Venice, Italy (Day 2) 6-30-08
On the way to venice I saw my first lighthouse this trip. I was trying to sleep on the bus, but suddenly awoke to the feeling that I was missing something and then it was there. It was so cool. So venice was really neat. It is built in a lagoon and all if it is built on the water so it floods in the winter. The history was amazing. We arrived at the ferry and took the half an hour trip across to venice. It was so cool. I got to see a few more lighthouses on the ferry. That was definitely a highlight on my trip. Once we arrived in venice we were met with a local guide named Federico. She was ok. She gave us a lot of information. Then from there we went to a glassblowing demonstration. We were a little rushed through it but it was amazing. Then we went to our gondola rides. It was so neat but also a little boring. Our gondolier was not too friendly. But the views were amazing. So that pretty much made it worth it. From our gondola rides we went to eat and drink cuz we were starving since breakfast was cereal with warm milk, rolls and jelly. So we sat down at a cafe in St. Marks Square only to be told that there was a sit down fee to sit and listen to music was 6 euros. So we left that cafe and went to another. We were once again told that we had to pay to sit so we all ordered drinks at 7 euros each with included seating. Then we all took turns going to get food from the cafe. When we can back we were told that we had to pay for a food seating charge. It was amazing. We all paid and sat there for a while. Then it was back to the glassblowing shop to look and to buy some really neat things. The guys there were anamoured by nikki. The followed her all around the store. It was so funny. We all thought it would be funny to take a picture with them. We asked the very gladly accepted. It was great. Then we did some shopping on the way to St. Marks Basillica. Once we figured our how to drop off our backpacks around the corner and down the street we headed into the church. It was really neat but nothing to the scale of the National Cathedral. The really interesting thing was the pictures on the front of the church were mosaics and made out of tiny stones. It was so neat. From that we did a little more shopping and then headed to the Rialto Bridge that is on the grand canal. It was really neat, we had seen it on our gondola ride. After that we went back into the square and sat on the steps for a while. Then we headed back to the boat for our trip back to the hotel. Once we got back to the hotel we had dinner (hamburger no bun and fries, with spaghetti ). Then the hotel owners told us that we needed to pay for the a/c that some of the rooms used the night before. Steven (our tour guide and walking encyclopedia) argued with them since they failed to mention that the night before. So no a/c for us tonight or we had to pay 8 euros. So we were all going to pay cuz it is sweltering hot. Then they told us it was a fire hazard and they told us not to use it. So another very uncomfortable night. But we made it through.
Venice, Italy 6-29-08
The countryside on the way here was so beautiful. So the first hotel that we were supposed to be in did not want us (they had a bad experience with americans last week) so we went down a couple of blocks and checked into a different one. It is more like a hostel (or a dive) than a hotel. The a/c did not work in most of the rooms. It was sweltering hot. But with tylenol pm I was able to fall asleep. Once we got all situated in our hotel we all headed for the beach. The water was so warm. The view was beautiful and the air was cool. It was nice to actually sit down and relax and not really have to worry or do anything(except the mosquito's) After the beach most of us went back to the hotel to hang out. The kids and some adults went to the hotel that we were supposed to stay at to watch the Eurocup 2008, spain vs russia. Spain won 1-0. After the game they were told that they had to come back to the hotel to go to bed since our hotel locks the doors at midnight and they do not answer (one of our tour guides that thought he was hot, got locked out) and we were having a very early wake up call this morning so that we could catch a ferry to the island of venice.
Innsbruck, Austria 6-29-08
Wow Innsbruck was amazing. They had they winter olympics there is 66 and 72?? It is a cute little town. It has such a small town feel and it is not crowded at all. Innsbruck reminded me a lot of Heidelberg. Both very cute, quaint little towns. We went to Swarovshi shop. It is were they sell crytals. It was so neat. They had all kinds of soccer balls made out of crystals it was so cool. We climbed a church tower to see the view of the town and the alps. It was an amazing view. The alps are so beautiful. The whole town was getting ready for the Soccer Finals so they had stands and huge TV out in the little plazas. We sat and ate the best Minestrone soup ever at a little cafe near the Golden Roof. We only had a couple of hours here since it was only 1 stop in our all day driving to Venice, Italy.
Dachau and Munich, Germany 6-28-08
So we got back on the bus and head for Munich, Germany. Another long day of travel. We stopped at Dachau Concentration Camp on the way. It was so surreal being there and seeing how there were treated. We had about 1-1/2 hours to tour it and that wasn't nearly enough time. There is so much to take in that I really think that you need more time to understand the full realm of it all. With that said though I am very glad that we got to see it. It made me appreciate our freedom even more. Once done at Dachau we headed back on the bus to continue onto Munich. We arrived late to our guided tour and then the lady was like hitler and so boring that most of the bus fell asleep. We got to see the nymphemberg castle which was really cool but we only stopped for 5 minutes to take and picture and then back on the bus. Then we had free time for about an hour. We went to the hofbrauhaus to get souveniers. Then we did a little shopping and then back to the main square where we stumbled onto a soccer team that was doing some show or just drunk (not sure which) so I told nikki to take a picture with them. They were more that compliant with that but then they didn't want to give her back. Haha. They ended up grabbing another girl in our group and she had to shoot and score on the goalie. If she did this he had to take off another article of clothing (he was dressed like a soccer player with a wig that made him look like heidi). She scored on him, so he took off his shoes. He was pretty low on clothing by this point anyway. They were funny. The we went to a brewery for dinner. It was ok but really hot in there. After dinner we went to the hotel to check in. It was the nicest hotel so far. The kids went out yet again to a club that was 18 and over. The chaperone Clint got them into the club. They had a really good time. Of course the sleep on the bus all day long so they can accomodate that.
