Home Sweet Home

As you probably already know, we made it home safely. Despite our vacation being over, it is nice to sleep in our own bed, use the bathroom for free (I know, it's the little things...) and make dinner!

Of course, the best part of coming home was reuniting with our two best kitties - Otto & Henrietta!

We also have a fabulous new bathroom, compliments of my dad! If anyone wants to stop by and marvel at his handiwork, feel free!

Happy Summer!!

J & C

The Penultimate

That's right all you faithful blog readers - today is our second to last day of our European vacation! Today we went from Freiburg to Ulm via train. We've been to Ulm before, in fact, we were here just last year and stayed in the same hostel, which is really nice. We have been walking around for a bit....the only real attraction here is the Dom church- it is monsterous, and Justin and I climbed the steeple last year. Since I spent the majority of the climbing time whining or feeling like I might pass out from staring down out of the open sides, we skipped that this time around.

We have 2:45 flight tomorrow, and we'll be home around 7pm.

Things we're looking forward to: KITTIES!! Using the bathroom without paying (I paid 50 cents and had to go through a turnstyle just last night), making food and having access to a fridge, seeing friends & family, showers that drain, AND the awesome (we're sure) bathroom John Ramian Building Services has installed while we were gone!!

Things we'll miss: Coke Light, döners for dinner, hearing Justin speak German, frightful european fashion sense, exciting things to see all the time, daily history lessons, a lack of responsibility, not working....the list goes on!

We're already planning for next summer....

XOXO - C & J

Strasbourg

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Roma

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Why is it called "The Black Forest" When Everything is so Green?!

With my stockpile of glittery nail polish packed away, Justin and I enjoyed an especially delicious backerei treat this morning and then headed for the border - but just for a brief jaunt into France to visit Strasbourg! The city itself has changed hands many times, and though it now belongs to France, there is still a lot of German flavor, too. I think our time would have been more enjoyable had we not been enroute from the train and carrying our (heavy) backpacks, but it was nice to see. The huge cathedral in the center stretches 142 meters into the sky, and the city houses Parliament for the EU. We had a great döner lunch by the river, and then headed to Freiburg...so now we're officially back in Germany.

Freiburg is a college town, and also (not suprisingly) has a huge church in the center, and is full of cafes and painted houses. We are staying at Hotel Waldheim, which is actually a pension, but is is very charming, and sits in the countryside with it's own little garden cafe. The rooms are spacious with high windows and ornate fixtures and woodwork...I love it!

Now we're off to explore the town for the evening. Tomorrow we'll head to our final destination - Ulm - where we will sleep before heading to the airport on Thursday. Hopefully I will have time for one more post before then!

Stay Cool (rumor has it it's HOT in MA!) J & C

Baden-Baden

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A Day of R&R in the B-B

After hauling our backpacks all over creation for the past 3 weeks, Justin and I both needed a little rest and relaxation, which we found in Baden-Baden. Considered a "resort destination" in Germany, this is where the wealthy make their homes, and day trippers wander through the sunny park and high-end designer shops. After a good long night of sleep, we had breakfast at the local bakery (which we missed while in Italy) and spent the morning wandering around this little town; we have seen 2 lovely churches, a castle dating from 1450 that is currently being turned into a hotel, the world-renowned spa that is located here, and lots and lots of candy shops!

While it may seem a little odd, I love marzipan. Today we found a konditerei that sold strips of marzipan in milk chocolate....so delicious! Another great find was sparkly nail polish. I know what you're thinking, but this is not the run-of-the-mill glitter polish seventh graders wear. I have seen the new glittery colors in fashion magazines, but have yet to find any in the nail salons in the U.S. I noticed that girls here had the same kind of polish, and, sure enough I found some in the drugstore here and painted my nails in the park - they look beautiful!

The cobblestone streets are surrounded by multi-colored stucco buildings, and the views of the surounding hills are only obstructed by unique architecture and the church steeples. There is a big casino (we didn't go in) and a bandstand where we just listened to a chorus and band warm up for an evening performance. In the 1880's a notable European Politician was quoted saying that, "Paris is for the winter, but Baden-Baden is for the summer." We couldn't agree more!!

XOXO- C & J

Baden-Baden: So Nice You Say It Twice!

We have arrived back on German soil! After a quick 1 hour 45 minute flight from Rome this morning, we are now in the Black Forest. This is a lovely town, with upscale shops, a manicured park and fountains. We are staying at the Sunshine Apartments....go figure! My only complaint is that our room is on the 5th floor, and the showers are on the first...not overly convenient.

