On Halloween night Terry and I participated in a 'Ghosts of Phoenix' tour of the Hotel San Carlos. This historic site has seen its share of celebrities, and is reportedly home to a number of ghosts.We toured a few of the paranormal 'hot spots' within the hotel, but - alas - did not witness any ghostly apparitions, disembodied voices or the like.
Before our tour we enjoyed a pint of 'spirits' at Seamus McCaffrey's Irish Pub, which is right next door to the Hotel San Carlos, and also reported haunted by three ghosts. After the tour, we stopped back in for a late supper.
Again - no sightings.
Dang. Good beer though.
Terry does not share my interest in the paranormal, so his enthusiasm for this outing was not quite as keen as mine. And the fact that there was both a Flames hockey game and a Stampeder's football game happening that night made it extremely disheartening for him to leave our camp in search of ghosts.I may as well have just punched him in the head and gotten the pain over with immediately. Here's a photo of him looking scared while on the tour.
To top it off, we ended the evening by taking in the movie 'Paranormal Activity' . I had heard that it was one of the most frightening movies to come out in a long time. Suffice it to say, it did not live up to the hype. There were a few moments - but not enough.
This further added to Terry's 'enjoyable' evening. We hurried home so Terry could watch the dvr'd Stamp's game (thank GOD they won).
Today we hopped on the motorcyle and headed east on the I-60 through the historical towns of Superior, Miami and Globe. We stopped at the Apache Sun Casino to drop a few dollars into the slots, and had a quick bite to eat before we headed back in the late afternoon sun.
The trip was absolutely gorgeous. We drove into the scenic Tonto National Forest, past the Superstition and San Tan mountains.
Definitely a trip worth doing again.What else have we been up to? Much time has been spent on house hunting. We're meeting our realtor tomorrow to discuss an offer on a house in Queen Creek. We'll see how far that goes.
We've golfed the course here in our RV park, and also enjoyed at round at the Johnson Ranch golf course in Queen Creek - beautiful.
We had a brief 3-day cold spell last week, and, unlike the locals, did not enjoy it one little bit. We actually had to turn the heat on the motor home at night. We particularly enjoyed the hot tub and sauna those cool evenings.
Thankfully, the weather has returned to the low 30's (Celsius), which suits us just fine. It may come as a bit of a shock, but I have not yet darkened the door of any of the outlet malls. My day will come.
and consumed some of the biggest mugs of beer I’ve ever seen. 
Terry had the horror of discovering that ice is something the Europeans don’t use nor sell - anywhere. Cooler (ice) management for our road trips became a bit of an issue …
There were stalls and stalls of beautiful flowers and amazing fruits and vegetables. 
From there, we toured the Munster Cathedral and braved the 206 steps up to take in the amazing views of the city.
The views were amazing – they overlooked Freiburg and the Rhine Valley. 
We had lunch up on the hill and watched the ‘base jumpers’ running off the edge of the mountain and soaring over the valley in their hang gliders.
We spotted a ‘hop-on/hop-off’ tour bus, and decided that was probably our wisest move. It was an open-top double decker bus, and provided headsets with recorded information about the key tourist destinations.
Apparently it would take 4-months to see every exhibit. The inside courtyard is massive – and it was filled with people. The lineup, again, was endless. As it was already early afternoon, we decided that we would carry on with the general ‘hop-on/hop-off’ tour and take in as much of the city tour as we could, and save the Louvre for the next day. The plan was to get there as early as possible to avoid the huge lineups, book a 90-minute (highlights of the Louvre) tour, and carry on to other must-see spots.
We decided that an evening cruise down the Seine would be nice. Dinner cruises were hugely expensive, so we found a basic evening cruise, and looked for a place to eat dinner beforehand. We ended up having a nice meal in a restaurant just off the Champs-Elysees. The cruise was nice – the lights of the city are beautiful, and the Eifel Tower at night is far more spectacular than during the day.
TUESDAY
Happily, we walked towards the entrance, ready to purchase our tickets, when we saw the sign …… CLOSED TUESDAY! Can you believe it?? No other place on the planet closes on a TUESDAY!
The lineup for the catacombs was long, but we toughed it out. The catacombs are a series of underground tunnels (from a former quarry) that house the remains of nearly six millions Parisians. 
A number of above-ground cemeteries were closed and emptied in the 18th century in order to facilitate the development of Paris and to contain disease. The bones were removed and placed there with great ceremony by the church. 
It is hard to describe the intricate ‘walls’ of human bones and skulls that line parts of the tunnels. It was well worth the wait to see.
We wrapped up the day with dinner at a French restaurant close to our hotel. Turns out this was our only experience with major language difficulties in all of Europe. We didn’t speak any French (damn school system), and they did NOT speak ANY English. Their only solution when trying to explain the menu to us was to talk a lot more, and in more detail. We all just sat there and finally said – ‘chicken’. They fed us a horribly dried out portion of chicken with a side of crappy spaghetti and some tater tots. Not memorable.
It is located only 35 kms from Paris. The Palace is quite simply unbelievable – it has been a residential palace of French kings since the 12th century. 
