Day 42 & 43

I made it! After 13 hours of flying and 2 hours of driving, I made it home to my nice warm bed. The flight wasn't too bad. We arrived at the airport a few hours early and got all checked in. We dropped our bags off and went through several security measures (they're very good) and finally had a chance to sit down and have something to eat. Our plane was ready to board at 3:05 and I knew this was going to be the start of a very long journey. The plane ride wasn't too bad actually. There were no crying babies, thankfully, and we actually managed to get a few hours of uncomfortable sleep. The food was pretty good. I had a nice piece of chicken with vegetables and some kind of potatoes, a salad and some bread. For dinner I had beef in coconut and orange sauce with rice and veggies and then some yummy rice pudding. We watched a movie and even managed to play some card games. We finally landed at 7:10pm (which felt like 4:10 am for me) and had to go through more security measures, including customs. Thankfully we didn't smuggle anything illegal in. We said good bye at the airport and then found our respective rides. After 2 hours of driving and a Del Taco burrito to remind me how much I missed Mexican food. I really missed it! I made it home safe and sound, started some laundry and then finally made it to bed at 11. I thought it was going to be a restful night, but after 5 hours of sleep, I was up. And there was no hope of falling back asleep. Hopefully the jet lag wears off soon enough and I can sleep tonight! I had so much fun on this trip and I'm in need of some relaxation time. Thanks for following along and I'll let you know when I decide to go on my next trip!!! Good bye until then :)

Day 42

Last day!!! And we still had things to do. We woke up to find the sun shining and the skies clear. Where was that yesterday!? Well, that meant an early trip into the city for some last minute sightseeing. We grabbed some McD’s and took our favorite U-bahn to Marienplatz. The town hall was beautiful! There was bright blue sky behind it and the sun was shining. We took plenty of pictures of it. We made a quick run to Odeonplatz to see the Theatinerkirche and Field Marshall’s building one last time. This time, it was with the sun. After Odeonplatz, Adam decided that he would climb up St. Peter’s tower again to get some better pictures of the city. While he did that I waited at the base of the church in the freezing cold. Even with the sun out, it was still glove and scarf weather. After 20 minutes or so, he was back and we were on our way again. We stopped at the Asamkirche which was pretty small on the inside, but it was incredible. Everything was shining and there was so much going on in this little space. We snapped some quick pictures and then took off again. While we jogged to our tram stop, we saw the Sendlinger Tor (gate) on our way. It is one of three remaining gates left in the city. It used to mark the boundaries of Munich, but now the city extends much further past it. We made our tram just in time and were off to Nymphenburg Palace. This was one of the residences of the Bavarian Kings in Munich. It was also the birthplace of King Ludwig II. Before we entered, we walked around the grounds in the front. There was a huge pond with a bunch of swans in it as well. The swan was one of the symbols of the Bavarian kings which is why they are so prevalent in Munich and surrounding Bavaria. They must have been really friendly swans because they were coming right up next to us. A little too close for comfort. So we decided to head in. It was really nice inside. We weren’t able to see as many rooms as the Munich Residence, but the rooms we did see were wonderful. I don’t think that this palace was damaged much during the wars because it didn’t look like it had been reconstructed at all. The murals on the ceilings were incredible and very detailed. We were able to go into one of the bedrooms which still had the original bed. We also saw the Throne room which is where Ludwig II was born. It was such a nice palace. We walked around back to see the gardens which were well groomed. But I think the flowers were just about out of season, because most of them were dying, if not already dead. We took some quick pictures and then walked to our stop. We took the tram back to the hostel which is where we are right now. I just finished repacking my bag and making sure that I have everything I need. We’re about to leave to the train station, and from there, to the airport. My plane leaves at 3:45 pm (6:45 am your time) and I will be homeward bound. See you all soon!!!

Day 41

Last full day!!! And I'm exhausted. We started the morning off with some nice warm showers and then blog and picture time on our computers. After assessing the weather, we braved the outside and stopped for a nice egg and bacon mcmuffin. We took them to go and headed over to Marienplatz. Our first stop was some souvenir shops. Adam desperately wanted a coo coo clock so we needed to find one that looked good, but was also in his budget. After searching for a while, we decided to come back later in the day to make the purchase. Our next stop was St. Peter's church. The inside was small, but it was the tower we were looking for. We climbed the 305 steps to the top and got an incredible view of Munich. The town hall was below us, and even though it was cloudy outside, it was still really nice. We spent some time at the top before finally making the climb back down to the bottom. We left St. Peter’s Church and made our way over to St. Michael’s Church. It was really nice inside and was filled with artwork and stained glass windows. The interesting thing about this church is that it is the final resting place of King Ludwig II. We’re actually going to his birth place tomorrow, so I feel like I know the guy pretty well. We left St. Michael’s and stopped by the souvenir shops again, just to check some things. The people there must have thought we were a bit odd for coming back a second time. It was nearly time for our Third Reich tour, so we headed over to the train station, stopping for a quick lunch along the way. I managed to get a nice salad before our tour left. The Third Reich tour would take us all around Munich and show us places that were important to Hitler and the rise of the Nazi Party. Our first stop was the Hofbrauhaus. This was where Hitler held his first Nazi Rally, and where he came back every year to celebrate and remember the party. After taking some pictures and getting a look at the hall where he gave so many speeches, we left the Hofbrauhaus and traveled to several war memorials. These memorials were built after the first world war, destroyed during the second, and then rebuilt after the second and dedicated to victims of both wars. We learned a lot about Hitler and his rise to power, as well as his desires for art and order. This tour was meant to complement the Dachau tour, and it did so nicely. We left the war memorials and stopped by another memorial. This one was for the White Rose group. It was a student run group who was openly going against the Nazi party by printing pamphlet and distributing them throughout Munich and other large cities. They were eventually caught, put on “trial” and then executed. Their goal was to let the world know that not everyone in Germany was following Hitler, but that there was still active resistance against him. We continued walking until we came to the Field Marshall’s Building. We were here the other day, but now we knew some of the importance behind this building. It was used for many speeches by Hitler. It also is the place of a very famous photo of Hitler standing in a crowd. Just google Hitler and Odeonplatz and you should recognize it. During one of Hitler’s failed attempts to gain control of Germany, he lost 13 of his men. The Field Marshall’s Building was the place of their memorial, which has since been removed. It was guarded 24 hours and if anyone passed it, they had to do the Nazi salute or risk being arrested. We left Odeonplatz and headed over to Konigsplatz. Once we were there we were able to see Hitler’s office building and the balcony that he would come out on to oversee the people below. You could even see the shape of an eagle on the wall where an eagle statue once hung with a wreath and the Nazi symbol in its mouth. Even though Konigsplatz was built during the time of King Ludwig I, Hitler completely redesigned it to fit his ideals. It has been put back to it’s original state, but we were able to see pictures of what it looked like. We also saw the foundations of memorials that Hitler had put up for his fallen men. They were bombed during the war. Our tour concluded here, but we still had a lot to do. We hopped on the S-bahn and headed to the south part of town. We were near the Isar River. We started walking along the river and came to St. Lukas Church which was really nice on the outside, and similar to other churches on the inside. We left the church and crossed a bridge over the river and came to the Maxamllion Building. I don’t know the importance of it, but it was pretty nice. We continued walking along the river and decided that our destination was too far. We walked back to our stop and went into the center of the city. It was souvenir time. We each got a bunch of things and filled our backpacks up. After our walk through the city center, we hopped on another subway to go to the English Gardens. English Gardens are unique because they are filled with a bunch of different trees and plants with no order to them. It had many open spaces, a river running through the middle of it, and was nicely manicured. The park was really nice, and a lot different from Wheatfield. It is also the largest park in Munich. We left the park almost finished with our day. It was 5 pm, which meant dinner time. But because it was our last night, we decided to go all out. And what would be a good place in Munich? Why, the most famous beer hall in the world. Hofbrauhaus!! We went inside and found an empty table and tried to decipher the menu. It was completely in German and I could read about 1 word in each dish. So instead of being risky, I played it safe and got a huge salad with giant grilled turkey breasts. It was really good. It wasn’t until after we ordered that we found the English menus. But after reading it, I think I would have still chosen the salad. Adam ordered what he though was meatloaf. But what turned out to be Leberkase, which means Liver Cheese. Thankfully it didn’t include either of those ingredients. Instead it was like a giant hot dog. It was actually pretty good. I ended the meal with apple struedel which was covered in sugar, warm vanilla pudding, and whipped cream. It was amazing. I am definitely making something like that when I get back. After we chowed down it was time to go back. We stopped at the store to pick up snacks for the plane ride and then walked back to our hostel where we finished up blogs and pictures, and then called it a night. I’m coming home tomorrow!!!

