Darren!!!

(Psssst, the Venice blog is below)

After two years, I finally got to see my best friend again. We met up with Darren in Muenchen Thursday morning and it was a great reunion. I know Tessa has been counting down the seconds to this moment and she was quite thrilled to see Darren all dressed up in a good looking suit and tie. We spent the day together in Munich and took the train back to Landshut that evening. Darren spent his first six months here in Germany in Landshut so he was excited to return, especially to see the Klemm's. Mirjam made a great dinner of pancake type things that you sprinkled powdered sugar on and topped with apple sauce. A well-known favorite over here and I could tell why, it was good.

Today is Good Friday and over here everything is closed. They also close everything down for Easter Sunday and the Monday after as well. We're planning a leisurely day in Landshut which will be nice. Tomorrow we go to Salzburg, Austria for the day. We will spend Easter here in Landshut and Monday and Tuesday we will be in Stuttgart. Wednesday we fly back home. It's hard to think it has just been three and a half weeks so far, but I hope these last few days don't go by too fast because the real world awaits for me back home. Enjoy the pics!

Darren has Returned

Venezia!

Ahh Venice, had to pinch myself after we arrived because it looks just like the pictures you've seen with all the canals, boats, gondolas, and palaces and no cars. We took a seven hour train ride down on Monday and enjoyed the ride through the Alps. They were spectacular and I will have to come back some day and spend more time in them.

Upon arrival in Venice we had to find our hotel, which is a little challenging for the rabbit warren of alley ways the island has. Daniel made all the reservations for the hotel and when we finally found it, they turned out to be pretty nice. We had a double for Mike and Tessa and a triple for Daniel, Scott, and I. The place was so great we actually had our own toilet and shower, and also a beday (sp?) of course. We were within a ten minute walk of the Rialto bridge (roughly in the middle of the island) so it was a great location.

The next day we all took a boat down the grand canal to enjoy Venice from the water. It was great and I must say the view from the water to San Marcos square was awesome with the Doges Palace and St. Mark's in view. The square was jam packed with tourists feeding pigeons and waiting in lines to see the sights.

We split up and wandered on our own for most of the two days we were there and it was funny how often we ran into each other throughout the town. We ate some great food and treats during our stay. In fact, just about any window I found that had some tasty looking treat I wanted I got it. Oh yeah, and more gelato of course.

We took the night train back to Munich. It wasn't the most comfortable night of rest but worth the extra day to spend in Venice.

Venice

Regensburg and more of Munich

Horst worked as our tour guide for us in Munich yesterday. He took us through the markets and main squares, showed us the best spots for great hearty bread, salty pickles, pastries, and more. In the afternoon we split up and Mike and Tessa went with Horst to the art museum and I went with Neil and Scott to the Deutches Museum again. There is just so much to see there.

Today we slept in and then went to the train station to make the train reservations for Venezia (Venice). We then hopped on a train to Regensburg, a town that wasn't hit by the war much. It was a great town and we walked all over. It has a huge gothic church (another St. Peters I believe) with spires and flying buttresses and stained glass windows. It was Sunday and here they close down nearly all of the shops. All that we saw that was open were the cafes, restaurants, and gelaterias. We found a great pub type place to grab some real bavarian food and beer. The food was great and so was the beer.

Back in Landshut, Mirjam prepared a great dish of sauerkraut with ham and some mashed potatoes. I wasn't too hungry since we had the late lunch but managed to have two helpings. Right now we're gearing up for the trip to Venice tomorrow. We'll arrive tomorrow afternoon and leave on a night train on Wednesday. We will meet up with Darren in Munich on Thursday morning which we are all looking forward to. Ciao!

P.S. I added more photos to the Munich album.