Stuttgart: Porches and Chocolate!

Our stop at the Ritter Sport chocolate factory and museum might have been the high point of our trip for me.  I had wanted to visit, but mostly I really wanted this bag that is made out of the chocolate labels.  I know it totally sounds cute!  I was happy to walk away with 2 bags and several kilos of chocolate!  Guess what we had for lunch?  Not tuna.

 

Like mother, like daughter

 Not far from the chocolate museum was the Porche museum and factory.  This one was for the boys.  They loved it.  We got a guided audio tour through the museum.  Noah, listening to a kid friendly version, would toss out Porche facts all day.

Anya's favorite car because it had pink on it.

Looks like this car is just Darin's size!  Guess we'll have to keep it.

Whew!  That was a busy April!  We had an amazing time.  We saw amazing things and spent our time with some amazing people.  The adjustment into real life is going to be tough.

Bavaria

The Garmish area in Germany is one of our favorite places. It is situated at the base of the German Alps.  It is green and beautiful, but it is mostly cold and rainy.  Darin said that is why it is so green and beautiful.  This was our third visit to Garmish and we usually stay in the rain, in a tent.  This time, however, we stayed in the "Rustic Cabins" rather than our leaky tent.  We went "fancy" because we had our visitors with us.  We wouldn't want grandma sleeping in a tent.  They were Rustic because you still had to run out in the rain to get to the bathrooms.  We have mastered traveling through Europe on a budget usually at the expense of a bathroom.

Back in Deutchland

Germany a country that has castles everywhere.



Bavaria is known for having paintings on their buildings and houses.

 Schloss Neuschwanstein was the model for the Disneyland castle.  Too bad that crazy King Ludwig didn't get to finish it before he "mysteriously died."  However, the 17 years that it was worked on created quite a marvelous castle.

Darin and the Princess

 

 

Eating tuna in the shadow of the castle. 
Darin is on a mission to take a picture of us eating tuna in every country that we visit.  Not bad scenery for a picnic in a parking lot.

 

 

 

Florence, Italy

Florence was an hour train ride from Pisa.  We'd heard a lot about how crazy it was to drive in Florence and many had recommended the train.  We had a terrible time finding a parking spot at the Pisa station and ended up cursing the many, many one way roads.  Finally, we found a spot (right across from the station of course) and ended up RUNNING to try to catch the train.  Poor grandma and Cathy both tripped and almost went splat in front of a café.  It seems that the sidewalks all have a little lip on them that catches the unsuspecting toe every time.  Grandma completely fell one time, but thankfully she was fine.  This time, it was just a stumble. 

The train stops right in the heart of Florence.  It was easy to find our way around the city.  The city is known for its leather goods and I picked up a cute little green purse.  Hurray for me.  Florence has tons of stuff to see and I wouldn't mind going back again someday.

Piazza del Duomo

 

 

Inside the Duomo

 

 

Fighting to be in the picture. 
Noah wanted a picture all by himself.  More black and white stripes...I wonder what that is all about.

The whole gang.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noah and the street performing Tut.  He put coin in his pot and then the Tut switched hats with Noah.



The boys with "David"
Piazza del Signoria
Jaggy really hated walking around in the plaza with all the naked people.

 



Noah and Medusa

 

 



No tuna in Florence.  Pizza.



Ponte Vecchio.  Old bridge that has connected the two sides of the river since the 12th century.
If you look you can see the stores that seem to be hanging off the sides.  Mostly gold and jewelry sellers there.

 

Santa Croce
Church with the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo

 



Darin and Anya in front of Galileo's tomb.



Davis with Rossini's tomb



Danti's tomb



Davis with Galileo



Boys with Michaelangelo's tomb

The courtyard behind the Santa Croce church.

 



 

 

Gelato!  Of course!

 

 

CHRISTIAN'S 12TH BIRTHDAY!!

Celebrating in Italy.
  Last year we were in Amsterdam for his birthday.  He is a pretty lucky kid.  I am a pretty lucky mom.  I didn't make the pie.

Just so that no one thinks we went all fancy on our trip, these are the cabins that we stayed in while in the Pisa area.  We were without bathrooms in our cabins for most of our trip.  We had to walk to the bath house in the rain.  We still thought it was all great, but I did feel a little guilty having my grandma run across the field in the rain to the bathrooms.

Sea Pines Lodge, Camp Darby, Livorno Italy

Lucca, Italy

Day #5 Lucca.  An old walled city not far from Pisa.

No rain, wandering narrow streets, getting lost, eating gelato, and buying a new purse.  Pretty great place.  I know that we are so blessed to be able to wander and explore these amazing places.

 

City walls

 

Church

Getting lost in the narrow winding streets.  Really lost.

Gelato

An ancient amphitheater