Four Weeks in Central Europe - June 13-July 11, 2014

Day 1: Today, our much anticipated Central European vacation got underway. We flew out of Melbourne, Florida, after dropping Rascal and Scamp off at my sister and brother-in-law's place for their own annual vacation. Not much to report today, just a safe and uneventful flight (just the kind we like!) across the Atlantic.

Arc de Triomphe

Day 2: We arrived in Gay Paree bright and early this morning. We made it through Customs without any glitches and caught a taxi to our hotel just off the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. It was too early for us to check in, so we left our bags in storage and started exploring this beautiful city. First stop, breakfast at a little cafe a few blocks from our hotel with the Arc de Triomphe, a Freestanding Arch and Philatelic Photograph, as our scenery. What a beautiful view during our first Parisian meal!

Flamme de la Liberte

Next we took a stroll along the Seine, where we greatly enjoyed all the beautiful buildings we passed as well as the boats cruising by.  Our first stop once we reached the Seine was a virtual cache called Liberty’s Flame, at the Flamme de la Liberté, an Eternal Flame.  Yea, our first cache in France!  The flame was given to the people of France in 1989 by donors throughout the world as a symbol of the Franco-American friendship and is located near the northern end of the Pont de l'Alma. However, this Gift from Other Countries has since become an unofficial memorial for Diana, Princess of Wales, after her 1997 death in the tunnel beneath the Pont de l'Alma.

Love Locks on Pont des Arts Bridge

During our stroll, we passed several bridges along the way loaded with Love Locks; these are padlocks that sweethearts attach to a bridge, fence, gate, or similar public fixture to symbolize their love. Surprisingly enough, we also spotted a Statue of an Historic Figure, Thomas Jefferson!  Who would have thought we’d see a statue honoring one of the forefathers of the USA here?  I guess it’s not too surprising though since he served as minister to France from 1785 to 1789, just before the French Revolution began.

We climbed down some stairs on one of the bridges and it led to the Square du Vert Galant, which had a Histoires de France (or French Historical Marker) at its entrance providing information about the history of the square.  Shortly after this, we came upon a few French Benchmarks, a European Post Office, and a few more French Historical Markers.

Square du Vert Galant Marker

Fontaine dite Trogneux

One of our targets today was a Monuments Historiques Français (or French Historical Monument).  The first one we tried for had been demolished for the construction of a new opera house.  We had better luck with the second one on our list.  It was the Fontaine dite Trogneux, puis de Charonne.   According to Wikipedia, this Fountain was part of a construction plan established by an ordinance of Louis XV for five fountains on the Saint-Antoine district. Only two remain in place today, Trogneux fountain and the fountain of Little Halle.  The Trogneux  fountain was constructed from 1719 to 1721.  By this time, we estimate we walked at least 5 miles.  Not only were our feet hurting, our bodies were flagging from the lack of sleep on the plane and a bit of jet lag.  Time to grab some dinner and head back to the hotel.

Day 3:  Today, we had reservations for a 2-day Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour of the city.  But before hopping on the bus, we made tracks for the Eiffel Tower first thing.  We read that it was best to go early to beat the crowds.  Apparently everyone else read that little tip as well since it was more crowded at that time of day than at any other time we passed by it!  It was fine though.  The line moved pretty quickly and before long we were enjoying the beautiful views of Paris from the top of the tower.

Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower at Night

Once we were back on the ground, we jumped on the tour bus and start exploring the city from the open, upper deck of the bus.  The tour company provided earbuds that you plug in at your seat and you can select the language you want.  We learned a lot of interesting historical facts while on the bus and took LOTS of photos of such places as the Louvre and Moulin Rouge (ooh la la), as well as beautiful cityscapes.  We even managed to find a few waymarks!  You aren’t surprised, are you?  For instance, while waiting to hop back on the bus, we noticed we were waiting by the Madeleine Underground Metro station.  We also spotted a couple of Figurative Public Sculptures just begging for us to check them out and yet another French Historical Marker.  What could be better than wandering around the beautiful city of Paris… and finding waymarks!!!

Day 4:  Alas, today was our last day in Paris. Yesterday, we took two of the four bus tour routes offered by our tour company, so today we took the remaining two routes. We found a few waymarks today as well, including some potential future waymarks for which groups have been created, but categories have yet to be developed. It never hurts to be prepared.

