A Perfect Ending

We definitely slacked on posting our last blog – probably because we are in denial about our trip ending! It’s so hard to believe how quickly three months passed by!

Croatia was a perfect place to end our trip! It was incredibly beautiful and actually quite similar to Italy (rocky beaches, lots of pasta, etc.). Although we did venture into the city center of Split one day, most of our time was spent at our resort (Le Meridien Lav) in a town called Podstrana – about 20 minutes south of Split.

Our time in Croatia can be summed up in one word – relaxing. Below are a few of our favorite pictures from the week.

View of the hotel pool and beach (where we spent nearly all of our time):


Enjoying the sun (prior to us both getting sun rashes):


Celebrating Jonathan’s birthday (a delicious dessert compliments of the hotel):


Roman ruins in Split (in the historic city center):


Fruity drinks at the bar (as well as at the pool/beach):


Last night of the trip (at dinner over-looking the coast):


Now that we are back, we’ve been asked quite a few times about our “favorites” on the trip. We really enjoyed every minute of our time in Europe (making it really hard to narrow down "favorites"), but below are a few we’d thought we share.

Favorite Cites/Towns:
• Budapest (Hungary)
• Barcelona (Spain)
• Edinburgh (Scotland)
• Manarola / Cinque Terre (Italy)
• Beilstein (Germany)
• Stockholm (Sweden)

Favorite Activities/Sites:
• Kayaking on Lake Geneva (Switzerland)
• People watching at New Harbor (Denmark)
• Anne Frank House Museum (The Netherlands)
• Wine tasting on the Mosel River (Germany)
• Gaudi architecture (Spain)
• Salvador Dali Museum (Spain)
• Augustiner Braustubl Tavern beer hall/garden (Austria)
• Porgy & Bess Jazz Club (Austria)
• City walking tours (numerous countries)

Favorite Restaurants:
• Les Fines Gueules (France)
• Espai Sucre (Spain)
• Dos Palillos (Spain)
• Bloberger Hof (Austria)
• Pizzeria Starita (Italy)

Favorite Local Foods/Dishes:
• Waffles (Belgium)
• Montanara Neapolitan pizza (Italy)
• Genovese pesto (Italy)
• Langos (Hungary)
• Aelplermagronen (Switzerland)

Favorite Beers:
• Brouwerij ‘t IJ Columbus (The Netherlands)
• La Chouffe (Belgium)
• Pauwel Kwak (Belgium)
• Fraoch – a.k.a. the “Heather” beer (Scotland)
• Jamtlands (Sweden)

Thank you all for following our journey with us! We are excited to catch up with everyone now that we are back! We definitely caught the “travel bug” and are already thinking ahead to our next big trip (although it might be a while)!

Final Beer List:
• Karlovacko Pivo (a Croatian lager)
• Ozujsko Pivo (a Croatian lager)
• Tomislav Pivo (a Croatian dark lager)

Hungary Hungary Heather!

We absolutely loved Budapest! With so much to do in such a beautiful surrounding, Budapest is definitely the most underrated city in Europe. We could have easily spent at least another week there, and one of the really wonderful parts is that it isn’t nearly as crowded as many of the other cities we’ve visited.

After sleeping in until almost noon on Saturday, we ventured out to partake in some light exploring of the city – mainly the large shopping street and Great Market Hall – before heading back to our hotel to watch the afternoon World Cup game (Germany/Argentina). Later that evening, we had dinner at a really nice restaurant next to the beautiful Opera House (also out of season), and then spent the rest of the evening at our hotel’s bar listening to the live music. We have a knack for finding places frequented by older crowds – we were the youngest people at the bar by at least two decades!

We started Sunday with a walking tour of both parts of the city (Buda and Pest) which are separated by the Danube River. It was run by a different company than the one we have been using for most of the trip (New Europe), but was just as good (and possibly even a bit better). The tour started in Pest (the financial and commercial hub of the city) and ended in the more historic Castle District in Buda (the more residential and historic side). Here is a picture of us in front of Fisherman’s Bastion in the Castle District, which supposedly served as inspiration for the Disney castle logo.


