Shaking it up in Italy

After singing through the hills of Austria, Grace and I were officially half way done with our European tour. The last half was a 2 week tour of Italy that included 7 cities! First stop: Venice, after our final night train. This time around went much more smoothly than the first night train, and we only had to share our car with 2 others, so it was easier to spread out and get comfortable. I had heard people describe Venice, but nothing could have prepared me for arrival in the most unique city in the world. When we got off the train, we had to catch a cab to our hostel—only in Venice, all of the vehicles are boats! For those who are thinking of traveling to Venice, just know that you will get lost or turned around at one point! With that said, Grace and I had no trouble finding our hostel, the trouble was what we found when we got inside! Out of our entire European trip, this one was up there on the sketchy ratings. The building was probably older than America, and it was dark and kind of stinky. We felt so out of place that we almost took our bags and went in search of another. In the end, we only had one night to stay in Venice, and we had good roommates and a free breakfast in the morning, so we survived.

Our day in Venice basically included just wandering around the island and getting lost. Venice is considered an island, and it is said that it will sink one day. As you walk through the skinny streets, you often have to walk over a bridge to cross one of the many canals. The great part about being in Venice, and finally arriving in Italy was the food! Our first Italian meal was pizza—we each ordered our own of course, while we sat in the sunshine on the water. We did a lot of relaxed walking on our first day in Italy, in fact that is just about all that we did, and it felt great. In the morning we were headed to our next stop in Verona, but we ran into a little bump along the way—or should I say a quake! While in London, I heard about a severe earthquake in northern Italy, and at about 9 o’clock in the morning, Grace and I were shaken awake as we felt the outskirts of the second earthquake to hit the same region of Bologna. At first, we weren’t quite sure what had just happened, because when I peeked out the window it seemed like business as usual. It was the strangest method of an alarm clock that I have ever experienced, and when we got to the train station, the mass chaos delayed our departure for Verona, but only slightly.

A picture of the Gran Canal with a boat taxi passing by!

Grace and the canal

Our first meal in Italy! The location was great, the food was great,
but we almost fell asleep while eating due to the night train sleep

We stumbled upon the most amazing book store while wandering,
and this was the fire escape! I guess that is a park to having
canals for streets!

This was one of my favorite pictures. The city is so old, but vibrant
at the same time

This is the famous Rialto Bridge after sunset 

Verona, our second stop, is where we stayed in a romantic B&B in a couple’s suite. The city that became famous for being the setting of Romeo and Juliet is very old and situated along a river. It has a ton of ancient Roman ruins that people just casually walk by every day. We had some great meals in Verona and relaxed walking around through the different plazas.

This is the statue of Juliet, the main attraction in
Verona. People come and leave love letters,
graffiti and love locks

Here is Juliet's balcony

The city had many plazas with beautiful colors on the buildings

On our second morning in the quaint town, we decided to walk to a place recommended by our guide book, but we didn’t put two and two together and realize that we were headed for the church we had seen on top of a big hill! Sometimes tourist maps are not totally accurate…but in the end it was a great adventure that provided us with a little exercise and beautiful views. In the evening, we visited Juliet’s balcony, Romeo’s house, and enjoyed a nice dinner at a restaurant tucked away in a little street.

I always love the cities on a river! 

Here is a view of Verona from the church we climbed up to

We were exhausted, but once we got to the top it was great to see
a bird's eye view of the city and make room in our stomachs for more
pizza and pasta after all the climbing! 

In the morning, we enjoyed our last breakfast in the lovely B&B, stalked up on to-go packets of Nutella, and hit the tracks for our journey to the Cinque Terre. We also discovered that if you hop on through the back door of the Italian busses, you can get away without paying...shhhh, we only did twice! 

The Hills Are Alive

Let’s start at the very beginning—a very good place to start in our day in Salzburg.