Day 40

Only 2 more days!! I can't believe it. Today was a very nice day. It was cloudy outside and even a little drizzly. So we knew we wouldn't be doing too much sightseeing. We started the morning off a little later the usual. We left the hostel Around 9 am and headed over to our U-bahn stop. We took the subway to the other side of the city and started heading towards the Olympic Stadium. Munich hosted the Olympic games in 1972 and built this entire stadium, lake and park surrounding it. The lake was wonderful to walk around. There weren't too many people around so it was pretty peaceful. We walked along the lake for a while and finally game to the gates of the park. Even though we didn't go in, we took a little peek and saw the field and the track. It was pretty cool because I don't think I've even been to an Olympic Stadium. We left the arena and started walking towards the BMW museum. Munich is headquarters for BMW so the factory is there as well as the museum. We paid our 6 euros and went inside. Upstairs there was an art exhibit. And an art exhibit basically means a bunch of BMW cars painted all fancy. It was pretty neat and the cars looked really cool. I wish I could have driven off in one of them. We went downstairs to the actual museum and learned about the history of BMW. They started off in the plane engine business and then branched into motorcycles. After several years and some risky business moves, they started manufacturing cars. We saw cars from the very beginning and all the way to current time. There were some oldies there. I took plenty of pictures so all of my car buffs can look at them. BMW started building race cars and racing motorcycles as well. They were the winners of many races and at one time held the record for fastest car. The museum was really cool but I think the icing on top of the cake was standing next to 2 different James Bond cars that were driven by Pierce Brosnan. That was so cool! After the museum, we headed back to the U-bahn and took it to the Marienplatz, the main square. We were getting pretty hungry so we stopped at our favorite lunch spot, McD's and each got a 1955 burger. From there we walked to the Munich Residenz. The interesting thing about this building is that even though a good portion of it was destroyed during the second world war, there were 90 rooms available for the public! And we visited all of them. We probably walked a mile just inside the palace. There were so many different rooms for different purposes that it all started blending together after a while. The antiquity hall, built in the 1500s to house one of the kings antiques. It was later turned into a dining hall. It was huge! There were sculptures everywhere and paintings filled every empty space. It was very impressive and I felt like I could dine in this hall. We walked through the palace for a good hour before finally finishing and heading into the treasury. There were so many things glittering and glowing in there that I just had to take pictures and leave. It was very impressive as well. You could tell that the Bavarian kings were very wealthy. After spending so much time in the palace we were ready to call it an early day. The weather wasn't improving and we didn't have too much else planned for the day, we headed back to the hostel for some picture uploading, TV catching up, blog writing, and relaxation time. Tomorrow will be busier, but it's the LAST FULL DAY! I can't believe it's here already!

Day 39

I can't believe I'm in the city that will be the final destination of this trip. It's been a long and crazy journey. But we still have 3 more long and crazy days left. Today started bright and early at 7 am. After showers and a quick stop at McDonald's, we were on our way into the city. Our first stop was Marienplatz, which is the main square of the city. We saw the new town hall, which is enormous! We even saw the glockenspiel. Well, it didn't go off, but we saw it way up in the clock tower. Maybe we'll catch it tomorrow. The weather wasn't super great, so we decided to skip going up any towers today and hold out for better weather tomorrow. We did go see the old town hall and St. Peter's church while we were in the square. We walked to the Viktaalienmart which was filled with little tents selling everything imaginable. We continued walking until we came to the Frauenkirche. It was slightly under construction, so the outside wasn't very nice. The inside was pretty average as well. Maybe if the weather's better we'll get a chance to climb up it's tower and it will all be worth it. After the Frauenkirche, we made our way to the Theatinerkirche. Now this one was impressive. The outside is a bright yellow and it's huge. And the inside is magnificent. You'll agree when you see the pictures. We spent some time inside before making our way to the Hofgarten, or Royal Gardens. They were pretty nice, but nothing comparable to Schonnbrunn. I have yet to find ones that are. We left the gardens and headed towards the Bavarian State Opera House, also under construction. The square that it was in was nice though. We started making our way back towards Marienplatz to catch the S-Bahn to the Hauptbahnhof. We had about 30 minutes before the start of our tour and we needed to grab some food. We searched for a grocery store, but no luck. We had to settle of Burger King. Don't worry, I didn't order chili cheese burgers again. I played it safe with a crispy chicken burger. After we got our lunch, we walked to our platform and waited for our tour group. Today we were going to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp. Our guide was very prompt and we left right away. One train and one bus ride later and we were there. We spent the next 4 hours learning about the history of Dachau, concentration camps and WWII. It was very interesting. The reason that Dachau is so important to the history of the Nazi Party is because it was the first camp. All other camps were modeled after this one. Originally these concentration camps were opened to house people who Hitler thought might get in the way during his rise to power, politicians, people in power etc. There was really nothing to do with race. After he rose to power, they started shutting down all of the camps because there was no need for them anymore. However, one of Hitler's right hand men, Himmel, wanted a piece of the power and convinced Hitler to let him run the remaining camps. Hitler agreed and Himmel began throwing many different kinds of people into the camps. If someone was different from the "pure blood" then they would be thrown into the camps. It wasn't until much later in the war that Jews were persecuted more heavily and executed. We went inside several buildings at Dachau including the SS headquarters. It was in this building that the prisoners were dressed, showered, registered, and then decided if they were fit enough to work or if they would be sent to an extermination camp. It was so real and right in front of my face that it was almost scary. I couldn't believe that I was standing in such a horrible place. But one of the quotes from the camp continues to resonate in my head. "Those who are alive remember who have died here" Something like that. It's so important to remember our past so that we can never let it happen again. It wasn't like Hitler forcefully took over Germany. He was voted into the position of Chancellor by the public. After the SS headquarters, we walked to the back part of the grounds and found the gas chamber. This was one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen. This was the place where people were taken to be "showered" but instead were poisoned, killed, and then burned. Their ashes were then thrown out back. It was such a brutal and terrible thing to do. There are now graves where the ashes were put remembering the deaths of all of the prisoners. It was a hard site to see, but necessary. I think it's something that everyone needs to see once in their life to remember the horror that our world was put through and to make sure that it never happens again. After the gas chambers and memorial, we walked towards the barracks. All of them were destroyed after the war, but some were reconstructed from pictures. They were only made to fit 200 people at any one time, but towards the end of the war, they were cramming up to 1000 people inside. After the barracks, it was nearly time to go. We waited for our bus, and then took a train back to Munich. We now had 2 hours of free time before our next tour started. Because lunch was so long ago, we decided it was time for a snack. We stopped by a grocery store and I picked up my favorite salad and some chips. We walked back to the train station and waited for our next tour to start, playing some card games in between. Around 6 pm our Bavarian Food and Beer tour started. We were greeted with a tall glass of Augustiner Beer. The interesting thing about this beer is that it is only brewed in Munich and isn't exported. Also, 51% of it's profits are donated to charity. Even for beer, that's pretty cool. We took the S-bahn into the city and walked to the Octoberfest Museum. We learned about how the festival was started and how it became such a big thing. King Ludwig I started the Octoberfest after his marriage to the princess Therese in the early 1800s. There were 5 days of festivity after their wedding and they invited people from all over the country to celebrate and meet one another. This tradition was carried on for several years and eventually extended to the 17 day festival it is today. I learned just how rich Munich is as well. Just from this festival alone, they make 900,000,000 dollars. CRAZY! They really don't need tourism at all!! We sat down and watched a little video about how beer was invented and made back in the day and how Germany took that and created their own brews. We also learned about the "Big 6" or the 6 founding breweries of Munich. After our visit to the museum we left to go to the Hogbraukeller, a famous restaurant/brewery in Munich. There we were given HUGE platter of traditional Bavarian food. There was ham and sausages, cheese and cream cheese, pickles and my favorite, pretzels. Now, if you've never had a Munich pretzel, then you can't even imagine how amazing it tastes. It was definitely the best thing I ate while in Munich. After stuffing my face and getting to know the people at our table, we left the Hofbraukeller to go to the Hofbrauhaus, the most famous beer hall in all of Munich, possibly in the entire world. It was crazy! It was filled with people sharing these long tables, eating large amounts of food and beer. There was even a traditional Bavarian band playing some fun music for the guests. We left the Hofbrauhaus and our tour and headed back to the hostel for the night. It was after 10! It was a busy day.

Day 38

We woke up in Heidelberg this morning very early, 5:45 am. SO needless to say, we were both very tired. We managed to get ourselves dressed and to the train station on time to catch our ride to Tubingen. After a transfer and nearly 2 hours of train time, we arrived in the city. And I just have to say that I was thoroughly surprised. First, I wasn’t expecting it to be that cold, but everything was covered in frost and ice, even the flowers. And second, I wasn’t expecting it to be that beautiful. The sky was clear and the morning was crisp. And by crisp, I mean cold. We walked to the Munsterplatz and saw that there was a nice little market going on. We had already had our egg McMuffins and coffee, so we were set, but it was still cool to see. I need to find some markets to go to in California. We walked around the Munsterplatz for a bit and then started heading up towards the castle. We kept seeing more and more frost while we headed up, but no snow. I guess it was a one time deal. We made it to the castle and were happy to find that it was open, at least the grounds were. SO we walked around for a bit looking for the best vantage point to take some photos of the city. We walked all of the way around and found a good area. The grass looked frozen. We spent some time up there before heading down back to the city to the Neckar River. From there we continued taking pictures. Apparently it was feeding time for the ducks and pigeons because there was about 500 of them swarming. It wouldn't have been such a bad thing, but pigeons get startled very easily. And while one might not scare you, 500 scared pigeons flying towards you might. I made sure I was out of the line of fire when they came hurling towards us. After the near brush with death, we walked along the river to enjoy the city for a little bit longer before our train ride. Our next stop was Hechingen where we would catch a bus to the Hohenzollern Castle. We nearly missed our bus, but we caught it just in time. We were on our way to the castle! We arrived at the base and decided that taking the shuttle up was the best option. So we hopped on the shuttle and headed up to the castle. Once we arrived we had 45 minutes before our tour started, so we walked around the grounds looking for something to eat. We found a little food stand near the entrance and each got some french fries to hold us over until lunch time. They were very good. After walking around some more, our tour was finally ready to leave. But we should have realized that it was not going to be the most interesting guide when we received our English tour books. The tour was entirely in German, which wouldn't be terrible if it moved fast. But it didn't After an hour and a half of sitting and not understanding anything, we were finally able to escape. Even though the inside was nice, it tour almost ruined it. We continued to walk around the grounds to find some good views of the city, but our stomachs were grumbling. We stopped inside the castle restaurant for some nice bowls of potato and leek soup. It was very warm and tasty. We left the restaurant after warming up for a bit only to realize that we had close to 2 hours before our bus would arrive. What were we going to do for 2 hours!? Plus it was really cold outside. SO we walked around some more and tried to stay warm. We took our shuttle bus down after a bit and waited inside a souvenir shop to stay warm. After our 2 hour wait, the bus finally arrived and we were on our way to Stuttgart. Once we arrived, we were able to make a quick pit stop for food before our next train was scheduled to leave. I got a banana and toffee nut muffin. It hit the spot. We boarded our next train which would take us back to Munich for the rest of our trip. But about 30 minutes into the train ride, my stomach started hurting. I tried to ignore it and even sleep it off, but it didn't work. I spent the next hour sitting in my seat trying deal with the pain. But nothing worked. After another 30 minutes and a trip to the bathroom, all was better. Thankfully. I don't know what I would have done if I got the stomach flu or a bug. We arrive in Munich 20 minutes late but it was ok because we were there!! We walked to our hostel, typed up some blogs, uploaded some pictures, and got ready for bed. It was a busy day!

