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25th Aniversary Trip
  • BoLin49
  • BoLin49

25th Aniversary Trip

25 years ago Linda and I introduced Bruce and Kim to Europe. This is our 7th trip with them. Leggi altro
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  • Inizio del viaggio
    9 settembre 2022
    BoLin4925th Aniversary TripBoLin49

    Day One: Prague

    10 settembre 2022, Repubblica Ceca ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    We got free upgrades in seating so I had yards of leg room for the first time.
    We departed out of Terminal A for the first time. Parking was easy and we crossed the road right into the ticketing and security. Fastest we have ever moved through to the gate.
    This is our seventh trip with Bruce and Kim. The first time was in 1997. Linda and I have had two trips by ourselves, one while I was in the USCG in 1984.
    This is the second time we flew in and out of Frankfurt.once with Paul, Michelle, and Abbie.
    Flight time is 9 h 12 m.
    Kim found a great deal on a car and we are driving a Skoda SW. Nice car. However we had low tire pressure and had to stop to fill with air.
    Never. Never. Never drive 7 hours after the long flight. Our destination is Prague.
    Prague
    Arrived in Prague a little after 5 pm. Beautiful city on the Vitava river. We are staying at the Grand Hotel Bohemia. Upon arrival, we decided to hit the tour walk and get dinner. Linda and I tried the Goloush, Kim had a bread bowl of Goloush soup and Bruce had Beef Stroganoff. The goulash was hearty, the potato pancakes and dumpling were good
    Traditional dish in the Czech Republic.
    We then toured the Old Town. The square is huge with several churches on the square. There is an abundance of restaurants with wonderful smells filling the air. We walked to the Charles Bridge taking lots of night time shots, which was the reason for visiting. We found the people to be open and friendly. I would definitely return to Prague.
    Great first day.    Leggi altro

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    Vienna, Austria

    11 settembre 2022, Austria ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

    We began the day with the best breakfast of our 25 years. No lying, hands down the food quality and quantity at the Hotel Grand Bohemia was superb. The staff was pleasant and helpful.
    We paid 38 Euros for valet overnight parking. The free breakfast made the parking more palatable.
    We left Prague in our rear view window, on our way to Vienna. A little over 3 hour drive.
    We arrived in Vienna and because it was not raining (83% forecast), we went directly to
    Schönbrunn Palace. There was over an hour delay to go inside the palace, so we skipped that and spent the afternoon in the gardens. The sun came out and the skies were blue and a perfect 68 degrees. We sat outside at the Cafe enjoying pastries. The skies turned black as we made our way to the parking (very expensive BTW). As we paid the fare, the skies opened and the forecasted rain fell in a fury.
    We ate at the hotel, again a good meal at a hotel. Linda and I had the weinersnitzel. Good choice.
    Great second day.    Leggi altro

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    11

    Salzburg, Austria

    12 settembre 2022, Austria ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    We left Vienna with a slight drizzle. We ate, on the road with McDonald's breakfast. I know. Don't judge.
    Our destination today is Salzburg. A beautiful city that is separated by the Salzach River. I just cannot believe it has been 25 years since we last visited this beautiful and pristine city.
    If you are a fan of the Sound of Music movie, you will remember the house on the lake. We are staying on the grounds of that great house. I can see Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer walking on the back patio when the kids come to the house from the lake. Most of the kids fell into the lake. In the movie, the front of the house and the back of the house actually come from different great houses.
    We immediately went to the top of a mountain and began shooting pics back across the city to include the massive fort. With that task completed, we dropped the ladies off in old Town while Bruce and I looked for parking. Big mistake. It took us 45 mins to find a place. We found d a restaurant just off the main square and ate pizza and spaghetti. Great meal.
    We then set out to find the Chappell where it is said that the song Silent Night was written. It is just a 45 min drive from Salzburg. It is located in the town of Laufen, Germany. Wonderful story and setting.
    We returned to take some nighttime shots of Fortress Hohensalzburg, sitting on the top of a mountain, overlooking the city of Salzburg, as well as Schlosd Leopoldskron (the main house in the Sound of Music.
    Another glorious day.    Leggi altro

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    1

    Ludwig's Palace

    13 settembre 2022, Austria ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    We started our day by having breakfast in the most beautiful setting on the second floor of the Von Trapp house (not really, just the one in the movie). It was quite a spread of great food and the dinning room was something to behold.
    Twenty five years ago, we visited Mirabel Gardens. It was here that Julie Andrew's sang, "Do, Re, Me" while dancing around the gardens with the Von Trapp kids. We visited it again and it was just as charming.
    Kim, in order to honor our Twenty five years of traveling, wrote new lyrics to the song, "My Favorite Things." While in the gardens, the four of us performed the song. Yes, Bruce and Linda sang along. What was interesting was the number of tourists that stopped and encouraged us with huming and nodding along with our singing. We will not be quitting our day jobs. LOL
    We left Salzburg headed to Linderhof Palace. I have not mentioned this before, but all of Europe has the most beautiful landscapea. And, Germany is no exception, especially Bavaria.
    We have never visited Linderhof before and we werea looking forward to visiting a new castle designed by King Ludwig II. He designed several, however three that are closely associated with him are Hohenschwangau, Neuschwanstein, and Linderhof.
    I was not prepared for its beauty and size. The castle was built in the splendor of the French Palace Versailles but it is simply the smallest I have seen.we were not allowed to take pics or video inside, so I cannot show you, but I was impressed. And Iam rarely impressed with the insides of Chateaux, palaces, or castles, but this one "blew my mind."
    We toured the grounds, I bought a new hat and we headed to Schwangau, the city at the foot of another of Ludwig's castles, Neuschwanstein.
    We arrived at our hotel and amazement number 2 for the day, you can see the castle from our hotel. I am saddened that is not illuminated at night for us (only during summer months).
    We walked abou 300 meters to a restaurant where we had another fabulous meal with desert.
    I am looking so forward to tomorrow even though it is supposed to rain every hour. Not a problem for us. We make lemonade out of lemons.    Leggi altro

