Europe
4/5/2005 - 4/19/2005
Tammy and I went to Europe in April. It was right before we both started new jobs. It had been over ten years since I had been and it was the first time for Tammy. We flew into to Charles de Gaulle on 4/6. We arrived at around 10a.m. and caught a shuttle into Paris.
4/6 - 4/8 Paris: We stayed at the Hotel Minerve, which is located on the Left Bank just a short walk from Notre Dame. The location was perfect. The room was small, but comfortable. The picture to the left is the view from our room.
Notre Dame was about a 10 minute walk from our hotel. As you can see, the weather in Paris was cold and rainy.
Since it was raining, we figured the Louvre would be a good place to hang out. In the middle of the spiral staircase is a cool people-lifter.
The Louvre wasn't too busy, except mona (far wall, in the middle).
We also went to the modern art museum in the Pompidou Centre. One of the exhibits reminded me of something my brothers and I would have done as kids.
On Friday, 4/8, we took a night train from Paris to Luzern, Switzerland. We were supposed to have a couchette for four, but it ended up being for six people. Note to self: pay the extra to get a private couchette.
4/9 - 4/11 Luzern: We arrived early on Saturday morning and hung out in the train station until the tourist information booth opened since we didn't have a place to stay. They found us a nice hotel in the old city. It was snowing the first day in Luzern...
..but the next day was beautiful. The old city is on the left side of the river and the newer section is on the right.
View of the old city from the banks of the river.
We hiked up to the wall surrounding the old city. Here's a view looking down over the city.
I took what my friends call "strauss pictures" in Luzern...
Luzern ashtray
Luzern door
4/11 - 4/14 Siena: From Luzern we took a day train to Siena, Italy. Siena is a beautiful, hilly, walled city in the Tuscany region.
Siena is centered around Il Campo, which is a large piazza. Bareback horesracing is held here once a year. Rivaling districts within the city each have a their own horse. The winner has bragging rights for the year.
There's a tower that Tammy and I climbed, which looks over Il Campo.
A beautiful view of the city and Il Campo from the top of the tower.
The best meal was in Siena: Homemade pesto with homemade tiramisou for dessert.
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