Okay, these are long overdue. I am finally posting pictures from the rest of our European adventure. I'm posting twice...the first post includes the pictures from Eastern Europe and the second post includes the pictures from Munich, Salzburg, and the surrounding towns that we visited with our family over the Christmas holiday, as well as the pictures from England.
Also, in case you didn't notice (and assuming you care), I posted the final Nicaragua blog (as well as pictures) below the Europe pictures.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Final Europe Pics
This is Sighisoara, the hometown of the man who inspired the Dracula legends...yes, ladies and gentlemen, THE Dracula! And I'm sure you can imagine what kind of man would inspire legends of a blood sucking killer. Let's just say he probably wasn't a fan of kids and puppy dogs... Anyway, the town was beautiful, even at night. Although at night the town kind-of shuts down...a little creepy, actually. I loved Sighisoara and would love to return someday!
This next little section is the lovely city of Budapest, Hungary. I love Budapest...definitely my favorite big city! It's hard to explain why, and I don't think these few pictures do it justice, but I fell in love with the city as a whole.
A Holocaust Memorial at the Jewish Synagogue in Budapest. It's in the shape of an upside down menorah, and the leaves have the names of people killed.
This is the awesome parliament building. I thought it was pretty!
This is one of the castles in Budapest. As it was winter, they had ice skating just outside of the castle...tons of fun!
Ok, this was a labyrinth in Budapest, and when we first started there was no one else, making the entire experience a bit eerie. I don't know that I can even explain what it was like, except that it was hilarious. It was dark and they had creepy music playing, which made me pretty jumpy and Rebecca completely enthralled. The highlight for us (because we have really weird humor) was the "discoveries" they've made. Read the sign and then look at the evidence below to see what I mean.
I know, I know...ridiculous, but we had fun!!!
Prague was beautiful, but I found it to be a bit overrated...my opinion of course. It was also extremely busy and the Christmas Market wasn't nearly as fun as the one in Budapest..again, my opinion. Still, it was a lovely city. The odd looking building is known as the "Dancing House," so of course we had to check it out.
Krakow was nice...more Christmas Markets! The main thing we did in Krakow was to go and see Auschwitz, which was a sobering experience to say the least. They request that you not take pictures in the exhibits so I respected that and made do with a photo of the outside. It's extremely disturbing the devastation evil people can do.
After Krakow, we headed up to Warsaw, where we actually only spent a few hours. I would love to go back, though, because the city was really lovely.
A quick side trip before heading to Austria was to go to Lodz to honor Rebecca's Lod-ness. For those of you who don't understand that comment, don't bother. Trust me...don't bother. We had dinner in a restaurant called "Fiddler on the Roof" where there was a fiddler playing in a little nook up near the ceiling...fun!
Vienna- lovely city, although by the time we got here, we were getting tired of sightseeing, and instead we were counting down the days until we would meet up with the rest of our family in Munich. However, we still enjoyed Vienna, especially the cemetery where Rebecca visited the grave/memorial sites of several well-known musicians and composers.
The day before we were to meet our parents and brother in Munich, we took a day trip out to Ingolstadt to visit the church that had been closed the day Wolfgang showed us around. The ceiling of this church is really unique in that one's perception only makes sense while standing in a particular location near the back of the church. In any other location the painting is distorted.
This next little section is the lovely city of Budapest, Hungary. I love Budapest...definitely my favorite big city! It's hard to explain why, and I don't think these few pictures do it justice, but I fell in love with the city as a whole.
A Holocaust Memorial at the Jewish Synagogue in Budapest. It's in the shape of an upside down menorah, and the leaves have the names of people killed.
This is the awesome parliament building. I thought it was pretty!
This is one of the castles in Budapest. As it was winter, they had ice skating just outside of the castle...tons of fun!
Ok, this was a labyrinth in Budapest, and when we first started there was no one else, making the entire experience a bit eerie. I don't know that I can even explain what it was like, except that it was hilarious. It was dark and they had creepy music playing, which made me pretty jumpy and Rebecca completely enthralled. The highlight for us (because we have really weird humor) was the "discoveries" they've made. Read the sign and then look at the evidence below to see what I mean.
I know, I know...ridiculous, but we had fun!!!
