Welcome to my blog. I document my adventures in travel, style, and food. Hope you have a nice stay!
When the Seattle Times does its Pictures of the Year event, it's a must-see for us, and this year’s event a couple weeks ago was no exception. This year's presenters were Steve Ringman, Ramon Dompor, and Dean Rutz.
One night last month, Melody’s mom left a message. We found that she had done the same with Melody’s brother and sister, but no one was able to reach her. Melody finally connected and found out that Jean’s husband Ron had leukemia and didn’t have long to live. He passed away not long after, with all of his kids around him.
For our last full day in Berlin, we took it easy with a short walking tour near where we were staying. After spending time in a bookstore, we went to an organ concert in the French Cathedral.
We started the day by diving into the life of the East Germans at the DDR Museum then did a walking tour as we made our way to Alexanderplatz. That was the morning, and we took it easy in the afternoon.
We followed a different section of the Wall, this time starting at Checkpoint Charlie. After that, we wandered through the Gemäldegalerie, known for its European paintings from the 13th to the 18th centuries.
For our second full day in Berlin, we went to the Berlin Wall Memorial, then walked through the Old Jewish Quarter.
We went to the German Historical Museum which covers the years 500–1994, the Middle Ages through Unification. We then did a walking tour of Unter den Linden, which started at Pariser Platz to Museum Island, with a few diversions along the way.
Our last inter-city train ride began the last week of our trip. We arrived in Berlin and had some time to walk around the city a bit.
On our last full day in Munich, we went out to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. We then headed out to Werksviertel district to ride a Ferris wheel, hang out in a cafe, and go to a concert.
Melody and I did different things in the morning (Deutsches Museum for me, Alte Pinakothek for Melody). We met up for lunch at the Viktualienmarkt, then picked up some things that we skipped or were closed on our walking tour.
We finished our walking tour of Munich, but first, we went through the Resident Palace. All 100 rooms of it.
It was time to return to leave Austria and Germany. After arriving in Munich, we started a walking tour of the city. The timing worked out that we got to see the Town Hall's glockenspiel play.
For our last full day in Salzburg, we went to Hellbrunn Palace, famous for its trick foundations. For the afternoon, we took it easy and hung out in a café for a while.
On the agenda for this day we’re touring Mozart’s birth home, Hohensalzburg Fortress, and walking along Mönchsberg. Later, wanting to go to a concert in the city of Mozart, we did just that.
Our stay in Füssen was the shortest of the trip, and it was time to head into Austria. After getting settled in our apartment, we went into Salzburg to do a walking tour of Old Town.
While it was nice to walk around Füssen the day before, the reason we stayed there was because it was conveniently located to Schwangau with its two star attractions, Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, the Königsschlösser or the King’s castles. We spent most of the day in the area, and also did some hiking and took a ride up Tegelberg for the views.
Time for a travel day to the Bavarian Alps. After the trains, we arrived in Füssen and explored the town a bit.
For our last day in Cologne, we did probably the most popular tourist attractions, the Cologne Cathedral and the Chocolate Museum. While there were quite a few people at each, it’s easy to imagine how they could be so much more crowded.
We took our first side trip of this vacation, looking at the sights in the Middle Rhine Valley including a quick boat ride on the Rhine and visiting Rheinfels Castle.
The day started with a relaxing morning and a loop going across the Rhine. We then went to the Wallraf-Richartz Museum, relaxed at a café, then went a bit out of the city to a party.