Day 37

Heidelberg!!! That’s where we are today. We got to sleep in a little, but not much. We woke up around 7:15 to take showers and have a nice breakfast at our hostel. I had a nice big cup of coffee, 2 bowls of cereal, some toast with jelly on it and an apple. It was delicious. After we were finished, we headed out into the city. The sky looked blue and the sun was shining, kind of. We didn’t realize how far away we were from the center of the city until 30 minutes had passed since we left, and we still weren’t there! We were definitely taking the bus back. On our way to the center, we passed a restaurant that said “Gino’s Mexican Food.” Now, I’ve been crazing Mexican food for the longest time. In fact, when I get home that’s the first thing I’m going to eat. A nice big burrito. So once we saw this, we knew we were set for lunch. But that was a ways away. We continued walking and finally made it to the town hall. We went inside and bought our Heidelberg Card which would give us free transportation and entrance to the castle. But our first stop was the Karl’s Gate. It was your standard entry gate to a city. There was even a little man hole for the latecomers. After the gate we stopped by a little sandwich shop so Adam could grab some food. Plus it was cold outside so I used that time to warm up. After our mini break and some time to figure out our next move, we left the sandwich place and started walking towards the castle. Luckily our Heidelberg Card came with a round trip ride on the funicular railway car, because my feet did not want to climb all of the way up to the castle. We toured the grounds for a bit first. The view was pretty good, even though it was very very cold outside. We could see the whole city! It was really nice. We continued walking along the grounds to try and get some good pictures of the castle. After 20 minutes or so, our tour guide was ready to take us inside. We learned that the castle had been attacked several times over the course of it’s history, once by the French, once during the 30 years war and the last time by nature. Lightning struck one of the towers and burned down most of the castle. After that, it fell into ruins and only one part has ever been renovated. The inside of the renovated part was really nice. Because there was no record of what it looked like, the designers based it off of other castles built during that time. The furniture was all from the 1600s as well. It was pretty nice. After our tour we went downstairs to a very special room. This room contains the largest wine barrel in the world!! It can hold almost 22,000 liters! It’s been filled 3 times in it’s history. Sadly, there’s no wine in it now. After the wine barrel, we walked back upstairs to the Apothecary Museum. It was an entire area dedicated to the practice of medicine from the 1600s. There were so many different spices and herbs used as well as different medical instruments. There was so much information and so many different rooms that it was a little overwhelming. But it was interesting, nevertheless. We left the castle and headed back into the city. Our next stop was the Holy Ghost Church. And as luck would have it, they had a tower that we could climb. So we paid our 70 cents to ascend the tower. After 201 steps we were at the top looking out into the city. It was really nice. The weather had started to turn though and it was getting colder. We spent some time up there before decided that it was lunch time. And now we were on a search for our Mexican restaurant. After 20 minutes of walking up and down the main street, we finally found it. But when we got inside, we were very disappointed. I don’t think “Gino” has ever been to Mexico because the food that was being served was most definitely not Mexican. I’m not even sure if it was food. After spending a few minutes trying to convince ourselves that we could eat it, we left very upset. We stopped at a grocery store to grab some snacks to hold us over until we made it back to the hostel. We left the store and walked over to the University. Heidelberg University is one of the best in all of Europe. With over 33,000 students, living in the city, it kind of feels like a college town. We went inside the library which was really nice. But it was just a library. We left the University area and started walking towards the Jesuit Church. The inside of it was beautiful. It was all white, which is a difference from so many of the other churches we’ve seen. It was also pretty big. We left the church for the last leg of our journey. We walked across the Alte Brucke (Old Bridge) and the Neckar River to walk up Philosopher’s Way. We didn’t make it all of the way to the top, but we did get a pretty good view of the city. It was really nice. And really cold still. But we took a bunch of pictures and spent a good bit of time there. After we were done, we walked back down to the city and caught a bus to our hostel. We arrived back at the hostel, which is on the 3rd floor of a building, but stopped at the 1st floor first to take a look inside the grocery store. While I was trying to find something to eat, I noticed a familiar brand out of the corner of my eye. My salad from the other day was there!! And that’s what I got. I’ll have to keep my eye out for more of them in Munich. We went upstairs to eat and go on our computers for a bit. After some relaxation time, we went into the kitchen for the remainder of the night. We met a group of really cool people and spent a good portion of the night talking hanging out. One of the staff members was even celebrating her birthday so there was some cake involved. One of the guys we met upstairs turned out to be from Irvine. How crazy! We even met someone from Finland. It was a lot of fun, but we ended up calling it an early night so we would be ready for our 5:45 wake up call. Overall, it was a really good day. I can’t believe we’re going back to Munich tomorrow. Less than 5 days left!

Day 36

It was a crazy day. Yesterday was so nice and sunny outside. Perfect for the visit to the castle. But we woke up this morning to find out that it had snowed during the night!! So there was a nice layer of white when we looked out the window. It was almost hard to believe. But we packed up our things and went outside a little earlier than we had planned. Because really, when are you going to wake up to snow in California? It was incredible outside. The streets were white, the houses were white, the mountains were covered in snow. It was like a fairytale. The only thing wrong with this picture is that I was wearing tennis shoes that like to absorb a lot of water. And because it was only 2 inches of snow, it was melting pretty fast. And my socks and shoes were soaked. But it was fun. We tried to throw some snowballs, but it wasn’t ideal conditions. So we walked over to the train station and got ready to board. I thought I felt some drops on my face and thought it was raining. But upon closer inspection, I realized that it was snowing! How crazy is that?! We got on our bus and spent the next 45 minutes looking out the window at all of the snow. When we arrived at our transfer station in Ruette, it was still snowing. And there was a lot of it. It was so cool to see that and experience it. We got on and train and about an hour later we were in Garmisch. Our next stop was Zugspitze, Germany’s highest point. We had to take a cog rail to get up the mountain and then a cable car to reach the peak. Now, it’s cold enough to snow outside on the ground. Just imagine how cold it was once we got up 10000 feet. Very. And it was windy! Snow was flying everywhere. And I was not prepared for the weather. Remember how my shoes were wet? Well that was unpleasant in the 13 degree weather (Fahrenheit). And my jeans actually froze! Can you believe that? Zugspitze’s peak is just under 10,000 feet, or about 2900 meters. And on a clear day you can see all of the way to Italy! But not today. We were in the middle of a storm. It was still worth it though and a once in a lifetime experience. After a good bit of time outside and we decided that it was time to go back down. The cog railway took a little longer back but we were in the city by 3. And we were hungry!! So we stopped at the grocery store and I saw something that I had been craving for the last few days. A nice salad. It was ham and cheese and amazing. Even though it wasn’t ranch dressing, which apparently they don’t have in Europe, it was delicious. And I inhaled it. After our lunch we walked around the city for a bit. But it was raining so that made it tough. We saw the town hall and some of the older sections of town. It was really nice. And the mountains were covered with snow in the background. It was really pretty. After we were done, we headed back to the train station and then back to Munich. We had a little less than an hour this time to walk 2 miles, repack our bags and grab some dinner. We must be getting good at it because we made it back with enough time for me to grab a cup of coffee from Starbucks. We boarded our train and spent the next 3 hours watching movies and sleeping. I was doing most of the sleeping. We arrived in Heidelberg around 11 pm and I was exhausted. After a quick peek at my emails I called it a night. This was the best snow day ever!

