BONUS COUNTRY
Leaving Switzerland, we traveled through Austria on our way to Munich. Here are some of the views from the Innsbruck McDonalds! (And yes, I count Austria as a country I have visited - even if it was only a bathroom stop!) We hiked up a little trail from the rest stop and encountered a beautiful little chapel with a magnificent view of mountains, valleys and the Europabrücke. Construction of the "The Bridge of Europe" begun in 1959, was completed in 1963 and is located on the Brenner Autobahn. It rises 190 meters over the Wipp Valley's Sill River and is 777 meters long. The chapel was built after the bridge's completion and designed by Hubert Prachensky, with frescoes painted by Karl Plattner. It commemorates the 22 men who were killed during the building of the bridge, 3 of whom were the construction engineers.
OUR TOUR GUIDE - CARY WALKER
BUS RIDE
When our friends found out we were taking a bus through Europe, they thought we were crazy! "Six hours on a bus, you'll go insane!" Well, not only did we not go insane, it was one of the best memories of our trip. Since we were on a My Way tour, and we did different things than the others on our tour, Cary would have us recap our adventures in the city we just left. Then she would preview the city we were going to, and give us options for sightseeing, food and transportation. She even taught us a German Drinking song on the way to Munich!
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Another "unexpected delight" was the lunch stops. To let us know we were near a stop, Peter (Heidebloem Bus Driver Extraordinaire) would play "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" theme over the bus speakers. Once that had our attention, Cary would explain the ins and outs of the toilets and how to order and pay for lunch (which wasn't always self-explanatory-believe me we needed help on this!) We dined primarily at Autogrills (where we learned you don't ask for parmesan cheese on your fish pasta) and once at a suburban Paris mall. As you exit the Autogrill, there is a variety of food, liquor and souvenirs you can buy. We took turns sharing chocolate, wine, cake, and stories with our tour buddies and the time always flew by.
LA FESTA è FINITE
Alas, it was time to say goodbye to our European adventures and the friends we made along the way. Cary arranged this arrivederci dinner at one of the local Rome restaurants (fortunately it was within walking distance of our Hotel San Carlo). A GREAT TIME was had by all - everyone got along famously! (I'm not sure where all the empty wine bottles came from!) We awarded Johnny and Aileen "GREAT" tee shirts, since they were the babies on the trip and they put up with all us middle-agers and seniors. At the end of the evening, we all went around the table and recounted our favorite part of the trip. It was so hard to pick just one! But we all agreed, the people we were with, the Tour company we chose and our own personal trip memories will be held forever in our hearts! We'll be seeing you!!
Recovering from our European adventure and storing energy for the next one.