Day 1: Germany. We left for Germany on Christmas day and arrived on the 26th around 11:00am. Lesson #1- Germans=Crazy drivers. We started out going the speed limit and we were getting passed like crazy! (Only on the left by the way) So Will adapted to the new driving customs fairly quickly and picked up the pace. We first head to Marksburg Castle. Every few minutes we pass a small town with an old church always in the very center. The drive was beautiful. Marksbug Castle is up on a hill at the outskirts of town.
Day 2: Zurich, SwitzerlandWe head into the city to do some shopping. We see the train station and head back to our hostel only to find out we have to go back to the train station to change our money. We go see the temple in Bern and call it a day.
Day 3: Rome
We leave for Rome at 6am, but it was so dark that we couldn’t see the Swiss Alps. So we decided to wait for the sun to come up to continue our drive. Around 8:30 it started to get light. We were glad that we waited. We stopped in Florence and went to the Michelangelo’s museum and snuck a picture of David. We arrived in Rome around 8pm and took the metro into town to figure out the bus route.
Day 4: Rome
Lesson #2- Always verify your bus tickets IMMEDIATELY after boarding. The stop right after we got on, the bus Nazi’s got on. I just didn’t think about verifying our tickets. But apparently it is a 150 euro fine if you don’t verify your tickets as you board the bus. I got us out of it by throwing a fit! Go me. Which was good because it would have ruined our amazing day we had ahead of us. Rome was my favorite! The architecture was amazing. We saw the Colosseum, Arc di Tito, Palatino, The Vatican City, Basillica S. Pietro, Pantheon, Palazzo Monteatorio, Fountain de Trevi, and the Plazza Del Popolo! The Colosseum was breathtaking. We had delicious ice cream. Lesson #3- Make sure to check the commission fee before you exchange your money. We were in too much of a hurry to pay attention to the red glowing numbers informing us that the commission was 19% so we gave them $200 and got back 106 Euros. We also went shopping and Will found a nice Suit.
Day 5: Nice, France
We stopped to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I wanted a sweater from Italy but the one I liked was a X-small. I decided to just try it on. The lady working the booth said “This for you is impossible” Thanks. Of course we had to take pictures of us holding up the tower. We were also able to purchase the expensive memory or a 37 euro parking ticket. Italy was out to get us.
We also stopped in Monte Carlo, Monaco. We say the princes palace and went to a cassino to watch people play 21. The streets were horrible. It was like we were driving in a big bowl of spaghetti.
Day 6: Marseille (December 31st)
We took a ferry to the Chateau D’If and the Islands Friouls. On the Islands we found the ruins of an old town on the edges of the cliffs. There weren’t any people around, we had the whole Island to our self. We missed the ferry by 5 min so we had to wait a ½ hour for the second one. We got back to our hotel and fell asleep. We woke up at 11:59 and went outside to celebrate the New Year. Marseille is a very stinky city.
Day 7: Marseille
We went to the beach and saw the replica of the David. We saw a nude woman on the beach, but she was far away so we couldn’t see anything. We went to Parc Borely and rented a Balladine to ride around on. Then we went to the Our Body exhibit (Body Worlds)
Day 8: Biarritz
We go to the beach and the Rock of the Virgin. The beach was Beautiful. We successfully find Will’s friends house from his mission. BUT SHE WASN’T HOME! Sad say. We went back twice with no success. We had dinner and then saw the light house.
Day 9: Bordeaux
We stop in Arcachon to see the Dune de Pyla. It is a sand dune sandwiched between the forest and the Atlantic Ocean. It was so amazing. The pictures don’t do it justice. We arrive in Bordeaux, do a little shopping and head for bed. Hiking up the Dune de Pyla was exhausting.
Day 10: Paris
We arrive in Paris and head out to see the Eiffel tower. They were having a car show at the bottom. We also saw the Statue of Liberty’s little sister. We went back to our hotel and watched Elf.
Day 11: Paris
We walked...a lot. It started snowing! Yup snow, apparently Utah wanted to remind us what we were missing out on. First we headed over to the Arch De Triomphe. Then we walked over to the Louvre. We were there for 3 ½ hours and we still only got thru ½ of the museum. It was HUGE! We saw the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and a million other paintings and sculptures. My favorite was the Apartments of Napoleon. The Gardens out side were beautiful covered in snow. We went shopping and had dinner at Vesuvio on Ave. De Champes Di Ellysees. Then we went to see the bedazzled Eiffel tower.
Day 12: Belgium
We leave for Bruxelles and stop in Brugge. It is a small town also known as the Venice of the north. It was freezing! Then we head for Bruxelles and spend the rest of the day shopping. We had to spend the rest of our Euro’s.
Day 13: HOME
We head back to Germany to catch our 11:40 flight. We came with in seconds of missing our connecting flight in Charlotte. We arrived in Salt Lake only to discover our bags had not been so lucky. But all was well, we got our bags delivered to us yesterday. We are so happy to be home!
4 comments:
I am so so so jealous It looks like you had so much fun. We will have to go to dinner or something and catch up I miss you!!
I am 100% jealous! I wish brady and I were able to go do something like that, it sounds like it was amazing! I hope coming back to utah wasn't too big of a disappointment :)
It looks amazing. I really miss living in Germany. It was absolutely beautiful. I wish I had gotten to travel though! Austria is a fun and gorgeous place to visit.
The photos are fantastic! The trip sounds even better. You both look like you had the time of your life. How do you top that? :) So glad you were able to take such a very special trip.
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