Europe Days Thirty and Thirty One - Venice

Early in the morning we left Austria and caught our first cabin train ride to Venice. We had our own booth and nice seats as we took our two connections to Venice. On the last train we had a beautiful view of the ocean meeting the city as we arrived in Venice. The first thing we saw when we left the train station was the Grand Canal. The biggest canal in Venice.

After we took in a bit of the sights we started on our way to our hotel to drop off our bags. We twisted and turned crossing many bridges and canals on the way. In fact the way Venice was built was on top of wooden poles - tons and tons of them stuck into the water to make a secure place to build.

Once we reached our apartment we dropped off our bags and decided to take a stroll and got lost in the canals and buildings of Venice. We walked for awhile before we came across the Grand Canal in its thickest part so we took a few pictures with the sun setting in the back ground.

We walked for a long time and admired the lights and canals before we finally found a good restaurant to eat at. After we ate we headed back to the apartment for the night.

 The next morning we woke up ready to go exploring. We headed out of the apartment and into the canals, gondolas, and boats of Venice. We walked and walked through the labyrinth of canals and bridges. We kept going until we finally arrived at St.Marks Square.

We admired the square and the statues and were heading towards St.Marks Cathedral when we were stopped by a huge flock of pigeons. There was a ton of them and they would fly up on your hands looking for food. At one point Zaddek had at least 10 pigeons on his hands and shoulders.

After the pigeons found out we didn't have any food we went over to St.Marks Cathedral. Inside everything looked like it was made of gold. The walls, roof and everything we walked through. Then we headed over to the Douge Palace. Once you enter the gates you come out to a beautiful courtyard with high arches and bright white paint. We walked around for a bit before we entered the museum part of the palace.

 Inside there was a ton of artifacts like war helmets, swords, horse armor, knives, and weapons. They also had really old paintings and they even had a jewel room full of rare diamonds, emeralds and rubies. They had a swan carving that had over 30 separate diamonds, 50 rubies, and 20 emeralds and sapphires. We kept walking and when we took the corner we entered a room so big that you run and play and even throw long toss. (Which means throwing at least 150 feet to 200.) Another thing is that the whole roof was a mural with paintings and really fat baby angels with bow'n'arrows in really pretty gold that covered the entire roof.

The rest of the room was made of really pretty mahogany colored wood. We stayed in the room for along time and almost didn't want to leave, but we had places to go so we made our way to the end of the museum and the exit.

After we made our way out of the museum we made a straight shot for the Rialto bridge - the oldest of the bridges across the grand canal. Once we got there we walked up the bridge and got a amazing view of the grand canal and all of the gondolas.

 After we took in the view we doubled back across the bridge for some lunch. For lunch we had pizza and a little gelato (Italian ice cream). We took it to go and ate our lunch on the side of the Grand Canal. Shortly after we finished we decided to take a ride in a gondola down the Grand Canal. The ride was amazing and we got to see Venice from the water for the first time.

The gondola driver glided us across the water and we slipped through the water like a knife through butter. When we docked we all got out and thanked the driver before heading the rest of the way home. Luckily the gondola ride got us closer to home so we didn't have to go far but we had a new problem - where to get dinner. We walked around for a long time looking for food but everything was closed until 8pm. (Italians eat late.) We wandered forever until we found a nice take out pasta place. We all ordered and before long we were back at our apartment having dinner. After dinner we all read a little before going to bed.

Total trains: 2 awesome ones
Total gondolas: 1

Total miles walked: 5.3 and 6.4 miles

Europe Day Twenty Nine - Austria

Our first morning in Austria went pretty well. We had breakfast down in the hotel/ hostel before heading out to the Salzburg tour bus to see the city's most famous places. We decided to cruise along for a bit just learning about the city with the built in audio tour on the bus. We saw some really cool statues and some very old buildings before we started to head out to the country side and check out the sites of the movie "The Sound of Music".

All of the sudden the bus stopped at a very glassy lake. We all got off when the bus driver gave us a few minutes to check out the view of the mansion across the lake where the movie was filmed. Apparently it was the lake from the movie where all the kids fall out of the boat into the lake when their father comes home. We looked over the lake and saw that it was perfectly still and it didn't look like anyone had fallen in for a long time, that was until now.

