London-Paris-Switzerland-Germany

Journey End,

Tue, 26 Mar 2019 02:00:00 -0500

I’m in the bed y’all. I hope you enjoyed the trip...I certainly did. See you next time.

Saint Louis, United States

Mon, 25 Mar 2019 23:00:00 -0500

Monday 3/25 Today we are homeward bound... Question: Can you figure out what time we made it to home when Munich is 6 hours ahead of St Louis but we had a 9 hour flight from Munich to Washington, DC which is 5 hours behind Munich and we had a 5 hour layover in DC before leaving for St Louis? While you work on that I’ll give you an update on our walking stats from Thursday thru Sunday... 49,236 steps 20.8 miles 11,476 calories burned For a Sunday to Sunday grand total of... 111,356 steps 47 miles 23,666 calories burned

Munich, Germany

Sun, 24 Mar 2019 06:00:00 +0100

Sunday 3/24 Today we are starting our day at the Dachau Concentration Camp...one of the most feared camps. No words, just pics... Next, we did a sightseeing tour of the city; Only 23% of the buildings remained after the WWII bombings so the city had to be rebuilt. New patches/sections were added to any structures that remained. Germany is home to BMW, Mercedes, Audi, VW, Mini Cooper, Smart Car, Porsche, AND Oktoberfest! And these are the majority of the cars being driven here...even the taxis are all Mercedes. I saw only a handful of Ford or Mazda’s the entire week! Maximillian St is one of the most expensive street s in Europe - Prada, Chanel, Versace, Hermès, Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, YSL, Rolex...need I say more. We stopped for lunch in the city square and were too late to hear the glockenspiel chime, but I did manage to get a big pretzel...it was sliced in half with cream cheese and chives, like a sandwich (beats that mustard or cheese did crap). We ended our tour at the BMW headquarters - BMW Welt (World), where they have a museum and a showroom which is where we went. Car dealerships here look like vending machines. They are multi-story buildings with a glass face and the cars are in the windows...on each floor! I know, right?! As we made our way to dinner, we stopped at the English Garden where they happen to have thee most popular (man made) river surfing location in the world - Eisbach Wave - on the Isar River. We (and hundred others) just sat on the river bank and watched. It was very peaceful and mesmerizing to watch and listen to the raging water. Then we were off to dinner. After dinner we visited a popular traditional beer house - Hofbrauhaus - where the beer mugs were 10” high and the pretzels were bigger than your head and cheaper than Auntie Anne’s. That place has more ambiance than a nightclub! I have a video of the band playing, I’ll have to send you separately. This is how you end an evening and your travels!

If they survive the walk from the trains to the gates, here is where they entered.

“Work Makes Free” is what they made them believe.

There were 34 of these buildings and only the two remain here today. They were built to house 200, which became 2000 at some point.

Sculpture memorial

Map of concentration camps

Timeline...

City Hall building in the center of town. The Glockenspiel (top-center) chimes daily at 11am. This glockenspiel is the largest in Munich and the 4th largest in Europe.

Isar River runs through the center of the city

BMW Welt (world) - headquarters to 34,500 employees.

The shape of the HQ building was meant to resemble pistons.

Home of BMW and Mini Cooper

Yep, there was a Rolls-Royce in the house too!

Vending machine-looking dealerships

Mercedes and Smart Car dealer!

Eisbach Wave in the English Garden

There were teenagers, women and men taking turns on the wave.

Traditional beer house...its huge and was jam packed!

Check out the live band...getting down with traditional music, while in their lederhosen. It was fun to see!

Munich, Germany

Sat, 23 Mar 2019 06:00:00 +0100

Saturday 3/23 Today we leave Switzerland to make our way to Germany...a 6-7 hour drive. On our way to Munich we crossed through Liechtenstein and Austria, which was our first stop after crossing the Swiss border. We stopped at a beautiful bakery and cafe. Population in Germany is 83 million of which 1.5 million live in Munich...it’s the 3rd largest city in Germany. In order to drive here, you have to be 18 years old but you can drink at 14 in the presence of a parent...whaaaa? Sooo again, we pull into town and head for our first adventure before going to the hotel...King Ludwig’s castle. He built this castle for himself only and wanted no one else in it. It took 17 years to build and still was incomplete. He lived in it for only 173 days before he was mysteriously killed. Apparently him and his psychiatrist went for a walk and never returned. This castle happens to be the exact inspiration for the castle at Disney World, after Walt visited it. That’s it for today...I’m spent.

