Swiss Relaxation

Relaxation at its finest. Today was a rainier day, off and on, grey sky clouds low and sad. Unlike yesterday blue sky and fluffy clouds. We decided to stay in Merlischachen today and have a relaxing day. So not much to report and I'm a little glad to say, having a break has been real nice.

  

 

 

Tomorrow is a travel day. We will stop for a few hours in Lucerne before continuing on to Interlaken. We are continuing to enjoy ourselves, and Switzerland is still a beautiful place. Looking forward to seeing more of the country. 

And tomorrow is Lukey day! Oh and Canada day so enjoy the long weekend. We will e enjoying a festive weekend of fun ourselves celebrating Luke!

And so the adventure continues...

Beach Day in Merlischachen

Beach day!! We had a very relaxing day and hung out at the beach in the beautiful Switzerland sun, mountains, and lake. 

 

 

 

 

Not a lot to say today. So I just won't. We all know I have said plenty extra on other posts so I just won't today. We had an awesome day, in Gods beautiful creation, with each other. 

Yesterday for birthday week we shared a toblerone! And it was delicious! Today for birthday week we had an ice cream bar. It isn't the usual festivities, but in this case it isn't about that but being together and enjoying our time.

I should mention this place reminds me about my grandparents place mostly due to the fact the interior is all wood. Also, yesterday when we were transferring trains we met a nice family. They had a Roscoe puppy a legit Roscoe puppy named Sven! Hehe he was a cutie, the young girls were practicing their English on us. They did real good. 

 

This evening we enjoyed some Swiss drinks after dinner. Well that's it that's all folks! 

And so the adventure continues...

Swiss Chalet . . . More Than A Rotisserie Chicken

GUYS!!! We are staying at SWISS CHALET! Luke is great with coming up with titles, and this one couldn't be more perfect! There is so much to say, and nothing to say all at the same time. The train through Switzerland is the best train so far. The surroundings are gorgeous. It's as though we are in a slice of home, that is quite different, more green, yet some how familiar. 

 

These picture do not do it justice. Also in the top left picture that random black speckle is actually a bird, and in my picture you can see its neck and wings, don't like birds but the picture is pretty sweet. At one point we were playing cards, and looked out the window and we were up a couple hundred feet at least. This was a freighting sight and cool because we were in the safety of a train so very cool. So many mountains, and such luscious greenery all around, trees, grass, lakes, it was a great ride! The views continue of course as it is all around us, and it is beautiful. 

 

Our hotel room is SOO small! The beds are slightly to short for comfort, but workable. Pillows will be delightful! Roofs, are short, and there is a beam running through the centre of the room which brings it down to forehead smacking level. The door is the best part because because their is a ledge of just under a foot dropping down into the room, and the door actually is this little, was challenging with a pack on had to bend over a lot.its a cute creaky place. Reminds me a little of my grandparents old house out in St. Paul, and it was on a lake. Except their house was way nicer! And a house that was open and beautiful, and you could stand in it. Anyways back on track, it is a cute little place. It is hard to paint a picture because it is quite the unique place that there isn't much to accurately describe or compare. PLUS we have a view, even though there are flowers in front so you can't really see out, it is there. Felt tall before but feel even taller in this place, it's weird.

 

When we arrived and dropped our packs off, we went to the store to get some food for din and breakfast. Dinner was very nice, especially since the restaurant in our place below us had a piano man playing so we had our window open and were enjoying his tunes as we ate. Had a great meal at our place, afterwards we went for a walk, and walked the whole little town that we are staying in. There is a grassy beach apart of our place as well.

Also Switzerland is their own country. Swiss Francs, which really are quite comparable with euros exchange wise. But we didn't get stopped for border control, which we were expecting as they aren't apart of the EU.

 

Another fun part of our trip is that it is a mixture of a trip I did in high school, a trip we did together in high school, and the trip Luke did in university. There have been equal things that both of us have already seen. Great to see them together. 

After our walk we headed back and just relaxed, as it was going onto ten o'clock. A great travel day seeing so much. It is truly beautiful here. Like I said before the mountains are familiar yet foreign as they are very different then ours. But just being surrounded by them brings a feeling of home somehow. Haven't seen mountains in 61 days, so the smallest familiarity is welcomed. 

I end with a panorama Luke took on his phone. I hate his phone, mostly because I can never get it to do what I want it to. But it has awesome features, more than panorama it does other sweet stuff. Anyways, I leave you with this picture. Sending love to you all!

And so the adventure continues...

