A Photo Journey

At the risk of sounding too cliché, I'll let the pictures do the talking about our visit to the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland.  To be honest, I am feeling a little under the weather and not quite up to my chatty self.  A nasty sore throat has been with me since Berlin, and I can’t seem to shake it!  BUT…I need to get a post out for my demanding fans!  Actually, I kind of like that you subtly remind me of how long it has been since I last wrote.  It makes me feel wanted!  So without further adieu, here is a short commentary from yours truly.  I certainly cannot do justice in words to our breath taking experiences here anyway!  I hope you enjoy our photo journey.

Our wonderful host Luc, in the Czech Republic, created a walking tour of Prague.  It was amazing and we thoroughly enjoyed our day in the city, and our time spent with him.

The Astronomical Clock.  At noon the clock comes alive. Saints
can be seen dancing in the windows at the top.

Mark and I on Charles Bridge.

Another view of Charles Bridge, I can't imagine how busy it would be in the summer!

All along the bridge are brass images of Saints.  It is believed that if you touch the plate, you will be
blessed by the Saint.  It was incredible the number of people touching the plates.  You can see the affects of people's hands above.  Incredible.

The John Lennon Wall.

Attaching a lock to a bridge and throwing away the key is a sign of enduring love.  This has
become quite popular in Europe and is believed to be compromising the integrity of the bridges.

A view of Prague.

Charles Bridge at night, even more beautiful.

A marionette shop we visited.

In Austria we were treated to a tour of Salzburg by an old family friend, Louisa.  We took a ride up the funicular railway to the castle, snacked on "Mozart Balls" chocolate truffles and laughed until our sides hurt.  Thanks for the wonderful day, Louisa!

The view from our chalet in Austria, breathtaking!

Spectacular.

More beauty!

What more can I say?

Another 'love' bridge in Salzburg, Austria.

Mozart's birth place.

The view from the bottom of the funicular, we ventured up to the castle.

The view from above.

Get your tickets for the Sound of Music starring, the world travelling Mitchells!

Mark had to pipe in Austria too!

 Switzerland was absolutely beautiful.  We started off with visiting friends we had met on a volcanoe in Iceland.  Hanna, Patrick and Nina prepared a wonderful meal for us and Hanna toured us around Shauffhausen.  

Our wonderful friends we met in Iceland, Patrick, Nina and Hanna.

Rhine Falls, the largest waterfall in mainland Europe

A view of Schaffhausen.

Quite the building, check out the paintings!

We visited a cookie factory,

a cheese factory,

and a chocolate factory!  What more could we ask for?

A beautiful restaurant in Leysin, Switzerland.

This photo was taken during a walk in Leysin, Switzerland.  Chilly but oh so beautiful.

What a beautiful shot captured by Mark.

The sides of the mountains were covered in grapes, in Switzerland.

This photo was taken in Zurmatt, after a cog train up the mountain.

The Matterhorn at a distance.

This picture almost looks photo shopped, but it wasn't!

The Matterhorn, a little closer!

We left the girls perched on this rock while Mark and I continued the hike up the Matterhorn.
We made it to 2000 metres above sea level.  It was quite chilly up there!

Another one of our hikes in Leysin, just around the corner from our chalet.  It was amazing how warm it was
even though there was snow on the ground a little further up.

All of the cows in Switzerland wear these enormous bells so they can be heard when they are in the mountains.

We boarded a 'car' train to travel through the Alps to Italy, so cool!

A German Roller Coaster Ride

Germany provided a diverse set of experiences for us during our stay.  Our emotions were taken on a rollercoaster ride from great heights to all time lows.  

We started off with a visit to Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg.  Mark and the girls loved seeing the largest miniature railway in the world, compete with a working airport, more than 900 trains with 12000 rail cars, 250 computerized vehicles and 200 000 people. It is one of the most popular attractions in Western Germany, and well worth checking out the video on youtube.  If you know anyone that enjoys trains or miniatures, this is a must see.

Attending to an accident.

This picture shows the perspective we were given.

The miniature world cycles through day and night scenes every fifteen minutes.

