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.