Luftwaffe Radar Ruins

Day 5:  Early this morning, we took a taxi to the Gare du St. Lazare, one of the train stations in Paris, where we caught our train to Caen to visit the Normandy Coast.  We arrived in Caen mid-morning, quickly checked into our hotel, picked up our rental car, and made our way to the Normandy beaches.  Along the way, we stopped at the Luftwaffe Radar Ruins in Douvres-la-Délivrande.  During World War II, Douvres-la-Délivrande was the site of an important German air-detection radar installation, which was part of the strategic Atlantic Wall defenses.  The station was completed in the fall of 1943, was split into two zones by the road from Douvres to Bény-sur-Mer, and was heavily fortified with bunkers, machine guns, and minefields.  About 230 Luftwaffe personnel were based at the station, including electricians, engineers, and air controllers.  On the night of June 5/6, 1944, the Allies jammed the radar frequencies and blinded the entire German radar network from Cherbourg to Le Havre.  On the morning of June 6th (D-Day), the antennas at Douvres-la-Délivrande were rendered inoperative by Allied naval artillery bombardment.  Today, the radar site is home to a History Museum.

Centre Juno Beach Inukshuk

After leaving the radar site, we visited the beautifully maintained Canadian War Cemetery, a WWII Cemetery, at Beny-Sur-Mer, where we found an interesting virtual cache about the grave of one of the soldiers there.  After paying our respects, we made our way to the Centre Juno Beach in Courseulles-sur-Mer.  This is Canada’s World War II museum and cultural center located in Normandy.  We were quite surprised to see an Inukshuk located to the right of the main entrance and had to stop and check it out before wandering around the grounds.

Next, we made our way west to Omaha Beach.  Here, we stopped at the Normandy American Cemetery, a Cemetery that that honors American troops who died in Europe during World War II.  Walking through the cemetery was very sobering, and it was impossible to wander through the area without shedding a few tears.  Well worth a visit to honor those who served our country during the war.

Normandy American Cemetery

Day 6:  We made it back to Paris this morning despite having to juggle our train schedule due to the French rail strike.  The original train we were scheduled to take was cancelled.  Fortunately, there was room on an earlier train that did not get cancelled.  Yea!  After transferring from the Gare du St. Lazare to the Gare du L’Est Train Station, we boarded our train for Luxembourg and breathed a sigh of relief to have our concerns about how the rail strike would affect our long-anticipated vacation behind us.

Cercle Municipal Building

After checking into our hotel in Luxembourg City, we set out to explore the area (and find a cache and a few waymarks of course).  Upon arriving at the site of the first cache we attempted to find (but didn’t), we spotted a Kugel Ball.  You just never know where you’re going to see one of those cool-looking fountains!  We moved on to the City Centre and took lots of photos of the old buildings there, including the Cercle Municipal Building (an historic Town Hall) and a Sign of History about it.  Today, the building is used as a Convention Center.  Surprisingly, outside the building there was a Totem Pole, the 100th anniversary festivities symbol of the National Federation of Boys and Girls Scouts of Luxembourg.  We tried to find a second and third cache soon afterward, but again no luck.  The GPS was bouncing all over the place so we couldn’t pinpoint them.  Finally, we found the fourth cache we tried for.  Sweet!

During our wanderings, we came across the gorgeous Luxembourg Viaduct, an Arch Bridge constructed between 1859 and 1861 and featuring 24 arches.  By this time, our feet were screaming and our stomachs rumbling, so we decided to head back to the hotel and stop for a late dinner along the way.  It turns out we had to make one more stop for a waymark on the way back though, when the Biologist spotted Kokopelli at an Arizona Investissments building.  Kokopelli in Luxembourg, who would have thought?!!

Luxembourg Viaduct

Day 7:  Off to our third of nine countries this morning.  We left Luxembourg City at 8:20am on the Eurorail and started the journey to Belgium.  Upon arriving in Brussels, we took a taxi to our hotel, quickly dropped off our bags, and made our way to the historic section of the city.  On the way, we stopped for a couple of Signs of History, including one placed in honor of Dr. Jose P. Rizal, a member of the Dead Poet's Society, who lived in Brussels during 1890 and 1891.  During his time here, he spent his time editing one of his famous novels, El Filibusterismo.  While on a back street, we also spotted and stopped for an Artistically Designed Utility Box -- you just never know where you'll find one of these!

