Day 13 & 14: A Taste of Florence

Florence, Italy...quite a delightful place! We stopped here for one night en route to Rome. Upon arrival we all wished we could've stayed longer!! It was quite a romantic spot!

We stopped to enjoy a tuscan sunset! 

In such a romantic setting we had to keep an eye on these two... :)

 Lounging on our balcony...Soaking in the beauty of an Italian full moon

And of course enjoying our favorite foods..gelato and pastries!

We also made a quick stop in Pisa to see this beauty!

Day 12: Snapshots from Venice

Our first authentic Italian pizza! And boy was it yummy...mozzarella, pesto and tomato! We have since also fallen in love with Margarita pizza! We have been frequenting a certain Venetian cafe just to indulge in their pizza! :)

Mini strawberries...a yummy snack!! I thought they tasted a bit like gummy candy...much to my delight!!

Slushies to cool us off during the heat of the day...it was quite hot!!! Almost like being in Florida!!

Yummy tiramisu....a favorite of the Kaufman girls! Lol. Anytime they saw it on the menu they would get a dreamy look in their eyes.:) They told me that it had espresso in it...so now I'm hooked too! :)

Day 11: Venice, Italy

How to describe Venice....the land of too many steps, confusing roads, romantic alleys and boats. I have been loving Venice! We have been spending our days wandering through the streets...and I literally mean Wandering!! Even with each of us carrying a map not once did we ever find a road we were looking for! We would wander through the streets and alleys until we'd stumble upon something we wished to see. It was actually kind of fun...until it was time to go home and it took an hour to find the bus station! :)

The Gondola....now this is what several of us were most looking forward too...and we were not disappointed!!! The ride was marvelous!! Our gondolier took us thru the Venice canals and water alleys. On one occasion he began to sing an Italian song...much to our delight!! It was quite a romantic ride...or it would have been if our boat hadn't been full of girls. :)

Al and Irene enjoyed it just as much as we girls! 

Day 10: Trains

Train travel...Trip transportation has been train travel from country to country.  We love watching the countryside change from flatland to mountains...country fields to cities. It is very interesting and most of what we have seen is quite beautiful!
Most of our trips are several hours so we amuse ourselves by writing in our journals, reading books, sleeping or discussing the things about the trip.
For the most part we all enjoy train travel, however there is one hated thing...hauling and loading suitcases! Imagine dragging a heavy suitcase behind you from your motel to the train station through the streets of London, Paris, Switzerland, Italy...occasionally getting lost...onto subways or tubes as we call them...upstairs and downstairs...on trains and off trains...up more stairs...for 2weeks!! I am convinced that the escalator still hasn't been invented in a few countries...every time we see one we stop and thank God for it! :) Lol We all agree that we will have muscles like Popeye by the time this trip is over and are quite confident in challenging our brothers to an arm wrestling match upon our return! :)

Pics of train travel

This is the hated bridge!! For some reason in Venice, Italy they think it is cool to put steps on their bridges. Upon arriving in Venice we had to climb this bridge...carrying our heavy suitcases!! And believe me it was no easy task! We reached the other side and stopped to rest while Al went to ask for directions to our motel. He came back with a funny grin on his face and we knew we were in big trouble...when he grins like that we girls always know that he's about to tell us something that he finds amusing but we won't like. Turns out that we had took a wrong turn and had to go back over the horrid bridge!! Ahh! Lets just say that after much groaning, a skinned knee, possibly a bruise or two we finally made it successfully back across. :) We have all vowed never to cross that bridge again!!

Day 9: Luzern and Waffle cones

Today was our last day in Luzern. We spent the day shopping, buying chocolates:) and just enjoying the beautiful of the town.

This is a famous monument in Luzern...The Dying Lion. It is to honor the Swiss soldiers that lost their lives fighting in Paris. The lion looked so sad and alone that we thought a sad face picture seemed appropriate.

Goofing off in the lift...this trip has been full of these laughable moments!! :)

We all fell in love with the Swiss soft serve and waffle cone...We enjoyed one every evening! ;) 

We spent the evening enjoying our waffle cones next Luzern Lake...watching the sailboats on the lake, feeding the ducks and swans and soaking up the beauty of the Swiss Alps backdrop. It was a perfect farewell to Switzerland!!

Day 7 & 8: Luzern

Switzerland....I was not prepared for how incredibly beautiful it is here!! The Swiss Alps are breathtaking!!  We took a day trip up to the top of Jungfrau Mountain. God gave us a perfect day!! Piles if sunshine and warmth...I'm told that sunhine like this is a rarity. We felt very blessed!
Jungfrau is 11,782 ft! *shivers* it was cold and covered in snow but ever so beautiful!!

Day 6: French Castles part 2

I was having some issues with my first French castle post so this is a continuation...

Chateau Cheverny

I believe that part of this Castle is still inhabited.

Here are some snapshots of the Gardens at the castle. They were so beautiful!! I could have spent hours looking at and taking pictures of all the flowers!

Day 6: French Castles

Today we saw a different side of France...French Castles and the beautiful French countryside. It was so refreshing to leave behind the craziness of the city and soak in the beauty and solitude of the countryside!

Chateau Chambord

This was a hunting castle for all the Kings and Nobles. They would gather here together and the go out hunting. Quite an upgrade from the hunting lodges I've seen. :)

Chateau de Chenonceau

This was a castle where a King and his 2 wives lived. The wives each had their own flower garden which caught my eye the minute we got there! The gardens / flowers were absolutely beautiful!!

Day 5: Paris...The Tower and More

Today was a day full of site seeing. We went to as many famous sites as we could in one day's time. Much to my delight we found ourselves a double decker bus to drive us around for the day.

The Louvre..this is a huge museum where they have all sorts of famous art on display. For instance....

...the Mona Lisa

The Notre Dame Cathedral...this place was absolutely beautiful. As we walked through the cathedral I kept imagining how it would sound to have a huge choir there singing!! We would shake the rafters with our praises to Jesus!! It gave me goose bumps just thinking about it!!

The Eiffel Tower...the place that we girls have dreamt of seeing for as long as I can remember! We were not disappointed!! It was absolutely beautiful! And so big it took my breath away!