Went to an awesome castle today... Neuschwanstein Castle!
Day One Oberammergau, Germany
Got to the hotel very late. Had an unbelievable room with two stories, two balconies, and we were "too" tired to enjoy it all. :)
After about 6 hours sleep, we got back on the bus and headed 30 minutes away to the little Bavarian village that puts on a major Passion Play once every 10 years since 1634.
It was drizzling 90% of the day but we still manged to shop during our free time.
The Passion Play (See Website) was awesome and much better than I could imagine a town of 5,000 pulling off. Everyone in the play are "normal" people from the village, around 2,000 are involved. Great production, music, and singing. We left very impressed.
Day One Frankfurt, Germany
Spent the day on the way (in Eisenach) visiting Bach's home/museum, St. George's church, and a castle Luther hide out in.
At the town's statue
The center of town
Chill'n while listening to Bach
Day Three Leipzig, Germany
Today we went to our favorite city (so far), Wittenburg. Luther lived here with his wife and he nailed his 95 Thesis to the door of the chapel/school/castle.
The Door
From our lunch table
A man getting water from public fountain
Luther's front door
Day Two Leipzig, Germany
Went to Erfurt today where Luther went to University and where he lived as a monk in an Augustinian Monastery. (below)
Ordered Pepperoni Pizza and got pizza with peppers all over it. Still was good.
There is a cool bridge in town "Kramer Bridge." It is the oldest inhabited bridge in Europe. Here are images from the bridge and under it.
Day One Leipzig, Germany
Spent the evening with friends in town hanging out in the cool European air under an umbrella telling stories and enjoying the moment.
Day Three Prague, Chez Republic
What a great and LONG first day touring this awesome city. The weather was just perfect. Cool 65 with no humidity.
Saw John Huss' Bethlehem Church and heard Chuck Swindoll preach from the same place this great reformer taught his flock over 600 years ago. Huss was burned at the state for teaching against the Catholic church.
Saw an unbelievable, breath-taking castle and chapel overlooking the river. Took 600 years just to build it. Had an indoor jousting facility in the king's palace.
We put about 6 miles on my poor feet today. Seems we have a great group of travelers. Tomorrow Germany!
Day Two Prague, Chez Republic
A nap, a few meetings, workout, and a brief walk down the street. Simple day while we tried to adjust to the time difference and prepare for meeting our bus guests.
Enjoyed another late night stroll with the Kemps... and got to see our good friend Kevin from Boston.
Day One Prague, Chez Republic
All international travel is tough but this trip over has been quite uneventful. Decent seats on the planes, no luggage lost, got to see 15 Mormons ride 12+ hours with suits and ties on (poor guys), and made it to our very nice hotel (Marriott) right after landing.
Blair, from the TV show "Facts of Life," is on our tour. Got to meet her, but didn't tell her I watched Superbowl 30 with Miss Garrett while I lived in LA. We will need something else to talk about later.
We fought through the first afternoon of tiredness by walking around Prague with Paul Sailhammer & Roger Kemp and their wives. We found an outdoor cafe with great food and people watched for a while.
Paul is great to travel with as he has so much knowledge about many local events and landmarks.
The streets are full of people and energy and the town blends old and new very well. Seems puppet shops, glass shops, concerts, and town clocks are very popular.
Mandy and I went to bed before 10pm but I'm already up by 2am... wide awake. The life of a jet-setter! :)
London, Day Seven
Last day was spent working for the day and then headed back off to London to do a speed-tour with Scott and T-Dawg! This is the IFLUK team. Great bunch of guys and girl! :)
Rode a double decker, Rode the Tube, went to London Bridge, London Tower, and went to many spots.
The train brought us back after midnight and now its time to pack!
London, Day Six
Not a lot of pictures today. I burned the memories in my head (and a few from my iPhone)
We ate at our hotel (below)
Spent the morning worshiping at the Local Anglican church in Ashtead with Scott's family. Took a "formal communion."
Then watched the World Cup before driving up Box hill on the way back to the hotel tonight.
T'Dawg and I on Box Hill, Dorking, Surry, UKThen we ate the worlds hottest pizza EVER!
London, Day Five
I think this was a Saturday so we worked some more at the office. We did get an extra hour of sleep but put in a half day before we headed off to London on the train.
The Queen was home and was tightly guarded. Being a weekend, there were a lot of tourist around the gate. But the good news was that the "funny hat" guys were out front.
T-Dawg and I went to Mandy's and my favorite "people watching" spot... Trafalgar Square The weather was great and we enjoyed hanging out in the public square.
Then off to see Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben before we headed back to Waterloo station and home. A quick Chinese dinner and we made it to bed around midnight.
The Abbey has awesome architecture... I'm just saying...
London, Day Four
Too much time has past so my memory of this day is not well. But I will have to assume that we ate breakfast and walked to Starbucks and then went to the office... ate about 12:30... looked up and realized that the day got away from us. :)
I do think that Scott and I took a walk in the afternoon around Dorking and looked for some gifts for the kids and talked business.
The evening was spent at the Bean's house seeing his family. Its always great being around Scott and Kirsty. We stopped at a local dive to buy "meat and chips" and chilled in the living room while the kids swam in the back.
London, Day Three
Not as crazy today. Spent most of the day in the IFL UK office working. I was able to take a short walk down the road during the afternoon.
Tonight, Scott took T-Dawg and I to a local Indian food place on high street. (This may be why I'm wide awake at nearly 2am writing this). I've never had this type of food. Not bad but I won't be looking one up in the Dallas area anytime soon...As long as there is Tex-Mex.
Tomorrow, we may try to squeeze London in... or we may be in the office finishing website tweaks. :) Or I may be napping at my desk.
London, Day Two
One of the fastest days of my life today. Here is how it went: Woke up, breakfast, work, sandwich, work, train ride, dinner, train ride, 10:30pm.
Our Hotel Lobby
Spent 6 hours in the office and 6 in meetings/travel/eating. Overall a great day just lightning fast.
Boarding the train in Dorking
Did get to see Big Ben and the Thames River somewhere along the way.
In London at sunset
London is very hot right now. The trains don't have AC. They don't normally need them but right now its a little toasty in the Tunnel. I walked back to the White Horse alone in the dark (No wolf along the path this year) and got to see "Sir Laurence Olivier" birthplace a few blocks away from the hotel.
My good friend, Scott Bean
London, Day One
A mid-morning flight to Charlotte, North Carolina started off our journey. We had a quick bite at an airport Mexican restaurant. Salmon mixed with Mexican was the gamble of the day. I survived.
We got bulkhead with an isle (I did at least) on the way over. A few sleeping pills and a "Night at the Museum" on-demand movie put me straight to sleep. Scott met us at the airport and drove us to his house on the wrong side of the road.
After a few hours of work our jet-lag kicked in and we became seriously worthless. Scott walked us to our 600+ year old hotel (White Horse) in our 2,000 year old city (Dorking).
After a small nap, T-Dawg and I took an evening walk around High Street and ate at a local Pizza Shoppe.
Our rooms are great and I slept like a little baby. 8 full hours and I'll be ready to hit the UK by storm.
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