Viena Austria

Viena has been a great place to visit. I was able to visit several of the sights around town including the home where Mozart lived. We also went to see the Wiener Residenzorchester (Vienna Residence Orchestra) perform music by Mozart and Johann Strauss. There was some opera singing and some balet dancers. It was at the Palais Auersperg which is a really beautiful palace.
I also went on a biking tour through the Wachau valley visiting places like Dinstle gut luiben, Durnstein (where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned), Joching, and Durnstein. We also took a break from the biking to swim in the Danube River. In Durnstein we climbed to the top of a mountain to see some old ruins and great views of the village.
Finally, we went to a local film festival in the park where we ate some good food before heading in cuz of an early train in the morning.

Luzern Switzerland

I am now in Luzern. Its a cool little city that is very Swiss. Unforuntately it is raining so I have not been able to do much.
I was able to see the Atstadt which is famous for its frescoed houses and also the Kapellbrucke which is a famous wooden roof pedestrian bridge that was in the 14th century. It is one of the most photographed sites in all of Switzerland. I also hung out with the locals along the river for the blue balls festival before catching the train to Zurich.
From Zurich I will catch the overnight train to Vienna, Austria.

Interlaken, Switzerland

Interlaken is a small town in the middle of the Alps full of adventurous activities. I was able to go canyoning and para-gliding. Canyoning was great fun that involved wading through a river, jumping off rocks/cliffs into the river, and sliding down the rocks. We also jumped off the top of a waterfall that was about 9 meters tall.
Paragliding was awesome too. It was a smooth ride above the mountains. We were able to catch the right thermals that allowed us to soar even higher than the height where we ran off the mountain. My guide was pretty cool and did some tricks as we were nearing the land including what he called a downward spiral.

Rome pictures

you can click on the photo to enlarge it... the pantheon
sermon on the mount in sistine chapel
michaelangelos god touching adam in sistine

Switzerland

Wow. this place is really nice. much nicer and way cleaner than italy. it was crazy getting out of italy on the trains. every train was late and no one could tell me the right information. everyone said something different. the swiss trains are much nicer and have air conditioning. i was in milan italy for a few hours on the way here. it is a little more modern city than the others i have seen in italy.
i stopped in brig switzerland where i met a local guy. we rode the train together to interlaken. the ride through the swiss alps is very scenic. the air here is so fresh too. i am going canyoning today which should be a blast.

Cinque Terre

I am now in Cinque Terre which is on the northwest coast of Italy. It is not terribly far from Nice France when you are looking at the map. Cinque Terre is actually five fishing villages that are connected by train and hiking trails. The all overlook the Ligurian Sea (part of Mediterranean). I have hiked the trails connecting the cities and stopped at little beaches along the way. The trails provide some awesome views. The villages are built on the side of really steep cliffs and they are all really quaint. The trail from Manarola to Riomaggiore, Via dell Amore, is the most famous because of its breath taking views and a stone tunnel painted with love scenes, now covered in graffiti.
I have met some great people here and enjoyed my time.

Rome

Buongiorno from Rome! I flew from London to Rome via Prague (Chez Republic). I wanted to get out and see Prague, but wasnàt able to coordinate a flight to do so. The line in London to check in at the airport was the longest I have ever seen at an airport, but i chatted with some Aussie backpackers in line which helped pass the time.

When I arrived in Rome it took me about 5 hours to find my hostel. I saw parts of the city I woùldnt have otherwise seen (and probably would have been ok with that).

As I walked around the city, I was surounded by so many awesome buildings with tons of history. Every building is something to see, even if it is not listed as a sight on the tourist map.

The Colosseum was the first sight I saw and i would say it dwarfs the other ruins in the Ancient City. Next to it was the Arch of Constantine, i saw it and as much as i could before i was completely exhausted having woken up at 4am to get to the airport.

The next day i went to see the Vatican and Sistine Chapel. The line to get in here was about 10 20 people wide and over 1 mile long. I met a nice gal from Austin in the pizzeria who invited me to join her and her fiance in line. I did so and only had to wait about 30 minutes which was awesome. They were a real nice couple and we spent the rest of the day hanging out.

