probably the last update before i come home
We caught the night train from Rome to Venice, which was an experience in itself. We found a compartment with two Italian guys in it who spoke NO English at all, and when we tried to ask where they were getting off, they said Napoli. The problem is, Venice is north of Rome and Naples is south....so, we both had heart attacks trying to determine if we had gotten on the wrong train. It turns out we were on the right one, and they must have thought we were asking where they were from. (I think?) We got about four hours of sleep on the train (we were woken up in the middle of the night by one of our Italian friends smoking in the compartment with the window closed. Thanks a lot!) When we got to Venice, it was still dark (and I stepped in a huge puddle of human feces. Awesome.) We navigated the streets of Venice for a while and got a day pass on the ferry system (their own little version of a subway system). We went out to an island that is apprently known for glass blowing, and went to the grave sights of Ezra Pound and Igor Stravinsky (that was for you, Mom.) Unfortunately, Vanessa found us in Venice and tagged along with us for another day. Preston and I found this great pizza place there where we split two family sized pizzas, that cost us like ten bucks. We even went to a free display/museum on Vivaldi. (everybody loves a priest who gets out of saying mass because he says his asthma makes it too hard to stand up).
We were in Venice for about a day and a half before we caught a train up to Vienna. We had lined up a place to stay with a local missionary family, (who were completely awesome, by the way...even when my sister called and woke them up at 1am on Sunday morning). We got to use that as an excuse to get out of hanging out with Vanessa for a couple of more days, so that was good. Our first day there, we went to one of the royal palaces, where Maria Theresa and Franz Joseph ruled the country from. Pretty amazing. That night, we went to a production of 'Fools', the daughter of the missionaries was in it, so we wanted to be supportive of her. After the play, she let us hang out with her friends and we walked around downtown Vienna, getting the night tour. The next morning, we got up semi-early and went to the Military Museum in Vienna. We were told that we could probably get through it all in 2 hours, but after 3.5 hours, we still had more to see. Such an interesting place. I'd reccomend it to anyone who's going to Vienna. Do it first, and you'll have a good feel from where this country's history lies. Good stuff. After the museum, we went downtown and saw the famous church, (Stephensplatz), walked around the ring, saw the building where Hitler informed the Austrian people that they were now a part of Germany, etc. More good stuff. We were going to go to the 'Standing Room Only' for the opera that night (The Sound of Music. Fitting, I know.) but even those were sold out. Instead, we went to the opening night of a big Christmas festival, and saw many a Ausrians get drunk on Spiced Wine.
This morning, we woke up early and caught the early train to Munich. I slept most of the way because Preston snored all night. I hit him with a pillow a couple of times, but it didn't really make a difference. Oh well. We arrived, checked into our hostel, then caught a train and a bus out to Dachau Concentration Camp. We gave ourselves about 3 hours there, but I'd tell anyone who was coming out to make it a full day. We were totally rushed at the end. (they close at 5pm) Still, it was really really educational, and really strange to be walking around on what was such a horrible place. It was FREEZING cold, so that made it even more unforgettable. Hard to imagine all the people that suffered there, and here I was, feeling cold about the weather with my down vest, goves, sweatshirt, and beanie....
We came back into Munich and decided to go to one of the famous beer halls. We got there and ordered huge stiens of the local brew, and met the people who were sharing the table with us, Tony and Maria (doesn't sound very German, I know). They were really good people, spoke a little bit of English, helped us pick out things on the menu, and 'educated' us when we admitted that we didn't know the German soccer stars.
Tomorrow we're off to Crazy King Ludwig's castle (I guess Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disney World/Land is modeled after it?) before we get up to Frankfurt for the night. We fly back to the U.S. at 10am on Tuesday.
See you soon!
Thanks for reading.
We were in Venice for about a day and a half before we caught a train up to Vienna. We had lined up a place to stay with a local missionary family, (who were completely awesome, by the way...even when my sister called and woke them up at 1am on Sunday morning). We got to use that as an excuse to get out of hanging out with Vanessa for a couple of more days, so that was good. Our first day there, we went to one of the royal palaces, where Maria Theresa and Franz Joseph ruled the country from. Pretty amazing. That night, we went to a production of 'Fools', the daughter of the missionaries was in it, so we wanted to be supportive of her. After the play, she let us hang out with her friends and we walked around downtown Vienna, getting the night tour. The next morning, we got up semi-early and went to the Military Museum in Vienna. We were told that we could probably get through it all in 2 hours, but after 3.5 hours, we still had more to see. Such an interesting place. I'd reccomend it to anyone who's going to Vienna. Do it first, and you'll have a good feel from where this country's history lies. Good stuff. After the museum, we went downtown and saw the famous church, (Stephensplatz), walked around the ring, saw the building where Hitler informed the Austrian people that they were now a part of Germany, etc. More good stuff. We were going to go to the 'Standing Room Only' for the opera that night (The Sound of Music. Fitting, I know.) but even those were sold out. Instead, we went to the opening night of a big Christmas festival, and saw many a Ausrians get drunk on Spiced Wine.
This morning, we woke up early and caught the early train to Munich. I slept most of the way because Preston snored all night. I hit him with a pillow a couple of times, but it didn't really make a difference. Oh well. We arrived, checked into our hostel, then caught a train and a bus out to Dachau Concentration Camp. We gave ourselves about 3 hours there, but I'd tell anyone who was coming out to make it a full day. We were totally rushed at the end. (they close at 5pm) Still, it was really really educational, and really strange to be walking around on what was such a horrible place. It was FREEZING cold, so that made it even more unforgettable. Hard to imagine all the people that suffered there, and here I was, feeling cold about the weather with my down vest, goves, sweatshirt, and beanie....
We came back into Munich and decided to go to one of the famous beer halls. We got there and ordered huge stiens of the local brew, and met the people who were sharing the table with us, Tony and Maria (doesn't sound very German, I know). They were really good people, spoke a little bit of English, helped us pick out things on the menu, and 'educated' us when we admitted that we didn't know the German soccer stars.
Tomorrow we're off to Crazy King Ludwig's castle (I guess Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disney World/Land is modeled after it?) before we get up to Frankfurt for the night. We fly back to the U.S. at 10am on Tuesday.
See you soon!
Thanks for reading.