Hannah's Short Wrap-Up

As Jeremiah said, I had to write my own wrap up to our Europe trip as well! I just couldn't leave it with my last post. I have too many thoughts about the trip as a whole to do that! 

First off, I am so glad that Jeremiah and I decided to do this trip. Thanks to my sister and brother-in-law for planting the idea in our heads! I learned so much from the trip, both before with the planning and during the trip with the newness and uncertainty of it all. 

I am so grateful to Jeremiah for being my travel partner! Take him along if you want to go to Europe! First of all, before we left he was so on top of printing every document off and getting things done early. If you know him at all, that shouldn't surprise you! But during the trip he always remained calm when I got a little stressed, he downloaded an app for every country's metro system I'm pretty sure, he was directing me which way to go, he wasn't afraid to ask questions, and he put up with some seriously bad allergies with a mostly positive attitude. I was definitely lucky to have him by my side! 

As for traveling itself, I learned that pretty much everyone speaks English everywhere! It makes me want to learn all of their languages because we were always so relieved when people spoke English! I felt bad or ignorant for not speaking their language! I also learned that Europe has some amazing public transportation. The U.S. should take a page out of their book! The trains are going everywhere, all the time. 

Jeremiah and I feel like expert backpackers now! We had an overnight train, a very early flight, a last minute Hostel booking, a cancelled Airbnb, long walks with our huge backpacks, hand-washed our laundry, found and used a laundromat for the first time, rotated through only 4 shirts, and the list goes on! 

Of course, not everything was perfect (definitely not), and we certainly aren't actually "experts," but I am grateful for every part of this Europe trip and happy I could do it with my best friend! Thanks for reading everyone! As Jeremiah said, check back for updates on his internship and come September, more stories from my experiences abroad, but solo this time! 

Also, if anyone is curious and looking into backpacking yourself, I took a couple of pictures of what I brought, though these pictures don't include everything. Big backpack: 4 shirts (1 long sleeve, 1 t-shirt, 2 nicer shirts), two pants, two shorts, one maxi skirt, one jacket, one dress, flip flops, sneakers, Keens, two plastic bags, mini straightener, microfiber towel, sleep sack, toiletries.

Small backpack: Umbrella, Passport, phone charger, outlet converter, three small locks, one padlock, reusable water bottle, two books, journal, pen, money, money belt, credit cards, sunglasses, go pro, selfie stick.

 

Where Did My Four Weeks Go??

Well, it's finally come: my final blog post about our Europe trip. After two final days in London (for the second time, yes) we are at last wrapping up our four-week backpacking adventure through ten different cities in seven different countries with an eleven-hour direct flight back to Los Angeles, where Hannah's parents will meet us and drive us six more hours back home to Phoenix. That's our trip by the numbers, so to speak!

So what did we do with our two "bonus" days in London? Well, having been thoroughly convinced of the value of Sandeman's free walking tours in Berlin, Munich, and Paris, we decided we needed to do their London tour as well. And it was well worth it! We had a very good guide, who took us to Covent Gardens (which isn't actually a garden), St. James' Palace, Buckingham Palace, St. James' Park, Big Ben, and Parliament Square, and a few other places. Though we'd seen several of these stops during our stay in May, it was nice to hear more about the history of it all.

By the way, if you'd shown this post to fifteen-year-old Jeremiah, he probably wouldn't have believed that twenty-year-old Jeremiah actually wrote it, based on that last sentence alone. I used to hate history. It was my least favorite subject all throughout school. But after these last four weeks in Europe, I think I've developed a better appreciation for it! I still would never take a history class of my own free will, but I think there's something to be said for experiencing it in a different way. If only I could've been given a free walking tour of Ancient Mesopotamia, the Vietnam War, and everything in between.

On that tour, we stopped by Trafalgar Square. You know, the one with the big lions you can climb on? Except this day, you couldn't. There were temporary walls set up all around the square, covered by posters advertising an event called West End Live. Our guide told us that it was an event going on this weekend meant to celebrate the culture of West End, known mostly for its plethora of big-time musical theater shows. And how better to celebrate that than with free, live musical numbers from some of the best musicals in the area? Hannah and I looked at each other like, "Uh, yeah, we have to go to that!" So we made plans to go the next afternoon, during our last day in London.