When you walk into the Vatican Museum it is overwhelming. The architecture is grande and you are surouned by tons of sculptures and paintings. It is hard to take it all in.

The Sistine Chapel was very cool to see. The ceiling has 9 main panels that tell the stories from creation to the fall of man. On the side walls tell the stories of Moses and Christ. Pretty cool to be standing where Michaelangelo and other great artists have stood.

I was also able to visit the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, Fontanta di Trevi, and a posh shopping area with stores like Gucci, Pucci, and Armanie.

And i went to the basicalla di san pietro (St. Peter s). This place is huge. I saw the tombs of the popes including the most receant one who died. There were still flowers on it. From there I went by the castel sant angelo build by hadrian in AD 117.

Tons of stuff in Rome.. it was a whirlwind but great.

London photos

(Top to Bottom) Holding up the Tower Bridge, one of the Royal Bands who played at the Changing of the Guard ceremony, Buckingham Palace, and Big Ben

More of London

Yesterday we took a stroll through Notting Hill. It's real quite and peaceful there- upscale neighborhood. We went down Portobello Street and saw the market, then over by Paddington Station on the way to Abbey Road where the Beatles recorded back in the day. One of the ablum covers shows them walking across the street at a crosswalk in front of their studio, so we checked that out. The recording studio is still going and many people have written comments on the wall outside.
Later that day we were able to check out the Tower of London. The castle area first began with the White Tower (built with William the Conqueror circa 1066) before the rest of the buildings were built. It is here that the Crown Jewels are kep and have been since the beginning of the 14th century and is still used by the queen and her family today. The Tower Walk provided some great views of the Tower Bridge (see pic) which crosses to Thames River.
After leaving the tower we headed down to London Bridge (nothing special) and then St. Paul's which is pretty awesome (see pic above).

London

I made it into London at about 8 AM local time. We are 6 hours ahead of central time in the US. The flight from Dallas was about 9 hours in the air. Not near as long as going to Sydney.
As soon as I got to London, I hit the ground running. I have found London to be extremely similar to Sydney. The train system is virtually identical which has proven to be helpful. Nobody has AC here either, just like Oz.
I met up with my LSU friends and began to seek out the city. We went through Hyde Park (similar to NYC's Central Park) on the way to Buckingham Palace where the changing of the guards was taking place. That is quite a ceremony. We then headed down to Westminister Abby home of the grave's of Bloody Mary, Elizabeth I, and more. The church was really expensive to go into, so we visited the free one next door where Winston Churchill was married (St. Margaret's). Then we proceeded down to the Thames River to see the infamous Big Ben and the House of Parliament.
The day wasn't over, as we proceeded to the National Gallery and saw paintings by Monet, Leonardo DaVinci, and others.
After the musuem we headed to Leicester Square and Picadilly Circus (somewhat comparable to NYC's Times Square, but really no comparison). We found "cheap" tickets to see a West End play, ie Broadway. We saw Guys and Dolls which was very entertaining. I think all the actors were British, but did a very good job with their New Yorker accents.
On the way home, my flip flop breaks which made it a very difficult walk to the hostel. But I survived. It has been an eventful day, and tomorrow will be great too.

Headed Out

I'll be flying out in about 14 hours. I'm pretty pumped to get going on my next adventure. I made a tentative plan and it doesn't seem like I will have enough time to see all the places I want to see. Guess I'll just have to go again.
By coincidence I have friends flying into the UK the same day as me and another 2 days later! It will be great to start the trip of with some familiar faces.
Feel free to leave a comment on here sometime; I never know who is reading this travel blog.
Though I'm pretty excited, I really do need to get some sleep. My next posting will be from London!

On the road again

Well I've been back in the land of the red, white, and blue for about six weeks or so and decided that is long enough when there is still a lot of world out there that I haven't seen yet. So I'm off to Europe!

I have a new job that will be great and I'm excited about. I have a little bit of time before my start date; I thought I should take advantage of the time and travel again. I don't know when I'll get this opportunity again. I know I will always remember these times.

I'm extremely excited about the chance to see another part of the world and about a great job when I return.