 

Switzerland

 

Over Half Way Home

Well folks we are over half way back to Canada! Crazy thought to think that our adventure is flying by. We are certainly not wishing it away, but rather enjoying every moment. I say half way back to Canada because when we get back to we are will be spending a week with my family and extended family (Joc's family), in Ottawa and surrounding area. A family vacation as well as celebrating Abigail's first birthday. But either way we are half way back. 

Today we had a great and relaxing day.We started it off as any great day starts, by sleeping in and relaxing. After that we made our way to a pizza place that I wanted to go to. It was great! Also found yet another kind of gluten free beer. Was tasty and fun to find new ones and taste it all. 

 

So lucky for you this shall be a short and sweet post. As after lunch, we headed to the park across the street that was on the river, for a few hours. We sat on a bench relaxed, chatted and enjoyed each others company. 

 

Eventually, we made out way to a Starbucks and continued our relaxation over a cold beverage. And here I encountered the creepiest washroom ever. To get to it you have to go through a dungeon door, down a bare concrete spiral staircase and then around a corner into the where the restrooms are. Funny I must say as it feels as though you are going somewhere you aren't welcomed.

 

Here are a few sights that we aw along the way. Our favourite that we have encountered many times, it the sports check. Hehehe we just find it quite funny.

 

After our relaxing day we headed in the direction of home, stopped along the way to pick up some food, and had a nice rest of our evening in. 

Tomorrow we head into Switzerland! Specifically into Lucerne, where relaxing is on the agenda. 

And so the adventure continues...

Munchkin - Munchen

For the record, I mean no offence to anyone. Unfortunately you get a look into my brain with this blog so if I offend for any reason I sincerely apologize, but it's who I am. 

We had a great day in munchkin, a relaxing morning, followed by a walking tour by the one and only Rick Steves. To bad the guy didn't have some kind of point system or something, cause we would be winners, we have done so many tours by him. We saw a lot. A lot of churches and old buildings that is round. Interesting part of the city is that 65% of Munich was destroyed in the war. Funny enough the leaders had chronicled the city, or somehow documented how the city look, and after the war they rebuilt the city. So many of the old structures looking buildings were only made to look that way but really aren't that old. There is a mix between old and new buildings here.

This is the New town hall. Funny enough, but not haha funny, the old town which is to the right of this building was completely flattened in the war, and had to be completely rebuilt. THis building was not. Also apparently in 2012 they found a bomb from the war, and the bomb squad couldn't disarm it so they actually had to set it off. A massive explosion. There is many unexplored bombs yet to be found. Slightly unnerving as Rick tells you to watch your step. Yea okay, now I'm nervous that there is some how going to be an unknown bomb beneath my feet that could explode at any moment. Gee thanks man. Anyways Luke laughs and tells me to get over myself, and then pats me and says in a sarcastic voice 'it's okay Linnie it's not real shhhh.' 

 

Also please remember I am not a speller. MY oh so loving husband has noticed I have missed numbers in my Salzburg post, oops, and also spelt wrought iron as rod iron. Well how am I supposed to know I am not a mechanic nor do I specialize in metals, so feel free to laugh along side him, and know that secretly I will forever be embarrassed of these facts but will never admit past this page.

Walking the through the streets here is interesting as there is such a mix of old and new. On one side of the street you have a super moder looking building and the other you are transported to a small European town. I continue to enjoy the diversity.

 

The top middle picture is the old town hall that I mentioned above. The top right picture is the Jewish synagogue that was rebuilt. We saw a lot and walked and back tracked many a time today. 

The weather was decent. MUCH cooler, which Luke was all over, me not so much I was quite chilly and wore a sweater all day long. 

 

These are two of the most interesting churches we went into today. We went into and saw a number of them so this is saying something, the far left 2 pictures got together and the other 3 go together. Interesting thing about the three on the right, is that as you mayb sort of be able to tell from the top middle picture, the church is right up along side houses. In fact the two brothers who built the church built it right beside their house. Sneaky guys cut the corners in a number of ways, as it was a sample church for people to see their work and hire them to do churches. Examples o their sneakiness is that the pillars aren't actually marble, they are wood painted to look like marble, but the ceiling may be the most impressive part as it has a dome shape to it. But it really doesn't, it is just painted in a way that gives the illusion of the a dome. 

