FYI

If you haven't checked the blog lately (I know you've tired from checking...but I'm working on it!) you'll have to hit the "May 2007" link to the left to see all of the posts -- I've done too many to fit on the page at once, so you may be missing some things.

Day 5 - Liechtenstein & Switzerland

Ok, so we didn't actually do anything in Liechtenstein but stop to get our picture with the sign and make the poor border crossing guard stamp our passports. I have a feeling the guards stamp more "souveneir" type passports than for the real reason.

Whoops! He caught Drew taking a picture of his lovely car...how can they let this on the Autobahn along with Ferraris and other more fitting vehicles? Who knows.

And I always thought San Bernardino was in California.

Chur Switzerland. Drew finally let me "escape" over the Alps to the freedom of neutral Switzerland. Chur really wasn't all that interesting (or we were just tired from the previous 4 days), so we ate lunch, hunted down some Swiss chocolate (very good by the way) and headed back to Germany.

Day 4 - Brixen/Bressanone, Italy

Abbazia di Novacella

I should probably share with you all the participants of our vacation...we spent most of our time (all except Munich) with Jonathan & Jessica, they also stayed at Edelweiss. Jonathan was on his way home from Iraq--he worked with Drew--and his girlfriend Jessica met up with him in Germany.

Drew even made friends with the locals.

I learned why the city has seemingly 2 names (Brixen/Bressanone) Brixen is German and Bressanone is Italian...most of the city speaks German, with a small percentage speaking Italian.

Day 4 - Brixen/Bressanone, Italy

Cathedral built 1745-1754

After dealing with the miserable weather in Salzburg, we knew exactly what we were doing for day 4--heading south. So that's what we did, we got on Autobahn 22 and headed south toward Italy and got off the highway at a random town...the random town just happened to be Bressanone, and what a wonderful spot to happen upon!

Day 4 - Brixen/Bressanone, Italy

I don't know if it had more to do with the weather (look no coats!) or not, but Bressanone quickly became one of our favorite spots of the trip! It was a cute little town with neat shops and konditoreis; we ate well, soaked in the sun--finally!--and enjoyed the laid back mountain town. Established in 901

Day 4 - Italy

Brixen-Bressanone, Italia

Finally! We hadn't seen the Alps the whole trip, we knew we were in them but the overcast skies kept us from experiencing the beauty...very frustrating when you knew you were so close! So as the skies cleared briefly Drew quickly captured some pictures...not bad from an Audi driving on the Autobahn. (p.s. I LOVE the Autobahn) I believe this is still in Italy, near the border of Austria.

Day 3 - Salzburg, Austria

Mirabell Palace and Gardens

Salzburg is one of the places I was most looking forward to visiting, so of course we had the worst weather of the trip there. It was rainy and cold, and I'd come down with a bad cold, but we trudged through and still enjoyed a lot of the city. Though it just made me want to come back in spring or summer...you can see the potential in the gardens. Oh, and I still need to see my "Sound of Music" sites...don't tell Drew. :)

Day 3- Salzburg, Austria

I didn't tell you about the chain of chocolate stores we owned in Germany & Austria? Look closely at what the signs say.

It was February, cold and rainy, yet they still had the most beautiful flowers stands! Flower displays like this were everywhere, and they were one of my favorite things. Especially since the flowers weren't out anywhere else yet.

Day 3 - Salzburg, Austria

Residenzplatz

Cathedral, unfortunately the right side was covered in scaffolding, so I couldn't get the best picture.

Franciscan Church

St. Michael's Church

St. Erhard's Church

I didn't intend it...but apparently I mostly just took pictures of churches in Salzburg! I didn't even know what some of these buildings were until I looked at a map so I could label them properly.

Day 3 - Salzburg, Austria

Hohensalzburg Fortress at the top of the hill, the Alps behind (which of course I wanted to escape over and sing "Climb Every Mountain"...Drew wouldn't let me...and the view of Salzburg along the Salzach River.

Mozart's Residence...funny story...we had finished our day in Salzburg, we were cold and tired (plus I had come down with a nasty cold), but we couldn't leave without seeing Mozart's home..I insisted we were nearby and began walking up a hill to have a look around, at the top I was disgusted to see no one had followed me, so I went back down the hill only to find we had been standing outside Mozart's place the whole time!

Day 2 - Schloss Neuschwanstein

It's strange to drive down the road and suddenly see a castle!

Bavarian King Ludwig II built this castle in 1869-86, it's often called the "Fairy-tale Castle" and is what Walt Disney used to base his "Sleeping Beauty" Castle. Did I mention that Ludwig II was nuts?

Day 2 - Schloss Hohenschwangau

Day 2 - Schloss Linderhof

Linderhof was the royal cottage, yes cottage, for King Ludwig II -- it's known for it's beautiful gardens, however in February we had to imagine how they might look.

I don't know where this is, I think it's on the Austria side of the Germany/Austria border, I just thought it was a neat picture so we stopped on our way to view more castles!