Espana

It has been a while now but I'm finally posting the pictures from our Spain trip. Spain was HOT. Really hot. The real problem wasn't just the heat but the fact that so few places had a/c (including our first hotel) so there was no escape. Having that only complaint out of the way, I can talk about what I liked...which was everything else.

We had been to Barcelona which is Catalonian, not Spanish. This was our first trip into a Spanish region known as Andalucia (pronounced with a lisp). Sevilla feels Spanish. From the architecture and food to the culture of siestas and late dinners, it's what I imagine Spain to be. There are a number of attractions including the Plaza de Toros (the bull ring). We took a tour and learned that each bull fights only once, how the matador kills the bull and how the matador is graded on his performance. All very interesting but not enough to get me to watch! The Cathedral (supposedly the largest in the world) was built over and incorporates some of its structure from the mosque built during the occupation of the Moors. They also left a very beautiful palace called Alcazar which is full of amazing courtyards and beautifully decorated buildings.

From Sevilla we went to Granada, home of Alhambra. This is a Moorish palace built overlooking the city. It was similar to Alcazar in many ways but on a grander scale. It is also the last Moorish stand before the end of the Reconquesta. King Boabdil signed a treaty and then fled to Northern Africa where his mother told him "to weep like a woman for what you could not defend like a man." Ouch! It was beautiful, especially with the snow capped Sierra Nevada Mountains just off in the distance.

The rest of our time we spent walking in the cities, eating tapas and paella, drinking lots of water and enjoying the general splendor. I think Spain is a country we will visit again someday. There are so many cities that are worth visiting, but next time I think we'll take a Spanish speaker.

Tuscany

This past week we took a slow paced, directionally challenged if you will, trip to Italy. This was our 3rd trip to the country and it reminded us again of why we love it. With my Mom along, we flew into Bologna, rented a car and drove about 1 1/2 hours Southwest to an area called San Gimignano, which is a mid-evil town standing atop one of the many Tuscan hills. We stayed in what is termed "agriturismo" which was basically a converted farm house on a vineyard and olive grove. This area is in the heart of the Chianti Classico region, which has become one of our favorite wines.

Our room was actually 2 rooms off a main common area that had a kitchen and long table. It was on another hill looking across at San Gimignano. While we were there we visited Sienna which is another mid-evil rolling town. In the town center there is a huge square where they have an annual horse race. They lay dirt down on the outer ring and on the tight turns line the corners with mattresses. Apparently the horse can win even if the jockey has fallen off!

We also went to Florence for the second time now. We revisited to Duomo, Accademia and restaurants! For about a day and a half we drove around the area and ended up stopping at 3 different wineries for tastings. That was probably my favorite part of the trip. Certainly not the driving as the roads are carved into the sides of the hills and are some of the twistiest roads I've ever been on. That, combined with the fact that our car was a Fiat Panda, didn't bode well for the car sickness. The wine in that area is exquisite. The food is amazing and the weather is generally excellent. All the more reason for another trip to Italy!

Bath and Cardiff

Last weekend we took a short trip over to England and Wales. It ended up being a 3 city tour as we traveled to Bath, Cardiff and then to Bristol for half a day. Bath is considered to be the most beautiful city in England. It was made famous and owes its history to the thermal baths that bubble up underneath it. The Romans first made the city into a resort town and the thermal waters into a temple and baths. The Britains have since excavated the baths and turned them into a tourist attraction with active baths in another part of town. The Roman baths are complete with actors and everything. We visited a few other sites in town including the Jane Austen House where we had tea, scones and Bath Buns. Needless to say, Dana was a little more excited about that part of the trip than I was.

Cardiff is the capital of Wales and a lot of it is relatively new construction. Most of the city center is high end shops and the area around the bay has been rebuilt with loads restaurants. We spent most of our time wandering around the city, taking in the shops and the castle and even took a river boat down to the harbor.

Bristol was the city we spent time in by default as it was where we flew in and out of. It was nothing special really but more shopping and few big cathedrals. I won't complain as it is always nice to go somewhere. I think of all the places we've been over the last 2 1/2 years and it amazes me that we've taken in so much. Who could complain?? Well, this was an anniversary trip of sorts as you may have noticed from Dana's site. It has been 8 years! 8! Seriously!! Well, it won't be long before we're off again. Until then...