First, though, we spent the morning of our last day visiting King's Cross Station to see Platform 9-3/4. We were a bit underwhelmed; I think we'd expected to see the actual platform where they'd filmed the Harry Potter scenes, but in retrospect, I suppose it'd be silly to dedicate an entire, functional train platform to a spot for tourists and Harry Potter fanatics. Still, it was kinda neat! They had a queue set up where you could wait to get your picture taken with props that made it look like you were disappearing into the wall to get to the platform. They even made it some poor sap's job to hold your scarf and toss it into the air during pictures for a more realistic running effect. We got some good shots! And we also stopped by the Harry Potter Shop, where they sold really neat but really overpriced HP merchandise. It was fun to look through stuff and decide which characters had the best wands.

We then took a nice long walk through cool, cloudy weather to get to the West End Live event at Trafalgar Square. It was even more impressive than I expected! They had the actual casts of all their local shows performing numbers straight out of the musicals! We saw stuff from Phantom, Les Mis, Mamma Mia, Jersey Boys, and several other shows. It was perfect weather for the event (by Arizonan standards at least), but after a few hours, our feet were aching. We checked the schedule and didn't see any other shows we recognized, so we decided to walk up to Oxford Street for some window shopping and Ben's Cookies.

By the way, I know in my May post I mentioned that Ben's Cookies were great, but I think we must've caught them on an off-day last time, because this time they were about ten times better. We got three cookies to share the first day, and went back for two more the second day because they were so amazing. Our favorite was the oatmeal raisin. It was so, so soft, which was miraculous because they didn't achieve this by under-baking the cookie. Somehow they've managed to make thick, fully baked cookies that maintain the soft, moist texture of underdone cookies. Our May cookies were drier and crumbly in comparison. Still great, but nothing like the cookies we had this time around. They may very well be the best cookies I've ever had. Only Paradise Bakery can compete!

After killing some time in the stores on Oxford Street, we wandered through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens to see Kensington Palace again, since it's only about ten minutes from our hostel. Then the clouds, which had looked ominous all day, finally opened up with some rain, and since we didn't have anything else planned for the day, we went and found a cheap dinner and went back to our hostel. Good thing we did, because it only rained harder after we got back! Still, it was a really great last day in London - and all of Europe, for that matter.

So, yeah! That's our four weeks in Europe! It feels weird to think of going back to ordinary life, where we don't need WiFi to access the Internet, where we have more than four shirts to pick from, where we can't eat pastries and cookies and gelato every day because we're using cars - not our feet - to take us everywhere.

Mostly, though, it's just crazy to think that this enormous trip, conceived almost a full year ago, is coming to a close. Once we began actively planning, it felt like I'd divided up the timeline of 2015 into two parts: before Europe, and after Europe. Now that this whole trip is behind us, it's time to take the leap into the second part of this year, which will be highlighted by my internship with Medtronic, Hannah's twelve weeks abroad in Costa Rica, and the start of my SENIOR YEAR OF COLLEGE. Like, seriously, where has the time gone?

Maybe that's why it feels so difficult to end this trip. Putting Europe behind me inherently reminds me of how close I am to the rest of my life - my last year of undergrad, the start of my Master's, and the beginning of my career. I'm in such a pivotal point in my life! And it's scary! But it's also REALLY exciting. So don't mistake my shock for fear and my nostalgia for sadness. I'm stoked for what lies ahead, and even more stoked to go through it all with Hannah by my side.

And of course, you can continue to read about it! The end of our Europe trip does not mean the end of our blog. It is, after all, named after us, and we will continue to exist after our trip. Granted, our lives won't be quite as interesting to you, or at least not in the same way, so don't be expecting posts every three days like we've done this last month! We'll probably go back to a monthly schedule under the facade of posting "every two weeks." I mean, that's practically our trademark.

Thanks to those of you who have loyally read every one of our nine posts on Europe! Hannah's gonna have one more coming soon after this one, to do her own little wrap-up of our adventure. So keep an eye out for that, and I'll see you in a month!

