Monday, 17 October 2016

My Newest Adventures in Western Europe - DAY 9 and 10 - by Anne Shier

Sunday October 9 and Monday October 10, 2016:

After spending a truly lovely day in Venice on Sunday (because the weather was fantastic), spending time in St. Mark’s Square and doing a tour of the Doges’ Palace with a local guide and crossing the Bridge of Sighs twice, we then ate lunch, shopped, and hung out in the square and/or streets until 4:30 pm.  At that time, Rosie, our tour director, took us all for a gondola serenade through the Venetian canals and that was definitely worth waiting for.  Venice is a lovely city.

Today (Monday), we had to get up early (for me, 5:45 am), get our baggage out the door at 6:45, have breakfast at 6:45 am, and leave Venice at 7:30 am for Innsbruck, Austria and Munich, Germany.  I have to admit that the journey to Innsbruck has some breathtaking scenery the likes of which we saw in the Scottish Highlands last month.  Those mountains, the Alps, are majestic and very tall in northern Italy on our way to Innsbruck.  But, before we could arrive in Innsbruck, the bus operation regulations dictate that our driver, Vincenzo, had to have a break for a long enough duration that he could rest during our long distance treks.  So, we all took a very quick bathroom break to begin with and then later on, a quick lunch break just before getting into Innsbruck.  So, by the time we arrived in Innsbruck, we would just have enough time to go shopping and/or have a coffee break, which is what most of us did for an hour and a half.  It is a truly lovely little city nestled in the Alps.  All I remembered about it from before was the ski jump and that was an old one that has since been replaced with a new one.
 
Then, we were on our way again making our way toward Munich, Germany.  This is where we would spend the night at our hotel, the Holiday Inn.  At 6:00 pm, after dropping our baggage off quickly at our hotel, we took off for the attractive downtown area where we would have our dinner.  Dinner was an individual choice tonight.  Some of us chose the Hofbrauerhaus for dinner, but some others chose nearby kabab houses.  I chose bratwurst and sauerkraut to eat and beer to drink for dinner.  This is typical German food.  However, it was what I would call an ‘okay’ dinner because I am not crazy about either bratwurst or sauerkraut nor am I a beer drinker – but sometimes, you have to try something new, right?  After all, this is my vacation overseas and I may never return to Germany.


Tomorrow morning (Tuesday), we have to wake up early again (for me, 5:45 am), get our baggage out the door at 6:45 am, have breakfast at 6:45 am, and leave for Rothenberg and Rhineland, Germany at 7:45 am.  I haven’t been to either of these cities before so I am as curious about them as I was about seeing Munich earlier today.  I’ll be leaving for London, England from Amsterdam, Netherlands via the Eurostar train on Friday October 14th.  I only have five more days until Saturday October 16th, when I will be flying home to Canada from London.  Most of the people on our tour are flying to their home countries from Amsterdam, Netherlands on Friday October 14th.  They are a terrific group of people to travel with!

copyright 2016 - Anne Shier

No comments:

Post a Comment