In Berlin we stayed with a wonderful family who had lived in many different parts of the world. We learned to put our mangoes in a bowl of raw rice to ripen them!  We visited the Berlin Wall, the Pergamon and the Jewish Museum. We also visited the Ann Frank Museum, and the girls have added her diary to their reading list. The East Side Gallery was something to see. There, the wall was decorated with graffiti and murials, which seemed to stretch on for miles.  We saw Check Point Charlie and tried to understand this complex part of history.  Mark tried to explain, but still we heard comments like, “I don’t get it, was the wall to keep the people in or out?” and “Wait, did the wall go around the whole country?” In the end I think we figured it out, but I will definitely not be teaching a history lesson on it any time soon!  We thoroughly enjoyed our time spent with the Mollen family in Berlin.  It is not only the places we visit on this trip that make it such a wonderful journey, but the people that we have been so fortunate to spend time with.  Thank you for your hospitality, we thoroughly enjoyed your company and our stay in Berlin.

 

The Hallocaust Memorial.

Enjoying a pretzel outside the Parliament Buildings.

Museum Island, Berlin, Germany.

The Pergamon

One of the Seven Wonders of the World, The Gates of Babylon.

The East Side Gallery, Berlin, Germany.

The architect Daniel Libeskind created empty spaces in several parts of the Jewish Museum.  These voids extend vertically through the entire museum and represent the absence of Jews from German society.  The memory void pictured here is called ‘Shalekhet’ or ‘Fallen Leaves’.  The more than 10 000 faces covering the floor, are dedicated to the innocent victims of war and violence.

Dachau was quite a moving part of our visit to Germany.  Learning about this part of history was difficult, but something we felt was very important for our family to experience.  Ally captured in words some of our thoughts and feelings expressed during our conversation, after visiting the concentration camp.  This is what she wrote.  “Dachau was a very sad and depressing part of our tour and our world's history. What could have lead Hitler into thinking this was okay? How could one person's decision impact the lives of so many? People were happy, they traveled, went to school, had fun, just like us...but their lives were changed in a split second.” An estimated 50,000 people from all walks of life died at Dachau, and many more tortured, because one person didn’t realize their value as humans. We left the concentration camp understanding a lot more about Germany’s history, but could not help but notice how somber the people visiting were, including ourselves.  We were thankful for our visit, but cannot find peace with the extent of racism, intolerance and pain that so many suffered here.

This was the only picture we took at Dachau, and it was taken at the entrance.
 The writing on the gate says Work Will Set You Free.  We quickly realized there was
no sense of freedom here.

A stay in Germany would not have been complete without a visit to a beer garden.  We enjoyed sausage, sauerkraut and of course a beer at Hofbrauhaus in Munich, Germany.  The atmosphere was spectacular and the taps were flowing.  We were a little late for Octoberfest, but felt we experienced a bit of it, just the same.  We purchased Birkenstocks and according to Gisela, my dear German friend, all we have to do now is let the hair grow out on our legs to wear them properly!  Unfortunately, I think we have that covered too - Nora, we sure are missing you! 

Look at the size of that beer!

The main entrance of Hofbrauhaus, Munich, Germany.

Ally and Meg with our new purchases, we are going to need another backpack soon!

Now the ride continues to the Czech Republic, Austria and the Swiss Alps!

All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt

Driving abroad continues to be a new and challenging experience, as we travel though the countries of mainland Europe.  Everyday there is something new.  Mark continues to take up his post behind the wheel, as the girls and I play the role of co-pilot and support staff.  Garmin (pronounced ‘jar-mean’, with a slightly French accent) is working overtime. She has saved our marriage countless times and is easily blamed when we are lead astray. I don’t know how couples would survive driving in Europe with only a map. Ally is reading her 30^th novel and Meg is trying to manage her motion sickness without meds.

Thankfully, we are now driving on the right hand side of the road again; however, the vehicle is ‘still’ a right hand side drive.  You would think that my stress and anxiety in the passenger seat would have reduced, since we were back on the right side of the road.  No more ditch views for me!  I was giddy with anticipation about being able to sit up straight as opposed to leaning into the centre of the car.  Unfortunately, my leaning has graduated to practically climbing up onto Mark’s lap.  Instead of being in the ditch, I am now headed straight into oncoming traffic, as Mark slowly creeps over the centre line.  When the motorways are wide and spacious, things are good… but when the roads are narrow and windey, like when climbing into the Swiss Alps, let’s just say NOBODY is giddy!  There are occasional squeals and gasps, and my legs have honestly ended up on the other side of the vehicle.  I’ve never really gotten over that instinct to pull up into the fetal position when adrenalin is thumping through my veins…so there I am on the centre console, in the fetal position, as we continue to meet transport trucks and tour buses, head on. Poor Mark not only has to deal with hairpin turns but also a stressed out wife.

