My Trip to Europe

Well, here it is - the long-awaited-for summary of my trip to Europe. It was great! Of course. We had a splendid time.

What one place was my favorite? Salzburg, Austria. It was small, quiet, quaint, clean, the people were nice, nearly everyone spoke English, the food was good, there was so much to do and see, and our Bed & Breakfast was phenomenal! We knew the instant we got there that we had not planned enough time in Salzburg.

Overall we took 800 photos between the two of us, but you will only see a few of them on this blog entry. To see more, but not the full 800, click here. Here are 'some of my favorite things' about the trip:

Our 10-hour lay-over in New York City.
Awestruck at Ground Zero.
Views of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from Battery Park.
Famous NYC hot dogs.
Steaming manholes in Times Square.
Flags of Rockefeller Plaza.
Today Show studios.

Going to church in Zurich, Switzerland.
Heavenly Father seriously led us there - we didn't have our GPS yet.
The members were so nice.
It felt like home.

Downtown Zurich with lunch on the river and a stroll through the carnival.
Band playing at the carnival.
Beautiful sunny day reflecting off the lake.
Weiner schnitzel for lunch.

The Swiss countryside and villages.
Little benches at the top of hills, between two trees, overlooking a village.
Swiss cows - still don't know if they wear the bells.
Even dandelions were beautiful in Switzerland!
Quaint churches in the middle of every village.

Incredibly nice Swiss people.
Our B&B hostess.
The lady that helped us get out of the car park garage by letting us follow her through the gate.

Yummy Swiss food.
The chocolate!
Breakfast of bread, 3 cheeses, butter, jams, yogurts and orange juice.

German Autobahns.
I drove 140 km/h.
Jed drove 200 km/h.
Watching a Porsche smoke a BMW.

One-lane roads with tw0-way traffic and covered bridges.
I got to drive through the covered bridge.
Jed got the really bad one-lane road with two-way traffic.

Extravagant castles and palaces.
Neuschwanstein Castle (aka the Sleeping Beauty Castle), Germany
Hohensalzburg Fortress, Salzburg, Austria
Hellbrunn Palace (with their trick fountains)
Doge's Palace, Venice, Italy

Amazing cathedrals & basilicas.
Munster Cathedral, Basel, Switzerland
Salzburg Cathedral
St. Mark's Basilica, Venice
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Rome

Our very own Sound of Music Tour.
Leopoldskron Schloss - back of the house in the film.
Hellbrunn Gardens - '16 going on 17' Gazebo.
Mirabell Gardens & Pegasus Fountain - 'Do Re Mi' song with kids exploring the city.
Residenz Platz - the fountain is reflected on her bus window.
Hearing the very same cathedral and church bells as in the movie.

Two cable car rides in Salzburg.
One to the top of Untersberg Mountain outside of Salzburg.
One to the top of the Salzburg Fortress.

Biking in downtown Salzburg and along the river.
Jed's incessant ringing of his bike bell.
My bell was broken.

Our Salzburg Bed & Breakfast.
The sweetest hostess - Fanziska.
Our own bathroom.
Two bikes we could use for free.
Down comforters.
The sound of birds chirping coming through the bathroom window while I got ready for the day.
20-minutes, by bike, from downtown Salzburg but outside of the hustle and bustle.

Hallstatt, Austria
Lakeside village with population of ~900
Terraced structures to accommodate the small amount of land between the mountains and the lake.
The salt mine we toured.
The wooden slides in the salt mine.
The Provo couple we ran into in the salt mine.

The drive from Salzburg to Venice.
Austrian and then Italian Alps.
Countless tunnels that were 6 or 7 kms long.

