While Brian and I were really feeling the burn of our hike, we crossed paths with two Austrian Gentlemen in their 60s (or older), equipped with walking sticks and looking like they were out for a morning stroll. We smiled and nodded at each other as we crossed, just a little ways before the Austrian-German border. A few feet after we crossed, one of them turned around and started speaking to us in German, to which I responded, “Isch sprecken kein deustch.” Then, he repeated what sounded like “yappa? yappa?” several times. With translation, we think the conversation might have gone like this:

We realized after they left that it must have been really funny when Amy responded “Pinwagen” considering how they were asking us where we came from and neither of us spoke German.

+ Ate a glorious free breakfast in our hotel. Lots of good food, a nice friendly yellow room, and a view of the alps! + “Borrowed” some nutella for a hike this afternoon. + Set out on a hike on a trail from our hotel in Austria to the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles in Germany. Supposed to be a one hour hike. + Got distracted and video taped a dance with the alps in the background. Video coming soon! + Got distracted some taking pictures + Met two elderly Austrian men hiking on the trail (see related story in other post) + Crossed the Austrian-German border. + Took a detour to get closer to a lake. Avoided somewhat successfully the mud, made lots of frogs jump into the sanctuary of the lake, and took even more photos. + Saw a lumberjack on the trail. + The Neuschwanstein castle emerged out of the trees! It took us about 2-2.5 hours to do the 1 hour hike. + Bumped into a couple from our munich bike tour at the castle ticket booth. + Brian dragged Amy up the hill to Neuschwanstein. It was another 40 minute hike up a mountain. Brian acted as Amy’s walking stick. + Amy was very tempted to buy a walking stick at a gift shop at the top. It had a compass. She resisted. + We ate cookies and nutella while waiting for our tour. + Toured the castle. No photos were allowed so Brian operated in stealth mode. The castle was not finished before Mad King Ludwig died, but what was finished was elaborately decorated. Ludwig built the castle for his “friend” Wagner, and there were frescos illustrating the stories from Wagner’s operas. Either everything was painted or carved in the finished rooms. Mad King Ludwig sure knew how to build a castle! + Amy wanted to watch an informational video but it was in German and we didn’t have time to wait for the English one. + Brian dragged Amy even higher up the mountain to Mary’s Bridge, which overlooked the Neuschwanstein Castle on its mountain top perch. There were two beautiful waterfalls below it as well. + Headed down the mountain and ate some meat sandwiches on the way. + We were near exhaustion when we reached Hohenschwangau Castle for our afternoon tour. This castle was where the Ludwigs lived. Its down the mountain from Newschwanstein and 10 minutes up another hill. This caslte had hidden hallways in between the walls that a servant could walk in so that the family never had to see them, a hanky-panky door leading from the kings bedroom to the queen’s, and lots of other really fancy stuff like some ancient bread sent over from Russia… + Around 5 we began our hike back to the hotel. Amy wanted to take a bus. She says “I didn’t say that. I just suggested that we could possibly do that.” haha “suggested” + We were both about to collapse, and we could still see the castles. Brian was still acting as Amy’s walking stick. Amy was lamenting not buying that walking stick. Brian picked a stick off the ground. Amy found new energy with her new trusty walking stick. Brian soon followed suit and found a more slender and curvy stick to use. Note: walking sticks are awesome! They actually do help! We made it back in record time. Under an hour!!! by five minutes. Before we stopped we released our new friend sticks into the wilderness, next to a friendly tree. + Collapsed on the floor of our room. So tired. + Ate dinner and kept getting up to do laundry. There was a huge German Shepherd by the laundry room, but he was friendly. + After 2 hours in the dryer our clothes still were a little moist. + Figured out how to use our Eurail passes and how to get up to the Rhine Valley, our destination for the next day. +

