I have not posted on the blog because we have been busy with travel and also visitors from Michigan. Jim and JoAnn Roberts came over the pond for a two week vacation. There first few days i showed them around London
and then we were off to Munich.
We started a walking tour after we checked into our hotel.
The first building we saw was this huge building, its called the Justizpalast. This is the palace of justice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justizpalast_(Munich)
Farther down the street was St. Michael's church, this would be one of many churches we would see.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Michael%27s_Church,_Munich
We climbed tower of St. Peters church and had a great view of the city.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Church_(Munich)
Another church we could see was Frauenkirche
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Frauenkirche
built in the 1470's. St. Michael's is to the left of it.
We also had a view of the Marienplatz, the main city square.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marienplatz
and the New Town Hall
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Town_Hall_(Munich)
The walk would take us by a few more churches and then to a small square with a Michael Jackson memorial---yes that is what i wrote. To find some info on it i had to look under weird and offbeat sites.
http://cherylhoward.com/2013/01/27/weird-and-offbeat-sites-the-michael-jackson-memorial-in-munich/
And is was weird and offbeat.
It took our breath away, we were so excited at seeing it we had to take a break. It was more of a laughing break as we were not big fans of the one gloved singer.
Finally time for what Munich is famous for, beers at the Hofbrauhaus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofbr%C3%A4uhaus_am_Platzl
Jim and i order a large beer,
Leanne was taking this picture and she kept fiddling with the camera to get the right shot. I kept thinking are you done yet, i thought i would drown.
The women getting into the act.
And the food was great, this was dessert, apple strudel and a cheese plate.
and this is the interior of it.
Walking back to the hotel we got a night view of the Marienplatz.
and passed a group of sidewalk musician. This group had a grand piano---not sure how he carried it home.
The next day would be a train ride to see the Neuschwanstein castle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_Castle
It was built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, sometimes called Mad King Ludwig.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_II_of_Bavaria
and was the inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle.
This is the view from the castle. The yelow castle on the hill is Hohenschwangau castle. This is where Ludwig grew up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohenschwangau_Castle
The walk up to the castle was long---so we took a bus. We did have to walk all the way down.
Time for the bus ride home and some craziness. This guy was getting married and for his bachelor party his friends dressed him up in this outfit. He had to walk thru the train and try to sell flowers. Glad i don't have friends like that.
The next day we would spend the morning at the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_concentration_camp
This was the main yard where the prisoners lined up every day for roll call
The building in the back were for when they arrived, showers and was also the maintenance building.
At one time there were 34 barracks in this area, there are two at the far end that show what they looked like.
The camp was surrounded by and ditch and a electric fence.
This was the crematorium it was used for prisoner that had died or were killed. The building also had delousing rooms to clean clothing and a gas chamber. The gas chamber was never put to use for mass murder.
This was a very somber tour and was worth going to.
That night we would see an opera at the National Opera house. The play would be
Cosi fan tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
It was a nice night to be at the opera.
We had taken a cab there and would be walking back to the hotel.
JoAnn would not be walking back in her fancy shoes.
A view of the outside of the opera house. The rain had stopped so it was a nice walk back.
We stopped for late snack, check out this crazy chandler.
A big decision on what to get.
Looks like beer and pretzels it is. We also had a lot of sausage and potato salad while in Munich. It was all good.
We passed this Hanz and Franz food stand every morning. Not sure if they got the idea from Saturday Nigh Live or if there really is a Hanz and Franz.
Today we took another train ride, this time to Salzburg, Austria.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salzburg
We would walk to the old town of Salzburg from the train station. On the way we walked by Marabell Palace and thru its gardens.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirabell_Palace
The building on the hill is the Hohensalzburg fortress or castle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohensalzburg_Castle
We will see that later in the day.
As you can see it was a lovely rainy day.
The locals were ready for it, this must be there Easter Sunday clothes.
and it was also very cold. Wet and cold, a great day to walk around town.
We decided to go inside the church where it was dry. This is the inside of Salzburg Cathedral.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salzburg_Cathedral
There are five organs in the church, my guess is the organist had four kids and wanted everyone to play the organ on Sunday.
A view of part of the roof. It's hard to look up and walk at the same time---sooner or later you'll bump into someone else that is looking up and walking.
A statue of Wolfgang, this is the town where he was born.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart
If you ever want to get anything with Mozart on it this is the town for it, hat's, shirts, candy and much more at the Mozart's world. No there isn't a Mozart world, but there is a lot of stores with Mozart stuff.
