Europe - Amsterdam Video 10-17-09

Europe - Berlin and Hamburg Video

Europe - Video Vienna 10-17-09

Europe - Paris Video 10-17-09

Europe - London Video 10-16-09

Europe - Amsterdam 10-16-09

Our last and final stop for sightseeing on our whirlwind tour of Europe. We arrived in Amsterdam early afternoon on Tuesday. Once we dropped off the luggage, we took off to see Anne Frank’s house. Quite a moving story that was captured in a little girl’s diary during one of the most horrific periods in our history. We ran into a couple other free spirit travelers while standing in line. They intend to tour 20 countries in Europe. They appeared to be in their early 20s and this was their first week of their 4 month tour. After an hour wait in line, they got to the teller to pay for the tickets and realized that they were out of money. It will probably be a long 4 months for them.

After our tour of Anne Frank’s house, we walked around town. We discovered that it wasn’t a very big city. We walked along the streets. We were blessed with another beautiful day, albeit very cold; probably around 10 degrees Celsius (maybe 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit). The buildings are very tall and narrow – some were 7 stories high. Some of the building’s façades look as though they are about ready to fall forward. Like Venice, the town has many water canals – making the city a very pleasant place to walk. We found some interesting things that stood out to us as were exploring the town. The town’s primary source of transportation is on the bicycle. Bicycles lined the sidewalks and fences. Large lots contained hundreds of bicycles just parked. We are accustomed to seeing parking garages full of cars; they have lots full of bicycles. We had to be very careful when walking to yield to the cyclists – they were everywhere.

Another interesting sight that caught our eye (although we tried to avoid it), were the young girls advertising their wares in the windows. These girls stood in the windows just wearing their bras and panties. Some streets had three or more windows in a row with women in waiting. We were not even walking in the, “red light district”. There were also stores that had items in the windows that I think would not be allowed in America.

On Wednesday, we continued to walk around the city even though it was very cold. We walked along the street with the flower shops and stopped in a store for a couple of souvenirs. At noon, it was time to go.

All day Thursday, we were on the train. All day Friday, we sat in the airport. Our flight was delayed by almost five hours.

In Summary,

We found that each country had something very special about it that we enjoyed. In France, the people were especially nice and took the initiative to help those who were obviously struggling; yet, we found this country seemed to have the filthiest conditions. Berlin seemed to be the cleanest of all the countries, yet they didn’t seem to want to waste their time helping anyone. Venice was terribly run down; yet tourism kept it alive. Amsterdam offered the canals and tall buildings as Venice, yet you had to be careful to close your eyes to the smut. Switzerland and Austria offered a sense of serenity because of the beauty of the scenery and lack of hustle and bustle. London had toilets that would not completely flush. Rome had history. All shared their own style of universal art (graffiti).

It was a wonderful opportunity to discover the special qualities that each of the countries had to offer. But after three weeks, we’re going to the best place on earth – America; my home sweet home!

Europe-Hamburg 10-13-09

Monday morning we arrived in Hamburg. The weather was quite cold and it sprinkled here and there – not bad. We were able to make our way to a nice little spot called Binnenalster (Lake Alster). We walked along the lake and took pictures of the swans. We strolled on over to one of Hamburg’s malls (Europa Passage). It may have been a full block in length with 4 floors of stores. Very small compared to our malls which generally cover many blocks. We walked to Rathaus (Senate and the City Parliament Bldg.); a very historic bldg nicely kept up. We continued walking around and found ourselves in a more exclusive shopping area on the streets and tried to imagine what it would be like to shop in stores like these and not give it a thought – what would it be like to have too much money? After this, we came back down to the real world and returned to the hotel to do laundry. There is one thing that we have noticed that has been common for all countries and that is what we have labeled, “universal art” (graffiti).

