5 Countries in a Week

This week I decided to take a road trip through parts of Europe and make it through 5 countries. I stopped in Berlin, Germany; Prague, Czech Republic; Salzburg, Austria; Munich, Germany; Zurich, Switzerland; and finally Heidelberg, Germany.  I borrowed my sister's 96 Ford escort wagon and headed out for the 2400 Km road trip.  Along with the help of a GPS, cracked pepper sunflower seeds, chips, and of course some Mountain Dew, I was on my way across Europe.  I had a great time, and experienced a lot in my journeys, along the way I took many pictures and have shared a few with you as well as some of my adventures in this Blog post, I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I did.

Berlin

Tuesday night I drove 581 Km to Berlin, I spent one night in a little hotel on the outskirts of town, the next morning I drove down to the city center and parked.  I was able to catch a "hop on hop off" bus from there and I spent the whole day around Berlin.  

On the left is the remains of the Berlin Wall

Below is part of the East Side Gallery, this part of the wall was painted by different artists once the wall was taken down

Brandenburger Gate

I'm starting to realize that I 

didn't pay enough attention

in school, because I really

didn't know anything about

Berlin.  Fortunately, I have

had this opportunity...          

Check Point Charlie was the best known crossing point between East and West Berlin during the cold war

Prague

Some of my friends told me that if I was going to be in Europe I needed to get to Prague, I'm glad I did so.  It was a long 351 Km Wednesday night (I had opted to not use the toll roads into Czech Republic) and because of that I found myself driving through a lot of small towns and going really slow.

 There was a point when I thought about turning around, but didn't.  I made sure my doors were locked, and avoided any eye contact with the drunks hanging out around the local bars.  Needless to say 6 hours later I found my hotel.  The next morning I decided to try an new adventure and grabbed a cab from my hotel and went down to Old Town, from there I joined a van and walking tour.

The van drove us around the city and up on to the mountain top, where the Castle resided.  From there we walk our way down the streets and back into the city center.  Afterward I walk around and grabbed some more pics, while I was in Prague I reflected on how  prettier the town was than Berlin.  There was a lot of Gothic buildings, but mixed with newer colorful buildings.  It was as gorgeous as my friends had told me.

Salzburg

Thursday night I drove another 338 Km
(because of the earlier night I decided to pay the toll fees)
down to Salzburg, Austria.  As I woke up the next morning
to head out to the Eagles Nest, I immediately fell in love
with the entire country.  The hills
were just so beautiful with
green grass, amazing views,
buildings with red roof tops and
because of the time of the year, the leaves were filled with color.
I am pretty sure I could have spent the rest of my vacation there, it reminded me a lot of Midway, UT.

To get to the Eagle nest I drove into the town of Bergenstein and up a steep hill, parked my car in a lot and bought a bus ticket to take me the rest of the way up the mountain side. Once near the top I walked through a long tunnel and came to the elevator doors, once inside the gold plated elevator we rode up to the top of the resort.  I have been on a few mountain tops, but the view from this one has been the most amazing.
I ended up having lunch
on the top, just outside of
the Eagles Nest, and this
was the view I had for lunch. I actually made a couple of phone calls form the top, how cool is that? Once back to the bottom, I drove around the rest of the day, taking pictures of the different towns and farms. Once I was good and lost I had the GPS take me back to my hotel.  It was a great day.

Oktoberfest

Saturday mid-morning I drove 146 Km into Munich, and rode the U-Bahn (all I did was follow the  girls and guys that were  dressed in their Dirndl or Lederhosen) into the center of Munich to check out Oktoberfest.
I know many of you are
wondering why  I would
stop there because it is
well known for drinking beer.
Well it is also the largest fair in the world.  It is just like the State Fairs (just beer oriented) that we have in the States with Carnival rides and Fair food, which is the main reason I wanted to go.  I walked around for about 2 hours, just trying out different kinds of Wurst, pretzels, and other bake goods.  I would walk up to a booth and ask them what they would recommend and try it, It was an experience I will always remember. By the way most of the drinking was inside these large tents, and so there was not any boozing going on in the streets.

Zurich

During my 313 Km drive into Zurich, I had a intense experience. Gas is pretty expensive in Europe, and so if I use a Esso gas station I would get a little bit of discount.  That being said, I was driving on the Autobahn and realized that I was almost out of gas, I immediately started looking for an Esso gas station along the route, but no luck, so I decided I would just pull off at the next gas station.  Well all of a sudden I hit construction and was brought to a slow crawl, and my gas light came on. So for the next few kilometers I kept asking Heavenly Father to help me get to the next exit for gas.  Since the construction was causing some heavy traffic I missed the exit and was now confined to one lane with barriers on each side, and no where to pull off.  I made a deal with Heavenly Father at that moment that I would be willing to walk miles to get gas, as long as I could make it through the barriers and pull off on a shoulder.  It seemed like forever, but eventually there was another exit and the GPS wanted me to go back the other way to the gas station. As I crossed over the bridge and was ready to turn back on to the Autobahn I looked over and saw a town, I thought there has to be a gas station there.  For some reason I was urged to go straight into town, I immediately decided to do so and about 1 and 1/2 Km later I pulled into a Esso gas station.  What a relief!!!
I later found out that they give you a ticket if you run out of gas on the Autobahn, Wow! I drove down to Zurich and spent Saturday night downtown in a Hotel.

Heidelberg

I woke up early the next morning and drove 320 Km to get to the ward building in Heidelberg.  The main purpose of this week long trip was to end up in the city of Heidelberg Sunday morning to see this guy.

Elder Shad Sommerville

When I got to the chapel, he was inside the bathroom, so I waited in the hall for him to come out.  He was so surprised to see me and it was such a great experience seeing him as a missionary, I have known him since he was 9 and it was just great to see him this way.  

Since Monday was his P-Day we were able to go to lunch together along with his companion Elder Liddle.  It was so cool to hear him 

order our food in German, and actually sound like he belonged there.  Afterward we hiked up to this amazing ampitheatre and along the way saw the Heidelberg Castle.

It was a great day and a great way to end this week long trip.  Afterward I drove 353 Km to get back to my sisters in Sonsbeck, Germany.  What a great trip to remember