Galway

Ireland! Wow, what a beautiful country! We spent the day on a tour bus in the countryside. My stomach was not too happy about this (I look forward to not riding on trains and buses daily), but it was completely worth it. Our tour took us to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren. The Burren is a big hill covered in limestone. I didn't have a clue what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was neat just walking through all these rocks.

The highlight of the day was definitely the Cliffs of Moher. It's truly a sight to behold. The cliffs are about 700 feet high, and it's a straight drop off of them. We walked along the top of them, and there's a point where there's a sign that says "Please don't go any further." This is not a sign that people follow. There's a path carved out for people to walk on. Matt and I stuck to the innner side of the path, but there were SO many people getting close to the edge. It made us both quite anxious watching this (there have been a number of deaths on these cliffs.) We didn't venture out to far on this path. But we did get to see some amazing views.

The Burren (side note, The Burren was the name of our local Irish pub in Davis Square-now we know where the name came from)

The Burren

The Cliffs of Moher

Scary path on the cliffs

The Cliffs of Moher - pictures do not do any justice

Me and Matthew :)

We stopped on our way back to Galway-great views of the Atlantic

Another scary drop off

Be sure to read the post on London below!

London

We finally made it to an English speaking country! Granted, this didn't matter too much since, one, pretty much everywhere we've been people have spoken English and, two, it was still difficult to understand people! But we did have a bonus here; we had a great tour guide, Susan. Matt and I graduated high school with Susan, and thanks to the greats at Facebook, it's been easy to keep up with each other even though we haven't lived near each other in ten years. Our first night there we met up with Susan and her husband Rod for dinner, and we were pleasantly surprised to see another guest there, Estelle. Estelle was a foreign exchange student at our high school during senior year, so it was kinda a mini reunion. It was a lot of fun catching up and seeing some familiar faces.

Matt and I did lots of walking while in London. We did another free walking tour, and I thought the meeting point was close to our hotel. Well, if you consider a 50 minute walk close, then I guess it was. The walking tour took us by Buckingham Palace, lots of WWII monuments, some of the royal palaces, Trafalgar Square, Parliament, Big Ben, lots of parks; lets just say it was a LOT of walking. Which was good, because it helps balance out all the eating we've been doing. We learned that the city began giving the pigeons birth control because there were too many of them. Also the pelicans in one of the parks have began eating pigeons-this is not normal. Apparently there has been a bit of inbreading within this group of birds. After the tour we went over to Leicester Square which has TONS of movie theaters as well as all the play theaters. We were really excited to be able to watch a movie in English, so we caught the A-Team. London is about six weeks behind as far as movies go (however they always get Harry Potter on time!). We were hoping to catch Knight and Day, and Matt was sorely dissapointed when he saw it doesn't come out there until August 6th. However, we both enjoyed the A-Team, so it all worked out well.

The next day we caught up with Susan and Rod again who were gracious enough to be our guides for the day. We saw St. Paul's Cathedral and went into one of the free museums and saw some great views of the city. We rode on top of one of the double decker buses, which was actually quite fun. The museums in London are free so we stopped at the British Museum. We said our goodbyes to Susan, and then headed back to Leicester Square for a show. Unfortunately I couldn't convince Matt to see Mama Mia (and the tickets were also quite expensive), so we agreed on Sherlock Holmes. I was not at all impressed with this show-it went a bit over my head. So next time it will definitely be a musical!

Just in case I should forget, which I did, many times!

Buckingham Palace

Look kids, it's Big Ben! (Who can name that movie? Mandy-you don't get to play :)

This is actually the clock tower. Big Ben is the bell inside it, so we actually didn't see Big Ben.

Westminster Abbey

The Tower Bridge-most people think is the London Bridge. The London Bridge is actually just an ugly concrete bridge with not much of a design to it. This one is much prettier.

St. Paul's Cathedral

Unfortunately we didn't get any pics with Susan. We must remember to get some next time!

