August - September
European Vacation
Okay, I should have posted each leg of the trip separately, but too late. Here is our wonderful family vacation... from last year.
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| Lots of lions George had been watching the Lion King a lot right before this trip, so the lions in the art was fun for him. |
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| Lots of Museums |
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| Lots of subway trains |
We started our adventure in...
Berlin, Germany
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| Reichstag George enjoyed running like mad all over the grassy lawn in front of this histoical building. |
Berlin bear
They were all over the city.
Berlin Dom
A gorgeous cathedral inside and out.
Brandenburg Gate
We took trains from city to city . On our way to...Dresden, Germany
We left George's puppy dog pillow on the train! We were all heart broken. I felt sick, wondering "Will he ever sleep without his comfort pillow?". George was crying. He wanted and needed some comfort and familiarity in his puppy dog. And Chris was frustrated that we had to spend some crazy amount of money to buy some sort of replacement. Luckily for us a toy store was just outside the train station. George was appeased with a Finn McMissle stuffed toy car and a Lightning McQueen toy car. For the rest of the trip we guarded these with our lives! George has not become as attached to any object since, which is beneficial for all our future travels.
George and his last moments with puppy dog pillow. Such a pricelss photo.
After dealing with this crisis we set out to explore Dresden, a beautiful, old city. The architecture and design of the old buildings was awe inspiring.
Crown Gate of the Zwinger Palace
There is always something under construction and it was closed the day we were there.
Hofkirche (court church)
Semperoper (opera house)
We went on a boat ride/tour on the Elbe River. It was beautiful. This is the city of Dresden as seen from our boat.
I loved how the houses are built up on the hill nestled among the trees. Wouldn't you just love to live in one of those houses and look out on the Elbe River all day?
Statue of Martin Luther in front of the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady)
We loved Dresden. The small village feel of the city was refreshing after the busy-ness of Berlin.
Now onto..
Freiberg, Germany
A wonderful restaurant we found in the small town.
Great atmosphere
Great food
The best part, Freiberg Temple.
Next we went to...
Prague, Czech Republic
The astronomical clock in the city square with moving parts and chimes on the hour.
The Charles Bridge
We loved the different architecture in Prague. There were buildings from every era and time period in this ancient city.
We benefited greatly from a local tour guide, Renatta. She was well educated and spoke fluent english. We would not have learned or appreciated the unique history of this ancient city and country without her.
Now, we take off for...
Vienna, Austria
Statue of Mozart
The gardens of Schloss Schonbrunn (Schonbrunn Palace)
As we flipped through the channels on our hotel room tv, we were surprised to see an American football game. It's the European League. Since we were in Austria, we were rooting for the Austrians.
In one of the subway stations we found...
Yep, listen to opera music while you take care of business. You have to love Vienna!
Our last stop...
Salzburg, Austria
This is a beautiful city.
We met a wonderful man named Gerhardt. He was a sausage vendor at the stand which was on our way to and from our hotel. He was so sweet. We visited him often during our a few days there.
Many scenes from The Sound of Music were filmed here or inspired the hollywood sets.
This graveyard inspired the escape scene in the movie.
This is the entrance to the music hall where the music festival/competition was held which the Von Trapps won and then started their escape. There really is an annual music festival held here. It is literally cut and carved into the stone mountain.
Do you recognize this little man from the Do-Re-Mi song? There is a whole garden of little elf/trolls. And yes George is jumping. He had fun in this garden of little stone people just his size.
This is Maribel Gardens. They are beautiful and maticulously manicured. Chris wants this type of garden in our dream house. My requirement is that it comes with a gardener! The fountain in the background and the steps in the foreground are where all the fun choreographed dancing happened during the Do-Re-Mi song.
I have confidence...
I am sixteen going on seventeen...
Sometime in my youth or childhood...
The Sound of Music Tour was GREAT! We got to see so much of the countryside of Salzburg, mountains, lakes and all while listening to the soundtrack.
So many other great pictures, but this one sums it up. Great scenery provided by nature, great laughter provided by George and Chris, great memories created by all of us and documented by Kathy...finally!!!