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+ Satisfied Amy’s meat craving by having another Genuine Hot Dog (at the same place as the day before… “two days and we’re already stuck in a rut,” says Brian. (Amy doesn’t understand this phrase very well…) + Took a picture of a typical Munich Manhole + Met up with the NewEurope free Munich Tour + Learned a lot about the history of Munich and important sites for World War II history + During the twenty minute lunch break for the tour, we weren’t hungry. So we decided to run up the 300+ steps of St Peter’s tower, go around the tower once, and run back down to meet up with the group, almost on time. Amy barely made it up to the top, and almost tripped on her way down. Meghan, the tour guide, was so impressed with what we did that she said she would include our feat in her tour from now on. We are now officially “Legendary.” + Went to the Toy Museum, learned a lot about teddy bear history. Did you know? The Teddy Bear started out as an ELEPHANT. Yep, that’s right. + Went to the supermarket (They sell Pretzels in the bread cabinet!) to get some lunch and ate it on the steps leading up to St. Peter’s. This was a big step for Brian, the first time we went up these steps, he ran away in fear of the birds that flew at him. Brian says “No no! It was the ONE DEVIL BIRD! And it was dark!” Yeah, that makes him sound a lot more manly. + We had no silverware, so Brian had to “drink” his pudding through a straw. We also had these awesome potato snacks called Pom-Bars. They look like teddy bears, but they taste just like McDonald’s french fries! We could only have so many of them… We also bought a slab of sausage. It was cold and it wasn’t very good. + Went to first Jewish Synagogue built after WW II + Rushed back to the hotel to get our things and to walk over to the Train station, bought our tickets five minutes before train departure to Fussen, and ran across the train station to Platform 32. Phew. We made it! But…. + The train conductor checks our tickets after we had settled into our seats and told us in German-English (mostly German) that we needed to be in the “first car” to get to Fussen. So we pick up everything and make our way to the first car, Amy’s shoes hitting people along the way. We go forward until we see nothing but a big impenetrable metal wall in front of us, and we sit down. The train curiously stops in a station for a longer time than usual, but we didn’t think anything of it. When we finally started up again, the conductor sees us, comes over, and says something about going to a place that wasn’t Fussen. She walks away, then brings this random guy who spoke more English and he translated that the part of the train that went to Fussen was beyond the big impenetrable metal wall and the front part of the train had already split from the back part of the train that we were sitting in. He also said that we had to get off at the next stop and catch the next train to Fussen. + We think they made an extra stop just to kick us off. + We make a video explaining our plight (Very good job, Brian!) + We caught a train to Fussen an hour later + Got our first close up glimpses of the Alps! Highly recommended. + Get picked up at the train station by a nice man from the hotel + He takes us on a 2km detour to see Mad King Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles (the reason why we’re here) at night. Very pretty in their spotlit splendor! + Ate very yummy beef at the hotel restaurant. + Everything about the hotel was great, except for the odd problem of too much hot water. The water always got so hot it was scalding! It was very tricky to get it to be even lukewarm. I don’t think we ever succeeded…

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+ Sausage breakfast in a bun with sauerkraut = Genuine Hot Dog! + Danishes and croissants at a bakery before running out to watch the Glockenspiel at Noon + Desperate glove shopping before bike tour and failing (unless we wanted to pay 49.90 Euro for a pair) + Bike tour around Munich, zipped by a lot of places and saw a pagoda, a surfer, and lots of doggies + Tried to go up to the towers of churches and the Glockenspiel to get a good view, but all were closed (5PM, so late! Really.) + Saw a service at the two onion dome church, also saw the Devil’s footprint! The music was very nice. Amy got emotional and we left + Some more glove and scarf shopping. Success! Brian bought a tourist Deutschland scarf and Amy found a discount corner store with gloves for 2euro! (right next to the gaudy glasses and bling jewelry) + Went on a hunt for Munchen Kartoffelhaus (recommended as a must try restaurant by WikiTravel), asked a couple who ran a fruit stand, who sent us off somewhere along a big street, we couldn’t find it, so we asked someone at Burger King, who sent us up two subway stations away, then we asked someone at a hotel who had no idea what we were talking about. As a final attempt, on our way back to the train station, we checked the phone book. No luck. We gave up and went back to the main square for Mcdonald’s. + Went back and checked email and measured heads. (see blog below).

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Here’s a funny story for you!

It’s around 11:30PM on clear night in Munich. Brian and I are sitting in the lobby of Hotel Jedderman next to windows with a clear view from the street, using the free internet station. We received an email from Stanford saying that we could order our cap and gowns, but we needed to measure our head to get our cap size. Luckily, I had remembered to bring a tape measurer, exactly for this occasion. So Brian is helping me measure my head (an inch above the ears!) when two ladies walk into the lobby from the street. After Brian finished his measurement and I looked up, I saw the two ladies, standing over Brian’s shoulder, staring at us and the computer, looking confused and amused at the same time. I stared at them and they stared at me, Brian was somewhere in the middle. Then the ladies started laughing and I started laughing. I knew that they had thought what we were doing was the most bizarre thing they had seen all night, and I knew I had to explain it to them or I would never be able to live it down, so I said, “Sprechen sie Englisch?” (Do you speak English?) to which she nodded, and I explained “I’m trying to order a hat, so I have to measure my head!” and she said “Ohhhhh” and then babbled a lot about what she thought we might have been doing, which included, “Maybe you were measuring your brain?”

