Berlin

Berlin is the only city I have been to where it actually feels like a city. We're staying in west Berlin close to the main train station. Our neighborhood is very nice and safe and it feels a lot like any other big city in America.

But Berlin also has the most interesting history of any city I have visited. The history goes way back into the Medieval times and it is marked by wars, revolutions, and the rise and fall of great powers. We took a 5 hour walking tour of Berlin and our tour guide, Fabian, was amazing. He's a phD student in history and he knew everything about the city and its history. It was really fascinating to hear about how and why some of the landmarks of Berlin came to be and to be able to relate them to historical events. My favorite parts were hearing about how various people snuck out of East Berlin and seeing the remains of the Berlin wall.

What I admire about the German people is that they understand the importance of history and acknowledging the good and the bad. There are memorials everywhere that remember the victims of WWII and the Cold War. This is a city and a country that really values what they have acheived in the last century.

Despite the fact that WWII was 50 years old and the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, a lot of Berlin is still being rebuilt. Everywhere we look construction and restoration is going on and I think it will be interesting to come back someday when Berlin has finished a lot of its restoration.

Vienna

Vienna was a very interesting and comfortable city. It was a great blend of old and new and nothing was out of place. We had a very busy 3 days in Vienna and we're taking the night train to Berlin tonite.

I think anyone who loves music and art will be happy in Vienna. The museums we went to had beautiful and unusual art collections. My favorites includes Brugel's paintings on the seasons and Tower of Babel, the Ruben alterpieces, and the few amazing jewels in the Hapsburg Treasury.


I also really enjoyed going to the Opera in Vienna. We went to Andre Chenier and we got standing tickets, which were surprisingly nice and only 2 euros. We only stayed for 30 minutes because standing up for 3 hours is not very fun and we were hungry. Today, we got a tour of the Opera including the backstage. It's really a part of Vienna culture and I highly recommend it to music lovers.


Overall, we're all pretty tired of traveling, although each new destination continues to fascinate us. We cut out Munich and Prague from our schedule because one day in a city is exhausting and really not enough time to appreciate anything. So after Vienna, we have Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, and London. Then it's back to Nebraska to pack and spend some time with my mom.

Venice

Venice was an interesting experience for us. We arrived thinking our hotel was maybe 10 minutes from Venice, but we were actually 5 towns outside of Venice and there was a 30 minute bus ride to Venice. This is about the 3rd or 4th time this has happened to us and after Switzerland it was a bit of a shock to have to deal with frustrating travel situations again. We have decided not to use hostelplanet.com again for finding hotels.


Venice was very lovely and charming. It was amazing because it hasn't changed in years. The way I saw Venice was very similar to the way Shakespeare saw Venice. Imagine narrow cobble streets, little bridges, and little glass, leather, and paper shops everywhere. My favorite part of Venice were the windows. The buildings are all painted warm terra cota colours; yellow, orange, red, cream. Then they all had lovely windows or balconies with cheerful flowers often red. I took alot of pictures of different windows. They just looked so charming and inviting in the tiny little city.


Unfortunately, Venice was very expensive. We all spent a lot of money in Venice getting gifts for our friends and family. Venetian glass is very beautiful and in Venice, it's everywhere. They make art, jewellery, chess sets, anything you can imagine from glass.

Switzerland - Murren

Switzerland was the most beautiful place I have ever seen. We stayed there for 3 days instead of the 1 day we planned. Not much internet access there, sorry :-(. It seems like a place where computers do not really belong.


We stayed in a little village called Murren up in the Alps. It was a quiet little village in the Swiss Alps where everywhere you looked, it was breathtaking. Everything was clean and fresh and there's nothing to do but hike and relax. The scenry reminded me of some of the scenes from Sound of Music and postcards of Edelwisse was everywhere.


Our room had a huge balcony that faced the mountains. It was absolutely amazing.
Everytime I went outside, it felt so amazingly peaceful. The world is so large and beautiful. Leaving was very hard, we felt like we were leaving Eden. I'm definitely coming back to Switzerland someday.


Photos

Switzerland pictures

View of Swiss Alps during fog and rain

View of Swiss Alps during snow

View of Swiss Alps at night

View of Swiss Alps from our hotel - clear day

Barcelona

We arrived in Barcelona last nite. The city is interesting at night. We´re staying in this really cheap hostel in Barcelona 15 euros per person per nite, but it is not quite clean. Brian and Henry are both a little sick, which is sad, but we slept in today and we all feel better.


We started the morning with delicous fresh squeezed orange juice, then we booked our trip and our hotel in Switzerland. Now I´m going to the beach and I think the boys are going to nap or maybe visit a park. Tomorrow we´re going to the Picasso museum and the big cathedral in Barcelona. Barcelona is very beautiful and luckily for me, most people speak French. Tonite, we´re probably going to have paellas and tapas. Yum!


