Last Stop: Salzburg, Austria

By the end of our stay in Rome we were ready to go and get to our last stop, Salzburg! But first we had to fly to Vienna where we had an overnight layover so we (or just me) slept in the airport. Then we flew back to Munich, dropped our stuff at the hotel, and took the train to Austria! Mom did the Sound of Music tour, but since I had already been, I just did a little shopping instead.

We ended our trip with a traditional German meal and Germany's favorite dessert.... apple strudel.... yummy!!

Again, mom has all these pictures!


We had a great time and saw so many places! We also learned a few things:
1. Venice and Sienna are our favorites!
2. We prefer quite, quaint places rather than the big cities.
3. Florence has the best gelato.
4. Be prepared to climb a ton of steps and pack appropriately.
5. If you want to sit at a restaurant in a square or famous area, be prepared to spend 5-8 euros on coffee or coke!

Now, I'm back in Garmisch where it is snowing, and mom is back in STL where it is 80 degrees.... not fair! But we had a great trip, and I'm ready for my next visitors from home!

Destination 6: Roma!

Mom and I in our matching blue in front of the Colosseum

After our long bus ride, we hopped in a taxi to our hotel... our first real hotel-- it actually had an elevator (thought very tiny, and I refused to ride in it with my fear of elevators!) and key cards. We walked to the nearest square, Campo de Fiori, and had the best dinner! It was soo good we even went back there for our last Italian meal!

Night view of Rome from Campo de Fiori with a full moon!

Rome was very busy... lots of smog, cars and people everywhere. It was very neat to see all the history! On our second day in Rome, we did lot's of walking, and felt like all of Rome was uphill! We visited the famous Trevi Fountain, and tossed a coin over our shoulders for good luck, like the tradition says to do!

Trevi Fountain

Next we visited the famous Spanish steps, but they were not near as pretty as they are in the summer when they are lined with flowers. Then we embarked on a 3 hour walking tour... in the rain! It was the kind of tour where you have to wear an earpiece an the guide talks through a microphone... we wouldn't recommend it... especially when the guide is not a native English speaker! But we did visit all the ancient sites... the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, and the Pantheon.

Colosseum... Did you know it took only 8 years to build?

Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum

The ceiling of the Pantheon... it is actually a hole at the top!

We ended our tour in Piazza Navona at a cafe with a perfect view of the Four Rivers Fountain.

Four Rivers Fountain

On Day 3, we visited Vatican City! We ended up taking a tour and had a perfect tour guide, from Arizona. We visited the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's. The Vatican museum is gorgeous and there is a Bill Clinton look-a-like statue.

St. Peter's Square

Frescoes on the ceiling of the Vatican Museum


One of Michelangelo's most famous sculptures-- Pieta


Behind the Altar in St. Peter's Basilica

No Pope sitings but we did get to see the Swiss Guards!

After our tour, we climbed more stairs to the top of the dome of St. Peter's. Below is the view from the top!

We had dinner in Piazza Navona, where there was a little excitement.. a fire in the store next to our restaurant... fire trucks, ambulances, and tourists taking pictures!

For our last day, we enjoyed coffee, gelato, a little shopping, and lunch back at our favorite restaurant for one last Italian pasta treat.

Stop 5: Sienna

Sienna is a quaint, little town in Tuscany, and was recommended by my friend Priya, who studied in Italy. We loved it, and it was a nice break from the busy, touristy cities. Our hotel was the best of our trip... with a great view of the countryside and delicious, homemade breakfast!

View from Hotel Porta Romana

After we got settled, we walked around the old town and had dinner in the main square, Il Campo. We did a little shopping, too, of course!

One of the many cute shops

Happy Halloween! We saw a few cute little kids dressed up but Halloween is not widely celebrated here like it is in the US. Below was my favorite... Little Miss Sunshine!

We were planning to leave Rome the next morning but we liked Sienna so much we decided to spend the morning there before heading to Rome. We climbed another tower, for a beautiful view of Tuscany. The hotel recommended taking the bus to Rome rather than the train... bad decision! The windows of the bus were permanently foggy so we could not see out! It was a long ride, but we made it.

Stop 4: The Leaning Tower!

Next we were off to a short stop in Pisa. There is not much in Pisa besides the leaning tower and the "Field of Miracles"-- the field where the cathedral, baptistery, and tower are located.

Mom pushing the tower up!

The Cathedral

We took lots of pictures, grabbed a latte at a cafe with a good view of the tower, and hopped back on the train for our next stop: Sienna!

Destination 3: Florence

Next is was off to Florence.. just a short 3 hour train ride! We stayed at Katti House... a hotel owned by a mother and daughter, so we thought that was appropriate! We went to Accademia and saw Michelangelo's famous David statue. It is gigantic and does look perfectly sculpted. You can't take pictures of the real thing, but below is a copy that is located in the square where David was originally placed.