Tomorrow we plan to just relax here...meander through the streets and have a picnic lunch. On Tuesday we're planning to head to Strasbourg for the day and spend the night in Freiburg.

It's only 26 degrees centigrade here - YAY!!

XOXOX- C & J

I'm Beginning to Understand Why Rome Wasn't Built in a Day...

Today the centigrade was at 39.5 degrees at 5 o'clock... Justin and I were both hoping it would hit 40,as we'd never seen that,but no such luck....until we got on the bus, then it was oficially over 40 degrees and HOT (104)! Anyway, today we went to the Piazza Del Popolo, which has a huge,ancient obelisk in the center, which Augustus I brought back from Egypt. It is about 3,200 years old! After that we hopped on a bus which took us to our FOURTH Olympic Stadium this trip. It had a cool track that was surrounded by Roman Gods, but looked like a rundown baseball stadium in the Bronx.

Then we took the metro and a bus to visit the San Callisto Catacombs; there are 4 levels, but the one we took a tour of is 12 meters underground and really interesting to see. While at one point there were about 500,000 people buried in them, less than 10% of those remains exist today -some have just disappeared from the thousands of years they've been there, but other graves were looted when Rome was in wartime situations. So,in other words, most of the graves we looked at were empty today. There were about 10 popes buried there at one time,plus there are still beautiful frescoes that can be seen in the walls, as well as altars. It was unique!

Those 2 tasks took us most of the day,and now we're headed to the pool. Tomorrow we catch a short flight back to Germany....back to the land where people stand in organized lines to buy things, and the trains run on time!

Ciao! C & J

Friends, Romans, Countrymen: Lend Me Your Ears...(or eyes, since you are reading this)

Today we spent another HOT day in Roma, covering a little bit of the history that is found here. We started at the Colosseum, which was awesome! As you will see from forthcoming photos, the place is huge, and the ground is a series of mazes and holding cells the Romans used to bring wild beasts out into the arena! We learned about gladiators and what life in the Colosseum was like. They even speculate that the basin of the place used to be flooded to host mock naval battles.

Next, we headed to Palantine Hill and the Roman Forum (nothing funny happened on the way, haha) which are basically huge archaeological sites that date back to the mythical founders of Rome. We saw the remains of palaces, stadiums, and the monstrous forum....the site was amazing, and showed how much was truly "hiding under the surface" in the center of Rome.

Next stop, the Pantheon; the only surviving (intact) edifice of the beginning of Roman times...it dates back to 25 B.C.! What is amazing is that there is this HUGE freestanding dome for a roof, with a big hole in the middle that was used for a sundial and to determine the solstices. There are no arches, beams, etc. holding up this perfect dome, and engineers today cannot figure out how the thing was built, and what keeps it standing today!

The Trevi Fountain is a piece of art itself. According to legend, throwing one coin into the fountain means you will make a swift return to Rome, and throwing 2 coins in means you will fall in love in Rome. Since I am already married and have no desire to come back to Rome, I threw in zero coins, and hoped that meant I would be sitting poolside soon.

Additionally, we made a stop at the Republica, some monumental art museums, and a basilica or two. Or three.

Now we're hanging out at the campsite and swimming. Tomorrow we're planning on going to the catacombs!

Wishing you cooler days than we're experiencing!! XOXO - C & J

Vatican City

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The Early Bird Gets The...

If you guessed that the early bird gets the first place in line in front of the Vatican, then you were correct!!! Justin and I (as a result f the advice in our Let's Go! Travel handbook) dragged ourselves out of our hostel beds (where the temperature registered 89.9 degrees) at the ungodly hour of 5am in order to get on the metro and make it to the Vatican museums. When we showed up, there was only one person there and we thought maybe we were a little too eager, but we got in line for the "non-reserved" tickets, and were first. Within 15 minutes more people arrived, and by the time the guards let us in at 9am, there was a line snaking around one wall of Vatican City!! So, needless to say, getting there at 630am was well worth it!

