Munich Day 3

There is going to be a lot of pictures. It was a super busy day.

We had quite the busy day today. It’s 10pm and we are just now getting in. It really was the most fun day. I enjoyed it and I think Damon did too. One of these days he will do a blog entry so everyone can hear is opinion of the trip.

This morning started out kind of frantic. It is a holiday so we were told by our hotel staff that everywhere would be closed. That made me a little nervous because I really wanted to rent a car today and go out to Neushwanstein. Our hotel staff told us yesterday that the car rental place next door was going to be closed. We found one downtown that was open, but wouldn’t be until 10am. That was a bit frustrating because we wanted to get an early start on the day. When we were leaving at 9:15am Damon suggested that we walk by the rental agency by the hotel. So we did and they just happened to be open. We got an Audi A6 wagon. Damon fell in love instantaneously. It had a Nav system in it and I think that made all the difference. After we figured out how to make her talk Enlish, we named her Helga.

Our trip out to Neushwanstein was amazing. The German countryside was absolutely amazing. It reminded us a lot of Oregon. It was very green and had lots of open land. There were quaint little towns with 1 church in each town.

We finally found Mad King Ludwig’s Castle. It lived up to everything that I read about it. The views were stunning. The lake was gorgeous and huge. The hike to get to the castle was invigorating. After the castle we headed to the Marion Bridge. I think that is where the best view of the castle came from. The bridge would move a little and that made me nervous. We hiked back down the mountain in 12 minutes even though it said 30. There was another castle that was across the street, but not quite as impressive. I believe my mother put it best when she said, “It’s amazing what one can do with unlimited credit and no responsibility.”
At the bottom we realized that we still had lots of time to kill. We decided to go for a drive and headed towards Salzburg!


I had to give up going to Oberammeragua, but when you are in Europe one just has to make choices like that. We typed in Salzburg city center into Helga and she directed us all the way there. We had 3 hours in Salzburg. We headed into the old town and just explored. We crossed the Salzach River. We saw Mirabella Park, St. Peter’s Church, Motzart’s houses, and memorial. I loved that. The alps were all around us. We had dinner at this little Italian resturaunt and then headed home.

Damon loved driving on the Autobahn. To tell you the truth, it made me a little nervous. I think the highest speeds Damon made it up to was 130ish miles an hour. It certainly makes one a little nervous going that fast. Secretly I think he wanted to drive this ...

We came home and just crashed. It was worth all the driving. We had an amazing day. The funniest thing happened when we got back to Munich and couldn’t figure out how to open the gas tank on the car. It was literally 10 minutes of pushing every button in the car and then trying to read the manual in German. I finally went in and asked the attendant, who came out and simply pushed in on the lid and it popped open. We silly Americans seem to make things more complicated than we need to.

Tomorrow is a day of traveling. I am already dreading it.

Munich Day 2

Today was a fun and relaxing day. We didn't do to many crazy things. We got to talk to the kids and my parents and that was nice. I think Damon really misses them.

After a nice breakfast at the club, the private level only accessible to starwood preferred members, we headed back to the Marienplatz again. We found Mike's Bike shop. Mike is from New York and 10 years ago he left and moved here and started his own tour company. He has some Americans working for him as well as a Fijian. We met him today. We rented bikes and cruised around Munich.

It was so much fun. We just pedalled along. We crossed over the Isar River. By this bridge there are some rapids were people actually surf. Surfing in the middle of landlocked Germany. Who would have thought?

We then headed towards the English Garden. We saw a Chinese Temple, lots of sunbathers, we were serenaded by 2 men with a guitar and according singing "Oh Suzanna" and "La Cucaracha". We found that all very hilarious. It was all very pretty though.

We went to church later today. It was nice, just extremely small. Even the building was small. After church we went back to the hotel and relaxed. We ordered room service. We did some laundry in our sink. So funny. Our room smells like laundry detergent now. It could be worse.

Tomorrow we are going to Fussen, Obergaumu and Neuschwanstein. I would love to add Salzburg to that list since it is just to the East of us, but Damon glares at me when I bring that up:)

Germany day 1 (and the remnants of Paris)

A busy, but unstressful day. Our last morning in Paris was spent packing and going out to breakfast at the little cafe across the street from the hotel. Then we headed towards the airport. Our flight to Germany was short and uneventful. It's still funny to think I can fly across a country fast than I can get from Portland to San Diego.

Oh. I took some pictures from the bathroom in our hotel in Paris because it was quirky. Just like the one in Samoa. Every bathroom is unique. That big silver thing isn't a tissue box. It is the biggest flush button that I have seen.

Munich is quaint. It is pretty too. It is old mixed with new. We didn't do much today except get our barings and explore the main square. We just happened to arrive at the time of celebration. It started in the subways and continued all evening. The Munich soccer team had a game tonight against an Italy team. Public drunkeness was a must as well as wearing red and burning Italian flags. Even the Police were smiling. It was kind of funny. Damon asked me if I wanted a Swatch when we saw a Swatch Store. I told him I had one when I was 12. We also saw a man in full lederhoisen (sp?). That made me giggle. We came home early and had a quiet evening at home.

I really don't know what we are doing tomorrow.

Paris day 3 part 1 & 2

This was a hard day. There was a lot of walking. A lot of unsurity and a little confusion. It all makes for some very grumpy travelers.

We got an early start today. We wanted to be at the Louvre when it openned this morning at 9am. That normally doesn't sound early, but when you are up til 1am it is early. We've been eating dinner so late since the sun doesn't go down until so late. So 9am is early. We grabbed our quick breakfast and headed out.