On Tuesday, we just walked around town. The entire city could be travelled on foot; and so we did. We went to Speicherstadt (Warehouse City); lots of historic buildings amongst waterways and canals. We went to Landungs-Brucken which was a docking place for tour boats and other tourist attractions. From this place, we walked to St. Michaeliskirche (St. Michaelis Church) and viewed the city from the top of the tower. We then descended to the lower parts of the church to tour the vault and crypt. The church itself was being pretty much fully restored – nothing really spectacular. We journeyed to the St. Nikolai memorial. This is a historic church that was almost completely destroyed in World War II. The main structure that held up is the steeple. They never restored it; instead it remains a memorial site. We finished the day strolling along the shops.

Europe-Berlin 10-13-09

After a day’s train ride we ended up in Berlin. On Sunday Morning, we took the train to the Protestant Memorial Church of Berlin. This church was partially destroyed during World War II and now stands as a war memorial. What a depressing memory for that generation. We then took off to the East Side Gallery which is the last remaining piece of the original Berlin wall. There are several pictures on the wall that depict images of freedom. We went to “Unter den Linden” to the Brandenburg Gate which is a symbol of the uniting of East and West Germany. After this, we went to Museums Island and Berliner Dom at Hackescher Market. We stopped at one of the museums, but did not go in. We went to Berliner Don – a big cathedral, but did not go in. We walked through the street markets and bought lunch; some kind of sausage with mustard.

Later, we took off to the Sony center. Most stores were closed, including the Sony store, but the center itself was open. The center has some kind of fancy dome which was modeled after Mount Fuji. Back on the train to visit the Reichstag (German Parliament). We waited in line for an hour as we watched people continue to cut in front of us. The line was to go to the top of the building to their glass dome. Cool! Really – it was freezing cold!

Europe-Vienna 10-13-09

We arrived in Vienna Wednesday morning and went to the Schoenbrunn Palace; once the Habsburg family's summer home (the former Emperor of Austria). We took the tour of the palace and then walked through the gardens and the Gloriette Monument. This visit took most of the day. The grounds were huge. The walk to the fountain and then to the Gloriette Monument took forever. On top of the Monument you could see for miles. To top it off, the weather was perfect!

The next day, we headed for Salzburg, home of Mozart and the Sound of Music. We took the bus to the Old Town centre with lots of old time shops and souvenir vendors. We walked up to Festung Hohensalzburg (a castle). Views were breathtaking! The hillsides were plush green and the mountains were majestic! We envisioned what it would be like to live in the surrounding homes. When we came down the mountain from the castle, we slipped into a couple of cathedrals to look at the artwork.

On Friday, we went to the Lipizzaner Museum, which is a Spanish Riding School. We watched as the horses pranced about in various styles such as a trot, walking sideways and turning in circles. I guess this is what the school considered performances. We kept waiting for the show to begin. Once we discovered that the warm-ups were the actual show, we decided to leave. We went to the Hofburg (another palace of the Emperor), the Kaiserappartements and Sissi Museum and learned about the history of the Empress Elizabeth and how Princess Diana was compared to her – except that Princess Diana didn’t have hair down to her feet and she didn’t spent 2 hours each day brushing her hair. The Empress also spent a full day just washing her hair! We later went to Stephansdom (St. Stephen’s Cathedral); an old gothic church. We took an elevator to the top of one of the towers to get some awesome pictures of the city.

Europe-Video (Rome) 10-11-09

Europe-Video (Vatican City) 10-11-09

Europe-Video (Venice) 10-10-09

Europe-Video (Wien) 10-10-09

Europe - Video (Scvhaffhausen) 10-10-09

Europe - Luzern Video 10-07-09

Europe - Venice 10-07-09

Venice

We arrived in Venice on Monday morning and checked into our hotel. We were a bit disillusioned to see how run down the place was. Back in the states, you would never go to an area that looked like this because you would be concerned about being attacked by local hoods. Narrow, dark alleys everywhere. Building walls leaning over waiting to fall over and just daring people to walk by. There are no cars here and transportation is by boat. We got an all day pass for the water bus so that we could go anywhere in this town. The must see on our agenda was St. Mark’s Square. This is probably the only hot spot in this town. There is an old Catholic church in the square that has gold tiled art throughout the church. We did not know some of the stories depicted in the pictures. For example, there was sculpted artwork with Jesus in the center of fourteen men; seven men on each side of him. Very interesting… There also stands a bell tower in the square that you can climb – we didn’t. The rest of the square is open space full of outside dining, souvenir vendor stands and lots of tourists. Oh yes, also in abundance were pigeons walking amongst the tourist.

