![, is the highest mountain in the Alps and the European Union.[1] It rises 4,810 m](https://globalnomadfamily.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/dsc03225.jpg)
Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in the Alps. It rises 4,810 m (15,781 feet)!
Category: Travel in Europe
San Zeno Basilica
We just got back from our trip to Israel last night…it was an amazing trip. We saw and did so much! I didn’t have a chance yet to go through photos or keep up the blog. I learned from my failed attempt to do a post a day for our European road trip that keeping up while traveling isn’t realistic. So stay tuned for future posts on Italy, France and Israel!
This post is about the Basilica of San Zeno: a must see if you are in Verona. We went to find San Zeno Basilica at the recommendation of our Italian host.
It was founded in the 5th century to house the remains of San Zeno, Verona’s patron saint.
There were hardly any tourists here; we almost had the place to ourselves! It’s a lovely, peaceful church. St. Zeno is Verona’s patron saint because he was credited with converting the people of Verona to Christianity.
San Zeno was born in North Africa.
Many of San Zeno’s sermons survive today.
Baptismal font: it’s more than 1000 years old!
The church was rebuilt a few centuries later and was consecrated in 806 AD
The church was later destroyed by Hungarian invaders! Rebuilding began again in 963 AD.
What you see in the photos dates from the more recent reconstruction in the 12th and 13th centuries!
Statue of San Zeno.
The crypt dates back to the 10th century and contains a sarcophagus with the remains of St. Zeno.
According to tradition, this crypt was where Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet were married!
San Zeno died in 380, but he is still honored and remembered here.
Our Italian host also gave us the tip that Verona’s best ice cream could be found next to the basilica of San Zeno, so of course we had to try it!
Verona was a wonderful surprise for us…we had no idea what a fascinating city it is before we spent a week there. You can read more about our stay in Verona here:
Verona is also a great city to use as a base for exploring other amazing cities. We did a day trip to Venice (stay tuned for that post). We also visited Lake Garda and Vicenza. You can see the photos here:
So, for anyone visiting northern Italy, don’t forget lovely Verona!
Kutna Hora: view of St. Barbara’s Cathedral!
We are briefly back in Prague before leaving on our next set of adventures! This post is especially for future guests arriving soon. Kutná Hora is a lovely day trip from Prague.
If you saw my post on the Bone Church in Kutná Hora, you may be intrigued enough to see it for yourself. However, even if you think the Bone Church isn’t “your cup of tea” you should still go see Kutná Hora. The historical town center and St. Barbara’s Cathedral is a UNESCO world heritage site.
Kutná Hora has not one, but several stunning cathedrals, which more than make up for the gruesome Bone Church!
Cathedral of Assumption of Our Lady and John the Baptist.
The town began in 1142 with the settlement of Sedlec Monastery, the first Cistercian monastery in Bohemia.
German miners began to mine for silver in the mountain region in 1260, which the miners named Kuttenberg. The mountain was part of the monastery property.
These are the relics of St. Felix, donated by Pope Benedict X!V in 1742 on the occasion of the monastery’s 600th anniversary!
Kutná Hora’s wealth was built on mining. There’s a legend that goes like this: when a lazy monk named Anton woke up from a nap in the monastery orchard, he found three pieces of silver sticking out from the ground near his face. Anton laid down his robe (‘Kutna’, in Czech) to mark the place. Anton’s fellow monks investigated further and discovered what was to become the silver mines. Kutná Hora would later become the richest silver mine in the Kingdom of Bohemia.
It was wonderful to wander the streets and see the fine architecture.
The prosperity of Kutná Hora silver mines reached its climax in the 14th and 15th centuries when the city became one of the richest places in Europe. It was one of the most important political and economic centers of Bohemia at that time, second only to Prague.
My husband will confirm that I have a weakness for taking photos of cute window boxes:)
Unfortunately, we arrived too late in the day to take a tour of the silver mines. I’ve heard that the tour is very interesting, so we will definitely go back!
St. James’ Church
St. James’ Church is one of Kutná Hora’s famous landmarks. Construction of St. James began in 1330, and was completed in 1420.
Inside the Church of St. James, built in the 14th century.
Pope Martin VI declared a crusade against the Hussites in 1419, shortly before construction of St. James was completed. The Hussites were followers of Jan Hus, a Czech priest who was considered the first Church reformer because he lived before Luther and Calvin.
St. James was the principal parish church of medieval Kutna Hora.