After the tour, we decided to do a wine tasting at a nearby wine cellar/museum which was really cool and informative. We were surprised to find out that Hungary is a huge wine growing country and we definitely want to make it back to visit some of the outlying vineyards. For dinner on Sunday, we ate at another Hungarian restaurant (see picture of Heather at the top of the blog enjoying a “kenyerlangos”) followed by a visit to one of Budapest’s “ruin bars” – Szimpla. “Ruin bars” are essentially former condemned or abandoned buildings that have been transformed into pubs/bars. Szimpla was really cool and definitely a unique Hungarian experience.

After a morning of shopping, we planned to spend Monday afternoon at another wine tasting. Much to our dismay, we arrived at the House of Hungarian Wines to discover it was closed down – heartbreaking! Fortunately, we found a nearby cafe where we grabbed a glass of wine and tried the famous (and delicious) Hungarian cake – dobos torte. Later that night, we made a visit to the absolute coolest bar we’ve ever been to – Szimpla Kemp (see picture of one of the rooms in the bar below). It is the most famous “ruin bar” in the city and the “big brother” of the place we were at the night before (just Szimpla). It was crazy! They have a really large outdoor courtyard tucked in the middle of a bunch of run-down buildings, completely hidden from the road, and with all kinds of random objects (cars, pummel horses, computer monitors, etc.) decorating the venue.


Tuesday was our favorite day in the city. We started by visiting the Szechenyi Baths – the most popular and largest thermal (Turkish style) baths in Budapest. In addition to three large outside pools, there were numerous indoor baths/pools – all fed by thermal springs at varying temperatures. It was an awesome experience, as we were able to really absorb the local culture (and do some great people watching), and we highly recommend a visit to one of the baths on any trip to Budapest. We just wish we had time to visit more than one! Beware though… large Hungarian men aren’t afraid to don a Speedo! Below is a picture of us in the large outdoor swimming area.


After picking up a few last minute souvenirs, we tracked down the supposedly best “langos” (fried flat bread dough topped with garlic, sour cream, and cheese) place in the city. The “Langos Bar” did not disappoint us at all, and is probably the best thing we’ve eaten on the trip (see picture below of the lady topping ours with cheese). Just thinking about it makes our mouths water! Heather spent the next hour talking about opening a langos stand in Austin.


After our delicious snack, we made it back to our hotel in time to rest a bit before a scheduled visit to the amazing spa at our hotel. Our massages were awesome, and afterward, we made our way downstairs in the hotel to have dinner at a place called Bock Bisztro – one of the top restaurants in the country. The “wine-themed” restaurant was delicious, and was a perfect ending to our time in Budapest!

Yesterday we spent the entire day traveling to Split, Croatia on a very long, overnight train ride. We arrived a little tired and grumpy early this morning, but after a short nap we were ready to head down to the pool/beach for a “strenuous” afternoon of relaxing in the sun (don’t worry – we just bought another bottle of sun screen)! The vast majority of our time in Croatia will be spent relaxing at our resort (see view from our hotel room below) and celebrating Jonathan’s birthday! We’ll definitely post anything exciting that happens during the week before we head back to the states on the 15th (boooo)!


Beer List:
• Dreher Classic (a Hungarian Euro Pale Lager)
• Soproni (a Hungarian Euro Pale Lager)

Happy Birthday America!

Since we didn't have a lot of options to celebrate the 4th in Budapest, we decided to toast America in our own way – by eating breakfast at McDonald's (see picture below filled with greasy food)!


And because nothing is more American than Starbucks (except maybe apple pie) we continued the celebration by stopping there for an afternoon iced coffee (see picture below). Heather was a bit mortified though when Jonathan pulled out his camera and tripod in front of Starbucks! As a side note, this is the first Starbucks in Budapest (opening up just two weeks ago), and had a line out the door during our visit.


