Greece

Monday we flew from Rome to Athens on EasyJet airlines.  In Athens we did laundry walked around a bit and ate cheap and good food!  I got two gyros and my friends split a platter for two.  My gyros were 2 euros each.  Dinner for 4 euros?  I'll take it!  We did notice that most of the restaurants in the area closed around 7 or 8.  Some still had drinks after that time, but there were not a lot of places for food.

Josh and Brenda got a tray for two the first night.  It came with tons of food and was cheaper than most places we went.

Tuesday we went on a Walking Tour of Athens.  This was another free tour and then you tip the guide at the end based on how well you thought the tour went.  We went to the Parthenon/Acropolis and some other places.  We stopped at a little roadside stand and got a gyro.  One cool place we stopped near the end was the steps where the Apostle Paul gave his speech to the Greeks about the unknown god on Mars Hill.  It was cool to walk up the exact same steps he walked up.

The steps

Mars Hill

  I learned that the word Marathon comes from the name of a place in Greece.  There is also a lake named Marathon.  There are a couple of stories about where it gets it's name, but they all revolve around a man running quite a long distance (from Marathon to Athens to bring news about a battle) and then when he arrived he shouted Nike! ( which means victory) and then died out of exhaustion.  We also stopped at the Olympic stadium where they began in the 1890's.  The ancient original games were located in a different site and only males were allowed to participate.  To ensure  this was the case all the games were done in the nude.



We saw the place where democracy was born and where coins were first used.  We also watched two different changing of the guards.  This was in front of the government estate equivalent to the White House.

Overlooking part of the city

We were able to get a tram to the Mediterranean Sea as well.  It was just 1.20 euros each way, but the bus was quite crowded.  I am assuming this was because it was quite hot and many people wanted to visit the beach.  When we got there the water was beautiful!  The beach was made of little stones so it was a bit harsh on the feet, but the water definitely made up for it.  The beach was quite crowded, but hey it's the Mediterranean!

 For dinner we went and got two more gyros at the same place we went the night before.  We also stopped at a little bakery for dessert and a Carrefour (grocery store) for a few snacks to keep on hand.

Wednesday we boarded a bus for our two day tour of Delphi and Meteora.  We rode out into the countryside of Greece. Meteora means "middle of the sky" or "suspended in the air".  There are six monasteries built on these amazing sandstone rock pillars.

In Delphi I got grilled feta with vegetables...one of my favorite dishes on the trip!

Rome

Friday we took the train to Rome.  We had a bit of a scare because we only had 12 minutes to transfer.  We could not find our next train, but come to find out it was actually a bus and we got on 1 minute before it left.  Whew!  That night I had the best pizza of the trip at a restaurant near our hotel.  It was a margarita pizza and just 7 euros.

One night we met up with Brenda's old roommate and her husband for dinner.  It was pretty neat that they were in Rome the same time we were!

That night I had my favorite pasta of the trip- 4 cheese pasta

Sunday we went to Rome Baptist Church, an international church in Rome.  After that we headed to the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Square.  We bought our tickets at the Palentine Square which allowed us to skip the long line at the Colosseum.  We ate our packed sandwiches at the Colosseum while we waited for our tour.  We did a group tour there that lasted about 45 minutes.  We just walked around the other places.

Sistine Chapel- Creation of Adam

Lunch in the Colosseum

School of Athens

Where Peter is said to be buried

That evening we did a free Rome walking tour. We dinner at a place that offered bruschetta, pizza, and dessert for 10 euros.  The bruschetta was good, the pizza was mediocre, and the dessert 2-3 bites of terrible.

Venice

 We said goodbye to our new friend Michael and later we arrived in Venice on a train from Salzburg.  We had an airbnb reserved, but got an e-mail a few days before that the man's daughter was coming to live with him, so the room was no longer available.  We booked a guesthouse which ended up being expensive and had terrible service.  I rated it on trip advisor- http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187870-d564778-Reviews-Residenza_Ca_Dario-Venice_Veneto.html.  I highly recommend avoiding this place if you decide to go to Venice.
That evening we had our first Italian dinner.  I had cheese and spinach stuffed pasta.  It was a bit dry, but I just loaded it with fresh parmesan (that accompanies every Italian meal like the salt/pepper shakers I am used to) which was amazing.  We got gelato that evening and walked around.  It was beautiful.