 

Along the way today we came across a number of interesting things. Munchkin also has a number of passage ways that go through buildings to get to other streets, instead of walking around the buildings. This is pretty cool. But makes me think maybe they were a lite lazy when rebuilding their city. But I won't complain as we walk a ton throughout the day a sneak through passage is fine with me. The top middle and right hand side picture are in the ceilings of two of the passage ways we walked through, we also decided to stop at a Starbucks fro a bit today, enjoy a warm beverage and watch the passers by. Was a great part of the day to just sit and enjoy conversation. The bottom left corner is of the May pole. Now I kind of checked out when he was talking about the significance of the May pole I will tell you why in a minute, but every year on the first of May they change the poles out, this is a very important day to them. The reaso I couldn't concentrate was because he had mentioned that there is more then one May poles around and different districts try to steal the other peoples May pole, and so leading up to May first the poles are heavily guarded, as if you succeeded you were owed a lot of beer in exchange for the pole back. Of course all I could picture was a city wide game of capture the flag, with the most giant and easily flag there is to be seen. What pride you would feel if you did succeed in that! Also on our way home we enjoyed the music of a piano player in the middle of a square, playing lovely tunes.

 

The rain eventually found us, but nothing to crazy like last night. But we were prepared and love our umbrellas and use them at any excuse to avoid getting wet at all. What you cannot see in the top left picture is that in the dome there is a man playing cups. HE IS AMAZING! Although I can still only think of miss congeniality when I see this, and apparently it is a thing in Europe. But anyways he was playing the nutcracker waltz, or whatever the most famous one from the nutcracker is called. Was super impressive. Aren't we cute with our umbrellas!! Also we always enjoy our time together nothing but bright smiles, sometimes we get fancy and take pictures with pretty flowers in a garden we are sitting and enjoying.

 

It has also been brought to my attention that maybe I enjoy Luke's birthday week festivities maybe a little more then I should. But I ASSURE you he is to. 

For birthday week today Luke really got a treat. A litre of beer and pretzel!!! The best smelling pretzel guys, I wanted to eat it so bad. That was specifically for birthday week, but we were at Hofbrauhaus. It is a sweet place! Can you find the picture of the Oompa Loompa band?! They fit right in here in Munchkin! They were very entertaining! Also lederhosen here is normal attire, and many wear it out as casual wear and to the bar. They also are super talented in how the serve their beer. Holding 6 litres mugs in one hand and stacking another on top then taking more in their other hand. We are convinced that they are determined to take every Oder out at the same time, no matter how large. They also have an auto pour for the litres it's great, we were close enough we got to see all the action. The bottom right corner is a picture that is actually quite interesting. The locals and regulars can buy a glass and a spot and lock their mugs up and keep them at the restaurant. The dark picture to the right of my wine glass is of a regular man just sitting enjoying his mug of who knows what. He seemed to be quite the opinionated guy, especially when it came to his table, because regulars also have a specific table reserved just for them, he was very picky on who he would let join him at him table.funny to watch though.

 

We even left our mark as many others did on the table, but SHHHHHH it's a secret. LOOK AT THAT PRETZEL! Screw the yummy chicken and potatoe salad I had I wanted that pretzel. Was a great time sitting and enjoying the authentic Bavarian music and watching the people together. Also we love food so that part was great as well. We also went in when it was starting to get rainier, so it was a great escape.

 

These amazing pictures were taken outside of the German hunting and fishing museum. I don't think that anything needs to be said about them, except that I love my husband, and I love when his silly side comes out! Certainly compliments mine quite nicely. 

 

Another great day! Fun filled walking around keeping warm and staying dry. I would say a successful day! Great memories were made as they are everyday. Now that the city has cooled off we will hopefully get a less sweaty sleep.

And so the adventure continues... 

On the Road Again

So for the first part of our relationship Luke and I didn't do gifts, we also always paid for our own everything when we went out. Somehow we have developed the best birthday tradition that has gone on for a number of years now, maybe 3, and I shall share the knowledge so you to can forever enjoy your birthday to the fullest extent. BIRTHDAY WEEK!! It is this amazing week where there is something about you everyday for a week. Going out for ice cream, part one of a two part gift, an extra Starbucks cause it's hot and you deserve it! It's amazing. I highly recommend this to everyone. Thus I begin the story of our day.

Waking up in a pool of our own sweat, and the stuffiest of rooms, we decided AC is a must. Because I am the type of person who loves heat, when people start complaining during our single week of hot weather over thirty it drives me nuts. We complain when it hot, we complain when it's cold, if you don't like the weather MOVE! Do something about it, you also can't control it so don't complain. We also have zero to complain about when it comes to heat. At least it is just heat, not moisture and humidity. Showering is almost worse because you can't actually fully dry off, and then you are trying to get dressed in not only sweat but a not fully dry self. It isn't enjoyable. So next time you think about complaining its to hot just be thankfully we live in a dry city and that when we go inside and cool off we aren't continually excreting liquids from our pours. 

