Happy New Year - January 1 to 17

Jan 2 - We took the boys on a beer (bier) tour.  It started at a small local restaurant that is famous for their weiss (wheat) beers, where we learned a little bit of history about making beers and why the monks started brewing beer.  They fasted during Lent and they needed something to sustain them.  Bier or liquid bread was their solution.  During Lent the Bavarian breweries brew a strong beer with a higher than normal alcohol content.  Weissbier ranges in strengths of alcohol from 5% to 12%.  The tour continued to a micro brewery where we had a tour of the brewery and learned what goes in the beers and how long they are brewed.   They only put 5 ingredients in their beers - wheat, water, barley, hops and yeast which is regulated by the German Purity Law from 1516.  We also ate dinner at the micro brewery.  They were having a buffet that night which had all the German favorites.   After our tour, tasting and dinner we head off to our final stop, The Hofbrauhaus, where we had a final liter of beer.  In Germany they call a liter of beer “A mass”.  At the Hofbrauhaus the regulars sore thier mugs in locked racks.  You have to wait for someone to die and will you the spot or marry some one with a spot.  The boys really enjoyed this tour. 

Hofbrauhaus Bier Mug Storage

We also took them to the Olympic Park and the BMW museum.  The boys also visited the Deutsche Museum.  The Deutsche Museum is huge; you can easily spend two to three days in it.  We really enjoyed the time with them and it was sad to see them leave.

Brian put on Jay’s lederhosen while he was here and wanted to take them home, but Jay wouldn't let him.

Jan 8 - Jay and I joined a ski club here in Munich and we went on our first trip on Saturday and tried out our new skis.  We went to Fieberbrunn in Austria, a two hour bus ride from here.  It is a small ski area, but it had a nice mix of ski runs.  On the bus ride up they cook sausages for breakfast.  The weather was a little warm and there wasn’t much snow.  The Alps are a litter steeper than we are use to.  The blue slopes are supposed to be equal to our green, but I found it a lot harder to get down since they were steeper.  Even though the skiing wasn’t the best, we still had a good time.

Jan 15 – Went with the ski club to Leogang / Saalbach Hinterglemm in Austria.  This is a HUGE ski area, with some runs over 7 kilometers long.  The day didn’t look like it was going to be a good day to ski since it was raining when we got there.  As we rode the lift up, luckily the rain changed to snow.  It was nice skiing of fresh snow but the visibility was very poor.  We stopped for an early lunch at one of the many restaurants and by the time we finished the sun was shining.  We were finally able to see what the mountain we were skiing on looked like.  The skiing conditions ranged from fresh snow to ice to slush.  I thought the mountain was very steep and it took us 1 ½ hours to get back to the parking lot to our bus.  It’s nice having a bus take you since we can drink and relax on the way home after a long hard day of skiing.  The ski pass tracks the lifts you ride and it estimates the amount of skiing you do.   I skied approximate 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) and Jay skied 33 (20 miles).

Morning ski conditions



After the snow stopped



Log of our skiing



December 2010 - Part 3 of Italy Trip

Dec. 29 – Left for Venice which was another 2 hour train ride and we managed to get on the right train this time with time to spare.  Our hotel was near San Marco Plaza.  We took the public transportation boats, which took us about 30 minutes from the train station along the Grand Canal.  We went to the Piazza San Marco, where we also took an elevator to the top of the Campanile of St Mark's (bell tower) to see the view of Venice.  It was a very sunny day, windy and cold.  The Bridge of Sighs is located near San Marco Plaza.  It is the bridge the prisoners went over from the courthouse in Ducale Plazzo to the jail.

