Summer Vacation Part 2

Church

We started out our day by going to church in Nice, France in an actual chapel with a parking lot.! It was small and there is just one ward that attends here, but it was a lot larger than where we attend in Spain. 

 *We traveled through Monaco, and Sirmione, Italy on our way to our next stop in Vicenza, Italy.

3rd Country: Monaco

Monaco

We drove through Monaco, the 2nd smallest country in the world after the Vatican.  This is probably the most beautiful city/country we have ever seen.  A lucky Australian family in the Nice ward lives here and the father works for the United Nations.

One more breathtaking view!

And through another tunnel on our way to Vicenza, Italy.  We surely went through over 100 tunnels throughout this trip. 

4th Country: Italy

Scaliger Castle

Scaliger Castle is located in the Italian lakeside town of Sirmione. Sirmione is a commune and town located in Northern Italy on a small peninsula that sticks out into the southern portion of Lake Garda.

 

Sirmione had been a summer resort for the elite since the 1st century BC. The town had grown to become one of the most important Roman cities in northeast Italy,

This is just past the castle,  inside the resort town of Sirmione on the peninsula looking out toward the water.

Past the castle, and just past the main shopping area, you can see the farthest point of the peninsula on Lake Garda, Italy.  There were beaches, gardens, and shops in this area. 

*After staying in a very comfortable hotel in Vicenza, Italy, we went to Venice.

Venezia, Italia

Venice is a group of 118 small islands separated by canals...

and linked by bridges

Our kids were disappointed in Venice, because they expected to be riding in boats the entire time since we had told them there were no roads for cars, but just water for boats. 

Instead of boats we used our feet for hours to see the city.

Venice is said to have more tourists than residents at any given time. 

We took just one short boat ride.   It was very sunny as you can see in the pictures.

Rialto Bridge

 This bridge is one of Venice's most recognizable icons, it was built in the 1500's.

*After Venice we headed to Fussen, Germany.

Reifenstein Castle

This castle was just South of the Austrian border in Freienfeld, Italy. This area was part of Austria until after World War I.  The castle is mentioned for the first time in the 12th century.  We saw it as we were getting off the toll road to go into Austria and because we wanted a picture of it we had to go through the toll twice to get over to it.  I hope this picture is worth the tolls we paid for it.  In the words of Rick Steves, “Reifenstein offers castle connoisseurs the best-preserved original medieval castle interior I’ve ever seen.”  I wish we had planned to go inside to tour this as we have since read that it still has an original kitchen, bathroom, knights quarters, and a dungeon.  Apparently, the owner currently resides in the castle and conducts the tours.

5th Country: Austria

Austrian Alps

As we drove through northern Italy, and western Austria to get to Fussen, Germany we saw and drove through mountain after mountain including the Italian Dolomites and the Austrian and German Alps.