Monday, September 9, 2013

Austria!

It has been far too long since I've updated this blog. Here are picture highlights from our time in Austria!

Vienna



Salzburg


Public park outside Salzburg, with climbing and bouldering along what we think was part of old fortifications! Routes were labeled and rated, and had bolts and anchors!



Zillertal Valley


Bummed I don't have any other pics on my phone from Zillertal... We did some bouldering and spent the night under the porch of an information hut in a little village... One of those memorable, epic experiences! 

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Czech Republic, Poland, And Slovakia!

Randy and I have Ben moving right along on our trip. Here are just a few pics from along the way!

Hostel in Prague. Not a five star facility at all... But quite cheap. It's in a school that's converted to a hostel in the summer to raise money for the school I believe.

Charles Bridge and Prague Castle.

Auschwitz-Birkenau, in Poland, was sad place to visit. 

Pierogies in Poland!

Went to a concert at this church in Krakow, Poland. 

Slovakia is a very cool country! We came into it from Poland in the North and got to see the High Tatras, a beautiful mountain range. And the countryside is wonderful with neat little villages, and castles! This was one train station we passed through.

 
A cathedral in Bratislava, capital of Slovakia.

The Danube from Devin Castle, outside Bratislava.

Devin Castle. It was a very neat place to visit on the outskirts of Bratislava! Super cool old castle at the meeting of two rivers.














Friday, August 16, 2013

Germany!

After cruising through Netherlands, Denmark, and even a bit of Sweden, it was good to spend a bit more time in one country, though we've still been moving!

We entered Germany via ferry/train - out train went onto a ferry for a 45-minute crossing! That was a new experience.

We took a  "layover" of a bit over an hour in Luebeck. Here is the old gate!

Our first night in Germany was spent with some very kind fellow-Adventists. I had met the son on Facebook, and though he was gone, his mom, brother, an another family that lived in the same home welcomed us into their country home. 

The mom took us to the Schwerin Castle,. A beautiful structure by a beautiful lake!

Train travel in Germany has been wonderful. Both on the high speed trains and the smaller connections, there are views of beautiful German countryside.

Berlin is no countryside, however! We spent sections of two days walking all over Berlin. At first it was confusing. We tried to take the subway, which was a fail... Eventually we found that using our Eurail passes allowed us to go between train stations in the city, and get us within walking distance of where we wanted to go. 

Checkpoint Charlie was very interesting to visit. To think that less than thirty years ago, Berlin was a very different place...

Berlin is a merging of the old and the new. 

Friday afternoon, after seeing museums, the Berlin Wall, and a bombed-out church (though there was renovation going on and we couldn't see much...), we headed out for Wittenburg-Lutherstadt.
Our campsite was a very long walk along a large road and across the River Elbe.

Now, sitting on the street, I'm looking forward to seeing things pertaining to Martain Luther and the Protestant Reformation in the morning. It will be Sabbath soon, and I look forward to a blessing! 

Stay tuned for more!

(A note on photo-quality - these are unedited photos from my phone. I have an SLR with me, but I don't have a way to post them while on the road. Hope you enjoy these pictures, though not the greatest!)