Our Flash Show

Below are the pictures we are taking while on our travels. Don't forget to write to us in the Cbox to the right of our blog. Try and leave us a voice message below on the RIGHT. SEE SECOND ORANGE BOX

Love,

Chris and Barbie

Things Learned While in Europe

During our trip Barbie and I have had plenty of time to observe some of the European ways. The following is an account of some of the things we have learned, though not necessarily in order:

1. Paying to go the bathroom is an experience that can be compared to paying to see fine works of art. How can I say this you ask? Paying a Euro or more to go to the bathroom while it is only 5 Euro to see great works of Art such as Monet is crazy.

1b. Also, keeping a balance of being hydrated and not too hydrated because public restrooms are hard to find, specially when they close at 8. In Venice, good luck going to the bathroom in Venice unless you buy a beer or hold it.

2. Transportation. Getting around in Europe without a car is soo much easier than getting around Arizona without a car. However, walking around Rome, a pedestrian can be considered fair game. If you are in, near or around a street or even thinking of crossing the street, any street, a Roman on a scooter might be gunning for you on their way to work.

3. Meeting people and sharing an experience with them is a must. We have meet 3 couples that were a Godsend. 2 were Canadians, one from New York. It just makes the whole trip more interesting and adds to the excitement of traveling.

4. 2 Star hotels are just that, don´t expect more and do not expect less. France and Germany regulate the hotels, if it is 2 stars, then it will be. Roaches and dirty sheets and all. Hostels are great and don´t curl your nose at camping. Camping in Florence was one of our best experiences!

5. Getting lost will happen, if it does not, perhaps you are not trying hard enough. Also, if one partner is better with directions than you, get over it, and let them lead..or get lost in Venice and spend the whole night trying to get back to the bus bay while trying to forget how badly you have to pee.

6. Prayer, don´t leave home without it. Have people pray for you while you are on your trip. God has come through in Awesome ways. Everything from holding 2 seats for us while everyone around us was getting booted to 2nd class seating to meeting wonderful people to hang with.

7. Smells. People smell, Cities smell and everyone seems to smoke, I mean everyone, or it seems. Hold your nose, smile and have fun anyway.

8. Guide books. Rick Steves says, a good guide book is a 20.00 dollar investment on a 3000.00 dollar adventure. Listen to what others tell you, but bring a good guide book.

9. Cotton. I never wore any cotton, I hand washed clothes and they dryed quickly. Cotton, though cool when it is hot out, can take forever to dry. Lesson learned, wear the least amount of cotton clothes you can.

10. USA. There is no place like home, so don´t expect other countries to be like the USA. They are different, hence why people want to travel. We miss being at home, but would not trade in our experiences. Travel open minded, leave your expectations at home and have fun. I came with some expectations and I got dissapointed. Lesson learned: travel to travel and accept the difference you encounter.

11. Strikes. Forgot to add this to the list. Strikes can and from what we saw and heard will happen. We waited for over 5 hours to see the David in Florence, the museum went on strike, and we arrived early to line up that morning. Lesson, strikes happen, what are you going to do?

Thanks for traveling with us,

see you soon,

Chris and Barbie

Castles in Germany

We started our Europe trip with a blast to the past as we looked through historical Roman sites and have ended our trip going through medieval castles. As we have made our way through Austria and Germany, one of our goals was to visit a variety of castles. We walked through the fortress in Salzburg, but our first "real" castle was Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles in Fussen located in the Bavarian Alps. We took a guided tour through these castles and were only to see a certain portion of the castles. It was also a little difficult to reallz comprehend then English used by our German guides. Still it was great to see. Neuschwanstein Castle is the castle that Disneyland modeled their castle after.

Once we arrived back in Frankfurt, we took a tour down the Rhine River. This river was used as a major trade route and over time has been an area of significant value resulting in wars and battles. We ended our tour in St. Goar where we toured the Rheinfels Castle. This was much cheaper to tour and we were able to explore the entire castle on our own as long as we wanted. That was fun because we followed a short guide map that explained some things, but overall, we were free to see what we want. This was a huge castle with many tunnels and outlets. We could have explored more, but many of the tunnel and mine shafts were pitch dark and required a flashlight. This castle was simply amazing and a great way to end our European trip.

