Munich, Germany

I arrived in Munich yesterday afternoon... I was very happy to realize that the nearest subway stop to my hotel was super close! I was less excited to find out that all the grocery and convenience stores nearby were closed...

Today, I took the u bahn (subway) downtown to the main square 'Marienplatz' and watched the glockspiel (some figurines in the town hall clock tower do a dance at 11am...)

Then I checked out the famous market... Many stalls... Kind of like the waterfront festival booths, but only food!! One place only sells olives.. Lots of cheese, sausage, flowers, pretzels, etc.

Then I took a walk in the englischer garten... Which brought be to a bier garten.. As you can see, yummy sausage and sauerkraut... Only a half liter of beer this time!! Some musicians in liederhausen (sp?) appear to be setting up in a pagoda near by... Stay tuned...!

Seefeld, Austria

We spent the last three days in Seefeld in Tirol, Austria... About 45 minutes outside of Innsbruck. Our hotel was right up in the mountains which was pretty cool... The town itself was another skiing village... Summer is clearly the low season. We have had lots of rain, though... I'm sure being in the mountains doesn't help!

The first day we were there, we drove to Dachau, a former Concentration Camp/ labour camp. It was actually the very first camp built in 1933 (before WWII started) and was originally used for political prisoners who opposed Hitler. Later, it was the model for all the other camps that were built.

After that we stopped in Munich very briefly-- had a gelato and walked around a bit... I will see more of Munich later.

The next day we just stayed around our hotel... Again the weather wasn't great but we explored the town a bit. Today, we drove to Fussen, Germany and hiked -- seriously hiked... Like climbing over rocks and trees... To see King Ludwig's famous castle... I will admit that the views were beautiful once we got to the top.

Right now, I'm on a train headed from Fussen to Munich... Said a very hurried goodbye to the dobos' because my train was leaving any minute! I know that I've gone off the itinerary slightly... So for those who are interested, I will update the itinerary to be more accurate.

Salzburg & Kirchberg in Tirol, Austria

The last two nights, we stayed just outside of Salzburg. The weather wasn't great... So we didn't get to do too much Von Trapp impersonating... We spent one day just over the border to Germany, in Birchtesgaden... This area was home to many prominent Nazis during the war, including Hitler's Eagle's Nest (which we did not go see...) Derek and the boys enjoyed a tour of a salt mine, Lisa climbed a mountain... And I took cover from a rain storm in a cafe with strudel & cappuccino to keep me warm! I did do some exploring once the rain subsided!!

Today, we drove from Salzburg to Kirchberg, which is a very small village in the alps... In the winter this area is very big for skiing. We are staying at a really nice all inclusive hotel that a guy Derek knows owns... I have my own room, robe & balcony, as well as unlimited eats, so I'm sucking up the above-backpacker-budget-pricetag!

Itinerary

As per Grandma Jex's request, here is an updated itinerary for the rest of my trip:

June 17 - Hungary
June 18&19 - Salzburg, austria
June 20 - Austria
June 21 & 22 - Innsbruck, Austria
June 23 - Seefeld, Austria
June 24 & 25 - Munich, Germany
June 26 - night train from Munich-Amsterdam
June 27 - amsterdam, the Netherlands
June 28 - Luxembourg
June 29 - Koblenz, Germany
June 30 - Mainz, Germany
July 1 - Nuremberg, Germany
July 2 - Berlin, Germany
July 3 - 6 - Stockholm, Sweden
July 6-11th - back on the ship
July 11-25th - united kingdom

Budapest, Hungary

After a very quick and easy Easyjet flight from Berlin to Budapest, I was picked up by Derek and Kavan at the Budapest airport... they had lots of long stories to regale me with... mostly one of them... ha ha 

We have an awesome apartment here, right in the theatre district of Budapest. Apparently a young man lives here, but rents it out whenever he can to make some extra money. It has 3 living spaces, a kitchen and bathroom, so I have my own little nook which is just right for me!! It's in a very old building... lots of stairs, but very quaint.

Yesterday, we went for a walk after dinner and saw parliament and some other noteable historical points and today we biked and went for a swim in the baths. I'm sure the Dobos' blog will be much more witty and informative, so I will defer to them for travel updates from now on!

Look who I found!! (Hero's Square, Budapest)

the laundry on the line is ours

the entrance to our apt. is he furthest door to the left in the yellow section

Pictures!

A Coruna, Spain

Azores, Portugal

Bordeaux, France

St. Malo

St. Malo -- HIGH TIDE

St. Malo -- LOW TIDE

I finally have both a computer, and a wireless internet connection capable of uploading some photos from my trip so far... so here they are!!

Berlin, Germany

Reichstag -- German parliament

Berliner Dom

Brandenburg Gate

Ceceilienhof -- site of the Potsdam conference where the British, American and Soviet leaders met to discuss what to do with Germany at the end of WWII. They eventually decided to break the country up into sectors which would be governed by their respective countries. Berlin was also divided up, and eventually it was the Soviets who put up the wall to separate East Germany/Berlin from the West.

Sanssouci palace

Ceceilienhof again

sanssouci again

Terror museum... the wall you can see is a remaining section of the Berlin Wall

Berlin, Germany
After I got off the ship in Hamburg, I stayed at a hotel for the night and took the train to Berlin in the morning. I spent the day walking around -- saw the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, etc. Before heading to Uncle Derek's friend Detlef's house.
Detlef and his wife Conny were awesome, inviting me to eat sausages and beer for dinner with them and Detlef took me to Potsdam which is about half an hour by car from their house -- and the site of the Potsdam conference where the heads of the victorious countries in WWII met to discuss how to divide Germany up. (I had to get a historical tidbit on there somewhere!)
today, I left Detlef & Conny's and went on a tour of a bomb shelter which was actually very large... Before heading to my next museum (about life in the former East Germany)... I was looking for lunch and stumbled upon a Czech Beer Festival... What's a girl to do but order a beer and plate of goulash?
Loving Germany so far... Will be heading to meet up with the Dobos' in Budapest Sunday!
Hope everyone back home is well... Perhaps show some sign of life since no one ever comments... Except my mom...

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

A rainy day today in Amsterdam... My main goals were to find an ATM and some free & fast wireless Internet... Within 15 minutes of walking around I had accidentally stumbled upon some scantily clad women and a coffee shop that smelled suspiciously like marijuana... (I didn't stick around long enough to see if they had wifi!). The main par

Brest & St. Malo, France

When we arrived in Brest, we realized that it was some major holiday (something about being 40 days after Easter?) so there wasn't much open. We took a shuttle bus from the ship that drove past a castle and dropped us off in town, where we somewhat unsuccessfully tried to find wifi before heading back to the ship. Due to a shortage of time and the holiday, I didn't get the best impression of Brest.

The next day, we visited St.Malo. This was a tender port so I had to wait a little while to get off the ship. The tender dropped us off right outside the old town. It reminded me q lot of Quebec city -- walled city with cobblestone streets, etc. I even found a place called the Maison du Quebec!! The coolest part was when I went out in the morning, I walked around the top of the wall and took lots of pictures of the ocean because it was beautiful... When I returned to the same spot several hours later, the tide had gone out so much that some of the islands I had seen before were no longer islands!! Someone told me that the tide falls approximately 9meters at low tide! Lots of the sailboats were even beached! I also had a yummy crepe, so overall a good day in St. Malo!!

The picture is high tide -- later the swimming area was in he middle of sand and looked more like a pool!