Evan & Christina in Europe http://europe.christinamnguyen.com Summer of 2007 Tue, 26 Jun 2007 07:57:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 en Towards Geneva (and a giant pink bunny) http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/31/towards-geneva-and-a-giant-pink-bunny/ http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/31/towards-geneva-and-a-giant-pink-bunny/#comments Fri, 01 Jun 2007 02:15:33 +0000 cnguyen http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/31/towards-geneva-and-a-giant-pink-bunny/ Morning

Our Amsterdam hotel canceled on us, so we had to rebook when we have more internet. We had breakfast from a French bakery nearby.

Giant Pink Bunny

We journeyed to the giant pink bunny on the Italian Alps, on our way to Torino (unfortunately, we weren’t able to stop there).

Drive to Geneva

The drive to Geneva would take us a little over four hours, and got a little lost to our hotel.

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]]> http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/31/towards-geneva-and-a-giant-pink-bunny/feed/ Genoa and Monte Carlo http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/30/genoa-and-monte-carlo/ http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/30/genoa-and-monte-carlo/#comments Thu, 31 May 2007 03:42:12 +0000 cnguyen http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/30/genoa-and-monte-carlo/ Wandering Around in Genoa

We got lunch in Genoa- not much to see, but we ran across a really cute, quaint restaurant.

Monte Carlo

Wandering around Monte Carlo, counting expensive cars during the off-season vacation time, and getting dinner.

Casino de Monte Carlo

Interesting experience at the casino- we played the slot machines, blackjack, and roulette at a net loss of 70 Euros, including a 20 Euro admission. My first time gambling!

Hotel Eden

We went to our hotel afterwards to go to sleep.

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]]> http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/30/genoa-and-monte-carlo/feed/ Final Morning in Florence, onto Pisa and then Genoa http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/29/final-morning-in-florence-onto-pisa-and-then-genoa/ http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/29/final-morning-in-florence-onto-pisa-and-then-genoa/#comments Wed, 30 May 2007 03:07:26 +0000 cnguyen http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/29/final-morning-in-florence-onto-pisa-and-then-genoa/ Uffizi

Visit to the Uffizi, which houses prestigious pieces of artwork such as Venus of Urbino, etc.

Lunch & Gelato

We went across the river towards the Pitti Palace for lunch at Mamma Gina’s and gelato.

Pisa

Visited the Basilica and church, and took the touristy picture of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We also got dinner at a trattoria nearby.

Hotel Canali

Checked into this gorgeous hotel, and went to sleep. =)

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]]> http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/29/final-morning-in-florence-onto-pisa-and-then-genoa/feed/ Full Day in Florence http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/28/full-day-in-florence/ http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/28/full-day-in-florence/#comments Tue, 29 May 2007 03:04:28 +0000 cnguyen http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/28/full-day-in-florence/ Duomo and Lunch

Visited the famed Duomo in Florence, and had lunch at Paoli. Paoli’s a bit touristy, but had good food.

Baptistery of San Giovanni and Museo del Opera

The baptistery had the reputed Doors of Paradise, although there are replicas there now. The Museo del Opera houses the originals, as well as Donatello’s Mary Magdalene.

Santa Croce and Dinner

Went for gelato, but it was closed. We went to the church of Santa Croce, where the tombs of Machiavelli, Michelangelo, and Galileo are housed, as well as a pseudo-tomb of Dante. We also had dinner at Da Ganino.

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]]> http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/28/full-day-in-florence/feed/ Florence- an amazingly dull day http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/27/florence-an-amazingly-dull-day/ http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/27/florence-an-amazingly-dull-day/#comments Mon, 28 May 2007 00:03:00 +0000 cnguyen http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/27/florence-an-amazingly-dull-day/ Our reservations ended this morning, so we went to breakfast and went to pack up for Florence. We are well practiced in unpacking and packing things by now. After loading everything and checking out of the hotel, we went onward to our three-hour drive to Florence. I was looking forward to looking at some Renaissance art, but we didn’t make reservations at the Academia Gallery or the Uffizi Gallery. Those were also closed tomorrow. I really didn’t want to go out in the rain- it was rather depressing. Both Evan and I didn’t know what to do in Florence and we needed to orient ourselves. So we did research online (the hotel offered Wi-Fi for a price), blogged a bit, and ate dinner at the bar in the hotel. All the food was frozen and heated up, but it was affordable. It wasn’t bad food, but it wasn’t spectacular. We also had a pretty decent dessert, a chocolate shell of ice cream filled with vanilla ice cream. They didn’t accept cash; it was billed to your hotel room. The hotel (Grifone) reminded me of a Marriott- it was rather Americanized. We went to sleep early, planning on going to some major places that were open tomorrow.

]]> http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/27/florence-an-amazingly-dull-day/feed/ A Day in Venice http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/26/a-day-in-venice/ http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/26/a-day-in-venice/#comments Sun, 27 May 2007 03:34:48 +0000 cnguyen http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/26/a-day-in-venice/ Murano

Glassblowing is the craft to be great at here- Murano is an island near Venice, where it is renowned for its glassware.

San Marco, Venice

Piazza San Marco in Venice with all the disease-ridden pigeons… and walking amongst many other craft stores of paper, masks, and lace.