Chaos of Italy
Monstrous thunder and hail storm with 1-2 inches of water on the motorway - as we drove into Italy.
Getting lost even with a GPS giving us directions.
Taking a wrong exit and trying out a brand new motorway that no one else was on.
Finding a gas station that was open - which none were.
Guessing how much money to feed the auto-gas-pump thing to fill up our car.
22 euro (~$35) charge per 12 hours for a car park in Venice that we had to pay since our car rental place was closed.
Walking around the Roma Termini train station for an hour - trying to find the tourist information office.
Taking the bus to our Rome B&B in stead of the metro like I planned.
Crazy drivers in Rome - you take your life into your hands to cross the street.
Expensive toll roads.
The bus that never came to our stop in Rome on Sunday.

Gondolas of Venice.
They really do wear striped shirts and straw hats (well, maybe some of them).
The ones that would come down our very own, personal canal outside our B&B room window.
The ones with the accordion player and singer.

Sights and sounds of Venice.
Watching a resident close the shutters of her window.
Watching another resident open her shutters a crack to peak out in the early morning sun.
Waking up to the bells of St. Mark's Basilica.
The numerous souvenir carts all over St. Mark's Square full of Venetian masks, Murano glassware, and even gelato.
Skinny little alleys.
Costume shops for Carnival.
Pigeons everywhere and on everything - including people.
Being able to walk across the island of Venice in 30 minutes.

Visitors in Venice.
My previous roommate, Chiara, is from Italy and she came into Venice to see me!
Meeting her darling daughter, Matilda, and great husband, Moreno.

Rialto Bridge market, Venice.
The throng of residents, tourists, and shoppers.
The cup of strawberries and grapes (with seeds) I bought for 1.50 euros.
Dried pastas.
More gelato.
Leather anything.

Italian food in Venice.
Divine pizza! (better than Rome)
Pretty good lasagna.
Delectable gelato.

Views from the train between Venice and Rome.
Little vineyards in every yard.
Abundant red poppies.
Cotton floating in the air.
Tree-lined streets leading to a colorful villa on a hill surrounded by vineyards.
The top of the dome of the famous cathedral in Florence.

Roman antiquity.
2,000 year old ruins in the Roman Forum.
The one remaining toe on the foot of a long-gone statue in the Roman Forum.
The Colosseum. Period.
The Pantheon and its great dome with the sky light in it.

Sights and sounds of Rome.
Street performer in Piazza Venezia playing the guitar.
Street performer near the Pantheon wearing a sombrero and playing the violin.
The fountains of Piazza Navona.
Occasional Roman ruin with modern buildings built around it.
Market selling paintings in the Piazza Navona.
Local hot spot - gelateria chuck full of locals.
Villa Pamphili park with wild grass that is never mowed or watered and crammed full of locals.
The pizzeria that told us they would open at 7 pm and then when we stopped by again they said 7:30 pm.
The Pieta in St. Peter's Basilica.

Making a wish at Trevi Fountain, Rome.
Amidst a million other tourists.
Threw one American coin and one euro coin.
Wished for... can you share that wish? You can probably guess it.

Random stuff.
Our car rental upgrade from a Kia to an Alfa Romeo.
Decision to take the train to Rome from Venice in stead of driving.
Ear plugs. Period.
Immunity to jet lag - so awesome! I feel a little tired, but my body adjusts to the new time so easily.

Our trip home.
The warehouse terminal of the Rome Leonardo da Vinci Fiumcino Aiport we had to check in at.
The two shuttles we had to take to get back to a regular terminal to catch our flight.
The lack of seating near our gate.
Jed's carry-on being searched, but not mine.
The band, Augustana, sitting in coach with us on our flight.
11-hour flight from Rome to Chicago.
4-hour lay-over in Chicago.
3 1/2-hour flight from Chicago to Salt Lake City - that I don't remember since I promptly fell asleep.
The jet engine exhaust that flooded the back of the plane where we sat when we landed in SLC.

Souvenirs
Chocolate! - Basel, Switzerland
Music box that plays 'Edelweiss' - Salzburg
Venetian mask - Venice
Murano glass bead bracelet - Venice


P.S. Jed and I are just friends.