Phil and April, with Brian Hale in tow, traveled in late September to Eastern Central Europe, and what a fabulous time was had by all!  We flew from Indy to Philadelphia on a Thursday and then overnight to Munich.  Made our way to Phil’s Aunt Louise’s house just outside central Munich in Ismaning, Germany.  The three travelers began their crazy times by boarding an overnight train to Berlin on that very day.  In Berlin, on Saturday, the Reichstag, Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust Museum, and Memorial to the Murdered Jews of WWII were all visited in one day.  That night, the three boarded an evening train to Prague, Czech Republic where they checked into the Hotel Julian.  Got a good night’s sleep and spent Sunday visiting the Mucha museum, astronomical clock, famous tv tower, and more.  What was that night?  You guessed it - an overnight train, to Budapest.  Monday in Budapest was spent seeing all the sights, riding a funicular train, browsing the market, etc.  That night, they finally boarded an overnight train back to Munich and moved on in to Louise’s 4-story semi-detached house where she lives with her husband Keith and 9-year old daughter Olivia.

Tuesday through Friday were spent discovering Munich.  We met up with Phil’s parents, Pam & Alec, and the three amigos, Jamie, Ed, & Lorenzo.  We went to the Spaten tent at Oktoberfest, ate & drank at several lovely al fresco bar-restaurants, visited a yarn shop & the BMW museum, and much, much more.

We said farewell on Saturday and then 16 hours later celebrated Brian’s birthday at Indy’s Pawn Shop Pub!  Fun videos and a link to captioned, story-telling pictures below.  Enjoy!!

Lorenzo & Philly jump together in Ismaning:

the crowd at the astronomical clock in Prague:

Lolo, ham for the camera, in the Hofbrauhaus:

End of the Glockenspiel show, Munich:

Pictures pictures pictures!  “The Big Adventures ’09” under the EVENTPICS tab above or just click this!