Time to leave

Well, today was it - our last day here. We had fun riding trams around the city just watching people and seeing a lot of the everyday life taking place. We say it so much, but it is so nice to be able to get around on great transit systems. Grandpa says to tell Sam to take a look at the slide show today. (Our grandson, Sam, loves public transportation.) So we took some pictures for him.

We had lunch at the Viktualienmarkt Beer Garden which is actually a bunch of different stalls selling wurst, sandwiches, produce, a soup kitchen, cheese, bakery items - you name it. It is also like a Farmer's Market - all of this is right next to the Marianplatz which is the town center. It is really a neat place and makes for an inexpensive lunch compared to the regular eateries.

Over dinner we discussed favorite parts and not so favorite parts of the trip. Really, most of the trip went beautifully and we had just the best time ever and are ready to do it again. We couldn't begin to name highlights there were so many. The only negatives for us were we really did not like Odense, Denmark, and Mary was quite upset at what she saw as some places in Normandy using the events of that "horrific period of time as a money maker." Oh, finding our hotel in Lyon was a definite negative!

We leave Munich at 10:30am tomorrow and get into Sacramento around 8:30 tomorrow night.

For those of you who have been following this, thank you for putting up with us - misspelled words, wrong grammar, whatever...it is really fun for us to do this blog. When we get home, Charlie will just print it off and we have our daily diary.

Charlie says that I need to finish my suitcase so goodby for now!

Enjoying Munich

We totally just roamed around Munich today revisiting favorite places plus we took a "Hop On - Hop Off" tour around the city. We had never done that in all of our times here. It was interesting.

We were at the Marienplatz at noon for the Glockenspiel doing its joust etc. The Spiel recreates a royal wedding from the 16th century. Charlie took a video of it. (Several short sections that need some work.) It is one of the most popular sights in Munich (other than watching people in the beer halls!)

We had another good dinner at another beer hall. They really are fun places to watch people and to just enjoy life! Over dinner we talked about some of our favorite places on this trip and of course, started thinking of our next trip!

One more day of exploring and then we are heading home.

Where we Drove

I thought an extra post with a map of our 5000+ miles might be fun. So here is where we went.

Munich

We woke up to find out that Europe went off Daylight Savings last night. That was kind of nice! We had a good breakfast and then left for Munich. Austria is quite beautiful - mountains whichever way you look.

We decided to drive to our hotel and leave all of our bags and then headed to the airport to return the car. It was kind of sad to turn it in - it was a good car and we have had such a good time. We ended up driving 9,320 kilometers or 5,778 miles. We then took the S Bahn (part regional train and part subway) back to our hotel. The Munich airport is far out in the countryside. No problem though - there is quick transportation into town. Sure wish that Sacramento could figure out some way to get out of the airport! One of the subway stops is actually in the basement of our hotel!

We spent a while repacking suitcases which is always a big chore to do before leaving. So now we can play for 2 days here in Munich.

We took the subway up to the Marianplatz and went to a beer hall for dinner.

I finally found out what happened to Michalangelo's Bruges Madonna that I mentioned a few days ago. The Nazis had stolen it from the church in Bruges and taken it to a salt mine in Altaussee, Austria. At the end of the war, the Monument Men found crates and crates and crates plus bigger pieces in packing material down in the salt mine. Thousands and thousands of items were found down there. The mine was slated to be blown up the Nazis. It is a long complicated story, but the treasure trove was saved. So it was a happy ending for these items. These men founds sites all over Germany and Austria with the looted treasures.

Leaving Venice

We awoke this morning to the sounds of boats chugging on the canal outside. Sure enough the strike was over as promised and all was well. It was a good thing too. In the matter of 30 minutes we saw 4 cruise ships arrive as well as 2 large ferries from Greece. I figure that is about 10,000 people dumped on to the tourist heaven that is Venice.

We gathered our bags (only 2) and headed to ride the vaporetti to the car park up the canal by the train station. The car was still there and ready for another day of adventure on the roads of Europe. We headed north out of Italy and into Austria. The valley leading to Brenner Pass into Austria is not only gorgeous, but alternately filled with industry and vineyards. The higher we went the more vineyards and fewer industries.

(As we drove up the U shaped valley caused by glaciers that covered the whole valley just a few thousand years ago I wondered before the glaciers all melted was the Mediterranean just a pond, was Venice (or the area) high and dry and where was Al Gore to stop all the melting? Just idle thoughts while driving.) This is Charlie speaking - I told him to delete this part, but he wouldn't.

We arrived in Innsbruck early in the day thus had time to explore the old town area and marvel at the beauty of the surrounding mountain vista. We strolled around the "old town" and had a delicious weinerschnitzel!

Tomorrow we drive to Munich and turn in the car. We still have three days to hang out in Munich and get bags packed for the plane so that things all get home safely and in the same number of pieces that we packed.

Lazy in Venice

Well, with the city transit system on strike, in other words no city boats, we relied on Hilton's boat shuttle which is really great. We took it over to the Piazza San Marco and then just started walking and exploring. It is such a fun place to just head down a street and then have to turn because it ends - you just keep wondering around. Most of the time, you have no clue where you are - and everyone else is standing around with a map trying to find where they are also.

We had a good lunch and then took off again towards the wooden Accadmeia Bridge which is only 1 of 4 bridges over the Grand Canal. Here we crossed the canal and then we were in the Dorsoduro District. We walked to the other side of this district and caught the Hilton shuttle back for a time to chill.

Later in the afternoon we headed back to the Piazza to get a couple of last purchases and then wondered down a street and found an area that we had enjoyed last time. One of the big gondola sites - right next was a Hard Rock Cafe where we sat next to a window for a long time watching the "gondola" enterprise. It was raining so it was a perfect place to be. We watched several large tour groups come and get put into their gondolas with umbrellas up!

We leave Venice in the morning and we have loved our time here and are thinking ahead to our next visit. It is a unique city. Excuse me for quoting Rick Steves again, but what he says about Venice seems to be so true. "Venice's population is half what it was 30 years ago and people are leaving at a rate of a thousand a year. Of those who stay, 25% are 65 or older. Sad... but imagine raising a family here........You can find glass and tourist trinkets, but try to find groceries. Running basic errands involves lots of walking and stairs - imagine crossing over arched bridges while pushing a child in a stroller and carrying a day's worth of groceries." We pictured Michelle, (our daughter in law), trying to do her daily schedule with 3 little kids! I don't think that I would ever leave the house!

The boat strike is over at midnight so off we will go.

Venice - day 3 Mary's birthday

It was raining today until mid afternoon. Mary got a great massage! Charlie went exploring, but the area where he went was kind of flooded. Later the sun came out so we got the water shuttle over to San Marco and roamed around the back streets, had an early dinner (see Mary's food choices NOT!)and then sat in a cafe on the piazza. Oh, we went through the basilica again - it is so amazing.

We have posted pictures to the slide show.
Oh, the hotel slid a birthday card under the door this morning with a complimentary slip for free drinks at the Skyline Bar. When we checked in, the receptionist commented that she had a birthday coming.

Tomorrow Italy is having a transportation strike or at least Venice is - but the hotel shuttle will run back and forth to San Marco. Europe does like to strike. Of course, the girl at the counter here at the hotel said they always do it on Friday - duh! It does seem that the bus boats are still required to run early in the morning and from 4 - 7 in the afternoon. We will see what happens and report tomorrow.