Mµnchen

We're sitting in an internet cafe right now. It is across from the Geldermat (think German ATM) that the Europe '96 crew used quite often. We just spent a wonderful few hours walking around Oktoberfest. We met a delightful local family while sitting outside the Paulaner Beer tent. They shared their meal with us and helped us order ours.

This morning, after arriving from our day in Salzburg, we parked our big backpacks in a locker and headed out to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. It was a sobering experience (again for Zac). We toured the site with Audio Guides. The clerk dispensing them spoke 6 languages including a little Hebrew! The exhibits have been updated since the last time I was there. For example, the entrance is now where the prisoners entered instead of nearby the parking lot. The museum's displays have been updated and increased. We didn't stop and read everything in the museum because the audio guides were informative enough.

This evening we are off to Rome on a night train. Can't post any pictures at this cafe because the 'towers' are not accessible as they are in cabinets.

Laundry Day

We left Vienna this morning on a train to Salzburg, Austria. The tourist booth hooked us up with a room. After dropping off our stuff we headed out on a hiking trek around the fort and city and before dinner. We then went and visited the fort. Compared to the last time I was there the fort's exhibits have been greatly improved. Laundry is being done across the way from the train station, we were in dire need of clean clothes. Its been very warm in the cities we've visited. Today we had rain for the first time since we've been here. We were thankful for the cool weather though.

Sorry to cut this short, but Jen is expecting me back and the laundromat 5 minutes ago.

Tomorrow we are off to visit the concentration camp near Munich, Germany.

Here are some pictures:

Updates below

I've added some pictures to previous posts below.

Haarlem (Nederlands)

Good morning to you all!

We arrived in the Nederlands yesterday around noon on an EasyJet. We spent the night in Haarlem which is west of Amsterdam. It is a very nice place, not too big and not too touristy. We went to the Corrie ten Boom museum and saw 'The Hiding Place' and had a personal tour. After a lunch/dinner at a local restaurant on top of a department store overlooking the entire city we crashed at our hotel near the city square.

Here's some pictures:

London Calling...

Hey ya'll.

Jen and I had a full day in London today. We spent the morning at Westminster Abbey on a guided tour learning about its 900 year history. There are some very famous authors and poets burried there. Chaucer, Dickens, Sir Isaac Newton, to name a few. We also saw London Bridge. Pictures to come later, I'm on an old 350 MGZ computer and don't see a USB port to use.

Write to you soon.

Z&J

Updated 9/23/2005

Here are a couple pictures of us seeing the sites in London. I'm in front of the london tower bridge, Jen is playing 'Vana'in front of Big Ben and the London Eye.

Oxford

Hey y'all! Jennie and I are in Oxford visiting family right now. We had a great trip on the plane. It is a beautiful sunny day and we are about to go eat lunch. More to come later.

Mom, Lesley says you guys need to come out here soon.

Updated! 9/23/2005.

We spent some time after lunch in a 'çommons area' going for a stroll! Beautiful country and a pleasant time with family. Here is Jennie and one of the many animals we found just roaming around this open space.

Packing it in

Well, we're almost finished packing now. Zac has butterflies in his stomach, just like his last trip to Europe but not as bad. We'll be getting on the SkyRide tomorrow morning at 5:00 AM, yawn! The SkyRide, for those who don't know, is a service offered by our mass transit system in Denver that will take us from a Park and Ride to Denver International Airport.

Here is a picture of our backpacks. Mine is the black and purple one that I used on my last trip. Jennie is borrowing a friend's (thanks Hoehle) pack, it is the green one.

Our Mode of Transportation

You may be wondering how we are going to be travelling around Europe. We will be arriving at the Gatwick airport in London, UK on Tuesday September 20th. Once we get to mainland Europe, we'll be travelling by rail and other forms of mass transit. On Zac's first trip to Europe, this is how he travelled around the continent. I purchased our Eurail Passes directly from the http://www.eurail.com website. After we had decided upon our itinerary I made our night train reservations with http://www.railpass.com . I had a wonderful experience with them, check them out. I found out that if we ordered our passes and made reservations with them they offer discounts. Oh well.

Geography

Here is a German map of western Europe. Thought it might give you a better idea of the geography of the countries we'll be visiting.

The eurail.com site a PDF file which is a map that shows the major train routes between cities that you may enjoy browsing. You can find it here: Europa.pdf. (1.3MB)

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Getting Ready

Last minute reservations and plans are being made.