Sunday, May 27, 2012

Our Favorite Things About Europe

Each day on our trip was truly an adventure. 2 days in a new city goes by quick so we had to plan well and be as efficient as possible. That means taking advantage of Europe's excellent public transportation.  In fact, we noted that on one busy day we had taken a ride on a train, tram, subway, bus, cable car, boat, and airplane!  We feel that we saw and visited the majority of places we wanted but there are always things you wish you knew beforehand (ie Stockholm is one of the few major cities you can ride a hot air balloon over). Here we list some of our favorite things about our trip and one picture from each city. If these pictures only whet your appetite, we have links to each city we visited with many pictures. That way, you can look through a city you might be interested in visiting one day or peruse through the entire trip.  Of course, if you have any questions, we would love to answer them.  Just beware, we might talk your head off!

Favorites:

Scotland- Donnie became quite fascinated with red pants. They seem to be the blue jeans there and are an interesting look.  Maybe one day we will return and he will own a pair of his own.

England- Nothing will ever erase the memory of driving on the left side of the road. Two near wrecks (one literally seconds after pulling out of the rental car lot), getting lost, and not understanding many of the road signs made for a memorable day. Laura's constant repetition of "stay left, stay left, stay left" was also helpful. Perhaps the funniest moment was ending up in the center of Bath (a much bigger city than we were expecting) which is full of unmarked one-way lanes, narrow roads, and mindless pedestrians. We literally just started following the car in front of us and hoped they would lead us out of the busy section (they did!).

Netherlands- The tulip gardens were amazing. Warning: You may experience a flower overload if you are thinking of looking through that album.

Denmark- Fredricksborg Castle. Having visited many amazing castles/palaces on our trip, this castle truly stood out.

Norway- The easy answer is a boat ride through the fjords. But the shock of seeing the high prices was laughable. Who knew Norway's currency was doing so well? To give you a fair comparison, we looked at a Burger King and if you bought 2 regular sized combo meals of their largest burger, the price would be $43. Add 1 shake and you just spent over $50 for two people at Burger King!! The price of a 250 ml Sprite with no refills was $6 at our restaurant. Yikes!

Sweden- Fun to see how the people love the sun there. They flock to the water, piers, and parks just to bask in the warmth of the sun.

Germany- Fun to see the history on display at Checkpoint Charlie. It was sad how little we knew about German history. Also, the chocolates, currywurst, and kebaps aren't bad either.

Prague- The Astronomical Clock Tower. It is interesting to see the clock mark the passing of the hour but it was more fun to see the large crowds that gathered there before the show started. 

Austria- The fashion sense of this country is amazing. Everyone dresses like they just walked out of a magazine shoot. We must have looked like slobs to the locals. Even the children have impeccable taste.

Switzerland- The views. Whether on our hike on Mt Uetliburg or our excursion to Lucerne and Mt Titlis, each time you turn the corner, the view becomes more amazing. The camera was used a lot during those 2 days.

Paris- Yeah, there may be taller towers or older towers or towers that are more architecturally impressive, but it is hard to beat being on or near the Eiffel Tower. It truly is a magical place.
Edinburgh Castle in the Distance
Stonehenge
So many tulips!!!!
The original Christus statue
Homes on the fjord
A park in Stockholm
Yes, it really was that good!!
Zombie march!!!
At entrance in Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna
Near top of Mt Titlis in Switzerland
Getting closer to the top!!


We posted our pictures to photobucket.  There are pictures and videos in each album.  It is probably easiest to view in a slide show but the program can be a little clunky (it will sometimes repeat photos you just saw or not go in order) but it works most the time.  The only problem is it doesn't display videos, so you have to search those out individually.  Near the top of the page is information on how many pictures and videos are in each album.  Without further adieu-

Link to Scotland Photos
Link to England Photos
Link to Holland Photos
Link to Denmark Photos
Link to Norway Photos
Link to Sweden Photos
Link to Germany Photos
Link to Czech Photos
Link to Austria Photos
Link to Switzerland Photos
Link to France Photos

Thursday, May 17, 2012

EUROPE!!

Donnie finished school early which gave us a couple of months of free time. We figured we would probably not have that kind of time off until retirement and decided to take a major vacation. We had always dreamed of going to Europe and figured why not now. We loved our trip and had many great experiences. During the trip, each time we visited a new place it became our favorite city. We visited 11 countries during our time there, 2 nights in each city except London and Paris where we spent 3. Below is a map of the cities we visited and the order we saw them, starting in Scotland. Further below are posts done while we were there and blogging with our iphones. Hopefully in a couple of weeks we will have a post with some of our favorite pictures and moments (as well as a link to a ton of photos for anyone interested).

