On the sunset of our trip (well, we’re home already, so probably more like sundown, but that ruins the lead in), we’d like to show off some of our favorite sunset photos taken on the trip. Italy gave us some great shots (and the majority in this gallery), but we tried to throw in photos from as many places as we could.
We’d also like to say thanks to everyone who read our post(card)s, everyone who contributed comments (especially our mothers), and a huge thank you to everyone who helped us make the trip happen – whether through our honeymoon registry, giving us a place to stay, giving us recommendations for food/restaurants/sights/activities, you name it. Thank you!
Hopefully it won’t be too long before we take another trip and we hope you’ll follow us along then, as well!
Love,
Josh & Meg

What a packed last two days! We arrived in Trier on Tuesday evening and were graciously hosted by old friends of Stephan’s (vielen danke Jojo und Gaby!). They showed us around the city, which was the 4th largest city in the Roman empire from around 100 – 400 AD, was the seat of Emperor Constantine’s palace (y’know, the guy who made Christianity the state religion of the empire, no big deal), and was the administrative capital of the northern half of the empire. Also, Karl Marx was born there. There are Roman ruins everywhere, including in the parking garage downtown. Yesterday we made a wine tour further along the Mosel River, which is famous for its fantastic Riesling wine. Naturally, we bought a few bottles. Today, on our way back to Cologne for our last night this side of the Atlantic (yikes!), we stopped at ‘Burg Eltz’, an amazing castle first built in the 1300s that still looks, inside and out, much the way it did in the 1600s. The 33rd generation of the family that built it still live in one part of the place. Oh to be nobility in Europe!

We arrived Saturday (very early) morning in Munich via the night train from Florence. After a brief nap to recuperate (a snoring, old German man had kept us awake on the train), we took part in a free 4-hour walking tour of downtown Munich’s most famous sites- the Altes and Neues Rathaus, the royal Residenz, the Frauenkirche, the sight of Hitler’s failed 1923 coup attempt, Viktualienmarkt, among many others. In the evening, we went to go see an excellent concert by the Eels; we got in early enough to be right up front. It was a great show. Today, after walking to the shopping district and discovering that no shops are open on a Sunday in town, we happened upon a parade of butchers (yes, butchers), led by a traditional Bavarian marching band. Later in the day we took a trip to the very intense and powerful Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. We ended the day back in Munich, at the famous Chinesischen Turm biergarten in the large Englischer Garten (the largest city park in Europe), where we were treated to another Bavarian band playing to us over wurst and schnitzel dinner. Certainly a change from Italy!

Welcome to bella Toscana! We stayed in Siena on Monday for the Duomo, its connected sights and panorama (the top of a huge unfinished arch that was supposed to be part of an add-on nave); on Tuesday we drove northwest to tiny castle-town Monteriggioni and steep Etruscan Volterra. Wednesday involved a trip east to Cortona and Asciano, where we returned on Thursday for their fantastic Etruscan museum after a morning tasting some incredible (but unbelievably expensive) Brunello wines at vineyards near Montalcino. Today we’ve been wandering around Florence, from the Duomo to the Museo Galilei and up to the Accademia to visit Michelangelo’s (unfinished) Prisoners and St Matthew sculptures, and of course the magnificent David. At 10pm we say arrivederci to Italia, get on a night train to Munich and say guten morgen to Deutschland!