Europe!

I am finally back home and things are getting back to normal. It has been a busy summer for me, full of excitement. Our month in Europe felt a lot longer than a month and we fit in a lot during our time there. It would have been better if the weather could have cooperated with us (we had maybe 4 nice days out of the whole 4 weeks we were there) but we saw and experienced a lot. Here's a brief overview:

Switzerland - It rained the whole time and was quite cool but we were prepared and our rain jackets came in really handy. We stayed with Kevin's friend Tom and were able to use his car to get around places during the day. My 2 highlights were going to Rhine Falls and doing a hike in the Appenzell mountains up to a little restaurant built right into the side of the mountain. We stopped to eat our picnic lunch part way up under some trees to get away from the rain and a cow almost stole Kevin's sandwich!!

Rhine Falls

Rhine Falls

7th Heaven Restaurant

Italy- Was dirty, smelly and was full of people trying to sell things to tourists. It was not as "romantic" and beautiful as I expected. I enjoyed Florence and Cinque Terre but otherwise was not that impressed with the country. Driving was ridiculous and in Rome it was humid and 38C. Not enjoyable (especially after getting sick from the cold, rainy weather in Switzerland).

Pisa (on our way to Cinque Terre)

Cinque Terre

Slovenia- Was absolutely beautiful. We spent 2 extra days in this country as we were enjoying it so much. There are some beautiful places to go hike, we saw a couple really cool caves and spent a lot of time with Kevin's family who were wonderful.

Postojna Cave

Vintgar Gorge

Waterfall in Vintgar Gorge

Austria- Spent 3 less days than planned here and had enough time to see what we wanted. Went to Vienna for a day and a half and rode around the city on these bikes we rented (it only cost us 1 Euro each!!) Went to Schunnbrunn Palace on our way out of Vienna and then Hellbrunn Palace just before Salzburg. Both palaces were very different but both neat. Hellbrunn Palace has trick fountains in the garden that turn on and off by a switch. You can only predict where they will go off by the water on the ground around certain areas. The Archbishop who had the castle built had quite the sense of humour. Also saw a couple sites from the original Sound of Music movie which was cool.

City Bikes in Vienna

Trick Fountains at Hellbrunn

Maribell Gardens where part of the Sound of Music was filmed.

Locks covering the bridge in Salzburg - found one perfect for us :)

 Germany- Still rainy but saw a lot. Went to the Dachau concentration camp, the Eagle's Nest (Hitler's Tea House), Neushwanstein Castle (Disney was inspired by it when he built the Disneyworld Castle) and spent a day shopping in Munich. Unfortunately the Eagle's Nest is supposed to have a spectacular view and it rained the whole day. We couldn't see 6 feet in front of us. We stood below the Eagle's nest and couldn't even see the building. You looked down and saw nothing but fog :( As soon as we took the last bus down off the mountain the sky cleared up. Super disappointing. At least we did get to see Hitler's bunkers and the tour guide was super informative and good. The rain had to follow us from the first day right through to the last...

Neushwanstein Castle

Munich