Day 35

I can’t believe this trip is almost over. Just under a week left to go. I guess it’s good because it’s snowing outside right now, and I’m not prepared for this type of weather. We woke up in Fussen yesterday (day 35) and got ready for our day. We had a small breakfast of bread and jellies and then headed off into the city. We had a little bit of time before our bus left for Hohenschwangau so we walked around the city for a bit. The sky was a little cloudy and it was cold out so we headed over to the train station. We boarded our bus and started the journey to Neuschwanstein Castle. After a quick 15 minute ride, we were at the base. We went and bought our tickets and opted to hike up instead of taking the shuttle. The walk wasn’t too bad. It was lengthy but not super steep. And it was cold outside so I didn’t overheat. We made it to the top about 45 minutes later and walked over to the Marienbrucke (Marien Bridge) for an incredible view of the castle. The sun was low and the castle was somewhat in shadow, but it was still beautiful. We spent a while up there taking pictures and looking down at the waterfalls. There was even snow on the distant mountains. It was getting close to our tour time, so we left the bridge and started walking towards the castle. We stopped for pictures along the way and I just couldn’t get over how crazy it was that I was actually here at Neuschwanstein. Just like Hallstatt, I had a Neuschwanstein puzzle. So I felt like I had been looking at this image forever, and now I was finally here. We walked along the grounds in one of the courtyards and noticed strange tile patterns. King Ludwig II started building this castle in the 1800s, but when he died suddenly, all construction work was stopped so the castle remains unfinished to this day. The stonework on the outside was going to be the foundation of the castle chapel, but it was never completed. It was finally time for our tour. We went inside the castle and waited patiently for our guide. She came and started telling us the history of the castle and of King Ludwig II. The castle has 110 rooms, but only 16 were completed at the time of King Ludwig’s death. We were fortunate enough to see all 16. We started off with the servants’ quarters. And surprisingly, they were pretty nice. I can only imagine what the rest of the castle looked like. We headed down the halls and up the stairs until we came to the throne room. It was one of the most beautiful rooms I have ever seen. The paintings were incredible and depicted scenes from Europe’s 6 great kings. There was also a giant chandelier in the center of the room. It was made of brass and gold and weighed over 1 ton! Then there was the floor. The floor was a mosaic and consisted of over 2,000,000 individual pieces. Can you imagine how long that took to make!!?? The only thing missing from the room was the throne. It was never built. We left the throne room and continued to King Ludwig’s bedroom. That was almost as nice. It took the builders 4 years to complete this room because of the intricate carvings everywhere. The top of the bed was made in the style of the gothic churches. There was even a wash sink by his bed that had water running and everything. His toilet was probably the most intriguing item. After he was done using it, he would stand up and it would flush automatically! I didn’t even think that technology existed in the 1800s! We were told that King Ludwig II only stayed in his castle for 172 days before being arrested in his bedroom at 4 am. He was charged with being mentally insane and unable to rule Bavaria. He was found dead later that day and it was ruled a suicide. However, it would be very difficult for such an excellent swimmer to drown himself in waist deep water. There was also no water found in his lungs. So I guess it’s open to interpretation now. We left the kings bedroom and saw his study and dining area. Also very beautiful. The next room was a little more peculiar. It was a room made to look like a cave. There was even a secret door somewhere on the “cave” walls. This room was used to prove King Ludwig’s insanity. We left the cave room and went to the singers hall. Because the castle is just over 120 years old, none of the inside artwork has ever been restored or repainted. So we were looking at all original paintings! The room was beautiful and I left wishing I could stay there forever. The tour ended here and we were allowed to go back downstairs to have a look at the kitchen. It looked very modern. It probably would fit in at many restaurants in today’s world. After we left the kitchen we went back outside and saw that the sun was higher and the skies were clearer. We hiked back up to the Marienbrucke and took plenty more pictures. The view of the castle was incredible. I would have to say that this was one of my favorite places on the entire trip. After a good 30 minutes, we left the bridge and started the hike back down to our bus stop. We took an alternative route that led us through the forest and the waterfalls. It was really pretty. We made it back to Hohenschwangau just in time to take a few more pictures and to make our bus. We arrived in the city around 2 pm and saw that the clouds were coming in. Wee raced around to take some pictures before it started raining. We saw the town hall and Hohes Schloss, the city castle/palace. It was very beautiful. After our race around the city, we decided it was finally time for lunch. We stopped at the grocery store in hopes of finding something good to eat. I picked up some nice soup and then we headed back to the hostel. We were disappointed when we got back because the kitchen was locked. I guess that meant no lunch for me. Thankfully I had a snickers bar to hold me over. We relaxed in the hostel for a bit and I even got to read a magazine! Good Housekeeping, or something like that. It was nice to feel like I was back in the real world for a bit. I might have even dozed off for a bit. Around 5 we left to hostel to go back out into the city. Still no rain, but the clouds were covering the sky. We walked along the city streets and saw all of the colorful buildings. I even managed to snag some postcards. I was pretty hungry by this time, but we were holding out for the kitchen back at the hostel. After an hour or so, we finally headed back only to learn that we were not allowed to use the kitchen. So that meant we had to go back out into the city again. This was getting frustrating. We made it back onto the main street and as luck would have it, there was a nice Chinese Restaurant. Sadly, that’s where we went. I don’t know if I can even eat Chinese food again…at least not for a while. After my dinner of fried rice, we left and went back to the hostel. The internet was pretty bad, so no Chuck or Dexter. But I did get to upload some pictures. Other than that, we called it an early night. But I did wake up this morning to snow outside! So I’m excited for day 36.

Day 34

This day was a very very very long one. It might even be second for the whole trip! (London was the first because I didn't sleep for 30+ hours) We started the morning in Rothenburg at 7:00am. We left our hotel bright and early and hit the town. But I guess earlier in the morning a nice layer of fog rolled in. So it was hard to get any decent pictures. We had close to 2 hours in the town, but it was still very cold. We walked around for a bit to try and warm up and saw part of the city walls. We decided to walk along them like we did in Nordlingen. But unlike Nordlingen, these walls didn't go all of the way around the city. There was damage to some parts and they never completed the reconstruction. So after a few minutes of walking, the walls ended and we headed back into the city. It was still pretty cold and we were getting a little hungry. We found a nice cafe that offered food an warmth, so we popped in for a bit. I know I shouldn't have, but it looked so good. I had a nice piece of cake with strawberries on top. At least there was fruit! And then Adam and I ordered a Schneeball to split. It's popular in Rothenburg, so we had to try it. It was really good. Kind of bready and sweet. After our little break, we walked back outside only to see more fog. We continued walking around the city and taking pictures when possible. But after another 45 minutes, the cold was getting to us, so we called it, and walked over to the train station. Our next destination was Wurzburg. We got off the train in Wurzburg and were immediately pulled aside by the police. They started speaking to us in German, so I was a little nervous. But they just needed to see our passports. We were then asked if we had any drugs or weapons on us. Of course not! And then we were released. That's the second time this trip that this has happened. I wonder if there's some kind of racial profiling going on... We left the station only to discover that it was even colder in Wurzburg than it was in Rothenburg! How could this be? So we figured now was as good of a time as any to grab some lunch. And what should be right outside the train station? You guessed it. Chinese food. And it was a buffet. So we went inside and I had my fill of friend rice, egg rolls and tempura. They even had a little fruit section so I ate a bunch of pineapple and melons. When dessert time came I was intrigued to see baked bananas and honey. I had to try it. And I think I found my new favorite dessert. It was amazing. And I will be making it when I get back home. We left the restaurant feeling very full and slightly warmer. The sun was even peeking out while we were walking down the streets. Our next stop was the Wurzburg Residence, which is the palace that the royal family once lived in. The outside was beautiful but the inside was amazing. There were so many different rooms with different color themes. The walls were all different colors and sculptures were everywhere. This might have been my favorite palace to date. Sadly, we couldn't take pictures of the inside. But I will just tell you this, if I had to pick someplace to live, this one might be it. After the palace, we went around the back to the gardens. They weren't as magnificent as Schonnbrunn, but they were still nice. We spent a few minutes there but then realized that we would have to pick up the pace if we wanted to see the fortress. We walked all of the way across town, stopping in the Hauptmarkt and along a few major streets to take pictures. We crossed a bridge lined with statues of famous saints and popes. And then we saw the fortress in the distance. But the walkway was not as close as we had thought and we were running out of time. There was no way we could make it to the fortress and back to the station in time. So we had to say no this time and instead we settled for some nice pictures of the fortress from across the river. We started heading back towards the train station and realized that we were cutting it too close. We happened to see a tram coming to a stop right in front of us. It it just happened to be going to the train station. But we had no way of buying a ticket. So we took our chances and hopped on, hoping that it would go unnoticed. And it did, thankfully. We made it to the station just in time to catch our next train! We were off to Nuremberg. We were on an ICE train so it was a quick little ride to the city. Our first stop was Zeppelinfield, or the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. We took a quick train over there and saw the place where Hitler addressed so many of his followers. What used to be the Rally Grounds is now a sports arena though. So you can't really tell anymore. However, the seating area is still there and looks the same, minus a few pillars that were destroyed after the war. It was really cool being there, but also a little weird too. During WWII, Nuremberg was one of the main headquarters for Hitler and the Nazis. We left the grounds and headed back into the city. We stopped by St. Lorenz Church which was massive! The outside structures were very impressive as well. The front of the church had such detailed sculptures that I was amazed someone could do it by hand. We continued walking into the heart of the city and came to one of the markets. There were so many odds and ends being sold! It was really neat. We left the market and saw St. Batholomew's Cathedral. There was some nice music coming from it so we went inside. It must have been practice for the local orchestra because there was an entire band inside. We sat down and listened to a few songs to relax. It was great to head that kind of music again. It really made me miss high school and all of the fun times I had in band. We left the church and started heading up to the castle. It was already closed, but the exterior provided some great views of the city. We spent some time up there exploring before finally going back into the city. We walked along a really cool street with differently colored houses. It was really nice. And by now the weather had started to shape up so we were feeling good. We walked back through the main part of the city and towards the train station. I felt like we saw the city well enough and I really enjoyed it. We made out train and started heading back towards Munich. We arrived at the Hauptbahnhof and started speed walking to our hostel. We had 1 hour to walk 2 miles and repack our bags. Hopefully that was enough. We made it to the hostel and did a quick switch of clothes, making sure to pack a little bit warmer this time around. Then we made a quick stop at McDonald's before heading back to the station. Everything went off without a hitch. And now we were on our way to Fussen. We arrived in Fussen about 2 hours later, very tired and just wanting to do to bed. But we had a nice walk to the hostel. We finally arrived and I was ready to pass out. After getting all of my clothes laid out and brushing my teeth, I finally went to bed at 12:15. It was a very very long day.