In 1420 Emperor Sigismund used Kutna Hora as the base for his unsuccessful attack on the Taborites (considered heretics by the Catholic Church) during the Hussite Wars…leading to the Battle of Kutna Hora. In that battle, the Taborites were encircled by the superior forces of Sigusmund; however, under the leadership of famous Czech general Jan Zizka they were able to break through the lines and escape.
Thanks, Elsa, for these photographs!
According to Wikipedia, Jan Zizka is considered to be among the greatest military leaders and innovators of all time. He is one of six commanders in history who never lost a battle . There is an enormous statue of him in Prague, which can be seen from miles away. The surrounding area is called Zizkov!
On the way to St. Barbara’s Cathedral.
St. Barbara’s Cathedral was founded in the late 1300s by the rich mine owners of Kutná Hora. They were trying to compete with the grandeur of Prague’s St. Vitus Cathedral. Building plans were interrupted by the Hussite battles, so construction didn’t resume until 1482.
The stained glass windows are stunning!
Kutna Hora passed to the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria in 1526. Things went downhill after that…the mines were flooded, insurrection against the Holy Roman Emperor brought harsh punishment, followed by plague and the Thirty Years War. The city was devastated by fire in 1770. The mines were abandoned not long after.
The view from the balcony.
Kutna Hora remained part of the Austrian Empire under the Hapsburgs during the 1800’s. It became part of Czechoslovakia after World War I, following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The fun angels on top of the organ!
For more information about Kutna Hora, including how to get there from Prague, look here:
http://www.outsideprague.com/kutna_hora/kutna_hora_daytrip.html
http://www.myczechrepublic.com/kutna-hora/getting-there.html
So, if you are in Prague for more than a few days, definitely make a trip to Kutna Hora…you won’t regret it!
Originally I had planned to get out a post every day to keep up with our road trip adventures. I failed miserably, as my last post was day eight…and I think now it’s day twenty-two! We were having too much fun to keep up with that goal. No worries! I’ll continue posting as time permits.
My blog countdown says I’ve got 5 hours to go on our European road trip. It has been a blast!! We finished our trip with a long, but fun driving day through four countries.
Yesterday we left the lovely home and friends we were staying with just outside Caen in Normandy, France.
Our first evening in our friends’ backyard.
We drove to Rouen, where we had a quick lunch and a quick sightseeing/shopping trip.
Quick lunch included ice cream!
Andy and Nate went off to see the cathedral to avoid shopping:)
After an unsuccessful shopping trip I met up with the boys at Rouen’s beautiful cathedral.
Just one of its towers!
The inside was beautiful.
Next, we went to see where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.
The memorial to Joan of Arc. There’s a strange looking church next to it, but we didn’t go inside.
This is the actual spot, as you can see by the sign.
Next we sped off toward our destination: Raeren, Belgium…a little town on the border of Germany. We chose it because it was 1. cheap and 2. only an hour’s drive to Cologne, where we are catching our flight back to Prague.
We brought along our usual picnic lunch: baguette, meat, cheese, lettuce, peppers and fruit. Since we had lunch in Rouen, we decided to stop along the way and have an evening picnic.
Since it was so close, we said, “Let’s have our picnic in the Netherlands.” So we did a quick detour, crossed the border into the Netherlands (only a sign) and looked for a place for a picnic.
We found a lovely rural town, with peaceful fields and cows:)
We drove into the little town; I think it was called Mesch.
We continued to look for a park or field to have our park in. The town was so small, everyone was looking at us creeping by in our car!! Who are these outsiders??!!
The town was a victim of my drive-by shooting…photos of their cute town!
We actually found what looked to be a public bench, and we were about to pull over to have our picnic there when two firetrucks pulled up twenty feet from the bench and they all piled out….we are not quite sure why! It didn’t seem to be an emergency, and they were cleaning up their equipment. So we drove on.
So we ended up in another little town nearby and parked next to this field.
Picnic in a field!
We got to frolic briefly in the field before a light rain chased us back into the car to finish our picnic indoors:(
So we finished up and drove on to our destination: a very cheap budget hotel in Raeren, Belgium.
Leaving our rural adventure in the Netherlands.
We sped by this sign and came around to get a photo…Limburger…get it?
Good-bye Netherlands! It was a lovely 55 minutes!
No matter our picnic got rained out…we enjoyed the rainbow while discussing leprechauns and pots of gold with Nate!
Our budget hotel happened to be on a road that our GPS didn’t recognize…a highway frontage road. We saw a tiny sign for it as we passed the offramp to discover….