Bakery/cafe in Austria...sooo much bread!

(Mad) King Ludwig’s castle

The hike up is so long they tell you to give yourself 45 minutes to an hour to get to the castle...so we took the shuttle...round trip. Don’t judge, we still had to walk 15 minutes after getting off the bus and we had to climb steps inside the castle on our guided tour.

Dinner...finally!

Lucerne, Switzerland

Fri, 22 Mar 2019 06:00:00 +0100

Friday 3/22 This is the first morning we were able to sleep a little longer. We didn’t have to get on the bus until 9:00. We discovered we were at the base of a ski slope, in the lodge. It is very quaint and now owned and operated by the son and his wife. There are 6.8 million people in the same space as London. There are 4 languages spoken here...French, Romanish(not Romanian), German and Italian. And 85% of Switzerland is covered with mountains. The views of the many lakes and mountains are just breathtaking. Homes are close and spread out. It’s very clean here and so many people walk and ride bikes. No wonder they can eat bread all the time. Today we head down into the town of Lucerne...for lunch and a day of shopping! Later this afternoon we headed to Mt Pilatus and rode the gondola to the top, headed back to the hotel and caught the sunset before dinner. All I can say is the pictures say it all...by far the best stop on this trip, so far. Bellisimo! (Ok that’s Italian, but it’s all i know)

Hotel Twing

One of the views from outside our hotel.

The ski resort entrance, again outside of our hotel.

Doesn’t this look like the exact spot where Julie Andrews sang “the hills are alive...” (I know you’re acting it out)!

In the east side of the town Lucerne is the Lion Monument...a dying lion carved out of a wall of sandstone rock. It was designed as a memorial to the mercenary soldiers from central Switzerland who lost their lives while serving the French King Louis XVI during the French Revolution.

This bridge is 700 years old and still very sturdy!

The first leg of our gondola ride. This one seats 4...going up.

...and up

This is the second leg and it seats 52...as we continue going up!

We made it! And as if I weren’t high enough, I caught a glimpse of some steps to an even higher point!

The view! And I haven’t reached the top of the stairs yet.

Nope, not yet!

O-M-G!

Stunning!

I’m heeere!

Yeah! Don’t ask me what I was thinking...I’ve got to walk back down now. Just know that it was worth the butt burn and oxygen deprivation I experienced. Whew!

Going down...

Halfway down...yep, only halfway. Can you see where we were at the top?

Just a two minute walk to see the sunset she says!!! I’m so tired of climbing I could...

Ok, ok, another climb worth the effort!

Lucerne, Switzerland

Thu, 21 Mar 2019 06:00:00 +0100

We are leaving Paris and heading to Switzerland on an all day bus ride. While riding all day I reflected on our walking stats... Sunday - Wednesday we walked... 62,120 steps 26.2 miles 12,190 calories burned And my body feels every bit of as tired as that sounds. We arrived in time for dinner at 7:30pm at our Hotel Twing.

Paris, France

Wed, 20 Mar 2019 06:00:00 +0100

Wednesday March 20: Day 2 in Paris and we are off again! I’m not much of a breakfast person but this is what you wake up to in Paris...all you can eat dammit! So today we started with a bus tour of Paris...it started as a kingdom and slowly became a republic. Today it is 66 million people in a physical space smaller than London and is represented by a statue of a woman. Check out some of the highlights of the bus tour in pics... Joan of Arc is considered a heroine of France for her role in the Hundred Years War and was canonized as a saint in the Roman Catholic church. She did all this and died at 19 years old. Next, we toured the Palace of Versailles. As a show of power and control, this was built by Louis XIV and took 40 years to complete. He was 4 when his father died and the rule was passed down to him. It is capable of holding up to 20,000 people, has 700 rooms, more than 2,000 windows, 1,250 chimneys, and 67 staircases. Unfortunately he was pretty self absorbed and lived well at the expense of his subjects. Louis the XIV died just before his 77th birthday, passing the rule to his 5 year old grandson who became Louis XV. Finally, after dinner we walked 1/2 hour to the Louvre Museum. The pyramids are only 30 or so years old and were a controversial addition. Whew, what a day!

No need for introductions...

The glass pyramids above the Louvre...there are 3 pyramids above and 1 inverted one.

