How it happened, in Italy (Subtitle: I said some stuff, she said "okay")

Our next destination in Italy is the region of Toscana, known to us English speakers as Tuscany.  After spending a few days exploring the region that produces Chianti Classico (slightly southeast of Florence and northeast of Siena), we headed southeast to the area around the hill town of Montepulciano.  Here is the story, as told by Dan:

Soooooo....

We booked 4 nights at an agriturismo outside of Montepulciano. After touring through Switzerland, France, and Cinque Terre in Italy, we were looking forward to relaxing next to a pool in wine country. Traveling... It's tough work!

We arrived at the agriturismo tired and hungry, and walked around the small building. The woman who greeted us spoke no English (not a problem) and showed us to our room. As we were unpacking our bags, Kelsey began to get attacked by a swarm of killer mosquitoes (in our room). My attention quickly switched to exterminating the blood sucking pests.

With the mosquitoes in our room eliminated and the primary casualty being several bites on Kelsey, we decided it was time to soak up the sun by the pool before our dinner reservations. The pool was surprisingly cool and felt great. Unfortunately, the mosquitoe swarm turned into a swarm of aggressive flies that relentlessly harassed us in and around the pool.

Neither of us were happy and we left the premises to find somewhere else to spend the next 3 nights. The first place we saw was a sign for Villa Cicolina (I swear there was a glowing halo around this sign). We drove up the steep narrow drive to the hotel. It was as if we passed into another dimension. Everything was perfect. The immaculate grounds matched the beautiful building wonderfully.

The clerk at the front desk said the Junior Suite was available the next night at a discounted rate. After continuing our search in Montepulciano without finding a place that had availability for 3 consecutive nights, we drove back to the agriturismo for dinner.

We decided to cancel our stay at the agriturismo for the next 3 nights, stay at Villa Cicolina the next night, and search for accommodations in Siena the follow 2 nights. Upon waking the next morning, we enjoyed our breakfast at the agriturismo and quickly left to check in at Villa Cicolina.

The experience was just as we had hoped. We grabbed a coffee and found a garden table overlooking the Tuscan countryside. The wireless signal was strong enough to reach all the way out to the pool and garden. With a cool gentle breeze blowing over us, we began our adventure in relaxation.

Most of the afternoon was spent lounging by the pool and swimming in the infinity pool. Not too shaby. We made reservations to have dinner on site so we could extend our lounging instead of going into town for dinner. Just before dinner, Kelsey and I took a stroll through the grounds to enjoy the sunset.

I found a place that I thought was secluded and took a couple pictures of Kelsey with the countryside behind her. I asked her to take some pictures of me, which she found very odd. As she was getting the camera ready, I walked up and got down on one knee, just in time for a family from the UK to walk behind us. Such a special moment.

I had raided the small jewelry stash she brought on the trip and found a ring that she had purchased earlier in our trip while we were in Oklahoma. I said a few words and asked her to marry me. Through her tears she said yes!

Then we went to dinner. Our table was sandwiched between a couple we met earlier in the day by the pool who was on their honeymoon from New York, another couple on their honeymoon from Philadelphia, and another couple on their 30th anniversary from Philadelphia. The food was delicious and after a few drinks we all got to talking and sharing our stories. It was a great evening, one that I will never forget!

- Dan

Incredible Italy: The Cinque Terre

Buongiorno!  (Good day in Italian.)

Finally we arrive in Italy.  Instant happiness.  We began our journey with a bang by staying in Monterosso.  It is a beach town on the Ligurian Sea, and one of the five villages that makes up the Cinque Terre region.  The five villages that make up Cinque Terre are unique in that they do not allow any tourist vehicles in the small villages.