Last but not least, we would like to wish a very happy 80th birthday to Heather's grandmother, Velma, and also a happy birthday to Aunt Laura! We love you guys!

Save a Horse, Ride a Baby?

This past Sunday, we arrived in Prague – the capital of the Czech Republic. Heather couldn’t stop laughing after snapping the above picture of Jonathan at a park along the river in Prague, so we thought we’d share it with everyone! In all seriousness though, all the tour books and fellow traveler comments were right on – this is definitely one of the most beautiful cities in Europe (see picture below). Another great thing about Prague is how cheap this city is, at least in comparison to many of the other places we’ve visited. You can get a great half-liter beer on draught at a restaurant for just a little more than a buck (beer actually costs less than water)!


On Monday we got an early start to try to avoid the hordes of tourists. There are so many things to see and visit in Prague! We decided to take another free tour offered by the New Europe tour company (the same tour we’ve taken in several other cities) as a way to gain a better understanding of the city. After showing us some of the major sites in Old Town (the square, the clock tower, churches, theaters, etc.), our tour guide took us to the Jewish Quarter (see picture below). During World War II, the Nazis destroyed most Jewish neighborhoods in cities throughout Europe. However, the Jewish Quarter in Prague is remarkably well preserved, largely due to Hitler’s gruesome plans for the area. According to our guide, after removing the Jewish people from the neighborhood, Hitler instructed his troops not to destroy the area. His plan was to preserve the neighborhood to create a “museum” to an extinct race where scholars could study their buildings, relics of their religion, and objects used in daily lives. Today most of the area is devoted to the Jewish Museum, Synagogues (including the oldest in Europe), and graveyard. Although we didn’t visit the Jewish Museum, our tour guide told us an especially moving story about some of the contents. During the concentration camp period, a Jewish artist was able to smuggle in basic art supplies. Rather than use them herself, she gave them to the children in the camp. For many, their art work hanging in the Jewish Museum is the only evidence left that they ever existed.


After the tour, we grabbed lunch at this place called Bohemia Bagel, which serves all kinds of crazy sandwiches on a variety of bagels (definitely worth a stop on any trip to Prague). We then made our way over to enjoy a couple beers along with a shot of herbal Czech liquor (Becherovka) at the oldest brewery/pub in Prague – U Fleku. It was a really cool place and another must on any visit. For the World Cup, Hyundai built a “fan park” in the Old Town Square with a giant screen for people to watch the games. Live bands played before and after each match, and local vendors were set up to serve food and drinks around the area. We decided to partake in the festivities on Monday night, watching Brazil (the crowd favorite) destroy Chile! Here is Heather enjoying a Czech Budweiser during the game.


Tuesday we started the day by trying to visit the Staropramen brewery (Jonathan’s favorite Czech beer). Unfortunately it was closed for renovations, but we were able to eat lunch in their restaurant. We spent most of the remainder of the day revisiting sites from our walking tour and taking pictures (it is always hard to take pictures during the actual tour). Below is a picture of us in front of the Astronomical Clock (tower) in Old Town Square.


Wednesday was another jam packed day, which included a tour of Prague Castle and an area of the city called “Lesser Town” – ultimately lasting over four hours. The tour also included a changing of the guard ceremony at the castle which was rather pathetic compared to some of the others we’ve seen before. Interestingly, while the guards at Buckingham Palace work seven hour shifts, the Prague Castle guards only work one hour shifts. Here is Heather giving a “high-five” to one of the guards in front of the castle.


We were quite tired and sweaty when the tour was all done – leaving us just enough time to run back to our hotel, quickly shower, and make it back to the Municipal Hall for a classical concert we were attending that night. After almost three months of doing our best to avoid anything and everything we consider “touristy,” we somehow picked the most “tourist” concert imaginable! In our defense though, our first choice was to attend an event at the Rudolfinum, but the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra was out of season. The building housing the touristy concert was extremely beautiful though (both inside and out). Here is a picture of us with the Municipal Hall in the background.


