Basel Switzerland

So one minute my phone rang and 45 minutes later I was packed and on a spontaneous trip to Basel with high school teachers Shane and Brody.

This was a cross country trip that took us 2 hr and 30 minutes.

Brody, Shane and I warming up at the hostel with an ice cold beer before we check out the Christmas market.

The snow created a perfect ambiance for the festive evening.


Started the evening off with some Christmas market gluewien (hot spiced wine).

Carollers

The food at the markets is the best part. Here is some German pizza.

Gluewein must have been starting to kick in.....they aren't usually this happy.

Shane and Brody still trying to agree on the rules of 8-ball...

The next day we went for a stroll around town to find some breakfast.

Crossing over the Rhone River.

This was a fountain of the mythological creature created from the cross-breeding of a rooster, duck and dragon.....I call it the .........?????

On the way back to Lugano,

"Looks like some people just aren't cut out for life on the road" ......P.S. nice shades Brody

Vaduz Liechtenstein

Last weekend Emily and I were invited by our friends Beth and Shane to go on a quick day trip to Liechtenstein.

*Fun Fact: Liechtenstein has the highest GDP per capita in the world with an average salary of ~$170,000.

Just a quick three hour drive north through the Alps.

*Fun Fact: The area of Liechtenstein is 62 square miles with a population of 33,000.

Shane, keep your eyes on the road! Em, what's with the fish eye?

Just after arriving in Vaduz Liechtenstein with the castle perched above.


Eating a German dish called Kaesespaetzle, which is basically their form of mac and cheese with sauteed onions and applesauce.

Emily and Beth posing with a mix between the Santa Claus, the Grinch, and Cookie Monster.

*Fun Fact: Apparently nobody in Liechtenstein knows what Santa looks like.

Everyone fell for the "look what's on my camera lens" trick.

Off to the castle...disregarding the no visit sign.

Beth and Em getting schlossed on their hot wine from the Christmas market.

Reading the interesting facts of Liechtenstein.

*My favorite fun fact about Liechtenstein is that it (and Uzbeckistan) are the only landlocked country surrounded by landlocked countries in the world.

This is the Keine Besichtigung castle where Prince Hans Adam II resides. The political system is a 'constitutional monarchy' on a democratic parlimentary system.

Staying warm with some ice cold Brauhaus beer and wasabi covered peanuts.

Where's Waldo?

The Christmas Market with the Castle above.

Before we left we took a scenic drive up the mountain for a nice wintery overlook.

Vienna Austria

View from our hostel window

The first night someone started a fire in the elevator which sent the fire bergade. No need to evacuate though.

Day 1:

Tribute to Mozart who spent most of his short life (36) in Vienna composing music, and is where he is buried.

The crew - minus the camera man.

The Hofburg Musuem is a wing of the imperial palace that displays the treasures of the imperial family's.

Emily and I decided we are registering for this dishware.

Palace coutyard

Stephansdom

Imperial Palace

Christmas Market #1

Christmas Market #2. Drinking the costumary hot wine.

Fried deliciousnous

Feeling the Christmas spirit as we walk to Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanksgiving dinner at Grieshenbeisl, the oldest resaurant in Vienna (1447). It still didn't compare to the home cooked meal, but we were in Vienna so we can't really complain.

Leaving Griechenbeisl

Day 2:

Me, Emily, and Kaycee eating a tasty Greek breakfast.

Em and Kayce at Upper Belevedere. An art museum with the works of Renoir, Monet, Degas, Van Gogh and "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt.


"The Kiss"

The garden in front of Upper Belvedere.

Looking from Upper Belvedere towards Lower Belvedere.

Couldn't take another side by side photo so this was option #2.

Christmas Market #3 in Maria Theresia Plaza

Christmas Market #4 in front of Vienna City Hall. Emily clearly couldn't seperate from her hot wine.

Kaycee, Me, and Emily

We actually found a bar that served pitchers and had college football on. The simple pleasures in life are all we need.

The Vienna Ferris Wheel

Going up.

Going down.

3 pm kiss for world peace, and there just happen to be the world right there. Clearly the people on the right are terrorists.....what no kiss??

Flying high in Vienna. Kudos to Emily, the photographer, just one take before the battery died.

Saturday chaos.

Out with Micheal and Elke (friends of Mark and Holly from CO).

Day 3:
Relaxing cafe breakfast

Woke up at 3 am to catch a bus to a train to the airport for 6 am flight.

Sunrise on the plane to Milan.

One month of outstanding travelling!!!!

Back to Lugano for three weeks then Christmas on the island of Majorca Spain, then Madrid and Barcelona.... Am I dreaming???