Dinner and a Movie

Like any normal outing, we went for dinner and a movie. The dinner was way overpriced (I thought), and the movie was in Italian.

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]]> http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/26/a-day-in-venice/feed/ Day in Innsbruck, and onto Venice http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/25/last-day-in-innsbruck-and-onto-venice/ http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/25/last-day-in-innsbruck-and-onto-venice/#comments Fri, 25 May 2007 13:33:40 +0000 cnguyen http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/25/last-day-in-innsbruck-and-onto-venice/ Innsbruck

Did laundry, paid parking ticket… Took the gondola to the top of the mountain.

Drive to Venice

Random ramblings and sights on the way to Venice.

Checking into the Hotel and Dinner

Had difficulties with checking in because no one spoke English. We were too exhausted to find dinner anywhere nearby, so we went to the restaurant by the hotel and were pleasantly surprised.

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]]> http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/25/last-day-in-innsbruck-and-onto-venice/feed/ Austria, then Germany, and back to Austria again http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/24/first-day-in-austria/ http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/24/first-day-in-austria/#comments Fri, 25 May 2007 02:31:47 +0000 cnguyen http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/24/first-day-in-austria/ Lunch in Innsbruck

We had lunch in Innsbruck and went off to the Neuschwanstein castle.

Neuschwanstein Castle

We were a bit early for our tour so we ate an early dinner and walked around a bit. Toured the castle (requirement to be admitted into the castle).

Lunch in Innsbruck

Today we slept in a bit since we were pretty tired from the past few days. We drove to Innsbruck and ate lunch at Hofgarten restaurant in a park. It was really nice, and the food was amazing. We had the Hofgarten pan and the Angus salad. However, we were running a bit late, and there was more traffic than we thought there would be to the Neuschwanstein castle. Gas in Austria is less expensive than in Germany, and we were a bit low on gas, so we filled up. Bill ended up at almost 50 Euros, since it cost 1.15 Euro a liter! Driving through the Alps was incredible; all the greenery was nice and there were still some snow on the mountains. I’m writing this blog entry while travelling to the castle, actually.

Neuschwanstein Castle

Evan had tried booking a tour online, but their website was sketchy and didn’t give him a confirmation. Luckily, there were spots for a tour at 5:50pm, and it was only 4:05ish. We took the bus up to the castle from the parking lot, and walked to Marienbruke, the bridge across a waterfall, and a good picture spot. I’m quite afraid of heights, so I couldn’t really see the waterfall, but I could see the castle well enough. We were about an hour early for our tour so we went to eat at the nearby restaurant, which is about five minutes downhill from the castle. Evan and I had the castle pan (similar to the previous pan and just as tasty), and a ravioli filled with yummy pesto and cheese.

The castle was very pretty; I loved the paintings in particular. Sadly, they did not allow photographs so we don’t have any pretty pictures to show you. Since King Ludwig was a patron of Wagner, most of the paintings were of legends that Wagner based his operas on, such as Tristan and Isolde. He didn’t have any paintings of himself, which I thought was really cool, although there were paintings of his coat of arms in some of the halls. There was an artificial cave made of plaster in the castle, also based on one of Wagner’s operas. The castle was unfinished (unfurnished and not painted)- the king died (rather mysteriously) before it was finished (he was only there for a hundred days or so before he died). His favorite animal was the swan, so his living room has over a hundred paintings of swans and a life-sized porcelain swan. There’s also a “swan” in Neuschwanstein, the name of the castle.

Evan and I left from the castle and drove back to the hotel, tried to get online again but failed miserably, and watched a little bit of The Queen.

]]> http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/24/first-day-in-austria/feed/ Second Day in Munich, and Onwards to Austria http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/23/second-day-in-munich-and-onwards-to-innsbruck/ http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/23/second-day-in-munich-and-onwards-to-innsbruck/#comments Thu, 24 May 2007 03:31:46 +0000 cnguyen http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/27/second-day-in-munich-and-onwards-to-innsbruck/ Deutshe Museum

Checked out of the hotel and went to the Deutshe museum (which is a gigantic version of the Museum of Science in Boston).

Sound of Music Tour

Took the Sound of Music tour with Bob’s Special Tours- the tour guide was especially good. It was actually an excellent introduction to Salzburg as well.

Drive to Zirl

Driving to a bit out of Innsbruck- Zirl, where our hotel is. We had lots of traffic issues but the navigation helped us out.
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]]> http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/23/second-day-in-munich-and-onwards-to-innsbruck/feed/ First Day in Munich http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/22/first-day-in-munich/ http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/22/first-day-in-munich/#comments Wed, 23 May 2007 02:29:56 +0000 cnguyen http://europe.christinamnguyen.com/2007/05/22/first-day-in-munich/ Car Delivery

Went this morning to take delivery of my beautiful new car in Munich. =)

Marienplatz

Wandering around, got lunch at Andescher am Dom. Tried my first real beer in the heart of Munich.

Frauenkirche church

We visited this really pretty church which was near where we ate.

Back to the Hotel and Glockenspiel

Took a break at the hotel and went back to watch the 5pm showing of the Glockenspiel.
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