We spent the morning in the Vatican Museums, which were extensive and featured artwork from the world's most famous names: Raphael, Bottocelli, and, of course, Michelangelo. We headed to the Sistine Chapel first, as we heard it gets packed by the afternoon. While Justin seemed not overly impressed, the chapel was beautiful, and the artwork unbelieveable!! For those of you who have not been, Justin has fortunately taken a prohibited video to post....you can tell he is trying to be sneaky in it. From there we headed into old apartments that once housed Popes, and saw lots of tapestries, marble statues and famous paintings. We also visited the post office - Vatican City has their own stamps and postal service, as well as mints their own coins!

After that we wondered at all the hundreds of people waiting in line for the museums, and applauded ourselves for getting up early. Then...on the Vatican Square, which was huge, and we got some great pictures. Then we went into St. Peter's Basilica, which is the largest church in the world. I was glad I wore my modest clothes - a skirt and a t-shirt, as anyone wearing tanktops, skimpy dresses or short-shorts were yelled at in Italian and forbidden to go inside until they bought a big scarf to cover their shoulders and legs. Fortunately, I was prepared, as always (haha). Inside the basilica was massive - it seems to stretch endlessly up into the sky, and everything was covered in gold, tapestry or huge statues. Justin and I both rubbed St. Peter's feet, which was what everyone else was doing, so we just joined in.

From there we walked to Castel Sant'Angelo, which is a big fort that was used in the 1500's by one of the popes. It was very cool, and was in front of a big bridge that ran over the Tiber River. Now that we've been exploring for 7 hours, we're headed to our new hostel, which, rumor has it, has a pool. Thank goodness! It is almost 100 degrees here and very crowded!

Stay Cool! XOXOX- J & C

Sistine Chapel

Venezia

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Ciao, Venice!!

Our two days in Venice were great, and it was fun to explore the shops and look at the murano glass, Commedia D'ellarte masks, and see the seafood people in the side cafès were eating, but I was happy to head to Rome.

Today we took a nice, air-conditioned 6 hour train to Rome. On the way we passed field after field of sunflowers, as well as two flocks of sheep being herded by a sheperd!! We have arrived in Rome, and we are staying in a "nice" hotel tonight right near Roma Termini (main train station) and the colosseum, so we can get up at about 5am and head to Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel...rumor has it the lines start forming at 6:30am and get progressively worse as the day wears on!!Our hotel is Hotel D'Artists and it is very upscale compared to our usual haunts - we have a rooftop terrace! Sadly, we are staying outside the city the next 3 nights after this, which is much cheaper.

A word about Italy...while it is quite beautiful and full of history, I seem to have forgotten the little idiosyncrasies I encountered when I was in Florence and Pisa 9 years ago; I forgot how much everyone smokes, how dirty and streets are and how long all the lines are because there are typically 4,000 people waiting in line for tellers, cashiers, etc. and only one person working at a very slow pace. I will leave you with that thought for the evening...

Hopefully we'll have an audience with the Pope tomorrow (haha)!

XOXO - C & J

P.S. I apologize for any errors...each time we find a computer the keyboard is different (which is driving me nearly crazy) and there is no spellcheck!

Venezia

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Tourists, Heat & Gelato in Venice!

In case you could not infer from the title that it is very hot with lots of people, it is! Venice itself, however, is worth the trip simply to see the island... it is so picturesque! There are (not suprisingly) more churches on the Island of Venice than there probably are in the state of Massachusetts, but that is to be expected! Today we saw many churches and Basilicas, plus the Rialto and Pietro San Marco. Justin and I took a few abbreviated gondola rides, as we just could not see paying the €80 when that pays for 3 nights stay around here! However, we did take the tragghetto gondolas, which take you down & across the grand canal for about a buck!!!

We got the same views, minus the price...not to mention that I did not love the gondolas...I actually hate boats- espeically those low on the water!

After eating plenty of gelato (coconut is the best) we are headed to Rome tomorrow!

XOXOX, C & J

Venezia

Believe it or not, Venice looks just like it does in all those pictures you see on the travel channel, and on posters - it is stunning! We arrived today via a mini-bus, which was cheaper than the train, and the guy drive us from Slovenia in record time - I think he was hitting speeds of at least 90...it was the fastest I have ever ridden in a car!

Venice is beautiful!! The canals and little winding streets twist and turn all over the islands - every single thing you see, whther it be the gondolas floating by or laundry hanging out of windows, is camera-worthy! We have had delicious coconut gelato today, and spent hours meandering around the streets. I think we're hoping to go on a gongola ride tomorrow, but they are 80 euros!