After realizing that our night train from Vienna to Venice stopped in Salzburg, we decided the universe was telling us to pay the classic city a visit. We only had the day to explore, so we decided to take a guided tour of all of the special locations from the movie The Sound of Music. The tour involved getting on a big cheesy coach tour bus that had pictures of the movie’s cast on the outside—I’d say we didn’t stick out as tourists at all! The tour turned out to be a great way to see Salzburg.

Like our tour of the Harry Potter studios, we were given some secrets of the movie’s filming. First, we were driven outside of the city to a big beautiful mansion on a lake. We then learned that in the movie, there were two different locations used for the Von Trapp house—one was the actual mansion, the other was just a backyard of a house that never appeared in the movie. Also, the lake that was used was manmade and freezing cold during filming. Because of the temperature, the director only wanted to do one or two takes of the scene where the children fall off of the little row boat. The biggest concern of the scene was for the little actress playing Grettle, because she didn’t know how to swim. So, Maria was supposed to fall into the lake with her and pick her up right away. Unfortunately for Grettle, Maria accidentally fell backwards off the boat and wasn’t there to pick her up—watch for it next time in the movie, Grettle never comes up!

Here we are by the man-made lake. The white mansion was not used as
the Von Trapp house, but the backyard was. 

Next we saw the house from the movie, and other classic places like the gazebo used in the song “Sixteen Going on Seventeen,” and the convent where the Von Trapp family hid from the Nazis. The director decided to use a church for the wedding that was not actually in Salzburg so we were driven to this little town outside the city, were we saw lakes and mountains, the inside of the church, and had an apple struedel snack! The tour ended with a sing-a-long on the bus, and a trip to the Mirabell Gardens where “Do-Re-Mi” was filmed.

Here is the famous gondola where Liesl and Rolfe dance around,
and Maria and the Captain declare their love for each other

This is the little town where the church is located outside of Salzburg

Outside the famous church. We decided to get some
apple strudel and only had about 5 minutes inside!

The children and Maria danced around this fountain during the song
Do-Re-Mi

At the end of the song Do-Re-Mi, the cast jumps up and down these
stairs in Mirabell Gardens, where many scenes were filmed 

After our tour, Grace and I did a Rick Steve’s walking tour around Salzburg and had our last Austrian meal—wiener schnitzel. Thanks to Until Timmy, we had a day full of singing and sunshine in Salzburg. You don’t have to be a die hard Sound of Music fan to appreciate the places we saw, I know I wasn’t before going on the tour. Our tour guide also let us in on an Austrian secret--Mozart was born in Salzburg, so the Austrians are very proud to call him their own, but the truth is that when Mozart was born and growing up in Salzburg, it wasn't part of Austria yet, so it is hard to truly call him an Austrian! 

During our walking tour we rounded a corner and came across this
huge monument. The castle was also always in sight

The buildings were pastel colored! Mozart's childhood home was
just around the corner. 

After dinner and a walk by the river, we made our way back to the train station to kill time before catching our 1:00 AM night train to Venice to begin our two weeks in Italy! 

Vienna Waits For You

After a brutal night train from Switzerland, Grace and I arrived for our Austrian part of the trip. It was truly incredible to go to sleep in one country and wake up in another. With that being said, I could definitely have gone without the screaming baby in our train car! Because of our college student budgeting, Grace and I didn’t splurge on a bed for the night train, but decided to just go with the sleeping chairs. Big mistake. Our car with six chairs was full with seven people—one being the screaming baby! With no room, shrieking noises, and Grace’s pesky cough, we didn’t get the best night of sleep—even after drinking a bottle of wine while waiting in the train station! Luckily our Vienna hostel was a five minute walk from the train station, and it turned out to be our favorite stay of the trip with its backyard garden and great backpacker’s feel.

