http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/kkdonald/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from kkdonald en-us Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:27:13 +0000 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:27:13 +0000 Itrsquos...10 countries31 trains4 planes6 boats9 hotels3 friendsrsquo homes6 night trains 12 friends visited56 postcards sent6 days with a bit of rain18 travel blog entries1 Java presentation1 doctor7 types of medicine4 packs of tissues9 books 3 read completely 6 partially read6 loads of laundry2 pounds less1 celebrity7 languages4 currenciesand 31 days later. Wersquo http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/blog-20486.html We rubbed the sleep out of our eyes at the Bergen train station and immediately headed to the fish market port to catch a Ferry Boat to the Sogenfjord Norwayrsquos steepest and longest fjord. We took a nice long cruise up the coast of Bergen and back inland toward Voss on the Sogenfjord. Keith and I both slept for a little while but Jill and Ben enjoyed the view the whole time. In additio http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Vestlandet/Bergen/blog-20404.html After a long train ride from Trondheim we finally arrived in Oslo late Monday night. We managed to find a hotel for the night but had to get up early the next morning to find another hotel for the rest of the week since so many of the local hotels didnrsquot have rooms available on Wednesday night. While Jill I repacked our things Keith and Ben scouted out the city for a way to make the A http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Ostlandet/Oslo/blog-20403.html We FINALLY arrived in Stockholm after over 24 hours traveling by train to get there. We started out going from Linz back to Vienna then took a night train from Vienna to Hamburg which went back through Linz so we actually could've just stayed in Linz and cut nearly 3 hours off of our travel time by jumping on the train in Linz but we didn't realize it until the next morning in Hamburg miss http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Stockholm-County/Stockholm/blog-19950.html Around noon we arrived in Norway's third largest city Trondheim. We only had four hours there and we spent about 3 of the 4 hours in the cold rain under cloudy skies getting to Trondheim's Space Needlelike revolving restaurant tower What we saw of the city was very industrial and seemed portbased much like Seattle... according to Jill and they even have an Ikea that we saw from the revolvi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/blog-19955.html Due to train scheduling issues we had to write Prague out of our travel agenda but on the upside we are spending an extra day in Austria so we got the chance to visit SalzburgOn the train over to Salzburg we read about The Official Sound of Music Tour and we happened to be arriving at about the time it started so we decided to try it out plus it meant we get to sit on a bus all day rather t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Salzburg-State/Salzburg/blog-19094.html We were fortunate to have our own personal tour guides in Europe once again. This time it was Jrgen and Eva taking us around the Austrian CountrysideWe began the day with a drive to the area where both Jrgen and Eva grew up Salzkammergut. We went to the towns of Gmunden and Hallstatt. In Gmunden we saw the Alps even the part with the Sleeping Greek Lady a place where the profile of the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Upper-Austria/Linz/blog-19095.html On our way to Florence we decided to make a quick stop over in Pisa to see the famous Leaning Tower We were only there for a few hours but it was worth it to see the famous landmarkSince this entry was so short I'll add a little blurb about some things we've found interesting about the TV while here yes even while vacationing in Europe we've been unable to avoid the TVEvery city we've b http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Pisa/blog-18302.html Vienna was the second of our 2 we dont have a hotel yet stops... and we probably ended up with one of the nicest hotels weve had so far and it was also one of the cheapest. ScoreOur time in Vienna was different from our other stops because we took the days to do kid stuff. We started with a trip to Stephansdom St. Stephan's Cathedral which is the center of town and saw the Staatsop http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-19010.html It's been SOOO nice to return to Roma Of all of the places I've ever been I believe Rome is my favorite city There's so much to see and do the people are so nice and the atmosphere is just awesome no matter where you are or what the time of day And on top of all of that both times that I've been here something unexpected and memorable has happened. Last Spring the Pope passed away whi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-18568.html After nearly 24 hours of travel... we finally made it We left Barcelona on a night train to Milan then got on a train to Genova then to La Spezia and finally to Riomaggiore village in Cinque Terre. We arrived with no place to stay a fortunately had no problem finding an apartment for 2 nights in the village that we arrived in By the time that we got settled it was about 5pm and Cinque http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-18301.html Our stay in Paris began a little slowly. Both Keith and I have been pretty sick with colds since Brussels but Monday was probably the worst of it. When we arrived in Paris early Monday morning we walked to Notre Dame which is very close to where we are staying found some lunch then headed back to the room to rest for the remainder of the day. The day of rest gave us enough energy to get o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-17397.html Today was our only full day in Florence but it's been nice. Last night we were able to enjoy the Florence nighttime atmosphere since we arrived in the late afternoon so today we headed out for a full day of museums. We started with the Uffizi Gallery where many famous paintings by Michaelangelo Leonardo and the other Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are displayed then after a short detour to th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-18304.html Since we were taking a night train from Barcelona to our next stop we had a beautiful full day of sightseeing during our last day there. We started with a trip to the Picasso Museum then on to a Don Quixote exhibit and then took a walk through the beautiful Park Guell which features much more work by Gaudi. At the Picasso Museum we saw the evolution of Picasso's work. I'm glad we were able http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-18299.html First of all the night train was awesome. Except for the fact that we were late for breakfast honestly... no one told us there was a time limit and we missed it the ride was great. The train was a little shakey but that may have actually helped us to sleep better. The beds were pretty comfortable and we both slept really well Two thumbs up for night trains from usSo we arrived in Barc http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-17773.html Well we've got little time left and Paris then we're off for our first night train We're heading to Barcelona where the weather should be very different than the weather we've seen in Europe so far So far it's been a little chilly but wonderful except for the occasionally rain cloud... almost like Florida in late fall or early winter. Barcelona is supposed to be pretty hot right now but ma http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-17503.html Were just finishing up our 2.5 day stay with Erwin another Spring guy Bieke and Esther in Lueven Belgium. Again it's been great having locals to show us around and make us feel welcome in their homes During our stay here weve visited downtown Leueven and Brussels tasted local famous foods such as Belgian waffles Belgian chocolates were bringing some of these home Belgian frites http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/Brussels-Capital-Region/Brussels/blog-17162.html After a night of practically no sleep for either of us due to last minute packing and emailing Ill let you decide who was doing what on August 17th Keith and I got on a plane to Amsterdam via Newark. Customs was smooth sailing and as soon as we got off of the plane Bram a fellow I21 guy was there to pick us up. Bram took us to his place where we would be spending the night then showed us http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-17161.html