Here are the rest of our Bath and Stonehenge photos as promised! Amy also added an elephant picture to the “trip over” gallery

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+ Arrived in Munich . The airport had multicolor lights like a German light show(conan o’brien reference) + Used German for the first time to find hotel + Went to main square Marienplatz + old lady said something to us in German about a fountain. We just nodded and pretended to understand. Hope it was funny because we laughed. + Everything is closed on Sunday in Munich. + Had a our first German meal with Pretzel, sausage, and 2.50 euro/bottle mineral water. + Went to Royal Residenz Museum and treasury. Big palace. Lots of jewels. + Something to drink for our dehydrated bodies in San Francisco Coffee Company. The only open store we could find. + Hofbrauhaus for dinner. A famous beer hall with a live oompa band, waiters in traditional lederhosen, big steins of beer, and drunk people.We ordered two beers. Brian finished his. Amy gave hers to two German lads sitting across from us. + Amy shakes Brian on tram ride home asking, “Are you dizzy? Are you dizzy? Are you dizzy?” + Updated blog about London +

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Below are some words we’ve added to our vocabulary:
“That’s Genius!” – Amy overheard two small girls talking while playing go. One said “now I move here and I capture your stone.” The other girl exclaimed, “That’s genius!” They sounded so intelligent that we decided to copy them.

“clever” – The driver/tour guide of our Stonehenge purple bus was talking about some engineer who designed a fancy bridge at the age of 21. He called him “quite clever” So apparently use genius when someone is clever and use clever when they are a genius.

“cheers” – a British version of thanks. Amy and I struggled to force ourselves to say break away from our American ways. I murmered it once at a news stand, but then I worked up the courage to say it at a food cart while paying. Though I was so nervous that I made the ‘e’ sound too long. Amy and I practiced later and decided it’s said somewhat like pez but with a ch sound at the beginning.

Hallo from Germany! Amy and I have completed our tour of England.

Here are some pictures from our trip over:

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We enjoyed the museums and buildings of London. Amy made friends with a Cantonese tourist at the British Library. We paid too much money for a Ferris wheel ride (but maybe the view was worth it!) My sore knees, back and hip taught me the value of packing light. In one of the British Museums Amy and I played Go and Mah-jong. I am horrible at mahjong; though it didn’t help that no one explained the rules to me until after the game… (Amy interjects:I didn’t know he had never played before!)

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On April 4 we spent an afternoon in Oxford. The walking tour there was very interesting and the guide was very scholarly. I had never realized how confusing the Oxford school system is. Amy and I never could figure out where they had classes. Though it would be a great to school to go to. Only 4000 Pounds and they have nice meals served to them in Hogwart-like-dining halls. One of the name cards sitting out in preparation for the students dinner was for Nancy Weatherspoon. Amy and I independently discovered this name card and photographed it. We like that name.

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Bath was nice and I got to stay in my first official hostel. Quite nice actually. We took a tour to Stonehenge in a purple bus. The hour drive was entertaining. There was a a white chalk horse carved into the side of a mountain, thatched roof houses, pig farms, and sheep. Amy really enjoyed the sheep. Stonehenge had a very informative audio tour. Amy thought Stonehenge was going to be bigger, and she even had to double check that the stones were in a circle after seeing a postcard. “I thought they were just a pile of rocks,” she said. Back in Bath we were looking forward to their free walking tour which Rick Steves recommended. We were sad when we discovered that there was no afternoon tour on Saturday. Instead we wondered around the city which was bustling because of a rugby match that evening. Later we struggled to figure out how to get a ride back into London for cheap, but eventually found a bus in which we sat behind two of the grumpiest old men I’ve ever encountered. (Amy Continues): there was lady who didn’t have enough money to pay for the full fare so the bus driver was trying to call the bus company to ask for permission to let her on for a lower fare, and almost immediately, these old men were shouting out in protest, “If she doesn’t have the correct fare, then don’t let her on! We’re ten minutes late, and why??” anyway, they kept mumbling for the entire time until the bus driver said “how would you feel if someone left your mother in the middle of nowhere???” to which, they responded, “SO?” Horrible!! Okay, the story can continue with more quotations, but you get the picture.

