The vacation started in London where I spent a few extra days visiting my friends Michael and Steven. Since I had been to London a few times before, I didn't visit most of the usual tourist sights on this trip - but I did hit a few. My first day there I took a boat ride down the Thames to Hampton Court Palace which is where King Henry VIII lived. I also saw St. Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace.
From London we traveled to Folkstone where we boarded a seacat for a ride across the channel to Bologne, France. We then headed to Brussels, Belgium where we spent the night. In Brussels we saw such sights as the Royal Palace, the Manneken Pis, and the Grand Place, a small square surrounded by beautiful buildings which was particularly impressive at night.
The next stop on the tour was Amsterdam, Holland. There we toured a diamond-cutting center and took a canal cruise from which I got this picture of the Anne Frank house. We also visited a charming little fishing village called Volendam, toured a windmill, and saw a wooden shoe carving demonstration.
Next we drove through the Rhineland area in Germany in which we passed one beautiful German village after another. We stopped at Cologne and saw the cathedral where the three wise men are entombed. We took a Rhine cruise through the scenic valleys with their many vineyards and ancient castles. We also visited Heidelberg and toured Heidelberg Castle where I got this picture of me in front of a very large wine barrel.
The following day we drove through the Black Forest on our way to Lucerne, Switzerland. Among the many sights I saw in Lucerne were Mt. Pilatus, the Lion Monument, a wooden bridge, the train station and this church which is even more impressive on the inside. We did go to the top of Mt. Pilatus but it was very cloudy so there wasn't any view to speak of that day - but here is a shot of me on the mountain. I also attend a Swiss Folklore luncheon where I got selected from the audience to try to play an Alpine Horn - I was able to get some sound out of it but I think I'll keep the day job.
After Lucerne, we headed from the beautiful mountains of Switzerland to the beautiful mountains of Austria. On the way we made a stop in the principality of Liechtenstein where I took this picture of the Liechtenstein Palace. We saw many ski resort areas in Austria including St. Christophe and Innsbruck.
Italy was next on our itinerary, starting with Venice. We took a boat to Venice where we visited St. Mark's Square (including St. Mark's Church), got a glass blowing demonstration, and were serenaded during our gondola cruise.
From Venice we traveled to Rome, making a stop at Assisi on the way. Our first night in Rome we had a wonderful Roman dinner and the saw the Trevi Fountain - you may know it from the movie Three Coins In The Fountain. Here's a shot of me at the Trevi Fountain after having tossed in my coin.
The next day we saw many other Roman sights. Some of the highlights were the Colloseum (external view, internal view), the Constantine Arch, and St. Peter's Square. Here is the inside of St Peter's Basilica and a view of the dome. I became quite a fan of Michelangelo on this vacation after seeing his work in the Sistine Chapel (sorry, no pictures were allowed) as well as other works such as this sculpture (can someone tell me the name of it?) and, of course, David (see next paragraph). He also designed the uniforms of the Vatican Swiss Guards. Here is a picture of me among the ruins after a long, hot day of touring!
Our final stop in Italy was Florence. On the way from Rome to Venice we made stops at Siena (where twice a year they have the Palio, a medieval-style horse race in Piazza del Campo) and San Gimignano. In Florence I got to see Michelangelo's David (another view), as well as two other "fake" Davids (one at Michelangelo Square and one at Signoria Square). Other highlights in Florence were the Duomo Cathedral and Bell Tower, and the Ponte Vecchio.
After Florence we headed along the Mediterranean coast to France. Along the way we stopped to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Our first stop in France was Nice where we saw the beach area and spent an evening seeing Monaco including the Royal Palace and Monte Carlo. No, I didn't do any gambling.
The next day we stopped at the Papal Palace in Avignon while on our way to Lyon. In Lyon, I made the climb up the steep hillside with a few of my fellow tour group members to view this cathedral.
The final stop on the tour was Paris. I saw many sights in Paris including the Eiffel Tower (daytime view, nighttime view), Notre Dame, the Royal Palace, Arch De Triomphe, Champs-Elysees, and the Louvre (another view). I ended my visit to Paris by taking in a cabaret show at Paradis Latin.
So there you have it. All in all it was a very nice vacation. A bit hectic at times, and I certainly could have used more time in most of the cities, but that's to be expected when covering so much area in a relatively short period of time. I imagine I will revisit many of the places sometime in the future.