The Louvre reminded me a lot of the MET in NYC. It's really big, confusing and to much to take in. We saw the Mona Lisa and a whole bunch of other works of art. A lot of marble statues. We couldn't find what I really wanted to see and we ended up walking around a lot more than we should have. The building itself is super cool and so are the pryamids. It made me giggle because I thought of the movie, "The Great Muppet Caper". They broke into the Louvre through the pyramid.

After that we headed out to Versailles. Damon was tired by this point and started to get a headache. He made it through it though. The comments I got from him about Versailles were,
"It seems really wasteful", talking about how ornate it is and "the gardens are amazing". They really are. We had lunch at McDonald's. I know...lame, but it was right there.

We had a difficult trip back to Paris trying to take different metros home and finding out they were trams and such, but we did make it eventually.

Our last night in Paris we took it easy. We walked down the streets and Montparnesse again and found a store that was like Target. We found a cute little crepe restraunt and just had to eat there. 3 days here and Damon hadn't had a crepe yet. Crazy. They were tre bien. It is a nice quiet night. I keep looking out our window to see the Effiel Tower just one more time.

We leave tomorrow for Germany. That part is a little scary for me because I really know nothing about where we are going. I guess it will be the real adventure. Paris wasn't to hard. I've been here before.

paris day 2 part 2

Postcard perfect picture. Damon really did take a million shots of this tower! It's just cool!

Tonight was a lot of fun, but a lot of unfortunate walking. We had dinner down in the Montparnesse area and then head up near the river to find the Statue of Liberty. Yes, there is one here too for those who didn't know that. We eventually found it, after a lot of walking, and got a couple of shots. We also found out that the bridge that they filmed the part of National Treasure 2 was not the bridge near the statue. It was actually a mile away down this beautiful river walk.

We walked back over to the Eiffle Tower to see it all lit up and sparkly at night. It was so fun. I finally had to tell Damon to stop taking pictures because it was after 11pm. We keep forgetting to enjoy all the wonderful desserts that are around. Tomorrow... The Louvre and then Versailles

Paris-Day 2

We woke up earlier than normal, 5am, this morning. Fortunately we both fell back asleep. I don't think our bodies know what time it is anymore. We got a little bit of a late start this morning. We were out late last night. The sun doesn't set until 9:30pm and we wanted to see the Champs all lit up. After grabbing a quick French breakfast, I don't think Damon is getting enough to eat, but I love it, we headed out

We went to the Bastille first. I have no idea what it is for, but there was a photo shop that Damon wanted to get to. Then we headed to the Eiffle Tower. It to is being renovated, but we made the most of it. We chose not to climb the tower and just enjoy the ground views. I don't know what draws me to architecture at all, but I can really admire all sorts of different buildings. We took a million pictures there. Damon decided that really old cities were supposed to be shot in black and white so that's what he did. While we took pictures a man on an accordian played pefect, old fashion, French music. It couldn't have been more perfect.

I kept the next destination a secret from Damon because I knew he would love it. I went to Sacre Coure the first time I came here, but didn't get to go inside because it had already closed. The views from the outside were amazing and the architecture in the inside was incredible. Damon wasn't quite as impressed when he found it it was built until 1875, but it still looks really cool. It kind of has a Byzintine look to it. Damon and I took humanities together at school and are starting to wish we paid more attention to class. We ate lunch on the steps and then climbed 300 stairs to get to the dome on the top. The views were quite impressive. I think we are done with stairs though.

We have conquered the subway system here. We joke because we say we need to go down to the subway to get fresh air. People aren't allowed to smoke down there. Today I saw a man smoking in the corner, which made me mad, but the when he turned his back and started to urinate I was really discusted. Then we laughed about it. Oh well. No matter what country you are in there are always the same type of people.
Our last stop before siesta (that is what I call Damon's down time) we headed to the Rodin Museum. Damon enjoyed it more than I thought he would. He took A LOT of pictures. I cruised through most of the statues because I knew what I was looking for. The marble statue that I wanted to see was the only real reason I wanted to go to the Rodin Museum. It's been my favorite for quite some time. When the Rodin Exhibit went on tour and came to BYU "The Kiss" was one of the pieces that was prohibited. I never really could understand why although I have my guesses. None of them having to do with the current university president. We don't need to go into that here. I finally found where "The Kiss" was and was just mesmorized by it. It is just beautiful and all encompassing. Before we left we went back to it one more time.

This is my next house. I loved the lawns and the house.

On the way back to the subway we ran into the ladies we met at dinner last night. They were headed to the Rodin Museum. What are the chances? Tonight we are headed back out late for a relaxing dinner and pictures of the Eiffle Tower all a glow. It's a good thing Damon is getting his nap:)

Paris Day 1-part 2 or duo

After Damon's nap we decided to head to the Champs de Elysees for dinner and some more fun. We went and visited the Arc de Triumph which doesn't look to cool right now because of renovating. We walked down the street until we found a place to eat that looked interesting. We sat near, and by near i mean or tables where two inches from each other, these 2 woman from Boston. We had a nice chat with them while we continued to wait forever for our food. Apparently they had to go out and catch the salmon that Damon was eating. We walked down the rest of the Champs until we found the Paris Opera House. Such a beautiful building. I couldn't help but sing a few lines from Phantom while I was in front of it. We managed to not get lost of the subway ride home. Our goal for tomorrow is the Eiffle Tower, The Louvre and The Rodin Museum. Good times.
A Picture from earlier in the day at the Luxemburg Garden.