Munich

We have spent the last two days in Munich. Yesterday, upon arrival we decided to go to the Deutches Museum, the German equivalent to the Smithsonian. It is over ten miles of science and technology exhibits, much different than the museums we saw in Italy. We only had a couple of hours so we followed Rick Steves´book and set out to explore the mining, navigation, areonatics, and space sections. There was much more to see, but seeing how the museum closes at 5 p.m. we ran out of time. It was a great way to spend our first rainy day in Munich.

Today, we started our day with a great Bavarian breakfast and set out to see Dachau Concentration Camp. We spent about four hours listening to the audiotour and reading about the horrific things that were done there. The camp was a model for all the other German concentration camps used by the SS (Nazis). There really isn´t much left of the original, but you did get a feel for how large and crowded the camp was during its time. When the allies came for liberation there were 30,000 prisoners at the camp and the SS went running. Once the Americans had come through, they made the Dachau citizens look at the piles of dead malnourished bodies.



When we got back to Munich this afternoon we set out to see Marienplatz (the main square of Munich) and the English Garden. It ended up being a great end to our time in Munich as we walked through the massive green garden with somewhat clear skies. It allowed us to end our day in a romantic paddle boat that we rented for a half hour.

We are off to see castles tomorrow and then up to go on the Rhine for a tour of more castles. We also lost our Rick Steves book, sucks because it has been such a help in our planning.

Rainy Salzburg

Yes we finally left Italy and have arrived in Salzburg. We took a train ride for about 5 hours from Venice to Salzburg and went through the most gorgeous mountain terrain we´ve seen yet. We couldn´t believe how green and beautiful everything was. Now that we have been in Salzburg for two days we know why it´s so green here! It has rained constantly. We´re not complaining after coming from the heat and sweat of Italy, but it does make it a little difficult to see what you want to see.

We ended up having Canadian roommates which we spent the last two days with. Yesterday we all decided to go to the Salt mines in Hallein. On the way, we hooked up with two Aussies who toured with us. We put on old fashioned salt mine clothes and trekked from Austria to Germany underground through the salt mines. We took a miner´s train in and slid down old wooden slides to go from cavern to cavern. The topper was watching cheesy German videos about Wolf Dietrich and his love for money and the salt mining business.


Today, Dave, Stacy (the Canadians), Chris, and I went to Berchtesgaden to Hitler´s Eagle´s Nest. This was were Hitler used his propoganda to show that he was for the people. It was at the top of this beautiful mountain and was used for Hitler´s meetings and such. After WWII, the allies bombed it and later used as a resort for American troops. Seems like a pretty crazy place for a resort apart from the beautiful scenery. It was 2 degrees Celsius at the top with plenty of wind and snow. Quite a change from 42 degrees Celsius in Rome! (A welcomed change!)

As it has rained pretty much the entire time we have been in Salzburg, we have been limited to what we´ve seen around the town. Because of the rain and not truly being prepared, Chris had to resort to buying large garbage bags and finding a broken umbrella in a wastebasket to keep himself dry. A strange site to much of Austria.

Tonight is our last night here and we head to Munich for two days. There we plan to visit the Dachau concentration camp, see the beer gardens, drink a Liter of beer for Jeremy, and then head for some castles in the Bavarian alp area. We did not make it to see the Sound of Music tour, although our hostel does play the movie everyday.

Venice: We heard many different things about Venice before arriving. Some supposedly love or hate Venice. We had to go check it out for ourselves. We have stayed in Venice for two nights. We are staying in a bed and breakfast just off the main island. It is located in a small residential area with a market across the street. It was pretty easy to find and it is quiet here. Breakfast is only a little bit of bread and juice, but we are provided with a kitchen use area and laundry, which is really nice. So for the first time we have made our own dinner. I am actually really ready to get back to Germany where there is a real breakfast in the mornings.

The verdict on Venice? We love it. We visited St. Mark's Square and today went into the Basilica. We paid to go up to the museum which was nice because we got to see a much better view of the square as well as the incredibly detailed mosaics at the top of the Basilica. We wandered around the back streets. (Actually, you have no choice!) We have discovered that there are no clear streets anywhere in Italy. All of the streets lead into another and you seem to be walking in circles. It is easy to get lost. Actually, Chris led us on quite an adventure through the shipyard on the other side of the island looking for a bathroom! OOOPS! We never found a bathroom, but found our way back to the bus station and decided to end the night and use the bathroom at our hostel. Great times!

Today, Chris enjoyed himself playing with the flying rats! Okay, not really rats, but St. Mark's Square is full of pigeons. (Thousands of them) Whoever thought it was fun playing with pigeons and encouraging their discusting behavior is besides me, but they are making a killing selling birdseed for millions of tourists!