We spent most of the day on Thursday revisiting sites in the Lesser Town, including the Strahov Monastic Brewery (a microbrewery run by monks – see picture of Jonathan below). We finished our time in Prague with another Czech meal at a local restaurant.


We arrived in Budapest last night and are staying at the nicest hotel of our trip! We look a little grungy at this point (have you noticed how long Jonathan’s hair is), so we are sure the hotel staff was really excited to see us arrive!

Beer List (we are going to detox when we get home!):
• Staropramen Lezak (a Czech Pilsener)
• Staropramen Granat (a Czech Euro Lager)
• Staropramen Cerny (a Czech Dunkel)
• Staropramen 11° (a Czech Pilsener)
• Kozel Medium Lezak (a Czech Pilsener)
• Kozel Premium Lezak (a Czech Pilsener)
• Kozel Cerny (a Czech Dunkel)
• Kozel Svelty (a Czech Pilsener)
• Budweiser Budvar (a Czech Pilsener)
• Bernard Svatecni Lezak (a Czech Pilsener)
• Gambrinus 11° Excelent (a Czech Pilsener)
• Krusovice Cerne (a Czech Schwarzbier)
• Pilsner Urquell (a Czech Pilsener)
• U Fleku Flekovsky Tmavy Lezák 13° (a Czech microbrewery Dunkel)
• Saint Norbert IPA (a Czech microbrewery India Pale Ale)
• Saint Norbert Weizen (a Czech microbrewery Hefeweizen)
• Saint Norbert Amber (a Czech microbrewery Marzen)

Tired of Traveling

Don’t worry… we are definitely not tired of traveling! We’re actually trying not to think about the fact that we are down to the last 3 stops on our trip. The picture above is of a random tourist we happened upon outside of Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna. Hopefully she got a second wind later that day!

On Thursday, we spent our first full day in Vienna taking in the major city sites (Hofburg, Spanish Riding School, Museum Quarter, Opera House, etc.) and doing a little light shopping. In the early afternoon, we spent a little over an hour searching for the allusive “brat in a bun,” only to figure out that it was sold at a vendor stand that we had already passed 3 times. It was well worth the time and effort though! Here is a picture of Jonathan enjoying his “brat in a bun” and a beer in the historic city center of Vienna.


Thursday night, we had our second Asian meal in Vienna. We didn’t know Austrians loved Asian food so much! We also stopped by one of the famous cafes (Café Sacher) to sample their Sachertorte, one of the best desserts of the trip!

We spent most of Friday at the humungous Schonbrunn Palace. The palace is so large and includes so many different sites that it would be easy to spend more than one day there. Here is a picture of us with the palace garden and Gloriette in the background.


We limited our visit to a tour of the Imperial Rooms and later a stop at the garden maze/labyrinth. Heather scoffed a bit at the maze when we entered it, thinking it was going to be a breeze, but after repeatedly getting lost, she finally had to get out the maze map. Below is picture of her in front of one of the many dead ends we encountered. Unfortunately her map reading skills are not that great, so it still took us quite a bit of time to find the center of the maze and eventually get out!


On Friday night we found a local artsy neighborhood that was having a block party. It made us a little homesick because the neighborhood really reminded us of Decatur. At one of the local shops, the owner (who was actually from California) recommended a micro-brewery in the neighborhood for dinner. We decided to take his recommendation and were not disappointed! The 7 Stern Brau brewery had amazing beer and really good food! It is possible to get vegetarian dishes in Austria! We wanted to try more of their beers but had to quickly make our way across town to make it to a show at the Porgy & Bess Jazz Club. The club was awesome, and the band performing played really cool and interesting music (kind of a fusion of jazz and latin).

