Triple threat today
It has been both a laid back day and a busy day. Today we hit three countries in less than eight hours. Crazy times.
We started out in Germany where we were woken up to a crazy rainstorm. We did have good timing and it was finished by the time we were off. We then made our way south through Austria. What a beautiful area it is. They call it the Tyrol and it is lush and mountainous. We had a mid-morning stop in Innsbruck. We had a bit of time to spend in the old town area. Sadly, the golden roof was covered for cleaning. I'll admit this is always the risk of traveling in the off times. Many areas have been nice and quiet but it does mean that this is the time of year that maintenance is done. But there was plenty other things to see and it was a nice spot for the morning.
After our morning stop we made it through brenner pass into Italy on the way to Venice!! It was quite the drive. I understand why my travel agent thought I was a little bit nuts to do London-Paris-Venice. But the drive was scenic for the most part. We passed a lot of grapevines. Now we aren't actually staying in Venice. Not being able to take the bus there is an issue. So we are on the mainland in less glamorous Mestre. But the weather is crazy hot here today. Our tour guide lia tells us that winds from Africa are warming up the area. But the weather forecast is cold and rainy tomorrow so I think it'll be an interesting day as we have a walking tour and gondola rides planned for tomorrow. But you know, I didn't travel this far toilet some rain stop me. So I'll just be prepared!
About half of our dinners are included and the other half you can pay to go. But they are pricey. So instead we took the bus over to Venice. It feels so mundane that the city bus goes to Venice but for less than 3 euros a person you just can't argue. We ended up at the less touristy northeast end so we didn't get a chance to see any of the major sites but it really does have a charm with all the buildings, canals and winding streets. It could be easy together lost! We did have a really nice meal even if it was totally touristy.
Now I think that tonight will be a get organized night. I'm in disbelief that the trip is almost half over. It's been going fast but doesn't feel like it.
The funniest thing so far is that after a traveling through multiple countries how easy it is. Now with the new treaty there are no official border crossings. But the part that I find strange is that we have more effort put in to identify moving between provinces than Europe does with countries. When we went from the Netherlands to Germany we didn't even realize that we had crossed the border. Same with going into Austria. And Italy has a small discreet sign on one side of the road.
Also I'm really happy that English, or at least tourist English, is good enough that there haven't been too many struggles with the languages. It does make me feel a little ignorant that the only words I know are thank you and hello. The next trip I take I really need to make more effort on learning some words.
We started out in Germany where we were woken up to a crazy rainstorm. We did have good timing and it was finished by the time we were off. We then made our way south through Austria. What a beautiful area it is. They call it the Tyrol and it is lush and mountainous. We had a mid-morning stop in Innsbruck. We had a bit of time to spend in the old town area. Sadly, the golden roof was covered for cleaning. I'll admit this is always the risk of traveling in the off times. Many areas have been nice and quiet but it does mean that this is the time of year that maintenance is done. But there was plenty other things to see and it was a nice spot for the morning.
After our morning stop we made it through brenner pass into Italy on the way to Venice!! It was quite the drive. I understand why my travel agent thought I was a little bit nuts to do London-Paris-Venice. But the drive was scenic for the most part. We passed a lot of grapevines. Now we aren't actually staying in Venice. Not being able to take the bus there is an issue. So we are on the mainland in less glamorous Mestre. But the weather is crazy hot here today. Our tour guide lia tells us that winds from Africa are warming up the area. But the weather forecast is cold and rainy tomorrow so I think it'll be an interesting day as we have a walking tour and gondola rides planned for tomorrow. But you know, I didn't travel this far toilet some rain stop me. So I'll just be prepared!
About half of our dinners are included and the other half you can pay to go. But they are pricey. So instead we took the bus over to Venice. It feels so mundane that the city bus goes to Venice but for less than 3 euros a person you just can't argue. We ended up at the less touristy northeast end so we didn't get a chance to see any of the major sites but it really does have a charm with all the buildings, canals and winding streets. It could be easy together lost! We did have a really nice meal even if it was totally touristy.
Now I think that tonight will be a get organized night. I'm in disbelief that the trip is almost half over. It's been going fast but doesn't feel like it.
The funniest thing so far is that after a traveling through multiple countries how easy it is. Now with the new treaty there are no official border crossings. But the part that I find strange is that we have more effort put in to identify moving between provinces than Europe does with countries. When we went from the Netherlands to Germany we didn't even realize that we had crossed the border. Same with going into Austria. And Italy has a small discreet sign on one side of the road.
Also I'm really happy that English, or at least tourist English, is good enough that there haven't been too many struggles with the languages. It does make me feel a little ignorant that the only words I know are thank you and hello. The next trip I take I really need to make more effort on learning some words.
Noodle! You finally fixed the comments!
ReplyDeleteWhen I did family tree research on Joe's family, I found out that they were from the Tyrol area of Austria! Maybe you saw some of his long lost relatives. I would love to go there some time, it looks beautiful!
Don't worry about your tourist English. When you are visiting so many countries all in one trip I don't even know what language you would be able to start to learn!
Have fun!
Amanda
The tourist English is strange. Today while I was butchering the beautiful Italian language the man thought I was German and responded to me in German, I knew what he was trying to say but it was a little funny.
DeleteAlso, I have no idea how I fixed the comments. I find it very strange.
Delete