Vienna is an breathtaking city. It is full of open space, big grassy lawns, huge palaces that belonged to the Hapsburg family during their ridiculous European dynasty, and bratwurst! I had been looking forward to our weekend in Vienna ever since my nights up chatting with my cousin Sara in London. My Auntie Sue studied abroad in Vienna back when she was young. It was the city that launched her fabulous European life (which included Rome and eventually settling outside London), so I was looking forward to experience the same things that she did, although I promised myself that I wouldn’t ditch my return to the U.S. for a motorcycle trip around Europe with a Viennese man that I met, mainly for my mom and dad’s sake.

After arriving, we decided to skip a nap and power through to the Schönbrunn Palace—a past summer home for the Hapsburgs. The extensive gardens with flowers and fountains was a perfect spot for a picnic lunch too.

This is a picture of the palace from the gardens where we had lunch

I can speak for Grace and myself when I say that the history of the Hapsburgs was fascinating. We were especially interested in the story of the Empress Elizabeth or “Sisi.” At the Hofburg Palace in the historical center of Vienna there is an entire museum dedicated to her. She was a very morbid empress and didn’t seem interested at all in her role. She was known for her tiny waistline and wore her hair all the way down to the floor. Most of her time was spent traveling, which eventually led to her assassination which was an unlucky twist of fate—while vacationing, Sisi got caught in the middle of a man’s planned assassination of an Italian official. The official canceled his trip, but it was learned by the media that Sisi was traveling there, so the assassin decided to kill her instead.   

This is a picture of Hofburg Palace, home of the Sisi museum.
There were many art museums on the complex too.

Our special event of the Viennese weekend was a night at the opera. Vienna is known as the origin of classical music, and our guide book told us about seats we could get for 3 euro. Grace and I waited in line for standing room tickets, and then grabbed appetizers and glasses of wine while we took our time exploring the Opera house before the curtain opened. Overall, it was a great cultural experience. The entire show was done in German, but there were individual subtitle screens in front of every spot—although it took Grace a while to figure this out, so she had an entirely different story line worked up in her head! After the opera, we went across the street to a bratwurst stand, where we would eventually eat three meals!

Inside the Opera House

Our wine and hors d'oeuvres before the show

Grace and I in our standing room only seats preparing for
 a show in a language neither of us understand! 

After months full of visits to churches, I have to say that St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna was the most breathtaking of all the churches I had seen, especially on the inside. 

The inside had reflections of the colorful stained glass windows
all over the walls 

The massive church even had a colorful design on the roof

Lastly, before leaving Vienna, we had to make one final stop to our favorite Bratwurst stand. The menu was in German, so when we ate our many meals there we just had to take our chances and point to something on the menu. Grace made an interesting choice for our final Viennese meal! 

Here I am with my favorite bratwurst with curry sauce,
definitely a recipe idea to bring back!

Grace getting up the courage to try her black bratwurst! 

Due to advice from our Uncle Tim, Grace and I decided to cut our weekend in Vienna a day short, and spend that day in Salzburg instead. So for our last night in Vienna, we went back to our lovely hostel and cuddled up to watch the Sound of Music in preparation for our visit to where it all happened! 

Swiss Cheese is from Switzerland?

Our time in Switzerland can be summed up pretty easily--we stayed in a hostel called "Mountain Hostel" in a town called Gimmelwald which is almost 5,000 up in the mountains. When we arrived, we were dead tired and the weather involved a lot of clouds and scattered showers, so for our days in the Alps we were able to take it easy and hike around on the trails that left from the town we stayed in. We also got to experience some mountain life by hiking to get groceries! There was a town nearby with a coop that supplied us with food for the week, and an adorable woman down the road who sold us cheese and wine freshly made in the mountains.

Our best hike came recommended by the guy working at our hostel who we became friends with. Nigel sent us to a waterfall and we packed a lunch to come with us. The waterfall was so cool, especially with the rain it was gushing with water. We walked down some slippery steps to get under it and sat with a beautiful view of the mountains with our bread and cheese ("bread and cheese" can sum up a lot of our trip!). Our hikes were a nice breath of fresh air after going from London to Paris and then to Vienna--so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Grace and I on our first hike to get groceries from a co-op

My favorite red flowers that are everywhere on the trails!