Prague was beautiful, but I found it to be a bit overrated...my opinion of course. It was also extremely busy and the Christmas Market wasn't nearly as fun as the one in Budapest..again, my opinion. Still, it was a lovely city. The odd looking building is known as the "Dancing House," so of course we had to check it out.
Krakow was nice...more Christmas Markets! The main thing we did in Krakow was to go and see Auschwitz, which was a sobering experience to say the least. They request that you not take pictures in the exhibits so I respected that and made do with a photo of the outside. It's extremely disturbing the devastation evil people can do.
After Krakow, we headed up to Warsaw, where we actually only spent a few hours. I would love to go back, though, because the city was really lovely.
A quick side trip before heading to Austria was to go to Lodz to honor Rebecca's Lod-ness. For those of you who don't understand that comment, don't bother. Trust me...don't bother. We had dinner in a restaurant called "Fiddler on the Roof" where there was a fiddler playing in a little nook up near the ceiling...fun!
Vienna- lovely city, although by the time we got here, we were getting tired of sightseeing, and instead we were counting down the days until we would meet up with the rest of our family in Munich. However, we still enjoyed Vienna, especially the cemetery where Rebecca visited the grave/memorial sites of several well-known musicians and composers.
The day before we were to meet our parents and brother in Munich, we took a day trip out to Ingolstadt to visit the church that had been closed the day Wolfgang showed us around. The ceiling of this church is really unique in that one's perception only makes sense while standing in a particular location near the back of the church. In any other location the painting is distorted.
Final Europe Pics (cont.)
It was great meeting up with our family again. We enjoyed the streets of Munich that first day, the Christmas Market, a delicious meal, and watching the clock tower performance (much better than the one in Prague, by the way).
We took a couple of side trips from Munich, the most notable to Neuschwanstein, King Ludwig's fairytale castle. We couldn't take pictures inside, but the entire thing was amazing in its detail and very unique architecture!!!
Dachau...another concentration camp. This photo is of the grounds. There used to be barracks located in those retangular spaces, but all but a couple have been dismantled now.
Salzburg was lovely and we thoroughly enjoyed the Sound of Music tour we went on...the pavilion is the one featured in the song, "I am 16, Going on 17." The town behind me in the above photo is home to the church where Julie Andrews' character, Maria, gets married.
Our last day in Salzburg was a skiing day. And even though I prefer the snow in the Rockies, you just can't beat the view of the Alps!!!
Back in Munich for a couple of days, we took off to visit some of the nearby towns. Then Rebecca and I boarded our last plane before the one that would take us home, and went to England. There, we picked up a rental car and launched into traffic.
Newcastle...the main reason we headed all the way up to the North of England was to visit Matthew, a great friend we met at L'Abri. We had a fantastic time spending New Year's Eve with him and his friends. Matthew gave us a tour of Newcastle, showed us around Durham which is a nearby city, invited us along to some pubs, and of course, introduced us to Doctor Who. It was such a great time that we even extended our stay an extra day! We also got to see Hadrian's Wall on one of the days Matthew was busy. We had been interested in seeing that when we were in Scotland back in August, so it was fun to finally get the chance to see the wall that at one time separated England and Scotland.
The Lake District was gorgeous. We stayed with Margo, a friend we met in L'Abri. Margo is from Australia, but is working as a vet in the Lake District, where she welcomed us into her home, showed us around, gave suggestions and directions, and even introduced us to some great BBC movies...Jane Eyre and the new Sense and Sensibility!!!
On our way down to Oxford, we stopped in the lovely town of Chester on Margo's suggestion. The architecture was beautiful, and probably one of my favorite's in England. We also had to stop in Stratford Upon Avon to visit the birthplace of Shakespeare. Of course, the house has been rebuilt, but there you have it!
We were incredibly blessed to be welcomed into the home of Kevin Bywater and his family in Oxford. Oxford was a fun town to wander, and we especially enjoyed having lunch in the Eagle and Child, which was a favorite location for a group known as the Inklings, which included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.