We realized quickly that Florence is has much more of a city feel than Venice, with lots of Florence "kamikaze" motorcyles (as mom calls them) buzzing around!

Florence has the best gelato, so we ate it at least twice a day! We saw the Duomo, or "cathedral" and did some shopping!

Duomo

We also hate some delicious tortellini for dinner... though we were shocked when there were only 4 tortellinis in the entire dish... guess we are just accustomed to the huge American portion sizes. Dessert was bigger than dinner... 4 types of gelato, including "kiss"-- our favorite... It was a light chocolate with nuts.

For our second day in Florence we took a 3 hour walking tour, and our guide was a native English speaker so we could understand her perfectly! She told us all about the Medici family and the start of the Renaissance in Florence.

The Medici Coat of Arms

In the afternoon, we went to the Uffizi Galleria, the other famous museum in Florence. Lots of work by Leonardo and Raphael, but nothing as cool as David! We ate dinner at Il Latini, a restaurant recommendation from my boss. Apparently it is quite popular since when we arrived there was a line of people waiting outside. We chatted with another American couple and ended up having dinner with them. They were on their honeymoon! They just kept bringing us food.... it was ok, but I think I prefer to choose what I get to eat!

Next... to Pisa!

Stop 2: Venice, Mom's Favorite!

Day 4 was a travel day: Off to Venice! We spent a few too many hours on the train but finally made it to Venice in the evening, where we took a canal water taxi (Venice's main form of transportation) to our hotel. One thing we quickly learned is that traveling in Europe requires climbing lots of stairs with suitcases because they don't believe in escalators or elevators. At our hotel, they tried to put us on the 4th floor and our suitcases were so fat they could barely even fit through the tiny staircases. So luckily they had a room that required a few less steps!
We ate dinner on the canal and I tried a traditional Italian dish, cuddlefish---which was squid with pasta and black "ink".... basically pasta with black sauce.... yuck!! So I decided to go for some more traditional spaghetti instead.

We made a new friend at our hotel--Megan. She was actually on her R&R from Iraq, and she was by herself so we invited her to come with us. We went to Murano, the famous Venetian glass island, and then came back and walked to the famous Rialto bridge and had another Italian dinner.... lasagna this time... much better than my first meal!

We saw lots of pigeons and had to laugh when we saw this sign... which did not stop the pigeon feeders!

Day 6 we started of the day with a few of the city from above, in the clock tower! Then we visited Doge's Palace and stopped for a gelato treat. We visited the cathedral and climbed to the top of it too! Below is a picture of one of the oldest statues of 4 horses that were once on top of the cathedral.

We also did a Grand Canal tour cruise, where we got to see some important parts of the city... like Elton John's house!

Beautiful view of sunset from our canal tour

We saw lots of gondolas, but I decided I would wait to do that until I have a romantic boy to take me!

Venice was one of our favorite parts of the trip! The weather was great and it was not too crowded... I cannot imagine being their during high tourist season.

Stop 1: Garmisch

After picking mom up at the Munich airport, we took the train back to Garmisch so she could see my little mountain town and where I work. Night one we had dinner with my friend Samantha... at an Indian Restaurant! Not your typical German meal, but the food was great, and we did go to a German restaurant to have Bavaria's famous dessert... apple strudel... best I've tasted yet!

Day 2 we did lots of hiking... first to the gorge and then to the "halfway house." It's a little hut about 1/2 way up one of the mountains. This time we had traditional German food.... schnitzel, pretzels, specknoddlesuppe, and weissbier.... which mom actually liked! Then she came to work with me to see Edelweiss and have some good ol' American food at Zuggys.

Latte macchiato and gluwein (hot, spiced wine) to keep us warm!

Day 3 we took an Edelweiss tour to Linderhof Palace... one of King Ludwigs houses. Our tour guide was great, but since it is winter, all the pretty flowers were missing and all the statues were boarded up outside. So we had to buy a postcard and just imagine we were looking at it in the summertime! I think after 3 nights of staying in my room and walking to the bathroom, mom was glad to be finished with the dorm-style stay!

Sorry for the lack of pictures! You'll have to ask mom to see hers.. I didn't take many since I live here!

15 Days, 4 Countries, and 8 Cities, with Mom!

Mom and I had a great time venturing across Europe during her 2 weeks here! Lots of stops along the way: Garmisch, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Sienna, Rome, Salzburg, and Munich!We got to experience a little bit of everything- rain, snow, sun, German food, too much gelato, and just about every form of transportation...trains,busses, planes, taxis, bikes, and lots and lots of walking!

Much more to say, so be looking for posts and pictures from each city!