More of the trip.

July 11: This day we had a lazy morning in Rothenburg. We wondered around the small medieval looking town browsing Christmas stores and relaxing in a park. After lunch we headed to Munich but on the way we stopped at Dachau, a former concentration camp. We felt a strange combination of awe and disbelief to be walking around a place where so much tragedy happened. That night we completed our drive to Munich and ate at the Augustiner Beer Garden. This is a gigantic indoor/outdoor beer garden that can seat up to 5000.

July 12: We decided since we didn't have a ton of time in Munich to take a bike tour of the city with Mike's Bike Tours. This was a lot of fun and gave us a great way to see Munich quickly. While on the tour we went swimming in a river in the English Garden (think Central Park). That night we had a beer at the Hofbrauhaus.

July13: We got up and drove to a small town in Austria called Ruette (Roy-t). After we checked into our hotel we drove to some castle ruins close by and did a little hiking and relaxing. That night after a nice dinner we enjoyed some spaghetti ice cream. I don't even think a picture can do it justice but it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.

July 14: Today we drove to Neuschwanstein Castle in southern Germany and took a tour. It was a really cool castle and I would recommend it to anyone that visits Germany. Then we ran by the store and put together a picnic lunch that we ate along a riverside. After that we for a swim at Lake Plansee, a beautiful turquoise-blue alpine lake in western Austria. Then after dinner spaghetti ice cream again.

July 15: This morning we got up and made the long drive from Ruette to Florence, Italy. We got in around 3 to Marcello's house. He is a friend of a friends and is putting us up here in Florence. Then we took the train into Florence to do a little sightseeing and came back to Marcello's for our first home cooked meal of the trip.

July 16: Yesterday we did more sightseeing and shopping in Florence. One of the highlights from the day was climbing to the top of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (called the Duomo for the square it is in.)

Today we leave for Rome. We will now finally be able to say with complete accuracy, "When in Rome..."