Preparing for Germany, Austria & Switzerland
Unlike past trips to places like England and Italy, we were a little less familiar with the cities we'd be visiting in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Sure, we'd all seen Schindler's List and The Sound of Music, but we still felt like we had more to learn. Elyse, Jody and Jill took Rick Steves' advice and tore up their guidebooks to create small packets of pages to take on the trip. We also split up these packets, so that we could each read about different cities and recommend activities for our free time. We had grand plans to immerse ourselves in the cultures of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We managed to accomplish our goals of eating soft pretzels, drinking beer and playing the board game "Castles of Mad King Ludwig." We were a little less successful with our goals of watching The Third Man, which takes place in Vienna, and reading more about the history of the Habsburgs. We decided to take on those items when we get back. We figure it's another way to remember all the great places we got to see.
What to pack?
It always seems the biggest headache in preparing for a Rick Steves Tour is deciding what to pack. Rick's three rules are pack light, pack light, pack light. That being said, the questions dance around in my head as to what is truly needed for a 14-day European adventure.
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