The cutest couple

Thursday took it easy in the morning and then walked around Venice.  I actually found some things to buy for decent prices.  Having fun trying on a hat.

We grabbed a slice of pizza at a roadside stand that we ate as we walked.

  We saw San Marco square which was beautiful and busy.
St. Mark's Square

That evening we met up with two other girls from the guesthouse where we were staying.  They were from Taiwan.  We went on a gondola ride with them.  Gondola rides are 80 euros if you go during the day and 100 in the evening.  We went about an hour before the evening price began and it was really nice.  You can fit up to 6 people in a boat and the price stays the same.  That ride was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip.
View from the Gondola

That evening we had dinner at a restaurant on the Grand Canal.  I had lasagna which was so so.  Josh and Brenda split a lobster and linguini for two that was amazing!  We got gelato that evening as we walked around before heading back.

Josh and Brenda's lobster linguine- I got a couple yummy bites too!!

Their salad

At the restaurant

Our new knock-off purses!

Salzburg

The four of us were in Salzburg heading to our favorite airbnb, Florian's place, https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2358709?euid=5f85f501-29d8-04fe-611f-5e046364895b.   They were the cutest couple with the cutest loft that we stayed in and the most gorgeous view of the Alps.  They let us arrive really early around 6 or 6:30AM which was great so we could drop off our things and sleep for a couple of hours.  Then we went out and bought a Salzburg Card www.salzburg.info.  This allowed us to use public transportation for free and get into several sights.  We thought it was worth it.  We went up a cable car http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g190441-d247529-Reviews-Untersberg-Salzburg_Austrian_Alps.html to the top of a mountain and hiked around for a bit.  The view was stunning.

We thought it was great that there was a cross at the top.

I was so tired.

A short video

Then we went over to a river boat ride that was also included in the card.  We were so hungry and tired.  Florian recommended a restaurant right up the road for his place where we ate dinner.  The owner actually goes out and hunts daily to get the meat.  We went back to our loft and went to bed dead tired.

The next day we got up and went on the Sound of Music bike tour- a highlight I was looking forward to. http://www.mariasbicycletours.com It was great and I got to sing some of the songs with our guide as we biked along.  In addition to seeing many of the places where the movie was filmed, the city was gorgeous, and the flowers and spring trees smelled amazing.  Also it is the 50th year since the movie was filmed in the spring of 1954.

My bike was named Gretl...love it!

Where the family performs at the end of the movie

The door to this building- we were not allowed inside.

Where Rolf comes in the Nazi car and gives Liesl the telegram for her father while he is away on his honeymoon.

The steps where the children practice singing with Uncle Max

Splashing the water like Maria as she leaves the Abby and heads toward the bus to take her to her new job

The cemetery that inspired the one on the abby's roof where the family hid.  The cemetery in the movie was a set.

The gardens where much of the movie was filmed

Running through the tunnel they ran through

The stairs where they sang

The Abby

Looking sad at the gate where the children went unsuccessfully to visit Maria

The house used for the back of the house in the movie and the river where Maria and the children fell out of the canoe.

Where Maria sings "I've Got Confidence" just before she arrives at the Von Trapp home.  

Clicking my heels like Maria while Brenda spins like Maria

The palace used for the front of the house

Where the car comes out when the family tries to escape

The gazebo-now closed off to visitors because too many people were injured trying to reenact the scene between Rolf and Liesl.

One of the places the children go when "roaming about Salzburg".  

The steps where they sing "Do, so, fa, la, mi, do ray" etc.  

Our group

The 4 of us biking

Josh with his big pretzel

The oldest restaurant in Europe- A restaurant in operation since 803- over 1,200 years!

That afternoon we went to the home where Mozart was born.  Now it is a museum.  We used the Salzburg Card to enter this attraction as well.  For dinner we went back to the restaurant from the previous evening.

Mozart's Birthplace

One of his pianos

Another piano

Wednesday we went to the train station and bought some snacks on the way.  I got the best strawberries!