Malta

This has been a pretty crazy week. We went away for our first trip of the year last weekend to Malta. Most people don't know where Malta is (or even that it is a country) - for that you'll have to see the travel map.

Malta was a pretty cool place. The weather wasn't great but it was better than Dublin fo shizzle. The coolest part is the architecture and the way it has been preserved and restored. The harbors and many of the cities look like they are still in the 16th century. There have been a number of movies filmed there, most notably The Count of Monte Cristo and Gladiator. We rented a car and were able to cross the island in about 20min. On the West coast we saw the Dingli Cliffs which stand some 800ft above the sea, and the Blue Grotto which is an area of sea caves. We couldn't do the boat trip into the caves because the sea was too rough. It was very windy while we where there causing what would have been fairly mild temperatures to feel pretty chilly. We also saw the city of Mdina and Rabat as well as a small fishing village called Marsaxlokk in the South. We also went North to St. Paul's Bay where Paul was purported to have been shipwrecked. The main areas are Valletta, Sliema and Birgu on the West coast which is where the Grand Harbor is located and where we spent most of our time.

The real madness came with the fact that we have moved again making this our 4th apartment in 2 1/2 years. I hate moving!

Enjoy the pictures.

Portugal

My blog has become a travel journal of sorts but hey...what else is there??? We returned from Portugal on Thanksgiving which was a day of serious feasting. Portugal was great. We only had one day of bad weather and got to see 3 different cities while we were there. We started in Evora (pronounced Evra) which is about 100km East and South of Lisbon. It is a small town that is a UNESCO heritage site. The main site we went to see was Capela los Ossos, Chapel of bones. It is filled with the bones of 5000 people and was made by 17th century monks that thought the people needed reminded that life was fleeting. Creepy and cool! Most of the buildings are painted with yellow trim which is supposed to keep out bad spirits.

Next we went to Sintra which is just North of Lisbon on the coast. This was the most beautiful area and was densely forested and had a number of castles and palaces, one of which was Pena Palace which is probably one of the coolest palaces/castles we've seen on our travels. Our hotel was right on the ocean and we listened to the crashing waves all night.

Finally we went back to Lisbon and did some exploring. The country is very hilly and that was very evident in Lisbon. The city is situated on and between several hills. I really liked the fact that although the city was quite large and populated, it had remained "Portuguese" architecturally. The architecture and decorum were very unique to anywhere we've been. They use tile on both the inside and outer walls.

We really enjoyed being in Portugal and thought it was a very beautiful country. It is good to be home now and have a little down time. Maybe I'll blog about something not travel related soon.

Wittenberg and Berlin

We are just back from another great trip to Germany. We visited the birth place of Protestantism and one of Europe's most troubled cities. Berlin is very fascinating simply because it has so much recent history. Wittenberg also has quite recent history relative to some of the places we've been.

We started our trip with an overnight in Wittenberg where we visited the Lutherhaus where Luther lived with his family as well as having room for a number of his students. It had been turned into a museum which featured a number of his writings as well as the history of his life. We also visited the Castle Church which is where the reformation was formally sparked with the nailing of the 95 theses. Inside is were Luther is now buried. The town itself was a really quiet little town but we really enjoyed our time there and even smoked a little hookah!

We went from there to Berlin where the highlight was definitely the walking tour. We walked through the former East Berlin which is its historical center, visiting the major sites and receiving detailed history from a man who was living in Berlin in 1989. I'll avoid regurgitating the entire walk and just mention some of the sites (although it really was fascinating). We saw museum island which is a nature split in the River Spree that now houses most of the city's museums. Much of it has been restored due to bombing during WWII but they have left some of the lesser damaged structures (mostly riddled with bullet holes) as a reminder of its history. We also saw where the Nazis burned all the books they didn't like from the National Library which is now marked by a plaque with a quote from a 17th century Jewish play write that says approximately, "Once they start burning books, it isn't long until they begin burning people." A bit prophetic. It also has an underground empty book shelf as a memorial. We stood in front of the Brandenberg Gate which was originally commissioned by King Frederick of Prussia but has become the gathering point for every major event in Berlin's history. We saw the Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe, a maze of rectangular blocks of varying heights that you can walk through and even become a little disorientated. We stood over the spot of Hitler's bunker where he and his mistress committed suicide on April 30, 1945. We walked to the former Nazi Air Force building which was remarkably untouched by the war and became the headquarters for the Communist Soviet government in East Berlin. It even features a big mural showing the "joys" of communism. It is located right next to the remnants of the Wall. For the vast majority of the area where the wall was and is no longer, there is a brick line tracing where the wall once stood. We ended the tour at Checkpoint Charlie which was the checkpoint between the American Soviet sectors and the point at which the Americans and Soviets had a 3 day tank stand off that nearly started WWIII! It was all over an ambassador that wanted to attend the opera in the East and wasn't allowed in. Crazy huh?