Monday, May 14, 2012

Days 22, 23 and 24 - Paris, France

Mona Lisa (also visited Orsay, though pictures were not allowed)
Eww La La, so romantic!
Foucault Pendulum. I was especially excited about this since I did my science fair project on it when I was little.
The Thinker, Rodin Museum
Versailles, one of the best palaces we've seen (and we've seen a lot....)
A WIDE MOUTH frog!!! (for Jane)
The bell tower of Notre Dame. Did not see Quasi Moto.

Paris Sewer System Museum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMybkU2TQa0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Glittering Eiffel Tower
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExZ6OALZBh0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Day 20 and 21 - Zürich, Switzerland

Visited a lion memorial dedicated to the Swiss soldiers that died in the French Revolution.
Walked the oldest wooden bridge in Europe.
Does this look like a fairy tale to you??
Sledded and tubed in the Swiss Alps!
Took quite a few cable cars to get to where we were going.
Seriously, a fairy tale setting.

Sledding in the Alps..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEFyHRAxTK0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Laura on the sled- I obviously had more fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPfJeuotwcI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Day 18 and 19 - Vienna, Austria

I didn't realize it, but after looking through our pictures I guess Vienna was mostly about food for us..

Little sandwiches with different flavor pastes
Demel's famous chocolate shop-- really delicious truffle torte
A real Wienerschnitzel! And sausage and sauerkraut
The opera/ballet/concert held in the same building Mozart performed in as a child
Why yes, yes I am holding the Schönnbrunn's Palace water fountain and large memorial in the palm of my hand
Wow- that's a huge jar of Nutella

Day 16 and 17 - Czeching out Prague

The famous Astronomical clock tower-- pretty cool and ALWAYS draws a crowd. Every hour.
Church in Old Town- very large and beautiful!
McSmazny- a fried cheese sandwich with mayo - we also ate the real (non McDonald's) version and think it would sell well at the State Fair.
An example of Old Town fashion
Alfonse Mucha Museum- my new favorite artist
An example of mideviel torture chamber in Old Town
An impromptu Zombie March!! - Not appropriate for younger viewers because it's so SCARY.. (it's kind of long, but you get the point after the first few seconds)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCM6vjfHwPU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Astronomical Clock in action!! The song at the end has been stuck in our heads this whole time!! (also kind of long..)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ_Q4bR1ksQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Monday, May 7, 2012

Day 14 and 15 - Berlin, Germany

We missed visiting the Reichstag Building because you need a reservation a couple days in advance, but we saw other cool stuff instead- like Brandenburg Gate and the Jewish Memorial and Museum (a very good museum).
We had the BEST ice cream on our small trip to Potsdam palaces and parks (would totally plan for at least a full day here if there's ever a next time).
And learned a ton about German history (WWii-present) through Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin Wall's Topography of Terrors.
We tried lots of noteworthy foods in Germany: currywurst and pommes frites, Turkish kebabs, chocolates from Fassbender and Rausch, and some fruit tort thing that was really good too.
Germany did not disappoint.

Chocolate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=layqY88Ynuk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Potsdam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeJiRZKFQxM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Day 12 and 13 - Stockholm, Sweden

-We ate REAL Swedish Fish!
-Enjoyed walking around the Old Town/Stortorget and looking at the numerous shops and ice cream stands.
-Went to the Vasa Museum, a huge boat built in the 1600's that sank on its maiden journey before leaving Stockholm harbor. It was 70m in length, brightly painted and the first ship to have two decks of gun rows. Made of solid oak and iron, it sat on the bottom of the Baltic Sea until it was safely preserved in this museum!
-(video) A visit to the royalty's Drottningholm Palace via steamboat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khG0XpDzglg&feature=youtube_gdata_player
-So excited to be in Stockholm's City Hall-- the same place the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded (in the blue hall, picture taken in the gold room). Can't wait to return when I receive my award!
P.S. I don't know how to change the order of pictures!

Friday, May 4, 2012

Day 10 and 11- Bergen, Norway

What a beautiful city! Seriously-- usually you have to choose between the mountains or water.. But not in Bergen! The pictures and videos just can't do it justice.

Pics:
Can you imagine hiking 23 hairpin loops?!
View of Bergen from Floyen Mt.
An award winning iPhone photo.
Norway loves its trolls- and I love Norway!!

View of Bergen-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTtPfR4eH3s&feature=youtube_gdata_player

A taste of our fjord cruise-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jf9YgkfZq0&feature=youtube_gdata_player