The End

Just to make sure there's an end to this whole story, I wanted to tell you what we did after Germany... After we left the castle, we traveled through Austria, then Liechtenstein (for 20 whole minutes!), stopping at McDonald's along the way, and then went over the San Bernardino Pass in Switzerland - there was still snow along the way and on the tops of the mountains! Of course we couldn't resist taking some last shots of the mountains, the scenery, and the sights there... We got back to Lugano and spent the night with some friends before heading off to the airport. Our flight was from Lugano to Zurich with a 5-hour wait before the next one to Boston, so we took the train into the city and got our last official Swiss fondue. At the end of June, it's not exactly the most authentic experience, but we couldn't resist! We went to the same place we stayed at in October when we visited Zurich. It was interesting to be back there after all of the other things we'd done over the past year. That had been the first place we ventured to from campus, then it seemed so big and amazing. In June, it was still amazing, especially with the energy of the Euro2008 Football Tournament going on, but we felt very comfortable and capable this time around. And after a loooong wait in the airport since our flight to Boston was delayed, we made it back to the USA at about 10:30pm (which was 4:30am Swiss time!), exhausted and wondering what was next!

This is probably old news for some, but just because we're so excited about it... The next day, David had an interview at a public school in western Massachusetts and was offered the job on the spot! And he was worried about spending the summer job hunting! I started looking out in that area as well, and we started house-hunting at the same time. Two weeks ago, I was offered two jobs, and took the one that was in the same town where we are moving to tomorrow! So as of August 1, we officially have a new address, and by David's birthday at the end of the month, we will hopefully close on OUR house! After years of living in apartments and dorms, we can't believe we are actually going to have a house....ugh...and a mortgage! Yikes! But it will be nice to stay in one place for a while, not to mention having all of our belongings back that have been in storage for 4 years! Wish us luck during the move!

David, Logan, Lucy and I want to thank EVERYONE who has been reading this blog and following us on our adventures this past year. It made family and friends seem not so far away being able to keep in touch like this. I hope you've enjoyed reading about our travels and seeing all the photos - I will certainly miss traveling and sharing everything with all of you! Take care, all of you, and we hope to see you in person very, very soon! And if you're ever in western Mass, make sure to look us up - we'll break out the fondue pot for you!

Ciao tutti!

Germany Road Trip - Part 6 - Neuschwanstein Castle

Here it is! The final installment of our Germany Road Trip! After Dachau, we drove on and detoured again through Oberammergau, a pretty town with painted buildings. This time, we just drove through - no more time for stopping! We also detoured to the Weisskirche - again, didn't stop - the lines were too long!

After all of these detours, we headed on to our last destination - Neuschwanstein Castle. It was built by King Ludwig II in 1870s/80s. He grew up nearby, and built Neuschwanstein on a hill overlooking his family's castle. You know that picture you have of a castle when you hear that word? The tall pointed towers, the fairy tale, Cinderella? All of that is probably as a result of this castle. Disney apparently got his Cinderella castle idea from it as well. You'll see why... But one of the best parts? Our HOTEL!!! If you ever have the opportunity to go see this castle, stay at this hotel! It was where the workers who built the hotel were housed back in the 1800s. LOOK at this shot - yep! That's our hotel in the lower part of the picture! After settling into the hotel, we took the dogs on a walk. The castle was closed at that point, so we didn't go inside until the next day - but there are no photos allowed inside anyway. It was raining on and off the whole time we were there, but the weather was perfect during our walk! Here are shots of the castle and the views, including a shot of his father's castle:

This is a shot from the Marien Brucke - a very high bridge over a waterfall - the dogs were definitely not crazy about the height!

The next day we went into the castle - no pictures of course, but you are allowed to take pictures out the windows - take a look at the Marien Brucke!

Our hotel: And just in case I wasn't entirely clear in how RIDICULOUSLY close it was to the castle...

Germany Road Trip - Part 5 - Dachau

Sorry for the delay in these posts! We've been back for about 5 weeks now, and I'm still not done telling you about Germany. Part of it is that I don't want to believe our year abroad is over, and part is that we've been very busy job hunting, house hunting, visiting family, and working for the summer! The good news is that we've both found jobs in western Massachusetts, and we're in the process of buying a home! But I am still going to finish these posts! I promise! Part 5 is not necessarily the "happiest" of our stops, but one we definitely wanted to make. Driving along the Romantic Road, we wanted to take a detour north of Munich and visit Dachau - the first concentration camp in Germany. It was definitely a powerful experience. Here are some shots:

Germany Road Trip - Part 4 - Rothenburg

The next stop along the way was Rothenburg - one of my favorite parts of the trip. Rothenburg is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Germany. All of the old architecture, the walls around the city, it was just such a different experience. We got there in the afternoon, and I really wanted to make sure we walked along the walls. We did the same thing over our winter break in Lucca, Italy, but these walls were completely different. They were enclosed on three sides, not wide and open like Lucca's. Here's David and Logan: And a view from the wall toward St. Jakob's Church:You can't walk all the way around the city along the walls, they have some parts closed off - here's a shot from outside the city, looking back in. We thought this was so funny! Lucy was walking along and just couldn't figure out what this dog was doing!

The western part of the city sticks out so that if you look towards the southern part, this is what you can see - there isn't a tall wall in this area because of the hills below it, and you can see the vineyards that are on the hill in this shot. One of the most photographed spots in the city - we had dinner at the restaurant on the left both nights we were there, we loved it so much! I loved this bakery sign!

Some more shots from our walk along the wall:

The next day we walked around the city - on the ground this time! Here are some of the sights:

The town hall - the white Old Town Hall in the background, and the New Town Hall in front. This was right across the town square from our hotel! This was the burgermeister's home - I love the statues - there are two rows: the bottom statues are the seven virtues, and they are "holding up" the statues of the seven vices. These are copies, but we saw the originals in the history museum, too. This fountain was used by the townspeople - they could move the troughs to direct water to pour into their buckets. More sights around the city... We walked through the convent's herb garden. They used to be the healers of the town, and people would go to them for "prescriptions." The garden had the typical chamomile, oregano, and things like that, but they they also had the poison herb section - the crosses denote the poison level of the herb... Yikes!

An entrance to the city from where a castle stood many, many years ago. I loved the little door - that's where they used to let people in after they had closed the main doors for the evening. Part of the same entrance, this would be where they'd poor the hot oil through onto their enemies! Again, part of the same entrance: This sign says that dogs must be leashed - I thought it was cute when Lucy went and stood by it. More sights in the city...

This is the town square again - the building on the left has a clock tower were they have figures that come out at certain hours. They represent the town legend which says that when their enemies came during the 30-years war, the mayor proposed that if he could drink three liters of wine in one draught, would they leave the town alone? They said yes, and he did it, saving the town. The stein is even in the history museum.

The next morning, we were on our way pretty early, but we had one last thing to do - get Schneeballen! Crunchy ball-shaped fried dough coated in sugar - what more could you ask for?