We finally reached what appeared to be a primary tourist area and spotted a small bronze sculpture of a little naked boy peeing into a fountain’s basin.  The crowd surrounding this Figurative Public Sculpture and Fountain was what actually caught our attention.  There was a constant swarm of tourists stopping to take their photos with the urinating lad.  It turns out the statue is called Manneken Pis.  It was placed in 1618 or 1619 and is a landmark of Brussels.  A little later, while searching for a cache, we found it near another Fountain statue, this one called Jeanneke Pis.  This statue was placed in 1987 and depicts a little girl with her hair in short pigtails, squatting and urinating.  The obsession with urination in this city seems a bit odd but amusing!

Manneken Pis

Jeanneke Pis

We saw a beautiful spired building in the distance and went to check it out.  It was the old Town Hall located within Grand Place, the central square of Brussels.  Grand Place is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the buildings surrounding it are absolutely spectacular.

Town Hall at Grand Place

Belgian Waffle Stand

We had a great time wandering around today, but didn’t cover much territory.  We’re looking forward to our Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour tomorrow to see more of the city.  We did eat some Belgian Waffles today, and they were delicious.  Rodney (the Marine) had a waffle with chocolate and bananas, while Sandy (the Biologist) had one with whipped cream and chocolate.  Yummy!

Day 8:  Another nice day in Brussels.  We actually slept in today, the first time we've done so since our vacation started.  Our tour bus didn't start running until 10:00am, so we decided to have a leisurely morning.  We took both routes on the bus tour and saw a lot more of Brussels today than we did yesterday.  We ended the tour near Grand Place, where we spent a little time yesterday.  It is by far the most beautiful place we saw in this city and was well worth another visit.  We wandered through some different side streets than we took yesterday and spotted the Eglise Notre Dame de Bon Secours.  This Old Church is a Catholic Church that was constructed in 1664 in the Baroque Architecture style.  At the entrance to the church is a marker of the Way of St. James and inside the church is a beautiful Dome of the Underworld.

Eglise Notre Dame de Bon Secours

 

Way of St. James Marker

Lovely Church Dome

We also came across a few of the Murals on the Brussels Mural Tour, some lovely Fountains and gardens, and an Equestrian Statue of King Albert.  All in all, it was a great day.  A little chillier than we had planned for, but a great day all the same.

 

Condomerie

Day 9:  We took the rail to Amsterdam today.  When we arrived, we discovered our hotel was only 1/4 mile from the Central Train Station.  It turns out our hotel, Hotel Sint Nicolaas, is right in the thick of Amsterdam.  We couldn't ask for a better location.  Although our room is tiny, the tiniest so far, the hotel is very charming and our room is quite nice and very modern.  After checking in and putting our bags in our room, we headed out to explore the city on foot.  We're only two blocks away from the most popular red light district in the city.  The area is loaded with charming buildings, canals, restaurants, and some very interesting shops...

As we wandered around the city, we often caught the whiff of marijuana, as it is legal here.  We even came across the Hash, Marijuana and Hemp Museum, an Oddball Museum to say the least!

Zuiderkerk Steeple

We greatly enjoyed checking out several beautiful Old Churches, including the Zuiderkerk, a 17th century Protestant Church that is near to Rembrandt's house and where three of his children are buried.  The church was also the subject of a painting by Claude Monet, aha Paintings Then and Now!  It's also the site of a Dutch Benchmark, which we visited, and has a Unique Steeple and Town Clock.

We also stopped for a look at the historic building for the Amsterdam Stock Exchange (a Current Exchange now called the Euronext Amsterdam).  The Amsterdam Stock Exchange was established in 1602 and is considered the oldest stock exchange in the world.

After wandering around for several hours, we decided to call it a day and give our feet a rest.  We have two more days to explore this fascinating city.

Anne Frank House

Day 10:  Our second day in Amsterdam and we headed to the Hop On Hop Off tour bus start location to begin our 2-day tour package.  We got off at the third stop for the Anne Frank House.  We had to wait in line for 1 1/2 hours to get in, but it was worth the wait.  Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family, as well as four others, went into hiding here in what they referred to as the Secret Annex on July 6, 1942.  They lived here in isolation for over 2 years at which time they were found and arrested and put in a concentration camp.  In March 1945, one month before the Liberation, Anne died of typhus in a concentration camp at the age of 15. 

After finishing the tour of the Anne Frank House, we hopped back on the tour bus for a few stops, then got off to chase down a couple of unclaimed Dutch Benchmarks.  The first was the Vredeskerk (or Peace Church) and the second was the Rembrandt Tower.

