EuroTrip

Hey everyone!

I'm finally back from my visits to Munich, Italy, and Paris. I had a wonderful time and took a ton of pictures. The traveling went pretty much as planned, no hold ups, and I saw so much. I wish I could have stayed longer because even though I saw so much there was a ton more I would have loved to see.

I'll start with Munich. I went to visit Joe in Munich and see a bit of Germany. The first day we pretty much walked around the city and saw the main sites there. We visited the English Gardens which is a park larger than Central Park. In the park (and all over Germany) was a beer garden where basically there were stands that sold beer and food. You order a beer and sit in the woods and drink it. It was pretty interesting. People of all ages were there drinking at all times of the day from early morning until the evening. Many of the buildings we saw were pretty new because 90% of Munich was destroyed in WWII. Joe did a wonderful job of explaining the buildings and how WWII impacted the area. We visited the main site of Oktoberfest...pretty much a GIGANTIC parking lot that brings all of Munich in for beers.

My favorite part of the first day was visiting the site of the 1972 Olympics. I got to see the stadium where Prefontaine ran his 5000m race and lost to Viren. After watching the movie "Without Limits" countless times it was fun to be in the place where the race was actually held. Also, if you have seen the movie "Munich" or are familiar with the Munich massacre that happened to the Israelis during the Olympic games we saw the hotel in which they were abducted and the memorial outside. From the Olympic park we climbed a large hill to see the entire park and from the top we got a great view of the Alps. You can't see them in the pics but it was amazing.

The next day we headed to the Andechs to the Benedictine Abbey. I'll link wikipedia here so you can get a full read on what we visited... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andechs_Abbey
Basically, we climbed a mountain and on top was a church with monks walking around. Apparently this place has brewed beer since 1455 and the beer can only be bought outside the church on this mountain. It was amazing beer and the view from the top was awesome. Inside the church was beautiful but taking pictures was inappropriate since it wasn't a touristy spot and many people were praying inside.

On Tuesday we headed to a concentration camp in Dachau. Dachau was the first concentration camp opened in Germany in 1933. It was a smaller camp used mainly for German political prisoners but also housed many Jews. 200,000 people went through the camp with about 35,000 dying. Here is the wikipedia link for more info... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_concentration_camp

I was about 50/50 on visiting the camp...it was interesting to see but I left with an uneasy feeling in my stomach. The gas showers and crematorium were a little weird to look at and take pictures of...

Finally, the last day it rained so we took it easy and I geared up for my train ride to Frankfurt to catch my plane to Pisa.
------

So Thursday I met Reline at the Frankfurt Airport and we headed to see Lindsay in Florence. Florence was beautiful and the weather was amazing. About 70 degrees and the sun was shining allllll day. We walked around Florence and visited the Boboli Gardens. There was a ton of old sculptures throughout the park and Lindsay told me of some famous ones but I can't really remember. In the gardens was a Grotto which was where people went to cool off when it was really hot. Lindsay explained it as the opposite of a sauna with a cool mist filling the room. All the sculptures were covered with calcium deposits.

Next we headed to see the Duomo in Florence. On the way there we saw the fake "David" statue and some other sculptures that I cant remember. The Duomo was pretty cool...it was a HUGE church with a giant dome on top that people could climb. It was extremely large inside with really interesting paintings on the ceiling. Outside the Duomo were these golden doors to the baptistery (i think) and they were also very famous. I will try to do some research on exactly what I saw, but there was just so much to take in I forgot a bit. Finally we headed to the Acadamia. This was a smaller museum with paintings and sculptures and most importantly it houses "The David". The sculpture by Michaelangelo was immaculate. It was by far my favorite piece that I saw in all of Italy and Paris. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed, but I think we all stared at it in awe for about 10 minutes.

The next day- my favorite of the trip - we headed to Rome. Rome was packed on a Saturday and people were everywhere but Lindsay did a great job of touring us through the city seeing as much as possible. We started at the Vatican and saw St. Peters Basilica. We headed inside and it was massive. In the pictures you will see a brown arch-type structure over the altar with a cross on top. This was as big as a 10-story building alone. The place was amazing. The doors outside the basilica that I took a picture of are only opened like once every 25 years. I don't know why, but thats the story. From here we headed into the tombs where all the popes are buried. We got to see where Pope John Paul was buried, but no photos were allowed. Next we headed back outside. I took a picture that might look like a random building with some windows, but one of these windows on the right side is where the Pope talks out of on Sundays. From here we headed the another museum and the Sistine Chapel. The museum was packed with people and made it a bit difficult to see everything. Again Lindsay pointed out some good paintings and sculptures that I should know, but I can't remember at the moment. The pictures are there...I just have to look up what they are. We made it into the Sistine Chapel and Michaelangelo's work was amazing. No pictures were allowed so you will have to take my word for it.

Next we headed to the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain. The Pantheon was spectactular and the fountain was my second favorite thing in Rome. We drank water at the fountain from the aqueducts and I threw 2 coins into the fountain. The first coin was for a wish and the second was to guarantee I will visit Rome again.

After the fountain we visited the Colosseum. This was my favorite place in Rome and the history behind it was so interesting. If you loved "Gladiator" seeing where that stuff took place was awesome. To wrap up Rome we saw the Roman Forum where the old markets and trading would have been and finally saw the Circo Massimo. The Circo Massimo was where the races took place in the Roman times. It isn't a track now, more like a park, but it was still fun to see.

Rome was amazing and I wish I had more time because there was still a ton more to see.

Our last day in Italy we headed to Pisa. There wasn't much in Pisa except the leaning tower, but we had to see it. We took the corny pictures holding up the tower and Lindsay and I climbed to the top. Not too much to say about Pisa except they had excellent Gelato.

I loved the food in Italy as well. Vendors on the streets and the small cafe's sold excellent sandwiches and the pizza anywhere was amazing. Gelato might be my new favorite thing.
----------------

On Tuesday we left Italy and headed to Paris. We only had one full day in Paris so we planned somewhat carefully and headed out early Wednesday morning. We took full advantage of the Paris metro and Joe taught me how to use it while in Munich so I pretty much ran the show on getting around quickly. Most of the time I had no idea what I was seeing, but they were recommended sites from Lindsay and the map we picked up. Our plan was to visit them and look up what we saw after to get the history on it. I'm going to explain what we saw by just listing it...

1 - Eiffel Tower - no explanation needed
2 - Palace de Challiot - across from the tower
3 - Arc de Triomphe Etoile - Arc in the city
4 - Sacre Couer - church on a pretty big hill that overlooks the city
5 - Bastille - a monument in the city that Reline suggested we see...not sure what it was for at all
6 - The Lourve - what a place to visit...absolutely massive with artwork everywhere...since we didnt know much about what to see we did a quick walk through and saw the few paintings either one of us had heard of...most importantly we saw the Mona Lisa, Raft of Medusa, The Winged Victory of Samothrace, Bourghese Gladiator, Aphrodite (Venus de Milo) and Psyche and Cupid.
7 - Notre Dame - really fun to climb and see the Gargoyle's and bell tower
8- Eiffel Tower at Night - every hour on the hour it sparkles for 10 mins and was really neat to see...
--------------

So that was it...I had an amazing time and Lindsay and Joe were great tour guides. Check out the pictures for sure...I will try and label them as best as I can and research what I saw.

I have about 10 days of break left and need to get back in school mode...the next few weeks will be pretty easy going with maybe a short trip to London or a few trips within Ireland. Bryan, from WJ visits at the end of April and Lindsay visits in May. I will do my best to keep you updated! Send me an email if you have any questions or comments!!!!

Talk to you soon!

Travis