Aug 2005

Hello from Munich everyone! I really love this second half of the tour.. the weather is beautiful here in Munich today. It was raining in the morning but it cleared up to a nice and sunny day. It's so wonderful here especially with the place we are staying. We are staying in these service apartments which are quite funky and really homey. Fantabulous! So here is what I did in the last few days. My free day in Vienna was really relaxing and quiet. Most of us went into town and did our own thing. Jeff (another tourmate) and I decided to hang out together and explore a little bit outside the main city. We saw St. Stephans Cathedral and then headed towards a tram to go and see the cemetary where Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, and Shubert are buried. From there, we had just enough time until we had to meet the group up to go to the Vienna Shnapps Museum. That place was so COOOL! I definately drank my 5 euros worth of Shnaaps (about 14 shots ) I bought a bottle of Vienna blood and I can't wait to get home and open it up... apparently its also a cough curer.. I had a sample shot of it and boy was I cured! hehe. From the Shnapps Museum we went for about an hour walk around Shobrunn Palace.. I wish I had enough time to go inside and discover the rooms but it was beautiful just from the outside. I wanted to go in the outside maze and labyrith but Jeff wouldn't let me because he said I wouldn't beable to find my way out since I was a little tipsy. Oh well.

Yesterday morning we headed out of Vienna towards Munich which is the capital of Bavaria. On our way to Munich, we stopped at a place called Mauthausen which was a former concentration camp in Austria. It was a really sad place to be and I have no words to describe the feeling you get when you are there. I was shocked when I realized that such horrible things had happened in such a beautiful place. We walked over to see the Quarry and the Stairway of Death and later on explored the Gas Chamber and the Creamatory. Just the smell of that place was disgusting 40 years later. We had a happier stop later on and stopped at the Church that was in The Sound of Music. It was located in Mondee, a very cute little touristy town.

We arrived in Munich last night and went into town and had dinner at the Haufbrou house and had the HUGEST STEIN ever! Everyone was drunk last night, it was hilarious! This morning, we went back into town and just walked around. I saw the Glokenspeil, Deutches Museum of Technology and went around the fruit market. Checked out some shops for shopping and came back. Tomorrow we are heading to Mt. Pilatus and then Amsterdam! Woohooo! Catch ya guys later!

Hello again! Well, I've been getting lots of emails from everyone and I just wanted to let you guys know that I miss you all too! I can't believe I've been on this trip for about 26 days now. It's going to be really wierd when I come back and I don't have to wake up early to head to the next destination. All this go go go is making everyone on the bus sick... Im preety sure everyone is on some sort of antibiotic. Despite everyone being sick, we are still enjoying our days out here.

I left Mykonos a few days ago to head into Venice. We stopped in Athens for a day tour of the Acropolis and the Parthenon which was outstanding. The weather was really hot and windy though, which didnt help my allergies at all since dirt was flying everywhere. From athens we had about 2 nights on a VERY BORING ferry where we had nothing else to do but drink and play cards. By the end of that ferry ride we were all glad to be out of Greece and back into Italy! On our way to the hotel we stopped at Lake Grata which is the biggest lake in Italy and also Verona. For those of you that don't know, Verona is the place where the story of Romeo and Juliet takes place. Apparently Shakespeare based his story on a real family so we were able to see where Juliet might have lived... I think this was the most touristy and cheesyest stop yet...but it was still good fun.

Venice was great! I was able to see alot of the city just in one day. We went to a glass blowing and lace making demonstration in the morning since that is what Venice is known for. I bought a nice Murano watch so I can tell time now, since losing my cell phone. I went to St. Marks Basilica and Doges Palace both of which were amazing. I crossed the Bridge of Sighs into the prisons of Doges Palace which was VERY VERY CREEPY... just the energy in there was ominous. From there I walked a bit and crossed over to the bridge where the Accademia is and took pictures of the Grand Canal. Later in the evening I went on a Gondola ride with some of the other people on tour. It was fantastic!

Yesterday, we drove into Vienna and it is absolutely stunning here! If I were to live any where in Europe I think I would definately live here! I'm a little high on Schanpps right now so I'll update later on Vienna. Aufwiederzien!