Vredeskerk (or Peace Church)

Rembrandt Tower

After walking or standing for about 6 hours, we decided to head back to the Red Light District for a late lunch/early dinner at the Pieminister, which served authentic pies and mash like you can get in the U.K.  Then we went back to our hotel to crash for a couple of hours to give our feet a little bit of a rest for an evening walking tour we had signed up for.

Our evening tour was the Randy Roy's Red Light Tour.  Our guide (and owner of the company) Kimberley took us around the Red Light District and shared with us some informative, interesting, and entertaining stories of the history of the area.  While wandering down some of the most notorious streets and alleys, we spotted numerous working ladies posing in the windows of their draped rooms.  I guess we're really not in Kansas anymore...

Abraham Bilderbeek's Stolperstein

Day 11:  Our last day in Amsterdam.  We've had such a nice time here.  We hate to see it end.  We started off the day by heading to two caches, one a virtual and one an earthcache, at the same location.  The place they're located isn't open on the weekend days, so today was our first chance to access them.  However, on the way to the caches, the Biologist happened to notice a brass plaque embedded into the brick sidewalk in front of a house in the Red Light District.  It was a Stolperstein for Abraham Bilderbeek.  A Stolperstein commemorates both individuals that died and survivors who were taken by the Nazis to prisons, euthanasia facilities, sterilization clinics, concentration camps, and extermination camps, as well as those who responded to persecution by emigrating or committing suicide.  In the case of Abraham Bilderbeek, he was taken to the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp and was killed on February 19, 1943.

Shortly after leaving the Stolperstein memorial, we made our way to the caches and spotted two people with papers and a GPS looking in the same area we were headed to.  It turns out they were looking for the answers to the caches as well.  They were team Suchratte from Germany.  We enjoyed looking for the information together and found what we needed without much difficulty.

De Gooyer Windmill

Next, we headed back to the starting point of the Hop On Hop Off bus tour we started yesterday so we could finally complete the entire route.  It took us by several key locations within the city that we hadn't yet seen, including the De Gooyer Windmill, the Tallest wooden Mill in the Netherlands.  That pretty much finished off our day.  We had a leisurely dinner then headed back to our hotel to rest up for our train trip to Hannover, Germany, tomorrow.

Day 12:  Today brought with it a few unexpected situations.  We left Amsterdam via Eurail at the scheduled time, and everything appeared to be going well.  However, about an hour into the trip, our train stopped while we were still somewhere in The Netherlands because of an "accident."  It turns out the train in front of ours struck a person who jumped in front of the train to commit suicide.  Very sad.  Both trains were stopped for about 2 hours.  Once we were allowed to move on, our train stopped at the next station where we had to transfer to another train that came along 30 minutes later.  We were fortunate to meet Domini from Toronto, Canada, while waiting for the train and ended up sitting together until we disembarked in Hannover, Germany.  We had a great time sharing travel stories and learning about some of the must-sees in places she had been.

Salzgitter Bismarck Tower

Upon arriving in Hannover, we went to the car rental counter at the rail station to pick up our reserved car.  Unfortunately, there was a mix-up with the reservation, and they didn't have a car for us!  We ended up finding one rental car agency that still had a car available.  Once we got the car, a BMW of all things, we quickly headed southeast to Salzgitter to find the Bismarck Tower there.  A Bismarck tower (or Bismarckturm in German) is a monument built to honor Otto von Bismarck, the first Chancellor of the German Empire.  A total of 240 of these towers were built between 1869 and 1934, but only about 173 remain. 

German Trigonometric Point

By this time, it was getting late (because of our delayed train arrival) and it was raining, so we headed back to Hannover and decided to find some other waymarks on the list by car the next day.  We checked with the hotel clerk to get a recommendation for a good local German restaurant, which ended up taking us by a piece of Kinetic Art, as well as the former Altes Rathaus (or Town Hall).  We wandered around the old Town Hall trying to see if there was a German Benchmark on it, but instead found a German Trigonometric Point!  Sweet.

1866 Austro-Prussian War Memorial

Day 13:  Today we got up early so we could head out of Hannover before the workday traffic clogged up the roads.  We hopped on the AutoBahn and headed east to Magdeburg, where we stopped to check out the local 1866 Austro-Prussian War Memorial.  This war is also known as the Seven Weeks' War, German War, Unification War, Prussian-German War, German Civil War, and Fraternal War. The war was fought in 1866 between the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and Italy on the other. The war resulted in Prussian dominance over the German states.

