Well, today was our last day in Italy. We started at our beautiful Hotel Malcesine where we took a final shot from our balcony…

and took a little walk along the waterfront where we ran across a badass looking swan…

And a mother duck with her 5 babies…

And took a picture of me with a bronze statue by the waterfront…

Then we drove to the ‘funivia’-the tram that carries passengers up the mountain side to the top. Our grand plan was to do this from the mountaintop…

But as you can see from the pictures, the weather was raining and chilly. At least, at the bottom of the mountain it was rainy and chilly…

But as we moved up the mountain…

And up..

And up…

Until we reached the top, where it was positively FRIGID and rainy with a shroud of clouds..

The weather was so bad that there was no possibility of paragliding, and so we wandered around up there long enough to take a picture of Gary under the sign showing the elevation.. (our tandem paraglide experience would have started at 5,774 feet on Monte Baldo and ended at 300 feet near the edge of lake Garda)

and have lunch. Our traditional “lunch with a view didn’t have much of a view…

And so we got back onto the funivia and headed back down the mountain.

Then it was time to leave our beloved Lake Garda and head north toward Munich. On the way past the last lake-side town we caught a glimpse of this restaurant sign:

It reads, “Probably the best pizzeria and restaurant in the world.” I guess it’s not really bragging. They did say, “PROBABLY.”

On our way to and through the Alps we were treated to more interesting sites along the highway…

And up on the steep sides of the mountains…

Seriously, these people are like mountain goats. They seem to think nothing of building a house or a castle or a church so far up the steep craggly sides of a mountain that it must take 45 minutes of switchbacks just to reach a little village at the base.

As we drove we were captivated by the steep rocky mountains still partially hidden by clouds..

And the majestic Alps…

When we came back down out of the Alps it was suddenly a nicer day. Part of the highway we were on was literally the border between Austria on the left…

And Germany on the right (sorry, I couldn’t get a good roadside photo of Germany that wasn’t just trees whizzing past!

We finally made it to Munich and checked into a hotel near the airport. Everything is quite different in Germany. The architecture, the foliage, the drivers, and of course the language. After two weeks of “Bona sera. Sei aperta? Tavalo per due, per favore” We suddenly had to negotiate in German, and as our official translator I found myself at a loss! We managed, though, and found a little Greek/seafood restaurant a few minutes from our hotel. The woman who seemed to be the only worker aside from the cook was an absolute delight. She spoke only a little English, but she brought us in and made us feel so welcome as we bantered in a broken string of Italian, German, and English. Before dinner she brought us two shots of some vile licorice alcohol, which we toasted and downed in a gulp. Then came dinner, which was profoundly different from the meals we’ve been eating. After dinner and some more Ger-Eng-Ital bantering she brought us another shot of the same vile drink, which we raised to each other and her and gulped down. She was delighted with us, and as we left she gave me a gracious hug as we left with shouts of “Arrivederci! Goodbye! Auf weidersehn!” It was a lot of fun.

Now we’re back in our hotel room and completing a final blog from Europe. We’ll have so many stories to treasure and share. It’s been an amazing trip, and an eye-opening experience. Tomorrow it’s back home to America!