We have definitely been around and seen some things. The pace we have been keeping has been wearing on us a bit and not leaving much time for relaxing and blogging. Now we are on the final leg and ready to slow it down a bit and get ready to come back home (yikes).
So I guess we left off in Munich. Aside from Jami’s random mentions of other locations. We found a hotel a little outside of Munich that was actually a pretty good setup except it looked like an old military barracks then again, most buildings in that area do. This is when Jami hit peak cold. I went off in the AM on a solo mission for drugs and tasty breakfast delights. Luckily I was victorious with a quick walk to a pharmacy and a bakery. After waiting a while for the drugs to kick in we set on our way to wonder around Munich. We saw a couple of the big landmarks, and a cool little farmer’s market with a big beer garden. Unfortunately Miss Sniffles wasn’t doing too well so beer was not on the menu. Jami re-drugged and we headed to Dachau. After figuring out what we needed to pump into the GPS to get to the camp we arrive and take a look around. Quite an experience even though I have no direct connections to what went on. We finished up there and put some miles behind us making our way to south east Germany and to a little town called Berchtesgaden. Actually a pretty awesome little town, similar to Banff or Canmore. It was meant to be our home base for explorations to Hitler’s Tea house / Eagles Nest. Unfortunately we found out it isn’t open until sometime in May. Crazy that we never picked up on that in all we read about it.
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So instead we started our way to Austria. Kind of weird changing countries in Europe. On smaller roads you have no idea you even crossed a border. We bought our window sticker for driving in Austria and filled up in a little town we think was close to the border but have no clue. We entered Salzburg not knowing what to expect or find but the main attraction is pretty evident once you make your way into the city. There is a massive castle in the center of town on a huge hill. Easy to figure out where you are heading. We found a parkade near it and started the walk up. Did a quick guided tour of the Hohensalzburg Fortress. It started out a little hut on the hill and everyone that took over wanted to make it their own by adding on it. After 400 of years of people doing that it can really gain some size. There were some neat surrounding buildings we took a quick peak at but Jami wasn’t quite 100% yet and we planned to be through Austria and into Venice by the night so we got moving.
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Driving in Austria was pretty much a mirror of Germany, big efficient highways led us around the mountains and quite often through them. I was thinking that we may miss out on big tunnels not going through Switzerland in our journey but I was way off. Austria, Italy and France have all had impressive tunnels and bridges. I think the longest we have seen so far was about 8km long straight through a huge mountain. So much for the avalanche tunnels in Revelstoke.
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We rolled into Venice and found a big parking lot near the bridge to the island. We found a spot and grabbed our bags and headed for the bus. At this point I hadn’t found a new sim card for my phone and we felt kind of naked with out the warm blanket of internet knowledge when we needed it. As we found out Jami and I are not natural travelers. I really knew nothing of Venice other that what I had seen in movies and didn’t do any reading on it. We managed to load up on a bus and head over to the island. As it was getting late and we had no clue where our hotel was we attempted to speak to a cab driver. He chuckled and said no you need to take a water taxi. Shortly after that I had realized the reasoning for the chuckle. Most of the streets in Venice you can’t walk two people side by side let alone drive a cab down them. For some reason not having streets hadn’t been an option in my head. Spent two days walking around Venice, took a Gondola ride, had some good meals by the canal and then set our sights on Rome.
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We jumped on the water bus as we had learned it is much cheaper than the water taxis. This one was free in fact as the guy running the ramps was too lazy to collect money from me and just nodded to me to not worry about it. Works for me! Got ourselves a bus ticket and made it back to the car unscathed. Another travel victory. Rome had been bugging me as we were not sure how close we wanted to stay to the city center. I wasn’t a big fan of driving in Rome as I remembered from our last trip the mess that they call traffic. The travel pace and miles we were weighing on me a bit and simple decisions seemed a lot more stressful. Eventually we found a nice little hotel that was right in front of a bus stop that took us to the train. Big (free) parking lot, wifi, everything we needed. Jami and I checked in and hopped on the bus for a trial run to the station. I am still not sure if we were in a slum or that is just how Rome is but Jami and I were both ready to get back into the room and lock the door after finding a quick meal at a restaurant near the station. In the daylight everything seemed a lot nicer and we got up and headed for Rome.
I was a little saddened as we came up to the Colosseum and Jami inquired what exactly it was used for. But after a quick tour and some wikipedia she is an expert. She has a unique way of touring. She asks me to show her things I think she may find neat, she critiques their neatness and if they are worthy will spend the time she needs learning all about them. Ask her about the Munich Massacre, Michelangelo, or anything Pope related and she will amaze you. Rome was good and we covered serious ground on the first day but had missed the Vatican so day two was required. We found another hotel near the ring highway that circles Rome which had a free shuttle to the train so we were set. Vatican museum had a huge lineup already by the time we made it in. It was the beginning of Easter weekend kicking our asses. There was a reserved for internet tickets lineup. Pulled the iphone out and started at it. Reserved tickets, paid them online and got a confirmation they would send vouchers in a few minutes. After 10 or so went by we thought it may be a defeat and went to the long normal lineup. As we settled in *ding* I got an email. We bailed out of line and showed the guard my phone with a code to get us in (everyone else had printed paper) and crossed our fingers. We made it through and chuckled at people in the long the lineup as we headed in. After a few hours of the museum and getting cultured we made our way to St. Peter’s Square to head into the basilica. Wow. In a square made for hundreds of thousands of people there was a lineup that went clear across it to get into the church. Our shuttle pickup was in an hour so unfortunately we didn’t make it in. We were pretty disappointed but again the plan was to be in Florence that night so the show had to go on. Maybe a good reason for another trip later on. Jami was consoled by McDonalds.
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Our hotel in Florence was a bit off the beaten path but because it is a much smaller city we still managed a free shuttle that was only 10 minutes. Easter was in full swing and everything was pretty busy. The Duomo climb was closed but the bell tower was open. We visited all the sites, headed up the bell tower and still found some time to get Jami her only required purchase of the trip, an Italian leather jacket. The internet reservation worked again for the Academy Gallery. Bob – 2, Suckers – 0.
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Pisa was the next stop on the list. Took us a little while to find parking and get close because traffic was thick. We thought it may be because of Easter again but instead found a full size accordion bus which failed to make a turn and was stuck entering a bus stop leaving only one lane open. Once we passed that we tested out my reverse side parralel parking skills and we went on our way. Like we had been told, there wasn’t much to be seen, so after a lap of the courtyard, the cliche holding up photos and Jami’s first experience with pay per use washrooms we hit the road again heading to Nice.
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Will update some more later but I have been informed Jami requires breakfast immediately. Au revoir for now!