Heidelberg, Germany 6-27-08
Today we will be drving 8 hours total to get to Munich, Germany. Along the way we will stop in Heidleberg, Germany. It is a very small town but so cute. We toured the heidelberg castle first which was really neat. The castle is in ruins but much of it is still in tact. It was so amazing. We also got to see the largest wine barrel. That was cool. Not sure what you would do with that amount of wine but...... The town itself is absolutely adorabe. It has a nice and relaxed feel. The people there were more friendly so that was good. While sitting and waiting for the bus, we had an entertainer in the town square. We called him "happy clapping man". He was interesting and did something with his hips that was a little freaky. But he laughed the whole time. Not sure if he was drunk or just really happy. We also had a little girl who was playing in front of us that was so adorable that I wanted to take her home. We don't really have a whole lot of time to do a lot in some of these towns. But we are getting to at least see the highlights of them so I guess that is good. Back to the bus and headed for our hotel which was about an hour outside of Heidelberg. Once we arrived we checked
into the hotel and then walked to dinner. It was at a church (converted into a restuarant). We sat outside and it was a little chilly. Dinner was chicken broth soup and Lasagne. Not nearly enough for some of the people with us. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and the kids went to the Sky Bar on the top floor. Most of the adults headed for bed.
Amsterdam (Day 2) 6-26-08
We got up and had breakfast at the hotel. We then got on the bus and took a bus tour of the city. We went out to see a Cheese and Wooden Clog Factory and a Windmill on the outskirts of town. I really liked seeing the windmills. They are so beautiful. The guy who makes the wooden clogs was "pleasantly disturbed" as our tour guide put it. We tasted the cheese and it was fabulous. I should have bought some but thought it would way me down. We then headed to a Diamond Factory tour. It was very informative. To see some of the many diamonds that they showed us was amazing. After that we were starving and on our own for free time. We headed to McDonalds for lunch. I actually got like 6 pieces of ice in my drink. Amazing. We shopped a little and then headed for the Rijksmuseum which costed money to go into so we decided against it. After that we found the I Amsterdam Sign and thought we would go and play on it and take some funny pictures. From there we saw a little park that had things that we do not have in the US so we hightailed it that way. Only to have to wait for these kids to get off so that the girls in the group could play. It was pretty pathetic, but funny. After the girls had played for a while we decided to go the Van Gogh Museum. The Van Gogh museum was ok but a tad bit on the boring side. Pub crawls are a big hit there as well the kids had about 5 different people come up and invite them to one. We watched the second soccer semi final game in the hotel bar. It was spain vs russia and spain won. Nikki headed off to the 18 and over club tonight. She had a blast. I have not seen any tulip fields, which holland is known for, I am hoping that on our trip to germany today that I will see some. People here are very rude. They are not friendly at all.
Amsterdam, Holland in the Netherlands 6-25-08
Arrived in Amsterdam, checked into the hotel. Definitely felt like a dorm room more than a hotel. It had a fan but no air conditioning. It was all good we were only sleeping there. Left for a walking tour of Amsterdam. We walked through the Red Light District, Dam Square, Royal Palace (Koninklijk Paleis) and took a tour of Anne Frank's House. Sex and drugs are a big part of the town. Coffee shops are for marijauna and the red light district is ALL for sex. Smoking marijuana is illegal here but the polite tolerate it. The red light district was definitely interesting. Sex,sex and more sex. Window shopping as they call it here. The whores have to be tested all the time and they have to pay taxes on all the money, so it is good for the city. They are all in little rooms with windows, if you like what you see you walk in discuss business, then close the curtains turn on the red light and then you get down to business. There is a Catholic Church right in the middle of the Red Light District. It is no longer open but it is still a little odd that it is there. Anne Frank's House was really neat. It wasn't at all what i had envisioned it. It was really interesting seeing how they lived for 2 years. It had to be so hard for them. The canals were really neat. The whole town is about 10 ft below sea level. Floating houses were cool they varied from shacks to really nice nice houses. Pub crawls are a big hit there as well the kids had about 5 different people come up and invite them to one. We headed back to the hotel for dinner and then some of the kids headed to the bar to watch the EuroCup 2008 Semi Finals. It was Germany vs. Turkey, Gemany won. The rest of us went back to our rooms to relax. We had to pay .30 euros to go to the bathroom. That is crazy!! It is really wierd here it stays light until around 1130 at night.
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