... Intro by Dan

Monterosso and the Cinque Terre are just beautiful!  Each village is full of colorful houses which compliment the bold blue of the Mediterranean Sea.  The steep hillsides outside of town are full of vineyards and groves of lemon and olive trees.  The area, along Italy's northern coast, has been made popular in recent decades thanks to the famous Rick Steves who has been pushing the area for tourism since visiting years ago.  We can see why Rick and several friends of ours all loved it here!

We arrived mid afternoon via narrow windy roads on August 23 and enjoyed our first supper in Italy on a seaside patio taking in the lovely views.  After dinner and a stroll through town in search of gelato we called it a night in order to get an early start on a hike he next morning.  Did we mention that part of the appeal the Cinque Terre has are its hiking and walking trails which connect all five villages?

(Side note: that first evening marked the beginning of Dan's recently found love of gelato.  We've spent many a night post-dinner in search of the sweet, delicious dessert!  What do you prefer? ice cream vs. gelato)

The next morning we headed out for a several hour hike towards the neighboring village of Vernazza (photos above) to the southeast.  The path was crowded but the vantage points and views were well worth the effort and the crowds.  We enjoyed a picnic lunch along the small bay/marina in Vernazza before catching the train (yes, we cheated and caught a ride...) to the next of the five villages, Corniglia (photos below).

Unlike it's sister villages, all built on natural bays along the shoreline, Corniglia is perched up on the cliffs with no natural port.  This was definitely my favorite of the villages - it had fewer crowds and lovely views of the coastline.  While roaming the narrow, windy streets we enjoyed a refreshing Granita (a frozen beverage made of the juice from local lemons, sugar and ice).  Yum!

Unfortunately we didn't make it to the final two villages farthest east, Manarola and Riomaggiore.  The walking trails were closed to/from them and we chose to spend our final day exploring Levanto, a larger city to the west of Monterosso, instead.

Our time in Monterosso was a point in our trip where we noticed many English speaking people around us, unlike in France and Switzerland.  We had come to learn how isolating it can be while traveling being the only two to chat with.  Along the trail to Vernazza we met a nice woman hiking on her own from Sweden whom we chatted with for a while along with a girl our age from Durango, Colorado.  Our inability to communicate in a language other than English made us both realize how much we wished we knew another language!  Perhaps Dan will brush up on his German and I on my Spanish?

Our first taste of Italy in the Cinque Terre was fabulous - delicious food, local wine and afternoons spent swimming in the clear blue Mediterranean.  Can it really get any better than this?!

- Kelsey

We say "Oui Oui" to Vars, France!

Smack dab in the middle of our time road tripping through Europe we find ourselves in the lovely mountain town of Vars, France located in the midst of the rugged French Alps.  The reason for our stop here?  To visit Samantha, one of my best high school girlfriends whom I've not seen in nearly 10 years who calls this beautiful place home!

I've visited my brother Tyler numerous times in his 6+ years of living in Wien and all the while Sam has lived somewhat close in the eastern mountains of France.  Unfortunately she has always been just a little too far from Wien to make it logical for me to visit.  So, this trip we threw logic out of the window and planned an entire month's road trip around seeing her!

We arrived in Vars late in the afternoon on August 19, just in time to take a quick hike up a trail behind her home to some ruins before the day was through.  The views were lovely and we and Fila (her golden retriever) enjoyed getting some exercise.

Over the next few days I enjoyed getting to re-know Sam and meeting her lovely family for the first time.  Micah, her two and a half year old son, is just adorable!  During our time staying with Sam we watched his new favorite movie The Lion King nearly a dozen times.  He was too cute when he would answer our questions with a timid but matter or fact "oui."  (His mother speaks only English to him and the rest of his world is in French.)  We also got a kick out of one of his favorite topics/activities, tombe (to fall in English).

