What an exciting adventure the three of us have been on together! We have enjoyed amazing architecture and beautiful music, jaw-dropping scenery and breathtaking vistas, and scrumptious food and wine! And all of it was done with an adventurous spirit and hearts full of joy!! We were all so grateful to have been able to be a part of this RS Experience!!
Final Thoughts
Well, we have been home for almost 9 months now and our trip seems so very far away. That's one thing that has been so wonderful about making this scrapbook, I was able to re-live our amazing experience every time I worked on it! The pictures tell our story and remind us of the wonderful cultures we experienced that are so very different from our own. And, we were able to experience it not just with each other but with 24 wonderful fellow travelers and our amazing guide Andrea. |
Speaking of Andrea, we learned so much from her and our local guides. In the space of 3 weeks we traveled through 4 countries and made amazing connections. We learned how much passion those along the Mosel and Rhine Rivers have for their wine, and that the Rhine River was extremely important to life before highways when goods and news traveled along the water routes of Europe. The Swiss developed ways to communicate with each other over long distances with things like the Alphorn. They have also managed to tame their amazing (but sometimes difficult) natural wonders and thrive! The Austrians were once part of a huge empire, and now that they aren't, still live the good life. The people of Prague have made it through a tumultuous 20th century and come out on top! They, like us, have problems that they are struggling with, but they are meeting them head on. Europeans are a proud and passionate people who are so sharing of their cultural and natural treasures. It was a great privilege to meet them all!
THESE ARE A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS!!
Jodi - I have a lot of favorites as there was so much to enjoy! Our day on the Rhine River seeing a ruined castle, enjoying a river cruise, and trying different wines was so relaxing! I really liked Trier as a Roman city, who knew! And I loved our early morning walk and exploration of the Dom. The beauty of the Swiss Alps was amazing! And, I really enjoyed meeting its' cows! Munich is a city I love and it was wonderful to be able to see some things I haven't before, like the Residenz and its' treasury with some major bling. Salzburg was a favorite, especially the concert we attended. And Hallstatt was so much fun! I loved learning about the Celtic Era of Hallstatt at the small museum, taking the Salt Mine Tour, and getting to slide down the miner's slides!! Seeing Mauthausen and Josefov in Prague was dear to my academic heart. So many amazing experiences were had with so much fun along the way!
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Jodi jumping for joy in the Swiss Alps!
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Brett toasting us with some homemade schnapps in the Black Forest!
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Brett - My favorites include the city of Salzburg and the amazing concert we attended at the Mirabell Palace. The head violinist was fantastic! Afterwards, I really enjoyed sitting by the beautifully lit fountains just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful evening. The combined view of the lit fountains, city, and fortress up above was unforgettable! I love to hike, so hiking around Switzerland and the Alps, as well as getting cheese and meat from someone's home, was a highlight for me. I really enjoyed our Rhine River cruise and found Trier interesting for its Roman roots, and I had never even heard of the city before this trip! Schnapps tasting in the Black Forest was fun, and as memorable as it was strong! Prost! I also really enjoyed the salt mine tour and sliding down the miners slides in Hallstatt in our specially designed pants! The best food was our cheese fondue in the Swiss Alps!
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Deb - My favorite town was Salzburg. We had the best night there with our concert at the Mirabell Palace, and then sitting by the lit fountains of the gardens was so beautiful and relaxing. I also really liked the unique cemeteries of Salzburg. The most fun activity was taking the funicular up to the Hallstatt Salt Mine and then sliding down the miners slides during our tour on the specially made pants we wore. The small village of Bacharach was so relaxing; it really felt like a town where people lived. The pub we ate in our first night there was wonderful. The most unique place we saw was the Jewish Quarter and cemetery of Prague. All those synagogues so close together and the evocative cemetery was something I had never seen before. My favorite desserts were in Baden-Baden. Our nicest hotel was in Hallstatt. My laugh out loud moment was our wine tasting in Bacharach. As Jodi and Brett talked about it I kept thinking we were each getting 12 samplings and that it was a good thing we could walk back to our hotel. When I realized they meant 12 samples we would all share I had a good laugh.
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Deb enjoying the amazing views of the Swiss Alps on our stroll!
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So...Where to Next?We received our 2019 RS Europe tour booklet in the mail long before I was done with this scrapbook, but I just couldn't help dreaming about where we wanted to explore next!! Where should we go? What culture(s) did we most want to experience? What culinary delights did we want to devour? We could do something very different and see the chateau of France and paddle the Dordogne River on the Loire to the South of France tour! Or, we could focus on the small towns and local culture on a Village Italy tour! Perhaps we could explore Sicily on the Best of Sicily tour! Or maybe we could head even further east and dive into the cities of Prague, Krakow and Budapest along with some nature stops on the Best of Eastern Europe Tour!! Whichever tour we choose we know it will be an absolutely unforgettable adventure!!
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Go to the RS website and order yours for free!
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Thank-you so much for following along with my scrapbook of the RS Germany, Austria, Switzerland tour with a little bit of the Rhine and Prague thrown in! We hope you enjoyed learning about the tour and how much fun there is to be had, and that it has whet your appetite for your own travels, wherever they may be. Happy Travels! ~ Jodi