Now we are at our hostel outside of Venice...it is a campground and hostel called Alba D'onfro and we are staying in cabin 34...my favorite number! It has a great pool restuarant, etc. and we have our own little place for cheap...it's great!

We're having trouble uploading, but when we do we will send some pics your way!

XOXO C & J

Ljubljana

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Zagreb

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Croatia is Catholic...Ljubljana is Lovely!

We have returned to the EU!!

After walking all around Zagreb this morning, we saw lots of things, including St. Mark's Church, which has mosaics on the roof that depict the Croatian coat of arms. We also went into St. Katherine's Cathedral and roamed the morning markets. It was early when we walked into the center square, and the streets were quiet and nearly deserted, which was nice. At first I thought everyone was still asleep, but they were all in church - Croatia is almost all catholic, and there are shrines everywhere. We also walked to the North of the city to see a huge cemetary that is marked with 12 beautiful towers, and depicts the storied history of the nation.

From there we hopped on a fairly not-crowded train to Ljubljana, Slovenia. It seems a little more run down than Zagreb, but they have a lovely castle, the typical center "old town" and a bridge guarded by dragons. Our hostel (Hostel DIC) is a college dorm, and, unlike last year's dorm hostel in Bratislava, I do not feel I will need a tetnus shot after showering...thank goodness! We are off to explore and then watch the World Cup game tonight.

Hope all is well at home and it has cooled off - it is still hot here, about 85- 90 each day. Tomorrow we are taking an 815 am bus to Venice...rumor has it busses are air conditioned here (trains are not) so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

XOXOX~ C & J

Hungarian Rail System: Every Man for Himself

While a 6 hour train ride was not too appealing to get to Croatia, once we were on the train I figured it wouldn´t be that bad...I was wrong! Long story short, we were on the wrong car, as the train was going to split at some point, and ended running to the back of the train at a stop, where we stood with about 10 of our closest friends who smoked cigarettes out the window and spoke a variety of languages - at least they were friendly! Justin and I stood on the train for about 5 hours, then sat at customs & passport control and listened to an Australian kid talk incessantly about things like making pasta to the girl next to him. To make it even more unbearable, the train was late, and it was about 8 hours long!

However - we are in Zagreb in a very clean hostel!! The city seems nice - modern with some gothic and baroque elements. We will be exploring for the morning, and then head to Slovenia.

XOXO J & C

Budapest

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Entertainment on our 8 HOUR Train to Zagreb

Budapest

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Pastry & Paprika: What Budapest is Made Of!

You probably weren't aware of this, but Budapest is a huge exporter of paprika...and they use it in everything - plus it is for sale in every market! Fortunately, it tastes good on just about everything, including the gyros we have been eating. Also, for those of you that don't know me well, I looooovvvvveeee sweets...and there are lots here! Yesterday we went to the markethalle for breakfast, and instead of bread or something, we got 2 pieces of cake - they were terrific! Marzipan, whipped cream, chocolate...all homeade and cheaper than one dollar for 2! I was in heaven!

After our unhealthy breakfast yesterday, we headed all over, and, at the end of the day, had clocked just over 21 miles on my pedometer! We went to the top of Citadella Hill, and then to Buda Castle, where we saw the Fisherman's Bastion (which looks like a little castle itself) and St. Matthias' Church, which is one of the most photographed roofs in Budapest - it is covered in little multi-colored mosaic tiles. We also went to the Parliament, which is enormous!!

Since Budapest is pretty cheap, last night we went out in Ferenciek Terrace, which is lined with little al fresco dining cafes. We had a Hungarian meal at Cafe Europa - we had Hungarian cheeses, salad, and goulash! It was delicious. What is super cute about all these cafés is that they have a fleece blanket on all the chairs in case you get chilly while eating outside. After dinner we walked down by the river and saw all the castles and monuments lit up - beautiful!

So....today we got up and headed to the Turkish baths...we went to Széchenyi Bath, although there are 3 others in Budapest. It was awesome! The inside had all these saunas and hot tubs, and then outside was 3 huge pools with all sorts of whirlpools, fountains, etc. I LOVED it - I would have stayed for 6 more hours if Justin and I weren't turning into prunes. Then we walked over to Vajdahunyad Castle, which was lovely to look at, and then saw Heroes' Square, dedicated to those who freed Hungary after WWII, as well as an 'Iron Curtain' Memorial. We've just returned from Margit Island, which is in the middle of the Danube and very pretty - a great site for running, lounging by the water of playing in the fountains.