On Tuesday, we spent the day just walking throughout the town going in and out of small allies lined with little shops. Water canals were throughout the city and connected the town’s shops and alleys by little bridges. Some of the interesting sights seemed to be the gondolas and masquerade masks. Many shops carried the masks, but we didn’t notice anyone wearing one. There were also a few heart wrenching sights; the poor stood out, yet were invisible to the passers by. Elderly women kneeled in a child’s pose yoga position with small paper cups held out in front of them. Towards the end of the day, we hopped on the water bus and rode from stop to stop checking out the sites. A short visit; quite unique since the entire city is on water. The entire activity of the town seemed to be to cater to the tourist.

Next stop… Vienna

Europe-Video (Hot Air Balloon) 10-07-09

Europe -Rome 10-06-09

Rome

We arrived in Rome by a sleeper train and were able to check into the hotel by 11:00 am. The owner/concierge of the hotel was delightful and very knowledgeable of the sights to see in Rome and the history of the art in Rome. He spent at least a half hour or more telling us what and where the sights to see in Rome were; the places that we should visit along with the directions to each location; the detailed description of each piece of artwork along with the meaning, history, and artist. I wish that we could have brought him along with us to each sight so that he could provide us with a personalized tour of each location that we went to.

We began our sightseeing with the Vatican museum in the Sistine Chapel. It was much larger than we had expected and the halls seemed endless. Each hall displayed separate art pieces combined into one ongoing collage. The DiVinci hall was the finale. We could have spent hours trying to figure out the meanings or stories of each piece of art, but we only had two days to spend in Rome. Next, we went to the Vatican Basilica. Once again, walls and walls of monuments of majestic sculptures to memorialize past priest or religious icons such as St. Peter and the mother Mary. This was the most grandiose graveyard we have ever seen!

On Sunday, we went to see Rome’s most historic monuments – the Colossium and other ruins. What a popular sight. Tourist everywhere! We also went to visit Spagna (Spanish Steps), and Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi). We both agreed that we enjoyed the Trevi Fountain the most for our trip in Rome.

Now to Venice

Europe 10-06-09

Zurich

Thursday morning we took off to the old town of Luzern to see the Lion Monument. An extremely sad piece of artwork. You could feel the pain and sadness of the lion when you look at his face. It was created to remember the soldiers that died during the French revolution. We wandered about the park and climbed the clock tower and some of the other towers between the high city walls. Fantastic views overlooking the city and Lake Luzern. We walked up to Gutsch castle which is now a local hotel. It was situated up high on the mountainside. We had planned on taking the tram up to it; however, the tram was out of service. So… up the mountainside we climbed. Mesmerizing views. The weather could not be more perfect! We came back down the hillside and walked across an old wooden bridge. The bridge had artwork on the overhead beams. I think that the each beam told some grim story became each picture included skeletons amongst the people of the day in the scene. The bridge also had a cabinet that was probably an alter that had the mother Mary and other catholic symbols. After crossing the bridge, we stopped to watch the tourists feed the swans and then walked about town.

On Friday, we took the train to Schloss Laufen to see Rhine falls which was quoted to be, “Europe’s largest waterfall” and the Schloss Laufen castle. We walked right by the castle and didn’t realize that it was even a castle. It was in the process of being renovated. We walked across the lake and down the hill to see the water falls. We were surprised to see that it wasn’t much of a waterfall. It looked more like what you would see going white water rafting. We decided to hop on the train and continue up to Schaffhausen. We walked up a hill (lots of stairs) to that cities castle then back down to check out the shops in the town.

