The Conclusion: Salzburg

Well the end is finally here and I'm sure you are all glad! I know, I know, I have drawn this vacay recap out a bit much! Bel

Anyway, after our jaunt in Italia we headed north to Salzburg, Austria. I think Tyler and I would agree that Austria was by far our favorite country. The people were so warm and inviting and the fact that EVERYONE spoke perfect English didn't hurt either!

Our VERY quick stop in Innsbruck.

We were amazed to see the Orient Express at the train station in Innsbruck. From what we could see through the windows all of the passengers were dressed in the Sunday best.

Tyler forced me to take this picture!

Warning: Another silly video ahead.

If you couldn't hear, this was where they filmed part of the "Do Re Me" scene from The Sound of Music.

Salzburg, Austria

We were in Salzburg during their annual Salzburg Festival and were lucky enough to see not only the authentically dressed theatre patrons as they entered but we watched the actors arrive as well. Each year Everyman is preformed outside of the cathedral and got the behind the scenes view!

We also managed to find the local beer garden. It's still attached to the local monastery and was quite a sight!

Yummy potato salad, and some random yet delicious meat products!

This may have been one of my favorite spots. At about 10 am we found this tiny local spot packed full of old folks enjoying homemade schnapps of all flavors. For a few Euros you we taste all we wanted but only ended up bringing home one small bottle.

Yum, more random meat products!

Our final day in Zurich was not much to a day at all. After our early morning 5 hour train ride from Salzburg we only had about 4 hours to spend in Zurich. Either way we enjoyed the city for as long as we could before our flight home the next morning.

One last video just for old times sake... 

Two Rednecks in Italy: The Final Installment

Now don't get too excited, the final installment doesn't mean that I am finished with our vacay recap but we are getting close!

Here are a few shots from our journey from Bologna to the far northeast city of Bolzano. We took a few pit stops along the way and they were well worth it!

Our first "pit stop" was a gas station off the interstate. Why can't all American gas stations serve fresh sandwiches and espresso? 

We stopped in Verona, Italy on our way to Bolzano. Remember that little story, Romeo and Juliet, by some guy named William Shakespeare? Yeah, me neither but apparently it took place in Verona and this is what has become known as Juliet's house. The tourists were EVERYWHERE but Tyler and I managed to mark our territory with a sharpie...

 Can you find it?

Get ready for another cheesy video segment!

 The day we left they held a production of Romeo and Juliet in the old Roman coliseum; I was so sad that we couldn't stay to see it.

After another 2 hours of driving we finally made it to Bolzano. It was amazing how the further north we drove the more German the architecture and food became.

We stayed at the Park Hotel Laurin in Bolzano and it was by far the nicest hotel stay of our trip! It has been hosting travelers for over 100 years and not only were the rooms and food lovely but the hotel garden was beautiful as well!

 Can you find me in this picture?

 The square in Bolzano.

Bolzano seemed to have some kind of identity crisis going on. It was part German, part Austrian, and part Italian. Thank goodness the German part meant they had some great beer to go along with the Italian wine!

One of the few things that Tyler DEMANDED that we do on this trip was to drive in the Dolomite mountain range in Northern Italy so that is just what we did!

A wine shop in the mountains.

 

Yet another "Sara looking at a map" shot.

 We took a ski lift to the top of the mountain and did a little walking. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

 Our 2 door compact car looks so hard core doesn't it?

Check out how windy the roads were!

Get ready for the final chapter of our European adventure, Salzburg, here we come!

Two Rednecks in Italy: Part 2

I formally apologize for all the numerous installments needed to document our trip but I really dislike reading freakishly long blog posts with way too many pictures so I figured other people might as well.

After our rendezvous in Torino, Tyler and I rented a compact car, a Lancia to be exact, and headed east to Bologna. On our way there we decided to make a little pit stop in Alba and Barolo for some wine tasting. I really wish pictures could do this place justice but they just can't...

Yes, we did stop on the side of the road and yes, I did steal a grape off of some poor unsuspecting farmer's grapevine but I couldnt resist. And I would also like to confess that I stole some hazelnuts that had fallen from the trees in a nearby orchard.

 In the beautiful village of Borolo.

Wine tasting in Borolo. It's amazing to me how the same grape grown in within 5 miles of each other in either sandy, clay or a sandy/clay soil can taste so different!

And because I love videos....

 After our little detour we finally headed to Bologna. We used airbnb.com for this one and ended up staying in an apartment owned by a computer programmer and his artist girlfriend. They had an amazing apartment inside the city walls with courtyard garden all to themselves! When we arrived they were busy watching an old Russian film on their laptop in the garden. Must be nice!

 Here is Eli giving me some travel tips before we left for Parma.

After walking around Parma for a while we figured it was time for the pièce de résistance, prosciutto de parma. Oh yeah, and the Parmesan cheese was not bad either! We left with almost 3 lbs of prosciutto and about 2 lbs of Parmesan cheese.

Next up, the city of Romeo and Juliet, Verona, and the Northern Italian city of Bolzano.

Two Rednecks in Italy: Part 1

To tackle these travel recaps I have found myself uploading pictures before I decide what to talk about. After the long and arduous process of sifting through all the pictures to find  my favorites I realized that almost all of the pictures that I uploaded are of food or drinks. Weird.....

Now let's resume our Tour De Caldwell.  Next stop: Torino, Italy

Yes, all of our train trips required sustenance. We stopped at the grocery store in Lucurne before we headed to the train station and stocked up on German beer (duh), numerous types of Swiss cheese (double duh), meat, bread, mustard that comes in a toothpaste like tube, fruit and Swiss chocolate. Train travel is so much better than air travel!

 Our first gelato of the trip. Mine was dark chocolate and hazelnut, double scoop of course and Tyler had pistachios.

Trivia Time: Did you know that Tic Tacs originated in Turino along with solid chocolate, the "slow food movement," breadsticks and you guessed it, Vermouth.

 Another fun fact, Vermouth is made in both red and white varieties, just like wine. I had no idea!

 Dinner number 1: caprese salad with a softball sized serving of mozzarella.

 Calzone for me and roasted veggie pizza for Tyler.

 More free water for thirsty tourists.

 Tyler managed to take a picture of me staring at a map at just about every city we went to.

Italians apparently don't like to work between about 2:00 and 4:00 pm so finding a late lunch spot was impossible. We settled on a wine bar instead.

 Tagliatelle with pesto for the Mr. and agnolotti for me. Both are traditional dishes from the area.

Last but not least. Desert. We went with the cheese plate with homemade jams and honey.We loved how they reused the jars and wrote the dates on the tops.  We were able to con the chef into giving us the recipe for the onion jam. Alabama National Fair canning competition, here we come!