Tomorrow we are off to Salzburg, Austria.
Ciao, Italy!

Cinque Terre and Pisa

Awesome! That is the word I would use to describe our time in Cinque Terre. After the hustle and bustle of Rome we were ready for a relaxing break and that's just what we did. We spent three nights in the Cinque Terre and hiked to almost all of the towns. The Cinque Terre is five small towns built along the coast of the Mediterrean Sea. After we checked into our hostel we hiked from the first town to the third town (easy hike). The next day we took the train to the last town and hiked back to the fourth town. This was a much more brutal hike. There were a tons of steps and Chris had to be patient as I huffed it up the mountain. Once you were up it was okay and absolutely beautiful! This hiked was 90 minutes. Once we reached the fourth town, Vernazza, we decided to take a swim. We had lunch and swam and jumped cliffs for a couple of hours. What a tough day!



After leaving the Cinque Terre, we had a stop over in Pisa for a couple of hours. Pisa is on the way to Florence, our ultimate destination. Pisa was just a cute town with really only one thing to see (The Leaning Tower). We walked around the Field of Miracles and tried to fix the ancient leaning problem by pushing it back up but unfortunately the ground was just too soft and it sunk back to its state. Which begs the question, Would anyone really visit Pisa if there was no leaning tower? We did think of La Nina, Derek. I think La Nina probably enjoyed Pisa as much as we did.

The People we Meet

Part of the fun we have been having is meeting new people. We have met many Americans and Canadians! In Rome, our roommate, Lin, spoke 4 languages, Chinese, Japanese, French, and Spanish. He didn't have much English but with my little Spanish and Chris' little French we got along just great. Our last night in Rome was the best one yet. We took Lin out to dinner and ate by the Spanish Steps. Afterwards, we all enjoyed a gelato on the the Steps. It had finally cooled off. Evidently all of Italy has been on a heatwave! I think it has begun to cool down some although it's a little warm in Florence today.

In Cinque Terre we met a Canadian couple and ended up splitting pizza with them two nights in a row. We bought a big pizza for 14 euros and bought a bottle of wine and sat on the harbor and just chatted. We've been collected emails and hopefully we will stay in touch with all.

Today, we stood in line to see the David for 5 hours! Yes, a bit ridiculous. I guess the city was on strike and the museum wouldn't open at it's normal 8:15 time instead it opened at about 11:30 and only let a few people in at a time. While waiting we ended up talking with a couple from New York. It actually made the time go by smoothly. So, we are making lots of friends and looking forward to meeting more.

Day in Pompeii

On Wednesday, we got up and left early for Naples, then caught a commuter train to Pompeii (overall about 3 hours). We were a little nervous because we had heard so many bad things about this area as far as gypsies who steal and pick-pockets. We did see some gypsies, but no pick-pockets. We also arrived and returned with no problem.

Pompeii truly was amazing! We had no idea as to how big it was. We knew it was a city, but didn't realize that much of this city had been recovered. We were expecting something like Indian ruins we see in Arizona, but we walked and walked and still didn't cover everything there was to see in Pompeii. I took pictures of Mount Vesuvius and thought about my kids building their own Mount Vesuvius in the sandbox at school. (cute, huh?)




Exploring Pompeii took hours. We were especially blessed with a nice breeze from the ocean nearby that helped keep us a little cooler. Although the dust pretty much covered us by the end. We really began to look Roman. There were a few houses that had mosaics still and much of the paintings on the walls still intact. We were in awe as to how much of the city was their available for you to walk through! Some of the areas were closed, but way too much for us to cover in the time we had.

Time in Roma

Hi there everyone! So we finally got to Rome on Monday. IT was so HOT! How hot, lets put it this way, it was so hot the sun was looking for shade. Barbie and I each took 3 cold showers during the night just so we could get some sleep. The overnight train from Paris to Rome allowed us to sleep, good thing because we would have been exhausted. We got to Rome late because we were stopped outside of Tuscany. I guess they had some kind of Police demonstration and we were stopped for a good 2 hours!

First day in Rome, we went walking by the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, because of our late arrival we decided to wait to pay to go into anything. The Roman Forum was amazing and we followed our Rick Steve's guided tour to help us understand what things were. We did however go by the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon that night.

