The Salt Mine

While we were in Austria we stopped by the Salt Mine. It was fun to get all dressed up in our mining jumpsuit and go down into the depths of the earth to learn about the whole salt mining process.

These clearly are pictures of pictures because I was feeling too cheap to buy them. I snapped them just in time before the lady selling them started yelling loud scary things in German at me. Stupid American tourist. They had these awesome wood slides that the miners used to quickly go down into the mine. They were easily the best part of the tour. It was funny because all the other groups slid quietly down them but we of course couldn't help ourselves from hooting and hollaring!

The fun little train ride into the mine. Good thing we we're all friends, with the coziness of it all. Another highlight of the mine excursion was floating across the boat along the top of the salt water as we saw a wicked lazer light show on the ceiling. Definitely reccomend it.

Austria ~ Eagle’s Nest

After our travels in Italy we decided to spend a few days in Austria and Germany.  The highway from Venice to Saltsburg was filled with the most picturesque, lush, rolling hills, white-washed villages, and grazing milk cows.  Not to mention several of the longest and craziest tunnels I’ve ever been through.  Our first stop in Austria was the Eagle’s Nest.  It was a present given to Hitler for his 50th birthday and is a home perched atop a mountain.  Turns out Hitler was actually afraid of heights so he only visited a few times.  We loved the amazing views and climbing along the jagged trail. We we literally up in the clouds and the hawks were lazily circling the sky.

 

 

Venice

We arrived in Venice just after sunset and of course had to take a romantic ride on a gondola.  Our gondolier was quite a character and came from 3, maybe more generations of gondiering fathers.  He told us about the history of Venice including how the “Black Water” protected the city against any and all intruders.  Also how the people did not try to stop the Black Water, but welcomed and embraced it.  The boys had a swell time impersonating our macho gondolier the rest of the trip.

Some delicious Italian pasta…notice Rob’s expression…towards the end of the day not feeling the picture vibes so much.

Crowded touristy Venice.  We went through St. Mark’s Basilica and felt like we were in a sardine can.  The funny thing was the floor was the most impressive thing in the whole church.  Millions of tiny tiles making elaborate designs.

  It really is a city on water.

Pisa

Rob and the famous leaning tower of Pisa. My regular camera had died at this point so these pics aren't that amazing. Our stop in Pisa was real short. I just remember seeing the tower, trying to help Shannon find the purse of her dreams, and the boys having a contest to see who could find Sean the cheapest "Coca Light".

Also here's a quick shot of the bathroom in remembrance of the European oddity of having to pay to go to the bathroom. I guess I can see the merit if I think about it but it makes me grateful that you never have to pay to Pisa in good ol' America.

Cinque Terre

Next stop, Cinque Terre. Getting there was no easy task in the Eurovan. Imagine if you will Rob trying to maneuver a big white fatty van, in the dark, up a steep mountain with a million switchbacks and tiny guardrails keeping you from falling off an enormous cliff to certain death. Not to mention the fact that the road was extremely narrow...Rob missed hitting cars and the side of the cliff by mere inches. Then once we started going downhill the brakes started smoking..."Is that steam? Ugh! Not with that smell!" It was all worth it once we made it to dinner. The restaurant was at the highest point on the bluff and we savor the fresh seafood until we were stuffed. Next we walked out onto the pier that you can see below and watched the ocean on the rocks. In the morning we woke to the clock tower bell and started our day with pastries and then a hike. This is the view from our hike we took that looked out over Vernazza, where we stayed. We didn't sleep so well so I was in a really random mood. I had fun being an obnoxious American and saying "Giorno! Giorno!" to all the passing hikers. Shawn also enjoyed being the annoying American tourist and kept saying "This hike ROCKS!" Rob was especially irritable and was fun to tease. Shawn thoroughly enjoyed me bugging Rob and said he would remember it whenever he needed to go to his "Happy Place."

As you can see Rob was able to blow us both off and go to his own Happy Place. And really it was hard not to be happy in a boat cruising along the picturesque Cinque Terre "Five Lands".

Me, Rob, Shawn, Chari, Linda, David, Jeff and Shannon.

This Vernazza trip saved me like a life preserver...Cheese!

Florence

Rob and I infront of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore...aka "Il Duomo". They began building it back in 1296 and today it remains the largest brick dome ever constructed. We were definitely feeling the Gothic revival vibes, snapped a few pics and ran off to climb the bell tower.

The inside of the dome in all it's glory. If you look closely at the fresco you can see a scene depicting the The Last Judgement.

We climbed all 414 steps to take in this beautiful view of Florence from Giotto's belltower.

I wanted to include this picture because it was such a typical scene...Jeff and Shannon consulting Rick Steves and maps, Shari helping out, Sean stuck working, and Rob happy to be along for the ride because most of the time he was forced to be in charge of driving and communicating. The rest of the time in Florence we helped our friends look for cameo jewelry, etc. on the Ponte Vecchio the oldest and most famous bridge in Florence. I had my own though, that Rob had bought back on his mission for his future wife :)

Rome ~ Day 2

OK! Now that I've taken a little blogging hiatus...I'm ready to try to catch up to the present...someday. Here we are at the entrance to the ancient Roman ruins. I am clearly a beautiful flying goddess and Rob...well he was was supposed to be flexing. He really was a good sport most of the time and would pose or smile for me despite his strong dislike of me taking a million and two photos

The Colosseum was amazing. It is grandious and the history is fasinating. I tried to learn as much as I could while I was there and yet I know that I just barely scratched the surface of this iconic symbol of Imperial Rome.

Here is a snipit from Wikipedia "Capable of seating 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. As well as the gladiatorial games, other public spectacles were held there, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine. It has been estimated that about 500,000 people and over a million wild animals died in the Colosseum games. "

We also went to the Pantheon. It was built as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome and is still almost two thousand years after it was built, the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. What is amazing about Rome is everywhere you look there is a massive, ancient, historical monument. It's just incredible.