photograph by evenshift via flickr
photograph by
joeychiu via flickr
after my sophomore of college, my college orchestra – if you’re the principal trombone, raise your hand. me! – went on a 12 day trip to europe. the orchestra director was born in austria (raised in montana!) and was itching to get back to his homeland. we began in vienna and journeyed on to salzburg – between the two, we stopped at this incredible monastery.
melk abbey is easily, hands down, with.a.doubt. the most beautiful place i have ever been. ever.
it has been restored so that every color, ever piece of stucco, ever gilded petal on every gilded flower is as vibrant & magnificent as it was when it was first built.
our tour guide was an american living abroad. her passion for the place was palpable. every tidbit of information she gave was something to be savored. the museum, where we started, is thoroughly modern – the perfect juxtaposition to the history it contains.
if you are ever in austria, please please try to visit the melk abbey. you won’t be disappointed!
photograph by anomieus via flickr
photograph by pat gleason via flickr
it’s euro week on etsy right now, you can find all the best of best of europe on the storque, front page, etsy finds emails… it’s great to see such a fresh perspective! and judit, of vadjutka, let me know that there are lots of great deals to be had during euro week, as well.
so now it’s your turn! where will you go on your european vacation? what are your favorite european artists or crafters? share your european inspiration on your own blog or flickr and then leave your link in the mister linky below. please don’t forget to link back to scoutie girl in your post!
Tara Gentile is a business coach and blogger serving passion-driven entrepreneurs with fresh ideas about 
I live in Italy, so I guess I’m always on vacation? Tee hee! Living in europe sure makes every place much more reachable – cheap flights and such!
as far as i’m concerned, linda, you ARE always on vacation
i try appreciate the beauty of where i live… but would love to live in all that history! thanks for stopping by!
I live in Europe too, in Hungary (near Austria), so you are right, Tara, Austria is really-really beautiful! (And Hungary too!
)
hi szigami! i’d love to get back to that part of the world – and hungary will be on the list when i do! thanks for stopping by!
[...] over at scoutie girl, asked us to share about our European inspiration. so here [...]
I spent a wonderful family vacation in Ireland. And loved driving around the Dingle peninsula. It was so beautiful, and how can you not smile when saying “dingle.” Yes, I am just a bit immature.
hi sarah! a bit immature is always cool with me
ireland is waaaay high up on my travel list. so much culture and what a landscape!
I love Trieste / Italy – I visited 3-4 times a year when I was a kid since it’s very near my hometown. I love Trieste’s architecture – fabulous buildings. The square / piazza in the picture was fully restored a few years ago – it’s beautiful. And from the high part of the city you can see the whole gulf – fascinating during the Barcolana sailing race! Trieste is also famous for it’s great wind – the Bora! Visit in late Spring, Summer is too hot!
hi daria – italy was a small part of my trip too, actually. and now i’m married to an italian so i’m sure as soon as the budget allows, we’ll be headed that way. thanks for the tip about trieste!
I also love Italy! But I think my favourite European spot is Greece: Wonderful food (like gyros, pastries and taziki sauce), beautiful scenery that looks like it’s right out of a painting, and amazing beaches!
mmmm… tzatziki sauce…
Last Summer we went to The Netherlands and I just loved the architecture and the countryside.
oooh! tasha, the netherlands sound divine. i’d love go & see all the tulips!
I dream of going to Italy and France (wine country)
Someday, I hope, when ever afordable.
What a fun post! Thanks for inspiring me to blog my Paris love today! Those pictures from Austria are amazing…especially that staircase! Truly amazing!
Cheers!
Hope Ava
HI Tara
If you ever decide to spearhead a group trip I’M IN!
The Abbey is breathe taking and I would love to visit and photograph it;though I might have to have someone else look down those spiral stairs and shoot the photo =)
~Hugs
MB aka desertnana
hello tara! i am a day late, but i wanted to let you know that i was inspired by your post to actually come up with one of my own! going though my “favorites” on etsy i realized i had a many, many sources of inspiration from europe and i didn’t even know it. i hate to admit it, but in a lot of cases i hadn’t paid attention to where the artists/crafters are from. i don’t know why – maybe i am just distracted by all the beautiful imagery! that and my 4 year old boy, tugging on my arm.
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here’s the link to my post: http://ohchalet.blogspot.com/2010/03/i-heart-art-europe.html
happy thursday!
I almost could not believe when I opened this up and saw the Melk Abbey. I was there in November and even though the tours were not running, it was still a sight to see.
We are fortunate enough to be living in Europe temporarily and have been making the most of it while we are here.
Austria was one of the most beautiful countries we have seen so far- the Danube Valley is amazing. There are so many places I love for diffent reasons. The tulips in the Netherlnads (it’s the season again!), the mountains Bavaria, Luxembourg City, Antwerp (where I am living). We will be headed to Switzerland and Tuscany in May and I am sure they will be added to my list.
I have always had a love of traveling. though I have been blessed to do some traveling around the world there are still so many places left on my list. I have a map with pins. green is where I have gone and red is were I want to go (Greece, France, More of Italy, Spain, and the list goes on and on and on.) Thank you for sharing this beautiful piece of the world.