Yesterday we visited Naschmarkt, Vienna’s huge outdoor food market. It was a bit different from the markets we visited in other cities, and we were really surprised to find an entire row of Asian restaurants. Seriously, these people love their Asian food! After lunch at the market we took the train to visit an Austrian “Heuriger.” The Vienna area is known for these “wine-gardens” where you can sample the young wine served from the wine-growers own grapes. The place we visited (Zum Alter Pflug) probably would be really cool if more people would have been there and the servers were a little nicer. The setting was really cool, but boy was our server grumpy! Below is a picture of “Mr. Grouchy Pants.”


He even tried to stiff us on our wines, until we pointed out that we can read the difference between 1/8 a liter and 1/4 a liter of wine. Here is Heather giving the wine two thumbs down.


After the wine garden we headed back into the city to watch the USA vs. Ghana soccer game. We first tried a well known bar/restaurant, but after checking out place, decided (for the first time on our trip) to go back to 7 Stern Brau (the same restaurant we visited the night before). The food and beer were both delicious (once again), and the only bad part of the night was the USA losing the game.

Yesterday we took the train from Vienna to Prague, arriving late in the evening. You can expect Jonathan’s beer list to really grow in the Czech Republic! Hopefully not his waistline too!

Beer List:
• Gosser Marzen (an Austrian Marzen)
• 7 Stern Marzen (an Austrian Vienna Lager)
• 7 Stern Summer Bock (an Austrian Bock)
• 7 Stern Prager Dunkels (an Austrian Munich Dunkel Lager)

Is this thing on?

On our way to Salzburg this past weekend, we spent one night in Bolzano, a mid-sized city in northern Italy. The highlight of our brief time there was our hotel upgrade to an executive suite about the size of our condo in Atlanta. Thanks Starwood Preferred Guest points! It was also interesting to see the German/Austrian influence in the Italian town – architecture, people, language, etc. It was very different from our previous two stops in Italy (and much colder).

We arrived in Salzburg Sunday night and luckily found one restaurant still serving dinner near our guesthouse. Although completely charming, the place we stayed was about 20 minutes outside of the city center. We spent most of Monday walking around the city, avoiding the tour groups, and enjoying the food! Below is a picture of Jonathan with his first, but not last, pretzel of the day!


From her study abroad days, Heather remembered the famous Augustiner Braustubl Tavern beer hall/garden, and Jonathan was definitely looking forward to a visit. This was our favorite beer hall/garden so far! It was much less touristy than the beer halls in Munich and also much larger. Visitors can actually bring in a picnic or purchase local food from the vendors. Below is a picture of Heather enjoying our dinner Monday evening and her 1 liter beer!


One thing that Heather missed while studying abroad in Austria was the "Sound of Music" movie tour. After much debate, we decided to do a self-guided tour of the major movie sites in Salzburg (which we recorded with Heather commentating), rather than joining a tour group. The highlight of our tour was visiting the Stift Nonnberg (Abbey) where several movie scenes were filmed. The nunnery is actually considered to be the world’s oldest with constant occupation of the site since the 700s. Below is a picture of the alter area of the church. We also heard the nuns singing their morning prayers, which was really cool!


Even though he hasn’t seen the movie and isn’t really a fan of musicals (shocking!), Jonathan was a good sport! Below is a picture of Heather after narrating an explanation of a movie scene filmed in the beautiful Mirabell Gardens.


After a long day of filming, we decided a return trip to the Augustiner Braustubl Tavern was necessary. Luckily it was sunny enough to actually go out into the gardens! The picture at the top of the blog was taken while we were trying to set the timer on our camera to capture our experience in the beer garden. They also had TVs set up so we could follow the World Cup games!

Last night we ate a four course meal at our guesthouse that was one of the best of our trip! We should have skipped lunch! Interestingly, we were seated next to an Australian couple also on a three month holiday! We decided we live in the wrong country as the husband described how he gets 15 weeks of vacation a year (1 for every year with the company) plus the standard 4 weeks!