The little cottage that sold fresh mountain cheese, eggs and milk

Grace at the waterfall we hiked to

Great dinner after a long day of hiking: the famous Swiss Raclette
aka cheese, potatoes, little onions and pickles

The clouds cleared for our last morning, and this is the view from the
deck of our hostel 

The mountains were breathtaking and waking up with the views our our window was like nothing I can describe, but the most meaningful part of our week in Switzerland was the people that we met at Mountain Hostel. A family from Wisconsin with a daughter who just graduated from the U of M was staying in the family room while touring Switzerland to visit extended family. They had a daughter Grace's age named Leah and another my age named Jenna. The McNeills had such a cool trip going on and we just clicked as we chatted in the common area of our cabin-like hostel. It felt very much at home playing cards and chatting into the night--like a night at the Ott Cabin, but with mountains out the window.

There wasn't much nightlife in Gimmelwald, but us Midwesterners at Mountain Hostel knew how to have a good time thanks to our new friend Nigel--the Canadian who stayed at Mountain Hostel while traveling and just couldn't leave! He introduced us to a card came called "Frank's Zoo" that is designed for kids age 7 and up. Well us adults had so much fun pairing up our elephants and mosquitoes to try to beat the mice and whales--I can't remember the exact combos right now but I have already found Frank's Zoo on Amazon and I plan on ordering it when I get home!

Card games combined with the kindness of the McNeill family made it difficult to leave our little niche of Mountain Hostel. The night before we left, Mrs. McNeill treated us to chocolate fondue and sent us off with some bars of Swiss Chocolate before our first night train to Austria.

A Parisian Weekend

Our weekend in Paris was lovely. Leaving Paris was a pain in the butt, but that is an entirely different story to be told!

After saying goodbye to Polly and Sara and our flat in London, Grace and I arrived in Paris and found our way to our 5 Star hotel—thanks to our awesome Uncle Brian! It was a sight to see when we walked in with our giant backpacks into the lobby filled with crystal chandeliers and people dressed up for cocktails—Grace and I definitely didn’t look like we belonged there, but you don’t have to belong to enjoy a huge plush king size bed—again Uncle Brian is the best! We walked into the room with our jaws dropped as we walked down the staircase and saw the king size bed, giant ceilings, big windows, etc.

Big pillows, high ceilings, staircase... after carrying our giant backpacks
through Paris, this was our first reaction! Thanks Uncle Bri! 

For our first evening we decided to explore and find our way to the Eiffel Tower. The tower is such a common picture to see, that it is hard to know what it will actually be like to see it in person. Our hotel was only about a fifteen minute walk away, and all of a sudden we turned a corner and bam, there it was! We walked onto a balcony-like part of the museum nearby and saw the whole view, and then walked right up to the tower. It is a great part of Paris because there is a great big lawn leading up to the tower where people can sit in the grass and enjoy. We had dinner nearby and then went back to see the tower lit up. Just as we were about to leave, the lights began to sparkle—it was really beautiful.

Our first look at the Eiffel Tower

We just chilled in the lawn as a group of Parisian
guys played Sweet Home Alabama on the guitar

Back at night for a whole new atmosphere! 

Unfortunately the elevator was closed but we still
got up close and personal with the tower

The tower started to sparkle as a special treat for us before we left

For our second day in Paris, Grace and I had big plans to check out some museums—the Louvre of course, and the Orsay Museum which is right across the river. I was impressed with the big open spaces with gardens and lawns in Paris. By the Louvre, the walk leading up to it makes it much more special. The art inside is pretty spectacular—especially after I got in for free because according to my passport I am a resident of the European Union until July! Grace and I wandered the museum and didn’t get lost at all. We saw some great old statues and pottery from ancient Greece and Rome and other old artwork including the Mona Lisa.