Day 33

This was a long day. And a very cold day. We woke up in Munich around 6:15 and gathered our things for day. We went downstairs to drop off our luggage and to check out. We walked to the train station and saw that there was a Starbucks. The thing about European coffee is, it’s good, but they serve it in such tiny cups that you need 4 just to enjoy it. I’m glad Starbucks has standardized sizes. We each got a grande coffee and loaded up on cream and sugar, another thing that Europeans seem to be stingy on. We boarded our train to Ulm and enjoyed our normal sized coffee. After an hour or so, we made it to the city. And it was cold! At least there was no rain yet. We had plenty of time in the city so our first goal was to locate and bank because I was out of money! Thankfully there was one right in the Munsterplatz. This was convenient because the Ulm Minster was also in this square. We took some pictures of the outside and then went in. The inside was very nice and instead of being filled with marble like many of the other churches we have seen, this one was made of stone. I really liked it. After seeing the inside we were ready for the Steeple. Here’s a little background information for you about this church. When it was built it was the tallest building in the world. It stayed that way until the Empire State Building was built. But don’t worry. It still holds a record. It has the tallest church steeple/spire in the world. It’s 528 feet tall. And we were about to climb it. There were 771 steps to reach the top. And that was one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do on this trip. The stairways were narrow and the wind was cold. The handrails was non existent so I had to use the walls to brace myself. We finally made it to the top, 469 feet. The view was amazing! You could see everything. But again, it was very narrow up there and not a lot of room to move around. The wind was blowing as well which made it 10 times colder up there. I had to keep going inside the stairwell just to warm up. But it was amazing. How many people can say that they’ve climbed 771 stairs to the top of the tallest church steeple in the world? Not many I guess. We descended to steeple feeling a little wobbly but in good shape. We spent the rest of the time walking through the old part of the city, parts that weren’t destroyed during WWII. There were even little canals that went around some of the houses. It was pretty cool. But also pretty cold. After we walked through the city a bit we were finally ready to head back to the train station. And it was almost time for lunch, so we were hoping for some good food options. When we got back to the station we came across a Burger King, which is a nice change from McDonald’s. I took one look at the menu and saw chili cheese burgers for 1,50. And I was sold. So I bought two. But I would soon be surprised on the train when I learned what Chili Cheese Burger meant in Germany. Once we were on the train I opened my bag and started munching on some fries. After I was finished, it was burger time. But when I opened my burger I was very surprised to find it covered in jalapenos and spicy cheese sauce. I thought they had made a mistake. I looked at my next one and it was the same story. I guess chili cheese really means “Jalapeno Cheese”. Well, you know how much I love jalapenos. So picked those right off and tried to stomach the rest of the burgers. It was a great disappointment. After 1 transfer and 2 hours of train ride, we made it to the city of Nordlingen. Now, I don't know if you're familiar with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but if you've seen the movie and remember the final scene, then the next few sentences will be exciting for you. We left the train station and walked briskly in the city. We could either see it in 45 minutes and catch an earlier train out, or spend 3 hours in the city and get a later train. We were shooting for 45. But there was a lot to do. We walked along part of the city wall and snapped some quick photos. Then we speed walked into the city and started heading up the tower. After about 20 steps, I knew that 45 minutes was not happening because I was dying! We decided to aim for the later train and enjoy our time in the city. So we continued walking up the tower, but at a much slower pace. And 347 steps later, we were at the top. If you're keeping score that's 1118 steps! And that was just going up. The view from the top was incredible. And slightly familiar. Why, you ask? Well, Nordlingen was the city used for the final scene in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Remember when they are in the glass elevator soaring over the city? It's Nordlingen!! And I got to see that. It was wonderful. We left the tower and walked around the city for a while before heading back to the town wall. We walked all of the way around the wall, which was a good 2 or 3 miles before finally calling it a day in Nordlingen. We walked back to the train station waited for our next train. Now, this leg of the journey was going to be difficult. We had to make 3 transfers, 2 of which were less than 5 minutes! Our trains needed to be on time. Good thing we're in Germany and not Austria. All 3 transfers went off without a hitch. We made it to Rothenburg safe and sound. We checked into our hotel and got ready to go out again. It was dinner time and we were hungry. Luckily, we found a pizza place right in the town square for a decent price. After consuming some very delicious vegetarian bruschetta we went back outside to wait for the Night Watchman Tour. But there was a problem. It was FREEZING! And I wasn't being a baby. I was shivering. My skin was like ice. And we still had another hour outside. Our tour guide came dressed in his watchman attire. He was a very interesting and funny guide. He told us all about Rothenburg and it's history, including the role it played in WWII. He also explained why it still looked medieval and why it was in such good shape. I don't know if being out in the cold was worth it, but I'm glad I got to learn a little bit more about the town. After our tour ended we raced back to the hotel so I could warm up a bit. I did that by hopping straight into the shower. Then it was bed time!

Day 32

Another day gone, which means there’s only 10 days left. 9 if I’m not counting today (Sunday). We woke up at 5:45 am sharp to shower and get ready for the busy day ahead of us. I think it’s either hit or miss with the showers in Europe, and the ones in Salzburg were definitely a hit. Nice and warm, good water pressure, and you don’t have to keep pushing a button to make the water come out, always a plus. After my nice shower (and blow drying session) I went back to the room and grabbed all my stuff. We went downstairs to check out. We stored our big bags in lockers and were off to the train station. We made breakfast stop at McDonald’s and then headed off to the train. Man, I miss breakfast food. The forecast predicted rain, but so far it was just cloudy. Our train was heading to Werfen, a small town about 150 km south of Salzburg. Once we got off the train, we waited for our bus which would take us part way op the mountain to the Eisriesenwelt, or Ice Caves. If you remember from yesterday, we visited the oldest salt mines in the world. Well today we were visiting the largest ice caves in the world. Pretty exciting. Our bus took us up the mountain to the ticket station. From there we had a decent 20 minute hike to the cable car. Once we arrived at the cable car, it took 3 minutes to ascend the mountain. After we got off of the cable car, we had another 20 minutes climb. We finally made it to the entrance though, and right on time. Usually, because this is such a popular attraction, the tour groups are fairly large and the tour lengthy. But when we arrived at the top, we were the only two people. So our guide greeted us, gave us a fire lit lamp and we entered the freezing ice caves. The tour consists of climbing up over 700 steps to the highest point, 1500 meters (approximately) and then climbing back down those steps, all while using the dim light of our lamp and on very slippery and narrow stairs. Thankfully our guide had a roll of magnesium that was very bright when lit. We made our way up the first set of stairs and I was in awe at how amazing these caves were. There were ice walls everywhere! Sculptures had even been formed by the melting and refreezing. It was incredible (and very cold). We came to one of our stopping points and with the glowing light, I felt like I was in the North Pole. They are very clear when you buy your ticket that photos are not allowed. But, our guide was very nice and said that because we were such a small group and there was no hurry to get through the caves, we were more than welcome to take pictures. He even offered to take some of us as well! We saw ice walls that were over 30 feet thick and huge mountains of ice. It looked like it would be fun to slide down, but I can only imagine how injured one might become if they did that. We continued walking through the caves and up more stairs until we came to the Polar Bear and Elephant statues. And they really looked like a polar bear and elephant. It is amazing to think that nature can create such a beautiful thing. We continued walking through the cave and saw more and more ice. It’s a good thing we had to walk up all those stairs otherwise I would have been freezing. We finally made it to the exit about an hour later and thanked our guide before heading back down to the cable car. After going down the cable car and walking some more, we came across some familiar faces. Remember when we stayed in Luxembourg we had a 4 bed dorm. Well, the other couple that was staying with us then just so happen to be walking up this mountain on the very same day that we were. What are the chances?! We had a quick little conversation to see how the rest of their trip had been going, and then we were off to our bus stop. We were done a little early so we had to wait for 40 minutes to be picked up again, but that gave us some time to relax and enjoy some strawberry cake I had picked up at the store the other day. Our bus came early and we were off to the city. Our next stop was the castle, but first, lunch. The city of Werfen is pretty small, so our options were limited. We stopped inside a grocery store to see if anything appealed, but it didn’t. We did pick up some potato and leek soup for dinner, but we were still on a lunch mission. We came across a little pizzeria and decided that this was perfect. We each ordered some soup and split a pizza. We ordered the “Werfen” pizza, which includes cheese, bacon, spinach and sheep’s cheese. And it was delicious, and filling. Now we were ready to walk up to the castle. The walk wasn’t too bad. It was short, but there were some steep spots along the way. We finally made it up to the top and the view was wonderful. We could see the mountain that we had hiked up earlier in the day, the entire city and even the Salzach river (which runs through the city). We took plenty of pictures because we had some time before the tour started. After roaming the grounds for a bit, our guide was ready to go. We started off in the chapel and learned about the history of the castle. It originated in the 10th century and was expanded over the years, just like many other castles that we’ve seen. Eventually, after a huge fire and some reconstruction, it was abandoned in the early 1800s. It was bought by the city a number of years later and opened to the public after that. The inside was pretty nice. We went into the torture chambers next and even saw the dungeon below. We went out into the courtyard and saw one of the kitchen areas. We continued walking through the castle and came to the artillery room and eventually made it to the clock tower where we were able to climb all of the way to the top. Our guide was even kind enough to ring the bell for us. It would have been nice if he warned us… After the clock tower was finished, we walked back down into the castle and saw one of the state rooms. The tour concluded and we headed down into the courtyard area to get our seats for the Birds of Prey show. A group of men came out and played a fanfare to let us know that the show was about to start. Even though all of the commentary was in German, watching the birds zoom by was pretty impressive. They were coming so close to our heads that I became a little nervous at one point. But I guess they were well trained because there were no injuries. There was even one bird that was hovering motionless about 30 feet up in the air at one point! I was very excited to see an American Bald Eagle come soaring out above the crowd. I can’t say that I ever remember seeing one before. It was really neat. We left Werfen feeling tired but accomplished. We caught our train back to Salzburg and had just enough time to grab our bags from the hostel before getting back to the train station. We arrived in Munich 2 hours later and saw that it had recently been raining. Hopefully the walk to our hostel would remain dry. And it did, for the most part. We checked into the hostel and made our way to the kitchen to cook up the soup we had bought earlier in the day. Even though we were both so tired, the soup was pretty good and helped keep us awake to figure out our plans for the next few days. After getting our internet connection, we rechecked train times and got ready for the end of the night. I was pooped. Day 33 is going to be a busy day!