Today we took a train to Vienna (on which Heather accidentally squirted hand-sanitizer in the eye of the guy sitting across from us) in time to drop our bags off at the hotel before catching the USA soccer match! After the game (which the USA dramatically won in the final minutes), we grabbed dinner, explored the city a bit, and then shared coffee/dessert at one of the city's famous cafes.

Beer List:
• Stiegl Weizengold Hefefein (an Austrian Hefeweizen)
• Stiegl Weizengold Dunkel (an Austrian Dunkelweizen)
• Stiegl Zwickl (an Austrian Zwickelbier)
• Augustinerbrau Kloster Mulln Marzen (an Austrian Marzen)

The Spillmans are Finally Tan(ish)

After just over a week of enjoying the sun and beautiful views of Italy’s coastline, it is official that we are looking “somewhat” tan. Don’t worry though… we have already gone through one bottle of sunscreen and are getting ready to purchase another. If only we could find a store that sells SPF 50!

Last Friday we made our way from Naples down to Sorrento, Italy. It was so beautiful and we really enjoyed our time there! Saturday and Sunday were spent exploring the town, shopping, and laying out by the hotel pool. Saturday night, we found a really cool bar to watch the USA vs. England World Cup game. The only bad part about the bar was that it was filled with England fans and we were the only people cheering for the USA. Since we didn’t bring any USA t-shirts with us, we both wore the next best thing – University of Texas shirts (see picture below). As a side note, don’t worry – we don’t plan to make a habit out of dressing alike! All of the England fans were actually really good sports though, and congratulated us on ending the game in a draw.


After the incredible pizza in Naples, we were slightly disappointed with our meals in Sorrento. The pastas and pizzas were not very flavorful. Jonathan’s mom and grandmother definitely put the dishes to shame!

On Monday we spent most of the day on the beautiful island of Capri (see picture below), browsing the shops, roaming the beach, and enjoying a delicious lunch. Tourist season is definitely in full swing, though, and the place was packed! We wanted to take a boat tour of the famous Blue Grotto, similar to the caves we visited on our honeymoon in Portugal, but missed the chance due to high-tide. Maybe next time! We spent our last night in Sorrento watching the Italy soccer game and enjoying the liveliness of the town as they cheered on their team.


Most of Tuesday was spent traveling by train up the Italian coastline, eventually reaching Manarola (one of the five “Cinque Terre” towns) late in the evening. We both agree that Cinque Terre (Manarola specifically) is the most beautiful place we have ever been and is our favorite stop on the trip so far! Below is a picture of us in front of Manarola and the house we stayed in (yellow house on the hill)!


Besides the picturesque views and the charming quaintness of each of the towns, the food was beyond amazing. This area of Italy is known for their pesto sauce and after discovering this, we ordered pesto on everything. It was incredibly delicious, and we made sure to bring some jars home with us! We both ate so much pesto that we ended up with stomach aches, but it was totally worth it!

The house we stayed in had an amazing terrace overlooking the sea and we spent a lot of our time hanging out on it, working on our “tans,” and drinking local wine. We took a break from our relaxing for a short swim in the Mediterranean, which was pretty chilly! Unfortunately Jonathan cut his foot on a rock, so we weren’t able to swim very long. Luckily, we brought a first aid kit! If we could stay here for the rest of our lives, we definitely would! If anyone wants to go in on a vacation house here, let us know! Below is a picture of us on our terrace.


The only disappointing part of our stop in Cinque Terre was that we were not able to hike between each of the five towns (which is one of the most popular things to do here). Storm showers during our stay forced closure of a number of the trails between the towns, preventing us hiking the whole way. We did get to hike to the next town, though, and were able to take the train to visit each of the other towns. We know we will definitely be back, so we’ll just have to save the hike for our next visit!

Today we are headed to a town in northern Italy called Bolzano for a one night stay in route to Salzburg, Austria. We should be in Salzburg by late in the afternoon on Sunday. Hopefully the weather is beautiful there, so that we can enjoy some of the many beer gardens!