After we got out, the sun was finally breaking through the clouds, and we decided to eat lunch on the lawn by the Louvre. All we wanted was a French baguette and cheese—bread and cheese pretty much sum up our time in Paris—and for some reason the process of finding these things took forever! But once we stumbled upon a cute little baker, we made our way back to the Louvre, sat down and shamelessly powered through and entire wheel of cheese!

Grace and I waiting at the Louvre for our cultured
activity of the day 

Lunch outside the museum. That wheel of cheese
disappeared a few minutes after this picture was taken!

With more energy and full stomachs, we made our way across the river to power through the Orsay Museum—it was free for the last hour it was open, so we got through the doors and ran up to the Impressionist gallery. During our time in Europe, Grace and I have discovered a love for Impressionism. The gallery was a great way to supplement the Louvre, because the artwork had a lot more vivid color, compared to the classical works, and although we didn’t know a lot of the historical context until after, it was nice to just walk from piece to piece and enjoy the beauty. We saw a lot of works from Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh.

Next we took the metro up to see the church on a hill—the Sacré Coeur—in the neighborhood known as Montmartre. The area used to be where the Bohemians spent their time in Paris, and you could find people doing various street acts or painting caricatures on every corner. We were in for a treat when we found the church, because this Spanish man was playing a mini concert with his guitar on the church steps. He played a lot of the Beatles, which made it feel like we never left London, and we sat looking over the city listening to music as the sun went down. It was one of those moments that is just so special to stumble upon.

A few from the back of the church. Just around front was a big set
 of stairs where the musician played for a big group overlooking the city

We had dinner where the "bohos" used to hang out
Nutelle Banana Crepes of course! 

When we woke up Saturday morning, Grace and I had to check out of our hotel and head to our first hostel of the trip. It was an easy metro ride from the hotel, but it is never easy to blend in with giant backpacks on two little girls. We got stopped multiple times by nice French people who helped us find our way to our hostel in the Latin Quarter of Paris. After the big schlep, we dropped off our bags and went on a search for more bread and cheese!

This day we ate lunch in the Luxembourg Gardens which hosts the palace where the Senate meets in Paris. The garden is complex and has special rules for where you can run, eat, walk your dog, play cards, etc. We found a lawn that had many other people having a picnic, with a view of the little pond in the middle of the garden. After finishing yet another wheel of cheese, we strolled though the gardens and saw kids on pony rides and little puppet shows.

Next on the Paris schedule was a walk across the river to Notre Dame. The bridge that leads up to the cathedral is covered with “love locks,” which I have been discovering all over Europe. Inside Notre Dame, the stained glass windows are super detailed and the colors are gorgeous. The gargoyles on the outside are pretty fun to see too.

A view of Notre Dame from the bridge covered in love locks. People
write their names on them, lock it to the bridge, and throw the key in the river

After a full day, we made it back to our hostel to relax a bit before dinner, and wound up meeting some Canadians who taught us some card games—also, Grace and I realized that a deck of cards would have been the best thing to have number one on our packing list! It was fun to hang out with some people our age who were in the middle of the same type of travel itinerary the Grace and I are doing.

Saturday night was a special late night, free admission deal at the Pompidou Center for Modern Art, and Polly and Sara said we had to check it out! So after grabbing crepes at a stand and eating them by the funky fountain, we ventured into the world of modern art. The museum is a quirky building that has great views of Paris from the top. Grace and I both agreed that we don’t necessarily understand modern art at all, but we still enjoyed wandering though the galleries and seeing the interesting things that people come up with. It was a great way to wrap up our art filled weekend in Paris—Impressionism definitely won, but we saw some great pieces all around.