Day 31

The morning started off nice and early at 6:15, a slight change from yesterday’s 7 am wake up call. We already had our clothes laid out, so we were able to be out of the hostel by 6:30 and on our way to the train station. We were a little hungry and we knew that if we didn’t eat now, we wouldn’t get a chance to until after 9. Luckily there was a McDonald’s right around the corner and we got some nice egg McMuffins. Our train left about 10 minutes late, but what else can you expect here. We made our transfer just fine and were on our way to Hallstatt. Even though it’s a very small city, Hallstatt is famous for many things. First, the oldest salt mine in the world is located there. Second, the Beinhaus. And third, the image of the city is used frequently when describing Austria. We arrived on time and boarded the ferry that would take us across Hallstattersee (Hallstatter Lake). It was pretty chilly, but I had my gloves and scarf. The sky was filled with clouds, but at least no rain. We made it into the city relatively fast and started walking around. We were looking for the picture spot. The picture spot refers to the spot where my puzzle picture was taken. We wanted to recreate this image. And we found it, or close enough to it. We spent some time taking pictures and enjoying the scenery of the area. After we were done, we walked back towards the city center, but stopped at St. Michael’s Church. There wasn’t anything too impressive inside, just your average small town church. But, this is also where the Beinhaus is located. What is a Beinhaus you ask? Well I will tell you. It translates to “Bone House”. What does that mean? Is it a house made of bones? No. It is a house filled with bones. 1200 people worth of bones. The skulls are all arranged, stacked on top of one another, some even painted and decorated. And then beneath all of the skulls are the rest of the bones. Those are just kind of sitting in a Jenga like situation. We took some quick photos and then I bolted right out of there. It was a little too creepy for me. We left the Beinhaus and continued toward the city. We stopped along the way at the Marktsquare to take some pictures and scope out the food selection for later. We started heading towards the cable car that would take us to the salt mines. Once we arrived, we bought our tickets, and then waited for a good 20 minutes before we were ready to ascend. Once we got to the top, we still had a good bit to walk, and it wasn’t the easiest of walks either. At least the scenery was nice. And as a bonus, the sky was starting to clear up. There were even spots of blue! We made it up to the entrance, but had to wait for another 15 minutes before we could start our tour. But once they were ready for us, we went inside a dressing room and were given a traditional miners outfit to put on. It wasn’t the most flattering pair of pants and I think it’s pretty much, and one size does not fit all. Once we were outfitted we started our 75 minutes tour of the oldest salt mines in the world! It was a little chilly inside, 8 degrees Celsius, but the air quality is supposed to be really good so I made sure to take some extra deep breathes. We walked through the Christina Tunnel and to our first destination. We were told that we would experience how miners used to get from room to room as efficiently as possible. This was also the reason for our strange attire. There were these wooden slide that were about 60 meters long that put you in another room. I was a little nervous when our guide told us to be careful and not touch anything with our hands and feet. But as soon as that light turned green, I let loose and zoomed down. It was like I was at Wild Rivers going down the Edge. We waited for everyone else to come down and then we went to a set of benches to watch a video about the salt mine’s history. It was in German with English subtitles, but I don’t think the translation was super accurate. The person in the movie would talk for about 3 minutes, and then one line of text would come up on the screen. Oh well. We left the “time machine” area and continued on our way. We saw salt deposits everywhere. There were mini lakes inside as well. We even got to see a light show. After a good bit of walking we made it to our second slide. This one was even longer. And it had a device that measured how fast we were going. I made it a whopping 21.8 km/h!! I don’t know what that translates into mi/h, but I would guess around 12 or 13. After that slide we learned a little more about the history of the mines including the “Man in the Salt”. About 300 years ago they discovered the body of a man who had died in the mines. They thought he was a 16th or 17th century miner and they brought him out and buried him somewhere in the city. But later research showed that his remains were over 3000 years old! We continued walking and finally made it to our final destination. Instead of walking out of the caves, we took a small train like vehicle out. It was much more efficient. We said good bye to the mines and started our descent down. We were able to take the cable car back down and were hoping to stop at the local grocery store for some lunch. But when we got down to the bottom, we were sad to find out that the store was closed from 1pm until 3 pm. It was 1:05. Without any other options we decided to take a walk up part of the mountain to get some better views of the city. We started up one of the paths and it was pretty steep. I pushed through the burning sensation in my legs and made it to a resting/picture point. The clouds were starting to come back, but we still had some time before they completely covered the sky again. We continued walking upward until we reached a nice little gazebo. We took another break there and got some great pictures of the city and the lake. It was beautiful. After our gazebo stop, the walk flattened out so it was more of a leisurely stroll. We finally came to the ending point and headed back into the city center. We looked at the souvenir shops to see if anything was worth buying and came out with a few post cards. We walked slowly back to the grocery store because we still had 30 minutes until opening time. We sat by the lake and enjoyed the sights. The clouds were almost completely back, and the temperature was dropping. Finally 3pm came around and we made our way into the store. We ended up getting supplies to make some … ham sandwiches. But these ones were actually pretty good. After we finished, we still had some remaining bread and cheese and the ducks looked very hungry. We gave them the rest of our food and they were very appreciative. After we left the dock area, we still had over 30 minutes before our boat was set to depart. So we walked back to the puzzle picture spot to make some last memories of Hallstatt. The sun had gone somewhat behind the mountains so the view was perfect. After some time up there, we hustled back to our boat and boarded just in time. We left Hallstatt and not a moment too late. The clouds were now covering the entire sky and I was ready to go. Our train was a few minutes late, but we relaxed on it the whole way back watching “Fantastic Mr. Fox”. After we got back into Salzburg, our dinner options were limited and we were tired. Our big sandwich buffet filled me up pretty well, so I just had a snack before calling it a night. That’s all for today. Werfen tomorrow and then back to Germany tomorrow night!

Day 30

Day 2 in Salzburg! Well, since some of the attractions that we planned to do were closed yesterday (or unavailable to the public) we had some extra time on our hands. Instead of using that time to hit the town nice and early, we decided to sleep in a little bit. We woke up at 7, a step up from 6:30, and took some nice warm showers. The bathrooms were even equipped with hairdryers. So of course, I had to test them out. My hair has not seen any electronic device in over 4 weeks. It felt good. After we were all showered and dressed, we left the hostel to see the rest of the city. We walked through a little market along the way to see if they had anything tasty for breakfast. Just when we thought all hope was lost, we found a nice big pretzel for only 1,50. It was very delicious. We left the market and walked a little bit more into the city, still hungry. We stopped at the Billa and I picked up a nice package of mixed fruit to munch on. We walked over towards St. Peter's Church and cemetery and went inside (the church). It was really nice inside, but I can't think of a better way to describe it, then by saying it had vaulted ceilings, marble columns and paintings everywhere. We left the church and started the hunt for some good lookout spots. Adam had come across one the other day so he took me up it. I don't know if the 200 stairs was worth it. But the view of the city was really nice. You could see everything from up there! We had a clear view to the castle, of the river, all of the churches, the whole skyline. We spent some time up there and decided it was time we saw Hohensalzburg. We walked to the castle and were relieved when we saw the funicular railway. After 30 days, my legs are just about done, so I have to save them whenever possible. We went up in the funicular and as soon as we got to the top, we started exploring. The view of the city was nice, but we knew it would be better once we got up into one of the towers. We got ready for our guided tour and then we were off. We saw one of the main chamber rooms, but all that was inside was paintings of the archdukes of Salzburg and what their contributions to the castle building. We left that room and went up to the "torture chamber." But we soon learned that no one was actually tortured in that room. Instead, it was just where they held prisoners and their torture weapons. We left that room and ascended one of the towers to get a beautiful panoramic view of the city. You could even see as far as Hellbrunn Palace (the place we went the day before)! Everything was so beautiful, and even though the sky wasn't clear, it didn't matter. I spent a while upstairs and reluctantly went back down when our tour left. We walked through the watchman's hallway and ended up at the end of the tour. We then had free roam of the castle, at least the outer part. We spent some more time up there climbing some towers and taking more pictures. We finally left the castle and went down to St. Peter's Catacombs. Now, I'm not sure what the difference between Catacombs and Casemates are, but they kind of looked the same. These catacombs were much smaller than the ones in Luxembourg however. They provided a nice view of the city and it was included in our Salzburg Card. After the catacombs it was time for lunch. And you guess it. We went to an all you can eat Chinese Buffet. They didn't have potstickers or won tons, but they did have fried rice and egg rolls, and that's all I really needed. It was delicious, but I think it might be the last time I eat Chinese food on this trip. I can't imagine myself craving it anymore. We left the restaurant and perused the streets for a bit, poking our heads into shops to see if there was any souvenirs worth buying. I found a few things. After that, it was almost time for our Lakes and Mountains tour. We went over to our pick up spot and waited for our bus/van to come. It was right on time. We left Salzburg and traveled north to the Lake District. This district has over 70 natural lakes, many of hem created right after that last ice age. We made one stop along the way to take a peek outside, but it was pretty cold, so I jumped right back in the van. We continued to travel deeper into the district and made it to St. Gilgen. St. Gilgen is a famous city in Austria because it was where Mozart's mother was born. They made her house into a museum and it is now open to the public. We spent a little bit of time in the city but then got back in the van to travel to our next destination. We drove almost all of the way around Wolfgangsee (Wolfgang Lake) to the little town of St. Wolfgang. We were given 45 minutes to walk around the city. During that time we took pictures, went inside the local church, and even stopped for some ice cream. We tried a new flavor too. Hazelnut. It was pretty good, and I don't think I've ever seen it in the states, but now I'll be on the look out. It is also Adam's new favorite flavor. After our ice cream stop, we went back to the dock and boarded our boat. The boat was going to take us across the lake and back to the town of St. Gilgen. It's a good thing we boarded first, because there were a limited number of seats inside and it was very cold outside. The ride was relaxing and the lake was beautiful. We arrived in St. Gilgen 40 minutes later and got ready to head back to Salzburg. We drove past Mondsee (Moon Lake) and were told that we were now in what was considered Upper Austria. I think that means I've been in all 4 regions of the country now. We left Mondsee and made it back to Salzburg relatively quickly. After we left our tour guide, we headed back to the hostel and settled in for the night. Hallstatt is tomorrow!

