http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Keith-and-Pete/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Keith and Pete en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 04:00:50 +0000 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 04:00:50 +0000 If you are familiar with the bloggers on this site you will know that when most of them return home from their world trip they take time to recall the adventure and write a summary of the best moments or their most recommended sites. And many of the entries are quite creative. I had planned on attempting just that but since we landed back on American soil we haven't slowed down and I have http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Minnesota/Minneapolis/Uptown/blog-404438.html Up On the Roof...And so we end our European travels almost where we began a year and a half ago in Milano. Within days of our arriving in Poland at end of September 2007 visiting Milan was our first venture. At that time we had not perfected our tourist skills and missed seeing one of the most important sights Italy has to offer da Vinci's The Last Supper. We really did need advance res http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-378888.html Another train ride into Antibes France. This is the final leg of our Mediterranean trip. It is the French Riviera but there are no crowds and no suntans. Traveling during the off season is perfect if you don't like crowds. Places like this are sun havens even at this time of year in Europe and it is what we appreciated. One day was spent staying in Antibes just to walk around the tip of t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d-Azur/Antibes/blog-373980.html A game of PetanqueWhen we were planning the trip along the coast from Barcelona to Antibes Keith thought about hiring a car and we would have a leisurely drive town to town. But the cost to return a car in a different country from where it was rented was too expensive. So we sat in a comfy train seat and enjoyed the view When ever we passed the sections of highway I had to laugh to myself http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d-Azur/Arles/blog-373978.html When asked about the long construction time of his masterpiece La Sagrada Familia church Antoni Gaudi is said to have stated that his client was in no hurry. Yet Keith and I were. We were in Barcelona only a couple of days so we enlisted the help of Jose and concentrated on the area of the city nearest our hotel. This included the Barri Gotic whose Roman ruins are tucked round corners and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-373977.html The town of Oswiecim Poland is just 50 kilometers from Krakow. It's brick barracks were built before the second World War as barracks for the Polish Army. This little village has grown into a small town over the last 65 years. And each day thousands of people from literally all over the world find their way here. To see for themselves and to remember those that died. The numbers of the vic http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Auschwitz/blog-367332.html After our flights were cancelled last weekend the weather is better and we are in Prague for the weekend. It is beautiful this time of year since the snow has left accents of white on the statues and roof lines. With the winter weather comes the fact that there are fewer tourists so crowds weren't an issue. Although the cold was We are still wimps when it comes to freezing temperatures. M http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-369604.html I would love to be so elegant a writer to be able to explain the meaning of such a place as the Ossuary of Sedlec near Kutna Hora. Or have the ability to photograph these sculptures made of human bones so that you could clearly see the meaning in them. The little booklet states that This work is not an end in itself for decades it has reminded visitors of the limits of human life and the fa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Central-Bohemian-Region/Kutna-Hora/blog-369942.html We woke up with the alarm at 3 am. Not unusual for us. Keith always books the early flights. And he likes to be at the terminal early no last minute arrivals for him. We had a 530 am plane to catch. We are headed to Prague. The most beautiful city in Europe Or so we've been told. Looking out of the window while I ate my breakfast I thought to myself it's mighty foggy outsideYou all http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Krakow/blog-366429.html This past weekend we took the train up to Warsaw. We feel obliged to make a visit being that we are temporary Polish. And this is Poland's capital for the past 400 years. It was first in Krakow.At the top of this entry is a photo of the Jewish Cemetery it was the only deserted place we were in during the time in Warsaw. This is a very alive busy city. We were impressed by the size of th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Masovia/Warsaw/blog-362716.html On December 6th we just happened to be walking back from supper when we heard music coming from the little market. It was the arrival of St. Nicolaus. Tonite is the night that he will slip a present under the pillows of the children. The square was jammed packed with families waiting the arrival of the saintly bishop. A popular childrens show was performing from one of the balconies overlo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Krakow/blog-353958.html Her voice is calm and seductive Recalculating recalculating make a legal uturn at the first available opportunity... Even so after awhile it does get annoying to the point we turned off sound volume...We nicknamed this marvel of technology Inga. Since there were three of us on this trip I thought it would be nice for you to read Kate's version of Inga the rental car's GPS... Kei http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Munich/blog-350567.html Neuschwanstein Castle. Near the town of Schwangau in the Allgu area of the Alps. We left the Christmas village of Rothenburg and headed south. Next on our quick trip through Bavaria was the castle of Neuschwanstein. With each mile there was more and more snow on the ground. Soon we were surrounded in a scene from a winter post card. And when we caught a glimpse of the castle through the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Neuschwanstein/blog-350566.html It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber/blog-350883.html Our Thanksgiving holidays were spent in Germany totally immersed in the advent of Christmas The three of us Kate colleague not daughter Keith and myself headed out of Poland to see what the Christkindlsmarkt was all about. Kate and I have been looking forward to shopping the traditional markets tasting the gluhwein and eating hearty German food And I think Keith was ready to get on http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber/blog-350562.html This won't be an interesting blog entry. No adventure no history. It's only a snippet of Paris just in case any one is as enamored with this city as I have become. Actually this entry is just for me. Once we return home this blog will be a way for me to recall the things we have seen and done while living in Europe... From the town of Versailles we catch a cab back into the city. We would http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-341592.html I think the weather was probably the only thing France's king couldn't control in the late 1600's even though his manicured gardens appear to be an attempt to control nature. The weather for our weekend visit was rainy and cold but it didn't dampen our enthusiasm. The palace lived up to it's reputation for opulence It is true expression of selfglorification and King Louis XIV set the standard http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Versailles/blog-341291.html This dog laying on the steps didn't move much less get replaced by a fresh dog. The Royal Guards are replaced each hour during a little ceremony. But she slept through the all the marching and picture taking.On our last day in Greece we hurried over to the House of Parliament just in time to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The guards wear a type of kilt wo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Attica/Athens/blog-330833.html With our time in Greece quickly coming to an end we are looking forward to spending a couple of days on the island of Hydra. The hydrofoil ride over from Pelopennese was a first for us. It's a boat on skis you vibrate across the water. Before we knew it we were docking at Hydra Town. If we had needed help with our luggage or getting to the Hotel Leto we could have hired one of the many do http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Attica/Hydra/blog-328716.html The ruins at Mycenae represents the stuff Greek tragedies are made of. As one version of the legend has king Agamemnon returning from the Trojan war only to be killed in his bathtub by his wife and her lover. She was angry because he may have had their daughter sacrificed. Hows that for drama. These ruins are older than the acropolis in Athens the original walls were built around 1300bc. If http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Pelopennese/Nafplion/blog-337270.html