Salzburg

Salzburg!! After much anticipation, we finally made it here, and the first (and pretty much only) thing I wanted to do was of course, The Sound of Music tour. We woke up bright and early Monday morning and made our way to MiraBell Garden to start our tour.

Our first stop was in Mirabell Garden: the fountain where Maria and the kids marched around the fountain singing Do-Re-Mi.

Our next stop was the gazebo! This is the quinessential Sound of Music tour picture. I can add it to the Watt's family gazebo picture collection.

This is the lane that Julie Andrews skipped down with suitcase and guitar case in hand while singing "I Have Confidence." I had to skip down the same path! A bit down the road is the house that was used as the front of the Von Trapp's house. We got to see the house from a distance, but didn't get to stop at it.

This is the house that was used as the back of the Von Trapp's house. The canoe scene was filmed here as well as the scene where they have lemonade and bounce the ball with the Baroness. It's hard to make out, but there is a balcony and the scene where the Captain tells the Baroness good-bye was filmed there. The gazebo was located to the left of the house originally, but was moved to a place where tourists could see it. This house is owned by Harvard, and they do not allow tourists on the property. They hold seminars here, and I've already looked to see if they're holding any that I can attend! Harvard allowed very little filming to be done here. One of the rooms in the house was completely replicated in a Hollywood studio since they couldn't use the room for filming.

I'm not exactly sure how this lake plays into the movie, but it was a really pretty view anyway.

This is the church where Maria and the Captain got married in the movie (they actually were married at Nonnburg Abbey). I was surprised at how small it was, or maybe it just seemed small since it was empty. When I watch the movie everything just looks much more grand.

This is where the children and Maria hung from the trees and also where they road their bikes. This was it for the tour, but I found a couple more things to see in Salzburg.

This is the fountain where Maria sits and splashes the water while singing "I Have Confidence." Matt and I were told it was in Old Town, so we walked and walked and walked all through Old Town unable to find it. After what seemed like hours (it was probably more like only one hour), I looked at the map and realized that we thought was Old Town was actually New Town. So after much frustration, we figured out where Old Town actually was and found the fountain!

One of our last stops was Nonnburg Abbey. This is the Abbey where the real Maria went to be a nunn and it was used in the film as well. It's still a convent so we couldn't walk around inside.

So Salzburg was a success. The city was small and walkable, and we really enjoyed our time here!

Finally Back!

Haven't posted in awhile since Aaron has been here to keep everyone updated. (See Matt's blog for Aaron's posts. Hopefully he'll update on Prague sometime too.) But Aaron and Melissa left this morning to head back to the states :( We were sad to see them go, but I'm glad we had something to look forward to (well, I did at least), Salzburg!! We made it to the land of singing hills-or something like that. I've already found like 15 different Sound of Music activities for us to partake in, and Matt is probably wondering why he agreed to come here with me. I'm hoping to do a tour in the morning, assuming they have room available. If not, Tuesday will be the day. I'm super excited to sing till my heart's content (Matt's ears may start bleeding before then). Our hostel was showing The Sound of Music as we walked out, and it took every ounce of control not to plop down on the floor and enjoy the show. But Matt direly wanted to find some internet, so hopefully the hostel will be playing an encore when we return.

The last week has been full of great activities. The weather cooled off for Venice, so we were able to enjoy some activities. We got to watch a fireworks show our first night (it was about as good as the Heartland Festival's show-definitely no Thunder!!). We got to wonder through the streets, and it was great not having to worry about a scooter running you down at every turn. We also enjoyed a gondala ride-very touristy, but who can go to Venice without partaking? I would definitely return here. Next was Munich which we enjoyed as well. It felt a little more modern than a lot of places we visited, probably because so much was ruined during WWII and had to be rebuilt. It was really fascinating hearing the history of the city and seeing places where history took place. We ventured down to Dachau, and it was truly an experience I'll never forget. It's very heart breaking, as I'm sure you all know. Read Aaron's account for more detail on it. He posted some pics too. Prague was our last stop with the Hawkins', and it was a great place to end. Gorgeous city that also has a bit of a sad history. We did walking tours in both Munich and Prague which we greatly enjoyed. Taught us a lot about the cities that we weren't aware of.

