The Miller European Vacation

Five countries, 12 days, 2,215 + miles...and we survived.  We went into our trip - I use the word 'trip' because I feel 'vacation' doesn't really apply here; the word vacation brings visions of white sand and palm trees, which our trip certainly was not - with a very laid back attitude.  We had a loose idea of places we wanted to go, and the first five nights booked, but after that we were just going to see how things were going and go from there.  I think for both Scott and me, expectations were far exceeded - I don't think either one of us expected to hit all the places we did, and to be honest, I could've kept going!  The boys, however, were ready to be done, so we capped it off at twelve days - plus Scott was excited to have a few days of rest back home before he had to return to work again.

We started off by driving to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a little German town and, according to Rick Steves (who's guide books we lived and breathed by on our trip) Europe's best preserved medieval walled town.  This little town was probably one of the highlights of our trip for the both of us - the epitomy of all German cuteness.  We had a great hotel room there - a little B&B.  On this trip we tried to go out of our comfort zone a little bit and stay at places we probably wouldn't normally stay at, so we ended up staying at a lot of 'pensions' - basically B&B's.  Anyway, Rothenburg was probably our favorite - so we started off with a bang.

The hotel

Authentic German meal - we try and eat at least one meal authentic to the region we're in while we're there.  Scott's and mine dishes were ok, but the boys' schnitzel was AMAZING.

The boys and I with the 'Night Watchman'

The Night Watchman's tour was a great way to see Rothenburg...this man leads a nightly walking tour of the city telling tales of medieval Rothenburg - very entertaining - and interesting!

Breakfast at our pension - Rick Steeves described the place as straight out of "Lord of the Rings" - and it certainly was - we kind of felt like we were eating breakfast in the inn of the 'Prancing Pony.'

The boys outside the 'manhole' - a small little door inside one of the gates that was used  to let citizens back inside the city after curfew.  

You can walk around the entire town on the city wall - although it's a little scary in some places.  

From Rothenburg ob der Tauber we drove down to Munich via the Romantic Road - a two-lane road that takes you through Bavaria's heartland - picturesque villages, farmhouses, onion-domed churches.  To do this we actually had to buy (and use) a map - gasp!  We have become unreasonably reliant on our GPS, so this was great for us, as, although it was supposed to be, the road was not marked as clearly as it should have been.  Munich was great, although I'm sure we left a whole lot of it unexplored.  Scott and I are planning on going to Oktoberfest in September when my brother Tim comes to visit, so we kind of felt like we'll get a second shot at seeing Munich.

Our first night in Munich we ate at Hofbrauhaus, the famous beer hall, complete with oompa music and all.

Probably not appropriate, but 'when in Rome...'

For those who are wondering, the boys are drinking orange soda

Breakfast on the hotel room floor - the first of many.

From Munich we did a day trip to the 'Kings Castles'.  The Kings castles are two 19th century castles on the German/Austrian border.  Hohenschwangau Castle was 'Mad King Ludwig's' boyhood home.  King Ludwig wasn't much of a King to the people of Bavaria, and spent most of his adulthood dreaming up the construction of his own castle, Neuschwanstein.  Unfortunately, he only spent 172 days in his creation before being run out of town.  Two days later he was found dead, and people still talk whether he committed suicide or was murdered.  Thank goodness we took Rick's advice and bought tickets ahead of time, as the line for tickets was probably about 200 yards long!

The view from the top of Hohenschwangau Castle

The view from Hohenschwangau to Neuschwanstein.  The walk up to the former, no big deal, the walk to the latter, holy crap - more so for Scott as he had to carry Bo the entire way up!

Garden of Hohenschwangau Castle

Bo fell asleep just prior to our Neuschwanstein tour - always a blessing!

The top of Neuschwanstein, you can see Hohenschwangau in the corner

Nauschwanstein was incredibly beautiful - very decadent - even had its own opera house.  The castle was only one-third completed before King Ludwig died, and never finished.  

Our hotel in Munich had a pool, so that night we went swimming, European-style:)

The next day before heading out of town, we toured Munich - hitting up the major sights around the city center (Marienplatz and the Pedestrian Zone).

The Town Hall - famous for its glaockenspiel.  The Spiel recreates a royal wedding from the 16th century - the duke and his bride watch the action as the Bavarians forever beat their enemies, while coopers (famous for being the first to dance in the streets after a deadly plague lifted) do their popular jig below.  