We were now in Germany! Only for about five minutes, while we got off at the next offramp and turned around to find our hotel back in Belgium!
France, Belgium, Netherlands, back to Belgium, five minutes in Germany, back to Belgium…sleep in our budget hotel. We woke up, packed up, and drove an hour to Cologne airport, where we are waiting for our flight to Prague. That’s four countries in one day…or five in about 30 hours, once we arrive “home” in Prague tonight. It has been an excellent trip!
Now I need to reset the blog trip-ometer..six days until we leave for Israel and Palestine!
My crazy boys in front of the Arena:)
Experiencing an opera at the Arena di Verona is a must-do. The Arena is 2000 years old, and still in use! I know from our visit to Lake Garda that 166 Cathars were captured in Sirmione, taken to the Arena di Verona, and burned at the stake in 1276…I’m glad to experience a performance at the Arena for a happier occasion!! We were advised by our Italian host to buy our tickets months in advance, so we purchased tickets to see Verdi’s opera Aida.
Sets for the opera.
These photos were taken on our first day in Verona (Saturday).
Gulp!
The Arena is in Piazza Bra, inside the main gate as you enter Verona’s historic district. Next to the Arena is the neoclassical Palazzo Municipale.
Sneaking a photo of someone’s wedding!
Boys just wanna have fun…
There’s a park in the middle of the piazza.
An eight year old’s idea of a funny pose:)
We came back the next day (Sunday) to see the opera Aida. We came a little early to see more of this lovely city.
Castelvecchio Bridge
View from the bridge.
Castelvecchio Castle was built in the 14th century. It was both a residence and a fortress, including the brick bridge you see above.
Castelvecchio Castle is now a museum, apparently with a good art collection. We just peeked in.
The clock tower.
We continued wandering down the street, and came across this lovely little church.
Chiesa San Giovanni in Foro.
It was so quiet and peaceful…we were the only people there.
We continued to wander through the city. See more photos of Verona here:
At last it was time to go and claim our seats up in the nosebleed section of the arena.
We rented cushions for 3 euros apiece. Advice: bring your own cushions!
The performance started at 9:15pm.
Verdi’s 1871 opera…a love triangle set in ancient Egypt.
Aida is a captured Ethiopian princess who is in love with Radames.
Radames struggles to choose between his love for Aida and his duty as the Pharaoh’s celebrated military commander. The story gets even more complicated because the Pharaoh’s daughter loves Radames and is promised to marry him…but Radames loves Aida.
Let’s just say it has a tragic but spectacular ending!
Nate didn’t make it all the way through, but the rented cushions came in handy.
The performance ended around 12:30 am…we were surprised it finished so late. It was well worth it. Nate was a real trooper and walked sleepily back to our car. Another great day!
Stay tuned for posts about our day in Venice, staying in a beautiful restored farmhouse in the French countryside, and having an AMAZING day yesterday seeing Mont Blanc in the French Alps!
- Juliet’s Balcony.
Verona’s “claim to fame” for attracting tourists is being the setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Now that I’ve experienced Verona for myself, I find it tragic that most tourists “do” Verona in a few hours, rushing in to take photos at Juliet’s balcony and then moving on to the next city!! Verona really surprised me with how incredibly beautiful the city is, and how much there is to see and do here. Before I tell you more, here are our own tacky tourist photos of Juliet’s House.
Check out this stern warning!!
Look at the background behind us. What is it?
Although the house is a major destination for tourists, it actually has no connection with Shakespeare’s characters….who were fictional and therefore never existed:)
Love messages, written on top of chewing gum shaped into hearts…yeesh!
The house itself is old, but the balcony was added in 1936. The house was named Casa Guilietta (Juliet’s House) to attract tourists.
Couples add these locks as a symbol of their undying love…
The balcony overlooks a small courtyard with a statue of Juliet. There is a huge amount of “love graffiti”. Visitors leave notes, as well as write their initials and those of their loved one in chewing gum… which they stick on the walls of the courtyard…risking a year’s imprisonment or a hefty 1039 Euro fine!
More love graffiti…
We asked our host if it was worth it to see the inside of Juliet’s House, and he told us that most people in Verona are annoyed by the “hype” of Juliet, the congestion of tourists near the “shrine”, and the fact that until recently, an employee was paid to answer love letters to Juliet from lovesick people from around the world. So we took his advice, and didn’t go inside.
Here’s what our son thinks of all the lovey dovey stuff!!
