We had heard from our friends, Ben and Andrew, that Croatia was a truly stunning country and were not about to be disappointed. The train was our choice of travel and although long we had booked enough in advance to get 29 euro tickets from Vienna. The only downside was that it was a 6 hour train ride. We left Vienna at 5:45am and were on our way to Croatia, tired and excited. We did manage to secure some elbow room by throwing our bags in the seat next to us and, if that weren’t enough, I took my shoes off [View Full Entry]

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I thought I had read in one of the books that Melk, a small village about an hour West of Vienna, houses a monastery and a winery. We had a free day and it was a sunny one so we took advantage of it and hopped on the train to Melk. The ride was beautiful and it allowed us to see the countryside of Austria we had not seen yet. You could see the monastery from the town and it looked like it pretty much dominated the tiny village. The tour was not until 2p so we walked around the outside [View Full Entry]

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Technically we got screwed before we got to Budapest but didn't find out about it until we got there. More on this in a few. The train ride from Vienna to Budapest is about 3 hours and thanks to the audio book we have been listening to on most of these trips..Wildfire (18 hours of great story telling! Thanks to Mama J!!) the ride was a breeze. We were spending 4 days in Budapest and made the very smart decision to travel. The second we stepped out of the hotel we were approached by several people asking 1. If we needed [View Full Entry]

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The morning of the 6th Suzy and I ventured out to go to visit Vienna's neighboring city Bratislava, Slovakia. We had decided that it would be the perfect day trip based on it close proximity to Vienna, 45 minutes, as well as short train ride. Upon arrival at what seemed to be a completely empty and abandoned train station we were a bit dumbfounded, not being able to open any of the doors into the station. We sat and pondered and watched the group of Spaniards pull everyone of the door handles to know avail, but soon enough we saw a [View Full Entry]

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After getting our butts kicked in St. Anton by the great Alpes..we were humbled but decided to try again in a small ski village about 3 hours west of Vienna in Salzburger Land. David had read about a trio of small villages a few miles from each other..Bad Gastein, Bad HofGastein and Dorf Gastein. After doing some research on the towns we decided on Bad HofGastein..(it had absolutely nothing to do with the state of the art Alpine Spa they had). These towns in their hayday had played host to the royalty and the rich and famous who were mostly attracted [View Full Entry]

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The Grand Vienna Operahouse We have been resting in our home away from home for a few days now.. And have started a much needed diet to try and feel normal again. Trying to do better than pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and have replaced alcohol with water for the time being. We have even started some kind of an exercise regimen in preparation for our trip to India. We came to the scary realization that once we shed off all these layers of clothes..we may not feel as comfortable in our skin :) So far so good...we have tried [View Full Entry]

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On our last day in Copenhagen we decided to take the train ride over the Baltic Sea to the little town of Malmo, Sweden. It was about 30 minute train ride from Copenhagen and aside from the hurricane force winds (that kept anyone from storing luggage overhead) it was a pretty uneventful ride. The main center of town was very small but it did have a very quaint atmosphere. We wandered the steets and checked out the town square, as well as walked to the park and checked out the castle. From across the street of the castle is where I [View Full Entry]

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We arrived into Berlin in the evening around 8 p.m. The flight was easy and short and we knew we should be able to figure out the public transport system rather easily since we are seasoned travelers now. What we did not know about was the bizarre airport we had decided to fly into. Berlin Templehof was totally old fashioned; complete with the mobile staircase to carry you down to the runway as well as baggage claim as soon as you get off the plane. Also, the building looks as it where an old Nazi private airport. To make things ever [View Full Entry]

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After partying it up in Amsterdam Suzy and I decided to extend our trip with Talar a bit and hit up Scandinavia and go visit some of the family roots in Denmark. We flew into Copenhagen to be exact, via Transavia, which was increadbly cheap as they are based in Amsterdam. Upon arriving we easily hopped a train from the airport into Copenhagen Main Station. We walked out into Copenhagen with high expectations since my Dad and Debbie had been there last year and loved it. The town was beautiful, and WINDY! We lugged our bags the 10 minute walk to [View Full Entry]

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OK, so maybe that’s a little too dramatic, but the way we were talking about the forbidden city, one would think there would be a genie at the train station welcoming us and offering to make our three wishes come true. Well, there was no genie, but our first impression of Amsterdam was far from disappointing. The 5 minute walk from the train station to our hotel let us feel the pulse of this city.. and It was alive and kicking! People walking around everywhere (even though it was raining), colorful shops, bars, lots of canals and even more bicycles. Our [View Full Entry]

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