During our time in Vars we were treated to a few hours at Indiana Forest, a local ropes course possibly named after Indiana Jones, visited the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Mont-Dauphin (a fort built by French marshall Marquis de Vauban in the late 1700s), and an awesome afternoon of white water rafting with her husband Benoit as our guide (he started a rafting/mountain bike guiding company last summer).  The water was a clear blue and very cold; wet suits were a must!  The photo of us rafting makes me crack up - Benoit, Dan (rear left, right) and I (in front of Benoit) are all making ridiculous concentration faces while Sam (in front of Dan) has a calm, composed expression.

One thing I learned about "grown-up" Sam is how much she enjoys cooking and specifically preparing French cuisine.  She spoiled us each night with home cooked dishes from various regions around France.  One of the dishes was Raclette (pronounced "ruck-lett) which is a traditional dish and a cheese of the Swiss and French alps.  Dan and I had a culinary first-time experience of making of zucchini fritters!  Not a French dish, but one Sam suggested we try to make with a zucchini fresh picked from a co-worker's garden.  Yum!

One of the final highlights of our visit in Vars was getting to celebrate Sam's 30th birthday with her.  We had dinner with one of Benoit's closest friends and his girlfriend the night beforehand and then enjoyed an afternoon of rafting the day-of.  What a fun and special way to celebrate a "big" year for both of us and I'm so glad I could be there!

After four fun-filled days Dan and I bid Sam, Benoit, Micah and Fila adieu ("goodbye") and continued over Col de Vars (Vars pass) on to the next chapter in our adventures: Italy!

- Kelsey

Bonjour from Lyon, France!

Well, it's been a little while since we've posted.  I suppose that's to be expected when we have unreliable Internet access and are busy TRAVELING!

We really enjoyed the rest of our time in Sachseln, Switzerland.  We spent the next day (after the previous post) exploring the beautiful city of Thun which is south of Sachseln and just a bit east of Bern, Switzerland.  The river running through Thun is absolutely beautiful!  A vivid light, clear blue.  It really took my breath away how lovely both the city and the river were.  It was oddly relaxing and I kept finding myself, no matter where, with a big grin on my face.  My grandfather on my mother's side is from Switzerland, his parents having immigrated to the U.S. before he was born (why to northern Ohio specifically, I have no idea!).  Perhaps it's the Swiss in me that identifies so closely to the people and the land.  Below is a view from the top of Schloss Thun (the Thun castle).

Our next move took us to . . . Lyon, France!

We arrived in Lyon on Saturday, August 16 and stayed in the neighborhood (or arrondissement, en  français) of La Crois-Rousse which is situated on a very steep hill to the north of the old town.  We definitely got a good calf and quad workout walking to/from (i.e. up and down) to the city center!

Having no GPS or detailed map (other than handwritten "Google Map" instructions) we were impressed that we kept accidentally kept making all the "right" turns (both as in correct and as in direction).  We spent maybe 10 minutes looking at a map, thinking we were totally lost, only to look up and realize we were in fact on the street we had been looking for!

We really enjoyed wandering up and down, in and out of the older Presqu’île (or peninsula en  français) and the Vieux Lyon (or Old Lyon en français) arrondissements.

Our last night we decided to find a spot in our arrondissement with a big, open view of the Presqu’île and Vieux Lyon to watch the lights come on as the sun set.  Below is a photo taken in a small square just a few minutes walk from our apartment where we enjoyed a bottle of wine.  (The city center is behind me as I took this photo of the square.)

After watching the lights come on we wandered back up the hill of our neighborhood to explore.  As we were headed back to our apartment we decided to stop at a little café situated on one side of a nice walking path/plaza looking out to the east of the city center.  The dessert (house made creme brûlée), the wine and the view made for a spectacular last evening in Lyon.

Our server was a delightful french girl named Joanna who had recently gotten back to Lyon after spending 8 months in London.  She shared with us that she's a singer and some of her favorites hail from London which is what inspired her to spend time there.  She was such a treat to chat with and insisted as we left that she take our photo in front of a prehistoric rock that was transported from the Alps to La Crois-Rousse by a glacier.