Thee Arc d’ Triumph, was commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Beautiful doors I couldn’t resist (the crack is in the windshield of the bus)

This is just one of the many ceiling arts of work.

Joan of Arc!

Palace of Versailles...in all its opulence!

The war room...the artist commissioned to do this wall was told to make him look strong and tough, even though he wasn’t.

In the Hall of Mirrors stands a sculpture of Diane, Goddess of hunting and fertility. She deserved the Wonder Woman stamp of approval...go girl!

Entrance to the Louvre, as seen through the inverted pyramid.

A view up from the tip of the inverted pyramid.

The inside view of the large pyramid...

One of the most famous reasons for a visit to the Louvre...my girl, Mona Lisa!

Paris, France

Tue, 19 Mar 2019 06:00:00 +0100

Tuesday March 19: We had to be on the bus at 4:00 A!M! We are taking the Eurostar to Paris...currently waiting to board the train for a 2 hour ride. We arrived in 2 hours and it was a smooth ride! Now on to a crap-load of walking and riding the underground... Our first site is the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur where, after all that walking, we needed to walk to the top! The view from halfway up was stinkin awesome, yet we continued our trek to the top. Once up top there were plenty of souvenir, crepe, and baguette sandwich shops. I was able to get a veggie baguette sandwich...yeahhhh and very tasty I might add. Onward to Le Museum du Parfume or Fragonards...oooh la laaa. That place was intoxicating. They make parfume which is 25% concentration, Eau du Parfume which is 15% concentrate and Eau du Toilet which is 10%. The parfume in the bottles they store it in will last 8 years. Just a dab on the inside of your wrist will do ya. Uhhh, I got 3 bottles...smh. As we come out of the parfumerie we were right across the street from the National Opera House where Phantom of the Opera first opened. Our last event of the day...a cruise on the Siene River where we learned even more about old Paris, including Norte Dame cathedral. And the piece-de-resistence (in your best French accent)...the Eiffel Tower, at night ya’ll! OhhhMG! I think I pee’d my pants when the lights started flashing like fireworks...absolutely gorgeous. In the daylight, an awesome structural sight! We ended the night with a 1 hour bus ride to our hotel on Disney Paris property. Can you believe we hit French soil and hit the ground running...this was our first time, all day, at the hotel. I crashed...hard!

Sacre Coeur or Sacred Heart church

Did you know that a trained nose can discern 2000 different smells?

How many smells?!

The National Opera

Map of the Siene River cruise and the lessons along the way...

Norte Dame

Girly at night...

Here she is with her pearls on...

London, United Kingdom

Mon, 18 Mar 2019 06:00:00 +0000

Sunday March 17: We have landed and it is 5 hours ahead of central time...synchronize your clocks folks. Good morning (in your best British accent)! Today has literally been a day full of planes, trains and automobiles... Once we landed, we hit the ground running. We joined 3 other groups (from Indiana, Orlando and another St Louis school). We took a bus from the airport and literally dropped our bags off at the hotel - walked to the city bus stop - took the train to the city station (its nice to know that the US of A isn’t the only place with its spider man eccentrics protecting the trains) - walked to the London Eye (a Ferris wheel that is always moving at 10inches/sec and takes 30 minutes to go all the way around) - walked across the River Thames (where we got a glimpse of Parliament building and Big Ben under construction) Monday March 18: Today we tour Central London - Westminster. We started with a sightseeing tour on the bus...I needed that break. Once we got off the bus we walked to Buckingham Palace and watched the changing the changing of the various guards - they are all active military - check out the panoramic pic and videos. Onward to Piccadilly Circus...it’s like a center point for multiple streets, marked by a statue(and street performers). In person it’s not as larger-than-life as it looks on tv or the movies. We then took the tube (subway) to the British Museum where I totally geeked out over the original Rosetta Stone. We then headed to dinner, then did a Harry Potter walking tour (which I won’t do justice to because it was of no interest to me). I enjoyed the ride back to the hotel and bed!!! All I can say is it’s rude to have to pay 20 pence to use the lou!

London

Sun, 17 Mar 2019 06:00:00 +0000

The beginning of our journey starts here in St Louis on Saturday 3/16 through Chicago and landing at Heathrow airport in London England.

The crew...Keri, Michelle, Sydney, Madeline, Amanda, Sammy and me.