After we got ready we left and went to a vegan cafe for some breakfast, was delicious. With my breakfast it included an americano. Which here is just a coffee, or rather a long poured espresso. Everything is espresso here, which is all good with us cause we like espresso. But they gave me a shot of espresso, a cup of boiling hot water and a little thing of cream. It's a create you own americano. Add however much hot water to the espresso as you prefer and follow it up with however much you you like. Pretty neat I must say! Or at least to me. 

From there we decided that we would just head to the train station.   We hopped on a train headed to Munich or to the Germans Munchen. MUNCHEN! We have of course resorted to calling it munchkin, because naturally hats just what you want to say and think. It's awesome, it is also posted everywhere which is also awesome. This is a snippet of what we look like when wwe travel. For those who don't have snap chat you should get it.

 

The short hour and a half train ride to munchkin, followed by a relaxing afternoon. By the time we arrived and got settled in the hotel it was about 230. We had decided earlier on that due to our not so great feeling waking up we would take it easy today. This week also has been totally twisted fro us because we thought Thursday was Tuesday, so now everything is just messed up. So we unpacked, got caught up on the inter web and eventually ended up having a nap. Slowly waking up and deciding we should go for food, we hear the LOUDEST crack of thunder bringing me from a state of I don't want to open my eyes yet but I am awake immediately to I AM AWAKE! Staring out the window it didn't look that. It was really raining even though the ground was wet. A quick decision we decided to venture out. Little did we know we were actually venturing into the pouring rain. 

Not long ago I talked about subway, well the other thing is sushi. We aren't really sushi people but we certainly have become sushi people. Luke more then myself, I enjoy what he likes to call 'white girl sushi'. Cucumber, avocado, I even had one with those and some kind of cheese, crab occasionally when I know it's GF. So today for birthday week went for running sushi!!! Don't worry, this doesn't mean that there was any food actually running(thankfully!), or running out of our bodies(or at least not yet),  just means that the food was put on an a little conveyor belt type of thing, a hot level and a cool level and there were little sliding doors that you would open and take what you wanted. ALL YOU CAN EAT! This we definitely got our monies worth! And a great experience for birthday week day 1! Even had ice cream and watermelon and orange slices, and they give you this dessert wine that is included, or at least that's was we think it is because it is very sweet. It was awesome! Now I feel I have had a real sushi experience. Luke tries all the different raw jiggly fishes and things that come around, I don't even know how he gets it down, but I imagine the soy sauce helps a ton. We definitely got our monies worth out of that, we are so cultured. 

 

Sushi has been another thing that is both usually gluten free, and is everywhere so it is sometimes just the easiest option. Won't complain about it especially because it is also something that we don't have at home so has opened a new door and new restaurants when we get back home. Thankfully by the time we got through indulging ourselves as much as we could the rain has stopped. So we were able to have a nice walk back taking in the surroundings, and being dry.

 

Also I decided I am taking cooking lessons when I get home. I am going to look into gluten free cooking classes and take them. After eating out so much and having so many more days eating out ahead, I would like to be able to recreate what we are eating and not be rotating through the same few things. Not to mention I am sick of it being an issue with gluten, and having to go out of our way to find things, so I would like to master the home meals, we shall have you over and experiment sometime :) consider this your warning.

 Now to conclude our evening we chat, scope the web, possibly play cards, or read. Getting rested for a day in Munchen tomorrow.

And so the adventure continues...

The Hills Are Alive... In Salzburg

Travel days have become increasingly uncromfortable. Purely due to the heat factor. With packs on our backs we die from the extra weight in the heat. New issue to deal with, we don't mind the heat so much as the humidity. Yes we, Luke is alright with the heat as it is but isn't so loving the constant wetness you find yourself in. Something that I haven't had to deal with, an uncomfortable feeling, but certainly glad for Lululemons because they were made to deal with sweat.

Salzburg, the land where the hills are alive and the heat is strong. This is the town where Mozart was born and grew up in until he moved to Vienna in his teen years. They have a monument here of him, less pretty then the one in Vienna. It is the Rome of the north they say, or used to say. Salt has been a major thing for Salzburg, also wher their name comes from. The river is known as the salt river due to barges carrying salt from the mines through it. This is all fine and dandy but Rick Steves, calls it salts burg and it kinda drive me nuts.

We did a walking tour of old town Salzburg via Rick, which was not his finest tour, but a good way to get the lay of the land. In the top right picture here, you can see the castle. Later on you will see pictures from the castle, but this may be the only one I posted of it. It's hard to select the pictures to collage for the blog. 

 

This is the main cathedral in Salzburg. Mozart was the organist here for many years. Although we didn't step inside, we got close and caught some of the air conditioned drift before continuing on our way. A neat place, with no stain glass, instead the windows light the pulpit creating a gradual lightness the closer you get to the pulpit from inside. This was neat, and also different. It you can't go in every church, especially when there is a fee to be had. Although the fees all go to restorations, it isn't always worth it.

