Fun memories…

Armando and I made it back to Tampa by midnight Saturday/Sunday.  On our tour de Europe, we saw lots of new places, ate great food and hiked in the Alps.  Here are some of my favorite memories:

My first “wodka” in four months…

Gosh, this looks a lot like a pic from our last trip to Austria…

One black toenail from IMS…

Good food and wine every night at Seespitz…

My new friend in Munich…

Our last hike through a gorge…

We had every kind of weather!  Rain, sun, snow and even hail…

Now I guess it’s back to the grind, and my search for The Next Big Thing…

München

On Tuesday, Armando and I took a 2.5 hour train ride over to Münich. One thing I don’t like about Europe is that there are very few places, trains, shops, buses or restaurants that have air conditioning.  So as you can imagine the hotter the day, the stinkier the tour! But that did not stop us from heading into one of the biggest cities in Germany.

After finding a place for früstuck (where the even serve “brezels” for breakfast) we tooled around the bustling city 

Besides clothes, shoes and souvenir shopping, there was a fabulous open air market with everything from Frucht und Gemüse to Nuss, Blumen und frisher Fisch und Krake

But what we found is that the majority of buildings are either Kirchen or Bier pubs in München.  Interesting combination, wouldn’t you say?  So after visiting three of the twenty-some churches, we set out on foot to taste some of the best Bier in the world: Erdinger, Franziskaner, Paulaner and Lowenbraü.

Our first stop was the famous Hof Braühaus where after a traditional lunch of wurtzel and schnitzel, Armando chatted with the Brezel Girl, Germany’s version of the Hooter’s Girl…

Once we finished our weissbiers, we went to look for my favorite (and that is a lot coming from a non-bier drinker), Franziskaner 

We ordered up another round and enjoyed the 1 Euro brezel

Our Tour de München was short but sweet.  It was great fun to see another big city…and with that trip, we’ve visited three countries in two weeks.

Climb every mountain…

OK, we won’t be able to climb EVERY mountain in the Tirol region of Austria, but we’re having fun trying!  Yesterday after I ran a few miles, Armando, his parents and I went on a 4-hour hike 1400meters (.87 miles) up to Otzi Hutte What you have to love about hiking here is that when you reach the top, nearly everyone enjoys food and some sort of libation  (yes, that is a good selection of liquor at the alm to warm weary hikers)

After a good night’s sleep and a hearty frustuck, we headed up even higher today… Sure, you can take a gondola or a train to the tip top, but that’s not nearly as rewarding.  We dropped Paul and Lydia after mittag essen and kept climbing.  It snowed in the higher elevations two nights ago, and it has not all melted yet The higher up we climbed, the smaller and steeper the trail became …and some crazy sheep were enjoying a sideways lunch near the top We walked through snow and slush and mud, and we made it all the way up to Seefelder Spitz, which, at the top is 2260m (1.4 miles) above sea level The view was wunderschoen, and our pix can’t even begin to show the magnificence of the alps that surround us in every direction The whole trip took us six hours, and was worth every ache we felt during dinner

Tomorrow Armando and I are off via zug to Munich for a day of bier tasting and sight-seeing…

Seefeld & Innsbruck

We’ve had limited Internet access, so I’ll update you on the last few days.  After three days in Luzern, we drove with Armando’s parents to Seefeld, Austria.  The view on the drive was amazing, as we looked up into the alps (some of which are still snow covered!) These pix cannot even begin to show how small we are compared to the towering mountains!

We arrived in Seefeld, more a ski resort area, to our hotel Seespitz: and we are lucky to have one of the few modern rooms:  We’ve walked around the little town, enjoying the outdoor cafes and many beautiful flowers:  The Austrians sure know how to show off their blumen:

On Friday, we took a train over to Innsbruck, a popular ski town.  We walked around the city with the other tourists and Armando enjoyed an Edelweiss bier Innsbruck is another colorful beauty in the valley of the mountains and we embraced the cool breeze, which is a welcomed break from Florida’s hot hot heat And I only wish we had fresh shopping centers like this:

A cold front moved in last night and it was so cold that it snowed in the higher elevations!  Maybe we’ll be skiing tomorrow when it stops raining…