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Okay! This is Amy and Brian signing out from Hotel Jeddermann in Munich! More to come about our adventures soon!

Amy and Brian

We made it to London! Right now we’re using free wifi from a bus! But are stop at Oxford is coming up in like one minute so no time to update on all the fun details! stay tuned!

I’ve never been much of a blogger… actually, I am very much not a blogger. The whole concept is actually quite foreign, so I figured I would write an entry while I was still in familiar territory So here I am! Hello all! I am Amy! Hear me roar!!

I’ve been working on having all the necessary documents and information ready for the trip. I probably printed out 300 pages worth of information… I will be binding it tomorrow! And that’s only for the first half! Brian suggested that we split it up into two and work on the second half while we’re there. Probably because I was driving myself crazy with it… We’ll see if it’s useful and then we’ll know if it’s worth the effort for Volume 2.

So sleepy! I think I will head to bed now. Good night all! Have a great Tuesday

Amy

PS: If you ever consider going to Kinkos to print out a file, it’s 49 cents for a black and white page. It’s sort of ridiculous when you have a 250 page document and when using printer ink, as expensive as it is, would be saving you money if you printed it from home. Copying in black and white is 8 cents, though

First real travel post!

I’m in Springfield though. Tomorrow I head out to St. Louis. I’m spending a night there so that I can catch my morning flight on April 1st. That Tuesday I make my first stop of the trip. Canada! Yep every good European trek needs a good ol’ fashioned Canadian kick off party. In fact this party is going to be 10 hours long! Air Canada decided to bump me to an earlier flight so I have a 10 hour lay over in the wonderful Toronto airport… Amy is going to show up at some point that evening(probably late!) and then we fly from Toronto to London. I should sleep on the plane but I really like watching those in-flight movies. It doesn’t even matter what they are showing; I’ll love it!

I’m a little nervous about the weather. St. Louis and NYC have thunderstorms predicted for Tuesday. Go away thunderclouds!

Hello all!
Amy and I are about to embark on a two month long european adventure. before we go though I’d like to post a few pictures (mainly to test this new gallery feature i’ve installed) We will try to keep this blog updated so that you can enjoy our travels along with us even if you are working or still slaving away at school. Hopefully it won’t be too updated though. If it is then that means we’re typing on a computer instead of exploring the world!

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Below is a rough itinerary of our travels

1-Apr Fly to London
2-Apr Arrive in London
3-Apr London
4-Apr Oxford then Bath
5-Apr Bath to Stonehenge to London
6-Apr London Fly to Munich
7-Apr Munich
8-Apr Munich Go to Pinwagen Via Fusen (3 hours)
9-Apr Pinwagen hike to castles
10-Apr Rhine Valley (stop at Rothenberg along way)
11-Apr Rhine Valley
12-Apr Berlin (7 hours from Rothenburg)
13-Apr Berlin
14-Apr Berlin 7:20 Bus to Copenhagen (2:30)
15-Apr Copenhagen
16-Apr Copenhagen fly to Bergin
17-Apr Bergin Flex date
18-Apr Bergin Take scenic Fjord Train to Oslo
19-Apr Oslo, Night Bus to Stockholm
20-Apr Stockholm
21-Apr Stockholm Fly to Amsterdam
22-Apr Amsterdam
23-Apr Morning train to Bruges
24-Apr Bruges
25-Apr Paris
26-Apr Paris
27-Apr Paris
28-Apr Paris
29-Apr Paris
30-Apr Paris
1-May Paris
2-May Nantes Day Trip
3-May Paris Fly to Madrid
4-May Madrid
5-May Madrid/Day trip to Segovia
6-May Barcelona
7-May Barcelona
8-May Barcelona
9-May Leave Barcelona to Carcassonne
10-May Carcassonne
11-May French Riviera
12-May Geneva
13-May Geneva
14-May Gimmelwald
15-May Gimmelwald
16-May Gimmelwald
17-May Cinque terre/Pisa/Coastal Paradise
18-May Cinque terre/Pisa/Coastal Paradise
19-May Rome
20-May Rome
21-May Rome
22-May Florence
23-May Florence
24-May Florence
25-May Venice
26-May Venice Night Train to Vienna!
27-May Vienna
28-May Vienna
29-May Hallstatt
30-May Hallstatt
31-May Salzburg
1-Jun Salzburg
2-Jun Salzburg