San Marco Plaza

Overlooking Venice from Bell Tower

The mosaics in St. Mark's cover the entire upper part of the church, over 4000 square meters (43,000 square feet).  We also went to Ca’Rezzonico, (a public museum dedicated to 18th century).  We walked across the Rialto Bridge.  The Rialto Bridge is the most famous of the bridges that cross the Grand Canal.  It is a beautiful spot to see the sun set.  There are all kinds of shops on either side of the bridge.  Ca’D’Oro is a beautiful palazzi on the Grand Canal.  We also saw a Leonardo Di Vinci Exhibit at Campo S. Barnba.  The exhibit featured many of Da Vinci’s machines, which the 3 engineers thought was great.  The paintings in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco tell the stories in the Old and New Testament and were done by a single artist, Jacopo Tintoretto.

Mosaic at the entry to St Mark's Basilica



The Rialto Bridge at sunset





Rialto Bridge

Dec. 30 – Venice – The hotel we stayed at offered a free tour of a glass blowing factory on Murano Island. Murano glass is world famous.  They make a shade of red glass that is not made anywhere else in the world.  We saw how they make chandeliers.  It was amazing watching them make the different parts from a glob of molten glass and how quick they could make the pieces.  They had some amazing things made from glass.  Unfortunately we couldn’t take pictures in the show room.  We also went on a gondola ride today for about 40 minutes (which was 70 Euros) it’s just one of those things you have to do when in Venice.  Dinner was at a restaurant overlooking the main canal near the Rialto Bridge.



 

Fish tank made all from glass



It was an unbelievable week walking in areas that were built so long ago and many things still standing as they were then.  We saw things that were thousands of years old, compared to the US where something that was built a 100 or so years ago is considered old.  As you look at these marvelous buildings and statues, you are left to wonder how they were able to accomplish these amazing things back then.  Seeing everything that we saw from the paintings on the walls and ceilings, the statues, the different buildings and all the churches were truly amazing.  At times it was hard to believe that we were really there.  It was truly an unforgettable trip.  I still find myself pinching me since it is hard to believe that I am really seeing these things. 

We carried a pedometer and during our week in Italy we walked approximately 80 miles.  No wonder our legs and feet were moving a little slow each day.

Dec. 31 -  We flew back to Munich today.  It was good to be back.  We were hoping to get back in time to get some groceries, but all the stores closed about 4:00 due to the holiday.  So grocery stores were closed for the next two days.  Good thing I had a pretty well stocked pantry.  We celebrated our Christmas that evening. 

New Year’s Eve here was crazy.  We walked to Marien Platz to see some fireworks around 11:30.  We couldn’t even make it all the way to the plaza it was so crowded.  There were people everywhere and everyone was shooting off fireworks.  Having full body armor would have been a good idea.  We made it back to the apartment in one piece.

December 2010 - Part 2 of Italy Trip

Dec 26 - We were off to Florence late in the afternoon.  We walked to the train station and went to the wrong track and ended up running to catch the train, which we made literally with only a minute to spare.  There were two listings for Florence – no train numbers, just the track numbers were listed.  The train ride was about 2 hours.  We arrived at our hotel, the Hotel Pitti Palace, which was in an old castle.  The hotel is contained within the walls of the "Torre dei Rossi" (Rossi Tower), which dates back to 1200.  The rooms were very small.  The hotel is right next to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. 



The Ponte Vecchio Bridge was the first bridge built in Florence.  The bridge has gold and jewelry shops on each side of it.  Near the bridge there are chains full of locks.  These are the locks of love.  Tradition is that lovers write their name on the lock and throw the key into the nearby river.  Rumor has it that a nearby locksmith started the tradition to sell more locks.



Ponte Vecchio Bridge



On Ponte Vecchio Bridge






Locks of Love





Jewelry store on the bridge


We went out for dinner and found a small place that was in a basement.  It only had about 15 tables.  The food was very good.   Some of the meals said “spicy” which we didn’t believe them, but they were really spicy, not like the food in Rome.

Dec. 27 – Florence – We started at the Palazzo Vecchio, which was just across the bridge from the hotel.  The Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall and a museum with artwork from many famous Italian artists such as Michelangelo, da Vinci and Donatello.  While there, we saw the Damien Hirst “For the Love of God”.  For the Love of God is a platinum life-size model of a human skull covered in 1,106.8 carats of pure and almost flawless small diamonds (8,601 diamonds). 