Much of Munich was reduced to rubble during WWII.  Although Hitler did not allow the evacuation of the city's treasures, he did allow the buildings to be photographed.  After the war, a commission voted to rebuild their city by restoring their old town, unlike the city of Frankfurt which voted to just bulldoze the whole thing and rebuild a modern city.

From Munich we drove into Austria, and the city I'd been dreaming of visiting ever since we decided to move to Europe:  Salzburg.  Salzburg's known for two things:  the birthplace of Mozart and the setting for one of my all-time favorites:  'The Sound of Music'.  We did a 'Sound of Music' tour, which was literally a dream come true for me!  One might think that singing 'Doe A Dear...' along with 50 complete strangers throughout the streets of Salzburg to be a tad cheesy, and, don't get me wrong, it certainly was, but all the same, certainly the highlight of the trip for me!  Plus, it was a great way to get a tour of Salzburg.  Salzburg's surprisingly small - only about 150,000 people live there, but our tour guide said 300,000 people visit it each year for the 'Sound of Music' tour alone!  Apparently Austrian's are completely bewildered by all the fuss...most have never even seen it.  All the same, Salzburg's absolutely beautiful - and the dairy farm we stayed at was a fun experience as well - although Will was very disappointed that he couldn't actually sleep with the animals.

Mozart's statue in Mozartplatz

Fountain in Mozartplatz, in the center of Salzburg.

Statue of Mary in front of the Salzburg Cathedral

Mozart's birthplace

Getreidegasse, old Salzburg's 'main drag' and famous for its wrought-iron signs and  shopping.

The mansion used for the back of the house scenes in 'The Sound of Music'.  They used two different houses for the front and back.   This is a private residence and as close as outsiders can get.

Right behind us in the water is where they filmed the boat scene when the children and Maria fall out of the boat when the Captain arrives back home.

The famous gazebo ('I am 16 going on 17...')  This was built for the movie and originally on the grounds of the mansion (from above) but the owners got sick of all the tourists, so moved it to the grounds of Hellbrunn Castle, where the scenes of the movie from the front of the house were filmed.  The original Von Trapp villa is still standing but now privately owned (they signed it over after fleeing to America) and in a private residential area.

Will skipping down the same path Maria did on her way to the Von Trapps in the beginning of the movie.

The mountains way in the background are what the family allegedly escaped to at the end of the movie to get to Switzerland and away from the Nazis.  In truth, had they gone over them, it would have put them into Germany, and right into Hitler's 'Eagle's Nest'.  They actually pretended they were going on a hike and simply boarded a train to Italy.  Also, their butler who was indeed a Nazi sympathizer, did not tip off the Nazi's to their departure, but instead warned Captain Von Trapp that he was about to be forced into service.

Mondsee Cathedral, in Mondsee, Austria, where Maria's wedding was filmed.  The director wanted a long, grand isle, and apparently Nonnberg Abbey didn't do the trick.  Mondsee was a beautiful little town, very quaint - we had lunch here on our tour.

Mondsee

Our tour guide - leading us all in song.

Mirabell Gardens where the 'Doe a Deer' song was partly filmed

Fountain where the kids all ran around

Arbor where Maria and the children ran through, singing.

Having a rest under a tree in a park in Salzburg - the weather was beautiful this day - actually got pretty warm!

Where Mozart and his family moved to when he was 17.

Beer hall in Salzburg; ok food, delicious beer.

Hohensalzburg Fortress

 From Salzburg we drove to Vienna via the prettiest route along our entire trip - the river Danube's Wachau Valley.  It was a 24-mile drive along the Danube river - a very windy, narrow road, surrounded by vineyards with castle after castle sprinkled about the countryside - it was incredible.  Unfortunately, it was a dreary day, and pictures don't really do the scenery justice.

When we arrived in Vienna it was rainy and cool so we didn't too much that night (except go to McDonald's).  The forecast for the next day was the same, so I got a wild hair and suggested we drive to Budapest.  Hungary's right across the road from Vienna and Budapest only a two hour drive, and besides, fair weather was predicted there and my new European motto is 'follow the sun.'  It didn't take much convincing, and shortly thereafter we arrived in a city neither one of us ever thought we'd see.  It was quite beautiful, and although we knew hardly anything about the city, very much worth it.  It was interesting though, driving there - we certainly got the feel we'd crossed over into Eastern Europe - the city outside the center felt much more run down than other European cities we've been too.

