Thursday, June 30, 2011

Tunnels, and gypsies, no campground... OH MY!

Italy!

Land of a thousand tunnels.






We made a quick stop in Venice en route to Rome. It is as glorious as you would imagine. There are beautiful views around every corner.





I wonder if Venice was built this way so that people who are scared to drive in Italy have a place to live. The orderliness German traffic gave way to an emotional every man for himself sort of feel in Italy. Personally, I'm glad I'm not driving. Jim's better at being a jerk on the road than I am. Which is good. If I was behind the wheel, we would still be at the RV rental place back in Munich.

This picture of Maggie features people with money to burn taking a gondola ride. We would have liked to do this, but after our "quick snack" on the porch of this quaint restaurant, we were fresh out of cash. ( How can a snack cost so much!?)






...but it was fun eating anyway





On the bridge into the city, we were all smiles ( not so much on the way out)






Jim and I thought we should get a picture of just the two of us...






After that magical snack moment, we started touring the streets...In my heightened state of alert (frequently referred to as paranoia) I noticed a man in a tan shirt that seemed to be everywhere we went. After a few minutes it became painfully obvious that we were being targeted by gypsies. (I wonder why they would pick us) Suddenly I was seeing gypsies everywhere. MY gosh... Everyone in the city was trying to rip us off! I wanted to go... But Caroline wanted to try on clothes...and Jim didn't want to spend another dime...

After flinging a few personal remarks around, a bunch of McElwain grumps returned to the RV and hit the road.

We thought we would camp somewhere near Ferarra but the GPS wanted to take us elsewhere. We decided to move on and ended up pulling off at a service station and sleeping in the RV sans campground... Somewhere around Barbarino. snuck out around 6:30 am. Heading for Rome!

Location:Venice, Italy

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

The hills are alive

If you liked Fraulein Maria, you should have seen us! Salzburg was worth the trip. We arrived at our campground, Nord Sam. A pool.... Some of us were excited about that. We found a spot and plugged in pulled out the awning and practically got killed seconds later in the storm of the century. We weren't done with the awning when it started to collapse on us due to the sudden downpour...then there was the hail





-the rain stopped long enough for Jim to continue his quest for beer a short walk away. Caroline joined him.





...but sometimes you can have too much of a good thing






Caught the bus into town the next day. Walking around I was approached by a homeless man. No dice,man...then he walked over to Maggie to try and squeeze blood from that turnip. I grabbed her and pulled her toward me. The man sneered revealing a lonely tooth, and hit me in the arm before walking off. We didn't get a picture. It was a hit and run.






It wasn't raining at this point so we walked the streets, passing Mozart's house. Then while we were eating pizza, the clouds let loose. We were running around town in our plastic bag emergency parkas. This was rather UN fashionable so Caroline just wore rain.

We caught the funicular to Hohen Salzburg fortress...






There is some cool history there... It is hanging off the mountain. Before we were done it looked like we were hiding in the same tombs that the Von Trapps hid in (from the German Nazis)






We cut it a little short because of the monsoon and grabbed a taxi back to the campground. We were seriously wet and cold... And sadly Mary still couldn't swim. I think this is when she decided she would like to go home... A mere three and a half weeks early.


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Location:Salzburg, Austria

Thursday, June 23, 2011

A couple of more pictures from Munich

Hofbrau Haus in the old part of Munich. They have been drinking beer there for almost 500 years.......me....one hour


Lake near campground in Langwied just outside Munich


Enjoying a sample of the local brew...see my glasses on the table? Big help they are, helping me to see more clearly that I can' t read a German menu



.....and the music of course....there really are people in grocery stores, etc wearing liederhosen (spellcheck not helping with that one)




Location:Munich, Germany

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

We have arrived!

After the shortest Father's Day, we survived the world's longest Monday. Mary was the only one to sleep on the plane so it was hard to stay awake.






...But we tried!
After picking up our residence, and a quick trip to Aldi, we found this sweet spot in the gravel pits. Packed like sardines in a crate of sardine cans, we enjoyed hot showers, and a saloon. Luckily three of the five slots in the Coke machine were filled with beer. One had Coke the other water...all the necessities.

Half of the second day in Munich was spent looking for a parking space for the old homestead. Then a wiener and beer at Hofbrau Haus (We like to call our waiter the Hofbrau grouch) and a peek at Glockenspiel Very nice!





- When we returned the kids enjoyed a quick game of putt putt on the nicest concrete course I have ever seen! (Are you paying attention Frank H?)






And a moment by the lake.






Beautiful drive to Salzburg today.

Blogged by Ellen!

Location:Munich

New York New York

Statue of Liberty, Times Square, St Patrick's Cathedral, Central Park

























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Location:New York New York

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Traveling to Europe is not what it's all cracked up to be......

........when the first leg of the trip takes you through Breezewood, PA. Quite a view of the vista as we enjoy a premium Best Western breakfast. Only five hours from Times Square though!





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Location:515 West 42nd New York, New York

Ready to go

We are flying out of JFK Sunday so we are going to do New York City first. Bags are packed and heading out the door!


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