The one story that I will relay is of how the wall eventually came down. The Southern Communist states, Hungary in particular started to allow free travel to the Western countries. The East Germans began taking holidays in Hungary and then slipping across into the West. The Soviets copt on to this and locked in all the East Germans. The people became agitated so the Soviets held a news conference with an ill prepared spokesman who said that the Soviet government would "soon" be allowing people to freely cross into the West. This was done to placate the people. However when asked when??? his reply was..."effective immediately." The people began to gather at the checkpoints and the confused boarder guards began allowing a few people through. Eventually the guards were over-run and within 48 hours 2 million people had crossed into the West and that was the beginning of the end of the Cold War.

Jordan 2.0

Once we left Petra we continued up the King's Highway to Amman. On the way we stopped at a castle from the Crusades called Karak which was originally built by the Crusaders in the 1140's and then was lost to Saladin in 1189. The castle has been mostly destroyed but you are allowed to walk through any of it with out restriction. There are some pretty cool areas with tunnels and rooms under ground.

From there we continued on to Amman. We stopped at Mt. Nebo where Moses looked over the promised land before he died. Unfortunately it was a bit hazy so we couldn't see all that far. The next morning we went to an ancient Roman city called Jerash. It is very similar to many Roman cities around the world with its city gates, temples and commerce areas. There are a number of structures still standing and the two amphitheaters are still used. It was impressive to walk down the column lined streets.

We left Jerash and went to the lowest place on Earth, the Dead Sea. As we descended the weight of the atmosphere really had an affect on us making us feel tired and sluggish. When we got down to the shore we were warned not to get any of the water in our eyes. The feeling in the water can not be accurately described but to say that you really can't sink. I went out to a deep enough spot and put my feet straight down and was bobbing with my shoulders out of the water. There is so much salt that your skin feels greasy. We covered ourselves in this black mud which is of course supposed to have healing powers and then continued to float in the sea some more. It was a very strange experience. We could even see the towers of Jerusalem across the sea on the mountain top.

That night we went into town with our guide Abdullah and had authentic dinner (which is way cheaper then tourist dinner) and found a cafe for the hookah. Their hookah is way stronger than any I've tried before. It was difficult to smoke! The next morning we were on our flight back home. It is hard to determine which of the two countries I enjoyed more. I would like to see some of Southern Egypt and travel along the Nile. Our trip was an incredible experience and won't easily be topped.

Wadi Rum and Petra

I had to split up my Jordan pictures as there are just too many! This first slide show is of our 4X4 trek through the Wadi Rum desert and Petra. I was surprised at how much I liked the Wadi Rum. Wadi means valley and Rum is the name of that valley. Petra is called Wadi Mosa, or Moses Valley. I would put the afternoon that we spent in the desert as one of my top 3 things we did, no joke! It is sand...all sand. The "mountains" if you can call them that, are huge sandstone rocks that have been eaten away over time by the sand storms that continually blow through. The sand is like powder and the rock looks like melting ice cream. The colors of the sand stone are the most impressive. Apparently the bedouins used to use the different colors as makeup. It really does paint your skin. We stopped a few times to climb various rock formations and even saw what they claim is T.E. Lawrence's cave. We stopped at a bedouin tent and had tea where Dana dressed up in and bought an authentic Jordanian head scarf. There is a castle in the middle of the desert that the French built in order to film movies but the Jordanian government shut it down. The whole thing is shrouded in mystery but the French were probably doing something "immoral."

The second half of the show is of Petra, made famous by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Petra is a city entirely built into the rock. There are caves cut into the stone for personal residences (some still used by the bedouins) as well as temples and tombs. The most recognizable is the Treasury which is staggering. The entrance to the city is through a narrow canyon (almost 3/4 mile) that is almost like a fault line through the rock that towers over 100 feet above you. At the end of this crevasse is the Treasury. We rode camels through part of of Petra between the Treasury and the amphitheater. The colors of the sand stone were again a site to see as well as the amazing detail they carved into the rock. There were donkeys everywhere and bedouin kids trying to sell you a ride on one. We spent the whole day there and it was one of the most impressive places I've ever seen.

