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I woke early and reluctantly; then I remembered where I was and leapt out of bed, reaching for my camera and iPhone. Hardly a soul was out and I walked down the silent main street out to the beach. When I got home, I woke the youngest to have him climb in the rocks asContinueContinue reading “Deeper into Tuscany”

 Leaving my favorite place so far was bittersweet as I knew that a night at Vernazza of Cinque Terre was next. But I really loved our time in Venice.Everyone has a very simple copy of the large itinerary but each day they still ask me instead of referring to it.We hiked in to the mainContinueContinue reading “5 beautiful lands and 1 bloomin’ key “

We planned to walk in to see St Mark’s Square later in the day so everyone could have some much needed sleep. But for some reason we were all up at a reasonable time and we were walking by about 10:30. It takes about a half hour to stroll from our place at Cannaregio throughContinueContinue reading “In which there are no calamities “

Morning broke over a glum little band of sleep deprived travelers. I peeked out the window and you could tell we were in Italy- it looked warmer and there were vineyards everywhere. Once the train trundled into Thomson Santa Lucia station, we had a few hiccups interpreting our host’s written directions, partially because, even inContinueContinue reading “Cannaregio, Venice- like a tall glass of ice water on a hot day.”

This morning we climbed the 1 mile ascent from Schangau to Neuschwanstein Castle. The sickest little member of the family (Kara) found it tough going and wished we had bussed or horse-carted up. Unfortunately they were not very regular and we were working to our tightest schedule to date today. It was a simple tourContinueContinue reading “In Which We Discover that Bear Grylls Inhabit Our GPS/Never, I Repeat, NEVER Have Me As Your Tour Guide!! “

Our trip from Munich to Fussen saw a very gradual change in scenery from rich green farmland to jagged ranges.Picture book towns nestled in lush hills and fat brown cows looked blankly up at us, grass dropping from their jowls. Our accommodation hosts were surprised to hear that I had been told online I couldContinueContinue reading “Travelling up towards the Alps”

Finally poor weather struck our holiday. I gazed out the window at the drizzle and knew that no one would be keen to brave a free walking tour in the cold wind and rain. We lazed about for ages before walking directly across the road to a beer hall that the locals love.We could hearContinueContinue reading “Nom-noms in Munich”

We got up before the crack of dawn in teenager world, about 7:30 am.At 8 we left our luggage in the rooms and walked towards Rothenburg’s village square in search of ‘snowballs’ and coffee.The snowballs, called ‘schneeballen’ are a pastry dough, cut into strips, folded over, placed into a snowball shape by shaped tongs andContinueContinue reading “From beauty to cruel humanity “

 We got our tiny apartment ready for inspection this morning so we could get our deposit back. We really make ourselves at home in each location, that’s for sure.The landlord sent someone else to inspect the house who had even less English than he did, so we didn’t even bother to ask him what ‘rustling’ContinueContinue reading “Travel Tip #1: don’t travel with me!”

We woke up refreshed from our rest day and rearing for Berlin adventures. Well, that was me, at least.I guess we walked out the door at about 11, which seemed like half the day gone already, even though the sun doesn’t set till well after 10 here.We were walking into the city via Tiergarten- aContinueContinue reading “Our first  ‘free’ walking tour experience!”