Driving through Italy was such a beautiful sight. Vineyards lined the highway, and literally every direction there were rows and rows of grapes. We stopped at a small grocery store and couldn't resist buying a few bottles of wine and some chocolate, setting us back a whopping €1.50 per bottle. We already love Italy!!
Arriving in Venice was a delight however we were quickly greeted with high price tags and an underwhelming amount of hotels. We park our car in the only garage we can find and pay more for one night than we have paid for any hotel yet... Yikes! We load up our bags and head to find a hotel. Only after about 30 minutes we find the perfect location with perfect price... Thank you trip advisor (and the lady behind the desk.. She defiantly helped us out with the price)
With a quick change of clothes we were out the door and exploring. Venice is such a beautiful and romantic city, we didn't know where to go first. Our short time in the city was spent wandering around the maze of bridges and sidewalks, going in and out of shops, and enjoying the great weather.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Venice here we come
Driving through Italy was such a beautiful sight. Vineyards lined the highway, and literally every direction there were rows and rows of grapes. We stopped at a small grocery store and couldn't resist buying a few bottles of wine and some chocolate, setting us back a whopping €1.50 per bottle. We already love Italy!!
A bit more
On a side note brandon and I have grown so interested in the history of these countries, that we have decided to make a deal. We will each take turns picking out a book that we will both read so we can become more educated. Now that we have seen so much history, it has sparked our interest in learning more. We will pick our first book tonight.
A bit more
On a side note brandon and I have grown so interested in the history of these countries, that we have decided to make a deal. We will each take turns picking out a book that we will both read so we can become more educated. Now that we have seen so much history, it has sparked our interest in learning more. We will pick our first book tonight.
Beer beer and BEER!
Munchen
We hit the road and traveled 30 km to Munich. Bavaria's capital for beer. While here we learned just how important beer was for the foundation of Munich. As the monks started brewing beer in the early 1300s they came up with the idea because they would fast all day long and would be hungry. While they weren't allowed to eat, they could drink...Enter beer. The monks called it liquid bread because it was high in calories and different nutrients, and they could go all day without eating as long as they had their beer.
Beer today has a special part of Munich's history and many traditions are still holding strong. For example, back during king Leudwigs time there was a special celebration in honor of his marriage. The celebration went on for many days, and because they had so much fun during this celebration they decided to make it an every year event, which is now known worldwide as Oktoberfest.
Munich is such an incredible city. There is so much to see, and so much to do, new foods to try and culture to soak in. We could spent a week here and we still wouldn't see everything. The history that is preserved here is amazing, and I have to say I can't complain about the abundance of beer around here. Where else would you drink beer for breakfast?!
Highlights: Free walking tour, this lasted about 3 hours, and we got loads of information! Our guide was excellent and made it entertaining, and light hearted.
The beer halls, hofbrauhaus, and Augestiner
The market, we had cheese and meats,a dn bread from the market every day we were in Munich. The cheese was delicious, and there were so many to try!
We hit the road and traveled 30 km to Munich. Bavaria's capital for beer. While here we learned just how important beer was for the foundation of Munich. As the monks started brewing beer in the early 1300s they came up with the idea because they would fast all day long and would be hungry. While they weren't allowed to eat, they could drink...Enter beer. The monks called it liquid bread because it was high in calories and different nutrients, and they could go all day without eating as long as they had their beer.
Beer today has a special part of Munich's history and many traditions are still holding strong. For example, back during king Leudwigs time there was a special celebration in honor of his marriage. The celebration went on for many days, and because they had so much fun during this celebration they decided to make it an every year event, which is now known worldwide as Oktoberfest.
Munich is such an incredible city. There is so much to see, and so much to do, new foods to try and culture to soak in. We could spent a week here and we still wouldn't see everything. The history that is preserved here is amazing, and I have to say I can't complain about the abundance of beer around here. Where else would you drink beer for breakfast?!
Highlights: Free walking tour, this lasted about 3 hours, and we got loads of information! Our guide was excellent and made it entertaining, and light hearted.
The beer halls, hofbrauhaus, and Augestiner
The market, we had cheese and meats,a dn bread from the market every day we were in Munich. The cheese was delicious, and there were so many to try!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Dachau concentration camp
A sombering day was ahead of us when we decided to see this first ever concentration camp. When arriving to the site by car I needed no sign, as we passed a huge barb wire fence surrounded with watchtowers I knew where we were. It was the same sight we have seen in every childhood history book.
We parked the car and decided to go on a tour of Dachau. We were here to learn and educate ourselves about the history of the world. We joined a English walking tour of the site which is almost all original buildings. These have only been preserved because of survivors of the concentration camp. After the war most germans didn't want to accept or remember what had happened at dachau. They wanted it to be destroyed. It was the survivors from almost all surrounding countries including Germany who protested to keep it as it was, as opposed to having just a small memorial. These people wanted the future generations to learn frthe what happened and to remember what had happened. "Never again" two words posted on one of the memorials. We walked through Dachau and learned of the day to day routines and punishing/torture that was bestowed upon the victims. As hard as it was to think of what happened, it is something that future generations should never forget.
A sombering day was ahead of us when we decided to see this first ever concentration camp. When arriving to the site by car I needed no sign, as we passed a huge barb wire fence surrounded with watchtowers I knew where we were. It was the same sight we have seen in every childhood history book.
We parked the car and decided to go on a tour of Dachau. We were here to learn and educate ourselves about the history of the world. We joined a English walking tour of the site which is almost all original buildings. These have only been preserved because of survivors of the concentration camp. After the war most germans didn't want to accept or remember what had happened at dachau. They wanted it to be destroyed. It was the survivors from almost all surrounding countries including Germany who protested to keep it as it was, as opposed to having just a small memorial. These people wanted the future generations to learn frthe what happened and to remember what had happened. "Never again" two words posted on one of the memorials. We walked through Dachau and learned of the day to day routines and punishing/torture that was bestowed upon the victims. As hard as it was to think of what happened, it is something that future generations should never forget.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Rothenburg
Tonight we are Relaxing with some German beer in our Hostel, and looking back on the day I feel like we have done so much. This morning feels like it was a week ago, but we don't want to miss anything! On Gunter's recommendation, we first head to an auto museum. This contained a mixture of old cars of famous people, and a lot of war machinery. There were two different museums to go into as well as an iMax. Its hard to describe but it was very interesting.
We buzzed through the museum and went on our way to Rothenburg. With not a single modern building in sight this medieval town is very charming, and historical. It is encircled by its original 14th century walls and has been preserved very well. Some of the town highlights include the Kathe Wohlfahrt Christmas store, a tower where we climbed 200 stairs to get to the top, that overlooks the entire city with amazing vistas, and the kriminalmuseum, which provided a gruesome glimpse of the past, housing all manners of torture devices that were used during the medieval times - shame masks, devices to pull limbs off the accused, and crush different body parts, and cages where the accused would be put on display in the center of the village so they would be shamed.
We buzzed through the museum and went on our way to Rothenburg. With not a single modern building in sight this medieval town is very charming, and historical. It is encircled by its original 14th century walls and has been preserved very well. Some of the town highlights include the Kathe Wohlfahrt Christmas store, a tower where we climbed 200 stairs to get to the top, that overlooks the entire city with amazing vistas, and the kriminalmuseum, which provided a gruesome glimpse of the past, housing all manners of torture devices that were used during the medieval times - shame masks, devices to pull limbs off the accused, and crush different body parts, and cages where the accused would be put on display in the center of the village so they would be shamed.
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