I'll post more about Jordan later including our trip up the King's Highway to Amman and floating in the Dead Sea. Hope you enjoy.

Egypt

We are back from our trip and after visiting 2 continents and being on the go nonstop we need a vacation from our vacation. Egypt and Jordan were awesome! We had so many pictures it was hard to pick but I tried to give just an overview of what it was like there. This one is just Egypt.

We arrived into Cairo 3 hours late and thankfully our guide was there to meet us. He transferred us to hour hotel which was a converted palace that the former king of Egypt had used for hosting dignitaries. Needless to say it was beautiful and our room had a view of the Great Pyramid off the balcony. We spent the first full day there on what turned out to be a private tour. We had an Egyptologist who walked us through the Pyramid area giving us the facts and history of the mighty structures. His name was Muhammad (as was our driver and bodyguard for the drive to Sinai) and was very knowledgeable and friendly. After seeing the Pyramids and the Sphinx we zipped into town to visit the Egyptian museum. Muhammad took us through the museum giving us the history of the most important pieces on display. The museum holds the items found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun, who was unimportant and died very young, but was the only king of Egypt to be found with his tomb intact. The museum was so much better because we had a guide who gave us all the highlights, otherwise it would have been quite overwhelming.

We left Cairo the next day for Dahab which is on the Eastern part of the Red Sea known as the Gulf of Aqaba. The drive in Northern Sinai was flat desert with nothing (really NOTHING) but rock and dirt. As we got further South the landscape became more mountainous and we started coming across Bedouins in their camps or out with their goats and camels. We cut through the mountains on a valley road and came out at the Red Sea which is spectacular. The Red Sea is clear aqua blue water lined with reefs. We settled into our hotel in Dahab and took a 2 hour nap before departing for Mt. Sinai at around midnight. The climb up Mt. Sinai takes about 2.5 hours (after a 2hr drive) and we, along with hundreds of others, watched the sunrise from the top. The trail up is the camel trail where people often rent camels to take them most of the way up (which is exactly what I would do should I ever hike it again!). The hike was exhausting and a little dangerous. It is pitch black and there are camels going up and down the mountain and they stop for no man! We had a Bedouin guide who kept us out of the camels' path fortunately. It was a beautiful sight to see the sun coming up over the desert mountains. We went back down a different way called the "3000 steps to the monastery." It was equally exhausting but took half as long and was significantly less crowded. That afternoon we went snorkeling at a place called the Blue Hole. The sea life was amazing. Unfortunately a lot of the coral in the hole had been killed by people but as you went out it was even more colorful and impressive.

The next day we made a run for the boarder. We drove up to Taba and crossed into Israel (which was not easy) where we drove through the resort town of Eilat and crossed the boarder into Jordan (significantly easier!).

Norway

We arrived back from Norway on Tuesday both having seen one of the most beautiful countries in Europe and having closed on our new house. What a day!! Dana has a nice slideshow on her blog of the new casa. It's very exciting to be back in the rhelm of home ownership. Now if we could only live in it.

Norway was beautiful. Here are the pictures. They start in Oslo which was a very modern clean city. We visited a sculpture park which had over 100 nude sculptures that were...strange. We also went to a viking museum and the Kon-Tiki museum, which has boats constructed in "old world" styles and used to cross the Atlantic and Pacific to show it was possible for cultures to interact long before Columbus or any other European adventure. We then boarded a train for the West coast. The train ride took us through some beautiful countryside. When we arrived in a town called Flam we got on a boat that took us through Sandefjord and down the coast to Bergen. Bergan was another amazing city. It was more what I expected Norway to look like with peaked roofs and colorful buildings. All together is was a very enjoyable trip even though it was really expensive. They have a 25% tax on everything and even more on alcohol and tabacco. It was strange that during Norway's high tourist season it was not very busy which I suppose is partly due to the expense.