Magdeburg Cathedral

After admiring the memorial, we noticed the remnants of southeastern portion of the former fortress of Magdeburg, known as Bastion Cleve.  It turns out this former fortress was constructed in 1709 and is listed on the German Monument Register!  A short distance away we spotted a tall church tower nearby and wandered over to check it out.  It was the Magdeburg Cathedral, a Lutheran Church and the Oldest Gothic cathedral in Germany.  It has a couple of Unique Steeples.  Just beautiful.  While exploring this lovely structure, we spotted a German Benchmark to the left of the entrance of the cathedral and a German Trigonometric Point on the left side of the building.  We we're just getting ready to leave when the Biologist spotted a marker for the Way of St. James.  Wow, lots of things to see around here!

We hopped back in the car and started making our way back west.  We made an additional stop along the way for a potential future waymarking category, then made our way to Hannover.  We did a little more waymarking that afternoon, but our main goal was to do laundry as we were about out of clean clothes.  It was a challenge trying to figure out how to operate the washing machines and dryers as we know no German, but a nice man in the Wash Salon pantomimed what we needed to do and was extremely kind to us.  Thank goodness.  We were starting to get ripe...

The Marine with a statue of a Man with Deer

Hand Operated Water Pump

Day 14:  Auf Wiedersehen Hannover, Hallo Berlin!  Our train arrived in Berlin a little after 10:00am this morning.  We flagged down a taxi at the train station and caught a ride to our hotel.  Fortunately, they had a room ready for us even though we were early so we dropped off our bags and tried to decide what we wanted to do today.  We decided to just wander around within a mile or so of our hotel to see what was nearby.  We soon came across an Old Church with a possible German Benchmark on it, an Artistically Designed Utility Box, a Dunkin' Donuts (no kidding!), and a couple of beautiful old Hand Operated Water Pumps.

Oleksandr Dovzenko Memorial

We also came across nine more Stolperstein plaques, the first we've seen in Germany, for WWII Nazi victims Ernst Stern, Salomon Cohn, Olga Cohn, Elsa Moser, Hans Arno Steinitz, Martin Gumpert, Margarete Gumpert, Alfred Wachsner, and Paula Wachsner.  After a couple of hours, we decided to head back toward our hotel to find a place to grab some lunch.  On the way, we spotted a couple of nude Figurative Public Sculptures, Love Locks on a bridge/walkway railing, and a Dead Poet's Society Memorial for Oleksandr Dovzenko, a Soviet screenwriter, film producer and director of Ukrainian origin.  Wow!  Lots of waymarks to find around this part of the city and we weren't really even trying that hard.  Tomorrow, we begin the first of a 2-day Hop On Hop Off bus tour of Berlin, so we'll be seeing some of the more historic (and touristy) areas soon.

Day 15:  This was day two of three in Berlin.  It's hard to believe we've reached the half-way point of our 4-week European vacation.  The time has absolutely flown by.  Seeing the remnants of the Berlin wall today, as well as Checkpoint Charlie, was very eerie.  We found two virtual caches today, one of them at Potsdamer Platz and the other at Checkpoint Charlie, our first caches in Germany.

The Biologist and a Piece of the Wall

The Marine at Checkpoint Charlie

While wandering around, we waymarked several cool items and places, including a couple of German Benchmarks, a few places on the German Monument Register, a piece of Abstract Art, a beautiful Mosaic that wrapped around a multi-story building, a Town Hall, a Penny Smasher, an amazing Fountain, and an Artistically Designed Utility Box to name a few.  By late afternoon, we were totally wiped out and headed back to the hotel to relax before dinner.  One more day in Berlin then we head to Prague on Sunday.

Brandenburg Gate Selfie

Day 16:   Today, we headed back to the Hop On Hop Off tour bus stop nearest to our hotel to make our way back to a few places we didn't have time for yesterday.  We took a slightly different walking route to the bus stop and found five more Stolperstein plaques for Max and Sabine Friedlaender, Elise and Siegfried Beermann, and Luise Kautsky.  We made a stop at the Brandenburg Gate, a former city gate that was rebuilt in the late 18th century as a triumphal Freestanding Arch that is a well-known German landmark.  We also made a stop to try to find a couple of potential future waymarks for categories that are currently in the making.  It never hurts to be prepared!  After a couple more stops, we headed back toward our hotel for a leisurely late lunch, then some down time.  Maybe some day we'll take a relaxing vacation.... but probably not.

