Changes

With us now having a car, we now have the ability to visit places we most likely would not have had the time or modes of transport to reach.
Our first night was going to be in the city of Salzburg, Austria. I had picked Salzburg as a central location to get to Berchtesgaden, Germany. In Bertchtesgaden is the Eagle's Nest. The WWII summer home of Adolf Hitler. We have booked a tour of the Eagle's Nest and it's bunkers. They say the views of the Alps from the EN are tremendous. We are now getting to stay at a highly rated B&B in the Austrian village of Leogang. Leogang is in a ski resort town up in the Alps. During the warmer months it is a hub for mountain biking. We are finding that with a car, we can stay in very nice places for the same cost as the city hostels. Way cool!

Another change is that we will now stay in the coastal village of Levanto, Italy as our jumping off place for the Cinque Terra. We were going to stay in the city of La Spezia. This will save us each 10 Euro a night. We still are planning on finding a room in the Cinque Terra for the next two nights, but the car gives us a lot more flexibility if we cannot book the needed room.
More to come...

Carefree in Europe

I believe to really know the people, I must mingle with them. If there are tourists around, the towns people are accustomed to certain questions and answers. If I go into areas where the tourists do not frequent, then I have a better chance to meet the Europeans I have been hoping to meet. This takes stepping out of the norm. Having a vehicle rather than travel the trains, busses, tour transportation would give us more opportunity to see the Europe I hope to fall in love with. I feel that this is a more carefree lifestyle and people would be more comfortable with getting to know us. Pat C

Parking in Rome

A surprise development. Sr. Christina at the convent where we will be staying in Rome emailed to let me know that there is street parking available in front of the Villa Rosa convent. We can park there for 3 Euro a day, and it is very safe as the American Embassy to the Vatican is just up the street and the Italian police always have a presence there.
Because of the car, I am revising our schedule to return to Munich so that we can visit the Daucau concentration camp memorial. Our original schedule had us in Munich only on Monday, and the Memorial is closed on Mondays.
More to come...

Transportation change

Major change of plans. We have reservation request submitted to lease a Brand New diesel Renault Kangoo for all but two days of the entire trip. It is similar to a Honda Pilot, a turbo diesel rated at 44 mpg. 2P's will pick it up in Frankfurt on 9-18-08 and 1P will return it in Rome on 10-22-08. It will give us complete freedom to go wherever we wish and allow us easy access to small places where trains don't stop. We have researced it and think it will also be cheaper. We expect that there will be problems with parking, especially in places like Rome but we will park o/s of town and ride train into the city. Pat M. is now feverishly revising the itenerary for his 10 day portion of the trip.

The M factor

>Pat K has given me posting privileges. So here goes nuttin’. When it comes to travel, I try to cover all bases and have a detailed plan. This will be the complete opposite of the 2Ps. However, I have left 2 nights without ANY reservations. We will arrive in La Spezia, Italy on a Friday afternoon/evening. This is one of the towns that give you easy access to the Cinque Terra (the five lands). We have read that rooms are easily available from individuals who live there. So, we are going to set out on Saturday morning to find a room for three. (This is driving me nuts, but it is my way of being spontaneous) If we end up sleeping on the beach or in the railway station, then I guess we will have saved enough $$ to eat a nice big Italian meal. The jury is still out on this one.

Since I am only going to be in Europe for ten days, I do not plan to purchase a Eurail pass. I will have to purchase one way tickets for every leg that we take. Right now, that will save me around 100 Euro. ($150.00)

I am still in the head scratching mode, for what to pack. Pat K has sent me multiple websites to look at about backpacking, etc. We will not be backpacking in the truest from, but will be limited to 1 airline carry-on approved backpack each. Not very much room for 10 days.

More to come…

Itenerary

2P's will have Eural passes so that our itenerary can be flexible. We have made no reservations. We will stop for a while or take a side trip whenever we like a place. We will fly into Dusseldorf, Germany . Our general intent is to travel up the Rhine River by boat to Mainz with a possible side trip on the Mosul River. Then by train over to Wurzburg where we will look around and take some photos requested by an old friend. Wurzburg will be our jumping off place for Rothenburg and down the Romantic Road winding up at Fussen and Oberamergau......by combination of trains and buses. Then to Dachau. We will then meet Pat M at the HBF train station in Munich and become the 3P's. Pat M only has 10 days and wants to see as much as possible so he has everything reserved, planned and timed for all of us. We may not even have time to go to the rest room except on the trains. Half a day to see some of Munich and watch the drunks at Octoberfest. Salzburg, Austria for two nights. Insbruck for a few hours, Then an overnight train to Italy. Venice for one night, one night at La Spezia, 2 nights in the Cinque Terre, stop at Pisa on way to 3 nights at Rome. Pat M then departs and we become 2P's again. 2P's will just play it by ear then. Florence? Balongia? Naples? Amalfi Coast? Sicily? Greece? Explore small non-tourist towns? Go back to a place we particulary liked? Then Pat C departs and 1P will just go where the mood strikes him for nine days.

Definition of the P's

Pat K and Pat C will depart for Yurp first on Sept 15, 2008. Pat M will join them in Munich on Sept 22 and become the tour director for 10 days until his departure on Oct 1. Pat K and Pat C will continue the trip until Oct 13 at which time Pat C will depart and leave Pat K alone in Italy until his return on Oct. 22. For that reason the blog will reference 3P's (all uv us), 2P's (Pat K and Pat C) and 1P (Pat K).

Gittin' ready

Pat K, Pat C and Pat M are goin' to Europe in Sept. 2008. Pat K is completely blog illiterate but has created this blog to keep friends and family informed of our travels and location. If we suddenly stop posting, contact the jail in our last known location. We will probably be incarcerated there. Pat K will be doing posts from a blackberry keyboard so messages may be a little cryptic. Bear with me. The other two Pats may also post if they wish and we can figure out how.