Some of the fun, old sites to see in England (the reallyreallyreally old ones) are Avebury, Stonehenge, and Glastonbury Tor. Most people are pretty familiar with Stonhenge, but Avebury is quite impressive as well. It's a much larger stone circle (actually there were two). The problem is, it's not a intact as Stonehenge and you have to walk around a bit to get an idea of what it once looked like. Nevertheless, pretty impressive stuff... Glastonbury Tor is associated with various legends and mythology, including King Arthur. I don't know too much about it, but the main reason Rebecca wanted to see it was because it's the site of an important battle in one of her computer games...hey, we have sophisticated tastes, do we not?
Before spending our final days in London, we enjoyed a quick stop in one of the oldest tourist destinations...the city of Bath.
I'm not even sure London requires much of an explanation. London is London...Big Ben, the Eye of London, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and the changing of the guard...oh, and we even went to see Hairspray. I think one of the highlights for me, though, was going to the houses of parliament and watching the politicians in session. That was really interesting and I was completely enthralled. No pictures permitted in there, though, so sorry...
We took a couple of side trips from Munich, the most notable to Neuschwanstein, King Ludwig's fairytale castle. We couldn't take pictures inside, but the entire thing was amazing in its detail and very unique architecture!!!
Dachau...another concentration camp. This photo is of the grounds. There used to be barracks located in those retangular spaces, but all but a couple have been dismantled now.
Salzburg was lovely and we thoroughly enjoyed the Sound of Music tour we went on...the pavilion is the one featured in the song, "I am 16, Going on 17." The town behind me in the above photo is home to the church where Julie Andrews' character, Maria, gets married.
Our last day in Salzburg was a skiing day. And even though I prefer the snow in the Rockies, you just can't beat the view of the Alps!!!
Back in Munich for a couple of days, we took off to visit some of the nearby towns. Then Rebecca and I boarded our last plane before the one that would take us home, and went to England. There, we picked up a rental car and launched into traffic.
Newcastle...the main reason we headed all the way up to the North of England was to visit Matthew, a great friend we met at L'Abri. We had a fantastic time spending New Year's Eve with him and his friends. Matthew gave us a tour of Newcastle, showed us around Durham which is a nearby city, invited us along to some pubs, and of course, introduced us to Doctor Who. It was such a great time that we even extended our stay an extra day! We also got to see Hadrian's Wall on one of the days Matthew was busy. We had been interested in seeing that when we were in Scotland back in August, so it was fun to finally get the chance to see the wall that at one time separated England and Scotland.
The Lake District was gorgeous. We stayed with Margo, a friend we met in L'Abri. Margo is from Australia, but is working as a vet in the Lake District, where she welcomed us into her home, showed us around, gave suggestions and directions, and even introduced us to some great BBC movies...Jane Eyre and the new Sense and Sensibility!!!
On our way down to Oxford, we stopped in the lovely town of Chester on Margo's suggestion. The architecture was beautiful, and probably one of my favorite's in England. We also had to stop in Stratford Upon Avon to visit the birthplace of Shakespeare. Of course, the house has been rebuilt, but there you have it!
We were incredibly blessed to be welcomed into the home of Kevin Bywater and his family in Oxford. Oxford was a fun town to wander, and we especially enjoyed having lunch in the Eagle and Child, which was a favorite location for a group known as the Inklings, which included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.
Some of the fun, old sites to see in England (the reallyreallyreally old ones) are Avebury, Stonehenge, and Glastonbury Tor. Most people are pretty familiar with Stonhenge, but Avebury is quite impressive as well. It's a much larger stone circle (actually there were two). The problem is, it's not a intact as Stonehenge and you have to walk around a bit to get an idea of what it once looked like. Nevertheless, pretty impressive stuff... Glastonbury Tor is associated with various legends and mythology, including King Arthur. I don't know too much about it, but the main reason Rebecca wanted to see it was because it's the site of an important battle in one of her computer games...hey, we have sophisticated tastes, do we not?
Before spending our final days in London, we enjoyed a quick stop in one of the oldest tourist destinations...the city of Bath.
I'm not even sure London requires much of an explanation. London is London...Big Ben, the Eye of London, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and the changing of the guard...oh, and we even went to see Hairspray. I think one of the highlights for me, though, was going to the houses of parliament and watching the politicians in session. That was really interesting and I was completely enthralled. No pictures permitted in there, though, so sorry...
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