin, Texas and Bob, Cathy, Amanda and Kaitlyn from Sarasota, Florida.  Had a great breakfast with everybody and then walked around Gimmelwald which took us about 15 minutes (very small).  We then ventured up to the town of Murren which is about a one hour hike straight uphill (or so it seemed) along the side of the mountain.  The views were spectacular.  We walked around town and ended up at the swimming pool for about an hour.  We then had lunch.  Bratwurst and Beer.  Check.  Check.  We bought a few groceries and then walked back down to Gimmelwald - about 35 minutes down - but stopped quite a few times for Jan to pet and feed the cows, goats and miniature horses.  We spent the rest of the afternoon on the deck of the B&B chatting with Tom and Denise.  Had pizza and a couple of beers at the Mountain Hostel with the Florida folks and off to bed ...

On the Trail to Murren looking back at Gimmelwald

Paragliding in the Alps

Jan in her Glory

Gimmelwald, Switzerland June 7, 2013

Up early, 5 trains, 1 bus and a tram brought us to Gimmelwald, Switzerland.  For those of you who remember the TV show "George" about a St. Bernard helping/rescuing people in the Swiss Alps - we are here.  I mentioned the tram (heights seems to be a common theme on this trip), well it is the only way to get to Gimmelwald, no cars up here.  We arrived in the afternoon and had cheese fondue and a beer.  Check, check.  For Dinner we had spaetzle.  Check. We are now sitting on the deck of Esther's Guesthouse - our home for at least the next 3 days.  We may visit Murren tomorrow which is another little town only accessible by tram. Short and sweet today - I will let the pictures do the talking!

Esther's Guesthouse - Our Home in the Swiss Alps

View Down the Valley

Bob and Jan with the Swiss Alps in the Background

Bob Having a Beer

Cable Car which brought us up to Gimmelwald

Paris June 4, 5 and 6, 2013

We left at 8:30 am on another high speed train which brought us from Arles to Paris in 4 hours.  We arrived to bright and sunny skies.  After settling in our hotel (Hotel de Flore) in the Montmartre neighborhood up the hill in Paris, we took the bus to the Champs Elysees and walked from the Place du Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe (with a short stop for lunch).  The Arc de Triomphe is situated in the middle of a gigantic traffic circle with 12 different exits - you have to walk undergound to reach it.  We were told at the hotel to take the bus or subway (Metro) as the distances between places are too great - they have underestimated the Zechels!  We could see the Eiffel Tower in the distance and debated taking a taxi as we had no idea what bus or metro line to take.  We decided to walk part of the way to get away from the craziness and traffic around the Arc de Triomphe and ended up walking all the way to the Eiffel Tower.  We sat in a park across from the tower by some fountains for about an hour and then walked up to the Eiffel Tower - we debated going up (even a couple of levels) but decided that the heights issue would keep us grounded.  We decided to take a taxi from the Eiffel Tower to our hotel as we were actually quite a distance - a bit of a mistake as traffic was terrible and it took us almost an hour.  Our taxi driver was great and only charged us what it should have been.  We resolved to learn the Metro system as this would alleviate the traffic issues.  Interesting to note the traffic situation - for those who have been to New York and know the craziness with traffic - well add 1,000,000 motorcycles and bicycles to the mix and you have Paris traffic.

We got up relatively early and attacked the day and Paris.  We took the Metro to Place du Concorde and then walked through the Jardin des Tuilieres (really an extension of the Champs Elysees) to the Louvre.  Beautiful.  We toured the Louvre for several hours seeing the Mona Lisa and other paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Chagall, Degas and numerous other masters.  The Louvre is massive and we only saw a portion, but it was very interesting.  We then crossed the Seine River and bought a lock and locked it to the Lovers Bridge (see pictures below).  We had bought some fruit and bread for lunch sitting beside the Seine and then headed to Notre Dame.  It was also amazing.  We climbed the the viewing deck (about 300 steps) and had a great view of Paris (the heights issue existed but we did ok). We then walked to the bottom and realized that we could have ascended up another 100 or so steps to another viewing platform.  Oh well.  We then did a little walk around the area including the Latin Quarter, Church of Saint Chappele, Flower Market and back to the Louvre.  Oh yeah, we stopped for coffee and a crepe on a river boat.  We stopped at Jardin des Tuilieres for a quick nap in the park and then back on the Metro to our hotel area.  We had a great dinner and flopped into bed.  We were on our feet for about 10 hours today.  Great day and because we powered through a number of sights, tomorrow will be a relaxing day probably around the hotel neighborhood of Montmartre.