Er, my mistake. See you in "two weeks" ;)

Pariseauxtre

Did you think we'd forgotten to write? It's been awhile! At least, for a backpacking trip that is go go go it's been awhile. We spent the past five nights in Paris, France! That's a pretty long time in backpacking terms, but it seemed to fly by. Before I begin, I have to explain the title. Jeremiah was humorously annoyed at how the end of French words is often silent. He kept saying the end of the word and I would correct him, saying it should be silent, but then he would just go off about how if you don't say the end of the word no one can know exactly what word you're meaning. For example, we had a semi-lengthy conversation about how "le" and "les" sound the same, but you would have no idea if you're referring to the plural or not. Soooo we created a nonsensical title where the end is silent to represent our frustration with this particular part of the French language. Actually, it's just his frustration. It doesn't really bother me at all.

We arrived after a long day on a few different trains from Switzerland. While Switzerland was absolutely beautiful and one of my favorite places, it's not exactly the most convenient for traveling to and from. But nonetheless we made it to Paris. We found our Airbnb stay quickly, but it was an apartment building with a bunch of people and we had a hard time getting into the building because we couldn't figure out how to get someone to buzz us in. We eventually were able to walk in after some people, but then none of the doors were labelled so we didn't know which door was his! We ran into a woman and asked her if she recognized the man we were supposed to be staying with... She didn't, but we had his number so she called him for us and was able to figure out which apartment room we needed to be at! She was so helpful and we were so appreciative of her kindness!! We have encountered some very helpful and kind people on this trip which has been a big blessing. So it was almost looking like another bad Airbnb situation, but not to worry! It worked out! It turned out that it was a very small apartment that he owns and just rents out so we got the little place to ourselves! Complete with a balcony which we enjoyed. 

Where we were located was in the heart of an area called Montmartre. Basically it's more of an artsy, contemporary area of Paris, and located in the middle of that at the top of the hill is the Sacre Couer Basilica. We walked up the many steps to the top for a beautiful view of Paris and also to tour the Basilica. It was very crowded in the area, but we still enjoyed the Basilica and also enjoyed walking around Montmartre. It is really cool to see all of the people walking the streets eating crepes, sitting outside the open restaurants drinking wine, and artists up and down the street, it felt very Parisian to me... Or what I imagine Paris to be anyway! 

The next day we found a bakery right by our apartment for breakfast and it was amazing. The pastries were so good, it was nearly magical! Jeremiah and I were so impressed that we subsequently made that our breakfast spot for the following few days! Pastries in hand, we found another free walking tour by the same company with whom we did our last two free walking tours. It didn't disappoint! We were taken past Notre Dame, the love lock bridge, Saint Chapelle, the Louvre, The Tuileries Garden, and many more places! We've really liked these walking tours because they take us all over the city and give so many great stories and history. Plus, they're free (minus the tip)! The end of the tour left us at the end of the Champs Élysées, so we grabbed some crepes and wandered up the Champs Élysées in and out of a few shops toward the Arc de Triomph. The crepes were also amazing, by the way. The Arc de Triomphe is surrounded by one of the largest roundabouts in the world and it seems like complete chaos! So we were glad to only be looking at it, not driving in it. We got to the Arc under the street and it is massive! A very cool sight to see with a little memorial underneath it that we visited. Then we went back to Notre Dame to visit the inside. Yet another beautiful church! Notre Dame has a bit of a different feel to it though... Darker and more gothic I would say, but just as great! We ended the night back at Montmartre wandering around the area again. We just really enjoyed the atmosphere there! 

The second full day we decided to visit the Chateau de Versailles. WOW. You've probably heard it mentioned before, the gaudy and gorgeous and over-the-top Versailles. Yes, it is all of those things. I had been there before, but it is still just as impressive the second time. Unfortunately it was packed that day!! The line to get in took about an hour and a half. But once we finally got into the palace we got audio guides and took our time wandering through the rooms and staring open mouthed at the gold and glass and glitter! Versailles also has very extensive gardens which we looked at but didn't wander through because apparently on Tuesdays it cost 10 extra  Euro just for the garden! Other days it's free... Seriously? We were kind of annoyed, but we still enjoyed our time there. Plus we found another small nearby park to enjoy our lunch in. 