I am sad to leave Budapest - I love it here, but we must head to Croatia tomorrow!
XOXOX~ C &J

"Hungary" for Tennis?

On Thursday night, Justin played tennis with a friend of his from the Worcester Tennis club who is Hungarian, and comes to Worcester to teach at WPI for 2 quarters each year. He and his family were really nice and helpful when it came to must-see places. The club was wonderful - clay courts, a pool, a deck with tables where we you can sit and have a beer after you play- all smack in the center of Budapest!! Notice, Justin is "wearing" some of the court because he feel a few times during his match; however, we had a great evening!

Budapest

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Buda + Pest

Split in two by the Danube River,Budapest is actually 2 parts that make one whole. We are staying in Pest (ironic, huh?) in a hostel called Beds n Roses....an odd name if you ask me,but it is right behind the opera in the thick of things and we have our own room AND bathroom!

Despite first glance as you pile out of the train into the streets, the city is unbelievebly beautiful. The rules are very strict, and monitors check your time stamped tickets both in and out of the metro, so there are no free rides! Aside from that, it is easy to get around walking...we clocked 13 miles yesterday!!

There is so much to do, that I cannot talk about it all, but I will give you some of the highlights. The opera, right near us, is so beautiful and old. Yesterday we went to St. Stephan´s Basilica, which is breathtaking -there was a service going on, but since we do not speak Hungarian, it was a little hard to understand. We also saw the synagogue, which is the largest in Europe and second largest in the world, and hadan amazing "Tree ofLife" monument.

Later we saw parliament (Justin took, like 85 photos, so you will see it, too!). The citadella memorial to the end of communism is up on Gallert hill, as well as one turkish bath and other interesting statues and architecture. We also crossed the chain bridge over the river.

Last night we ate pizza at an actual restaurant towatch Germany lose to Spain in the World Cup...we were the only Aericans in the place, but it was fun. Food here is cheap -Hungary is not on the euro, so they have florents,which are about 221 = one dollar. So for 2 pizzas & 4 beers is was about 15 bucks...not bad for Europe!

Today Justin is playing tennis with a friend from the Worcester Tennis Club namedGabor who is a professor at WPI during the fall,but from Hungary,so therefore here this summer. If we find the club,then we'll let you know how it goes! Tomorrow we're going to the turkish baths...yay!!! I am looking foward to that!

Hope all is well back home!! XOXOX ~ C & J

Innsbruck and Garmisch

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Innsbruck, Austria!

Last night we stayed in Garmisch, where we got to sleep in bunkbeds! This morning it was raining. Again. However, we needed to do laundry, so we took the local bus (which is free to those who stay in the hostel) and did our own laundry in the town....it was quite an accomplishment since laundry in Europe is NOTHING like American laundry!

With that out of the way, we took the 1 hour train ride to Innsbruck and said goodbye to Germany for the next 2 weeks. Innsbruck is quite picturesque; surrounded by the Alps with a blue-green river running through the center, the buildings are all various colors with gold leaf signs and all sorts of paintings on them. I was hoping to go paragliding in the Alps, like I did back in 2001, but the weather is not great, and the cloud cover is too low - we are not going to pay €95 to see nothing but clouds!! We've been to visit the ski jump from the winter olmpics held here, and now we're headed to the unversity area. Tonight we plan to watch the World Cup Match, and then we get on a train to Budapest, where we'll stay through Saturday.

Sorry no pictures to attach, but since our computer is broken, it's too hard to upload them in the short amount of time we have the internet for. Maybe in Budapest!

Hope all is well back home! XOXO C & J

We're in Garmisch-Partenkirchen!! Can you pronounce it?

So we left Oberammergau (sad face; it was awesome) and now we are in Garmisch-Partenkirchen... say that three times fast - or once, because I can't! We saw the the 1936 Olympic stadium, including the frightful ski jump. We also walked around the quaint little Bavarian village, and spent the afternoon in the park on a bench under an arbor, since it was pouring! Now it seems better, and the mountains can be seen, just like Mount Rainier can be see in Seattle when the weather is clear! Our hostel is okay, and we are sharing a room with a kid from Salt Lake City, who seems nice, but might try to convert us to being mormons! (haha!)

We tried to post some pictures, but they would not post, so we'll have to wait until later. Tomorrow we're headed to Innsbruck, Austria. Tonight Justin is convinced we'll run into Olympians Lindsay Vonn and Maria Reisch. We'll let you know!