The next morning we packed our bags and headed south to Vars, France . . . !

- Kelsey

Grüezi from Sachseln, Switzerland!

Grüezi! (Pronounced: "grew-tsi," meaning "I greet you" or basically "hello" in this area of Switzerland.)

We are staying in the small town of Sachseln along the shores of Lake Sarnen (Sarnensee), both of which are the geographic center of Switzerland.  Lucerne, famous for its wooden bridges and the Lion Monument (aka the weeping lion), is likely one of the most-visited Swiss cities and is just 23km to our north (roughly 14.5 miles).  To the southwest is Interlaken (meaning literally "between lakes") auf Deutsch) which is situated in the beautiful Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss Alps.  Below is a photo we took while walking along the beautiful Sarnensee.

We've heard from the locals that this summer they've had an exorbitant amount of rain (you can tell, the rivers and lakes are VERY full - the water nearly covers lower lying benches and signs!).  With the rain comes lots and lots of snails and slugs!

We've lucked out with a few mostly dry days, one of which we took advantage of to hike along the Wanderweg (a hiking trail system running throughout Switzerland), specifically the portion known as the "Bruder Klaus Way" (Bruder Klausen Weg auf Deutsch).  Little did we know that Sachseln is known as a bit of a spiritual mecca because of Switzerland's only saint, Brother Klaus, who wandered and resided in the area centuries ago!

The hike was a bit different from our Colorado standards - some of the path included roads or was paved with asphalt, other portions had paving stones and yet other areas were wide dirt trails through forest and farm land.  We had a great time walking/hiking from the neighboring town of Sarnen to the rural/remote towns of Flüeli Ranft where Brother Klaus lived back to Sachseln.  We lucked out with temperate weather and no rain!

Both to save money and to enjoy a picnic-esque mode of life, for lunch we've been enjoying making sandwiches of freshly baked rolls, salami and local cheese.  Towards the end of our hike we enjoyed one of these lunches, along with a small bottle of wine, in Flüeli.  Yummy!

After a full day of wandering through the beautiful Swiss mountainside we walked to the neighboring town of Sarnen (about a 2 mile walk) for dinner and thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated catching a lift on the very efficient, although expensive, central Swiss train home.

Time for a bite to eat at the local gasthaus (guest house)!

- Kelsey

Enjoying Innsbruck

Innsbruck was great!  We used Airbnb to find a place that was a 5-10 minute walk from the downtown area.  The architecture in and around the city was incredible!  We spent the first night eating some delicious pizza at Die Pizzeria and then had a few beers at Stiegl.  Saturday was the first day after I got a full nights sleep so I was ready to go!  Thank goodness for getting over jet lag.

We bought a pass that granted us entry to most city museums/attractions called the Innsbruck Card.  The pass was good for 24 hours so we quickly began hunting down activities that interested us.  First we headed to the Kaiserliche Hofburg (Imperial Palace).  There, we quickly toured the Alpenverein-Museum (Alpine Club Museum) and part of the 25 imperial rooms.  The Alpine Club Museum was really cool to me.  They combined artifacts from climbing history with a brief history of alpinism in the Tyrolean Alps.  We didn't have time to tour all of the 25 imperial rooms as we were to catch a walking tour of the historic old town.  It was raining on us for most of the walking tour, which proved quite nice since it cleared out some of the tourists who couldn't handle the inclement weather.  I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures of the tour, but this one is from inside St. James Cathedral.

After the walking tour we strolled to the Museum Im Zeughaus (Zeughaus Arsenal Museum).  I was expecting a museum about the arsenal of Innsbruck, but was surprised to find a mix of geological, natural, and cultural history... all in German with no English translation.  This museum was cool, but a little harder to fully comprehend because... we don't speak much German.  However, I guarantee you, we know enough so we can always order beer.

Ein bier, bitte!

