Combat Tour(s)

Nope, not that kind.

Combat tours of cities.  The types of tour you take when you (a) don’t have enough time, due travel or work restrictions; or (b) when you want to squeeze in as much as possible in a short amount of time.

I’ve taken quite a few combat tours based on (a) over the years.  Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, Amsterdam (the first time), etc., either due to lengthy layovers or short weekends in the “neighborhood”.

But the last two weeks were for reason (b).  We had friends in from the states and wanted to cover as much ground as possible.  In hindsight, we all agree that we could have picked two or three of the cities and stayed a few days at each, but we don’t regret seeing what we did.  And for Goddess and I, we now know to where we need to go back.

So, in nine days, it was Paris, France; Munich, Germany; Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany; Salzburg, Austria; Vienna, Austria; and Prague, Czech Republic.  Plus, there were side trips, including Dachau Concentration Camp, the Neuschwanstein Castle and the Sedlec Ossuary (aka The Bone Church).  And there was actually a “day off” in that time, which was the day that we got back from Paris at 3am.  All told, 1,100 miles of driving for the Germany, Austria, Czech Republic portion.  We let a bus driver do the driving for the 24-hour out/back Paris tour.

Instead of boring you with the details of each, here are some images instead:

Samothrace.  The Louvre, Paris, France.

There was much, much better art in The Louvre than the overcrowded, overhyped Mona Lisa.

Arc de Triomphe.  Paris, France.

Modern Art vs. Classic Architecture.  Salzburg, Austria.

Sedlec Ossuary.  Kutna Hora, Czech Republic.

Hands down, one of the most amazing cathedrals I’ve visited anywhere in the world.  Follow the hyperlinked words to read about it.

 

 

Quite a few more shots out there as well as pending.  The ones that are out there are either on my Flickr page or my Smugmug page.  The ones that are pending may be a while, since I’ll be on the road again this week touring a few important battle sites in France.  I’m sure I’ll get a few pics at those locations too.