Day 17:  We spent half of the day on the train from Berlin to Prague.  We met some really nice passengers in our compartment though.  First, we shared the space with a man and two women from New Zealand, who made some great suggestions for our future trip to their country.  They even offered to let us stay with them.  Such nice people!  When they got off in Dresden, Germany, a couple from Australia and a man from New Jersey who's originally from Poland got on and shared our compartment.  They were so much fun to talk with.  This was by far our most enjoyable train ride.

Czech Geodetic Point

Upon arriving in Prague, we headed to the suburbs and found a couple of Czech Geodetic Points, one of which hadn't yet been claimed.  By the time we got to our hotel, it was after 5pm and we hadn't eaten lunch!  We were hungry to say the least.  After putting our luggage in our room, we headed out for a late lunch/early dinner.  Since it was drizzling, we decided to call it a night after eating and went back to the room for an early night.  Tomorrow, we begin a 2-day Hop On Hop Off bus tour of Prague.

Day 18:  We had a nice time wandering around Prague today.  We hopped on and off the tour bus at several locations and checked out the sites.  We particularly liked the Old Town area.  We also found two virtual caches while we were out and about.  Tomorrow, we'll be taking a river cruise, wandering around Prague Castle, and hopefully going for a ride on the Petřín Funicular, a Funicular Railway that was opened in 1891.

Selfie overlooking Prague

Petrin Lookout Tower

Day 19:  We saw a bit more of Prague today.  We started off taking the Hop On Hop Off bus to the drop-off point for the Petrin Funicular, which took us to the top of Petrin Hill, where there are some nice views of the city if you climb up the Lookout Tower (which we didn't as our weary legs probably wouldn't have made it).  We're glad we got on the funicular early as when we went back down the hill, the line waiting to go up was extremely long!  Anyway, at the top we saw a charming Old Church, a lovely Rose Garden, and 14 Outdoor Stations of the Cross.

After taking the funicular back down the hill, we got on the next Hop On Hop Off bus that came along and took it to the Prague Castle stop.  Prague Castle is different from any other castle we’ve ever seen.   It’s a huge complex of buildings, including four Old Churches, four palaces, and many other buildings, as well as gardens, covering an area of nearly 70,000 square meters.  It holds the Guinness World Record as the largest ancient castle in the world.  It also has an Earthcache within it, so we had to find it of course!  Anyway, the castle is quite spectacular and well worth a visit.  After spending some time at the castle, we walked down the new castle stairs, an Outdoor Stairway that has about 200 steps.  At the base, we caught the next Hop On Hop Off bus that came by.

Prague Castle View from the River Boat Cruise

We next jumped off the bus at the Vitava River stop.  Here we boarded a river boat that took us on an hour-long cruise that gave us a different perspective of Prague.  We got some great photos of three of the bridges over the river, Prague Castle, and the Old Town area.  After getting off the boat, we walked back to Old Town and grabbed a bite to eat at Mama Lucy's, a small restaurant that serves traditional Czech food.  Rodney absolutely loved his meal of veal cheek, which he said was the best meal he's had yet during our trip.  All in all, it was a lovely day.  Tomorrow, we leave Prague for Vienna, Austria.

Akademisches Gymnasium

Day 20:  We spent most of the day waiting to board our train and riding on the train and didn't get to Vienna until around 3:30pm. After checking into our hotel, we decided to wander around a bit. Very close to our hotel is the Akademisches Gymnasium, the oldest secondary school in the city.  This historic building is an Austrian National Heritage Site.  On the building is a plaque honoring alumnus Erwin Schrödinger, a Nobel Laureate who received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1933.  Unfortunately, it was raining here on our first day, but tomorrow the weather is supposed to be beautiful.  We're really looking forward to seeing all the sites!

Day 21:  Vienna is absolutely beautiful, very elegant. Even though no music was to be heard along the streets, the sound of waltzes played in our heads. We spent most of the day hopping on and off the tour bus. One stop was at Donauturm, an 827-foot tower by the Danube River. This tower is the Tallest structure in Austria and has a Revolving Restaurant on top! The views of Vienna and the Danube from the observation level were amazing. They had a Bungee Jumping Site (NO WAY!) and Coin-operated Binoculars on this level that you could use if you didn't bring your own, as well as a Penny Smasher on site.

