This summer Mike and I decided to visit Scandinavia because we had never seen the scenery and thought that a road trip would enhance the journey. Using a car for travel has its advantages in that you can see more things and are not beholden to a tight schedule BUT it has its challenges as … More Road Trippin’ in Europe, Summer 2018!
This year’s travels began in Berlin, specifically what was formerly East Berlin. A few blocks from our hotel is the iconic “Checkpoint Charlie,” the point where East and West Berlin met during the Cold War. The area has colored piping that helps to visualize where the Berlin Wall existed. This part of the city is … More The Beauty of Eastern Europe
One of the nice things about where we live in Italy is its closeness to many different areas. Mike has been to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, a beautiful town in Bavaria, several times but never has had time to be a tourist. So we decided a road trip was in order. The area is surrounded by mountains, … More A Road Trip: Destination Bavaria
The temperatures are in the nineties. Sunshine fills the crevices in the piazza and it is difficult to remember that four of our five weeks in Europe were cold, windy, and most of rainy. June of 2013 brought record flooding to areas of Austria, Germany, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. We spent our first day … More Historic Rains
Visions of summer vacations have flowed through my mind for most of the last semester this year due to an unusual amount of stress that accompanied the school year. I couldn’t wait to sleep in, see some sights, and then read. Well…. it hasn’t happened in just that way. Our first week was spent in … More Riesling Country
I signed up for a two-hour Nordic Walk using walking sticks. When the time came Mike and I were the only people wanting to walk and the trip was canceled. Disappointed we asked the front desk for other options and she pointed out a nice walk across a mountain. It was a short distance from … More Oberstaufen, Germany Part Two
Our destination for the second week of this European vacation was Oberstaufen, Germany. This is a small town in the southwest part of Bavaria. Nestled in the mountains is a tourist destination for the local people. We stayed at Mondi-Holiday, a resort with chalet-type apartments. While tiny, they had all of the things we needed … More Oberstaufen, Germany Part One
We stayed one night in Frankfurt, Germany the city of banking, and Apfel Wein (apple wine.) Our German friend Uschi took us around the old part of the city explaining that unfortunately most of the older buildings had been bombed in World War II. The Germans rebuilt this small area of the city that includes … More Frankfurt, Germany