A plan that has been in the works for awhile came about--a trip to Europe with my mom! My parents planned on going to the Passion Play in Germany a few years ago, and 2020 was the big year. That of course was canceled because of COVID. Later it was decided that my dad would stay home and I would accompany my mom to Germany in his spot, with me paying any remaining fees for his portion. I wish Lee could have come on the trip with me! But it was nice to go.
Started off by getting my nails done.
I drove up to my mom's the night before we flew out. I saw this real life Hot Wheels car at a gas station along my trip to PA.
I should have been more involved in the flight planning, but wasn't. We ended up being at the Atlanta airport from 8:30am to 3:30pm. Ugh. I walked a few miles! The bottom floor has some great places to walk through. I loved this sculpture.
I wasn't expecting to be fed on an airplane as we've been flying cheap flights recently. This was a nice surprise!
After we landed in Paris, we had to wait a little while to get together with the group. There were some challenges travling with my mom, but in general it was fine. The first stop was the Louvre! We even ate a chocolate croissant there from the bakery.
The Mona Lisa. We weren't given enough time to wait in line to get a photo with the famed lady, but I got one from the side and back. Even the side photos you had to be quick...the security people didn't like when people weren't waiting in line and then took a photo.
Next up, the hotel which was just blocks from the Eiffel Tower. The tower was....disappointing. It's such a romanticized Paris icon that when I saw it in person it was a let down. It's pretty ugly! And it's under renovation for the upcoming Olympics I guess.
.jpg)
I guess it's a photogenic icon, haha.
Our second day was Versailles and then the Paris Temple! The breakfasts cracked me up. Tomatoes, lettuce and meat and cheeses. We saw this at almost every breakfast buffet.
Versailles was so opulent! It was fun to see. Though I wish my mom and I would have seen a couple rooms, then ditched the tour to rent a golf cart and explore the grounds. I did a little walk of the grounds after the tour.
The hall of mirrors.
It was fun seeing drinking water in various places around Europe. Maybe this water had some Midas touches to it!
Oh, a bonus that day was a river cruise on the Sein River! WOW! The audio tour was so dramatic full of Paris love, haha. We got to see Notre Dame from the river and the Louvre.
These heads cracked me up.
The Louvre.
Paris Temple! I should have taken more pictures! It was so beautiful though! Our tour group was split up into two groups. Apparently the first group was cranky/demanding/annoying...whatever adjectives you want to use. The temple president almost didn't let our group come in. Thankfully they loved our group and were grateful to have us there!
Lee turned 42!!! I was sad to miss his birthday.
This day we had a very early morning leaving the hotel at 3:30/4:00am to catch our flight to the Rome area. There was a bagged breakfast waiting for us, which was so nice. When we arrived we went right to our hotel. Right by the hotel was a sidewalk with steps, leading to this alley behind the hotel that was full of shops and restaurants. We picked a little place and it was great! Ciuri Ciuri. I think Italy is pretty much the only place I will order pasta. Ha. It has to sound really great to order pasta here because I can just make it at home. The lasagna was awesome!
We stayed at the Grand Hotel Palatino. Awesome location for the Colosseum and the church with the statue of Moses.
Here things get out of order, but one afternoon/evening we went to the Rome Temple. Magnificent!
I got some treats that night when I went out. Also earlier that afternoon I explored the alley and found some food for Sunday.
The pastry and gelato place attached to Ciuri Ciuri.
My adventures that afternoon.
The pasta is even pretty in Italy! Wow, I can't believe I was there!.
Yep, more gelato!
The Colosseum!
After the Colosseum we parted from our group and headed back to the hotel. Thankfully I had the address of the hotel and a map, so I got us back. Bernell, one of the guides, pointed me in the wrong direction. It was raining too. But we stopped at a little grocery store on the way back which was fun!
Next up the Vatican! Fun to go to another country. Wow, what a place.
The Sistine Chapel.
The Swiss guards at the Vatican. It was fun learning about the little country.
Water from the Vatican square!
I mailed my postcards from the Vatican!