Once back in Paris we went to the Eiffel Tower! And don't worry, we were extra aware of possible pick pocketers! I was extra aware our whole time in Paris actually! Anyway, we visited perhaps the most iconic part of Paris and it is very impressive! It's bigger than I remembered and Jeremiah and I spent awhile just taking pictures and admiring it. We walked slowly under and past it and then sat on a nearby bench for awhile. It was nice to just take the time to appreciate it. We decided we didn't need to go up in it because we had already gotten a great view of the city from the Sacre Couer. The rest of the day we pretty much just wandered around the city until it got dark and we went back up to that very spot at the Sacre Couer to see the Eiffel Tower lit up! While we waited for it to get dark we got to see a very nice sunset as well. 

Now you'll never guess what we did our next full day! Or maybe you will if you know the two of us well... We decided to go to Disneyland Paris! At the beginning of our trip we had decided that we were definitely not going to go, because we've been to Disney so many times before that it wouldn't be worth our time in Paris. But as it got closer and closer we kept thinking about how fun and once-in-a-lifetime it would be and decided to go for it. We were very happy with our decision. We took the train out, got a park hopper ticket for the two parks there, and spent the whole day there! It was really fun to compare it to Disneyland and Disney World. We did some of our favorites like Thunder Mountain and Rock'n'Roller Coaster and tried some new rides like their Indiana Jones, Ratatouille, and Crush's Coaster. While we have of course loved every experience from our trip, this one holds a different special place in our hearts because we are just both huge Disney fans! It was a really fun day and a nice way to switch things up and add in a little piece of home into our Europe vacation! 

For our last full day in Paris we first went to Sainte Chapelle. It's a church with basically wall to wall stained glass! Holy cow, it's beautiful! The stained glass is so intricate and lights up the whole chapel. Not only that, but all of the detailed stained glass is a depiction of many of the books of the Bible. It's really incredible. Then we ventured over to the Louvre to spend basically the rest of the day! I'm sure you've heard of the Louvre as well... The world's largest museum! I'm convinced you could spend weeks in there. Well, if you read everything you could spend weeks in there. We just spent a majority of the day, and I feel like we only scraped the surface. Of course we first stopped by the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. Two of the classics that you basically have to see if you go there. It's pretty crazy to see the number of people crowding around the tiny Mona Lisa painting! Especially because on the opposite wall there is a massive painting that only a few people seem to pay any attention to. After we made the obligatory stops we just wandered in whichever direction we felt like going. I enjoyed the Egyptian, Greek, and Oriental Antiques the most. But really half the experience is just being in awe of the sheer number and variety of pieces they have. The museum's collection is incredible. I have no idea how they obtained quite as much as they have! We were pretty wiped out after that, but we stopped to have a nice dinner on our last night in Paris. Jeremiah's parents generously offered to pay for a nice dinner out for us! Thank you Dwights! We both have such awesome, generous parents. Our dinner was delicious and a great way to wrap up our time in France.

Very early this morning (I'm talking 4 am!!) we got up to gather our stuff and get to our plane flight back to London! I apologize if it seems like I lacked creativity in this post, but I am blaming it on the long day that I've just had! I've basically been on my feet since 4 am, so you can't blame me! Stay tuned for our wrap up in London!! 

An Alpine Adventure

Almost every summer from fourth grade to my freshman year of college, my family and I would travel to Colorado Springs for a long weekend to relax with lots of our extended family in a cabin up in the Rocky Mountains. Half the fun is being with family I haven't seen since the previous year, but the other half of what makes that a fun experience is simply being in the beautiful mountain scenery for a few days. Its tree-covered mountains and beautiful weather are just incredible!

Well, after a weekend in the Swiss Alps, I've realized that the Rockies are just Alpine wannabes. Everything I love about the Colorado scenery is multiplied tenfold in Switzerland. It is absolutely stunning.