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    Neuschwanstein

    14 settembre 2022, Germania ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

    Day Five
    We started the day by eating breakfast in the shadow of King Ludwig II's castle, Neuschwanstein. I could not take my eyes off it while eating scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, croissants, and American coffee.
    I read a blog talking about the best places to take pictures of Neuschwanstein. They suggested that the best place to capture the castle was taking a gondola ride to the top of a peak that would give outstanding vista's and different viewing angles of the castle. So we set off and took the gondola to
    Tegelbergbahn. $26 per person. The views were unbelievable. At one point you could see four different mountain ranges, the vast plain before the castle, numbers of beautiful lakes, and towns and villages. However, what we did not see was either castle. The blog said,
    "After the ascent/ascent, you have already reached this wonderful vantage point!"

    There could not be a bigger lie than this. A mountain shielded Neuschwanstein from view. We asked around and were told that we needed to take a trail that would give glimpses of the castle. Bruce and I walked, stepped, and slid down a hiking trail meant only for goats and mountain men. I turned back as we left Linda at the top. We would meet at the parking lot where cars and busses parked. This was breaking a "rule" that we made during the first trip. We do everything Noah style: two by two. As I left Bruce and started making my way back to the top, it seemed that the trail was straight up. At that altitude and being out of shape to climb mountain trails, I was gasping for breath and wondering how in the world I had gotten to this point. I finally made it back to Linda and we took the gondola to the bottom. We picked up Kim at the hotel to meet Bruce when he made his way to "Mary's Bridge" at the base of Neuschwanstein Castle. We finally caught up with Bruce, took some pictures and went to eat at the restaurant where we ate last night. Once again a good meal and desert. It didn't rain until we were at the restaurant.
    We walked the 300 meters to the hotel in the rain. I felt like Gene Kelly in "Singing in the Rain." It was beautiful and magical all at the same time. When we got to the hotel, Kim wasn't ready to say goodbye to Neuschwanstein. So we decided to have hot cocoa and watch the sun set on the mountain and Neuschwanstein castle. We talked and laughed about our fortunes and misfortunes. It was another great day.    Leggi altro

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    Romantic Road

    15 settembre 2022, Germania ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    Day Six
    Today was not a typical "Biggs and Crowder" moving day. Moving day is when we leave one city and move to another. Normally we get started earlier, get out of town with a plan. Not today. Today was a sit and talk kind of day. Not only did we talk amongst ourselves, but the owner and staff were so friendly that breakfast turned into a two hour, 3 cups of Hot Chocolate kind of breakfast. We talked, stared at Neuschwanstein, talked, ate more croissants, and spoke of future trips. We finally said our goodbyes to Annette and the staff. We left to make our way through the cities that are part of the Romantic Road between Fussen and Würzburg. The rains finally caught up with us and we simply made "drive-throughs" instead of "walk-throughs," it was raining so hard.
    We arrived in Rothenburg where we will be staying for the next two nights. Before dinner we did a quick walk-through of the city and decided that will leave the car parked until we leave to go to Frankfurt to fly to Texas. There is so much to accomplish while we are here. Germany's most photographed house is here. Pictures coming tomorrow for that.
    We had another grat meal, Bruce declared "Best Meal of the Trip." I couldn't disagree.
    Getting to bed early. Lots of walking tomorrow.    Leggi altro

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    Rothenburg

    16 settembre 2022, Germania ⋅ ⛅ 50 °F

    Day Seven
    Breakfast at 9 AM in the hotel restaurant. Very nice breakfast scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, croissants, assorted jams and jellies. Top it off with hot tea and the meal was complete. The day was overcast and the forecast was for scattered storms and sunshine. We received mostly cloudy skies and rain. The temperature dropped throughout the day into evening. We spent more time shopping rather than sightseeing. Thanks Heather for the suggestion to see Käthe Wohlfahrt-Weihnachtsdorf. It is a muti-floor Christmas store. I have never seen anything like it. Well worth the time.
    We walked around the city shooting pictures like we were tourists. LOL.
    i had to take a picture of the most photographed house in Germany, which turned out not to be a secret with the tour busses. I waited for some time before I could get just the right shot.
    We ate Italian tonight for the first time on this trip. We had dinner at "Roma." What a great setting, service, and meal. Linda declared, "Best meal of the Trip."
    Getting to bed early as we head north beyond Franfurt to visit the German town and fortress, Braunfels.    Leggi altro

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    1

    Braunfels

    17 settembre 2022, Germania ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F

    Day Eight
    "Movng Day." Once again we had breakfast in the hotel. Once again it was wonderful.
    Today is a serendipity day. Kimberly was told about a walled-city fortress that has Texas ties. We are going to make the 3 hour drive, about an hour north of Frankfurt to the city of Braunfels. We were in and out of both rain and road work. But finally saw the silhouette on the horizon. We were a little pumped, even though intermittent rain showers persisted.
    For a Saturday, i was surprised there weren't any tour busses ariving and departing. It was very cool and raining, so we skipped the 9 Euro entry fee and looked for different vantage points to see the city. A lady at the souvenir shop gave some ideas and we left on a new adventure. First stop was on a golf course on an adjacent hill top. That one didn't pan out as they did not want us on the course. No problem. We understood.
    We set out looking for overlooks and our perseverance paid off. I hope you like the photos.
    We turned our car in and had a quiet dinner at the hotel. Another wonderful day.    Leggi altro

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    Fine del viaggio
    18 settembre 2022