Beginning The Last Leg

Today we left Munich, and in my mind, we left the second third of our trip. My mental image of the trip is divided, unevenly, three ways: 1) Ireland, London, and Paris. 2) Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Munich. 3)Venice, Rome, Florence, Nice, Barcelona, Madrid.
It feels like we are in the home stretch of our tour, even though we are almost exactly 1/2 of the way through as far as weeks go. We have been here four weeks, and we have four weeks left to go.
So today, I felt a little relieved--as though we had made it over the hump as far as "places-left-to-see" goes. We left Munich early in the morning after another hostel breakfast. We went through three countries today, more than any other bus-stint along our journey.
We left Germany and headed back through Vienna, where we stopped for a quick break in Ensbrook, which is a gorgeous town at the foot of the alps. There are tons of wall-to-wall pastel houses along a river with the backdrop of the huge, gorgeous, mountains.
We were told that there was a famous gold roof that we needed to see while we spent 40 minutes walking around the small city. Along that street was a little Christmas shop that housed thousands of ornaments made out of glass, wire, porcelain, but most of all, egg shells. They had hand-painted egg ornaments by the thousands piled lightly in carboard cartons on top of each other. They were all absolutely amazing, and perfect for any one whose family gives ornaments as gifts as a tradition ;)
I realized that it would be the last time we were in Austria, which has turned out to be one of my very favorite countries in Europe. Although Vienna was beautiful, and its elegant history breathtaking, the more impressive parts of Austria were the small towns we stopped in along the way. I would love to come back and spend a month just touring the smaller towns in Austria--not to mention a small-town-tour of Europe as a whole. Anyway, I realized that it would be the last time we were in Austria, and I had learned that Swarkovski Crystals come from Austria, so when I saw the store, I had to go in. There were beautiful trinkets everywhere, as well as some kitchy ones that made my toes curl.
At the end of my spin around the store, however, I wasn't in love with anything and left empty handed.
We got back on the bus, and to get us pumped for our arrival in Venice, we watched "The Italian Job," which i think I saw when it came out, but didn't pay attention to closely enough. This time, I was on the edge of my seat, despite the various corny parts that made me roll my eyes.
We moved on to our third country for the day: Italy. Italy. For so long, Itlay has been a mirage in the distant corners of my imagination--something I thought would only be possible a long, long time from now.
But we're here...in Italy. It is beautiful. For much of the drive into Venice, the enormous alps walled our lush green corridor. We stopped at a pit stop and learned a few necessary words for simple transactions in Italian.
I slept until we arrived at our campsite. Yes, campsite! Now, I know what you are thinking: "That CAN'T be good." I know you're thinking that because I thought the same thing. But I decided that the EUR 15 a night was worth whatever came our way.
I was happily surprised to find a gorgeous swimming pool with lounge chairs, a water spout that pours water from ten feet above the pool, cool showers, two hot tubs, a bar, a market, a restaurant, a pizzeria, and free Wi-fi. Not only that, but after we got checked in, we found that we were actually in little cabins, with conspicuous white machines on the windows--yes...AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!!!

Athough the rooms are small, there are bathrooms with large showers in each unit, and the air conditioning feels like heaven.
After quickly dropping our stuff off in our cabin, we put on our suits and headed to the pool in our pasty-white, non-Italian glory. There were Italian families who were vacationing here in the pool along with all the traveling 20 somethings. We showered off and got in the slightly warm pool, which was perfect. I hate it when pools are icy cold, even when it is hotter than 100 outside.
After dipping in, Collin and I just sunbathed. I have been waiting to sit by a pool and sunbathe all summer. Don't get me wrong: this journey through Europe is invaluable, and the things I have learned about history and culture will stay with me forever. But it was amazing to finally feel like we are on vacation. As we have found, traveling is more than a full-time job.
We got out and headed toward the market to pick up a few cheap items for dinner, but on the way, we ran into Doug and Katrina who are also on a Busabout tour. On the tour, you see the same people from time to time, but everyone spends either three or five nights in each place, so everyone is on a different schedule. We had met them in Prague, and Collin had sat with them outside the POW camp that I visited because both Collin and Katrina were suffering from foot injuries. Collin had gotten to know them really well and told me all about them afterward.
So for more than an hour, the four of us sat and talked about our travels and our lives at home. Katrina teaches high-school math, and Doug works in building cabinets and other home furnishings. They are living in Scotland on an exchange with a Scottish teacher who wanted to work in Australia, where Doug and Katrina are from. While they are living in Scotland, the couple has been doing numerous trips through the Busabout company--even the Shamrocker Tour like we did.
After talking as much as we could, they headed toward the pool, and Collin and I headed back to our air-conditioned haven. We met our roommate: an Australian girl traveling alone who has a cold, so she decided not to attend the toga pool party that the campsite is offering tonight. We showered and got ready for bed.
We are looking so forward to seeing the beautiful, romantic city of Venice tomorrow, along with the surrounding islands that promise some very special souvenirs!