Apparently, if you pay the 6 Euro entry fee you will see a small collection of Renaissance frescos, and the bed from Zeffirelli’s 1968 movie, but not much more. We spent the money on gelato ice cream instead…a much better choice in Nate’s book!!
This was so interesting Nate gave them a coin!
Ok, now we’re done with the annoying typical tourist stuff. Come see the real Verona with us!
Pizza del Erbe. Look for the close up in the next photo.
Verona was once one of the most powerful cities during the Roman Empire. The historic center is amazingly well preserved, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Beautiful balcony!
This is the Lion of St. Mark, symbol of Venice.
Fun souvenirs!
This lead to another lovely square.
Verona was the home of Dante Alighieri, writer of the Divine Comedy. You can read more about Dante’s tumultuous life here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighieri
That’s Dante!
Verona was also the setting for two more of Shakespeare’s works: The Two Gentlemen of Verona and The Taming the Shrew.
Nice place for a meal!
The scenic mausoleum of Arche Scaligere houses outdoor tombs of the Scaligeri lords who ruled Verona for hundreds of years.
Arch of Scaglieri
The architecture is stunning!
So, for those of you following along with us, this was Day Six of our European road trip. I hope you enjoyed learning about Verona. Coming soon will be posts about seeing an opera in Verona’s Arena, built in the 1st Century BC, as well as our trip to Venice.
Vicenza! Look for the close up in the next photo.
Most people skip this beautiful town as they race around to northern Italy’s bigger attractions such as Venice and Verona. But we were so glad that we didn’t! There were stunning architectural masterpieces scattered throughout the city…as you can see in the photos below.
Amazing detail!
The photos above, and the next seven that follow, were taken at Pizza dei Signori, which is the big central square of Vicenza. It was the center of social and political life since the Roman Era!
Can you find Nate and me at the base of the monuments? Look for the close ups in the next three photos.
Vicenza was founded by the ancient Venetos, then it passed to the Romans.
It was invaded by Barbarians (the real ones, not small children like this one who frequently forget their table manners) in late Roman times!
It became a Dukedom under the Lombards, and later a County under the Franks.
Playing steal the hat and run!
It became a Free City-State in the 12th century.
More goofing around…check out the close up in the next photo.
The tower is 230ft high. The basement was built in the 12th century, whereas the upper part of the tower was added in the 14th century.
Every self-respecting European town seems to have a picturesque clock tower….although Prague’s clock tower is the best of all!
Vicenza voluntarily came under the dominion of the Republic of Venice in the early 15th century, and then enjoyed a long period of prosperity.
The architecture around the city was stunning!
In the 16th century the architect Andrea Palladio turned Vicenza into a treasure of Renaissance architecture. His name is everywhere in the city!
You can see the Venetian influence.
In the late 18th century Vicenza passed under Napoleanic rule.
Later, Vicenza passed to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Nate delighted this street performer by insisting that we give him a coin!
In the 19th century Vicenza joined the Kingdom of Italy.
There were pallazos (palacial mansions belonging to the nobility) scattered throughout the city…this is one of them.
I hope this post will inspire anyone traveling in this area to make time to see this beautiful city…I’m glad we did!
Scaliger Castle in the town of Sirmione, Lake Garda.
Friends in Prague highly recommended that we visit Lake Garda, and now I know why! It has a very Mediterranean vibe to it, even though it is in northern Italy.
We are very laid back travelers…we like sleeping late, having brunch and pottering around the flat. We rarely get out before noon; and our host recommended that we get out in the mornings and evenings to avoid the midday heat. So we’ve been setting out mid-afternoon and coming home late…it suits our family of night owls!
First, we stopped for an evening picnic.
No picnic is complete in Italy without wine! Although I doubt Italians would use coffee cups:)
After our picnic we went on to the old city area.
This is what you see as you are walking up to the historic town on the end of the peninsula.
Lake Garda, including what is now Sirmione, was a favourite resort area for rich families from Verona since the 1st century BC! At that time Verona (where we are now staying) was the main Roman city in north-eastern Italy.
This lovely spot was the scene of several invasions following the fall of the Roman Empire.
Entering the old town: Scaliger Castle…built in the 13th century.
The noble family of the Scaliger, also know as Scaligeri, were the rulers of Verona in the 13th and 14th centuries.
You can read about their turbulent family history here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaliger
Look for the close up in the next photo.
Everything was so colorful! Notice that the pizzeria is named for the Scaligeri family.
