Europe Part 1 London-Venice

Ok...here it comes...The first post of many of our Europe travels. We took over 2500 pictures so to avoid HOURS at the computer I'm just going to give a few pictures to highlight the trip and the rest you are going to have to come see us and view our photobook for. Sorry....It was 25 days of nonstop going, sightseeing, EATING, and fun. We started off in London. We had already been to London 3 years ago so we took it at a very leisurely pace. The only place that we hadn't seen was St. Pauls so we got a London Walks tour of St. Paul's cathedral and then just walked around this great city.

Westminster Abbey...which was Chris' favorite place.

This sign says a place to think...so I thought...It was right one the river.

I still can't believe how UNDERGROUND the London Underground is. The escalators are huge!

This is the next day departing from the White Cliffs of Dover over to France by ferry.

From our port in France we headed over to Brussels Belgium. We met another fun young couple on our tour so we explored Brussels together. These waffles were SO GOOD! It has ice cream, whip cream, and chocolate on it!

This is the famous Mannequin Pis (I know funny name) statue. Apparently it is always dressed up in different costumes but wasn't this particular day. It is listed as one of the cities must sees.

It was also very small. We expected the fountain to be much bigger with all the hype. Chris being funny...

The chocolate here was AMAZING!!!!!! Each shop had all these delicate morsels that were so intricately decorated.

A free chocolate fountain?? Hmm...

You see these all over Europe but this was our first time seeing these barriers. They move depending on traffic flow. It's pretty cool!

The Grand Central Square of Brussels. The architecture was just beautiful!

We waited until they lit it up at night. It was truly sublime just sitting in the square people watching and taking it all in.

This is Laureli Germany. We liked the look of this street.

We took a Rhine River cruise to see all of the castles along the river. There were LOTS.

Chilling out on the sundeck of the boat.

This is Laureli Rock. Legend has it that a Siren say atop this rock and sang sailors to their deaths.

K...this is a little out of order but this is in Cortina in the Dolamite mountains on our way to Italy. We had just crossed the border from Autria and HAD to have our first gelato. First of MANY!!

Apparently James Bond movies and lots of others are filmed here because of the unique look of the mountains. This picture doesn't show the best ones.

Does anyone else think this is funny? It means Exit. There were signs all over Germany and Austria that said this.

Again still a little out of order. These are the Austrian Alps right by the Newschwanstein castle.

This was us in Gunsberg Germany. I thought the streets of this town looked like a movie set. We got to our hotel and they were having huge parties in the street. The funny thing was that they were blasting all American music and drinking lots of beer. The whole town was out partying. It was a lot of fun!

Again....a little out of order. This is Innsbruck Austria. We loved this little town.

The pizza here was AMAZING! This was 1 piece!!! We were amazed!

Hmm....Nutella. We had lots of this on our trip. I couldn't believe the size of this container! I wanted one but it was VERY heavy!

This is us in our hotel in Venice. The elevators were SO SMALL! Two people could barely fit!

Here we are in Venice. I know...GROSS...but I had to see what the water was like so I stuck my toe in. IT WAS SO HOT that day and it was very refreshing. BEWARE...BAD HAIR DAY! It rained on us before it was super sunny so we got wet and then it we really humid. I wasn't prepared.

Ahh...Venice...the city of romance and love.

A shot of the Grand Canal with the famous Rialto bridge in the back.

This was us on top of St. Mark's Bell tower. You get a panoramic view of Venice.

Each little bridge and corner had a peaceful gorgeos view. We got lost on purpose and found the quieter less touristy side of Venice. It's so pretty!

St. Mark's Square

One of many bridges. It's funny when you ask for directions they just point in a direction and say 5 bridges that way. There are LOTS.

We took a Gondola ride. We are on the Grand Canal at this point of the ride with the Rialto bridge in the background.

We stuck around until nightfall to get some great shots at night.

We ate dinner at this awesome place right on the Grand Canal right by the Rialto Bridge. The food was amazing!! We had pizza, salad, and lasagna. And you wonder how we each gained 10 pounds on this trip....stay tuned for LOTS more food.

At night from the Rialto Bridge.

Another hidden canal shot.

St. Mark's bell tower at night. It was so pretty. There was a huge concert going on in the square with a light show and everything so we just sat and listened for a while. Then it was back to the boat to get back to the hotel. Venice was one of our most favorite places on this trip!

K...stay tuned for more pictures. This was just the first 5 days.