Switzerland

Last weekend, we met up with some friends in Hasliberg, Switzerland. The 5 hour trip South was mostly grey until we passed through an incredibly long tunnel in Switzerland. On the other side of the mountain, the sky was bright and clear and there were magnificent mountains to either side of us. Since neither of us have never seen the Rockies, this was our first experience seeing "real" mountains. It was exhilarating! And these were only the foothill of the Alps!

On Sunday morning, we went for a walk along a wanderweg. Basically, we walked out the back of the house and went up...and up...and up. Although the morning was a little foggy, it was still a beautiful walk! In the afternoon, we went to the Aareschlucht Meiringen, or the Gorge of the Aare Meiringen, a gorge carved by glaciers. The water flowing through the gorge was a gorgeous (no pun intended) blue green color and the walk though it was amazing! In the evening, we relaxed on the balcony staring at the mountains in the distance. We were able to see a glacier capping one mountain and enjoyed watching the clouds seem to get caught on the top of the mountains. Later that night, we went to dinner, intending to have fondue, but the small restaurant required a day's notice to prepare it. Maybe we'll get some later this summer when we go back camping with friends!

We've enjoyed every trip we've taken so far, but we've definitely been most impressed with Switzerland. It is incredibly peaceful and majestic and we're looking forward to visiting again!

Click below for our photo album of the trip

Switzerland

Visit to Trier, Germany 14 July 2007

On Saturday, we traveled with the Marxes to the ancient Roman town of Trier. Trier was the capital of the western portion of the Roman empire and was once ruled by Constantine the Great and claims to be the oldest city in Germany. It took us about 2 hours to drive out and our first stop when we arrived was the Porta Nigra or Black Gate. It is the last remaining of 4 city gates that were part of the original city walls. The sandstone has turned black over time and is held together by large iron staples instead of mortar.

Our next stop was St. Peter's Cathedral and the Church of Our Lady, two adjoining churches and UNESCO world heritage sites. After touring the churches and their gardens, we stopped for traditional German food at an outdoor restaurant just across the plaza.

After lunch, we went into Constantine's Imperial Throne Room, which was built around 310 AD and claims to be the largest surviving room from antiquity (220 ft long x 90 ft wide x 110 ft tall). We visited the remains of the Imperial Baths (Kaiserthermen) and then took quite a long hike to the remains of the Roman Amphitheater where gladiators once battled in combat.

By the end of the day, we were getting pretty tired and hot, but we made one last stop to the house where Karl Marx was born before walking about 2.5km along the beautiful Mosel river back to our car.

When we got home, we wrapped up our day with burgers on the grill and a movie. =)

Click below to see some pictures from the day.

Trier

Rhine Aflame!

Last night (7/7/07!) we went on a Rhein river dinner cruise. We boarded the M.S. Loreley in Wiesbaden and sailed west on the Rhein, from Biebrich to roughly Trechtingshausen. On the ride out, we passed about six castles and several quaint German towns to include the famous Rüdeshiem, and the soon to be famous Assmannhausen (Seinfield anyone?).

Once we got to Trechtingshausen, our ship turned around and waited with some 70 other boats, in eager anticipation of the celebration about to begin!!! (Carrie made me write that). Just before 10 o'clock the fireworks began. It was a little odd seeing fireworks at sunset, but we enjoyed it nonetheless (yes, the sun now sets around 10 - 10:30 here).

We proceeded down the river, stopping at the castles we passed which were now "Aflame!" They used bright red flares to illuminate the castles, and at several, they launched fireworks from the ramparts. At one, they had special fireworks that streamed over the edge of a tall tower, making it look like a waterfall.

It was a fantastically fun night, but we were very tired by the end - docking at 2:00am and not getting home until three. Hope you enjoy the pictures and the short video.

Rhein Aflame

Dublin Trip

In mid-May, we met up with John and the rest of the University of Penn Glee Club in Dublin. It was definitely a whirl-wind trip, but it was so much fun! We went to the Guinness Factory for a tour. We didn't have a lot of time to make it through every floor...but we were sure to get to the most important part, the Gravity Bar for our pint! Best Guinness we ever had! We also visited Trinity College, and although The Book of Kells had technical difficulties that day, the college and the rest of the library was amazing to see. Since we weren't able to attend any of the Glee Club's performances, John got they guys to do an impromptu concert while we were at Trinity. They definitely impressed a lot of people...however, security did show up to chase us away! (Be sure to look at a short video in our photo album below!) We had a good time walking through Dublin, eating lunch at a pub, and finding The Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest Pub. We also toured Saint Patrick's Cathedral. The entire church was magnificent, from the stained glass to the stonework.

Dublin Trip

Click on the picture to see our album!