Yummy pizza! I met up with my friend Julie for dinner. I offered to the lady next door to buy her some food, which I did, but then I got it to her place super late and felt bad about that! She was asleep. I just gave her her money back. Well, thanks to my mom for spotting me the money. Because I had used the lady's money on some pizza. Ugh.
One night we ate at the hotel restaurant. The same day we went to the Colosseum and the Vatican. I must have bought the pizza the first night we were in Rome.
Whenever it was Sunday, I headed out to the subway to go to church. The subway was pretty easy to figure out which was great.
I had a little walk to the church building once off the subway.
Sadly it was Stake Conference....which was good but was looking forward to regular meetings!
That afternoon we literally walked across the street, up a long staircase, and into the church with the Moses statue. We saw this painting as well.
The Moses statue!
At the same church, a wedding was held there. That was fun to see. Everyone was dressed so fancy!
Late afternoon we walked to Trevi fountain. I would love to go back there and sometime in the morning when it's not crowded at all. We got a deceiving shot...the place was packed!
Many of the stone roads everywhere. It was interesting to see the stone "teeth" used to make them!
Our Sunday food!
I didn't buy these, but laughed when I saw the word "chunky". Thought of my kids. They like to call things chunky or chunk.
Next stop was Germany! We stayed at a hotel about a half hour from Oberammergau. Once we settled in I went on a walked and stopped at a grocery store.
I walked around with my friend Julie that night.
Oberammergau! When we arrived we looked around a little at the historical display about the play, then had a little meet and greet with the guy who played Nicodemus. Next up was a little shopping, lunch then time for the play!
Yep, we ordered burgers in Germany. Don't tell anyone! Sadly I did not like the sauce on my burger. Ugh.
The play is very long and in two parts. It's about 5 hours total. In between there is a break for dinner.
I stopped at this gelato place 2 or 3 times that day haha. Plus they were only 2 euros each!
Clothing from the last play on 2010. You can buy these panel sections. Then when they are done with them somehow they get them to you.
An awesome history about the play!
Our dinner! It was quite tasty! We sat by a couple I met in Italy, Jay and Janece Wood. She told me about her son died with COVID less than a year ago, and that made me tear up!
The play was really great...all in German of course. We had an English translation and also received a stunning hard cover book about the play. It was long though....and not sure if I would ever go to it on my own! The singing was excellent. And the mean guards/mean people in the play reminded me of WWII Nazi soldiers you'd see in a movie or something. After the play we got gelato again before heading back to the bus. My mom was fretting about getting back, but we made it just fine.
The next day we headed to the Neuschwanstein castle. King Ludwig II died in 1886, at age 41, and soon after the public was able to tour the castle. Apparently it was never finished by the King. It sure looks finished from the outside! It was breathtaking to see it in the distance from a little bridge lookout.
His other castle down below.
Wow. Just stunning!
We took a carriage ride down from the castle! Glad my mom had Euros. They helped out a lot on little unplanned excursions like this.
Right before the tour.
We even ate cheesecake in the castle! Though, it wasn't very good.
Later we stopped at Wieskriche in Bavaria. It was a church that matched the castle in fairytale-ness! And it's where the weeping Jesus statue is!
I loved receiving chocolate on an airplane. YUM! This was on the way to Germany.
Our last stop of the trip was in Munich! We stayed at a hotel downtown. A block away was a Lidl grocery store which I went to several times. 
We did a bus tour around Munich and a walking tour. I also found out that I left my retainers at the hotel by Oberammergau. Ugh....
Nymphenburg Palace! Built in 1664.
This alter was discovered during WWII. They moved an alter to put it in storage during the bombings. When they moved it they found this alter behind it! It had been hidden for about 300 years!
Nice taxis!
The Frauenkirche church in Munich has the supposed devil's footprint!
I walked down with my mom that evening to see the glockenspiel display. We caught the last part.
The headless accordion player.
While we were gone Lee had his birthday! I was sad to miss it. But I prepped some presents before I left and Shanna and Haley got them out for me.
I was gone just under 2 weeks. I think everything went fine while I was gone and looks like the kids had fun too! I talked to Clark at about 3am in Rome with Lee back in the US. I would love to take my kids to Europe! I'm glad it worked out for me to go with my mom. It was an adventure!
No comments:
Post a Comment