 

Along the way today we walked and saw many things. One street we walked down was lined with old baroque rod iron signs on the sides of the buildings. Never seen a McDonald's sign so fancy. Not even on the Champs in Paris. Every store on this street must have these rods iron signs to keep the baroque style in Salzburg alive. I also took a picture of our shadows cause they aren't shiny and dripping in sweat like we were. Apparently the fountain in this collage is of Titan, and there is a similar one in Rome. Remember this is the Rome of the North so of course they need to have similarities. The top right is a picture of the Mozart statue. They other picture is m not sure of, but it had a large chess board beside it. Neptune or something? I don't know.

 

We went up and into to the castle to explore! We saw the wheel is from the torture chamber that we saw, don't know why all the sudden we are seeing so many of these but oh well. A pretty cool castle, although we didn't get to see everything due to timing we saw what we wanted and it was neat to see. We saw the progression over the years of the castle developing over many many arch bishops rule that was cool. It showed each bishops contribution to the fortress. Also it was never bombed, when the French were going to invade the Austrians gave the castle over to Napoleon so that it wouldn't be destroyed.

 

The views from all around the castle were extraordinary. Seeing so much of what is around. So cool to get such a panorama of Salzburg and the surrounding area. In the top right hand photo the Alps are in the back ground of Luke and I which is also cool as we will be seeing more of the Alps next week closer up.

 

A canon from on of the towers of the castle that they used to defend. 

 

The top two pictures on the left are from St. Peter's cemetery. The graves here are extravagant, but they are kept up by the ancestors of the people that died. After 0 years if no one wants to continue to keep up your grave and the front the bill, you are removed. To who who knows where. We saw a grave here from 216, so this is still a real thing that they keep up with. Also a double decker bikade or bike parade, I mentioned them lots in Amsterdam cause it was crazy, but this is still a lot especially for Salzburg, a smaller place. The bottom left picture is in sun setting time on the one of the pedestrian bridges. Everywhere has a lock bridge. Also the top right picture is of Mozarts home that he grew up in. On that Main Street I mentioned with the rod iron signs.

 

The one thing we have noticed the last few days is that the pavement is so hot that the heat actually seeps through your shoes and begins to heat your feet. No joke, it is a little crazy to think about but it actually happens. We were also walking on the street and the sun had set and the side that had the sun for longer was still warm. We know this cause we crossed from the cooler side. It crazy! Again It's the worst when we have our packs on, but I love the heat and prefer it over rain any day. 

Salzburg is a great place to see, but a place I feel I wouldn't come back to right away. If it was on the way to somewhere yes I would stop but I feel I have seen Salzburg, to the best of my abilities. Apparently the people of Salzburg don't understand why we love 'The Sound of Music' they don't see the draw or understand what the big deal is. They do have something here called the sound of Salzburg, it is one of the performances that they like to promote. Although I did see one postcard referencing the sound of music. But they do have a puppeteer show on the sound of music apparently. Pretty sure it is purely for tourists but we didn't go so I don't know. 

Also, there are tons and tons of Asians tourists that we have seen on our journey. There have been many tourist groups that even tonight having dinner we saw walking by 3 or 4 groups. And that is in Salzburg alone. 

To end our evening off right, after dinner we picked up some Austrian wine and chips and salsa and enjoyed an evening in Salzburg. I have been talking about chips and salsa for the last few days mentioning that I wanted some purely because I haven't had any in a long time. I am one of those easily influenced types where you say something an then I want it. Except this time it was all in my head because I was thinking about what foods I haven't had in a while.

Also thanks subway for always being there for us. You know sometimes you just don't want to think about what food you want to eat, or where to find something gluten free, or you are on the way to the train, and subway has always pulled through. Not to mention how cools is it that we can say we have eaten at subways across the globe really. North America and Europe. So thanks Subway, for not making me sick, being there when I am to frustrated to find a restaurant, or just want an easy out. P.S. We didn't have it for dinner but did pick it up to eat on the train today, and honestly it has so come in handy.

Tomorrow we venture back into Munich, the final part of our German adventure. Salzburg was a great stop along the way and I am certainly glad that we stopped here. Next stop Munich.

And so the adventure continues...

Vienna in a Day

Pillows are glorious! We also have our bathroom room like we did in Prague, we are spoiled, and it's great! Gotta love secret prices on hotels.com especially when you booked a lot and got discounts! Yahoo! 