Selfie at the Donauturm Observation Level

We made stops at a few Old Churches, including one that had a Trig Point on it (just in case it ever becomes a category in the future...). We also took a few Tourist Stamp Photos while we were out and about. We wandered around Schonbrunn Palace and Belvedere Palace. Both had lovely gardens that were wonderful to walk through. All in all, Vienna was one of the highlights of our trip. Loved it!

Do-Re-Mi Location from The Sound of Music

Day 22:  It's hard to believe we only have a week left before it's time to head home. The past 3 weeks have flown by. Today, we arrived in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Mozart, as well as the setting for parts of The Sound of Music movie starring Julie Andrews.  After dropping our luggage off at our hotel, we wandered around on foot checking out some of the sites near our hotel.  We wandered through the Mirabell Palace gardens, where several scenes from the movie were filmed, including the one where Maria and the children sang Do-Re-Mi.  So beautiful!

Walking through Mirabell Palace Garden

While wandering around Old Town, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997, we spotted a few Old Churches, including an old Churchyard Cemetery, a Soroptimist International Marker, several Unique Artistic Shop Signs and three Stolperstein plaques.  Lots to see and do here.  Unfortunately, we're only here for 2 nights.  Tomorrow, we have a Hop On Hop Off bus tour scheduled that should take us to most of the key locations.  Unfortunately, there's a 50% chance of rain tomorrow.  Oh, well, it's still a wonderful, charming city to visit regardless of the weather!

Day 23:  We were a little worried that today would be a wash-out, literally, as the weather report was calling for a high chance of rain.  And rain it did.  Fortunately, only for the first hour we were out and about.  Then it cleared up and was an absolutely beautiful day.  We took The Sound of Music Tour, which not only took us by some of the key filming locations from the movie, but also told us about the real story of the Trapp family which was the inspiration for the movie.

In the Catacombs

We wandered around the Old Town area and visited several Old Churches, including the Salzburg Cathedral, a 17th century Roman Catholic Church of Baroque Architecture.  Our favorite stop in Old Town was the St. Peter Monastery and its Churchyard Cemetery, where in the movie the Trapp family hides for a short time during their escape from the Nazis. While here, we also visited the Catacombs that were built into the adjacent rocky hillside.  In the cemetery, we found a couple of Centenarian Headstones.

Schloss Frohnburg

While on the bus tour, we hopped off at the Schloss Frohnburg stop so we could look at the palace that provided the facade for the Trapp home in the movie.  We then walked a mile along Hellbrunner Allee, the gravel road in the movie where Maria sings her "Confidence" song while carrying her suitcase and guitar.  The gravel road took us to another palace, Schloss Hellbrunn Wasserspiele, where the Gazebo from the movie is now located.  While looking for a cache here that was only a few feet from the Gazebo, two local cachers showed up so the four of us searched for the cache together.  During the day, we spotted lots of other waymarks, including a Wayside Shrine, Lions Club International Marker, and several Unique Artistic Shop Signs and Stolperstein plaques.  And best of all, the views of the mountains around Salzburg were simply beautiful!  We really wished we could stay here for at least another day, but we're off to Munich tomorrow for a 1-night stay.

Selfie at the Marian Column

Day 24:  Only 5 more days of vacation left before we head home, and you can tell as we're really starting to run out of steam.  We arrived in Munich this morning and dropped our luggage off at our hotel then made our way to the Hop On Hop Off bus tour we had prearranged.  It was the hottest day of our vacation yet, which likely contributed greatly to our exhaustion.  We didn't get off at many of the stops, but just relaxed on the bus while listening to the information being shared on the historic places around town.  Although Munich is our least favorite stop so far, it did have a few interesting sites, including Nymphenburg Palace. We hopped off the bus in the Marienplatz area and made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe, which, surprisingly enough, had a Unique Artistic Shop Sign. After eating a late lunch/early dinner, we wandered over to the Marian Column, which was erected in 1638 to celebrate the end of Swedish occupation during the Thirty Years' War.  The column is topped by a golden statue of the Virgin Mary, a Statue of a Religious Figure, that was created in 1590.  We wrapped up the day early and headed back to the hotel for some relaxation before leaving for Liechtenstein in the morning.

