The Albertina and the Austrian National Library

We checked out the Albertina Art Museum- mostly to see their Warhol and Picasso art.  Unfortunately, they only had 2 Andy Warhol and 2 Picasso pieces.  We were disappointed at the selection of art.  Of the museums we went to, this is not one I would repeat. We were also able to visit the Austrian …

Prater Amusement Park

Vienna is home to the oldest amusement park in the world-- Prater.  We were able to go explore for a couple hours.  The amusement park obviously shows some wear due to its age, but is well worth a visit when in Vienna.  Admission is free, you just have to pay for each ride. The rides …

Schönbrunn Palace

We began our day by exploring yet another palace: Schönbrunn Palace.  We were able to explore inside the palace, and learn the history of the past inhabitants.  Note: in early July it is incredibly hot in Vienna, and there is no air conditioning inside the palace.  There were large crowds which made exploring the palace rather …

Vienna, Austria

We woke up bright and early to catch our train from Munich to Vienna.  German trains were some of the nicest we encountered on our travels (Italian trains are terrible... but more on that later).  We accidentally ended up in the sleeper car, but it was incredibly comfortable and spacious, we didn't mind having to …

One year ago!

Obviously I'm still working on sharing pictures on this blog from last summers trip, but my Facebook reminded me today that 1 year ago, I was boarding a plane in Seattle and heading off for the beginning of an unforgettable 4 weeks.  One year!  I can't believe how quickly that year has gone by. Seeing …

Final Germany Adventures

Our short time in Germany was coming to a close, so we scrambled to finish all our sightseeing.  Our first stop was the site of the 1972 Munich Olympics. Afterwards we did some final looking around the Marienplatz, and final souvenir shopping.  We had a great, short visit in Munich, which was made busy with …

Princess for a day.

When planning for our European adventure, the main reason to visit Munich was to visit Neuschwanstein Castle above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany.  This castle was the inspiration for Walt Disney's Cinderella Castle.  This castle is also seen in the film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." Neuschwanstein is a short day trip …

What’s a trip to Germany without a trip to a beer hall?!

When people think about Germany, often their minds go to good beer, sausages, wiener schnitzel, spatzel, sauerkraut, etc.  Well, what better place to get all those things than the Hofbräuhaus München.  This is a 3 floor beer hall that dates back to the 16th century, and can hold what seemed like 1000s of people. Things we …

Dachau Concentration Camp

How do you begin to share and describe a visit to such a solemn, historical place? While many of the original structures have been torn down, some remain, and some replicas have been constructed to show  where and how the Jews lived who were imprisoned here during WWII. For those who do not know, here …

München

Stop Number Two: Munich, Germany. After our lengthy stay in London, we packed our bags, said goodbye to Edgeware Road, and hopped on the tube to Heathrow.  Once at Heathrow we boarded a Lufthansa flight and headed to Germany! After our approximately 2 hour flight, we landed in Munich, went through customs, got our luggage …