Fresco inside Palazzo Vecchio

Next we walked to the Piazza del Duomo.  We went to the Baptistery of San Giovanni, which is one of the most beautiful examples of Roman architecture.  It was built in the 11^th century. The bronze doors to the Baptistery had biblical scenes on them.  At the Cathedral of Santa Marie del Fiore and Jay, Kevin and Brian climbed to the top of the bell tower which has 413 stairs to the top.  We met a couple in the cathedral, who just moved to Karlstad, Sweden and their daughter from South Carolina, who was on her college break.  We ended up having dinner with them at a place called Gilli’s, which was very good.  The boys were amazed how expensive dinner was for four. 



Palazzo Vecchio

  

  



Baptistery of San Giovanni



Baptistery of San Giovanni



 

Bell Tower



  

Cathedral of Santa Marie del Fiore

View from the bell tower

Dec. 28 – Florence – Breakfast at the hotel was crowded, we had to wait for a table, definitely not enough room in the breakfast area for the number of rooms at the hotel.  We were going to go to the Uffizi Gallery, but since we didn’t have reservations the line was too long to wait.  We would have to wait over 2 hours to get in.  I am sure it would have been worth it, but we had too many other things we wanted to see.   We went to the Academy Gallery where we saw the Statute of David, along with other beautiful statutes and paintings.  As you walk around Florence you will also find replica statues of David.  We walked to the Pitti Palace, which has housed three royal dynasties and the palace contains their collections in the museum.  The museum is the largest museum in the city.  Also on the grounds of the Palace is the Buboli Gardens.  We also walked to Fort Belvedere which has been closed since two people have fallen at the exact same spot and died as a result of the fall.  We went to The Basilica of Santa Croce and Church of Santo Spirito. 

Pitti Palace and Buboli Gardens



Basilica of Santa Croce



Inside the Church of Santo Spirito

Went to a small restaurant, Pino’s Bar, for dinner.  It had only 5 tables and the food was very good and inexpensive.  After dinner, Brian and Kevin wanted dessert.  There were places on the Ponte Vecchio Bridge that sold fresh made waffles, they really smelled good.  Brian got one, which was a double waffle with chocolate in the middle and it cost 12 Euros ($15).  Definitely not worth 12 Euros.  Kevin got a Gelato.  For good luck, we had to put a coin in the mouth of a bronze wild boar near the market.

To be continued.......

December 2010 - Part 1 of Italy Trip

 Jay’s mom left Dec. 7.  Both boys came for the holidays.  Brian arrived Dec. 18 and Kevin on Dec. 21. Kevin missed his flight from Houston to Chicago and had to take a later one.  His flight from Chicago to Munich was late, so he still made that and he got a free upgrade to business class, which he really enjoyed.   It was really good to see them.  We left for a week in Italy on Dec. 23 and we went to Rome, Florence and Venice.

Jay had a trip to London for a couple of meetings on Dec. 21^st.  He left early in the morning and was supposed to have a 5:50 pm return flight the same day.  Because of snow at London Heathrow, the return flights were all cancelled.  The travel agent said that he probably would not be able to get out of Heathrow the next day due to the number of cancellations, so they found him a flight from Stansted airport, which is outside of London, through Dusseldorf to Munich.  It was a 2 hour bus ride from Heathrow to Stansted and they found him a room near the airport.  Of course all he had was the suit he wore for the meetings.  He made it home the next day to leave for Rome on the 23^rd.  The British definitely have a problem when it snows there.

