Thanks to Falk Liebezeit, a book salesman turned professional archivist and part-time genealogist, European Focus guest Margie Weiler was able to uncover a couple more generations of her husband’s family in the Diepholz area. We also learned of two more ancestral villages, which we visited during the time we were in this lovely part of […]

Margie Weiler’s 3rd trip with European Focus was made a little extra special one day when Trip Captain Jim asked if she’d like to have rinderroulade for lunch on the way from the southern wine road area (Near Landau) up to Niedersachsen near Osnabrueck. She said “Of course!” Fine memories from the last time we […]

Before sitting down in a German Gasthaus (or in the Hofbrauhaus in Munich) watch out for the sign proclaiming that the table is permanently reserved for the locals. “Stammtisch” means local or frequent guest table. These tables are places where the locals (usually but not always men) gather to gossip, play cards, sing and of […]

Bob and Marlene Rokicki enjoy the sunshine in Prague. The famous Charles Bridge, built in the 14th century, attracts thousands of the more than 10,000,000 tourists who visit Prague each year. We wrapped up the day with a fun tour around the city in a vintage 1930 Skoda open-top car.

We took a cruise on the Danube the other evening. Don’t big cities always look better at night? Budapest is no exception. This is a shot of the castle on the Buda side of the river.

A scene taken near the Wieskirche, near Steingaden, Germany.

We visited the Swarovski Crystal World on this day, driving down from Schwangau where we’re currently homebased. The factory “outlet” has grown by half since I was there in July of 2007, with a brand new showroom adding to the space we saw last year. Bob and Marlene had a fun hour or so of […]

We stopped in this lovely riverside town on our way from Miltenberg am Main to Ulm. This town has “medieval” written all over it. The town derived its fortune from trade and from the mining of salt. It has been a place of residence for human beings since around 4000 BC but the modern-day history […]