Day 29

The hills are alive with the sound of....music! We're in Salzburg, Austria right now. It was an interesting day today. We checked the weather last night to see what we would be up against. The forecast predicted that it would be slightly colder than it had been in Vienna, but clear skies and no rain. Well, it was right about 2 of the 3. It was cold!! by 10 am it had barely reached 8 degrees Celsius. And there was no rain, even though it felt like it was going to. But, the skies were anything but clear. When we left the hostel at 7:30 there was a nice layer of fog hanging over us. We hoped that it would clear in a few hours because we were planning on climbing up to the castle today, but no suck luck came our way. We started the morning off by walking to the Mirabell Palace Gardens. The gardens were very unique because each section had a different color scheme. There was an entire patch dedicated to Orange, and another area with a bunch of red roses. There were fountains and statues everywhere. And if the sky had been clear we would have been able to see all of the way to the castle. We left the gardens and continued walking to the city, stopping in several cathedrals, partly because they were beautiful and partly to stay warm. We spent some time in the Franziskanerkirche which was nice and warm. It also had a beautiful painted ceiling and marble structures everywhere. We left the church and continued walking around the city. We finally found ourselves at the Salzburg Cathedral, one of the more recognized structures of the city. It was in this church that Mozart's parents were married in. The inside was huge! We spent a good bit of time in there to ward off the cold and to take pictures. After the church we went by the tourist's office to pick up our Salzburg Card, something that would get us into every major attraction for free. Granted, we did have to pay 33 euros for it, but don't worry, it's worth it. It was only 9 am, so we had plenty of time on our hands. We went to the Mozart Gebursthaus (Mozart Birth House) first. This is the house where Mozart was born in, as well as his older sister. The family lived here for several years before moving to another nearby house in Salzburg. The room was full of information about Mozart and his travels, his family and his career. He was born in a circular room on the third floor of this house (which we got to go in!) It was very interesting learning about this because if you remember, in Vienna we went to the Mozarthaus and learned about his adult life. We left the Gebursthaus and went searching for his other residence, the Mozartwohnung (Mozart Living House?) I didn't know how well off the family was before we went inside, but apparently middle class was pretty fancy back in the day. The house had 8 very large rooms and was filled with original mementos, furniture and instruments from the Mozart family. We saw Mozart's first piano and first viola. There were also locks of his hair!! (That one was a little weird to me, but oh well) We spent some time in the house listening to some of his many compositions and learning about his extensive travels as a boy. Mozart spent over 1/3 of his life traveling, approximately 10 years! That's a lot in my book. We left the house and went to search for the entrance to the Mirabell Palace. However, we were informed once we arrived that the Palace was a government palace and there was no entry allowed, despite what the website claimed. Disappointed, we went on our way to find the Salzburg Residenz. When we arrived, we were informed that the state rooms, basically, the rooms of the palace, were closed until Saturday. There was a gallery upstairs that we could visit, but that was it. That was a bummer because it was something that we were both looking forward to. Maybe we'll have some extra time on Saturday to see it, but I don't know. We left the Residenz and went to find our bus stop. Because it was so cloudy, we decided to push back the castle until tomorrow which meant that we could go to Hellbrunn Palace today. After a quick bus ride we arrived at the palace and waited for our tour to start. The interesting thing about Hellbrunn Palace is its water trick fountains. They warn you before you go on the tour that you might get wet, but I didn't think much of it. We got a ton of information about the palace and the emperors who lived there. We were then informed that there were 3 "surprises" along the way. While we were in one of the grottos our tour guide got a sneaky look on his face and pressed a button. Suddenly a bunch of fountains started squirting water everywhere. Luckily I was not in the crossfire and I stayed dry. We continued walking through the gardens and were told to stand on a bunch of steps. We were given some information about the wooden miniature theater that was in front of us. It was made of over 200 pieces and 120 of them were movable. It was completely water powered. We got a demonstration of it. But, I had let my guard down and thought I was safe. The next thing I know, the back of my pants were soaked and I was running away from the squirting water. Everyone had a good laugh. We continued walking and found ourselves in another cave like structure. When it was time to exit, however, the guide turned on some water fountains. He told us that if we walked straight under it, we wouldn't get wet. And I believed him. Adam and I walked under the water and stayed pretty dry. But just when we though we were out of the woods, the guide turned on another set of fountains that squirted us right in the face. And just remember how cold I told you it was today... We left the water fountains feeling cold, but amused. We were able to go inside the palace afterward and see many of the rooms. It was a little small and not too impressive, but I guess that fountains make up for it. We let the palace and were able to catch a quick bus back into the city. Since it was way past lunch time, we decided to pop inside the Billa (grocery store chain) and grab something to cook up at the hostel. I saw a nice package of fresh pineapple, kiwi, and strawberries, and knew that was going to be part of my lunch. My next craving was for a Pb&J. Thankfully, the store had all three ingredients that I needed. We left the store and headed back to the hostel to make our lunch. The bread was a little hard/dry, but the PB&J was absolutely delicious. It was almost 5 by the time we finished and Adam wanted to go out again. I knew I was too tired and that we had a busy couple of days ahead of us, so I opted to stay at the hostel, and relax/take a nap. And it was good. So now we're down in the lounge getting ready to watch Chuck. I had another PB&J for dinner so I should be good for the rest of the night!

Day 28

We woke up nice and early today, 6:30am. But, it was so that we could talk with our families (which I would wake up at any time to do!) After a nice chat with the people back home, a relaxing warm shower, and some internet surfing, we were off to the train station and on our way to Bratislava, Slovakia. The train ride was short, just under an hour, and the weather was still beautiful. By the time we got there it was after 11 and we hadn't eaten lunch yet, so we were starving. But our first goal was to actually get into the city. We exited the train station only to find out that our bus stop was on the other side. I decided that it would be better to use the restroom before we left, and I was fine with paying the 20 cents that it costs. Only in Slovakia, they do it a little differently. Not only do you have to pay to use the bathroom, but for insurance I guess, or to save money, they give you your allotted toilet paper usage. That's right. I gave the lady my 20 cents and she handed me some nicely folded squares of toilet paper. Thankfully it was enough. After I left the bathroom, we located the correct bus stop and were on our way into the city. Our first quest was to find somewhere to eat. And who would have guessed that there would be a Chinese restaurant right net to our stop. And the menu was even in English. We sat down and were rewarded with very cheap options. A bowl of soup and chicken fried rice with a salad on the side was only 3,09 euros! That's about $4.00! But it didn't stop there. I thought I was really hungry so I ordered an appetizer as well, fried dumplings (potstickers). The soup was alright, the salad was delicious and the rice was delicious. But about half way through my rice I was feeling pretty full. How was I going to eat 6 fried dumplings? The answer, I wasn't. My dumplings came out and they were amazing. But I barely had room in my stomach for 2. Luckily we were able to get a box to go. You can never let good dumplings go to waste. We left the restaurant feeling full and happy. We decided it was time to do some sightseeing, so we started hiking up to the castle. The walk wasn't too bad and the view was pretty cool. We were right on the Danube River which runs all of the way through to Germany. Once we got up to the castle we were disappointed to learn that it was under reconstruction so the inside was closed to the public. We took some pictures of the outside, walked around for a bit, and decided to head back down into the city. Once we were in the city we stopped by one of the main squares. It had a little market going on so we browsed through it. We each found a few souvenirs to buy as well. the city had a very relaxed feel and it wasn't super crowded either. We stopped by Hlavana Namestie, another square, and saw the Town Hall and a few other official looking buildings. We continued walking down the streets until we found St. Michael's Gate and Tower. It was pretty cool to see and to know that it once protected the city from invaders. We continued walking until we found the Grassalkovich Palace, which is where the President of Slovakia lives. Of course it was gated and there were armed guards outside, but we took some decent pictures of it. The Palace Gardens were open to the public, so we went around the back and spent some time in the gardens/park. After we rested for a few minutes it was almost time for our bus to leave to the train station. We made a quick stop inside a store to pick up some snacks for later, I managed to eat a few more of my dumplings, and then we were on our way. Our train going back to Vienna was just as fast and we arrived in about an hour. We had enough time to grab our bags and rest for a few minutes before we boarded our train to Salzburg. Thankfully I was still full from my Chinese food so I didn't even need to think about dinner. The train ride was nice and long so we were able to watch a movie to occupy our time. After 2 and 1/2 hours of smooth railjet train riding, we arrived in Salzburg tired, but excited. We left the station, got momentarily lost, but soon found our way to the hostel. It's pretty nice, has decent internet and a kitchen that we can cook in. But that was it for today!