We flew through Vienna today, seeing as much as we possibly could. Neither of us honestly expected we would enjoy Eastern Europe this much. It is a pleasant surprise. We definitely wished we had a few more days here to explore and see more. The atmosphere is so relaxed, people seem to really enjoy their lives, much the same as Prague in this way.

We also managed to stay out of the sun for most of the day. The air was this with heat, that part I don't like but the heat I enjoy. Funny though as half the walkways become much more crowded then others as most people want to walk in the shade. I myself would have be A OK with walking in the sun, but Mr. Luke prefers the Arctic over the tropics. But I am alright with being out of the sun, we will have plenty of sun shiny days ahead of us. 

We started our day off with a bit of a different brunchy meal from a place called Aida. This can be found everywhere. Waitresses in poodle shirts and pink everything, it was as if we went back in time to the days of Grease, except they know gluten free. It was marvellous. We had an espresso with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream topped with whip cream to drink. It was delicious! For myself I got a almond chocolate cake, and Luke got apple strudel. MMMM!! Was a great way to start our day off in Vienna. This wasn't the exact Aida we went to but I forgot to take a picture and this was the next one we saw.

 

As I said, we had a full day. We combined Rick Steves walking tour and ring tram tour. Stopping to go in places and look at things and eat. The ring tram circles the main part of Vienna, and majority of their palaces and main buildings can be seen around this. It also circles the church, which is conveniently located in the centre. Both of these things were a great way to see as much as we possibly could of Vienna in the short time we had. Unfortunately I didn't book this one right as I didn't take into consideration travel days, but oh well, not a big deal as we enjoyed our day, saw what we could, and definitely know we could come back here.

The architecture in Vienna is both modern and historic. As much of it was bombed and flattened in the war what remains they had they kept and sometimes built modern on top of what was left. Nevertheless it is interesting to see. Austria itself is a German speaking country, but they do not consider themselves German in any way, and apparently are said to get quite worked up about this point. They had their own hardships from the war, being more of a nomads land and then being occupied by one, and then another, and they have moments and streets thanking the countries that saved them from the turmoil.

 

Below is Hofburg Palace. We seen many other historical places, including the opera house but I decided to not post quite as many pictures. I have also decided to be a little less factual in my writing. More for my sake because recalling all this information from my very full head is become increasingly more challenging. 

 

The church, as every church is, is quite extravagant. The roof in particular on this one I took a liking to. The tiled roof was re built after a fire, everyone who contributed to the funds for the roof got a tile. Not that they would know which was theirs, but I guess that isn't the point. Notice in the bottom left picture the Eagles crest in the tile work.

 

This is a look at the inside of the church. On the right the picture is of a picture that was in English so I needed to take a picture so I remembered what the lacy things from the ceiling said.

 

Mozart died at the age of 35, I had no idea about this. Also Vienna is suppose to be the capital of classical music. Fun facts for you after I just said that i wasn't going to be quite so factual. Oh well, the small things that I do remember. I like the treble clef in the flowers.

 

Some more random things from our day. BUT I must say that we have seen many different crossing signs. If you are ever in Europe you should definitely keep an eye out. Each city seem to have multiple different crossing light. Berlin for instance has multiple and the pushed for this to remain after the walls came down. I have mentioned a few along the way, and I may just have to go back and get the pictures that I did take and put them all together. But besides our verde amigo friend this one is my favourite. 

 

One of the greatest questions we ask each other too often is what day is. For the next 3 or so minutes we take turns guessing and thinking far to hard for an answer. This is an amazing thing. Just as quick as the hours fly by in a day, so do the days fly by in a week. It is today of course. Otherwise it is leaving day. End of story. 

We made our way to a bus that took us up an extremely sickening windy road to the top of a hilly mountain type of thing. The view was great but the journey was much less then fun. Bus drivers who drive this route so often you would think they would know the breaking and going a little better. On the first part of the hill, we road through cutest area that I wish we could have walked through. Such a n authentic little area. Looked quite European, and quaint. 

 

Vienna is called Wien in Viennese. That is where the wiener come from. Known to us all as wiener, also where the Wiener schnitzel comes from. Luke and I regardless of comfort or hotel or hostel are getting spoiled. Even their double beds are two single beds pushed together. Making the bed much larger then usual. Sometimes we even get king beds. But when they are two singles we always get our own blankets. This might be a system that we need to adopt when we get home. Get a king size bed and separate blankets, this would be awesome, except a night wouldn't fit in our house. 

We certainly enjoyed our day today, and packed as much as we could into it. Glad we did as well, really feels like we saw as much as we possibly could along the way. But it a place that we would come back to. 

