Sat./Sun
Oct 13 & 14, 2018
We had a 7:30am flight to Detroit so we got up
about 3:30am and left for the airport. We left Seattle and flew from Detroit to
Munich. We arrived at 7am in Munich. We went through immigrations, got our rental
car and headed to our hotel Moxy (part of the Marriott family) in Munich. It
was a good price and close to the train station. Julian, Jill, Mike and I got a
good laugh once they got there, since the hotel is Marriott’s new line catering to millennials. It’s
an upgrade from a hostel. It was nice and clean but we thought it was funny
since we are NOT millennials. We dropped our luggage off checked in and drove
back to the airport to pick up Jill and Julian. We ate at the airport at Leysieffer. It was pretty good! We then drove over to Dachau concentration camp we all have seen it
except for Jill so we went for her. We went into Munich walked around and ate
dinner at the Rathskeller.
The ironing room down the hall.
DO Not disturb. 
"Work will set you free"
The Residence in Munich
We ate breakfast at McDonalds then headed to Salzburg, Austria. We walked all over Salzburg most of the day. We ate lunch at K&K. We sat outside it was so relaxing sitting just talking to Jill & Julian. Our waiter was from Italy and he was awesome! We all had Apple Strudel for dessert. It was so delicious! We then drove around looking at all the "Sound of Music" locations.
Julian using his Rosary.
Love Locks
Remember these gates? This is the place they showed up in the boat and tipped it over.
This was used as the front of the house. The scene where Julie Andrews first comes down the road to the house singing and carrying her bag and guitar.
A late snack at the hotel Curry Wurst!
We are heading to Neuschwanstein Castle today. We stopped in a little town called Bobing and got pastries and hot chocolate it was so good. We sat outside, the weather and scenery were beautiful. We spent some time at Neuschwanstein. We then headed to Zugspitze (The top of Germany) the highest point in the German/Austrian Alps. We've been there before but wanted to take Julian and Jill there. We then drove to Mittenwald. We love this small town. We ate dinner at Hotel Gasthof Alpenrose. We wanted to take them to this restaurant because it was so good. Very Non-tourist which made it even better. We then drove back to Munich to our hotel.
Mittenwald
Mittenwald is famous for handmade violins
Wednesday Oct. 17, 2018
We headed to the train station to make sure we knew where to go to catch our train to Venice tomorrow. It's a 6 hour train ride. Should be fun! We are excited to ride the train. Especially Michael since he does all the driving all the time in Europe. This time he can rest and enjoy the sights and get some rest. We got some pastries at the train station then we headed to downtown Munich and did some sight seeing and went to the Viktualienmarkt. We bought grapes, a couple different cheeses, bread and green olives and sat in a beer garden at the market. It was packed and we noticed that not ONE person was on their phones! There were all enjoying each others company and the beautiful weather. We also went to the English Park and walked around and sat on a bench and talked, people watched and rested awhile. We walked over to the river and watched the surfers surf in the river in Munich! We had seen this before on the Rick Steve's show and glad we found it. It was very cool! Mike and Julian took the car and went to turn it back in before we head to Italy by train tomorrow. We rested and re-packed our stuff then got together and played phase 10 with them in the lobby we had a blast!
Thursday Oct. 18, 2018
We left and checked out of our hotel and took the subway to the train station ate breakfast and took the train to Venice. It took us 6 hours. It was a beautiful ride through Germany, Austria and Italy.
Friday Oct. 19, 2018
We took the bus to Venice from our hotel. We took the water boat to San Marco square and went through the Doge's Palace. We walked around and shopped. I bought a nice leather purse. We ate lunch at Osteria N.1 Ristorante-Pizzeri. We walked around some more and got a gelato. We then hopped back on the boat back to San Marco Square to go through Saint Mark's Basilica. We walked around some more and took a gondola ride.
Very cool shopping mall.
Bridge of Sighs
Saturday Oct. 20, 2018
We headed to the train station in Venice. We'll be heading to Verona for about 4 hours then onto Milan. We walked around Verona. We went to the Romeo and Juliet balcony and did some shopping at the market. We ate lunch in an outdoor cafe` then headed back to the train station to head to Milan. The train station in Milan is huge and beautiful. This is the second time we've been to Milan but it's still quite impressive to see the train station. It was built by Mussolini. It definitely makes you feel small and it's just what he wanted. He wanted to make the government look powerful and you small compared to it. We walked from the train station to our hotel. We rested up a bit then headed to the Duomo. Milan's Cathedral. We got tickets for the roof tomorrow. We walked around a bit more went through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. We grabbed some pizza at Spontini, it's super good pizza. We got a gelato after and sat and people watched for a while then headed back to the hotel.
