Berlin...

Though we visited Munich on our own, we met up with our tour (Contiki) that will take us through all of Eastern Europe. The group is about 50 people, mostly in their mid 20's to early 30's...and they're from all over--US, Canada, Australia, UK, etc. We'll be guided by our tour manager, Stu, on a bus as we go all over Eastern Europe.

Berlin is a fairly modern city--as much of it was destroyed during WW2. Below are a couple of shots of a church near our hotel that was heavily damaged during the war...with some modern touches.





One of best places so far has been visiting/photographing the Berlin Wall. It's been great to learn the history firsthand...especially about Hitler's Facist Reign, followed by the Communist Regime after the war. What was interesting to learn was that the Berlin Wall was actually built all around West Berlin--as this half of the city belonged to the Allies (US, UK, France), though the city itself was in the middle of East Germany.





A couple of other sights we visited while in Berlin: Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Parliament, and the Jewish Memorial.

Checking out Munich...

Today (as weary as we were), we made our way through the major tourist spots, including the Glockenspiel in Marienplatz. Having our DSLR cameras--and Alan with his camcorder--it was easy to tell that we were tourists.





This trip wouldn't have been complete without an afternoon visit to the Hofbrauhaus (and then a quick nap). Can you believe how big these are? Two of these were plenty...and I was about to call it a day because of the jet lag--but I kept at it.





We then made our way to the largest beer garden in Munich (after a LONG walk and a couple of wrong turns). This place was authentic--you could tell that this was where the locals came. After a couple of beers and pretzels, we made our way back to catch up on rest and to prepare for our last day in Munich.

Eastern Road...

Today I began a trip with two of my closest friends... Alan Mikkelson (Spokane, WA) and Lisa Alexander (Phoenix, AZ). We're heading to Munich, Germany to embark a journey that will take us through all parts of Eastern Europe, including: Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, & Poland. After traveling for about a day via plane from LAX, we made our way to our hotel in Central Munich and an outdoor cafe that served sauerkraut, beer, bratwurst, etc...

A snapshot of my travels...

I've decided to use my blog as a way to document my overseas travels. There's no way to capture every single moment, but pictures often tell a great story too.

Though I wish I would have the time (okay, patience) to sit down and recall each trip that I've taken, I'll update you on my most recent trip, Germany & Eastern Europe.