This realization began the moment we opened our window shades on the EuroNight train we took from Austria to Switzerland. We'd just had a very long night: our train departed Salzburg at 10:30 pm; we had a three-hour layover in Bischofshofen; and then we managed about five hours of sleep in very cramped beds on our night train. For Hannah, the bed was the perfect length. But I'm 11 inches taller, and those 11 inches translated to a rather uncomfortable night of on-and-off sleeping. Still, the night train was a good experience overall - certainly a convenient way to get from one city to another without wasting much daylight! Anyway, we were pleasantly surprised with a free breakfast on the train, and while we were eating, we worked up the courage to open the shades and let some light into our dark little cave. We were greeted with our first view of the Alps: an impossibly blue lake surrounded by gorgeous, green mountains. And it only got better from there!

One train transfer and a few hours later, we arrived in Interlaken. It's a quaint little town filled with stereotypical Alpine-looking homes, and it sits right at the base of a mountain and in between two lakes. Very picturesque. We walked across town (which only took thirty minutes) to our hostel, The Tent Village. It is exactly what it sounds like: a bunch of tents. Not the camping kind - significantly larger, and more permanent. Each tent is set up on a wooden platform resembling a shipping pallet, and inside are three bunk beds and a power strip to charge electronics. Though it's definitely the strangest place we've stayed so far, we knew what we were getting into, and it actually turned out to be a fine place to stay. We were sufficiently warm at night, and they had decent shower/toilet facilities and free WiFi. What more do you need when you're backpacking?

That afternoon we went back up to the north end of town near the train station, where the nearest mountain lies. As you'd imagine, there are plenty of hiking trails in the area, and this mountain was no exception! The trail we took leads to a great viewing spot near the top of the mountain, but since it was already mid-afternoon, we didn't have time to hike the whole thing. Still, we made it up about half way, and we found several great spots along the way from which to view the town and the lakes it lays between. It was at this point that Hannah pointed out that this geographical feature must give rise to the town's name. We never verified, but we assume Interlaken translates to "between lakes." I know, it seems like a bit of a reach. I really don't know how Hannah came up with that.

After our hike, we walked to a nearby supermarket for a cheap dinner that we ate on a bench at the edge of one of the lakes. It was very windy and cold so close to the lake, so we didn't stay long, but it was still a nice way to enjoy both our dinner and the Swiss scenery!

It is at this point that I would like to digress on the outrageous cost of living in Switzerland. I knew going into it that stuff cost more money there, but I was still shocked. Examples include 11 francs for a burger, fries, and a drink from a little fast food place; 2 francs for a single donut from the grocery store; 6 francs for a simple stuffed bear on a keychain. (One franc is slightly more than a dollar, to give you an idea of the price in American money.) Needless to say we didn't buy any of that stuff. We did our best to stick to the things we thought were priced most reasonably, but that was pretty tough to do. It's like the Swiss think that just because they make fancy knives and watches, they're allowed to stamp the "Swiss-made" label on any of their products, and raise the price accordingly.

Honestly, though, that was the only bad thing I could say about Switzerland. If you think of the ludicrous prices as normal prices that include a tax on viewing the beautiful Alpine scenery, then it's really not so unreasonable. I'd totally pay money to see those gorgeous mountains again in person.

It is with that frame of mind that we embarked on a day trip to Zermatt the following day. It took us three trains and two hours to get there, and we thought that each leg of the journey was covered by our Eurail passes. <Insert buzzer sound> WRONG. Turns out the only way to get to Zermatt is via a private railway company for which a Eurail pass gets you a 25% discount, but not a free ride. So it cost us 54 francs each for a round trip ticket to Zermatt, but it was worth it. Zermatt is home of the Matterhorn, possibly the single best-known Alpine mountain. When we arrived, the Matterhorn was shrouded in clouds, so we decided to go on a little hike and check back later in the afternoon.

Our trek took us to this place called Gorner Gorge, where a wooden pathway takes you over a deep gorge cut out by a small but tumultuous river. We had no idea whether it was actually that beautiful until we entered, so the cost of 4.50 francs per person gave us some pause. After all, we'd just paid an unexpected 54 francs each just to get to this city.

