Easter Vacation: Italy, Austria, Munich

I have been back in Paris for less than a week, and already I wish I was still traveling. It was amazing. In 18 days I saw a lot and covered a lot territory. The first day, April 16 was a crazy one. We went from Paris-Geneva, Geneva-Milan, Milan-Rome. But, I'm glad we got to do it in the day light. The trip from Geneva to Milan was beautiful. It was strange to see a snow capped mountain in the back ground and some palm trees in the foreground. This was also the first time I've ever seen snow capped mountains in real life. Words cannot describe their beauty.

Our first stop was Rome. We went to the coliseum and the Roman forum, the Vatican, Trevi fountain...all the typical touristy things. We went to church in Rome as well. Our hostel was interesting and a little strange and we bonded with 5 other girls who were stranded in Rome due to the volcano in Iceland. We ended up sharing a room with them the last night and we found out that they go to Messiah college in the states. Very cool.

Our next stop was Siena. It is a beautiful city. It is a hilltop town and because of that the scenery is incredible. The town square was a very interesting place. The edge of the square is higher up and from there it slopes down until you hit the tower. People just hang out in the square as if they were on the beach. The historic city centre is a UNESCO world heritage site, which is cool. We just laid back and relaxed a little in Siena.

Our next stop was Venice. But, before we went there we stopped in Pisa. We took our cheesy tourist photos of us holding up the tower and then we headed to Florence. In Florence I explored the area around the train station by myself and saw the Gates of Paradise. Then, we headed to Venice. Venice is a very unique city. No cars, which makes it a quiet city. There was something eerie or mysterious about Venice at night because of the narrow streets, tall buildings and the silence. Our hostel here was fantastic and we met a lot of great people. We spend a day on the islands with some new friends from our hostel.

Our next stop was Vienna. This is the farthest East I have ever been. We saw the Stephansdom the first day. That night we went to an opera. Its the first opera I've ever been to. We got standing tickets, so it was a long 4 hours of standing, but way worth it. We saw some Habsburg palaces and the parliament and went to a cemetery to see some composer's graves.

We then headed to Salzburg. We didn't really do very much Sound of Music stuff. Our friend from Austria told us not to. We went to Mirabell Gardens, which were beautiful (do re mi was filmed here). Then we headed to Hellbrunn, a palace. This was a really cool place because of the trick fountains. So, we got wet. We didn't know when or from where the water would come from. It was a really fun place. We also went to the abbey from the movie and the cemetery from the movie. The cemetery was beautiful. No headstones, but the markers were all wrought iron and most of the graves had fresh flowers on them. We also went to the fortress and from there we got a beautiful panoramic view of the city.

Our next stop was Munich. But, on our way t Munich we stopped in Innsbruck for the day. I am so glad we did because Innsbruck is beautiful. We went up to the first peak in a funicular. Then we went on a hike. We were completly unprepared for it and the older people that we encountered told us to be careful in our shoes when going back "downstairs." This was the first time that I've ever hiked up a mountain - a legit one. The views were beautiful. We encountered some snow and it was a strange sensation to be so hot but to feel the cold radiating from the snow. We stopped and had lunch at one of the alms on the way back down. Then we took the cable car up to the second landing. This was my first time in a cable car. This was absolutly breathtaking. There was lots of snow there and we threw some snowballs at eachother, walked around in it a bit (we're Canadians, its what we do) and people looked at us funny.

That night we headed for Munich. I enjoyed learning about the history of Munich. We visited Dachau, a former concentration camp. It was the first one and the only one that was in operation during the whole 12 years of the third reich. It was a very somber experience. We also went on a walking tour of Munich and learned some of the history from that. On Sunday we went to church and then we headed back to Paris on an overnight train.

That was my Easter break.