Driving in Paris was just plain CRAZY!  We had been warned back in England, when we were struggling with the round-abouts, to wait until France.  Luckily, Dan (Mark’s brother) was here and took over my role as co-pilot. Otherwise, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be here to tell the story!  The ring road surrounding Paris has the highest number of vehicle accidents in Europe, and it is easy to see why.  Speed limits are similar to those on the autobahn – non-existent, and motorcycles do not adhere to the rules of the road in any way, shape or form.  They race up the dividing lines, weaving in and out of traffic at unheard of speeds.  The round-about at the Arch de Triomphe, was a mass of cars, bicycles, tour buses, motorcycles and scooters going every which way, without dividing lines.  An absolute horror to be driving in, but quite the spectacle to see as a pedestrian.  Fortunately for us, we decided to avoid that mess on wheels!

A view down from the Arch de Triomphe

When arriving in Germany, some time ago, we noticed many signs on the motorway with the word Ausfahrt.  Initially, we didn’t pay much attention; other than the odd giggle from the back seat.  As we passed more and more signs, we figured Uncle Dan (aka Uncle Stinky) would have had us in tears laughing by now.  We soon realized, that many roads were leading to Ausfahrt.  This Ausfahrt place must be quite the spot - every exit seemed to point there.  As we ventured through more countries this word ‘fahrt’ kept appearing.  Clearly it was not a place, but what did it mean?  We could have plugged it into the translator to see what this word meant, but that would have ended our fun.  As I enjoyed the architecture, culture and atmosphere of the villages and cities we visited, Mark and the girls busied themselves with taking pictures of the different ‘fahrt’ signs.

Ausfahrt must be HUGE!

On a bus….

On a building...

At the side of the road...

When we were on the ferry headed from Ireland to France, there were signs in the gift shop, notifying drivers of certain equipment that was required in the vehicles while on mainland Europe.  Of course, they had everything on the suggested list at sky-rocket prices.  Some of the items included a mandatory breathalyzer, warning triangles, 4 neon vests – 1 for each person in the car, special headlight stickers, flashlights, licence plate stickers, dashboard stickers - to remind you what side of the road to drive on.  This was just to name a few.  We decided we would hit a convenience store to pick up the items later, at lower prices.  As we continued our journey we saw the odd car pulled over at the side of the road, and sure enough, they had their warning triangles out and were wearing their neon vests, hmmm.  We figured we had better make more of an effort to pick up these items.  As my luck would have it, we were just too busy seeing the sights and didn’t quite get around to the purchase.

You can just imagine what was going through our minds when we pulled onto the motorway in the Czech Republic and passed the Policie, who proceeded to pull out after us.  We watched for flashing lights, phew, no lights, we were safe!  But within a minute the cruiser pulled in front of us and on top of the car we saw a neon sign with the words “Folge Mir - Následujte Mě” scrolling by.  Although we didn’t speak German or Czech, we deciphered that it said “Follow Me”, YIKES!  We figured the officer thought we were on the phone while driving because I (in the passenger seat on the left hand side of the car) had the cell phone on - navigating.  Surely that was why they were pulling us over – right?  Then it hit me, why didn’t we purchase that equipment on the ferry? Oh boy we were going to get it now!  I panicked even more, realizing that we didn’t even have any Czech money, we had just crossed over the border.  My legs started to shake and I quickly started fumbling in the glove compartment for the documentation that we would need.  Mark was as cool as a cucumber as the THREE officers got out of the cruiser, and I headed into a panic attack!  I literally emptied the contents of the glove compartment onto my lap as the officer laughed.  When you are living on the road – you wouldn’t believe what is in the glove compartment! The crazy thing was, we weren’t even supposed to be on this motorway.  Our GPS didn’t have maps for the Czech so we were navigating using Google Maps on the cellphone, and didn’t realize that we had gone the wrong way.  After producing the required documentation, he told Mark that he would have to see the contents in the trunk– I was about to vomit.  Mark opened up the hatch and started to unload the bags, as I envisioned all of our possessions strewn across the parking lot.  After the second bag (stuffed with dirty laundry), the officer said – never mind, that is good!  The blood rushed back into my head and my heartbeat slowed a little. Luckily, the officer let us off easy, and all we had to do was buy a motorway sticker to place on the dashboard. Phew! We had avoided the fine.  He didn’t even ask us about all of the equipment that we didn’t have in the vehicle – and STILL don’t.  Maybe we will head into Ausfahrt one day this week, and pick it all up.