We all looked over just in time to see Zaddek fall in slow motion in to the lake up over his knees in water and duck poop. It turns out that Zaddek had been trying to see how deep the water was and had stepped onto a post sticking out of the water. When he leaned over to see how deep the water was he fell right into the lake. At least he figured out how deep it was! Sadly we had to head home and miss the rest of the tour to get Zaddek some clean pants to wear. So we got Zaddek back into the bus covered in duck poop and lake water. On the whole bus ride back Zaddek was ashamed, Kaden and I were laughing our heads off, Dad was furious, Sage was crying, and Mom felt so bad that she was doing a bit of everything. Once we got back to the hotel we got Zaddek cleaned up and got him a clean pair of pants, socks, underwear, and my pair of Crocs just in case he fell in another lake. We then headed out on our way to Hohensalzburg Castle.

The castle was way up on a very tall plateau up in the mountains. We hiked way up for what seemed like forever before we reached the top of the plateau and the entrance to the castle. We walked in and saw how fortified the castle was. It's walls stretched way up high and were made of precisely cut stone fit together perfectly.

(They had a prison in the castle Zaddek tried out.)

We walked around the castle for a bit taking in the history before we had to sprint down the stairs to get to the Mozart concert we had tickets for. Going downhill is easier then going uphill so we reached the concert hall very fast.

The concert was taking place was in a small room in which Mozart composed his first symphony when he was 7. Today though we were there instead of Mozart. There were two musicians, a violinist and a pianist, playing some of Mozart's best songs. It was a small room so there were only about 20 people and we really enjoyed the small concert. When it ended we started our way back to the hotel for the night and on the way we looked for a restaurant for dinner. Most of them were booked and when we finally reached the hotel we were very hungry. So we headed over to the Supermarket for some salad and bread and cheese for dinner which we had as a picnic in our room before going to bed.

Total buses: 5

Total miles walked: 6.8 miles

Europe Day Twenty Eight - Glockenspiel

When we awoke we got packed and checked out of the hotel. We walked to the train station and managed to shove all 6 of our bags into a large storage locker. In all it cost three bucks to store them when some places charge 3 bucks per bag. From there we walked to the Marienplatz Square. It has been the city's main square since 1158.

There were a lot of musicians and some fruit stands along the way so we got some raspberries for breakfast.

Once we reached the square we found a good spot to stand and watch the glockenspiel. A glockenspiel is a clock tower with mechanical metal puppets that move around with gears. It was a 15 minute show in which the metal characters danced around fifty feet up the tower.

After the show and all the bells chiming on the hour we walked back to the train station and caught our train to Salzburg, Austria.

The train went by really fast and even though it was a 4 hour train we really enjoyed the ride. Mostly because we got an amazing view of mountains and country side the whole time.

Once we arrived in Salzburg we walked for 22 minutes before we got to our hostel. When we got there there were fire alarms going off like crazy and everyone was evacuating the building. We rushed back outside and were wondering if the building was on fire. We all waited ten more minutes before the manager told us that it was just a drill. It turns out that they only have a fire drill once a year and it had happened right as we walked in the door. We walked up to our hostel room and relaxed for a few hours while dad was on his call. After he finished it was a little past dinner time so we went out for a bite to eat. We decided on a restaurant that was just a block up the street. We walked up the street and found the restaurant and all we had to do was to cross the street but there were no crosswalks in sight and the cars were moving way too fast to cross without getting hit. So we kept walking for what seemed like another mile before we finally found a crosswalk. Once we had crossed the street we started to walk the mile back to the restaurant.

 When we finally got to the restaurant we were starving. We ordered some pasta and while we were waiting Sage accidentally knocked into the wall and a painting fell down and nicked my nose before falling into my lap. Luckily the painting was okay but I was very shocked. There was also many dogs in the restaurant big and small. We ate our dinner, which was really good, and headed back to our hostel using the crosswalk that was right on the other side of the hostel. We went to bed excited about the day to come.