Castle Hill - view from the bottom.  We basically went to what's considered the center of Budapest, Castle Hill, and walked around from there.  

View from the top.

Parliament

 That night and the next day we explored Vienna.  What we do in most of these cities is basically just follow the guidebook's walking tour.  We have a pretty slick system - start in the city center, I, the voice of Rick Steve's, am the guide and Scott follows dutifully along, pushing the stroller and listening to my tour.

Vienna's famous Opera house

Spider Man made an appearance in Vienna...btw, we're now only to call him 'Spider Man' or 'Peter' (as in 'Peter Parker' ;)  - and he gets legitimetly upset when we forget...

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Monument Against War and Fascism.  A four-part statue that remembers victims of all wars, including the Nazi Rule of Austria.  

Hofburg Palace - the palace of the Hapsburg's, the first part of which was built in the 13th century, and added on to until the end of the Hapsburg empire, in 1918.

Statue of Maria Theresa - the only Hapsburg empress and mother of 16 - most notably, Marie Antionette.

Parliament

One of the things the boys enjoy the most are the various street shows and characters that are a very present part of the cities we visit.  This was a marionette street show in Vienna.  Bo talked about this for days afterward...

With this we wrapped up our tour of Austria and headed to the Czech Republic via Slovakia and its capital, Batislava.  However, because the kids were both asleep, and, with all apologies to the people of Batislava, as it didn't look like it had a whole lot to offer from a tourist standpoint, we didn't even stop, just drove through and headed on our merry way.  It was quite interesting driving through Bratislava - it looked like it had the stamp of communism all over it - blocks upon blocks of pastel colored apartment buildings. Of course, nothing looks top-notch in misty, rainy weather, but all the same, not a lot of time was needed in this city.  We got to Prague pretty late that night so didn't venture out until the next day, where we were greeted with cold, rainy weather.  It was miserable.  So we didn't do a whole lot of exploring that day, but we did have a great American meal at Hard Rock!

Late-night room service in Prague.

Old Town Prague

Famous Astronomical Clock

Will and Scott went up the tower of St. Charle's bridge, where they had a display of various suits of armor - Will loved it.

Dreary view from the top

Old Town Prague at night, in the rain - check out all the umbrellas!

Everyone we've ever talked to who's visited Prague had nothing but raving reviews of the city - from the people, buildings and beauty to how cheap it is to visit.  It's really incredible how your view of a place can change according to the weather.  As it rained our whole first day there, I think both of our views of the city were less than glowing, and we were left with a feeling of 'is this it??'  However, our second day there was much nicer -well, at least it wasn't raining, and we certainly started warming up to the place.  That being said, Prague is not the cheap tourist destination that it apparently once was.  Its inhabitants must have finally wizened up to the tourism demands, as we probably spent more in Prague than any other city we visited.

Old Town Square - much nicer when its not raining

Astronomical Clock - reconstructed after the 500 year old clock was destroyed in WWII.  It shows the hour, times of sunrise and sunset and the orbits of the sun and moon. 

Tower at St. Charles' Bridge

Charles Bridge - constructed in the 14th century and over a half of kilometer long.

Making a wish on John of Nepomuk's statue, a saint of the Czech people.

The view from the top of Prague's 'castle quarter'

Will and the guard outside of Prague Castle.

Inside St. Vitus Cathedral - the first three of the Hapsburg Kings are buried here.

St. Vitus Cathedral

Basilica of St. George

Posing with Superman at the Toy and Barbie Museum in the Castle Quarter...who knew?

Trdelnik's - a Prague pastry type thing - kind of cool to watch them make.  

They taste pretty good - kind of like a sugar donut.

The view looking up St. Wenceslas Square ('good King Wenceslas' from Christmas Carol fame...).  He became canonized a saint after his murder in the late 10th century and is credited with Christianizing his nation.

This is the area of Prague known as the New Town and is the site where Czechs and Slovaks gathered every evening in November of 1989 when they believed freedom was at hand.  Also the sight of the Velvet Revolution - when 30,000 students started what was to become the beginning of the end of the rule of the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia.  