Our next journey is a little different for how we have been our trip so far. We are headed to Salzburg. Where we will spend one night. So we will be walking around and seeing as much as we can before heading to Munich the next day. Salzburg is closer to the border of Austria and Germany, so breaks up the travel and gives us an excuse to stop and see another place.

And so the adventure continues...

 

A Word Entry

This morning prior to leaving we stopped and grabbed subway for the train, and a costa. Perfect start to the day. On our way to the train station we came across a tram that had ran into a car while the car was turning. This doesn't come as a surprise because the cars drive on the tram tracks and the tram dive on almost every street. Plus from the looks of it the car took a risk and turned in front of the tram. But saw the aftermath of it. Probably shut down the line for a while to which as a local I imagine is quite frustrating. 

We had a 4 hour train ride to Vienna. Not a bad time at all. Leaving shortly before one meant that the bulk of the day was spent on the train. Nice that this one had wifi though. Just helps the time pass in a different way. Not to mention there are a few games on my iPad that I have that can only be played with wifi for some reason, so I got to play them which was a good change if nothing else. The time seems to go by fairly quickly when we are the train, seeing the countryside periodically when you aren't surrounded my trees or a tunnel. That part is the nicest part about the train. Not to mention it really isn't much longer then a plane when. You account for time to get to the airport and how early you are and the actually ride then getting off and getting bags, so train is a great way to travel.

Learned today, but it has been getting worse with every travel day especially, that I will no longer be wearing my hair down. To thick and to large and much to hot! This is alright with me because it means that the weather is getting warmer and I am ready for some sun!

Well we made it to Vienna. Certainly a quaint place. My favourite part so far I will get to shortly, it is also something I hope we do tomorrow evening to end the day off. We were quite sweaty and hot when we arrived so we took a bit to regulate our body temperature and 'dry' off a little before venturing out for food. I am trying to do a better job of finding places to eat and getting them from my iPad to Luke's phone so that when we are ready we aren't scrambling to find a place. 

So far Vienna seems to be both walkable and drivable place. That was the pop ther thing about Prague, seemed like it would be a reasonable place to drive in with little to no heartache along the way. Vienna may be the same but I haven't seen enough to know. We made our way to a place not from home and treated ourselves to schnitzel. This is something that is on the list to eat, and due to the fact that we don't have long before we are out of Germany and Austria we figured when offered gluten free, might as well take it. Also a new Austrian gluten free beer, which tasted good as well, which was great. 

 

I am glad that places have had a different mix of beers and ciders for me to try, it has made it interesting and although I love wine, I am glad I get to try them here, especially because I don't get have beer back home. Speaking of which, I was lied to. I shall rant for a moment here. 

TECHNICALLY things can be considered gluten free legally if they have under a certain parts per million of it in the product. They can be certified gluten free. Someone once told me, and I thought I looked it up but must not of which is both stupid of me and unusual for me, that corona is made from rice and that it is gluten free, they just aren't certified. Well that is a complete lie, silly me I should have known this a very long time ago. I don't drink corona so it really isn't a huge issue, except for when we were in Nice. We were walking along the beach and decided to stop and have a beer on the beach, and I got a corona. It wasn't till that moment when I was halfway through that I decided I was gonna read the ingredients. Yup, not gluten free, under the Canadian standards of parts per million technically but is made with barley malt. Barley and I don't mix well, luckily it wasn't a full reaction, just an ugly trip to the Lou. So needless to say I have enjoyed the fact that I get to experience the beer side of life and different ciders that I don't get to back home.

After our delicious schnitzel dinner we are our way to the river and decided to walk around a bit. Normally there is one staircase that the young adults all hang out on. In this case, it is the river canal. They call it the city beach. On on side farthest away from the river canal they have an assortment of restaurants and sand. The city beach stretches for quick sometime with the beach chairs on the sand, and after that there is grass. There are tons of people that were hanging out here and on the side closest to the river canal sitting on the edge. By tons I mean this is where the locals of the town were. At first we thought it would be because of the soccer game, but that started when we first arrived at our hotel, so it was done by then. Then we realized that people weren't even near some of the large screens set up for people to be sitting on the edge and at the restaurants. It is so neat. We are gonna try and make here tomorrow evening. But we only have one day so we want to make the best of it. 

 

There was something refreshing about walking this river canal while the sunset and just seeing the locals be locals. Somehow you know that they are locals as well, at least majority are. Look forward to enjoying this tomorrow. We walked around for a decent amount of time before heading back home.

We have a full day ahead of us an are looking forward to seeing Vienna and all that if has to offer. We have some great things on the list. Now to get a good rest, and pump ourselves full of water. Tomorrow is going to be a hot one!! I can't wait.

And so the adventure continues...

