It's been a while since my last post....I guess that's what happens when you are on vacation for three weeks (yes, really, three weeks!). There is a lot to cover, and I will not be overly offended if you decide to skip my narrative and just scan through the many photos. This year we decided to take a "proper" summer vacation. When I say proper, I mean enjoying summer like those in Sweden and escaping from work for at least a few weeks. The hubby created our detailed road trip itinerary which included a few days in Munich and the remainder of the trip in Italy. Here are the highlights....
Munich
I'll be honest, I didn't really know much about Germany before this trip. When thinking of Germany, "efficiency and beer" come to mind (interesting combination, if you ask me). After a long day of driving, we arrived in Munich, ready for the sightseeing to commence.
The girls and I were looking forward to seeing a few of the castles in Bavaria. Our first excursion was to Neuschwanstein Castle which is just amazing! From what I understand, Kind Ludwig II (who was a bit crazy) had this castle built as his personal refuge. Over one million people visit this castle annually, and it was the inspiration for Disney's Sleeping Beauty's castle (and probably others). For more history on this castle and it's interesting history, check out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_Castle
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| Neuschwanstein Castle |
Near Neuschwanstein is another castle which was the childhood home of the crazy King Ludwig. Also beautiful, but not as impressive as the other...in my opinion.
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| Hohenschwangau Castle |
On the second day, we wandered through the city and saw several churches, the city hall, etc. I have to admit that the highlight of the day (at least for me) was our visit to Hofbräuhaus....and I don't even like beer! Since we arrived early in the day, the restaurant was relatively empty. We found a good seat where we could relax, enjoy some schnitzel and listen to the oom-pah music!
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| The hubby is especially happy! |
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| Pretzels as big as your head! |
We stopped at one last castle on the way out of Germany.
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| Linderhof Castle |
On to Italy...
Our next seven days were spent in beautiful Tuscany. We stayed at an Agriturismo called Il Piastrino. For those of you unfamiliar (as I was) with an Agriturismo, it is basically an independently owned farm that the owners use partly for accommodations. We ate breakfast there every morning and dinner with the other guests every couple of evening which consisted of fantastic homemade food and, of course, lots of wine, made with their very own grapes.
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| Indoor seating for breakfast and dinner |
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| An aerial view of "Il Piastrino" |
We did a significant amount of sightseeing during these seven days (while still managing to get some time in at our quiet swimming pool). To be honest, many of these places blend together in my mind...Vinci, Florence, Pisa (ok- I can recognize THOSE pics), Sienna, Volterra, San Gimignano, etc. Here are a few of my favorites...
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| The girls in Vinci |
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The youngest practicing her photography skills
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| A necessary tourist stop! |
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| Pretend that you like each other... |
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| One of many gelato stops- yum! |
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| How long do I have to pose like this?? |
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| Beautiful view in Tuscany |
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| Girls in Florence at Il Duomo |
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| Ponte Vecchio Bridge in Florence |
After a whirlwind of sightseeing...and a LOT of walking, we headed north for the last ten days of our trip. We stayed near Venice at Ca' Savio....a campground offering a range of accommodations from "bring your own tent" to air conditioned cabins. Our cabin was not air conditioned, but had a bathroom and small kitchenette...it certainly had a "rustic" feel to it.
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| Cabin Sweet Cabin |
The campground was a few minutes walk to the beach and also had great swimming pools and fun activities for the kids...all of which make life pretty simple for mom and dad.
About halfway through our stay, I was shocked to see one of my best friends from the Chicago 'burbs walking up to our cabin. She and the hubby had secretly arranged for her to fly to Italy and meet us...needless to say I was thrilled to have her join us for the next few days!
Our sightseeing in Venice was limited to one day...we were enjoying the beach and the pool and simply didn't have much energy left for excursions.
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| Mixed reactions to the vaporetto ride on the Grand Canal |
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| More ice cream?? Yippee!! |
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| Basilica at Piazza San Marco |
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| The family "plus one" at Piazza San Marco |
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| "the girls" at Piazza San Marco |
Whew! That was quite a trip! I now understand why people say that they need a vacation after their vacation. All in all, this was wonderful journey for our family with beautiful sights, amazing food (for me, that means pizza nearly every day), great wine and a surprise visit from a friend. Ciao!
