Caffeinated Travels® | Travel | Coffee | Blog

On Wednesday, 10/9, we headed to Mauthausen concentration camp Memorial. Rather than touring as a group, we were given audio guides to explore the grounds on our own as we wished. As you can imagine, it was a pretty somber experience. It was horrible to learn about the details of how people were treated here, how some tried to escape and how the Nazis lived it up (so to speak) in their respective quarters. Really puts things into perspective. I didn’t take pictures while there because I felt it would be in poor taste. Vienna, Austria After Mauthausen, we headed to lunch, then on to Vienna. After checking into our hotel, a small pension that we believe was a former apartment building and a bit run down, we did a brief walking tour of the area with a fun local guide. Vienna, Austria Vienna, Austria Vienna, Austria Vienna, Austria Vienna, Austria Vienna, Austria While the buildings/architecture in Vienna were cool, I felt the people weren’...

After leaving Munich (honestly, the tour should have had an extra day there), we headed to Neuschwanstein Castle in another part of Germany. Unfortunately, it was almost completely socked in by fog and there was a ton of scaffolding around the castle. I think we spent more time walking to and from the castle then we actually spent in the 30-minute tour they provided. Plus, they only show you the finished rooms of the castle--King Ludwig II died before the castle was completed. But even the rooms that are finished are undergoing renovation. And it was also tough to get a distance shot of the castle with all the fog. It was a very disappointing experience and it was one of the things I was looking forward to most on this trip since I haven't been here since the seventies. Grrr. After that, we had lunch in a small town nearby and a cute little dining room of a local restaurant. From there, we headed to Salzburg, Austria. We had dinner, then did a brief evening walking tour of t...

We left Switzerland on 10/4, which was sad. Such gorgeous country!  Switzerland Rode in the bus most of the day, and realized we ate our meals in 3 different countries that day: breakfast in Switzerland, lunch in Austria and dinner in Germany. Also picked up a small bottle of peach schnapps, which is really different than schnapps in the states--more boozy, less sweet. I have to figure out how to drink that up before I head home or Security at the Vienna Airport will be enjoying it. Saw more beautiful countryside along the way, including more of Switzerland--and found out that's where Tina Turner now lives! Because our driver is required to take breaks every 2 hours,  we stopped at rest stops regularly, and they almost always had pay bathrooms (way cleaner than in US), a restaurant, and a great selection of snacks. One restroom really surprised me with its umm, interesting vending machine offerings? We arrived in Munich in the evening and had dinner as a gr...

On day 4 of our Rick Steves tour, we headed into the Black Forest for a little bit of adventure, which included a luge ride, tour of the Open Air Museum, and drive into Switzerland. The luge was interesting--I was expecting something like a halfpipe where you sit on a sled and just go out of control down the hill. This one was similar to a roller coaster and with cables attached, so there was really no chance of you falling out of it. Forgot to get a picture of me in my car, but included one of other people so you get the idea. From there, we went to the Open Air Museum, where a cute little old lady guide showed us around and explained how people lived back in the day. I hope I look as good as she does at her age, whatever that is! The Black Forest is also obviously known for black forest cake, and our guide surprised us with a cake and Cherry schnapps after we toured the museum. Later that day, we headed into Switzerland and had to take two gondolas (AKA cable cars)...