Day 27

Whewwww. Another long day in Vienna. We got to sleep in a little yesterday, 7 am. That was a nice treat. After we rolled out of bed and got ready, we hit the town nice and early. It wasn't as cold as some of the other days, but it was by no means warm. Our first stop was Schonbrunn Palace. When Adam planned this all out, he had given us 3 hours to see the palace and the gardens. I thought that it would be way too much time. I was mistaking. We spent over an hour in the gardens alone! They were so huge and there were so many picture opportunities. There was even a Greek/Roman looking building up on top of a hill in the distance, so we had to climb it. The view of the palace was even nicer from up there. On our way back down we encountered some very friendly,l but hungry squirrels. They kept coming right up to our feet, begging for food, but we didn't have any. They were disappointed. After we made it back down, it was time to tour the palace. The inside was incredibly huge. Even though we only visited 20 rooms, I imagine that there are over 100. The palace was built by Empress Maria Theresa and her family lived there for several centuries. There was an audio guide that went with it and gave descriptions of each room. There was original furniture and artwork all throughout the palace, so it was almost the same as being there in the early 1900s. We spent a good bit of time in the palace and then left to go grab some breakfast. I had a nice pastry filled with something delicious, and Adam had a ham sandwich. We continued walking until we reached St. Stephan's Cathedral. It was very impressive on the outside, but we were sad to learn that the only way you could get a good view of the inside was to pay for a guided tour, which was pretty expensive. So instead of that, we opted for a ride up one of the tours to get a good view of the city. We went up the Nordturm (North Tower) and saw for miles. We even got a closer look at the roof of the church which appeared to be covered in colorful tiles. After St. Stephan's we went on a quest to find the Jesuit Church. It was a good thing that we had done our research because the inside of the Jesuit Church was much nicer than St. Stephan's, and it wasn't as crowded because not many tourists know about it. We spent some time in there and then left to find Reprechtkirche, the oldest church in Vienna. It wasn't super exciting on the inside, but it was very cool to see a church that was built in 1490. We left the church feeling accomplished, and rather hungry. Our of the corner of my eye I saw a sign that said fresh soup, salad and curry. Well, we had to check it out at least. We went inside and tried to understand the menu. We were successfully able to order some beef chicken noodle vegetable soup which was pretty good. They even provided us with free water! That's a novel concept in Europe. After our lunch we went in search of the Old town hall and St. Peter's Church. We found both pretty quickly. St. Peter's Church was also really nice inside, but they were just about to start a service so we only spent a few minutes inside. We were right next to the Plague Column, so we stopped there for a few minutes to take some pictures and enjoy the sunlight. After we were done, we started heading towards Sigmund Freud House and Museum. As a psychology major and a studier of Freud, it was very interesting to see where his practice started and how he evolved over the years. Some of the rooms were left intact and there were hundreds of pictures and documents put on display. There were even some personal belongings of his donated by his family to the exhibit. It was pretty cool to see everything. We left the house and started heading over to the Beethoven House. We made a pit stop at the Votifkirche and the surrounding park. Once we started walking again, Adam realized he was a bit hungry, so we made another stop inside McD's to get a snack. I knew I was going to be having some special cake later, so I opted not to get anything. Once we arrived at the Beethoven House we were very disappointed to learn that it was closed. Maybe if we have enough time after Bratislava we can see it. We started heading back in the direction of our U-Bahn Station, stopping by several streets along the way. We finally made it to our place of destination, the Sacher Cafe. Now, I don't know if you've ever heard of Sacher Torte, but it is only produced in Vienna (and then shipped all over the world). So of course, I had to try some. And for 4.90, it better be pretty darn good. I was not disappointed. It's chocolate cake with a dark chocolate frosting/coating and then a layer of apricot filling in the middle. And it was gone in about 2 minutes. It was amazing! After my tummy was full of cake, we left feeling exhausted. But first, a quick stop in at our favorite ice cream shop. After our ice cream stop visit, we went to the store in hopes of finding some tortillas so we could make fajitas, but sadly, they don't sell tortillas in Vienna. So I had to settle for some spinach and cheese ravioli, which was actually pretty good. Once we got back to the hostel, it was time to relax, cook dinner, and watch some Dexter. But, neither of us made it past the first 15 minutes of the show, so we called it an early night at 9. Day 28 is here and we're heading off to Salzburg tonight!

Day 26

Ok. Well the last time I left you I was about to do some laundry. That took forever!! I was up until after 1:30am. And I had a 6:30am wake up call. Needless to say, today I was very tired. I started the morning with a nice video chat with my family. It was much needed. I'm really glad I had the chance to do that, and I've even scheduled another one for Tuesday! After my morning chat, I went back to my dorm and got ready for Sunday mass at the Hofburgkapelle, where I would also see the Vienna Boys Choir. We got there nice and early only to find out that we had assigned seats. Oh well. We were seated in the "listening only" section which meant that we wouldn't actually see the choir, but we could hear them and there was a TV screen broadcasting the whole thing to us. I thought that it was a pretty good deal for a 5 euro ticket. Once we settled in, mass started which was a very interesting experience. I've been to several masses before, but none like this. There were so many priests and deacons and people wearing white gowns and there was even a tin thing of incense that they brought out onto the alter. The whole thing was in German so I had a hard time understanding, but it didn't matter. As soon as the choir started singing it was amazing. For such small kids they have incredible voices. It was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I'm glad that I got to experience it in Vienna. After Mass, we left to go grab some lunch before our Matinee. Our options were limited and our time was short. We had to make do with...Subway. I know, I said I wouldn't, but it was either that or don't eat. So I had a nice tuna sandwich. After our pit stop, we walked over to the Vienna Opera House where we thought we were seeing a Matinee showing of Cardillac. We had even scored box seats for only 10 euros. That should have been our first tip off. Apparently matinee in Austria does not mean the same thing that it does in America. By matinee they mean a nice sit down chat with different people, including the writer/producer and several of the singers. And it's all in German. It was pretty boring. But at least one of the singers was kind enough to sing a few songs for the audience. So I can at least say now that I head opera singing in the Vienna Opera House. We left after only an hour, but by that time I was falling asleep in my chair. We made a quick stop at the hostel so that I could change and take a quick nap before we finished the rest of our day. After my nap (which was not nearly long enough) we headed back out into the city and stopped by the Hofburg Palace again. We spent some time in the square and even went inside the Austrian National Library. It was closed, so we only caught a glimpse of the inside. We walked around for a bit and eventually found ourselves at Karlskirche. It was under construction however, so that was a bummer. They are restoring the paintings on the dome inside so there was scaffoolding everywhere. But lucky for us, since they have all of the scaffolding, they have a lift installed so that visitors can ascend to the top of the dome for a nice panoramic view. It didn't look too high, but as soon as we started going up in the glass elevator, I became a little nervous. After we exited the lift, we continued to climb about 10 sets of stairs before reaching the top. It was incredible. You could almost touch the paintings. And they were beautiful. We took the lift back down and exited the church. We took the U-Bahn (subway) over to the Mozart house. Even though he only lived there for 2 1/2 years, it was Mozart's longest residence in one place. In this house he composed the famous operas The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni. It was really amazing seeing all of this information and being in the same place as one of the most famous composers. I was actually in his study where he composed some of his most famous works. It was also interesting to learn about his life and hear his music. There were original scores from some of his compositions. We left the Mozarthaus and walked over to Stadtpark. We took a few pictures, and then headed back towards our hostel for some dinner. But first, we stopped for some ice cream. Only 90 cents for a single scoop! After our ice cream break, we went back to our Chinese restaurant for some good fried rice. I was full after about half, but I saved the rest for a midnight snack, if I'm even up that late. After dinner we came back to the hostel for some relaxation time, which involved me going to sleep for an hour. And now I'm downstairs writing my blog and uploading pictures. I also saw that the Colts won!! Woo!

Day 25

Another crazy day in Vienna. We had to wake up nice and early today at 4:45 to catch our 5:15 U-Bahn (subway). I did not feel rested enough...But we made it on time and we caught our 6 am train to Krems. Today we went on our Wachau Valley River Cruise. We started the morning off in Krems. And let me tell you, it was so cold! Not a little cold. But SO cold. And I was not prepared for it. We stayed in the train station for as long as possible and then ran outside to get our blood pumping. We stopped by the Pfarrkirche which I think means parish church. It was beautiful inside! We spent a good bit of time in there because it was so warm. After we left we noticed a very nice looking building up several flights of stairs. We had the time and we needed to warm up so we jogged up the stairs to visit the church. It closed unfortunately, but at least we were a bit warmer. We climbed back down the stairs and started heading towards the Steiner Tur, the only remaining Medieval gate in the city. It was pretty nice. We started walking back to the train station to make sure that everything was set for the rest of the day. We were very surprised when we saw that our train was not scheduled for today. After some digging around we found that they provided a bus to St. Polten (our destination city) and that it would be free of charge. We boarded the bus and headed off to St. Polten. We transferred to Melk and made it a few minutes late. But that was no surprise considering the luck we've had with trains in Austria. It was slightly warmer by the time we got there, but still cold enough to keep my mittens on. We walked along the Danube for a bit until the Melk Abbey came into view. That was our next stop. We made the climb to the top and were handsomely rewarded with what we saw. It was beautiful. It was a bright yellow and it was massive! We spent some time outside taking pictures before we went inside for our tour. Every room had a different purpose and each was more beautiful than the next. There were 12 rooms dedicated to the library, but we only saw 2. The books looked like they were made of gold. The chapel was by far the best room. It was one of the nicest ones that I have seen so far on this trip. The ceilings were painted with murals and the alter was covered in gold and silver. After the inside of the abbey, we walked outside a bit more and then walked over to the abbey gardens. We were slightly disappointed because they weren't on the same caliber of the abbey. We walked down into the city and across a bridge to get a better look at the abbey. The pictures were incredible. It was almost time to board our cruise though, so we started heading back. We made it early enough and decided to sit on the top deck. That might have been a mistake because of the combined cold and wind. But the view was nice and we had a good time. Our boat stopped in Spitz (10 minutes late) and we left and went to go pick up our rental bikes. But not before we got our picnic lunch. And guess what it was. Ham sandwiches. Woo! At least they had some mayo and lettuce to mask the taste. We ate our lunch quickly and then started our 12 mile bike ride back to Krems. We stopped at several places along the way including vineyards, the water front, and Durnstein. We parked our bikes once we arrived there and started walking around the city. It was very crowded because a few tour buses had just released their groups. We hung around a little bit to wait it out, and eventually the streets cleared. We saw the castle ruins up on the hill and the city abbey, which was a nice bright blue. It was about 5:15 and our train from Krems was supposed to leave at 6:03, so we started heading back. We biked the last 4 miles to Krems and found the docking station for our bikes. We had 18 minutes left to spare. Now all we had to do was find the train station. this proved to be a very difficult task. We started walking where signs pointed us to, but made a quick u-turn when we thought it was the wrong direction. However, once we were back to our starting point we found another sign which read "Bahnhof 1700m." Now, for all you non German speakers, I will translate that for you. "Train station - over 1 mile!" Now we had 13 minutes to make it. And if we missed this train, we would be stuck in Krems for another hour, which isn't the worst thing...We decided that our best option was running. And after biking 12 miles, my legs were in no shape to be sprinting for a mile. But I did my best. The very heavy back pack that I was wearing didn't help much either. With 3 minutes left and close to 600 meters to go, we didn't like our chances. We walked the rest of the way thinking that there was no hope. We arrived at 6:05, 2 minutes after our train was scheduled to depart. But remember the luck we've had in Austria with late trains? Well, it turns out that it actually benefited us for the first time today. Our train was 5 minutes late! So we ran up and down the stairs to our platform and made it with 2 minutes to spare. I guess that's one benefit of late trains. We rode back to Vienna and to our hostel. We just finished up dinner, which for me was spaghetti carbanara (made from a package). Now I'm just up waiting for my laundry to finish. Tomorrow we have mass at 9 am and will see the Vienna Boys Choir. After that is the Vienna Opera!! Good night :)