Austria Pinterest info

 

Photos Upon Photos

Well if you haven't guessed already, today's post is mainly going to be pictures, as I took a ton. We made our way to the Prague castle, which is very large and has many aspects to it. Buildings, courtyards, churches, tombs, prison its varying torture things. Below is St. Vitus's Cathedreal, a stunning place. Unfortunately we have been forever ruined because we have been in many Cathedrals, and Sagrada really ruined us.  But it was a stunning place to see.

 

This is the Old Royal Palace, oddly enough to take pictures in here you needed t have a license, I am not sure if that meant purchasing a perm ain't from them or what, but needless to say I am a rebel and snuck a few when I could.

 

Basilica of St. George. A few creepy things were found in here.

 

We walked what is called Golden Lane, where there are may little shops, and armoury, examples of what a few houses looked like, and at the end the prison and torture tower. Note the abs armour, we couldn't figure how they got a plaster of Luke's abs.  Also you can see the armour inspired somehow by a bird, I would be running for the hills just with the he sight of that coming towards me! Let alone you know the swords and whatever else they would've been holding. Also the torture chair looks like it came outta a bad horror movie. Scary that it is something that was actually used.

 

 

We saw the changing of the guards. It was pretty cool to see, but a long process.

 

 

This is the prison and where they tortured people. I think that it looks like something out of the Princess Bride, again seeing these things is just crazy.

 

We had our lunch today with this view! Not to shabby I would say. I finally got a good picture of the cool old cars that are driving around for tours.

 

A few other things we came across, cause you know me and random things. First let's start with their flag, monument, I meant to look up the meaning behind it but it slipped my mind. Next the poor statue of the guy in the top right. The only real reason I took the picture I must admit is because his tally wacker seems to be the main attraction as everyone touches it for some reason. Know this because of the people we saw taking picture with him, and well as the fact it is the most tarnished part. We also came across these random children. Prague is home to the second ugliest building in the world, and I guess as an exhibit a number of years ago they placed these children climbing up and down the tower and they just decided to never take em down, We also saw a Segway accident. Now this really isn't funny, no one was hurt, but it just ages me reminisce an Segway accident of my own in Phoenix, but that a story for a later day.

 

We found an ice cream store that has gluten free cones! I haven't had a cone in a while so this was a treat. We also decided walking down from the castle that we would pick a beer along the way, gluten free for myself, and we walked the streets. This is an odd experience. Mostly because it feels wrong to be walking and drinking, but I am glad we did it. A new experience that's for certain. The second ugliest tower can be seen over my head, not that you can really see it anyways.

 

No surprises here, more pictures of the city itself. We continued to walk around in new areas today, this is an incredible place. Sad to leave it tomorrow.

 

Before I continue I need to rant a little. First I must say that one thing I have noticed over our time here in Europe is that both common sense and common courtesy really isn't common. I understand why locals aren't fond of tourists, but locals are honestly not any better. They walk taking up whole walk ways, whole stairs, and they don't move out of the way. People stop in the worst places, doorways, walkways, stairs, it is really really silly. In the moment I am so less then thrilled when this happens.

Also if you haven't seen the veggie tales version of Jonah then. You might not understand to the fullest extent what I mean when I say Luke is my travelling buddy. It is so fun to have a travelling buddy! A random tid bit for ya. 

He also calls me a big walking purple beacon on travel days. Big purple pack, purple small pack, and sometimes purple pants, it's hilarious.

We ended our day in the best way possible. We went back to the amazing Hamleys toy store! We played on the giant piano and did pretty much everything there.

 

We played with the he water t oys, Lukey played with the gears, a sweet game named snap it essentially you open your mit and it flies and it flies a ball through the air to the other person. It is hilarious and so fun! The best part is they encourage you to play these game in their stores! To top it all off we even went downtown he slide! It is fast and there is also a drop at the end, so fun!

 

We even played with over sized light bright! Made a Canada flag it looks even better in the pictures  it's awesome!

 

So a little bit of a back story, when we went on our road trip with Bec and Jord a few years ago, Luke and I built cars at the Lego store in downtown Disney, we raced and I lost. It was a sad day, well today I won!! It was great! Again just another awesome thing this store has.

 

From there we headed back to the amazing Italian gluten free restaurant and enjoyed another delicious meal. Here we also made friends with Chris and Emily, they are from Maine. We had a great talk with them and photo credit goes to Chris for the picture below. Was great to meet them and have a conversation with other English speaking people and to talk beyond  just ordering food. 

 

Prague has been good to us and I would definitely come back. We have created great memories here, as we have in every city we have been to. We head to Vienna tomorrow.

And so the adventure continues...