Sunday Oct. 21, 2018
We took the subway to the Duomo we went inside for a while then on top of the roof. Very cool! We got an early start which was so nice because there was not a lot of people out at all. As the day went on it got packed as usual. We walked over to the opera house. It was closed the last time we were here and I really wanted to see it. We walked over to the castle and walked through the park. We ate lunch at Spontini again since it was so good yesterday. I have a horrible sore throat so we went to get some stuff for it. We head to Florence and Pisa by train tomorrow morning.
Monday Oct. 22, 2018
We took the subway to the train station heading to Florence. It was about an hour and 40 minute train ride. We played phase 10 again. We dropped our luggage off at the hotel and got on the train to Pisa. We stayed for about three hours then got back on the train and headed back to Florence. We checked into our hotel and ate dinner at Hard Rock cafe. It was a really pretty one but the food was not wonderful. I'm still fighting this terrible cold, Im getting over and I'm so tired. Jill went with us to dinner Julian had a 3 hr conference call for work.
It was funny watching all the tourist pushing and pointing at the building! (Even though Mike kind of did it too.) ;)
Florence, Italy
Thursday Oct. 23, 2018
We went to Florence all day. We went to the Cathedral and baptistery then walked around Florence. We went to the Academia Museum where Michelangelo's David is. We then got some lunch at Di Foco it was very good. The weather was beautiful today but a little chilly. Jill and I both bought a leather coat. I love mine it's hand painted leather. The shop owner said it's called cognac. We also went to the Uffizi Galleria (Museum). We shopped and walked around some more and of course had to get a gelato then headed back to the hotel. We ate dinner at the hotel. Tomorrow we go to the Vatican for the day.
This is our hotel door!
Michelangelo's David. The symbol of the Renaissance era. When Europe (as Rick Steves says) stepped from Medieval darkness and into the light of the modern world.
14 Ft. high. From 1504
David of "David and Goliath"
Copy of the statue of David.
Pointevecchio
We caught the shuttle from the hotel and spent the day at The Vatican. We got to see the pope. Pope Francis. The last time Michael and I were at the Vatican we saw Pope Benedict XVI. We headed back to the hotel around 5 pm and ate dinner at the hotel.
Sunrise in Rome
Swiss Guards
Vatican Flag
Michelangelo's Pieta
We took the subway and train to the colosseum. We then went over to Palatine Hill and the Forum. We ate lunch at Alfredo's the birthplace of the original Fettuccine Alfredo. We've eaten there two other times and wanted to take Jill and Julian there. We walked over to the Pantheon. Jill and Julian had to take a package to the mission home which was close to the Rome LDS temple and then we walked back to the hotel.
Piazza Navona
Pantheon
Trevi Fountain
Friday Oct. 26, 2018
We took the hotel shuttle back to the Vatican. We walked to Castle de Angelo. We went inside it was pretty cool especially on the roof such a great view of the city of Rome! We walked across the Ponte Sant'Angelo, once the Aelian Bridge or Pons Aelius, meaning the Bridge of Hadrian, a Roman bridge in Rome, Italy, completed in 134 AD by Roman Emperor Hadrian. We walked over to the Spanish Steps and the fountain called Fontana della Barcaccia or "Fountain of the Old Boat" by Pietro Bernini. We ate lunch at Canova Tadolinia. It's a restaurant amid four generations of sculptors belonging to the Tadolini family from father to son. It was really good food. We walked over to Piazza de Popolo then over to the Trevi Fountain again. We got a gelato and then headed back to the hotel. We ate dinner in the hotel and played phase 10 in the lobby.
We slept in today and it felt great! We have been busy and traveled hard this time to hopefully show Jill and Julian the things we've seen before. We've had a ton of fun traveling with them. I've been fighting a nasty sore throat and cold the whole time which has been a pain but we pressed on. We got on the train and headed to a small town just outside of Rome called Trastevere. We ate breakfast then went over to the city's church. There was a wedding taking place so we stayed and watched it for awhile. It was very cool! We walked over to Campo de Fiori to the market there. We grabbed some lunch and headed to the airport to check out. We got a car service to the airport to catch a flight to Munich. (That was the best idea we had) We head back home from Munich early tomorrow morning. The hotel was pretty nice it was the Hilton right next to the airport. In the morning we just crossed the big square to the airport. The square at Christmas is full of Christmas markets. It was a great place to stay! We are all ready to be home especially me fighting this cold and cough. We did a ton and traveled hard but we loved every minute of traveling with Jill and Julian. I need a vacation now! This kind of travel is an adventure and exciting it's nice to have a relaxing vacation too! We are very blessed to be able to do both. We definitely plan to do this again with them!
The hooded statue in the center of the plaza is of Giordano Bruno who was burned at the
stake during the Counter-Reformation. His only crime was believing that the world was round and not the center of the universe.