We slept in and walked to Sacre Couer Church which sits on a hilltop overlooking Paris.  Walked around the Montmartre area and found many shops and restaurants and painters.  Had a leisurely day and went back to the hotel for a siesta.  We went back to the Montmartre area near the Sacre Couer in the evening for dinner and a coffee.  Today we had French Onion Soup, Croquette Monsieur and Quiche Lorraine - lotta french stuff!  We then went back to the Sacre Couer steps to see Paris at night - pretty great view with a few thousand people around.  Bought a beer from some guy and drank the beer on the church steps looking at Paris at night.  Bonsoir Paris.  Tomorrow we are off to Switzerland.

Champs Elysees

Arc de Triomphe

Eiffel Tower

Mona Lisa at Louvre 

Lock Bridge

Bob and Jan's Lock

Notre Dame

Seine River

Bob napping in Jardin des Tuilieres

Eiffel Tower at Night

Sacre Coeur

View from Sacre Coeur

Arles - June 2 and 3, 2013

On our third day in Arles (June 2, 2013), we got up about 9 am, had a great breakfast at the hotel and ventured out to see the Roman ruins.  We started at the Amphitheatre – the Roman arena where the bullfights now occur but which saw gladiators fights in the early days.  It seats 20,000 (even did 2000 years ago).  Pretty amazing.  It is being restored and is one of the best preserved arenas around.  During its tenure, it became a walled fortress and 4 towers were built (3 still stand today) and the interior was a jumble of homes and businesses.  Great history here.

We then went to the Theatre which is a few steps away – this is where plays and shows took place.  The Theatre is not well preserved, but the renderings show that it was a 3 story building – it was a grand place.

We walked to Republic Square (much quieter as it was Sunday) and the Crypt – going underground about 20 feet we were able to see a labyrinth of arches (underground) which were built to support Forum Square above it.  As Arles slopes to the River, they needed a flat surface for the square, so built the famous Roman arches to support this square – all underground.  Forum Square now houses many restaurants including the famous Café de Nuit where Van Gogh spent many hours and he also has a famous painting of this Café.

We stopped at the Saint Triomphe church cloisters (the church itself was closed for a private function) – this is a major restorative project but was neat to see.

We wandered back to our hotel for a siesta and then ventured out for a typical Provencal dinner only to find that most restaurants were closed. We ended up a small restaurant on Forum Square and had pasta and chicken (not so typical) – oh well, we had one more night to get in that dinner.

Our last day in Arles started out with a tour.  We went to the Pont du Gard which is the famous Roman Aqueduct built 2000 years ago to being water from the river the to village Nimes about 50 kilometres.  Amazing that in this distance the aqueduct dropped only 40 feet – quite the feat of Roman engineering!  Most of this aqueduct is built underground but the portion we were able to see spanned a river.  Truly amazing.  This aqueduct delivered thousands of gallons of water each day to Nimes. 

We then stopped at some Roman ruins and the entrance to the former city of Gallum.  After a short stop, we ventured on to Les Baux de Provence, a very charming little hill top town built into the rock.  Very cute and well preserved.  It felt as if we were living in Medevil times.  We arrived back at our hotel about 1 pm.

We had the mundane task of having to do laundry, so took a couple of bags to the local laundromat.  Came back for a siesta (getting good at this) and again ventured out to find that Provencal meal.  This ended up at The Plaza which is apparently an award winning restaurant.  Our menu, waitress and surroundings were all very French – our meal was ok – oh well maybe our expectations were too high.  Back to pack and off to Paris tomorrow morning.

Arles Ampitheater

Bob and Jan in Republic Square

Arles - Shutters

Les Baux de Provence

Pont du Gard