By this time we were getting tired (and thirsty) and began a search for food.  We walked through the city center and decided to look for food on the outskirts that were less touristy.  We found a place called UFO that served Mediterranean food.  It was good but a bit salty.  Then we headed to Stadtturm (City Tower) for a 360 degree view of the city.  After another beer it was time to call it a day.

Sunday we had tentatively planned on visiting the Schloss Ambras Innsbruck (Ambras Castle) and to take the Innsbrucker Nordkettenbahnen (Cable Car) to the top of the mountain.  We slept in a little and decided to cut out the castle.  Walking around the top of the mountain was quite touristy.  However, I have never summited a peak with such ease. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and eventually made our way to an Indian restaurant called Madhuban.  This was the BEST food I have ever had!  I ordered the Rogan Josh and loved every bite.  There was no way that any of my dish would be taken home for leftovers.

Monday we packed up and used the rainy day to travel to a little town in Switzerland called Sachseln.

And now it's time for pictures with no explanation!!!

- Dan

Relaxing in Innsbruck

Grüß Gott! (Pronounced: "gross got" to the best of my understanding, meaning literally "May God greet you," a greeting common in Austria, Bavaria and Switzerland.)

I should begin by clarifying: Wien is German (Deutsch) for Vienna.  Dan took Deutsch in high school and I took one course in college which I dropped when I realized I was failing horribly and switched to Spanish . . . So, between the two of us, Dan's high school Deutsch and mine from visiting Tyler several times, we are managing to get by!  Below is a photo which I interpret to mean "no horns in Wien."

Our Tour de Europa 2014 (my Spanish peaking through) began this past Friday afternoon when we walked into downtown Wien, fully loaded with our backpacks, to pick up our reserved rental car.  To begin, the rental car company didn't have a formal address, so we wandered around several blocks in the general area based on a map my brother had given us before actually finding the location.

After we arrived the staff was busy and friendly and we ended up with an "upgrade" from our initial reservation (a manual compact car that seated 5 with some luggage) to a brand-new manual "4x4" which was more like a small SUV.  I had concerns from the beginning, realizing that the smaller the car the easier to maneuver the small streets of old world Europe.  Additionally, even though I learned to drive on a manual (Saab 900s - the best car ever!!), it's been years since I've driven one for more than a few blocks.  Similarly, Dan had learned to drive manual while working for his last employer and had only driven on occasion.

All of this said, a brand new clutch + 2 people who haven't driven a manual in a long time, let alone an SUV manual = smoking engine!  Not even 9 blocks from the rental car company we had a smoking transmission due to stalling several times. . . The rental car fellow kindly walked the 9 blocks and found us, took a look to diagnose, admitted it was likely our driving which caused the "smoking engine" and drove us back to swap cars.  Dan and I were both much more comfortable the second time around: We ended up with a small Citroen and I ended up driving, being the most comfortable with driving a manual.  All in all an amusing but stressful situation!

It's so much fun driving a little sporty manual on the roads in Austria !!!

Nearly 5 hours after leaving Wien we found ourselves in Innsbruck on Friday evening.  We are staying with a really nice fellow we found on Airbnb who is likely our age and an Innsbruck native.  He is working on his PhD but "playing" it seems before writing his dissertation.

In our few days here we've enjoyed exploring the city center, seeing the beautiful architecture, and learning about Tyrollean history (the Tyrol is a culturally rich portion of the Austrian and Italian Alps that has existed for hundreds of years).  Below is a map of Tirol (auf Deutsch) from 1766:

Tomorrow we are headed to the lake town of Sachseln in Switzerland which is more or less in between Lucerne and Interlaken (which are respectively, more or less, north and south of Sachseln).  We are looking forward to exploring the city of Lucerne for a few days and also the mountains around Interlaken, Gimmelwald and Sachseln the other few.

Sigh.  I am fighting a small cold so have napped a bit today and am ready for some real "zzzzz's."  Guten nacho!

- Kelsey