Next stop – Rome

Luzern

Luzern

Lion Monument

Luzern

Rhine falls

Rhine falls

Rhine falls

Europe 10-02-09

Off to Paris!

We left London bright and early in order to catch the train to Paris. We could easily tell that we arrived since no one spoke English. We transferred to an underground train, but experienced a little difficulty interpreting the train schedule. People tried to be helpful; however, they did not know what we were saying. Once we finally got to our destination, we were not able to get out of the turnstile. A gentleman was kind enough to help us by letting us use his transit pass. We went to the information desk – no help. He directed us to go outside the train station and to the left. This led us to the parking lot. Not helpful. We began our long journey to find our hotel which consisted of several high stairways along the way. Back to asking people for help; we were misdirected by a very helpful couple and ended up on the opposite side of town. It seemed that every few feet, there were stairs. We then asked a Real Estate Agent that was very helpful. We didn’t want to go back the way that we came because of all of the stairs. Stairs are not fun when you have lots of luggage. We had too much luggage. Instead, he directed us to our hotel using a longer path that did not have stairs. We found it. We must have walked a mile and the hotel was probably less than a quarter mile away from the train station. We finally found the place around three in the afternoon. It was too late to do anything so we just walked around town. Nice little quaint town; delightful! Small, narrow streets with small shops. In the center of this little town was a large empty area. It is probably used as occasional entertainment by bands or other types of entertainment. There sat in the corner a small merry-go-round that some children were riding on. We walked back to the train station in order to insure that we could find it – we did and found that is was very close to the hotel.

The next day, we figured that we could take the long way around to get to the train station (probably a mile) or we could take a short cut (about 5 or 6 flights of stairs – with luggage). We opted for the stairs. Fortunately, a kind gentleman offered to take our largest piece of luggage. We struggled on the trains, with luggage, during morning rush hour traffic. After a couple of transfers, we were on the right train toward our next hotel destination. When we arrived, we were lost for only a few minutes. We were in a very small town with an old country charm. There was an abandoned castle surrounded by a few small shops. I stopped at the bakery to buy a home baked loaf of French bread – yummm. We located our hotel, dropped off the luggage, and off to Paree! We began our tour at Norte Dame. Awesome! The stained glass windows, the paintings, the sculptures! The surrounding sights of the city were mid-evil with so much artwork all over. Little shops, outside cafes, and souvenir stands everywhere. We took a riverboat over to the Eiffel Tower. The line to go to the top was estimated to be an hour. We decided to climb. We got to the first floor (huffing and puffing) and found that the height wasn’t too bad. We took an elevator to the next floor for some picture taking. Still no dizziness. We pondered… Should we or shouldn’t we? We did. We went to the top. Spectacular! It was a little hazy, but the weather was excellent. You could see for miles. We tried to identify the various historical monuments using the maps along the walls. Then, back down. It was getting late, so we hopped back on to the riverboat. The boat ride was really nice because we could see a lot from the river. The Louve, Champs-Elysees Avenue with the golden lions stands at the bridge entrances. Also, the artistry on the bridges that is often overlooked when walking along the streets. Back to the train and then to the hotel.

The next morning, we were up while it was still dark. The little town was beginning to set up their food stands in the middle of town. The whole town was enchanting! We were picked up by our balloon guide for an adventure in the air. He took us to a small field as we watched him and his partner set up the balloon. We floated over the forest, spotted a wild boar, took pictures of a flock of geese in a nearby farm, and bumped into a tree or two. It was a bit windy and overcast; but not too cold. It was still a wonderful experience. We shared this experience with a delightful couple celebrating a milestone birthday (50 years old). After landing, we toasted to the experience with a bit of champagne and cookies. Back to the train. The guide and fellow ballooner helped us to our train. Each carried a piece of our luggage to the track which was down a flight of stairs and back up again on the other side of the railroad tracks. Wow – what generosity!

Off to Zurich