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Europe Adventure
  • katsreader
  • katsreader

Europe Adventure

Our first trip off of the North American continent! It's Rick Steve's 21 day, Best of Europe tour. We'll be arriving in Haarlem a day early, and will stay for 2 extra days at the end, in Paris! Read more
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  • Trip start
    June 1, 2018
  • katsreaderEurope AdventureTraveler
    The hidden churchCame across lots of Doc Martens

    Amsterdam

    June 4, 2018 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Took a walking tour today with our group guides, as well as a long canal tour with a local who was quite entertaining. We went to the Rijksmuseum where we saw some Rembrandt paintings, before heading out for a bit of shopping, then returning to Haarlem.Read more

  • katsreaderEurope AdventureTraveler
    One of the many windmills at the Arnham open air Museum.
    We split an order of 10 of these tiny pastries, cooked in front of us. Butter and powdered sugar!This is just before I did a crash and burn, which John caught on Video. The tour members had a good laugh at tA staff member gave me this popsicle to put on my hand, after my fall. They don't seem to have ice or baggies

    Bus, Arnhem and Bacharach

    June 5, 2018 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Right after breakfast we got on the bus, heading for our next stop. Farewell to Haarlem. On the bus a total of about 6 hours, with a stop along the way at Arnhem's Open air Museum where we got to try the little Dutch pancakes, Poffertjes. Yummy!! On to Bacharach.Read more

  • katsreaderEurope AdventureTraveler
    Us at the castle.
    Paprika flavored chips seem to be very popular here in Germany.Counting our change at the end of the day while enjoying some yummy pastries for dinner!

    Rheinfels Castle

    June 6, 2018 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    After our city walk, we took a quick bus ride to the next town over, St. Goar, to see the castle. First we had a delicious traditional German meal, Schnitzel, spatzael, sourkraut and potatoes. Another sunny day, meant a hot walk to the castle from the parking lot below. Then back down to the magnificent Rhine for a relaxing canal boat ride back to Bacharach. We decided to find some baked goodies and took them back to our room to relax and pack, since we'll be leaving early in the morning to head to Rothenburg.Read more

  • katsreaderEurope AdventureTraveler
    Someone announcing a new baby girl.
    Plaque commemorating the loss of a town member.Postal boxes are yellow, as are the mail trucks.

    Bacharach with a local guide (Thomas)

    June 6, 2018 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Walked around the town of Bacharach this morning after breakfast, including a small vineyard. Thomas gave us a history of his family and the town. A lot of interesting info about their perspective on WWI and WW2. The Germans are very somber about their history, and they each take responsibility for making sure history doesn't repeat itself.Read more

  • katsreaderEurope AdventureTraveler

    more Rothenburg

    June 7, 2018 in Germany ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    I found kitties, of course, in the window of a closed shop.
    We experienced our first European thunderstorm. It was quite spectacular the way the sound bounced off the walls of the city. We decided not to walk the wall that goes around the city, to preserve our energy and the skin on John's head, since the cover is rather low.Read more

  • katsreaderEurope AdventureTraveler
    Beautiful Rothenburg
    Red poppies along the roadside.Viewb out of our hotel windowMeatloaf and spatzael

    Medieval Rothenburg

    June 7, 2018 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Headed out on the bus (too early..ha). I was so lucky that Colleen said something about phone cords. As soon as she said it I realized I'd left mine in the room, and I was able to run and get it before leaving. Whew. I've noticed a lot of red poppies with black centers along the side of the road. Reminds me of the California poppies in California.

    We had an incredible view from our room. Right out of a fairytale.
    We checked out the Crime and Punishment museum, which was okay. I like walking around the town better though. Dinner was great at a local restaurant. I, of course, made sure mine included spatzael. We both had the meatloaf. Nearly everywhere we've been the toads are cobblestones. Interesting with the mdds...    Read more

  • katsreaderEurope AdventureTraveler
    Plaque at the entrance
    Picture of the 'parade' grounds, where the prisoners stood for roll call, for several hours each day.Gas chamberCrematoriumMemorials at sites where ashes of thousands of prisoners were buried.Washroom for 1 barrack of 200 - 2,000 prisoners

    Dachau Concentration Camp

    June 8, 2018 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    The first concentration camp built. Open from 1933 - 1945. It was the model for all future camps. There were no mass exterminations there, but it was where they experimented with all the methods they used in other camps. 31,000 people were killed there. The camp held more than 200,000 over 12 years.Read more

  • katsreaderEurope AdventureTraveler

    Alpenhotel Ernberg, Reutte Austria

    June 8, 2018 in Austria ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    Had a wonderful dinner that included spatzael, and a decadent dessert with a pancake, ice cream, syrup and fruit. I really enjoyed the entertainment. It was 2 Austrisn men with accordions. They played some really fun oompapa music along with some sing-along yodeling, and American songs like John Denver's Country Roads. They played well and were funny. We sat with Colleen and the bus driver Derek, and got to hear some good on-the-road stories.Read more

  • katsreaderEurope AdventureTraveler
    View from the hotel window
    If you zoom in to this picture you can see the kids in Lederhosen playing in the sandbox.Today's scheduleCheck out the robotic lawnmower.

    A beautiful day in Reutte

    June 9, 2018 in Austria ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    It was a beautiful sunny day in the small town of Reutte, and I was ready for a down day, so I stayed at the hotel while John went with the group to Neuschwanstein Castle ("Mad" King Ludwig's), a picnic lunch and a couple runs down the luge.
    We I started a load of laundry, since this hotel offers self-service laundry for 14€ (eek!). Then I took a beautiful walk in the area including a small local cemetary, them doesn't the rest of the day relaxing. I saw some kids playing in a sandbox wearing Lederhosen as well as a robotic lawnmower.    Read more

  • katsreaderEurope AdventureTraveler
    Our first look at Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's square)
    Piazza San MarcoA group multi-course dinner.Our first gondola ride. Rather hectic with the whole group going at once. 5 people per boat, lots of picture tThr view from the gondolaFrom the gondolaJohn and Susan on a gondolaFrom the gondolaWe had a couple musicians on the middle boat and we could all hear it

    Our dream come true - Venezia (Venice)

    June 10, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    A rather chaotic entry to Venice. The bus was parked in a lot, then we all saueezed into a Vaporetto (water taxi) and made out we to the Rialto stop. A 10 minute walk and we reached our hotel Serenissima. Rm 260. Small room, twin beds pushed together (sort of). The bathroom was small. We saw our first bidet in our room.Read more

  • katsreaderEurope AdventureTraveler
    Along our morning tour
    The hospitalMask makingMask makingMask makingView from St. MarksTraditional margherita pizza for dinnerTraditional Margherita pizza for lunch

    A day on Venezia

    June 11, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    First thing this morning we had a tour by a local guide Elizabetta. She took us though the streets of Venice, to a really fun demonstration of Mask making and a history of the festival tradition, and later through St. Mark's Basillica. After that we spent the rest of the day wandering the streets of Venice. Pizza for lunch. We spent more than an hour trying to find a store I was interested in. We got lost, which was both stressful and interesting. When we gave up, we started finding out way back to rest and cool off at our hotel. That was when we found the store (H&M). I bought a top and pants. Left the and went around the corner and found our hotel (less than a block from our room..lol). By the end of the evening we had gone about 17,000 steps.Read more

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