Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Day 6- LONG

Today we woke up and explored a little of Vienna before we headed on to Prague. It was nice but nothing spectacular. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if we had time to go to museums and such. But what do you do? You can't do EVEYRTHING. It was still a nice day.






After lunch we made the long (5 hr. train ride) journey to Prague. I for one was excited. I had never been to eastern Europe so I was stoked to check it out. Once we arrived (after the longest train ride ever) I decided I needed to potty. However, the one on the train was disgusting...eww. So I decided to wait and go at the station. Dumb Idea. You of course had to pay and we did not yet have crowns. So I thought well Ill wait until we get to the hotel. Even WORSE idea. There was no one at the info desk and we werent really sure how to get to the hotel. After going to a few wrong metro areas, we finally got off at the right stop. We then had to wait for the tram to take us to the hotel. It was of course late. I still need to potty remember. Well, the tram FINALLY gets there and I tell my bladder just a few more minutes. WRONG, we must look like Americans because the tram security came straight up to us and asked for our tickets. Huh? we need those? yea, we need those. So we got kicked off and forced to pay a fine. It was an honest mistake, there was no one at the info desk and we didn't see any place to buy tickets. Once we got that mess taken care of, we still had to make our way back to the hotel. At this point we all had a sour taste in our mouth for Prague. While stairing at our dinky map at the bus stop we asked a local kid for help. HE WAS AN ANGEL! he not only told us how to get there, he walked us there. What a life saver. There is NO way we would have found the hotel with out him. Thank you Jon, bless you. Our hotel is SICK! its built into the oldest church monastery in EUROPE! it is sooo sweet! Best of all, it had a bathroom. Since Jon and the hotel were so lovely, we decided to give Prague a second chance after him. We were beat so we ate at the hotel, and hit the sac. (hotel food was blug by the way and not worth blogging about)
Highlights of the day
1: Sitting at the dog park in Vienna watching the cute puppies play while also acting as the commentary.
LONG day. Can't wait for tomorrow

Day 5 The Hills are Alive Baby

That's right, youuuu guessed it! This day was ALL about the Sound of Music. We did a 4 hour tour around Salzburg. It was friggin sweet. We rode around the beautiful Austrian alps singing along with the Movie Sound Track. Here are a few of my favorite...pictures ;)







Doe- Ray- Me-






After the tour we decided to head on over to Vienna. Once we got there we basically spent the remainder of the day locating our hotel, grabbin some grub, and resting. This day was AWESOME!
Highlights:
1: Watching some lady on the tour spin round and round singing the hills are alive. HILARIOUS
Oh Sound of Music, how I love thee:)

Day 4- MMM MMM Good

Day 4- MMM MMM Good
Today we arrived in Salzburg. I was really excited because from I remembered of it from high school it was one of my favorite places. Unfortunately when we arrived the weather was horrible. It was rainy, wet, and cold. Not only was the weather bad, but the main attraction, the Eagles Nest, is closed. It doesn’t open until the summer months which will not begin until May 1st. Bummer.
However, being the incredibly awesome people we are, we devised another plan and forged on into the rain. Even with poor weather Salzburg was still lovely. We visited Mozart’s birthplace and got to learn a lot of history, which Mamsi and I really love. It was really interesting to learn a little bit about what life was like so long ago. To me it seemed elegant and sophisticated. You were not allowed to take pictures inside but, Mamsi being the deviant that she is took one anyway.

After Mozart’s house we ventured out to find my favorite church in Europe and the horse fountain from the Sound of Music’s opening scene. I was really really excited to be there with GB. It is pretty special for me to be able to have this wonderful memories of these beautiful places and then get to share them with my love. The church was even more beautiful than I remember. Bonus* this time I got to take a picture inside it. Last time mass was being held so I wasn’t allowed.







After a short break we strolled around and found a cool cemetery. We had hoped to make it up to the fortress but the tram was closed and the weather was far too nasty to climb. I’ll admit I was really disappointed in the weather and it made me grumpy. So we decided to call it a day in hopes that tomorrow will be more inviting.