Don't really care to look at a fountain when it's raining, but thought you might.
Another fountain but the rain has stopped so we are happy.
Another view of the castle, but this time you get to see a gold globe with a guy standing on top.
Every year a foundation commissions a different artist to create a new work of art for the city. This one is from 2007.
By the way we would be taking the funicular to the castle, its the train tracks on the right of the picture.
The view from the top of the castle,
This aerophon of more than 200 pipes which is called the "Salzburg Bull". This huge mechanical organ was built in 1502 by Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach. It was renewed by Rochus Egedacher in 1735.
Its like a big music box, this is a video on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB-lOQq3riU
Jim and JoAnn getting into the act.
As with most old towns there seems to be a lot of ornate churches.
This one must have had a lot of sinners being there was five confessionals.
This is the University church. I don't think they allocated any money for the church pews when they built it. It was just big and empty.
The next day we would fly to Paris. While Jim and JoAnn went to the top of the Eiffel tower
Leanne and I would drink wine along the River Seine.
Our meeting point, what to do next in Paris? We had a light dinner and then went to see
A Cabaret show, if you go to Paris i would suggest you see one.
After the show we went to a corner cafe and had a night cap. A good ending to a great day.
The next day we would just walk around Paris. Leanne likes crepes and was showing JoAnn which one to buy.
No trip to Paris would be complete with out a visit to Notre Dame.
And a walk down the Champs-Elysees
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es
After our long walk, yes we walked that whole distance. We went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe
for views of the city. I think it was three or four hundred steps to the top.
The group with the Eiffel tower in the background.
Lets get me in the picture too.
The four main sculptural groups on each of the Arc's pillars this one is Le Départ de 1792 (or La Marseillaise), by François Rude. The sculptural group celebrates the cause of the French First Republic during the 10 August uprising. Above the volunteers is the winged personification of Liberty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Marseillaise
Another view while dodging traffic.
That night we took a train back to London a great few days in Paris.
The next day I took the Roberts on a tour of downtown London. First stop was the Sky garden, with views of the city this is always a good place to start.
They did a tour of the tower of London while i had coffee. After that we walked across the Tower bridge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Bridge
and had lunch at Borough market.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borough_Market
Next stop was St. Paul's
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral
where we may have found one of Jim's ancestors.
Outside of St. Pauls.
The next day was a trip to Windsor Castle,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor_Castle
the queen was home but was busy so we didn't get to see her.
Checking out a slightly out of square house.
After Windsor we went to Little Venice and Abbey road. The Roberts doing there best Beatles walk while I dodge cars taking there picture.
Time to feed the sweet tooth.
On Saturday we would take the train to Arundal and walk to Amberley. Leanne and I had done parts of this hike before but never all of it in one day.
As you can see we had great weather.
Some of the walk would be down country roads
Coach didn't care if it was a trail or a road. He did want to play with the sheep that were in the fields. For that we had to keep his leash on.
Our group walking into the town of South Stoke.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Stoke,_West_Sussex
After South Stoke we took a break and then went to North Stoke
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Stoke,_West_Sussex
Both towns only have a few houses and a church. Parts of this church date back to the 900's
We took a lunch break at a pub by the Amberly train station and then made our way to the Amberly Castle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amberley_Castle
Built in the 12th century the castle is now a hotel and for a small amount ($250 a night) you can stay there.
From the inside of the castle you will see more ruins of it.
After we walked around the castle we walked thru the town of Amberley.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amberley,_West_Sussex
The wisteria were in bloom and there sent was everywhere.
Another reason we came to this town was the thatched roofed houses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thatching
This town has a lot of them, what looks like birds on the top are actually made of thatch. This is the Thatchers calling card and he leaves them on the roofs when he's done.
After a long day of walking and hiking it was time to head back to London. I think JoAnn is done for the day.
Now where is that train.
Sunday morning Leanne would walk in the park with Coach to enjoy the flowers
and see an occasional peacock.
While the rest of us went to see the Harry Potter tour. I have not seen any of the movies so the Roberts would be my tour guide for the day.
There were a lot of sets that were used in the movie and they explained them all to me.
A bus from one of the movies
I really enjoyed the tour and am planing on watching the movie now.
For there last night in London we would go to Shakespeare's Globe theater to see Romeo and Juliet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare%27s_Globe
The originally demolished in 1644 and this one was built in 1997--- it took a long time for the insurance claim.
A view of the inside, standing in the center and seating in the round.
On Monday we said our good by's to Jim and JoAnn. It was a fun two weeks with them.
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