Beer List (we drank quite a bit of wine on this leg of our trip!!):
• Peroni / Nastro Azzuro (an Italian Euro Pale Lager)
• Becks (a German Pilsener)

Bagnoli or Bust!

Yesterday, after arriving in Naples just after eight in the morning, we rented a car for our day trip to a tiny Italian town called Bagnoli del Trigno.

Although he has lived in the U.S. for most of his life, Jonathan’s grandfather (Vito) actually grew up in Bagnoli del Trigno. He left Italy at the age of 16, moving to Ohio with his family and starting a new life in America. The house he grew up in is still standing, and there is actually family that lives in it for part of the year. Of all the stops on our trip, Jonathan was most excited about this one!

The car we rented in Naples wasn’t the nicest vehicle we’ve ever been in (to put it nicely), including a broken air condition, no radio, missing hub caps, and a fourth gear that didn’t quite work. On the bright side though, it thankfully made the two-hour drive back and forth safely. Unfortunately, due to the broken air condition, all the chocolate we bought in Switzerland melted inside Heather’s backpack!

Bagnoli del Trigno is located in central Italy, and the drive was really beautiful. This section of the country is filled with trees and mountains, and doesn’t look at all like the Mediterranean Italy we’ve both visited on previous trips. Below is a picture of Bagnoli del Trigno from a distance on our way in.


Since neither of us speaks any Italian, and we were pretty sure that practically no one in the town would speak English, we prepared our visit with a “cheat sheet” containing some phrases that would hopefully help us to find the house Jonathan’s grandfather grew up in. After stopping a number of residents in the town to ask for directions (none of which spoke English), we finally arrived at the house (see picture below). Unfortunately, the relative that lives there for a couple months in the summer was still in Rome, so we were not able to go inside.


The great news, though, was that a couple of the town residents pointed out that more of Jonathan’s relatives lived in another house just down the road and were actually home at the time. A really nice old man (who kept mumbling in Italian the entire time) led us to the relative's house, where we were warmly greeted! Salvina (Jonathan's grandfather's cousin) and her husband Rafella even invited us in for coffee, biscotti, pie, and a personal tour of their house (see picture below). Neither of them spoke any English, but we were still able to communicate with each other a little – mainly about family members and where they live.


After about an hour of visiting with Salvina and Rafella, we made our way back to the center of town to do some more exploring before driving back to Naples in the late afternoon.


For Jonathan, the trip definitely lived up to his expectations and is something he will always remember. We took tons of pictures (and video) to share with Jonathan’s grandfather (who celebrates his 80th birthday in August) when we get home.

Of course you can’t visit Naples without trying their pizza, so last night we went to one of the most famous pizza places in Naples, Pizzeria Starita. The pizza definitely lived up to all the hype. It was amazing and probably ruined American pizza for us!


We spent last night in a really cool guest house in the center of Naples that was actually a palace for a Duke at one point. This morning, we are heading to Sorrento for a couple days of relaxing and enjoying the Italian coast. Fortunately, our sunscreen didn’t melt in the car so we should be able to avoid becoming lobsters!

Say Cheese!

We arrived in Munich on Monday (May 31st) and immediately regretted our decision to give Amy our jackets to take back to the States. Thankfully we kept our umbrellas though, because it rained the entire time we were in Munich! On our first night there, we decided to be a little adventurous and try the top-rated TripAdvisor restaurant – El Gordo Loco. As a rule we try to avoid Mexican food abroad, but this place was surprisingly delicious (not just by European standards)! Apparently the chef is the only authentic Mexican chef in Munich, as the owner proudly told us.

On Tuesday, we braved the weather to take a walking tour of the city. Much of Munich was actually destroyed during World War II. However, as the war started to ramp up in Germany, the German people carefully took pictures and made drawings of the major buildings so they could be reconstructed after the war. It was really amazing to see the Old Town Hall and other architecture around the city. Although the buildings look very old, most were actually rebuilt in the 1960s in preparation for the 1972 Olympic Games.