For dinner we hit up one of the restraunts located inside the hotel. It was such a wonderful little place. You didn’t feel like you were in a hotel at all. It was renovated to look like a typical Austrian pub. I LOVED it! Edil Weise was everywhere. It was beautiful. Not to mention the delicious food! We all got Austrian specialties that were melt in your mouth. Since the prices were good to begin with AND we had Garrett’s 50 percent off employee discount we also each got our own Apple Struddle. I can still taste it…MMMMM. Sadly, we did not bring a camera to take pictures :(
We ended the evening laughing and enjoying each others company in the rents hotel room until Paps kicked us out. He couldn’t take my teasing anymore ;) For a day that started out a little rough, it ended FANTASTICALLY
Highlights:
1:Waking up to THIS...yes its from my previous highlight from yesterday. I can now laugh along with everyone else who almost wet themselves the night before.

2: Finding this delectable street side dish….scrum-didle-E-umpcious

3: Finding this small old school bakery powered by a water wheel. It made the most delicious sweet rolls

Day 3- The Perfect Day

If I had to sum up today in one word it would be, Perfect. Innsbruck is absolutely gorgeous. It is a little town located in a valley high in the Alps with mountains everywhere you look.



After wondering for a bit we discovered #1 everything was so much cheaper, even more so than Italy. #2 you could get to the top of one of the mountains for 25 Euro! Un.Be.Lievable. Well, we had to do it. So after catching lunch and checking out the local stores and architecture we headed for the sky.
It was snowy up there but warm and beautiful. The view was even better than Pilatus. SO worth the monies 



On the way up I had noticed some horse and carriages. I thought since everything else was so cheap here this may be too. Well, I was RIGHT! Only 25 euro for the whole carriage for a 30 min ride. We decided to do it later when it cooled off a little more. Since it was so hot we decided to snag some gelato. It was creamy but my least favorite so far. What can I except really, I’m not in Italy anymore.
After checking out the river we went on the hunt for some drinks and headed for the PONIES!! Sadly it got popular and I only had 2 to choose from. It was so much FUN! I was like a 5 yr old girl in a doll store. It was the perfect end to a perfect day.


Highlights of the day:
1: Running into THIS awesome parade of Austrian Regions

2: Playing magic cards with alittle 4yr. old Austrian boy on the tram back down the Mt.
3: Finding THESE sickies!! CUTE! Mamsi both got a pair and picked some out for the twinners.

4: Finding this Igloo. It was awesome

5: While acting as a pillow buddy, my slightly less than perfect husband spun me round and round till I was dizzy. I slammed against the bed and busted my hip on the corner of the night stand...yea can't wait to see the results of this. Thanks Love
What a PERFECT day! Have I said that enough?? I don’t think so, TODAY. WAS. PERFECT

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Luzern- Its for the Birds

Day-2
welp, we just wrapped up adventurous day #2! We took an early morning train depsite our exhaustion. It. Was. Worth IT!!! Once we arrived in Luzern (Lucern) we began our trek to get to Mt. Pilatus. This was esp. exciting for me because I had been when I was in high school but sadly only got one picture because I was young and ignorant. Sadly the boat and tram were closed until May so we took the Ski lift instead. The view was breathtaking and we even got to watch some para-gliders take off. Lucky fellas. We really really enjoyed this view..only slightly more than the birds..but thats to come later.




Once we got back down about half the day was gone and we were STARVING! so we once again hit up the trusty Coop for some sandwiches and fruit. We ate lunch by the river and it was quit pleasant. I dare say I would eat there again. After lunch we headed over to a local market and searched for a cow bell to purchase. Once a bell was bought, we headed over to see the famous monument of "The Dying Lion". It was very pitiful and sad. :(
After watching the poor Lion Die we, we mosied our way back to the train station. But not before checking out a sweet old time bridge.





Highlights of the day
1: Finding THIS Yodeling group!


2: Feeding the CRAZY crows at the top of Pilatus. Seriously they were NUTS! They pretty much attacked Paps when we stopped to snack on some Granola bars. THEN, my husband thought it would be funny to toss some crumbs toward my face and one bird FLEW INTO ME! I mean literally RIGHT into my flippen face. I nearly had a heart attack. It was great fun with those crazy birdies.


I really enjoyed Lucern. It was a LOT bigger than I expected and it had some incredible views. With Switzerland down, tomorrow we head for Austria. YEA BABY!