Prague

This is the first of 2 slide shows I plan to make from our most recent trip. We were in what I would consider the most Eastern part of Western Europe, Prague. It was a beautiful city that had a sort of eerie charm not unlike Edinburgh. We started by visiting the castle which over looks the city. It was more of a compound of buildings that contained a large cathedral that looked as if it was the oldest part of the "castle" complex. We visited the old town square which has the Astronomical Clock and the John Hus memorial. We crossed the Charles' Bridge and explored the city. We went in several of the cathedrals, one of which contained the withered arm and clenched fist of a would be thief who tried to steal the statue of Mary hanging as a reminder (or warning). See if you can pick out that picture. It was not as cheap as we had hoped it would be but we still had a great time.

Belgium

I'm trying to catch up on my blogging and I've finally made it to Belgium which was a few weeks ago. We flew into Brussels and then took the train to Bruges where we spent a day and a half and then spent the last day in Brussels before we flew back home. It really was a weekend trip and I don't think we could have found more to do there had we stayed longer. I really liked Bruges. It is a combination of quaint gothic with the Flemish architecture popping out all over the place. There are chocolate shops galore and the only other thing Belgians take as seriously as chocolate is beer. We weren't crazy about the beer but it was cheap and plentiful. There are canals criss-crossing the city and we were able to take a boat tour, which gave us a different perspective of the city. We did a tour of the only remaining brewery in Bruges. The tour guide was excellent and we really enjoyed that. We even got to go on the roof and take a couple of photos of the city scape. We saw Michelangelo's only sculpture to leave Italy in the cathedral in town and found a cigar bar where I had a nice Ramon Allones Habana.

We went to Brussels for our last day and were less impressed with it. The Grand Palace was a beautiful square surrounded by gothic buildings. We walked around the city and saw some of the other buildings but other than that there didn't seem like much to see or do. Belgium was a good trip and I'm glad we made it there but I don't think we'll be heading back any time soon.

Florence, Italy

We visited Florence during our Venice trip and were glad we did. The city doesn't hold the charm of Venice but it is strikingly Italian and it was great to see the area where so many great minds including Michelangelo and Da Vinci came from. The city is built around their large cathedral called the Duomo. From the outside it is massive and built of white and green marble. You can see from the pictures that it just towers above the rest of the city. Inside it is surprisingly small. There is a large river (where we actually saw an otter swimming) that separates the main part of town from the hills where the old city wall is still visible. The main bridge, Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), is lined with jewelry shops. We hiked up the hill overlooking the city with a copper replica of Michelangelo's David standing atop it. The views of the city were amazing.

There are no shortage of museums to visit there either. The first we went to was the History of Science museum. Unfortunately much of is was under construction so we could wander around one floor. There they had several of the first models of the solar system and the telescopes used through history. It even had Galileo's Finger! We visited the famous Uffizi Gallery which contains the largest collection of the Renaissance art. The highlight of Florence was without question going to the Accademia gallery and seeing Michelangelo's David. The gallery contains a few other works including some unfinished statues by Michelangelo where were neat to see how they came to be from a block of marble. The David was breathtaking. His sheer size is impressive enough but the detail in the facial expression and even the veins in his arm are amazing. I haven't seen anything else like it and of course we couldn't take any photos. As Dana says, it shows what a mockery the "modern art" movement really is when compared with true artistic genius.

Florence is a must visit simply for its historical significance. I think Venice will beckon us back some day just because the city is such a wonder in and of itself. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Venezia

Bonjourno! I know we've been back from Italy for a while now but it is always on the mind. Venice was especially beautiful. I had heard that countless times but you really can't appreciate the spectacle that the city is until you've seen it for yourself. It was once one of the richest cities in Europe and the Grand Canal ("main street") is lined with palaces. The architecture is somewhat unique in that not only is it built on water but most of it is from the Byzantine period and looks like a combination of European and Middle Eastern styles. As far as giving a true feel of what the city looked like, our pictures fail miserably. It doesn't help that in a lot of the places you go into in both Venice and Florence you are not allowed to take photographs. We think they're afraid we'll steal their essence!

We spent our time wandering semi-lost through the narrow streets finding on more than one occasion that the street we were on dead ended into a canal. We took a gondola ride and had to help our gondolier tilt the boat to make it under the low, slowly sinking bridges on the side streets. It was nearly Carnival so the stores were packed with masks and outfits for the 10 day long celebration. We found Venice to be a city that isn't visited for its sights and attractions but just for the city itself. I hope we get to go back! Ciao!

