Many students fresh out of college go to Europe and tour around finding themselves before coming home and settling into a career. Selena and I took a different approach and waited until we were well settled into our careers before taking some time to see what all Europe had to offer.

We took just over two weeks to see seven countries across the European continent. We visited:

England: London, Stratford-upon-Avon and Windsor

We had the most time in England, five days. Highlights include:

• Seeing a show at Shakespeare’s Globe. It was Merry Wives of Windsor and it was good.
• Taking the Jack the Ripper walking tour. By night we walked to the locales where Jack committed his murders, while learning more about the crimes and who Jack may truly have been.
• Visiting the Tower of London
• Driving in England. Yes, we rented a car and I drove through London and the English countryside.
• Eating the real English food. Way off the beaten path, in a town that probably never saw a tourist, we stopped for some shepherd’s pie and bangers and mash.
• Visiting Stratford-upon-Avon.
• Finding Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey
• Learning British History by exploring the National Portrait Gallery. Selena recognized nearly everyone in the first 3-4 rooms of the gallery because she’s such a fan of The Tudors.
• Discovering the best Indian food in the city on Brick Lane.
• Celebrating our one-year Anniversary. Selena’s dad sent us a gorgeous bouquet.

Netherlands: Amsterdam

Once the tour started we were moving fast. We only had half a day in Amsterdam. Highlights include:

• Taking a Canal Cruise
• Not smiling at the Anne Frank House. The line was too long to tour, so we just took photos, what is the appropriate expression at a photo op at such a somber site? One facebook comment on the photo was: stoned.
• Eating Pickled Herring, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it looked.
• Wandering through the Red Light District

Germany: Andernach, Rothenberg and Munich

We had two days in Germany, but next to none in any major city. Primarily we were in the Rhineland. Highlights include:

• Taking a cruise down the Rhine River
• Drinking a local Hefewiezen
• Discovering that even uninspiring things (like a tower or stairs) are older than anything and everything in America.
• Seeing how actively Europe is already using Wind Turbines and Solar panels, they are way ahead of us in alternative energy.

Austria: Innsbruck

We had a couple of hours in the Alps of western Austria as we cut across from Germany to Italy. Highlights include:

• Finding the Post Office (building a PO in Innsbruck is a crucial element to winning one of our favorite games Thurn and Taxis).
• Asking our tour guide if this was the part of Austria the Von Trapps had to cross in their flight in The Sound of Music. His response was “I don’t like musicals”.

Italy: Cortina, Venice and Florence

Over two days we crossed Italy. Highlights include:

• Taking a gondola ride down the canals of Venice.
• Sneaking photos of the Michaelangelo’s statue of David and getting yelled at.
• Watching Florence’s illegal street vendors pack up. Everything was on a blanket and as soon as one spotted a cop, they just grab the four corners, toss it over their shoulder and scatter. The ladies selling scarves weren’t even so cunning, they just acted as if they always wear 10-12 scarves around town.
• Realizing they have SO MUCH old stuff that they can afford to just let it lie around. The way the Academia essentially is a storage space, but oh by the way, they have the David.
• Find a grocery store. As odd as this may sound, with soda and bottled water costing 7 US dollars a bottle everywhere we went, we discovered is was only a few cents at the grocery store. We also found shelves and shelves of wine for $1.75 US dollars. We stocked up for the rest of the trip.

Switzerland: Lugano and Lucerne

We took a day back in the Alps as we crossed Switzerland en route to France. Highlights include:

• The scenery, every landscape in Switzerland is worthy of being painted onto a canvas.
• Finding the Swiss Target: Coop City. By this time we realized we needed to get moving on getting some souvenirs. CoopCity, the equivalent of Target to the rescue.

France: Paris

We ended the tour in Paris, and then stayed on for an extra two days just ourselves. Highlights include:

• Having a candlelight dinner in view of the Eiffel Tower
• Cracking the DiVinci code (or at least seeing the Mona Lisa)
• Eating authentic French cuisine in an outdoor cafe Montmarte including fois grois and pate
• Browsing the old books in San Michel’s Shakespeare’s Bookstore
• Being bothered by the large balloon animal exhibit in the middle of Versailles
• Seeing a rather cheesy but typical French cabaret.

And if you enjoyed the few photos we attached here, you will love the wealth of pictures available on our Flickr sites (Greg | Selena), or on our Facebook profiles (Greg | Selena).