Just a little taste of modern art! One night Grace and I ate crepes sitting
by this very unique fountain 

After the museum, I made Grace almost sprint to the nearest bar so we could catch the end of the Champion’s League Final—still trying to seize every opportunity to see good soccer in Europe. We made it to a bar just as the whistle was blowing, but it was a tie game, so we still had a lot of fútbol to watch—luckily the bar tender was Spanish, so I knew exactly how to order what I wanted, and Grace and I found a great little table to watch the end of the game. After a thrilling ending, Grace and I went back to our hostel to get a little bit of sleep before catching a train to Switzerland in the morning.

Our experience at the station was all but pleasant—I know that not everyone in the world speaks English, but you would think that in an international train station you could find at least some employees who could help us, but of course that wasn’t the case. And although we didn’t end up on the train we wanted, we made it to Switzerland with a good story—unfortunately it is far too complex to write it all down, but be sure to ask about it when we get back J

First Stop: London

It isn't over folks. The travel. The blogs. The photos. Nothing. I still have a few weeks in Europe and who knows where I will be at any given moment. With the perfect timing of Grace's graduation from college and my program ending in Sevilla, Grace and I were lucky enough to plan a trip for four weeks all around Europe. We had a couple of days between my housing ending in Sevilla and Grace's arrival in Europe, so I went straight to London to spend the weekend with my cousin Sarah before Grace arrived on Monday. Since my plane landed at Gatwick airport, it has been nonstop action, and I haven't had a chance to write everything down!

After going though customs in Gatwick, I had to find my way around the London trains for the first time, by myself, to a little area called Brockley where Sarah lives. Everything went smoothly, and she was right there waiting for me when I got off the train. Ten years had gone by since we last saw each other, but we are family and everything was just so natural. Sarah lives in a cute flat with a garden and a bunch of guitars. She also paints and you can find her originals hanging on the walls---a woman of many talents! Of course she didn't have any gigs scheduled for the 6 days that I was in London, but lucky for me, I get to see my rock star cousin play a gig in Minneapolis when I get home.

The first day, Sarah made me a delicious lunch and took me to Greenwich Park. It was nice and sunny, and there was a lot going on in the park to get ready for the Olympics--the equestrian events will take place there. For dinner I had my first Thai food experience. Sarah really does know how to order, and since London doesn't really have its own food identity, it was fun to try a bunch of authentic ethnic foods. We went to this little place where everyone brings their own bottle of wine and you can see you food being prepared in the kitchen. After dinner we went back to Sarah's flat and chatted for hours--that was the real story of my time in London!

On Saturday, Sarah had the whole day planned out for us, and I was lucky enough to experience a new piece of London. We spent most of the day on the South Bank, first with a visit to the Clink Museum--the first even prison in London. When I was little I used to love all of the Medieval stories of Kings and the weird prisons...strange I know, but it was fun to see! Next, Sarah and I met her friend Caroline for lunch and spent the rest of the day with her. Caroline has been a published poet since age 15, and her mom plans all of the creative events on the South Bank, so after a nice meal of fish and chips, we went to check out some modern art. I might not always understand it, but the exhibit we saw had me giggling the whole time--the artist was just really witty and had some great stuff. Next, we hit up a tent for a Cabaret show--basically we had these amazing seats to watch a group of performers do crazy things like kick themselves in the face or walk on wine glasses. One man blindfolded himself, climbed up a rope, and held on as they spun it around and around. There was also a woman who stepped all over one of the men with her heels on. It was unlike anything I have ever seen before! Next, we all had dinner and chatted about our crazy day of art over a bottle of wine.

On Sunday, Sarah had some writing to do, so I met my friend Aaron, who has been studying in London since August, in the city. We actually just walked and walked around the entire city, with a trip to Regent Park--another Royal garden-park thing. During our walk, Manchester United and Man City were both playing their final games of the season and the winner of the Premier League was going to be decided. It was fun to walk, peek into a pub check the score, walk a little more, peek in, etc. It was only around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and everyone in London was inside some pub to catch the results--Man City ended up winning their game with a cool 2 goal come back to seal their first place finish in the Premier League. Sunday night, Sarah made us a lovely Mediterranean dinner, and the chatting continued.