Total trains: 1

Total miles walked: 4.4 miles

Europe Day Twenty Six and Twenty Seven - Munich, Germany

We woke up in Lucerne to the noise of the alarm. We all crawled out of bed trying to remember why we had set it in the first place. Once we remembered we grabbed our bags and got ready to go as fast as we could. We rushed outside and were just in time to catch the bus. If we had missed the bus we would have also missed our 6 hour train ride to Munich. When we arrived at the train station we went over to the grocery store for some breakfast. We grabbed bananas, 6 tiny muffins and 6 schwagollwagolls, (have no idea how to spell it but that's what they were called) which were a type of German chocolate chip pastry. We ate quickly outside of the grocery store and found out that the schwagollwagolls we got were probably the best pastries we had ever eaten. So mom rushed inside and bought six more for lunch on the train. We boarded the train and got ready for a six hour ride to Munich. On the way we read our books looked out the window and ate the schwagollwagolls with our sandwiches for lunch. Once we got off the train we had to take three different subways and metro buses before we were within a few blocks from our hotel. We walked the last 15 minutes across the city in the rain. Once we finally got there we were soaked to the bone and very cold. So we checked in and dried off. When the rain started to die down we walked down the street to a restaurant by the famous beer gardens. We ordered some really good pasta, some curry, and a bit of risotto for all of us to share. Once we finished our delicious meal we walked back to our hotel in the dark while the rain poured down on us again.

The next morning we headed back to the train station to join our tour to Neuschwanstein Castle. We met up with the tour group and got on a train to Neuschwanstein Castle. The train ride was two hours long but the time passed pretty quickly and we enjoyed the countryside. Once we got there we got some lunch before heading up the mountain to the castle. As we walked up the tour guide told us all about Ludwig the Third. Ludwig the Third became king of Germany when he was 18 years old and because his parents were too busy to raise him themselves he did not know much about ruling. He was a very kind leader to his people and he even made a law that if someone got injured they would still be paid until they recovered (first workman's compensation). But even though the people liked him the government knew that he wasn't ruling the country well politically. He didn't show up half the time to meetings and was always late if he did. He also had a really big sweet tooth and ate a ton of candy and sweets because he was never allowed sugar as a child. Soon he was 300 pounds. Altogether he didn't take his job as king very seriously. He was quite eccentric and imagined himself in a fairy tale world often. It was then that he started to build his castles. He built Neuschwanstein castle, a replica of Invalid and a few others. The guide told us many things about the "mad king's" life and his beliefs on the walk and all of the sudden we looked up and saw the castle appear out of the fog. The castle was humongous and it was crazy to think that Ludwig the Third had built the whole thing for himself.

Once we had all finished taking our photos we headed for the entrance to start our tour of the castle.We weren't allowed to take pictures inside of the castle but it was as impressive as the outside. Every little detail of the paintings were perfect and there were some really big carvings, most of which were swans. They called him the Swan King. In his bedroom he had a bed fit for a king and a chair for reading that looked more like a throne. All the while the guide was telling us all about the things we were seeing. As we walked around we came upon a cave like grotto inspired by one of his favorite books. He also really liked knights and dragons and was obsessed with a famous composer and writer of opera, Wagner. After the grotto we walked through a hall into a giant throne room that looked like it was made of gold. There was a great kitchen with running water and he had even had one of the first telephones put into his castle to call down the mountain to check when mail had arrived.

(This is what it looked like on a clear day - from a postcard.)

Once we we were on the outside we took a few more pictures before we started to walk back through the light snow to the train. On the train ride back our guide told us more of the story of Ludwig the Second. He told us that the rest of the royal family didn't like the way he was spending all of the family's money and was dishonouring the family name. So they and the government had him kicked off the throne claiming that he was mentally ill. They also had him kept as a prisoner in a house to have him tested to see if he was mentally ill or not . On the second day the doctor and Ludwig and went on a walk to discuss his results. A guard was following them the whole time and the rain was starting to come down really hard so the doctor told the guard he could head in and get dried off before dinner. He also said that he and Ludwig would come back to the castle in a few minutes. Well they didn't so all the royal guards searched the whole castle gardens the next morning. What they found was the doctor's hat washed up at the edge of a pond. They quickly waded through the water and found Ludwig and the doctor drowned in only three feet of water. This was odd because Ludwig was an excellent swimmer and also because later on they found out that there was no water in Ludwig's lungs. So it is thought that the doctor had strangled Ludwig to death before throwing him into the pond and then committed suicide. But the story is shrouded in mystery and is probably never going to be answered because the royal family will not let anyone look at the body. Our guide finished the story right as we arrived at the train station. We tipped the guide and were off to the hotel for the rest of the night.

