WORLD GALLIVANTER: There and back again: Europe Road Trip August 2008

Cochem, Germany

Europe 2008 - The Short Version

We flew to Frankfurt, Germany on August 25. We rented a car and drove around Europe for 3 weeks. We met my mom in Paris, and she traveled with us for the third week. We loved the freedom of having our own car! I was a lot more comfortable traveling since this was my second trip to Europe. This is a brief summary of what we did.

Germany - Drove from Frankfurt south to tour the town of Rothenburg. Very cute town, surrounded by walls. Then we drove to Fussen, and visited the Neuschwanstein Castle.

Austria - Drove the Grossglockner Hockalpenstrasse, a scenic mountain pass in the alps.

Slovenia - Visited beautiful Lake Bled and Triglav National Park.

Croatia - Drove south along the Dalmation Coast to Dubrovnik. Toured Dubrovnik and swam in the Adriatic Sea. Visited Plitvice Lakes, a national park sporting a series of lakes and waterfalls. Beautiful blue water and lots of friendly fish.

Kotor, Montenegro - Southernmost fjord in Europe. Rugged cliffs surround beautiful Kotor Bay.

Bosnia Herzegovina - Nice, homey country. We drove north to Mostar, an eastern-feeling city with a beautiful bridge. You could still see lots of damage from the conflict here in the 90's.

Venice - Nice, but crowded. Felt more like a tourist trap. Beautiful buildings and atmosphere.

Switzerland - Visited Lauterbrunnen area. Took a gondola to Gimmelwald and walked to Murren and back to Lauterbrunnen. Our knees hurt BAD by the time we got back! Ate the most delicious Alpkäse Fondue. Drove to Paris

Paris - Picked up Mom at the airport. Found a parking garage to leave the car in. Toured Paris with mom. Since we'd been to Paris before, we did a few new things: Went up inside the Eiffel Tower, saw Sainte Chapelle, took a boat cruise on the Seine, and found a nice restaurant to eat at. We visited some friends that served us a nice meal, complete with a cheese course.

Brugge - We drove to Belgium. Stopped for a bit at a beach. Brugge was one of our favorite stops. Lots of shopping and quaint buildings. Delicious Belgian Chocolates.

Netherlands - Stopped one night and visited an American WW2 cemetery.

Germany - Drove through Luxemburg to the Mosel Valley. Lots of vineyards and castles. Visited Berg Eltz Castle. Drove to Frankfurt where we flew home.

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