As we were standing there debating whether to go, a middle-aged man sitting nearby asked us where we were from. We told him, and he reciprocated an answer; turns out he was from Sacramento, California, not far from where Hannah lived for a short while about ten years ago! He told us that his wife and daughter had gone through the gorge because it was supposed to be beautiful, but that he stayed behind because he wasn't in great condition for the hike. Then he goes, "Hey! Know what? I'll pay for you two to go!" We politely declined, but he insisted, "Yeah! You guys aren't sure whether to go, so I'll make the decision easy for you!" He handed the worker the money and told us to have a good time. We were stupefied by his spontaneous generosity, and thanked him profusely! I made a fool of myself by offering him a cookie in return,  which he graciously accepted, and then we were on our way!

Even if we had paid the money ourselves, Gorner Gorge would have been totally worth it. We got some awesome views of the river beneath us, and after following the trail into the mountains some more, we found a clear spot that gave us a view of the Matterhorn less covered by clouds. We sat down and munched on some chocolate we'd bought from a local chocolatier in Interlaken that morning, and waited patiently for the clouds to move away. And they did! Finally we got a clear look at the most stunning mountain I've ever seen! Though I'm sure people back in town had a clear view of it as well, it was neat to think that Hannah and I had found our own view of it, one that nobody else shared, at least not at that particular time. It sounds silly, but that added a lot of meaning to our hike through Gorner Gorge, and to the afternoon in general.

That evening we treated ourselves to a fondue dinner at a small restaurant in Zermatt. Actually, it was technically the treat of Hannah's parents, who had generously given us money to use specifically for a nicer dinner amidst all the cheaper, often thrown-together meals on our trip. So thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Warren! It was a delicious meal! We started with a bowl of bouillon soup, made extra delicious because of the Swiss way of eating it:  you toss in chunks of cheese, so that once you take a spoonful of the rich, savory soup, you bite into the delicious, soup-softened cheese. It's revolutionary! And the fondue - man, the fondue. That is some sinfully delicious stuff. It comes with potatoes and bread, neither of which was anything special, but that's okay, because really they're nothing more than a medium to transport the cheese to your mouth in a socially acceptable manner.

Possibly the most memorable aspect of the dinner, though, was that this old man who didn't speak any English (seemingly the owner of the restaurant, or at least we hope so!) came over several times to show us Neanderthals how to properly eat our dinner. For example, we weren't sure what to do with the solid cheese that came with the soup, but he showed us that we needed to break it up and toss it in the soup. And when the fondue arrived, he taught us to twist our skewer precisely ten times over the pot before putting the cheese-covered bread in our mouths. You don't skewer and dip the potatoes, though. You mash them on your plate and then use a separate spoon to ladle the cheese on top of the potatoes. At first I was like, "Who does this guy think he is, helping us eat our food?" But then I realized he's just showing the ignorant Americans how to eat food the Swiss way. And we were quite grateful to him for that! It'll be fun to feel more "in the know" next time we go to an American fondue place, like The Melting Pot.

Despite how long this blog post is, I feel like we hardly spent any time in Switzerland. It's probably best that we're already leaving since we're on a tight budget, but if money wasn't a concern, I would've liked to have stayed there all week! Apart from hikes, which are nice because they're free, there's a whole lot of cool outdoorsy stuff to do, from kayaking to river rafting to bungee jumping. Maybe some day, when I revisit Munich, I'll make a longer stop in Switzerland as well and try some of those more expensive excursions we didn't have the time or money for this weekend.

That being said, it was a fantastic two days in Switzerland. Today begins the final week of our journey, which we'll spend mostly in Paris!

Oh, and the food Austria is famous for? Turns out there's a couple things. First, "Mozart balls" are these truffles that have a pistachio marzipan center, a nougat middle layer, and a dark chocolate shell. They're delicious! But really, somebody needs to upbraid the Austrian Naming Committee, or whoever has authority to the same effect, because they're completely unoriginal in naming every other street, square, and dessert after Mozart. Second - and this one surprised me, because I thought it was a German dish - is Wiener schnitzel. It's actually the national dish of Austria. I know, right? Unfortunately we didn't get to try that because it's made with veal, so it's quite expensive and generally only served at sit-down restaurants, which we haven't been to very often on our trip. But that's okay - just one more thing to add to the itinerary for our future Europe trip that now includes Munich, Switzerland, and Austria. Good thing Hannah and I are planning on becoming independently wealthy.