Total trains: 4

Total subway: 6

Total buses: 4

Total miles walked: 6.6 miles

Europe Day Twenty Four - The Swiss Alps

We woke up in our very Swiss looking hotel to an amazing view of the mountains. We quickly got dressed in our warmest clothes, layered up, and went downstairs for breakfast. They served us homemade croissants and hot chocolate. We then hit the ground running and walked straight through the town to the cable car lift to go up the mountain. The view from the cable car was amazing and we went way up. On the last third of the way up we got to go on a 360 degree cable car to take in the view.

When we hit the top we walked or slid through a glacier tunnel. The whole place almost glowed and the ice was really cool, but it was also very slippery. On our way through I slipped three times. Once we got to the end we came out to the view of almost endless mountains. It was spectacular. We were all so grateful for the blue skies.

Once we took in the view we kept moving to the suspension bridge. Luckily for us there was netting surrounding the bridge so you wouldn't fall, but even with the nets the bridge still swung back and forth.

We made to the other side and got the view of a lifetime. It was even better than the one from the Glacier tunnel. I felt like I could see from sea to sea as I stared of into the horizon. We played in the snow a bit because for us kids it was the first time ever.

When we all got too cold we went inside and ironically got some ice cream and pizza for lunch. Once we finished we went outside for a bit more fun before we had to go. We took the cable car back down the mountain and got some dinner to take back to our hotel. We ate dinner and curled up in our bunk beds with our books.

Cable cars: 2

Total miles walked: 4.8 miles

Europe Day Twenty Five - Lucerne, Switzerland

We left the hotel and started on our way to Lucerne. The train only took an hour and before we knew it we were there. When we arrived we took two more buses to get to the hotel. When we stepped onto the first bus Dad asked the driver if it was going where we needed to go and how much it would cost. The driver's English wasn't great and he thought Dad wanted to pay for 2 adults and 3 dogs. There were dogs riding the buses there and in Germany and Austria. They figured it out and laughed. About half an hour later we dropped ours backpacks off at the hotel before we headed to the covered bridges and the riverside. We wandered around a bit looking for lunch before we crossed the covered bridge.

Once we were across we headed to a sandwich place to get pretzel sandwiches for lunch. We ate by the riverside before getting on a bus to see the lion carving monument of Lucerne. It was carved into the mountain as a tribute to the Swiss Guard. Once we got there we made our way to the pond of which the lion is carved above. The lion was huge and the detail was incredible.

When we finished taking photos we decided to walk around the town a bit before it got dark. We got a view good view of the Swiss Alps in the distance over the lake and also got to see some pretty cool cuckoo clocks before heading back to the hotel.

We relaxed for a bit before heading out for a special dinner of Swiss fondue. Once we got there we found out that the place we had planned to go to was packed full for the night so we popped into another restaurant that made for an even more authentic experience as it seemed quite old. When they brought us our order they put down a burner and a whole pot of cheese fondue on the table. We also got some bread and veggies to dip in the cheese. When we had finished the delicious cheese fondue they brought out a chocolate fondue for desert. We all took turns dipping fruit into the chocolate and before long there wasn't any left.

Once we had finished we walked in the dark to the bus station and headed back to the hotel for the night.

Total trains: 1

Total buses: 5

Total miles walked: 4.5 miles

Europe Day Twenty Three - Switzerland Travel Day

Our day started by walking twenty minutes to the bus stop. Lake Como has a really tough bus system and there aren't many bus stations. We had to wait 15 minutes before the first bus came and once we got on there weren't many seats left so we had to all sit or stand next to strangers (with our backpacks on.) After a few people left we were able to get some better seats for the rest of the 2 and a half hour ride. At one point along the way we had to switch buses but we finally got there. Once we were there we got some pizza for lunch and were about to eat when we realized that we needed a different train station that was a 20 minute jog away from the train station we were at. Within two minutes we were sprinting with twenty pound backpacks (and some pizza) all the way to the train station.

 When we got there we were very hungry and got out the pizza. The pizza was cold and quite beaten up, but even though it tasted horrible we were so hungry that we ate it anyways. We got on the train a few minutes later and started the long voyage ahead.  We had to go on three different trains - each one at least an hour and a half long. We were welcomed by the smell of goat as we took our first step into Switzerland. We walked up a high hill in the dark to our hotel tired as ever. We got in our room and went to bed completely unaware of the mountains all around us.

Buses: 2 really long, hot, windy rides

Trains: 3

Miles walked: 4.1 miles