We have a horribly overnite trip to Switzerland with 4 train changes. But we´re staying in a nice hotel in Switzerland to recuperate from the really cheap hostels we have been staying at.

Nice

It took us forever to get to Nice. We missed our connection in Genova by 5 mins, which meant a 4 hour wait at the train station. Maybe we weren't meant to leave Italy, I would not have minded staying in Cinque Terre. It was beautiful, especially the day we left.

Nice was raining hard when we arrived and our hostel was pretty far from everything. It was quite a miserable day yesterday.

Today, it's quite beautiful. The water of the Mediterrian is so beautiful, it starts with a navy blue, then a fades to a light cyan, then this gorgeous blue green before it ends in the white of the foam with the incoming surf. It is really amazing. The boys and I split up for the day because I have already seen the museums in Nice. So I got to go shopping and go to Monaco. It was really fun. We had a great dinner in Vieux Nice, it was kind of expensive, but so good. Great seafood!

Cinque Terre (Deiva Marina)

We got to Cinque Terre and we're staying in a campsite in the next town. It's very peaceful, although it gets cold at night. We plan on taking it easy and not worrying about anything. It should be really nice. We also met some crazy Australian tourists who live next to us. They're traveling for 3 months and all camping, it's insane.

Our days in Cinque Terre are filled with relaxation. The coast of Italy is really beautiful and less commercial than the coast of France. Each is appealing in their own way. I've really enjoyed my time in Cinque Terre and I hope to come back someday. Preferably with more money, so I can stay in a decent hotel and not a caravan.

Pisa

We were only in Pisa for about 1 hour. The leaning tower is great, a lot more interesting than I expected. It definitely leans. I took a lot of corny pictures.

Firenze (Florence)

Florence was really beautiful and amazing, art and shopping are the primary activities, how could I not love it.

We saw a lot of Michelangelo. I find that the most amazing thing about Michelangeloàs work is that the figures in his sculptures look like they are emerging from the marble, born. They are so natural and alive, whether it is a tension in their bodies or an amazing emotional expression. I think that what makes his work amazing, he captures the essence of whatever he presents.

We went to 2 great museums in Florence. The Bargello with beautiful statues, mostly marbles and some bronzes. My favorites were a statue of Zeus that was huge. The marble was beautiful and when an artist knows how to use it, the veins in the marble become part of the statues. The figures are almost real. Another favorite is the bronze David by Donatello, it was surprising small and very intimate. When you step back, David's face is shaded and he seems to smile knowingly at you. As if his amazing triumph was not a surprise at all and a secret that only he knows. The Uffizi is pretty amazing as well. The art really is like stepping into a live art history class. The Renaissance is alive in Florence. My favorites were the Da Vinci which was unfinished but so wonderfully creative. The Boteceilli Venus which was bigger and more beautiful than I expected. Then the four hour nap after the museums were wonderful.

Roma

Roma is crazy. The whole city exudes energy, but at the same time drains you of yours. We had a very busy day here and we saw a lot of monuments and art. It is a little overwhelming, but it was a good day.Sites seen that I remember:

• Colessum-amazing and overwhelming.
• Palatino - great view of the city.
• St. Peter's - beautiful and larger than anything I've seen. The pupit that Bernini built for Pope Barberini is amazing.
• Vatican and Sixteenth Chapel - so much religious art, a lot of it by masters. I really wish it was a quieter or less crowded place that I could absorb the art. Nonetheless it was gorgeous and the sixteenth chapel is not really like anything you can imagine. Especially the Last Judgement, Michelangelo is amazing.

Alright, I'm off to dinner with Brian and Henry. We're off to Florence tomorrow.

Initial Itinerary

Schedule

10-May	Depart Lincoln - 1:00
11-May	Arrive London - 10:30, Leave London - 4:30, Arrive Rome - 8:00
12-May
13-May	Rome -> Florence
14-May	Florence -> Pisa
15-May	Pisa -> Cinque Terra
16-May
17-May	Cinque Terra -> Nice
18-May
19-May	Nice -> Barcelona (overnight)
20-May
21-May	Barcelona -> Madrid (overnight)
22-May	Madrid -> Bordeaux (overnight)
23-May	Bordeaux -> Interlaken (overnight)
24-May
25-May	Interlaken -> Milan
26-May	Milan -> Venice
27-May	Venice -> Vienna (overnight)
28-May	Vienna -> Prague
29-May
30-May	Prague -> Berlin
31-May
1-Jun	Berlin -> Munich
2-Jun	Munich -> Amsterdam
3-Jun
4-Jun	Amsterdam -> Paris/Riems
5-Jun
6-Jun
7-Jun	Depart Paris - Late morning
8-Jun	Depart London - 10:00