During the tour, you walk where Napoleon trod. Very cool.
The hotel was very nice, and run by the nicest lady – Simona. She checked us in – spoke great English – and then arranged for the restaurant upstairs to stay open so we could get fed. She helped interpret the menu for us, and later met us for drinks. We needed to get some laundry done, so she made arrangements for us to have that done the next day.
In order to walk up it, you have to book a time (they limit the number of people up at a time). Terry, Lyle and I decided to spend the bucks and committed to do the 300 steps up. Turns out the walk up was easier than other climbs we had made. It is, however, very interesting to note that you feel the lean of the tower from inside. We made our way up and enjoyed the spectacular view from the top. 
They no longer ring the bells, as they were felt to contribute to the shift of the building. 
We said ‘ciao’ to the Leaning Tower, and started our trek to Rome. As in Paris, we decided that staying outside of Rome would be in our best interest. There is no parking, TERRIBLE drivers, and great potential for car theft in the city. We chose a route that paralleled the ocean, and stopped when we came to a seaside town that looked pleasant (San Marinella). 
The town was approximately 45 minutes by train to Rome, our hotel was overlooking the ocean, and only a 10-minute walk to the train station. 
Perfect! The young hotel manager, when checking us in, noted that her husband was from Halifax! Small world. We would meet him at breakfast, which was his responsibility at the hotel. There was also an elderly lady working there that we were sure was a vampire. She worked ALL the time (day/night), and always wore the same outfit. She was ALWAYS there, and moved silently ….
Rome 
Vatican City is unbelievable – as were the lineups. 
We were immediately bombarded by tour operators offering us ‘VIP’ access into the Vatican Museums. We rebuffed a few till we could regroup, and then finally decided on a tour operator. Thankfully, it was a legitimate tour operator, and the tour leader was an extremely knowledgeable guide. In fact, it was almost ‘information overload’. He was obviously an art history major, and supplied us with more information than we could ever retain – ever.
Finally, we made our way to the Sistine Chapel. As we waited to go in, our tour guide warned us that taking photos and videos was ‘completely forbidden’, and that our cameras/phones/video recorders could be confiscated. So, I put my camera away. We reverently made our way into the Chapel …..
We all laughed about it later, and thought that it would be more effective if they had a pre-recorded LOUD, god-like voice that would BOOM out to the crowd – ‘I SAID – NO PHOTOS!!!!’ and see the reaction.
On to the rest of Rome. We once again took advantage of the ‘hop-on/hop-off’ bus tours, and winded our way around the massive city. Next stop for us was the Coliseum. 
We joined a tour, and were amazed at the cruelty of the ancient Romans. According to our tour guide, on opening day, over 5,000 wild animals were killed within a few hours. And we worry about the violence kids are exposed to nowadays …
That pretty much wrapped up the day for us, so we headed home on the train. It began pouring rain, so we once again hit the Monkey Pub, and enjoyed another BIG beer with our supper.
At one time in history, the Spanish Steps were actually considered Spanish territory, and people walking them sometimes disappeared – recruited into the Spanish Army.
This is supposed to ensure that you will one day return to Rome. Apparently over 3000 Euros are thrown into the fountain every day. 
That evening, we tried to find the restaurant that had been referred to us by our Halifax transplant/Italian hotel manager. Unfortunately, it was dark and we missed it, so ended up going to a rather bizarre restaurant where we were served a rather bizarre meal. Terry ordered the seafood special, and was given a plate of whole, fried fish that appeared to have been pulled from their kids’ aquarium, along with whole, fried shrimp – everything intact. He grappled with his meal, to say the least.
We arrived around noon, and found (or should I say he found us) a personal tour guide – Jimmy, who assured us that he had led tours of the site for 54 years. Needless to say we were a bit concerned whether his heart could take the walk. Fortunately, he turned out to be a terrific guide, was extremely informative, and not afraid to tell the too-long lingering photo buffs to ‘hurry up’ when needed so we could take our turn at the sites.
The cast bodies on display of the citizens buried by ash were quite incredible. 
Unfortunately, it was an overcast day, so Mount Vesuvius did not present itself as well in the pictures as I would have liked. 
While we were on our tour, a helicopter flew around the site. That would have been an amazing experience to see Pompeii from the air! Next time. Trevi Fountain do your magic!
It is so different than I had imagined. Stunningly lovely. By far and away my favorite place. The maze of streets are narrow and the buildings interesting, crossed by bridge after bridge. The Grand Canal is immense and impressive. It is not just a place – it is an experience unto itself. There are over 100 islands linked by 354 bridges over 177 canals. 
We walked around and soaked up the ambiance. Of course we had to have a gondola ride. We struck a deal with a handsome young oar man, and off we went. 
The 45-minute boat ride was broken up by his cell phone call, and his flirtatious calls to girls walking down the streets. He had warned us that he was a relative of Casanova … hmmmm..
The water taxi transported us over to Murano, where we were escorted into the glass factory, and assigned a personal guide. He led us into the demonstration area, where there were a number of other observers. 