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen Salzburg

Our most recent destination, Salzburg, Austria, has had Jeremiah and I singing songs from the Sound of Music movie for the past two days! Salzburg is well known for this movie and also because it is where Mozart was born and spent his early childhood. So there is a lot of musical history woven into Salzburg that Jeremiah and I definitely enjoyed, among other things!

Our train ride from Munich was beautiful. Hills and green and cute homes, sprawling farms. I am listening to a book on tape (thanks Emily!) so I get to enjoy the scenery as I enjoy a good book. It's perfect! We arrived from Munich in the evening and found our Airbnb home. A very nice, spacious room on the top floor of the man's home, backing right up to beautiful green mountains. Salzburg is more hilly than any place we'd been to so far. The mountains are covered in trees and, while we were there, low hanging clouds. Though we had wished the skies were more clear during our time there, we couldn't complain about the nearly perfect temperature!

Our first day there we decided to do a Hop On Hop Off tour that was audio guided. There were two different audio tracks, the City Information Track and the Sound of Music track. When we first got on the bus we rode the hour loop straight through listening to the city information track. This way we could just get a good view of the city and learn more about it and its history. Then we rode back through listening to the Sound of Music track and jumping on and off the bus at whatever stops looked most interesting. We spent the whole day doing so! We got to see Old Town Salzburg that had this amazing fortress at the top of a hill overlooking the town. We also went into a couple of gorgeous churches, passed by Mozart's birthplace and home, and went in and out of shops. We opted out of going into Mozart's homes and decided it was enough for us to just say that we saw them! We made a quick stop at the castle where the patio and lake scenes are filmed. You can only get a look at this castle from across a lake because it is not open to the public. Another stop was at Hellbrunn Castle where the Sound of Music Pavillion is located. I was very excited about seeing this Pavillion for some reason... Too bad we couldn't run around on the benches inside it! We took a few pictures there and wandered around the castle grounds and park. As always, beautifully green! I am not getting sick of this green at all! We also made a stop at Nonnberg Abbey and were able to go inside and heard the nuns singing and praying. Really cool experience! Also, of course got a picture of the gate where the children come asking for Maria! 

Our final stop was at Mirabell Gardens. These gardens are where many of the scenes from the "Do-Re-Mi" song were shot. Jeremiah and I had a great time remembering the scenes and trying to recreate parts of the song. Subsequently, we took many pictures! I loved the tour and being able to learn both about the city, about the movie, and about the actual Von Trapp family. I think the most interesting fact I learned was that in the movie at the very end where they were hiking across the mountain on their escape, if the actual Von Trapp family had tried to escape this way they would have eventually run into Hitler's summer villa which is located up in those mountains! The actual family just got on a train to Italy! If you haven't, I would suggest learning more about the actual Von Trapp family, it's interesting to see what, from the movie, is true and what is not. Anyway, we had a really great day living out the movie and exploring Salzburg.

On our second day in Salzburg, we started out heading for the Old Town area again. On our way there we ran into this huge market! There were endless booths of cheese, fruits, vegetables, meats, breads, and flowers. It was amazing. I wanted to by all of the fruit, it looked so good. After wandering through it for a bit, Jeremiah and I thought, why not get our lunch from here? So, we tried to be confident in making our purchases like the locals and found some salami, a baguette, a hunk of Parmesano Reggiano cheese, and a 1/2 kilogram of cherries. All of it was fresh and absolutely delicious! We found a spot on the Salzach river and enjoyed our fresh purchases. Turns out it was enough for dinner too! That may have been my favorite meal so far, probably partially because it was so fun to purchase from the market. Most of the day we just spent walking around the city, we walked halfway up to the fortress on the hill to get a nice view of the city, around the parks, across Mozart's foot bridge (everything is named after Mozart), and sat for a couple of hours in the park just reading and enjoying the day. I love these slower paced days where we can just stop and enjoy the city and its beauty. 

Tonight we are going to experience our first (and only) overnight train on our way to Interlaken, Switzerland! Wish us luck!