The National Museum

St. Wenseslas statue

With this we headed back to our car and out of the Czech Republic.  We had a little detour, as we missed a turn at one point and instead of our GPS turning us around, it just re-routed us, so we took an unexpected tour of the Czech countryside.  It never ceases to amaze just how harrowing some of the roads can be when you get outside of a city - many are so narrow two cars can't fit on them simultaneously, so one is forced to pull over...many games of 'chicken' have been played since we've lived here!

So began the last leg of our trip, into Berlin.  We thought we'd see how we were doing in Prague, then decide whether or not we'd get to Berlin.  At this point, we were hanging in there pretty well, so felt like Berlin would be a good place to wrap it up.  Berlin, the capital of Germany, is a little different than most European cities that we've seen, in that it doesn't necessarily have a 'city center' like most others do.  Not knowing a whole lot about the city before going there, I'd always felt like West Berlin would be where we'd be spending most of our time, but not so, East Berlin is where most of the historical sights and things to see are located.  Since being reunified in 1989, a lot of work has apparently been done to the city - and it's apparent, as Berlin is very beautiful.  We didn't really want to spend more than two nights there, so since we got in so late Monday night, and we had a long drive back to Brussels on Wednesday, Tuesday was our only day to explore this large city of three million.  And explore we did - leaving our hotel around 11AM and not getting back until close to midnight!  We were exhausted, but satisfied - we hit all the sights we wanted to.

Berlin Cathedral

Egyptian Museum on museum island.

'Mother with Her Dead Son' - in the 'Neue Wache' (new Guardhouse).  When the wall fell, this memorial to the victims of fascism was turned into a national memorial.  This small little building also holds the tombs of Germany's unknown soldier and the unknown concentration camp victim.  It was pretty powerful.  

Will and Vader outside Brandenburg Gate.

Brandenburg Gate - the grandest and last survivor of 14 gates in Berlin's old city wall.  

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.  The first and only government sponsored Holocaust Memorial .  It consists of all of these concrete pillars - a symbolic cemetery, with a museum tucked underneath.  The museum studies the Nazi system of extermination, humanizes the victims and traces stories of individual families and personal accounts.  Because kids aren't allowed, I went first, but it took so much time that Scott never ended up going through, which is too bad...it was very hard to see, but also something that all people should see...brought back a lot of feelings from when Nick and I visited Auschwitz.  Apparently Hitler's bunker is about 200 yards from here, but intentionally left hidden to discourage neo-Nazis from creating a shrine.  

Some of the faces of the Holocaust.

The backside of Brandenburg Gate - where President Reagan gave his famous speech...'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall...'

Memorial to politicians Who Opposed Hitler, just outside the Reichstag.  A small little memorial of slate slabs dedicated to the memory of the 96 politicians who were murdered and persecuted because their politics didn't jive with Hitler's.  Each slab honors one man - his name, party and date and location of his death.  It's very small - if not for 'Rick' I would've thought they were some sort of crazy bike rack or something. 

The Reichstag building - the heart of German Democracy.  Apparently one of Germany's biggest tourist attractions.  I have to be honest and say I had absolutely no desire to go in, and we didn't.  The line was ridiculous. 

A palace that was used to house Nazi VIP's.

A stop in Berlin's 'Central Park' - Tiergarten park.

Part of the Berlin Wall on display in Potsdamer Platz, the 'Times Square' of Berlin .

Museum of the Wall at Checkpoint Charlie - the famous border checkpoint between the American and Soviet sectors.

The red spray paint on the wall reads "To Astrid, maybe someday we will be together again."  A common message of hopeful reunion found on the former Berlin Wall.

Checkpoint Charlie

If you look close enough you can see Spider Man has his web wrapped around Will - I unfortunately had the flash turned off...

Brandenburg Gate at night

The American Embassy - located in prime real estate next to Brandenburg Gate.

So that's it, and eight hours after leaving Berlin on Wednesday morning we arrived back in Brussels.  That was our longest drive - and we all felt it - especially Bo!  I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be able to travel like this.  Not only to see all these things but also to learn some history along the way...I've discovered I know a sad little amount of Western European history - or maybe I've just forgotten.  Anyway, this has been an awesome chance to get to know a little more about it all.