Monday morning I was woken up by a distressed cousin telling me that the driver couldn't find Grace at the airport...we both freaked out a little, because Grace didn't have a cell phone or anything! Finally we called the driver back and heard Grace's little voice call out "I'm hereee" on the speaker phone. From there, I waited by the window for her to arrive. It took a couple of hours, but she made it! We took a bit of a rest, and then walked over to our flat--that's right, we had a flat for the week! Sarah's friend who lives down the road let us stay in her flat all by ourselves. I told Grace she wasn't allowed to be jetlagged, so we settled in and headed to the city. We did a lot her first day--museums, Buckingham palace, Hyde Park...I'll let the pictures to the talking:

Back to Trafalgar Square! Grace was trying to see if the pigeons
remembered her from 10 years ago

Grace and I in front of Buckingham Palace after crossing through
a bunch of construction for the Queen's Jubilee and the Olympics

The flowers were in full bloom in Hyde Park! Grace
doesn't discriminate--she hugs more than just trees! 

Grace and her long lost friend Ben!

Thumbs up for Ben!

Grace was a trooper and made it through a day of sight seeing after getting
off the plane. Then we made pasta for dinner in our flat to relax. 

We went to a lot of museums around the city. London is great because they have free admission to their famous museums. The British Museum was incredible, and possibly my favorite part place to see in the city. My pastor gave a sermon last year about the "Tree of Life" and I was lucky enough to see it in person at the museum. The tree is made out of cut up guns and weapons from Mozambique. The country has suffered from a lot of civil wars, and as an incentive for the people to get rid of their weapons and stop fighting, an organization gives things essential for living like plows and tractors, and makes pieces of art out of the weapons they destroy.

My favorite part of the British Museum: The Tree of Life

Grace on her way to the Hogwarts Express in King's Cross Station

We had a Harry Potter filled week! 

Cousin Sarah was so good to me and made my time in London so special 

For our last night, Polly came down and treated us to a fantastic
Turkish dinner. Family was the highlight of my week in London

I spent six full days in London, so I couldn't possibly write down all of the incredible things that I got to do. Grace and I saw birthday cards with original Beatles lyrics written on the back, bits and pieces of Shakespeare originals, parts of the Magna Carta...AAAAND the Harry Potter Studios. We have now seen a behind the scenes look at the making of eight incredible movies. After our day in the studios I gained more of an appreciation for the art that went into making the films. There are so many forgotten people who are masters of their fields that made things like the wand boxes, paintings like the Fat Lady, tapestries that hang in the common rooms---these things all exist and took a lot of hard work from artistic geniuses to make the movies so special. Really the four hours we spend experiencing Harry Potter deserves its own post, but travel doesn't allow much time for that, so I will leave you with some cool photos. 

Inside the Great Hall for the start of our tour

This is the portrait of the Fat Lady. We learned about the
talented artists that made the paintings used in the movies.
The film staff were often used as the subjects in the paintings

This is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. I tried to get in,
but I don't speak Parseltongue very well... 

They really did make hundreds of Hogwarts letters for Harry

Hagrid is played by an actor who wears a big costume
that includes a mechanical mask!

Here we are in Diagon Alley

Here we are in front of Hogwarts castle. Not quite as big as you would expect.
They surrounded it with a green screen and used special effects in the movies.

With the first chunk done, Grace and I hopped on the Eurostar to go to Paris. 2 and a half hours and you go from the center of London to the center of Paris. Crazy. 

Here is a quick outline for the rest of the trip:

Paris, France
Interlaken (Gimmelwald), Switzerland
Zürich, Switzerland
Vienna, Austria
Salzburg, Austria
Venice, Italy
Verona, Italy
Cinque Terre, Italy
Pisa, Italy
Florence, Italy
Rome, Italy

Looks like a lot of blog posts coming your way--probably to be written on various trains around Europe.