It was fun walking through the streets… mostly all pedestrian areas.
The lake is lovely in the evening.
Scaliger Castle was part of a defensive network surrounding Verona.
I learned that Sirmione has had a very turbulent history because of its strategic location in northern Italy. The town has witnessed the struggles in the Middle Ages between the Ghibellines (emperor supporters) and Guelphs (Pope supporters). You can learn more about it here:
http://carneycastle.com/Sirmione/index.htm
This picturesque town has seen some gruesome things take place in its history.
Cathars (considered heretics by the Catholic Church) took refuge here in the mid-1200’s. However, the last 166 Cathars were captured in 1276 and taken to the Arena of Verona and burned at the stake. You can read about their story here:
http://grantouritaly.blogspot.it/2012/09/sirmione-sanctuary-for-heretics.html
Nice place to share a bottle of wine…
I’m displaying my weakness for taking photos of cute balconies:)
Nate hates posing for photos so we bribed him with ice cream!
It’s amazing the smiles that can be obtained with the incentive of ice cream!
Now he was suggesting photo ops…
No day is complete without a visit to the gelateria!
Enjoying the sunset and the aftermath of a sugar high from the ice cream)
The sun sets on a perfect day at Lake Garda!
We loved Lake Garda and would love to go back to explore other places around the lake! For anyone who has been there, are there any other locations on Lake Garda that you’d like to recommend?
The Austrian Alps!
We have often found that the best and most memorable part of a holiday isn’t the places you see, but the people you meet. On Wednesday morning we packed up and said our good-byes to our Airbnb hosts. It was our first time to use Airbnb, and we had a wonderful experience. Out of respect for our hosts’ privacy I won’t post photos or use their names. However, I want to describe our experience with them, because staying in their home made our time in Bavaria exceptional!
When we arrived Monday evening after getting lost on the Romantic Road, they greeted us like friends. They have a lovely home in a quiet, picturesque Bavarian village. We had our own private bedroom and bathroom. Every morning our host provided us with a breakfast feast that would rival anything you’d find in a four star hotel! Our hosts are an expat family living in Bavaria. They have three boys around Nate’s age. When we arrived home after our day trip to the Neuschwanstein Castle, Nate ran off with the boys to play in the backyard…on the trampoline and in the woods surrounding the house. We had a great time getting to know this wonderful family, and greatly appreciate their fantastic hospitality!
We left late on Wednesday morning for our next destination….Verona, Italy! We passed through the stunning Austrian Alps.
We stopped here to snap a few quick photos. Notice the camping photos at the bottom of the sign.
I want to camp here!
I call dibs on these chairs!
Not a bad way to get a little exercise before returning to the chairs.
See what you would miss if you just speed by in your car?
You could stop here for a bite to eat…but we didn’t.
Photos couldn’t capture the beauty of the Alps!
We drove past Innsbruck, Austria into the Piccole Dolomites…the mountain range located between the provinces of Trentino, Verona and Vicenza, in Northern Italy. They were beautiful; different from the Austrian Alps because there were many terraced vineyards. We didn’t stop for photos as we were ready to get to Verona.
So, now I’m writing from the roof top terrace of our flat on the outskirts of Verona, complete with a view of the river. Life is good!
The lovely town of Fussen!
After visiting Neuschwanstein Castle we headed to Fussen, the southern end of the Romantic Road.
Fussen began as a Roman trading fort. Its medieval town center is framed by the majestic Alps, rising above the the river Lech, and it is surrounded by lakes. It has a late-gothic castle, baroque cathedrals and the oldest preserved fresco in Bavaria.
Watch for the close up in the next photo.
Many of the buildings have paintings on them.
Cute cafes were everywhere!
These wrought iron signs seem to be typical, too.
The town is immaculate!
Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to visit the castle.
This is another place we’d love to spend more time in.
Below is St. Mang’s Basilica. It has the oldest fresco in Germany in its crypt, dating back to 980.
- The clock tower.
This church was beautiful! Kid in motion…
The organ!
We then drove back to the small Bavarian village we were staying in, and went for dinner at a local restaurant recommended by our Airbnb hosts. We tried authentic Bavarian dishes and the local beer. Our waitress was very friendly and we muddled through with our minimal German:)
The food was excellent!
The next day (yesterday) we left for Verona, Italy. We drove though spectacular Alpine scenery…past Innsbruck, Austria…into the Dolomites, and on to Verona.
Today we are doing a day trip to Lake Garda…gotta run!
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