Munich has a really awesome outdoor market which we took advantage of for delicious brats and pastries. Here is Heather enjoying the world’s largest macaroon, or at least the largest one we’ve ever seen.


With the bad weather, we were “forced” to spend most of our time hoping in and out of beer halls. Below is Jonathan at the famous Hofbrauhaus. Luckily Heather didn’t get kicked out this time like her last visit with her study abroad group!


After Munich, we headed to Luzern, Switzerland. We arrived on Thursday night after a long day of travel to a hotel room that greatly resembled a college dorm – complete with bunk beds! On Friday morning we awoke to absolutely perfect weather and were finally able to break out our short sleeves again. Luzern is definitely the most picturesque city we’ve visited yet – situated around Lake Luzern, with the Swiss Alps in the background.


We spent Friday morning exploring the downtown shopping area and then "spontaneously" decided to rent a peddle boat in the afternoon to explore the lake (see picture of Heather below). We should plan better for our adventures next time because we both got quite sunburned!


Friday night we had a traditional Swiss meal, including cheese fondue (see picture of Heather at top of post) and a delicious plate of rosti. We love this country – they put cheese on everything!

On Saturday, we decided we needed to work off some of that cheese, so we hiked to the top of one of the surrounding hills. The view was absolutely beautiful (see picture below)! We spent the rest of the day relaxing by the lake and avoiding the sun!


Sunday we headed to Lausanne, a Swiss city situated on Lake Geneva. Overall, this wasn’t our favorite city we’ve visited. However, one of the highlights of our time there was visiting the Olympic Museum. Below is a picture of Jonathan putting his old shotput skills to use in the Olympic Park.


In the museum, they just opened a new interactive exhibit where you could test your sports aptitude (apparently we both have poor hand/eye coordination). They also have an entire floor dedicated to the history of the Olympic Games, including the actual torches from each of the games (see picture below).



Our favorite activity in Lausanne was kayaking on Lake Geneva. We virtually had the lake to ourselves on a Monday afternoon. Unfortunately we couldn’t take any pictures (we were too busy paddling), but here is a picture of the lake from the shore.


Our last stop in Switzerland was Geneva. Again, this wasn’t our favorite stop on the trip, but this side of Lake Geneva was also very beautiful.


Most of our time was spent window shopping the amazing jewelry/watch displays and eating more cheese fondue. On the lake front there was also a really cool photographic “World Peace” exhibit that we happened upon. Below is a picture of Heather with a special message for our readers.


Tomorrow we head to Naples, Italy on a really early morning flight. There we will be renting a car and driving to the birthplace of Jonathan’s grandfather, Bagnoli del Trigno. After that we will head to the Amalfi Coast!

As a side note, over the last week or so, Jonathan went from a full beard to a goatee, to a mustache (YUCK!), and finally to a clean shaven face. After all of that, he is now in the process of regrowing the beard.

Beer List:
• Augustiner-Brau Dunkel (a German Munich Dunkel Lager)
• Augustiner-Brau Edelstoff (a German Munich Helles Lager)
• Augustiner-Brau Weissbier (a German Hefeweizen)
• Augustiner-Brau Lagerbier (a German Munich Helles Lager)
• Hofbrau Dunkel (a German Munich Dunkel Lager)
• Hofbrau Original (a German Munich Helles Lager)
• Hofbrau Munchner Sommer Naturtrub (a German Kellerbier)
• Schneider Weisse (a German Hefeweizen)
• Lowenbrau Original (a German Munich Helles Lager)
• Lowenbrau Triumphator (a German Doppelbock)
• Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse (a German Hefeweizen)
• Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel (a German Dunkelweizen)
• Paulaner Original Munchner (a German Munich Helles Lager)
• Hacker-Pschorr Hefe Weisse (a German Hefeweizen)
• Hacker Pschorr Munchner Hell (a German Munich Helles Lager)
• Eichhof Lager (a Swiss Munich Helles Lager)
• Feldschlossen Original (a Swiss Euro Pale Lager)