Thanks to everyone for your birthday wishes! Bobbo and I are having an amazing time in Europe! I apologize for not keeping up with the blog, internet access has been harder to come by than expected. I have been taking tons of pictures though, so I'll be sharing them all when we get home, don't you worry about that!
I'll give you a very quick update since my last post was from Germany. After we left there we headed south to the castles of Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. These are nestled right at the foot of the Alps and it looks just like a scene out of Heidi or the Sound of Music.
Then we headed to Vienna, Austria where we meet Roman, a musician Bobbo had met over the internet. He and his girlfriend Nicole spent three days showing us all the sites of Vienna, as well as taking us to the home of his parents in the countryside, a tiny village in the Wachau valley where we hiked up to the ruins of a 12th century castle where King Richard the Lion-hearted was once held for ransom! I think that day was one of my favorites so far, just an amazing experience that you can't get out of any tour book!
After Vienna, we boarded an overnight train to Venice, Italy. By an unexpected turn of luck, we had a sleeping cabin for six all to ourselves. Thank goodness too, it was almost too small just for the two of us! Venice was absolutely lovely, we walked all through the city and had dinner at sunset right on the canals. A very pretty city, though a little too touristy I think.
The next day we were off again, this time to a tiny little Italian town called Pesina, on the shore of Lake Garda, the largest lake in Italy. After a somewhat stressful bus ride through Verona, we finally arrived at the home of Donato and Marina, a wonderful couple who are friends of our friend Rami. They welcomed us into their home, an incredible 14th century castle where over the years they have hosted performances by an impressive roster of musicians, including our friends Rami and Phil Cody, along with many others. (Bobbo almost fell over when Donato mentioned that Townes Van Zandt had stayed in our room!) That evening we were invited to join Donato and Marina, along with their daughter and her boyfriend, for dinner at the home of his friend Armando and his wife and two daughters. Armando's home was gorgeous, with a view of Lake Garda that took my breath away. And the food was amazing, wave after wave of fantastic courses, prepared by Armando's wife Chiara, but most of all, the company was wonderful. After dinner, they produced a guitar, and we gladly played and sang in repayment for such a lovely evening. This, as you may be able to tell, was my other favorite day of the trip so far. Though I would have loved to stay longer, we had to leave for Paris the next day, with promises to return for longer on our next trip.
And now I'd better get going, the morning is getting late and we're off for more sightseeing in Paris. The Musee D'Orsay and a return to the Louvre I think is on the schedule for today. I'll post more soon!