Our traveling here has been quite interesting as well. One day we got off at the wrong stop and missed our connecting train. Another train was six hours long, no AC, and pretty hot outside. It was not very enjoyable. We've had screaming kids and very loud, laughing German women. Today the train was so full that cart was full and people had to sit in the aisles-there are actually little seats that pull out of the walls for people to sit on. But they don't look comfortable. And there's no way I could've sat in one for six hours. Luckily, we got there early and got comfy seats. I hope the travel continues to go smoothly-especially for Matt's sake, I kinda freak out when things don't go as I plan!

Well, guess I will head back for some sleep-must prepare for plenty of singing tomorrow!!

Venice

Italy has been redeemed! Rome was not a good experience, but Venice has been great. Weather is much better so that definitely helps our mood. Looking forward to Germany tomorrow! (See pics on Matt's blog)

Day 13-Rome may be out to get us!

We had plans to be out of the room by 8. That didn't happen (I'm sure you're quite surprised). We all woke up with stomach issues. Did not make for an easy morning. When we finally made it up we met Giovanni, the owner of the b&b. She's wonderful; very personable. Her niece Julia made us a great breakfast. Then we were off. We made it to the Vatican without a problem, waited in the hot sun for about twenty minutes, made it up to the basilica, only to be turned away. Why was this? My collar bones were showing. I had on a dress, with sleeves, but not enough of my shoulder was covered. I actually had a wrap I could cover up with, but Mandy didn't have anything for her bare shoulders. Needless to say this did not give us a good first impression of the Vatican. While Mandy went off to buy a wrap, Matt and I made it into the basilica. We saw the tomb of the disciple Peter and made our way around the church. We can't help but wonder how much different it would've been if we were catholic. There were all the tombs of the popes and lots of statues of them, places to pray and maybe somewhere to do confession, but we just don't really get any of that. The place was beautiful, but I have no doubt I did not get as much out of it as someone who's catholic would have.
Mandy was able to find a wrap and make her way through the church. Once we caught up with her we were off to the sistine chapel. We were all impressed with this. It was difficult to stare too long at this as it caused some neck pain. But the paintings appeared to be jumping right off at you. Really quite beautiful.
The heat here has really gotten to us. Aside from the physical effects, sweating and such, it's made us a bit moodier. The crowds really got to us today as did the guards. (one guard had the job of telling everyone to be quiet and no photos in the sistine chapel-he had to repeat this roughly every two minutes. As much as it annoyed us I'm sure the job had to drive him crazy too) I'm glad to be leaving Rome tomorrow. Although Venice is apparently stifling hot as well. Maybe germany will bring is cooler weather.
Mandy leaves us tomorrow. We've had a great time with her and wish she could stay along for the rest of the journey. Aaron and Melissa arrived today. We'll meet up with them later and head to the Trevi fountain.
Will try to post pics soon-hopefully later today.


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Location:Rome may be out to get us!

Day 12-We made it to Rome!

We woke up bright and early this morning (as in before the sun was up, and the sun rises really early here) so that we could make our flight to Rome. We flew RyanAir and it was truly the mist uncomfortable plane we've ever been in. I guess that's one of the consequences of a cheap flight.
When we left Paris we were rather chilled. When we walked off the plane in Rome we could barely breathe in the heat. I think this is one of the reasons that so far Rome has been our least favorite. We toured the colosseum and it was pretty awesome. Then we did a bus tour of the city. Our time here is short so the bus ride was helpful to see the big sites. We head to the Vatican tomorrow and also Arron and Melissa arrive!!
Now our electricity just went out. Yet another reason Rome is not sitting well with us!
(electricity finally came back on-say prayers it stays on-much too hot to sleep without ac!)
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