Florence

Today was our day in Florence, Italy, and from our advice for anyone who wants to rent a car here - Don't do it. We experienced more road construction and one-way streets than any street in San Francisco, along with Vespa's and bicycles speeding around. After spending 30 minutes on city streets trying to navigate the small streets crowded with pedestrians, we finally found an underground garage to park our car.

Our first stop here was to visit Michelangelo's Statue of David at the Galleria dell'Accademia. After seeing the Statue of David, it was time to drive and find our hotel - yet another adventure of European driving we will never forget. Not being from Florence, and not having any knowledge of their driving laws, we didn't realize that on a Saturday, most roads are turned into pedestrians walkways with access only available to emergency vehicles. After being told by the police that we couldn't park on the pedestrian walkway, we realized that not only did we park illegally while trying to find the hotel, but we also drove through the main plaza, Piazza San Marco.

Not being able to spend as much time here as other cities we have visited, it does not seem as interesting or intriguing, but we sure have as many stories of innocently breaking laws and walking up 80 stairs to get to our hotel.


Short public bus - only way to navigate narrow cobblestone roads:

Statue of David (don't tell security):

Statue of David, exquisitely detailed from veins in hands to curls in hair:

Statue in Piazza Della Signoria near our hotel:

Ponte Vecchio bridge with housing hanging off the side - currently used as a tourist trap with commercial stores selling fake jewelery and bags:


In the morning, it's on to Rome for 2 and a half weeks!

Venice, Italy

Venice was a masterpiece of a city to visit; from its exquisite buildings to its labyrinth canals, it produced more and more surprises around every corner. Piazza San Marco, the main piazza in Venice, had more pidgins than tourists, but was still just as amazing as movies portray it. For being a city built on 2 meters of water, being able to see houses that are over 600 years old is hard to believe that they are still standing.

Pictures below explain our time in Venice.

Traffic after a toll plaza in Italy where 20 lanes go into 2 lanes (As you can see, there are no lane stripes on the ground here):
The famous Piazza San Marco in Venice:

Campanile Bell Tower, within Piazza San Marco:

Placard above the elevator doors on the way to the top of Campanile Bell Tower:

Piazza San Marco and Venice from top of Campanile Bell Tower:
Some random dude relaxing at the bottom of the Campanile Bell Tower:

Piazza San Marco colonnade:
Church along back of Grande Canale in Venice:

Gondolier strolling along a canal in Venice:

Gondola race in Venice: (I put my money on the motor boat)
Burano, a small island north of Venice was a fishing community known for its vibrantly colored houses as a way for fisherman to identify their house after a long stay out to sea (tower in the background is leaning):

Murano, another small island north of Venice, is known for its glass:

Big Bird inspecting the Grande Canale:

Yes, we did take a gondola ride (100 Euros for 45 minutes):

Our last view of Venice before leaving:

On to Florence!

Switzerland

Even though we only spent 48 hours in Switzerland, it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited in my life. Luzern, known more commonly as Lucerne, is a city everyone must visit as it is just breathtaking to see from ground, water, and sky.



Mt. Pilatus, Switzerland:

View from restaurant on top of Mt. Pilatus:

Houses along Lake Luzern:

Boat ride along Lake Luzern:

Continuing the boat ride:

Drinking water:

View from gondola going up to Mt. Pilatus:

Mt. Pilatus looking at Luzern:

Austria

Austria, or as I like to call it, Tunnel-land, was a 30 minute journey on our way from Munich, Germany to Zurich, Switzerland of which we spent 20 minutes in a tunnel. After crossing the Germany-Austria border without stopping at the checkpoint (illegal?!?!) we entered a tunnel that seemed to be endless. Before we knew it, we were saying goodbye to Arnold and hello to Switzerland.

Austria-Switzerland border:

Munich

Here are some photos from our time in Munich.


Olympic Stadium from Observation Tower:

BMW Welt from Observation Tower:

Inside BMW Welt:

BMW Welt:

Inside BMW Welt:

Pay toilets at pitstop along AutoBahn in Germany:

Beginning of cut off word was "Oldtimersfarhten":

Don't cry :(

Hotel in Munich surrounded by casino's, adult theaters, and adult shops:

Munich Olympic Stadium (1972):

Berlin Day 2

Today, we decided to take a boat tour along the Spree to get a different perspective of Berlin, as we heard that a boat tour is a must when in Berlin. After being told it would be a German/English speaking tour, we came to find out that the language split was hardly 50/50. What seemed to b paragraphs in German appeared to be single sentence in English, leaving us to try and decipher German to understand the words of the tour guide.

The image below is of a museum along the Spree which still shows evidence of the war as it is covered with bullet holes.


After the tour, we decided to go to another architectural masterpiece, the Jewish Museum designed by Daniel Libeskind. About a 10 minute taxi ride from where we started, this building is unmistakble with its large steel facade with slat windows.


Inside, it is yet again another powerful museum where the architecture overwhelming adds to the experience. The Holocaust Tower, a special room designed by the architect, is entered through a large, heavy steel door - inside is a void with a small window nearly 50 feet up allowing a minimal amount of light into the dark, cold concrete space. Open to individual interpretation, Libeskind described this space as a commemorative place for the victims of the Holocaust.


Continuing along our World War 2 themed day, we walked several blocks to Checkpoint Charlie - which given such historical importance was quite a disappointment to me. Not only is the area filled with consumerist junk and fake historical replicas, there are large Hewlett Packard advertisements covering the entire sides of buildings and the so called "American soldier" at the checkpoint is actually German!


Just around the corner, we found a remaining piece of the Berlin wall. Next to it, there is a partially submerged museum "Topologies of Terror" recalling the Nazi regime and German political history dating back into the early 1930s.



After ending our personal tour of Berlin and World War 2, we walked over to Potsdamer Platz, a fairly large plaza and downtown district throbbing with a mixture of lost tourists and angry locals. Finally finding some good 'ole German food, we sat down for dinner and had Haagen-Daz! It took us 2 days, but we found German food, and boy was it good!

We then decided to experience Berlin from a locals viewpoint, so we took the SBahn Underground transportation system. This dropped us off a few blocks from our hotel where we ended up for the night.

Berlin Day 1

For our first day in Berlin, we decided it was best to do a bus tour of the city so that we could get acquainted with Berlin. It was an on and off bus that had 15 stops, allowing us to get off and on at any stop we wanted to. After riding it for a full loop, we got off to see Peter Eisenman's Holocaust Memorial - one of Berlins most famous architectural designs.





After visiting the memorial and underground museum, we took the bus back to our original starting point and tried to find some authentic German food for dinner (not any easy task we came to find out). After walking for a good 30 minutes, we decided to just stop at one of the abundant Italian restaurants. Coincidentally, the German soccer team was having a game in the Eurocup 2008, so all the restaurants had setup outside table with large tvs to watch the game, so we sat down and watched the game with screaming Germans and there jugs of beer.