Αθήνα

Well, the secret is not a secret any more. We've told everyone we know that I interviewed for a position in Athens. Sadly, after all the build up and anticipation over the whole thing it looks like we won't be moving after all. Our experience there was great. The weather is amazing and reminded us a lot of Arizona (cactus and all). Athens is of course on the Mediterranean coast which I guess means it is like Arizona with a beach! The food was amazing and the ancient sites just sit in the center of the city over looking the "new" Athens. Athens is jam packed with people. The roads are insane and this is after they have cut city center traffic by half with even/odd license plate driving days. It still has it's Greek charm. We had a drink at a restaurant one evening and inside they had live music and everyone eating there was joining in with the Greek dancing. We could still end up there but if nothing else we'll be going back for holiday.

Barcelona

I've been trying to find a new site to host our slide shows so I've been delayed in posting my Barcelona pics. Barca is visually very stunning. The city is known as much for its architecture as anything else. The famous architect Gaudi designed and built a number of buildings around town and then started the Gaudi Cathedral called Sagrada Familia. He died before it was finished and the city has employed builders and artists to finish this mammoth cathedral. It is very odd because each part is different because it has been designed by different people. It is hard to get a feel for that through pictures but take my word for it...it's weird! Some pictures of his other buildings are included as well and hopefully you can get an idea of the odd shapes and designs he employed.

Barca is all about shopping. Paris is the only city that compares. The main pedestrian street La Ramblas was covered with street performers and shops. The food was quite good and we found some good tapas and paella. The best part was the weather! Shorts and T-shirts everyday. So nice!

We took a cable car ride, saw an old Catalan castle and strolled down the harbour. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Scotland...again

We made trip number 2 to Scotland to visit Edinburgh and travel North to Loch Ness and Inverness. We got to see a lot of the Highlands which is a beautiful unique landscape. You may be shocked by what you see in some of our Loch Ness photos. I'm working on selling them on eBay as we speak!

Bordeaux

I've had some trouble with uploading our videos but finally here is Bordeaux. This is one of the areas of France I wanted to visit the most. We flew into La Rochelle and took a 2 1/2 hour train ride inland to Bordeaux. I didn't realize that Bordeaux was the 5th largest city in France but with all of its grand architecture and populace it didn't have the busy feeling you get from most big cities. The French people there were much friendlier than those in Paris as well. We took an amazing wine tour while we were there. The city existed simply as a wine producing region full of chateaus with owners, buyers, workers and sellers of wine. We started off in an old chateau that has been converted into a museum. We learned about the history of the region as well as how wine is produced, aged and stored. That ended with a wine tasting of a white and red wine from the region. We then walked through the area where the many of the chateau owners and buyers lived, many of which are still owned as family estates in the heart of the city. We then had lunch at this little whole in the wall place that you would never find out on your own. We had an excellent meal, lots of wine and access to a cheese room (see photos) with over 150 type of cheese some of which were mold city! We then went out to the region of Saint Emilion, the oldest vineyard region in the area. We took a tour of a working chateau complete with a wine tasting. Bordeaux is a must for wine lovers in my opinion. It was a great trip and now instead of rambling on any longer I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

...more Germany

More from our latest expedition to Germany. These are just some various sites we saw and some pictures from inside a couple of the castles that we were able to tour. As most of you know we ended our trip in Mainz which just happened to be holding a beer festival. I mean, what's a visit to Germany without a beer festival??...am I right? Hopefully you are getting excited about seeing Germany because you might just be able to twist our arms to go back.

Castles and fairytales

We are back from Germany and here is my first slide show. We took so many pictures it was hard to narrow down what I wanted to show so I think I'll just keep making slide shows until I run out of good pictures! This was from our trip down the Rhine river. I tried to keep everything in order and added some shots from the river side towns and vineyards along with the castles of course. Dana usually does a better job of describing our trips so I'll let you read her account of our weekend. I'll just say that this part of Germany was beautiful. I always think of it as part of the old Eastern European block with its impoverished, war ravaged buildings and cities. From what I've seen of cities like Berlin and Munich I'm sure that impression would be somewhat reinforced but the Rhine river valley is fairytale Germany. We enjoyed touring some of the castles (we have 16 more for anyone that wants to join us!), enjoyed the small villages, relaxed on the cruise and even took in a beer festival! Wunderbar! Hope you enjoy the pictures.