My Parents Came for a Visit!!!

I wrote this last week, but the picture uploading wasn't working so just pretend you are reading this last Monday...

Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful week it has been. This past week, we ventured out for our second travel week of the semester. My parents, knowing that I would have a week off to travel the same week as spring break back home, decided to come for a visit and tour around Europe with me. They came a week early, while I was still in class, to visit Rome and Florence, and then worked there way up to the Veneto region to pick me up and head to Austria, Germany, and Switzerland!

I was so thankful to have them come visit. They arrived on Saturday night by train and we spent the evening at the local pizzeria in Paderno catching up and sharing stories. I can't describe how amazing it was to see them after being away. We talked the night away. 

The next morning, I showed them around the tiny, cute, town of Paderno and my campus. Then, off we went to the nearby town of Bassano to catch a train to Salzburg, Austria. First, stopping in Venice for a quick look around and lunch. This was our long travel day, and it was such a beautiful ride through the mountains. We had a nice cappuccino and some toblerone during the ride...to help us take in the sights :). 

Venice

Salzburg is a quaint, beautiful city, and is most famous to me from the musical The Sound of Music. We went on the tour that takes you to all the famous sights from the movie and gives a little history about the town along the way. Unfortunately and fortunately it was raining. I say unfortunately because some of the views weren't as grand as they would have been without the rain. But fortunately because this was our only day of rain, and a lot of it was spent on a bus transporting us to and from various sights with information along the way. All in all it was a wonderful tour! 

The estate from the movie

Skipping to reenact what Maria did with the children :)

That evening, we went to a restaurant recommended by our hotel for some real German cuisine. It was delicious! I had spinach dumplings, tomato soup, and a crepe-type dessert filled with ice cream and topped with chocolate. Yes, it was to-die-for! We enjoyed people watching on all the locals in the restaurant. 

The next day, we hiked up to a fortress, walked around a little more and then headed to Munich, Germany! 

Munich was a pleasant surprise. Not that I wasn't looking forward to it, but it was the one place I didn't know much about and therefore I didn't know what to expect. When we arrived, we jumped right on sight-seeing. We walked through the central town area and over to the British Gardens, which is a lot like Central Park. It was beautiful and bustling with people taking advantage of the gorgeous day. We ate at another fabulous German restaurant and headed in for the night.

British Gardens

The following day, we woke up early to catch the first train out to Dachau Concentration Camp. It is hard to say with a sight like this, "Oh, that was awesome!" But I will definitely say I am glad I went. It was very interesting, and I think, a very important place to visit. 

Following Dachau, we hopped on the metro to Olympic Park. First, stopping to eat at the BMW Museum cafe, and then walking over to see the Olympic stadium. Such a cool thing to see. I once again didn't even know what to expect, but I loved walking around looking at all the different arenas and spaces. Also in Olympic Park is the BMW plant, museum, and world. It is crazy. And obviously, really cool. We went on the plant tour which was extremely interesting and then headed back to the area where our hotel was for dinner. 

BMW 

Thursday morning we decided to lay low before boarding another train and went to Starbucks...the best place to relax when traveling. Once again we enjoyed another scenic train ride from Munich to Lucerne. We had planned a dinner with Megan and Alex for the night we arrived in Lucerne, so once we arrived, we met up with them and had a wonderful Swiss dinner! It was so much fun hanging out with them and hearing about what all they had done during the week. 

In Lucerne, we gave ourselves a little walking tour, went in many neat shops, and enjoyed taking in the breathtaking views that Lucerne has to offer. It was a great place to end the trip because we didn't have a big agenda, and there weren't a lot of "sights" to see. But we enjoyed each others company in one of, in my opinion, the most beautiful cities there is. 

Our final leg of the trip was a train ride to Zurich, where my parents would fly home from and I would catch a train back to Italy. It was sad seeing them go, but I will be back with them in less than 4 weeks! Crazy how time has flown. This was definitely a week with them that I will cherish forever. I am blessed.