XOXOX C & J

Passion Play!!

While this one contraband photo barely does it any justice, the Passion Play is beyond amazing!! The theatre is huge and seats over 4,000 people...and they perform this show 5 times per week! It rained while we were in there, and while the audience is always covered, there is a retractable roof for the stage! The scenes are so beautiful, and the colors designed to be striking. In some acts there are hundreds of people on the stage- little kids, adults, plus mules and sheep, not to mention doves flying out of their cages!!

In between acts there are living images, which are still tableaus that represent famous Bible stories, and they are accompanied by a chorus full of amazing voices and a beautiful orchestra. While the whole thing is in German, you get a little textbook to follow along with, and it is actually quite easy. If you have no concept of biblical stories, then the play may be a little confusing, but for most, I am sure it's pretty clear, and the 5 hours (broken into 2 parts with a 3 hour break) flies by!

Overall, this is unbelieveable, and I am thrilled we got the opportunity to experience it...especially since it only comes once every 10 years!!

XOXO C & J

Passion Play Day

This morning we got up and had an awesome breakfast, served to us by Petra, who was wearing a drindl. We also met her little boy, who is adorable. Today we have walked around to look in all the little shops at the wood carvings and now we are headed to lunch and the play. We have heard you can take a picture without a flash if you are discreet....we will see what happens!!

FYI - Our computer is not doing well so we may have fewer posts because we need to go to the internet cafe! Just wanted to let you know in case I have less posts!

XOXO C & J

Oberammergau + World Cup = Awesome!

In 1633 the village of Oberammergau was suffering from the plague that was sweeping through Europe; however, the people in this village got the idea to pledge to God that they would perform his Passion every decade if they were spared from the plague. As it turns out, once they performed this, not one more death due to the plague occurred!! So today, 4 centuries later, the play is still being performed on the decade.

The train ride to Oberammergau was under 2 hours, and today the village numbers 5,000 and over 2,400 of the residents are involved in the play in some way. What is even more interesting is that if a person wants to participate, they need to have lived in the village for 20 years!! If it is a baby participating, their family needs to be in the village for 20 years. The village itself is BEAUTIFUL - a typical Bavarian village with quaint shops and beautiful little houses. We are staying with the Fux family, who own 2 "hotels". We are in the "apartment" style house, where we get breakfast each morning, plus our OWN bathroom (once you spend time in Europe, you will know that a private bathroom is rare) and bedroom. I have taken pictures and will post them eventually. We also have dinner and lunch at the Hotel Fux, which is owned by the brother-in-law of where we're staying. We got to pick our meals, so we're not eating pasta. Again. Oberammergau is famous for wood carving as well as the passion play, and there are so many pretty handmade things around.

Now....the World Cup....Germany was playing Argentina today and we spent the afternoon watching the game on a big projector screen in Hotel Maximilian, which is the fabulous (and only) 5 star hotel in this village. Germany won, and Justin wore a "rally cap" and we both cheered along with the other screaming fans during the game. Since Germany won I can hear dozens of cars speeding around the village honking their horns as I write this; they have flags hanging off their cars and all sorts of other obnoxious paraphernalia but it's very fun to watch.

Tomorrow we are attending the passion play, which begins at 2:20 and runs until 5pm. There is a 3 hour dinner break, and then we head back to the play from 8:15 until 10:30pm. No cameras are allowed, so you will need to watch the video we posted, or just take my word for it.

Happy 4th of July! Watch some fireworks for us!!

XOXO ~ C & J

Oberammergau

2010-07-02 Salzburg

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I heart Salzburg!!!!!!!!!!!!

I became acquainted with the Austrian city of Salzburg way back in 2002 when I spent the year abroad. My friend Erin and I headed to visit her friends who were studying at the University of Portland (OR) campus there. After a few days of navigating the city, I loved it, and was a little nervous this visit might leave me disappointed, but fortunately, I was wrong. While my initial visit was cheap - the EU was just getting started and the euro was 97 cents, today the Euro is at $1.25, so it's not as easy to shop! Aside from that, the city is still the same, and Justin and I visited many of the places I remembered.

Just 2 hours away from Munich, Salzburg sits amidst the Alps, and is the birthplace of Mozart, so we did stop and see the house he was born in. We also saw a huge, beautiful baroque church behind his home, the Salzburger Dom, and lots of adorable shops and window displays, not to mention the river that runs through the city and the castle on the hill.