Vaduz Castle

Day 25: Our train arrived in Sargans, Switzerland, early in the afternoon, then we hopped on a bus to Vaduz, Liechtenstein.  We checked into our hotel, then walked to the main downtown area, passing by the Vaduz Cathedral, a Roman Catholic Church that was constructed in 1874.  This Old Church had a great Gargoyle on its front.  While wandering around the city, we attempted to find a cache near the new parliament building, but there were gardeners working on the trees in the vicinity so we had to scratch that plan.  The only other nearby cache we knew about was near the Vaduz Castle, home of the reigning prince of Liechtenstein.  Unfortunately, the castle is perched upon a steep hill in the middle of the city.  Oh well, there was no way we were going to leave Liechtenstein without finding a cache!  So up we went, and up and up and up.  As the crow flies, the cache was only a little over a tenth of a mile from the downtown area, but after walking back and forth on the walking trail switchbacks and going up (I did mention we walked up, didn't I?), it was about a mile one-way to get to the cache.  Yea!  We found it!!!  Even though it was a tiring walk, we were so glad we did it.  The views from the castle area were fantastic.  And the castle was pretty cool too!

At the Little Free Library

We spotted several great waymarks in Vaduz, including some Abstract Art, Figurative Public Sculptures, Signs of History, a Little Free Library, a Millstones water Fountain, and a Geographical Center marker, to name a few.  Then we stopped for a leisurely dinner before heading back to the hotel.  We felt so lucky that the rain held off as the weather predictions were calling for a high chance of rain for most of the day.  Unfortunately, there's a 100% chance of rain for tomorrow.  If it isn't raining when we get up, we may explore Vaduz a bit more.  But if it's raining, we'll likely head back across the border to Sargans, Switzerland, and just hole up at our next hotel for the day.

Chapel of St. Sebastian

 Day 26:  It rained all night and was still raining when we got up this morning.  As a result, we made the decision to catch the bus back to Sargans mid-morning.  We got our stuff stowed at the hotel where we had reservations and, even though there's not much to do in Sargans, we wandered around the city in the rain for a little while.  We found a couple of caches, our first in Switzerland; one was at an Old Church up on a hill and the other was near the train station.  We were going to go check out the Sargans Castle, where another cache is located, but the only access point we could find was on a steep, grassy, wet, and slippery trail.  So instead, we just enjoyed views of it from a distance.  We didn't do much else today, but instead decided it was the perfect weather for some down time.  Sweet!

Unique Artistic Shop Sign

Day 27:  We took an early express train to Zurich this morning.  We got to our hotel at around 10am, and fortunately only had to wait 15 minutes for our room to be ready.  Since the weather is supposed to be rainy today and tomorrow, and it wasn't raining when we arrived in Zurich, we decided to head down to the old town area right away to see as much as we could.  Fortunately, the rain held off for a few hours, which gave us time to visit a few Old Churches and some Swiss National Heritage Sites.  We also spotted an Equestrian Statue, several interesting Fountains, some Unique Artistic Shop Signs, Signs of History, and a footbridge covered with Love Locks.  There sure are a lot of people in love here in Europe!

Zurich Trolley Tour

Day 28:  Our last day of vacation and it's bittersweet.  On the one hand, we'd like to stay longer and see so much more.  On the other hand, we're ready to see our family, cats, and friends, as well as sleep in our own bed.  Today, the rain continued in Zurich.  Fortunately, it was a light rain and we could still go out and explore.  We had pre-arranged a trolley tour of the city and a boat cruise on Lake Zurich, both of which we enjoyed.  The views from the cruise we're lovely and it was a nice relaxing way to end our trip.  We did wander a bit around the old town area after our cruise ended and found another cache where we met a fellow cacher from Austria!  We also found a couple more Old Churches, an Exact Replica of one of the old churches, a Figurative Public Sculpture, and additional Signs of History.  It was a very nice day in spite of the rain.  Mid-afternoon, we went back to the hotel and started getting organized for our flight the next day.

Day 29:  Time to head home today.  From the time we woke up in Zurich until the time we reached Melbourne, Florida, it was about 24 hours.  We could barely keep our eyes open when we reached the Biologist's sister and brother-in-law's house.  It was a long day of travel, with long layovers in Philadephia, Pennsylvania, and Charlotte, North Carolina, but we're finally back on U.S. soil.  In 2 days, we drive home to Jacksonville, Florida, with our boys Rascal and Scamp.  They had a really nice vacation too!