The next day we got up early and went to the Vatican City. We walked through St. Peter's Basilica. It was awe-inspiring as to how big it really was inside. They had many crypts of past leaders of the church to view. From there, we went back to the Colosseum. Because we bought a $20 euro Roma Pass, we were able to skip the line and get right into the Colosseum. WOW !Good choice! Chris says it was breathtaking for him. Although he did not have an espresso (who would want one in this heat) we still have the picture of him with his back against the Colosseum. (dream for him come true). :)



I got an audiotour so I could get an idea of all that went on. My history lessons came from Gladiator (thank goodness for Hollywood). Wow, what a big and exhausting day!

Night in Paris

We have spent two days in Paris so far. We have seen the Sacre Coeur, the Louvre, the Arc de Triumphe, the Moulin Rouge, the Opera, and the Eiffel Tower. The days are so long here with the sun setting at about 10 or 10:30. We have covered alot of ground in the last couple of days. We have met alot of nice and helpful people. There are quite a few Americans here especially around the Eiffel Tower. We hooked up with Derek's friend, Xavier, and talked about what we should see in Paris over a nice glass of wine.


The day we arrived in Paris was the annual Music Festival across France. There was music being played everywhere in the streets all night long. One lady told us they played until 4 am. We listened to both good and bad music and thought about Ben playing on the steps of the Sacre Coeur.

At the Louvre we saw the Mona Lisa, the Venus di Milo, and magnificent paintings and sculptures (and our Nepal friends). See Flickr. After walking all day, we ended our day by going up the the Eiffel Tower. It was so beautiful! We went to the top and could see all of Paris, then we stayed until 11 pm to see the Eiffel Tower light up and sparkle. It's really hard to believe you are in Paris especially when you are sittng at the base of the Eiffel Tower while it shines its beauty to the world.

Today we will try to conquer the Notre Dame and maybe the Musee de Orsay as well as taking a river walk. Tomorrow will be our last day in Paris and then we take an overnight train to Rome.

Paris and the rescue

We arrived in Paris. On the way we had to change trains because, as the French lady on the train said, German trains can not go fast enough!
We also met a couple from Katmandu, they did not make hotel reservations, so Barbie and I helped them find a hotel (SEE PIC)



We just visted Sacre Coeur, it is just up the street from our hotel. Standing inside was so majestic, very peaceful, it felt like a dream come true.

We are off to check into our hotel, then some more exploring. More pictures to come!

Day in Langen

Today we traveled to Langen to find where I used to live. We walked up and down the streets and found the place, so I think. Maybe my mom can confirm it all for us. The house was smaller than I remembered although, isn´t everything the older we get. It´s funny how our memories remember things so big.


Anyway, I wasn´t exactly sure, so we walked around to the back of the house and found the remembered cherry tree in the back. Instead of a church next to the house, we found an Asian Market. Langen was a very quaint little town. We spent a couple of hours there and then just rested underneath some beautiful green trees at a park, while watching the little German children run and play in the sandbox. Well, we set out to accomplish finding my home town and we did that.
Our next adventure will be to travel to Paris tomorrow morning. We will be taking the high speed train which will travel about 180 miles per hour. I don´t know how often we will be getting on the internet after Frankfurt. One plus to the hotel we are at right now is free internet access.

Chris:
My adventure in Langen started with trip to the public restroom (see pic). Why was this part of the adventure, everyone should pay to go to the bathroom at least once in their life.

The town was very nice to walk through, my plan to lose weight by walking is going to happen for sure. Barbie and I also took the Subway there, It is so much fun just looking out the window, while someone else does the driving!!


PS, UPS was here in force!

Made it to Europe

Hey everyone, thanks for keeping up with us. We haven't done much site seeing yet. Our plane ride was alright. It was a bit cramped and the inflight entertainment was all in German, so forget about watching movies. We were delayed in Vegas for almost an hour something to do with the wind pattern. I don't know, but finally we got off. After landing in Frankfurt, we had to buy our first train pass to get to a different part of the city to find our hotel. That was interesting. We stood around the machine trying to read the German and figure out what to do. We had two "helpful" people wanting to sell us their tickets. Well, we prayed about it and eventually we made it to the right station, reserved our train to Paris and then to Rome, and checked into our hotel (which is conveniently right across from the train station). We didn't get a lot of sleep on the plane (evidently on Condor air, everything is extra, alcohol, headsets, and no footies for the plane), so we took a little snooze. Now we are off to check out the city and get something to eat. Thanks for all of your prayers.

love,

Chris n Barbie

This is FUN

I Love my wife!