Right near the train station are the meticulously manicured Mirabel Gardens, which were created by the archbishop for his girlfriend and were at one time considered the "protege" of the perfect garden, and many people in Europe sought to replicate them. This is about the point where I began singing some tunes from "The Sound of Music," as this is where it was set and filmed. When I came here years ago, I even went on the "Sound of Music" tour, but Justin assured my several times that when he came here in recent summers, there was no mention of the movie!!!! While we did not see an official tour, there were plenty of postcards, operas and marionette puppet shows advertised that allowed me to confidently believe that people are still able to relive "The Sound of Music" in Salzburg, considering it is one of the best movies ever!! It should be noted, however, that Justin refused to join me in any tunes from the movie.

In an effort to relive more of my visit from 8 years ago, I made Justin walk to the Augustiner Brewhaus, which was a monastery in the 1600's, and is now simply a beer hall. You line up and get your beer - pick your mug, have a guy fill it, and then go and get some food from one of the many stalls. Justin and I had kartoffelsalat (which is potato salad) and it was delicious! The beer halls inside were authentic and beautiful, and the outside was a huge, shady beer garden. While we were waiting for the Augustiner to open (I may have read the times wrong in the guidebook) we took a hike up into the hills behind the old monastery and got some great views of the city.

Before our train left, I needed to go and see if I could find the "egg store" which, as I remembered it, was a store full of blown out eggs that were hand painted. As it turns out, I was not making things up (as Justin may have suggested) and we did find the egg store - it is actually called "Christmas in Salzburg" and is home to thousands of beautiful eggs. I will post a picture to show you what I mean. I could not resist and bought some, although the verdict is still out on whether these delicate ornaments will make it home in one piece!

Tonight we are headed out downtown for a bit, as we only have walked 11.56 miles for today (ha!). Tomorrow morning we leave for the passion play, so I am not sure when I will post again, depending on internet connection. We are staying with Alex and Petra Fux, and I am hoping for a great time (and that they have a cat)...

XOXOX~ C & J

Tollwood & Olympic Stadium

Tonight we went to the Tollwood music festival at Olympic stadium...it was a place full of food and music and all sorts of vendors. We ate griebenschmalz, which is really just pork fat on rye bread but it is SOOOOO good!!! (You will see from the pictures we post later).

Olympic stadium is from the 1972 Olympics, and really interesting looking. We went around the grounds and marveled at the architecture, then we went into the swimming pool where Mark Spitz won all his gold medals. The housing in Olympic village is very tiny, and I cannot imagine anyone wanting to stay in there, even if they are an athlete!!

Tomorrow we are headed to Salzburg, Austria for the day. Oh, and p.s. today we walked 15.42 miles. My feet are blistering. Justin is fine.

XOXOX~ C & J

Nuremberg Highlights

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Day 3: Nuremberg

Today we got up bright and early and took the train to Nuremberg, which is only about 1 hour 50 minutes outside of Munich. Honestly, I have to say, it is not one of the prettiest or most interesting of all the places I've been, but it was worth one day trip. We began at the rally grounds that were built by the National Socialist Party & saw the Coliseum that was meant to be twice the size of the one in Rome, but its progress was halted by the start of WWII. Then we went to the Zepplin Field which is the run-down rally grounds from Germany's pre-war days. It was really interesting to read all the signs. I will post some pictures of the rallies and of the Nazi symbol being blown up after the Allies won the war, but they are a little blurry. To continue our historical theme, we then went to the courthouse where the Nuremberg trials were held. The courthouse is closed due to renovations, and Justin was "scolded" by a German man who did not want him walking through the closed parking lot.

After that, we went to the old town and saw (you guessed it!) a big church, and many picturesque Bavarian buildings. A river also runs through the city, so that was pretty, too. For lunch we had our first doner, which is basically a pita filled with lamb meat shavings, garlic sauce, cabbage and some other stuff. Justin loves them, and got me hooked when we went to Berlin a few years ago. Justin also had Mezzo Mix, which is orange-flavored cola, which I personally find to be the grossest thing out there, but he loves it.

Tonight we are headed out to Tollwood, which is a music festival here at Olympic Park. We've only walked 10.9 miles today, so I guess we have room for more. I will post pictures when we upload some!

Kisses to my kitties!! Hope all is well at home! XOXOX~ Caroline & Justin