First, one of the craftsman made a beautiful glass vase, followed by a glass bending demonstration where a perfect glass horse was made. 
From there, we toured their show room and checked out the fabulously ornate glass chandeliers and one-of-a-kind pieces of art. We picked up a few trinkets from their gift shop, and prepared to leave. Terry asked our escort if there was anything else worth seeing on the island, and was informed ‘NO – nothing to see here. Take the water taxi off and go over to the next island’. We decided not to heed his words, and walked further down, only to find HUNDREDS of glass shops – of course with cheaper prices for the same things! Oh well. We strolled around Murano – very neat place – and had lunch at an outdoor cafe. 
We toured the Piazza San Marco, along with a massive crush of people (why on a Wednesday??), and marveled at the Palazzo Ducale and the Basilica di San Marco. 
We toured inside the Basilica, but the crowds in the Palazzo Ducale were just too long to wait.
Back onto the water taxi to make our way back to the bus terminal.
We made it, and with time to down half a beer before they caught up to us. Vindicated!
We found a nice little pub/restaurant and enjoyed the first chicken wings we had seen anywhere in Europe – and they were good, too! The only negative thing about Austria? They permit smoking everywhere, and EVERYONE SMOKES. The restaurants (and basically ALL public areas) are very smoky, which was a real disappointment.
This was a dream of Tammy and Lyles’ to see the stallions in action.
It was a real surprise to us. We had not expected to see such a historical, monumental city – yet with a real cosmopolitan population. 
The people here were probably the most elegantly dressed of all the cities we had visited.
It sits above the City of Salzburg, so offers an amazing view of the area.
But of course we had some serious uphill hiking to get there …. Once there, we toured the facility and enjoyed lunch in the scenic, medieval surroundings.
and learned the history of the salt mine while taking part in such activities as a ride on the pit railway, sliding down the miner’s slides, a boat ride across the ‘salt lake’ and watching the multi-media presentation. Interesting.
We had to get the rental vehicle back that night, so left by 9:00 p.m., and dropped off the Mercedes. We had booked rooms at the airport hotel.
We departed Amsterdam at 5:15 p.m., and flew in a small ‘Focker 50’ twin-prop plane (I’m serious – that’s what it was called). We arrived in Bremen at approximately 6:30 p.m. Lyle, Tammy and Ron met us at the airport.
then drove to Lyle’s place (he lives in a house with seven girls), had a couple of German beers for a nightcap, and called it a night. Lyle had booked us rooms in a great little hotel nearby (turns out that the building we stayed in used to be the town’s original schoolhouse).
We went to bed at about 10:30 p.m., German time. It was a long day (literally), so we crashed immediately, but woke up in the night (our internal clocks are off by 8-hours), finally gave up the ghost at trying to get back to sleep and got up at 5:00 a.m. 
We had a great breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and decided to explore the town on foot. (Above is a picture of Terry enjoying an after-breakfast shot of 'jagger' that we purchased from the local drugstore.)
We met up with Ron & Tammy, picked up Lyle and drove into nearby, Verden (a larger centre) for a tour of the town,
and then returned to Dorverden so we could watch Lyle jump his new horse, Landiana. 
Later that night, we met Horst and his wife and had a great supper at our hotel’s restaurant. Turns out that we lucked into the start of asparagus season, which is a big crop for the local farmers. We enjoyed a huge feed of white asparagus and hollandaise sauce. So far, the food, beer and wine have not disappointed us. In addition, the German hospitality has been second to none. The people here are extremely friendly – very different from the cold, distant stereotype that we associate the Germans with.
From there, we made our way down to Duderstadt, and stopped to tour the scenic town. Again, it is another very quaint, beautiful German town, but with a more scenic countryside than Dorverdan. 
That night, we met Heinrich, Lyle’s trainer, and his wife and two daughters at our hotel’s restaurant, and enjoyed another great German meal. Later Heinrich had us over for drinks and a visit. After hearing that both Tammy and I were still suffering from Jetlag, he provided us with some medication that he uses when he travels over to Canada. We both took a couple of tablets, and reported sleeping soundly till the morning. This was a nice change – no more being wide awake at 4:00 a.m. and turning into the walking dead by 8:00 at night!
Freiburg is a larger center, with a population of around 200,000. It is home to a large community of university students, so there is quite a young atmosphere there. The town has some very interesting architecture (much of it classified as medieval), and stone-lined channels that run alongside the streets. We toured around and saw the amazing Munster (cathedral), which is presently undergoing a renovation.
As it was Good Friday, the cathedral was closed for touring. Lyle, however, decided to venture in and observed a bit of the Good Friday service that was taking place. When he left the cathedral, he noted that a lot of the people attending the service were crying and wondered if they were acknowledging some kind of disaster. We confirmed his theory with a bit of a lecture on the biblical events surrounding Good Friday, and why the devout Catholics would be emotional!
I will do my best to post to my blog while we are on the 'Euro' portion of our travels. Frequency will depend upon access to the Internet, and whether I can tear myself out of the pubs with enough time (and sobriety)
Here's a picture of Callie, after Molly's 'incident'. Notice how upset and concerned she is.