Dec. 23 -  We started our vacation to Italy on the 23^rd.  Our first stop was Rome.   It was warmer and sunnier than Munich which was good.   After dropping off our suitcases at our hotel, we decided to go to the Colosseum.  The Colosseum is Rome’s greatest amphitheatre built in 72 A.C.  While we were waiting for our tour to start we had our picture taken with two Centurions.  Little did we know that they would charge us for the pictures with them (with our camera) - 5 Euros per person.   They can sure pick out the suckers.  Walking in and around the Colosseum was amazing.

  

After our Colosseum tour and as we were walking in front of Piazza Venezia, and a man tapped Jay on the shoulder and asked him for a quarter.  It ended up being someone Jay knew that worked for HSB in Hartford, CT.  He was there visiting with his daughter who is currently going to school in Florence.  What a small world.



Piazza Venezia

Dec. 24 – Vatican Tour – The day started out overcast, but soon turned cold and rainy.  We decided to take a guided tour of the Vatican since they give you more information and history of the area and you can bypass the entry lines.  You are also able to go into the Basilica.  Since it was Christmas Eve and things were going to close early we did the quick tour of the Vatican.  We went to the Vatican museum (the museum represents the largest art collection in Europe with over 65,000 masterpieces); the Sistine Chapel where we saw the ceiling painted by Michelangelo (it was breathtaking) and St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest church in the world. 



Vatican Museum

 

Sistine Chapel



Later that night Jay and Brian went back to the Vatican to attend mass at St. Peters Square.  It was cold and rainy in the square.  They got there early and they were able to find seats outside.  As they were sitting waiting for mass to start in the rain, a lady came up to them and asked them if they would like tickets to go inside for mass.  Of course they accepted the tickets.  They heard from other people that they requested their tickets 2 ½ months in advance.  St. Peter’s holds about 10,000 people inside.  They ended up having great seats inside and sat to the right of the altar, about 100 feet from the Pope.  Mass started about 10:00 p.m. and was over just after midnight.  Mass was said mostly in Latin and parts were said in other languages and one of the readings was in English.  Jay and Brian sat next to some non-Catholic’s and when they returned from communion, they asked if they got something to eat when they went to communion.  After mass they started walking back to the hotel since trains and buses weren’t running and no cab were in sight.  Finally after walking a few miles they caught a cab back. 

 

St. Peters

St. Peter's Square



Midnight Mass in the Basicilla



Midnight Mass



Dec. 25 – Christmas day was another cold and rainy day.  The trains and buses were on a reduced schedule and they didn’t run at all for a few hours in the afternoon.  We went to Piazza Navona, which is known to be the one of the world's most famous squares.  The main attraction of the Piazza Navona is the three fountains. The central and largest fountain is the .  The two other fountains on the piazza are the Neptune Fountain and the Moor Fountain. Another highlight on the Navona square is the Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone.  From the square we walked to the Pantheon, which was closed and then on to the Trevi Fountain, where the sun came out for a few minutes.  We were told that when you are at the fountain you are to throw two coins in the fountain, one was for a return trip to Rome some day and the other one was a wish.  We walked to Piazza di Spagna and walked up the Spanish Steps.  We took the Metro back close to the hotel and decided to stop for a snack.  The snack ended up costing 30 Euros which is equal to $39 American dollars (we had two Gelato’s, 1 hot chocolate and two cannolis).  The boys were shocked how expensive everything was in Rome.  Later that night we went back to the Vatican and Trevi Fountain to see them lit up at night.

 


 Neptune Fountain



Fountain of the Four Rivers

  

Church of Sant'Agnese

  

 Spanish Steps



   

Trevi Fountain



Trevi Fountain





Dec. 26 – Beautiful day clear, cool and sunny.  We went to The Roman Forum, The Pantheon (The Pantheon was amazing, considering it was built in 27 B.C.) and Circus Maximus (where the chariot races took place).  There wasn’t much there any longer, only an open space and a tower where the Circus Maximus was.  Three and half days in Rome were not enough.

Forum

 

Forum

  

Inside The Pantheon



The Pantheon



 

Circus Maximus



Circus Maximus

  

To be continued........